I




711                                      X  Carlo'
I      F'10,                (C             Q      "P




THE LIFE
OF
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


FROM' AUTHENTIC SPANISH AND ITALIAN DOCUMENTS.
COMPILED FROM TIIE FRENCH OF
ROSELLY DE LORGUES.
~5^


-*


BY J. J.


BARRY, M.D.


BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY PATRICK DONAHOE.
NEW YORK: CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY.
BALTIMORE: JOHN MURPHY & CO.
I870.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by
PATRICK         DONA HI       E,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.


REGAN & LEADBEATER, STEREOTYPERS,
No. 55 Water Street, Boston.




DEDICATION.
To the Righ/t Honorable the Marquis of lute:
MY LORD MARQUIS, —
As a tribute to your recent conversion to the Catholic
faith, I take the liberty of dedicating to you this version
of the Life of one of your co-religionists, than whom you
cannot, for your future imitation, find a more perfect
model, short of the acknowledged Saints of the Church;
for Columbus is a model for all Christian men, and
particularly for those in high stations.
And the fact that he has not long since been enrolled
among the canonized Saints shows how extremely exacting (if I may use the expression) Rome is on the subjects
of heroic piety and virtue, and even miracles, previously
to conferring that ineffable honor.
With sentiments of the highest consideration, I have
the unspeakable honor, and happiness to be, my Lord,
One of your fellow-Catholics,
J. J. B.
(iii)


2-0)3223




,.   "W   qp




PREFACE.


T   HE work now offered to the public is a kind
of compilation from the larger work of M.
DE LORGUES, entitled " Christopher Columbus.The History of his Life and his Voyages, etc."
But it may be proper to state here that having
met with a few inaccuracies, typographical or
otherwise, in the original, I have taken occasion
to correct them in this work. Again, I found a
few lacunce, which I considered it proper to fill
up from my own researches. Further, in some
cases, where I considered M. De Lorgues did
not use the happiest terms to express certain
ideas, I have resorted to ones that appeared to
* Christophe Colomb. - Histoire de sa Vie et de ses
Voyages d'atres des Documents authentiques tires d'Espagne et d'Italic, par Roselly de Lorgues, in 2 vols. Paris,
Dedier et Cie, I864.
(v)




vi


PREFACE.


me more appropriate.   Under these circumstances, and remembering that in many cases I
had to condense the matter of some pages into
almost as many lines, this work could not be
expected to be a translation, strictly so called,
though in truth the far greater part of it is such.
In order to economize the space at my disposal, I have been obliged to omit several of
the authorities quoted by the author. For the
same reason, I have only glanced at the occurrences in Hispaniola over which Columbus
could have had no control.
M. de Lorgues' History contains the details
and events of the Voyages of Columbus, as
well as those of his Life; but the object of the
present work being to reproduce his Life, the
Voyages, with the exception of the first, and
the return one, have been much curtailed, save
so far as they have a bearing on his personal
acts and character. It is for this reason that
the word Voyages has been omitted in the title
of the book. The plan I have followed has
enabled me to reproduce, as far as it could be
done from De Lorgues' History, what I may




PREFACE.               vii
call a full length, and, I trust, a life-like portrait
of the immortal Discoverer of America, who,
it is to be hoped, will ere long be solemnly
enrolled on the glorious catalogue of the canonized Saints.
For obvious reasons I have added the initial
of my surname to some notes I have appended.
It may further be proper to state that the
Table of Contents in this volume will be found
much more ample than the one in the original
work.
J. J. B.








CONTENTS.
PAGE
DEDICATION.
PREFACE.
INTRODUCTION.
Errors inevitable until the present time in regard to the person,
the civil status, and the character of Columbus. - Sympathies of the Holy See. - Prejudices caused by Protestant
writers. - Exposure of the calumny in regard to Columbus
and his wife Dofa Beatrix Enriquez. -A new history of
this hero of Catholicity needed....
BOOK I.
CHAPTER I.
Time and place of the birth of Columbus. —Status of his
family. - His childhood and education. - His first services
on sea. - His accidental landing in Portugal..    47
CHAPTER II.
Stay of Columbus in Lisbon. - His marriage'with the daughter of a navigator. -His voyages to the Canaries, the
Azores and the African coasts. -His propositions of discovery to Genoa, to Venice, to Portugal. -Offers of the
King. - His noble refusal.- His return to Italy. - His
departure for Spain...                           59
CHAPTER       III.
Influence of Isabella on the destinies of Spain....82
(ix)




x                       CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER IV.
Arrival of Columbus at the Franciscan convent of La Rabida.
- The friendship between the Father Superior and him. -
He sets out for the Court...                   84
CHAPTER V.
Sojourn of Columbus in Cordova. - He marries Beatrix Enriquez. - The support of the clergy procures for him an audience with the Sovereigns. - His useless solicitations. -
The conferences at Salamanca. - He serves at the seige of
Baza.-The Superior of La Rabida again comes to aid him  92
CHAPTER        VI.
The War in Granada. - Surrender of the City. -The project
of Columbus discussed. - Deception. - Columbus starts
for France; the Queen recalls him, and orders preparations to be made for his voyage. - The equipment. - The
Father Superior again assists him. - Departure of Columbus with three ships.....4
CHAPTER        VII.
Events of the voyage. - Fears of the sailors. - New aspects of
the ocean.-Variation of the mariner's compass.-A conspiracy and a revolt. - Firmness of Columbus.- His prediction of the Discovery....138
CHAPTER        VIII.
The island of San Salvador. -The archipelago of the Lucaya or Bahama islands.-Searchings for gold.-The
island of Cuba.-Discovery of Hispaniola.- Hospitality
of King Guacanagari.- First settlement of Europeans in
the Antilles.                     158
CHAPTER IX.
Departure of Columbus for Europe. - Navigation distressing.
-Danger, and vows during a tempest. -Arrival at the
Azores. -Perfidy of the Portuguese Governor.-A   new
tempest.- Forced landing in Portugal.... 201
I I-~~1I-~L- b 0   ZDY~LI




CONTENTS.


xi


PAGE
CHAPTER X.
Honors rendered to Columbus by the people and the Court.The Council of State proposes to assassinate him.-The
King honors and protects him. - The Queen desires to see
him......                      212
CHAPTER XI.
Arrival of Columbus at Palos.-His reunion with the Father
Superior of La Rabida; his stay at the convent. - His
departure for the Court. - His triumphal reception at Barcelona.- Action of the Holy See in relation to Columbus.
- The story of the egg........ 217
CHAPTER XII.
Preparations for the second expedition. - The first bureau of
the colonies.- The Father Superior of La Rabida embarks
with Columbus....... 251
BOOK II.
CHAPTER I.
His departure. - His arrival at the Canaries. - He determines
to consecrate to the Blessed Virgin the first lands he will
discover, and directs his course to the Caribbees. - The
second of December he announces that land will be discovered the next day, which becomes a fact. - Diego Marquez
wanders in the land of the cannibals. -Dominica, Guadaloupe, Montserrat, Antigua, Santa Cruz, St. Ursula, and
the Eleven Thousand Virgins... 259
CHAPTER II.
Ruin of the garrison left at Hayti. - Guacanagari suspected.
- Founding of the City of Isabella. -Unknown diseases 268
CHAPTER        III.
Europeans disappointed in their hopes. -Fraud of the purveyors of the marine. - Conspiracy against Columbus. -
Revolt. - Enmity of the Vicar-apostolic towards Columbus 279




xii


CONTENTS.


PAGE
CHAPTER IV.
Voyage to Cuba. -Discovery of Jamaica. -The Queen's Gardens. - Periodical Storms.-He desires to crush the
power of the Caribs. - Columbus falls into a lethargy. -
Bull of Partition.- Treaty of Tordesillas. - Wonderful
firmness of Pope Alexander VI... 289
CHAPTER V.
Columbus meets his brother Bartholomew. - Prompt recovery
of the Admiral. -He receives the first letter that is sent
from  Europe. - Supplies received. - Excesses committed
in his absence; odious conduct of Pedro Margarit and of
Father Boil. -General conspiracy of the caciques. - Fidelity of Guacanagari, through regard for Columbus. - Cause
of the sterility of the missions. - Father Boil and Father
Boyl........... 308
CHAPTER VI.
Columbus tries to break the league of the caciques. - Caonabo is captured. -Combat of two hundred and twenty
Spaniards against ten thousand natives. - The famine
plot........... 322
CHAPTER        VII.
Complaints made to the Court against Columbus and his
brothers.-Don Diego Columbus comes to Spain.-Chicanery of the Board of Marine.- The bureaucratic bishop,
Don Juan de Fonseca. -Diego Columbus returns to Hispaniola.-Ingratitude of Aguado.-First hurricane.. 328
CHAPTER VIII.
Gold mines discovered. - Departure of Columbus for Spain
with the sick and Indians.- Romantic devotedness of a
cannibal princess for Caonabo.-To save provisions the
crew want to cast the Indians into the sea, but they are
protected by the Admiral. - He predicts the very day when
they will reach land....... 337




CONTENTS.


Xlll


PAGE
CHAPTER       IX.
Columbus wears publicly the habit of the Franciscans. - He
goes to Court. -At the sight of him the Queen forgets all
the accusations brought against him. —Measures taken in
favor of the colonies. - Columbus refuses a principality.
- He establishes a Majorat, or Mayorazgo. — Outrages
received when entering on his third voyage... 345
BOOK III.
CHAPTER I.
Columbus takes a new route for his third voyage. - Dead
calms of the torrid zone. -The heat spoils the provisions,
etc. —Excessive thirst makes him change his course.Island of Trinidad descried. -Discovery of the new continent. - The Orinoco. -The Gulf of Paria. - Happy
escape from dangers. - Departs for Hispaniola...365
CHAPTER       II.
His speculations in relation to the places he had visited. - His
discovery of the Equatorial Swelling. - His ideas about the
terrestrial Paradise. - His discovery of the great Equatorial Current. - Great scientific conquests result from this
voyage. -Arrives at the Island of Beata, where his brother
Bartholomew comes to meet him.. 376
CHAPTER       III.
Events that occurred in Hispaniola during the Admiral's
absence. - He forbids bad Christians from working in the
mines. -Discontent of the Castilians. —The Adelantado
goes to Xaragua. - Revolts... 382
CHAPTER       IV.
Proclamation of the Viceroy. - Permission given the malcontents to return to Spain.-Promises of pardon.-Defection
of the troops. - He cannot resort to force. - Humiliations
he has to endure. - Carvajal brings Roldan to an arrangement with the Viceroy.. 388




xiv


CONTENTS.


PAGE
CHAPTER V.
The chiefs of the rebels cannot control them. -Arrival of
Ojeda, who comes to patronize the rebels. —Simultaneous
revolt of the natives. - Columbus, abandoned, and on the
point of flying to sea from his enemies, is miraculously aided.
-Voluntary submission of the chiefs of the rebels. -Order
is reestablished and prosperity commences....     396
CHAPTER VI.
The enemies of Columbus in Seville.- Secret hostility of Ferdinand. -A commissary is appointed.- Bobadilla is invested with extraordinary powers.- Indians sold as slaves.
-Isabella annuls the sales, and orders the Indians to be
restored to liberty.... 406
CHAPTER        VII.
Arrival of Bobadilla at San Domingo.- He besieges the fortress, and sets the prisoners at liberty. - He seizes on the
papers and effects of the Admiral, who was then absent. -
He imprisons Columbus and his two brothers. - He sends
them, in chains, to Spain....           408
CHAPTER VIII.
The Queen grieved at the indignity offered to Columbus. - His
arrival at Court. - Ovando appointed to supersede Bobadilla. - Columbus occupies himself with the deliverance of
the Holy Sepulchre. -He composes religious poems, and
a compilation from the Scriptures, entitled "Book of the
Prophecies"...... 418
CHAPTER IX.
The real motives of Columbus for undertaking the fourth voyage.-Before his departure he indicates, in an unfinished
chart to the Queen, the Isthmus of Panama. - Don Bartholomew accompanies him through affection alone. -
Columbus writes to the Holy Father, and informs him of
his project to deliver the Holy Sepulchre. - His precautions against the enmity of Ferdinand... 434




CONTENTS.


XV


PAGE
BOOK IV.
CHAPTER I.
Columbus departs with four ships.- He succors the Portuguese fortress of Arcilla, besieged by the Moors.-The
Governor of Hispaniola opposes his entrance into the port.
- Columbus predicts a violent tempest, and begs the Governor to delay the fleet that was about to sail for Spain. -
His prediction is sneered at, but the tempest comes and the
fleet perishes. -Judgment of God visible.- Columbus,
with his ships, preserved.....         44
CHAPTER II.
Columbus discovers terra firma near Cape Caxinas.-Atmospheric contrarieties. - Sufferings of the crews. -A disaster. -The Island of Quiribi.-Search for a strait at
Chagres. - The Isthmus of Panama... 458
CHAPTER III.
Columbus has a terrible struggle with the elements. - Globular lightnings. - A frightful water-spout. - Columbus,
almost dying, is roused by the cries of the sailors; he
invokes his Divine Master, and conjures the water-spout. -
He forms a settlement on the Rio Belen. -The Indian
Chief prepares to destroy the Spaniards. -The Adelantado
captures the Chief in the midst of his people... 464
CHAPTER IV.
The natives attack the Spanish camp. -The crew of a longboat is massacred. -The Admiral cannot go to their relief
on account of the extreme roughness of the sea. -His
extreme sadness. - He has a miraculous vision. - Departure for Hispaniola, and forced landing at Queen's Gardens.
- Arrival in Jamaica, where the vessels are stranded in the
Bay of Santa Gloria.... 475
CHAPTER        V.
Columbus writes a letter to the Sovereigns, which he cannot
send but by a miracle. -Diego Mcndez undertakes to be
the bearer. -Mendez is marvellously aided by Providence,
and finally arrives in Hispaniola in a canoe.- This voyage
a truly miraculous one. -Revolt of the brothers Porras
against the Admiral.... 486




XV1


CONTENTS.


PAGE
CHAPTER VI.
The insurgents, in imitation of Diego Mendez, want to pass
to Hispaniola. - Three times they make the attempt, and
as often they are repelled by the sea. -They plunder the
habitations of the Indians, and try to excite them against
the Admiral. —The Indians determined to starve out the
strangers.- Anxiety of Columbus. - He addresses himself
to God, who inspires him with the idea of utilizing the
approaching eclipse of the moon.. 497
CHAPTER       VII.
The rebels attack the Admiral. -They are defeated by the
Adelantado, who makes their chief a prisoner. - Columbus
receives some aid, and returns to Hispaniola. - He departs
for Spain. - Successive tempests. - Providentially aided,
he arrives at San Lucar........ 507
CHAPTER       VIII.
Columbus sojourns in Seville. -Sickness and death of Isabella. -Unspeakable grief of Columbus at her death. -
His sickness, poverty, and moral sufferings. —From his
bed he counteracts an intrigue of Fonseca in Rome. -
Fruitless reclamations of Columbus before Ferdinand.He nobly rejects an offer made him by the King.. 514


CHAPTER       IX.
His disease becomes worse. — He sees his end is approaching.
- He deposits his will in the hands of the notary of the
Court. - Errors of historians and biographers in regard
to the date of this will, and of the order relative to Dofia
Beatrix Enriquez. - He receives the last sacraments. - His
last Words. - He dies on Ascension-Day. - Posthumous
Voyages of Columbus
CHAPTER X.
The private life of Columbus.- His public life a model for
administrators.-Providential character of Columbus.His Christian mission and relations with the Church. -
His Spiritual Affinities. -The Legend of St. Christopher.
- His affinities with the patriarchs, the prophets, and the
apostles. - Similitude of Moses and Columbus.- Of the
sanctity of Columbus. - Testimonies of the Most High in
favor of His servant.- Public miracles of a cross that was
erected by Columbus


532


547


ADDENDUM.


6Ig




INTRODUCTION.
Errors inevitable until the present time in regard to the Person, the
Civil Status, and the Character of Columbus. - Sympathies of
the Holy See. -Prejudices caused by Protestant Writers. —Exposure of the Calumny in regard to Columbus and his Wife, Dona
Beatrix Enriquez.-A new History of this Hero of Catholicity
needed.
SECTION     I.
ON Ascension Day, the twentieth of May, 1506, in an
inn at Valladolid, the Viceroy of the Indies, the great
Admiral of the Ocean, Don CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, assisted by some Franciscan priests, and surrounded by his two
sons and seven officers of his household, rendered his soul
back to God.
The death of the man who had doubled the known span
of the earth appeared to leave no void, to cause no sadness.
In the city it did not seem to be an event, much less a loss,
for Spain, where it occasioned neither noise nor sensation;
and it remained completely ignored abroad. At that moment public attention was engrossed by the arrival of
Princess Jane, daughter of Isabella the Catholic, coming,
accompanied by her consort, the Archduke Philip of Austria, to take possession of the Kingdom of Castile, which
had become her heritage. All the grandees had set out to
meet the august sovereigns, having learned their landing at
Corunna, after the perilous incidents of a passage interrupted by a kind of shipwreck on the coast of England.
The enthusiasm was general. The devoted brother of


I


(I)




2                INTRODUCTION.
Christopher Columbus, Don Bartholomew, was obliged, in
the interest of his nephews, to quit the sick-bed of the
patient, to go in his name to compliment the new sovereigns.
The conjugal contestations that frequently arose between
the young sovereigns, the misunderstanding that was said
to separate the Catholic King from his son-in-law, the dissensions in the palace, the parties that were formed there,
the disquietude about the future which these conflicts had
prepared, - preoccupying all minds, - caused the fate of
Columbus to be lost sight of. Moreover, it was a long time
known that the Admiral of the Ocean had fallen under the
displeasure of the King, and had therefore retired from the
Court. Isolation had surrounded him before his last hour,
and his death remained unnoticed. The man who had
bestowed on Spain one-half of this globe obtained neither
honors, nor a funeral oration, nor a monument, nor an
epitaph!
Such was the indifference of the public in regard to Columbus, that a Lombardian literary character, Peter Martyr
d'Anghierra,- who had formerly boasted of his familiarity
with the great man, and who had removed to Spain, hoping,
as he said, his name would be transmitted to posterity if he
should write the first events of the Discovery, —did not
deign to mention that death. And even the Chronicle of
Valladolid, which from the year I333 had minutely registered every event of local interest, - the building of
churches, of schools, births and marriages of note, fires,
criminal executions, installations of bishops, nominations
of aldermen, - did not think that this death merited being
registered in its annals. It was because that already, as
regarded Collumbus, the silence of forgetfulness preceded
that of the tomb. Nobody was interested about his death.
His glorious but unheeded remains were piously deposited
by his only friends, the Franciscans, in their convent at
Valladolid.
Nevertheless, at the end of seven years, Ferdinand having
altered his mind, and wishing to leave to history an example




INTR OD UC TION.


3


of his royal gratitude, remembered the man who had so
magnificently enlarged the grandeur of Spain. HIe ordered
that obsequies for the deceased should be celebrated conformably to his rank of High Admiral. His coffin was
exhumed from the convent of St. Francis, and transported
to the cathedral of Seville, where, at the expense of the
sovereign, a solemn service was performed; after which
the body was deposited in the vaults of the convent of Las
Cuevas, in the newly-constructed chapel of Christ. On the
mortuary-stone was engraved, in two verses, the legend of
his arms; and then all was said and done.
Columbus, providentially come from Italy to Spain, was
there considered a foreigner, notwithstanding his letters of
naturalization. He did not leave there, in dying, any powerful alliance who could espouse the interests of his glory
and of his posterity. During nine years, the route boldly
opened by his genius across the " Gloomy Ocean," until then
dreaded and believed impassable, was ploughed by able and
lucky adventurers. Numerous discoveries had succeeded
to his. The easy successes of the present caused men to
forget the toilsome labors of the past, better known by its
wonders than by its riches. New stars arose in the horizon
of fame. The discoveries of the Portuguese in the East,
and the navigation of the Castilians in the West Indies,
brought to notice unknown names. Since Vasco de Gama
had doubled the Cape of Tempests, discovered Mozambique,
Melinda, Guzarat, and established settlements at Cochin
and at Cananor, in another direction, under.the flag of Castile, Vincent Yaies Pinzon had crossed the equinoctial line.
Whilst the submission of Madagascar and of Soccotora,
the discovery of Sumatra and of Malacca, and the conquest
of Goa spread afar the glory of the Portuguese arms, a new
ardor animated the ports of Spain, and hastened the
attempts of establishing colonies on the new continent, on
the Gulf of Uraba, of Darien, at Porto Bello; and led to
the discovery of Florida by Juan Ponce de Leon, soon followed by that of the Pacific Ocean, by the intrepid Vasco




4


IVNTR OD UC TIOV.


Nuniez de Balboa. In the midst of these triumphs who
could have thought of Columbus?
During two consecutive years his oldest son had in vain
solicited from King Ferdinand the investiture of the posts
and dignities of his father, conformably to the text of the
conventions signed the seventeenth of April, 1497, in the
plain of Granada, ratified the twenty-third of April, I497,
and confirmed at Valencia by letter royal the fourteenth of
March, I502. All that he could at last obtain of the jealous
monarch was the authorization to establish his rights
according to law. But in this process, which he instituted
against the Crown of Castile, Dol Diego Columbus encountered as defendant the public minister, called the Fiscal
Attorney. The latter, in the interest of the Crown, opened
inquiries to which all the enemies of Columbus, -the
ungrateful, the envious, and the officers who were rebellious to his authority, - were invited to depose against his
glory. The Fiscal Attorney opposed to the claims of Diego,
that his father had never rendered to Castile any eminent
service, and that he was not the true author of the Discoveries. He was accused of having despoiled of his plan, his
charts, his observations, an unknown pilot, who might have
died at his house when he lived in the Portuguese island of
Porto-Santo; and of having, by means of this almost
sacrilegious spoliation, executed his enterprise. It was,
moreover, asserted, that if he had discovered some islands,
he was not the first who had landed on Terra Firima,
the new continent. Thus were reproduced, sustained, and
renewed all the old calumnies which, during his life, envy
had sown in his path as a consequence of his triumph.
\While these inquiries were being prosecuted, a Florentine, Amerigo Vespucci, a man of letters and a mathematician, came to be nominated president of the commission for
inquiry into naval affairs. At first, being first clerk in the
important house of the maritime expedition which his
countryman, Juanato Berardi, had founded in Seville, and
therefore in assiduous relations with Columbus, he imbibed,




INTR OD UC TION.                 5
from his conversations with. him, a liking for cosmography
and for distant wonders. Amerigo quitted the counter for
the astrolabe and the sextant, and made several voyages;
after which he became pilot-major. At a later period, he
was placed at the head of the hydrographic council. In
his youth, his uncle, George Anthony Vespucci, a learned
religious of St. Mark, charged with the education of several children of illustrious blood, had associated him in
their studies. His style of writing being graceful and diffuse, Amerigo, after his studies, continued to correspond
with several of his old fellow-students, who attained high
positions in Europe. The description of the voyages he
made to these new countries, addressed by him to the Duke
Rene de Lorraine, to Lorenzo de Pier Francesco de Medicis,
and to the gonfalonier of Florence, Pietro Soderini, was
echoed aloud. In one of his " Four Narrations," some vague
and ambiguous expressions he used, led to the belief that he
was the first who had seen terra firmna. He seems to have
given to these new countries the name of the New World.
Nevertheless, nobody hitherto had bestowed a name on
the continent discovered by Columbus. The Discovery
having been made under the auspices of the Cross, and for
the triumph of the Cross, this new land was indicated on
charts by the sign and name of the Cross. The continent
was at first called " LAND OF THE HOLY CROSS, or NVew
World."  The celebrated edition made in Rome of the
Geograpizy of Ptolemy, by Marc de Benevent and Jean
Cotta de Verone, in I6o8, reproduced Ruysch's Map of
the World, in which the new continent was designated
by these words: "' TERRA SANCTmE CRUCIS, sive Mundus
Novus."* But during this time, the Narration of Amerigo
Vespucci, already published at Vicenza, was, the preceding year, republished at Milan; and, without desiring
*The edition of Ptolemy, printed in Venice, in 15II, by Jacobus
Pentius de Leucho, with charts graven on wood, designated also the
new continent by these words in red capitals: "TERRA SANCTUE
CRUCIS."
I*




6


INTR OD UC TION.


it, France came to take away forever from Columbus the
honor of having his name bestowed on the New World
of which he was the discoverer.
A Lorrainese geographer, living in Saint-Die, had published, under the fictitious name of " Martinus Hylacomilus," a work on cosmography, followed by the " Four
Narrations of Voyages" by Amerigo Vespucci.*     This
publication, which was entitled, " AN INTRODUCTION TO
COSMOGRAPHY," edited at Saint-Die, printed at first in that
city in I507, and republished at Strasburg in I509, was
dedicated to the Emperor Maximilian. The author, Martin
\Valdsemiuller, does not mention Christopher Columbus's
name once in it, and appears to have had no knowledge even
of his existence. He loudly attributed the discovery of the
new continent to the genius of Amerigo, whose name he
Latinized Americus. In his admiration for the sagacity
of Americus, the cosmographer of Saint-Die declared he
did not see what right there was in not giving to the
New World the name of Americus, who discovered it, and
calling it America, since usage has rendered feminine the
names of Europe and of Asia.t The high reputation of
this work facilitated the adoption of the name proposed
by Waldsemuller. It can be seen in the edition of Jean
Gruniger, in I509, that the first copy of the " Narrations of
the Four Voyages" by Vespucci, first written in Spanish,
then translated into Portuguese, was rendered into Italian,
firom which it was translated into French. Soon afterwards, from French it was reproduced in Latin, which
caused it to become European. This great notoriety prepared the acquiescence of the public in the unjust naime
which was proposed by the geographer of Saint-Die.
We are, alas! obliged to acknowledge that it was
* Cosmographia Introductio, etc., 1507 and 50o9.
1 "Non video cur quis vetet ab Americo inventore sagacis ingenii
viro Amzeriget quasi Americi terram, sive Amrericam ducendam,
cum et Europa et Asia a mulieribus sua sortita sint nomina."Cosmografphia Introductio, cap. Ix.




INTR OD UC TION.                 e
France that first inscribed the name of America (Amerique) on its geographical charts. The oldest charts printed
at Lyons bear the name of Amerique, as designating the
New World. Such was the chart of 1522, engraven on
wood, which was joined to the edition of Ptolemy in the
shops of Melchoir and Gaspard Frechsel.* Such, also, was
the one published in I54I, by Hugues de Portes.
The Protestant presses of Germany were not slow,
through envy, in giving currency to this usurpation. The
apostate monk, Sebastian Munster, author of " The Introtroduction to a Table of Cosmography," spread the name
of America by the press of Basle. In another direction,
Joachim  Vadianus, in his " Universal Cosmography,"
printed at Zurich, in I548, propagated the name " America."
Florence welcomed with ardor a name that flattered its
patriotism; and Italy became the dupe of these ridiculously
vain assumptions. After having first been inserted in a
work of Cosmography, then graven on planispheres, the
name AMERICA is found, the first time, in I570, engraved
on a globe in relief. This globe, of a metallic composition, richly embossed in gold and silver, was the work
of a Milanese, -Francesco Basso.
At that time the name " America " was accepted without
dissent. For a long period Columbus was not remembered. His posterity, who could have revived his name,
were already extinct in the male line. In forming his
"Collection of Voyages," in I507, Fracanzo de Montalbodo
made no inquiry as regarded the death of Columbus, and
even was ignorant of his last maritime expedition. In the
Latin translation, the preface of which appears signed by
Madrignano, the first of June, I508, it was said, that "Up
to this date, Christopher Columbus and his brother, delivered from their captivity, lived in honor at the Court of
Spain." The continuator of Hernandez del Pulgar's celebrated "Chronicle of the Catholic Sovereigns," Master


* Orbis Ty2pus Universalis, etc., 1572.




8


INTR OD UC TION.


Valles, attributes the discovery of the New World, not to a
man, but to a caravel; * he makes an allusion to the fable
of the pilot who died at the house of Columbus. This
carelessness, which was the natural consequence of so maiy
mistakes, followed as a matter of course, from the great
disrepute in which the career of the grand Admiral of the
Ocean had terminated. The indifference of the public for
his glory may be judged from the fact, that a cotemporary
of the Discovery, Lucio Marineo, an elegant writer, who
came from Sicily to Castile to create a taste for Latin letters,
in writing his "History of Memorable Affairs of Spain,"
had already caused confusion on the subject of the Discovery,
by disfiguring the singularly symbolic name of Christopher
Columbus, and not blushing to call him PETER COLUAIBUS.t
He thus rendered himself the accomplice of the Teuton,
Jobst Ruchamer, who, in his first German book in which
the New World is spoken of, does not once mention the
name of Columbus, and perseveres in calling him Christopher Dawber, + which means CHRISTOPHER COCK-DOVE.
These men were not aware of the enormity of their
profanation.
After his third voyage, Columbus had fallen so low in
public estimation that nobody deigned to trouble himself
about him. For many he was no longer of this world.
Others, attaching no importance to what concerned him,
took no pains to verify the dates. We see that this depreciation of his glory was general at the time when the first
three " Oceanic Decades" of Peter Martyr appeared at Alcala
de Henares in 1516, ten years before the first edition of the
first books of the " History of the Indies," by Oviedo, published at Toledo, and when the Venetian, Ramusio, had
*Valles. Brevey compendiosa adicion a la Cronica de los catolicos
reyes, etc., cap. i, fol. cciiii.
tLucii Marinei Siculi, De rebus Hisptanice memorabilibus.: I think Dawber must have been a misprint, and that it should,
probably, have been Tauber, which expresses the above meaning.-B.




INTR OD UC TIONV.


9


already undertaken his " Collection of Voyages." The proof
of this is seen by their writings. All of them go to exonerate Columbus from the accusations which malevolence
continued to spread against him since his death. Nevertheless, the views of the Spanish historians were powerless to
reform public opinion: First, because their works, being
too learned, were not destined to become popular; next,
because none of these works were published in a complete
state of finish; lastly and particularly, because the greater
part of them remained in manuscripts. The second son of
Columbus, Don Fernando, who wrote the biography of his
father, did not terminate his work until I536, and left it in
manuscript. The virtuous Bartholomew Las Casas commenced his too late, and finished it only in fifty-three years
after the death of Christopher Columbus. He left it in
manuscript. Opinion remained, then, under the influence
of the most unjust prejudices. The calumny Columbus
had experienced since his triumph at the return of his first
voyage, unappeased by his death, became implacable against
his name, sat on his tomb, and defamed his memory.
SECTION     I.
In the midst of this almost general injustice, the Roman
Pontificate alone preserved the thought of the apostolic
grandeur of Columbus.
Successively three Popes had honored with their confidence this herald of the Cross. The Holy See never failed
in its regard for him. The Sacred College remained faithful to this noble sympathy. Already, during his lifetime,
when his glory encountered so many detractors in that
Spain which he had made the greatest nation in the world,
at Rome the Holy Father and the Cardinals honored his
immortal labors. The only writing of this great man that
was published during his lifetime was printed at Rome, in
I493, by Aliander de Cosco, in the house of Eucharius
Argentinus.




IO


INTRODUC TION.


The first personage in Rome who received and propagated the historic details of the Discovery, was Cardinal
Ascanio Sforza.
Cardinal Bernardin Carvajal corresponded, in relation to
Columbus, with the celebrated scholar, Peter Martyr
d'Anghierra, professor of Latin at the Court of Spain.
Cardinal Luiz d'Arragon sent one of his secretaries to
collect, under the dictation of Peter Martyr, what that elegant scholar had learned from Columbus himself.
The illustrious Cardinal Bembo inserted in his " History
of Venice" a whole book on the discovery of Columbus.
Pope Leo X. caused to be read, during the evenings of
winter, in the midst of the Pontifical Court, all the discoveries of Columbus, the history of which was written by
Peter Martyr d'Anghierra, under the title of OCEANIC
DECADES.
Almost the whole of the Roman cardinalate invited a
noble citizen of the city, - Guilio-Cesare Stella, - to write
in Latin verse the epopee of the New World.
Cardinal Alexander Farnese particularly gave celebrity
to this work, by causing the manuscript to be read at his
Villa Farnese, in the presence of purpled togas.  He
engaged the Jesuit, Father Francesco Benci, to enrich it
with a preface.
Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili counselled another Jesuit,
Father Ubertino Carrara, to compose a poem on the same
subject.
Cardinal Sforza Pallavacino celebrated, himself, the work
of Columbus, in his FASTI SACRI.
The Cardinal-Bishop of Verona, the great Agostino
Valerio, in his book, De Consolatione Eccesice, eulogizes
grandly the work of the Discovery, and its importance to
Catholicity; and implicitly glorifies Columbus, in applying to his mission some remarkable texts from the prophecies of Isaias.
It was under the auspices of Pope Innocent IX., and of
Cardinal Gabriel Paleotto, that the learned Oratorian,




INTR OD UC TION.                 I
Thomas Bozius, published the part of his work, De Signis
EccZesicz Dei, in which he also applies to Columbus divers
passages of some prophecies.
The first cardinal who engaged a poet to celebrate, in the
Italian language, the voyages of Columbus, was a Frenchmah, his Eminence Antoine Perrenot, better known under
the name of Cardinal Granvelle; and it must be acknowledged that the poet Lorenzo Gambara carried out his
intentions.
It was in Rome that a noble Genoese historian, Uberto
Foglieta, vented his indignation against " the shameful
silence and incredible blindness" of his country, which
accorded statues to some citizens for ordinary causes, and
had erected none to the only one of her children whose
glory was unequalled.* Until the year I577, the Republic
of Genoa, partaking of the indifference of the other States
in regard to Columbus, had not dreamt of consecrating to
him a block of that marble of which its palaces are so
lavish. It was from the Eternal City that the generous protest of the Genoese patrician went forth, and his declaration
of the incomparable service  rendered by his countryman
to the Church of Jesus Christ.
Thanks to Roman influence, Italy did not entirely lose
the remembrance of Columbus. The voice of the poets,
encouraged by the Cardinalate, awakened patriotism. As
in the heroic times of Greece, seven cities had disputed for
the birthplace of Homer, so now were seen seven cities
and market-places claiming the honor of having given birth
to Columbus. Savona, Pradello, Nervi, Cugureo, Bugiasco, Cuccaro, dared to enter the lists with Genoa the
Superb. But, apart from this contest of local self-love, the
rest of Europe, and particularly France, attached no serious
importance to the person of Columbus or to his superhuman
* Uberto Foglieta, Clarorum Iigurum Elogia, p. 36. Printed at
Rome, in 1577.
tIbid.




12


iVTR OD UC TION.


work, and nobody thought of writing his history. No one
even took the pains of translating at full length the part of
the works relative to America, which was published in
Spain under the title of History of the IWest Indies.
People were contented with vague rumors,- with palpable
errors. The only circumstance which prevented Columbus
from being entirely forgotten was, perhaps, the stupid story
of the egg, which, notwithstanding its extreme improbability,
was received as true. Columbus had discovered the New
World, and to explain his discovery broke the end of an egg
on a table! This story summed up the two principal events
of his life, -the only ones that were to be remembered.
The story of the egg being pleasant for children, the first
history of Columbus that was written in Germany, was for
the amusement of youth.
How could men be seriously occupied with thoughts of
Columbus at a time when his work was so little considered
by the writers, the philosophers who ruled the eighteenth
century, - a time when the whole American continent was
known, and the extent as well as the form of the earth
determined?  Those men who imagined they had found in
America objections against Moses and the Sacred Scriptures, were not placed in favorable circumstances to appreciate the mission of the man who had placed the old world
in relation with the new.
We cannot be astonished at the errors of vulgar minds,
when we see a celebrated writer, Raynal, decked with the
title of Philosopher, and author of the famous P/ilosophical History of the Indies, place Vasco de Gama
above Columbus, in considering the passage of the Cape
as the grandest epoch of history! * To thank the Academy
of Lyons for having elected him among its members, he
proposed to it a prize on this silly platitude, which he
decorated with the name of   ztestion:  'Has the discovery of America been hurtful or beneficial to mankind? "


* Raynal.   Histoire Philos. et Pol. des Indes, t. I, p. 98.




INTR OD UC TIONV.


I3


Among those encyclopmdists, who, according to their title,
knew all the sciences, not one of them appreciated Columbus, or the grandeur of his work. The learned Buffon
himself, participating in the general contempt for the importance of the New World, placed the discovery of the
Portuguese before that of Columbus: "' They doubled the
Cape of Good Hope, they traversed the seas of Africa and
of the Indies, and, whilst they directed all their views to the
East and to the South, Christopher Columbus turned his
towards the West." *
Protestantism came to the aid of French Philosophy.
Robertson found that for the Discovery there was no need
for Columbus. " If the sagacity of Columbus," says he,
" had not made known to us America, some years later a
happy chance would have conducted us to it." t As if ever
anybody would have dared to venture into those dread
latitudes, had not the success of Christopher Columbus
removed the fears of mariners, and thrown light on the
mysteries of the GLOOMY OCEAN!
Seeing that the claims of Columbus could be so easily
passed over, a French diplomatist, M. Otta, thought he
exhibited an instance of philosophic perspicacity, and one
that deserved praise from archeology, in trying to prove
that Columbus had not made the discovery, inasmuch as
America was known before his enterprise. The first of
April, I786, he addressed from New York, to the celebrated
Dr. Franklin, a memoir on the subject. In the following
year, in the materialistic observations and additions to the
philosophical memoirs of Ulloa upon the discovery of
America, the old accusations of the enemies of Columbus
were revived, and the famous unknown pilot, who confided
his charts to him, received the title of NAVIGATOR.* Buffon. CEuvres CompZ., augmentees par Cuvier.
t Robertson. History of America. B. I.: "This navigator to whom he owed all the glory of his discoveries."-Ulloa. Memoires, Philos. Histor. Phys. concernant la decouverte de l'Amerique, t. II.
2




I4


IXVTR OD UC TION.


Already, others, not limiting themselves to having despoiled
him of his discovery, disputed his assiduity and his talent
for observation. It is well known that the first observation
of terrestrial magnetism was made on the mariner's conpass by Christopher Columbus, the thirteenth of September,
I492. Fontenelle, in his History of the Royal Academy
of Sciences, hesitates not in giving the homage of this
discovery to Sebastian Cabot, who did not set out until
I497, or even to Dieppois Grignon, who was posterior to
the latter by thirty years!
This depreciation of Columbus, the incertitude in regard
to his origin, his country, his work, was the reason why he
was spoken of at random, and without attaching much
importance to him. The gravest men by no means prided
themselves with accuracy in facts and dates, when the
question was about Columbus. Thus, Montesquieu himself, in his Spirit of the Laws, blames those who regretted
that Francis I. had not furnished ships to " Christopher
Columbus, who had proposed the Indies to him." *  He
forgets that America was discovered twenty-three years
before Francis I. mounted the throne. It is thus that
another pedant, a cotemporary of ours, M. de Marchangy,
in his Poetic GauZ, considers the discovery only as accessory, accords it only a secondary rank, and, after having
spoken of the Cape of Good Hope doubled by Vasco de
Gama, says only: " Towards the same time, the Discovery
of America by Christopher Columbus gave new developments to this commercial activity, and to this liking for
distant expeditions," etc.t As if the expedition of Vasco
de Gama, which dates from I497, was not the consequence
of the discovery of Columbus in I492!
In the same manner, Spain did not manifest greater scruples, and continued to treat very cavalierly the immortal
renown of the discoverer of America. In his grand General


* Montesquieu. De l'Esprit des Lois, c. xvIIm.
t Marchangy. Gazle Poetique, t. vii.




INTR OD UC TION.


'5


History of Stain, Mariana recognizes in Columbus no
merit of discovery or initiation. In his estimation, the
Discovery was a collective work. He says: " With what
good fortune and prodigious success these intrepid men
traversed the boundless space of the ocean." After having
mentioned the infamous calumny of the pretended pilot
who died at the house of Columbus, and by the latter
despoiled of his glory, he relates that by the aid of charts
pilfered from the deceased, Columbus recognized " all the
coasts that are between the two poles, from the Strait of
Magellan to Cape de Vacallao," and that thus he traversed
more than five thousand leagues.* The author of another
General History of Stain, Ferreras, assigns the discovery
of the New World to Americus Vespuccius, whom he confounds with the fabulous pilot, always dead, at Columbus's
house, and pretends that it was by means of the notes
and charts of Americus that Columbus started on his
enterprise. t
In our own days there is manifested a movement of
reparative justice and friendliness for the fame of Columbus. Pains are taken to honor him. The portraits, the
statues of the hero are multiplied. Several cities raise
monuments to him. Books and periodicals tend to popularize his biography. Still, never was his glory in greater
danger than at the present day. Notwithstanding the rectitude of his intentions, Columbus remains unavoidably
unappreciated. The worst of obscurities, - that which is
produced by a false literature,- separates us from him.
Historic error has condensed its darkness around his
memory. This supercilious and pedantic error we know
intimately. We have found out the secret of his birth,
followed his footsteps from the cradle, noted the dates of
his first movements, and apprehended the cause of his
success, and of the credit which it knew how to obtain.


* Mariana.   General History of Sjpain, B. xxvI.
t Ferreras.  General History of Sjain, t. vIII.




i6


INTR OD UC TION.


But, previously, in order to show how lively an interest
there is attached to the memory of Columbus, let us take a
look at the sympathies of our age for that grandeur which
has not yet been wholly revealed to it.
SE CTION     II.
In the beginning of this century, a Frenchman whom we
have known personally, M. de Pons, wrote an account of
his voyage to the part of the continent discovered by
Columbus,* and came to Paris to print his book, in which
he made manifest his admiration for the discoverer of the
New World. Towards the same time, the Academy of
Turin listened to communications relative to Columbus.
In I805, a Piedmontese Count, Galeani Napione, published a dissertation on the country of Columbus, who he
pretended was born at Cuccaro, in Montferrat.t
In I809, the Abbe Francois Cancellieri published in
Rome some epistolary dissertations on Columbus.   Encouraged by the success that attended it, Galeani Napione
gave, on the same subject, a dissertation, entitled, Of tze
First Discoverer of the iVew Contzinenl.+  A year after,
Morelli published at Venice, and republished at Bassano,
under the name of Lettera rarissima, a letter by Columbus, written from Jamaica. This document, for a long
time forgotten, made great noise among learned societies.
Savona became concerned about the pretensions of Cuccaro, and wrote to reclaim its rights. Genoa stood up for
its own; its Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts,
named among its members a commission charged with
examining the question of the birthplace of Columbus,
and in 1812 their report excited a lively interest.~
* De Pons. Voyage a la partie Orientale de la Terre Firme. 3 vols.
t Napione, Della patri/a di Cristoforo Colombo.
Dcl jrimo scopritore del continente del Nuovo o.londo.
~ Ragionamento nel quale si confirma 1'ojpinione generale intorno
alla patria di Cristoforo Colombo, etc.




INTR OD UC TION.


I7


The fall of the French Empire, and the reorganization
of Italian States, postponed the discussion, without terminating it.
In I816, The Edinburgh Review renewed the debate.
In I817, Luigi Bossi prepared, at Milan, his life of
Christopher Columbus.
In I8I8, Cardinal Zurla spoke of Columbus in his Voyages of the ]fiost Illustrious Venetians.
In 1819, Father Spotorno, a Barnabite and a bibliographer, published, at Genoa, his work entitled, Of the
Orzigin and Country of Christopher Columbus, in three
volumes.
In I823, the Municipal Council of Genoa caused, by the
aid of subscriptions, all the title-deeds and documents relative to Columbus to be published, and had them united in
a magnificent volume, bearing the title of Codice diplomatico Americano, which it charged Father Spotorno to
grace with a biographical introduction.
The year following, France, which could not remain
indifferent to this ardor for the glory of Columbus, had a
translation made of his life, by Bossi.* Spain did not
remain a stranger to the current of thought. The director
of the Royal Academy of History of Madrid, Don Martin
Fernandez de Navarrete, hastened the collection of the
documents relative to the history of America, and the progress of the marine, which he made by order of the Crown.
In I825, the first volume was consigned to the press.t
In the course of I826, while the advocate Giamba.ttista
Belloro renewed at Genoa the pretensions of Sacone to be
considered the birthplace of Columbus, and inserted his
dissertation in the Astronomncal Correspondence of Baron
de Zach, Mexico published the two works of La Vega
and of Bustamente on the discovery of the New World.
The same year, an American writer who sojourned in Spain,
* Histoire de Christofphe Colombe. Paris, 1824.
t Coleccion de los Viages y Descubrimientos que hic'ieron por mar
los Espahioles desde el fin del siglo, xv.
2*




I8


INTR OD UC TION.


Mr. Washington Irving, placed in relation with the archivists of Madrid, and having at his disposal materials
already prepared, wrote his History of th/e Lfje and Voyages of Christotpher Columbus.   This work, welcomed
with a lively interest, was circulated in a few years in all
the nations of Europe.
In I828, M. Ferdinand Denis, under the form of a historical romance, gave a lovely and poetic picture of the
Discovery, in which the distinctive character of Columbus
is seized with as much exactness as it is expressed with
felicity. Ismael ben Kaissar * is the title of this composition, in which the richness of lively local colorings are
happily allied with the truth of history. We have seen,
later, a celebrated romancer of the United States, Fenimore Cooper, becoming occupied with this subject, wish
to appropriate and transpose it into his own language,t- but
without succeeding in infusing into it that spontaneous
effulgence, that charm of description, which is poetically
faithful to the perfumes of intertropical nature, with which
Fernando Denis had impregnated his work. Afterwards,
a translation of Washington Irving's work, augmented with
annotations, was published in Genoa. Some years later,
Humboldt wrote comments on the discoveries of Columbus,
in five volumes, under the title of A Critical Examination
of the History and the Geography of the Nezw Continent.
In I843, our book, THE CROSS IN TE Tw o WORLDS,
came to reveal, for the first time, the providential mission
confided to Columbus, and to affirm loudly the saintliness
of his character. This work, come to its fourth edition,
translated, as is well known, into Italian, on its first
appearance taught people to consider, under his true character, the herald of the Cross.
The events of I848, and the European commotion which
was their consequence, did not for a long time turn the


* Ismael ben Kaissar, ou la decouverte del Nouveau Monde.
t Under the title, Mlercedes of Castile.




INTR OD UC TION.


I9


attention of the public from a subject that always engrosses
its attention without ever tiring it. Some of the American
republics wished to honor the hero of the two worlds. Several cities awarded him monuments. In 1850, the government of Peru determined to honor him with a colossal
statue in the great square of Lima, and confided its execution to the celebrated sculptor, Salvatore Revelli. In I85I,
an eminent Ligurian, attached to the service of His Holiness, Monseigneur Stefano Rossi, published a remarkable
work, entitled, " On the Exile of Christopher Columbus, a
Genoese." *
In IS52, our illustrious friend Count Tullio Dandolot
published at Milan his work, - The Ages of Dante and
of Columbus, -in which he copied the part of our book,
THE CROSS IN THE Two WORLDS, which touched on the
religious character of Columbus, and the whole of Italy
praised the new work.
In 1853, the only descendant of the Counts Colombo de
Cuccaro, Monseigneur Luigi Colombo, domestic prelate of
His Holiness, composed a work on his immortal relative.
In his book,t which was in press at the time of our last
sojourn in Rome, and the proof-sheets of which the virtuous
prelate had the courtesy to communicate to us, the question
of the birthplace is raised, but not exhausted definitively.
The work, presenting an ensemble of appreciations on the
extensive subject of relationship, rather than a real history
of the discoveries of Christopher Columbus, contains, nevertheless, a cursory view of the services rendered to the world
by the man who completed our knowledge of it.+
* Del discacciamento di Cristoforo Colombo, Genovese, in 80.
Patria e Biografia del grande ammiraglio D. Cristoforo Colombo, etc. Roma.: Several other writers who have written biographies of Columbus
are mentioned by M. De Lorgues. - B.




20


INTR OD UC TION.


SECTION IV.
Thus, from the first days of the nineteenth century to
more than its first half, an ascending series of publications,
more and more brought together in proportion as we are
removed from the epoch of the Discovery, shows the progressive interest that is attached to the memory of Columbus. This constant succession of labors and of testimonials
on the same subject, a constancy of which our age does not
offer a second example, sufficiently shows how far research
is from having exhausted this magnificent theme of history.
But this persistence of public interest reveals an unsatisfied desire, 'and indicates a new  expectation. There is
reason for wishing for new details, for new elucidations.
The instinct of people is not deceived. Now, we declare
loudly that after all these homages of the arts, these labors
of the learned, and these assertions of historians, Christopher Columbus is worse known in our days than he was a
century ago. At that time people were at least ignorant of
him, and did not pretend to have known him thoroughly.
The incertitude of opinion was notorious; and persons
knew they did not know him, or that they had of him only
a wlrong knowledge, which is often the worst kind of
knowledge.  At present, everybody has the pretension,
apparently well founded, of knowing and judging of Columbus. Opinion is formed on the appreciation of writers
whose accredited names countenance the error of the common herd.   Only one voice has been heard, that of a
learned and ambitious coterie, which has gained possession
of the history of Columbus, and made personal property
of his memory.
The time for his historic Rehabilitation is come at last.
WVe shall tell the whole truth about him.
The coterie alluded to is composed solely of four writers.
Of the four, only one has written the life of Columbus in
the regular form of history; two have written only disser



INTR OD UC TION.


21


tations and introductions; the last one has written neither
memoir nor biography, - he has limited himself to a commentary, - but the authority of his European name has
sanctioned the errors put forth by the three others, aggravating them with all the weight of his own errors.
These four writers, whose tacit and retrospective association has obtained the monopoly of the history of Columbus, and who denaturalize his person and his providential
role, are,-the Genoese, Giambattista Spotorno; the American, Washington Irving; the Spanish academician, D.
Martin Fernandez de Navarrete; and the illustrious Prussian, Alexander Humboldt.
Spotorno wrote by order of the decurional corps of
Genoa; Navarrete, by order of the Court of Spain; Irving,
to gain the literary crown which his preceding successes
presaged; Humboldt, to mark with an everlasting seal his
travels in the equinoctial regions.
Spotorno and Navarrete have only written dissertations,
and laboriously collected materials, from which Messrs.
Humboldt and Irving have composed, - the latter, his
History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus; the former, his Critical Examination of the History
and Geography of the New       Continent.  These four
writers have deceived themselves, and deceived us. The
official position of the two former, and the great notoriety
of the two others, have invested their labors with imperious
authority; and they have imposed their errors on our
cotemporaries.
A strange circumstance! never until now has any European written the life of Columbus. A thing not less strange,
no Catholic writer has hitherto given the complete biography of the messenger of the Cross in those new regions.
As the justly celebrated Father Ventura de Raulica has
remarked, whilst the history of Bossi counts scarcely fortythree pages, that of Washington Irving is composed of four
volumes, 8vo, and the commentaries of Humboldt of five
volumes, Svo. Now, Irving and Humboldt, the only writers




INTR OD UC TION.


who have fully treated of this history, are both Protestants.
It will be easily conceived that athwart the prejudices of
sect, they could not judge soundly of the spirit and the acts
of the man in whom the most ardent Catholicity was personified. The history of this servant of God has been exclusively presented to the public by two men opposed to his
faith, to the yearnings of his heart, to the aspirations of his
soul. The biography of Columbus has remained in the
hands of his natural enemies. They have presented him to
us such as they have made him, far from us, without restraint, without control.
The vast success obtained by the work of Irving, and
the great name of Humboldt, have deterred persons from
all efiorts in the way of vindication or of rectification; that
which issued from their Protestant pens has appeared to be
the definitive judgment of history. For the last twentyeight years, academicians, learned societies, biographies,
reviews, encyclopedias, repeat, with respect, facts and opinions derived from these two writers; and there is scarcely
in the whole world a single line printed on Columbus that
has not been, with docility, borrowed from one or other of
these two sources. Whence it follows that the view taken
of it by Protestantism is the only one by which people have
judged of the most vast, and evidently,the most superhuman
achievement of Catholic genius. Hence it again follows
that prejudice, enmity, and hostility against the Catholic
Church, have the incredible privilege of teaching the Catholic world the life of a man who is one of its most shining
glories.
Is not such an anomaly as strange as it is irrational?
Even before any examination, is it not evident that prejudice must have wormed itself into the appreciation that
Protestantism could make of the herald of the Catholic
Church, who was sent by her inspiration to the inhabitants
of unknown regions? The Protestant school could not
comprehend the character and the mission of Columbus.
To the obstacle arising from religious belief, must be joined




INTR OD UC TION.


23


another coming from its system of historic composition.
The biographies of Columbus have been written conformably to a preconceived order of ideas, and solely in accordance with the data of human philosophy. The Protestant
school does not attribute a supernatural character to an
event that has doubled the world. It does not recognize
in it a day marked by Divine Wisdom, and the accomplishment of a will inspired by the Most High. According to
its disciples, this Discovery, in default of Columbus, would
have quite naturally followed, from the progress of nautical
science. They cannot bring themselves to see, in the discovery of the New World, a providential intervention.
How could they, then, accord a Divine aid to the faith of
Columbus? They prefer attributing to the compass and
the astrolabe, what they refuse to Divine bounty. They
admit the miracles of human genius, and deny heavenly
favors. They refuse giving to God what they are willing
to give to man. And while Christopher Columbus, after
having so many times experienced supernatural aid, recognized it with gratitude, declared it even in his official
reports to government, and considered himself as a simple
instrument in the hands of Providence, they, in recounting
his history, obstinately deny this efficacious assistance.
They pretend to know Columbus better than Columbus
knew himself.
Conformably to their theory that the motives of human
acts are always identical, they have rejected the superior
character of Columbus, the man chosen by Heaven, and
despoiled him of his spiritual grandeur in order to make
him like the rest of men. They have studied to lessen
him, to shorten him to their own stature. They have
invested him with their own sentiments; they have lent
him their own views, their own instincts; judging of him
by their own hearts.  Lest some traces of his native
grandeur should survive in the majesty of his character,
they have found in him not only imperfections, but also
defects, -even vices. Nevertheless, their indulgence has




24


INTRODUCTION.


mercifully induced them to forgive him, in comparing him
with the heroes of pagan antiquity, whose grandeur did
not exempt them from   paying tribute to human fiailty.
Under the pretext of erudition, of the impartiality of historic
criticism, this Coterie of Four Writers has denaturalized
the inmost facts of the life of Columbus.
After having exhumed all the accusations repeated against
him during his lifetime, they have known how to aggravate
them with a calumny of which his cotemporaries could
have had no idea. In the most envenomed persecutions
he endured, never did any enemy of Columbus attack his
purity of manners. The breath of hatred never dared to
tarnish this mirror of chastity. Such an imposture was
reserved for our days.
Is it not time to dissipate this calumny, conceived in
Piedmont, born at Genoa, nourished in Spain, and adopted
with ardor by Protestantism, -to oppose to it the Catholic
grandeur of the man who was providentially charged with
raising the veil that during six thousand years hid from us
the totality of the terrestrial globe? Let the piety of the
faithful be reassured; let the admirers of Columbus have
no fear; the herald of the Cross was always without reproach, as he was always without fear. And if he should
have participated in our imperfections, - our almost involuntary oversights,- at least he never forgot the obligations
he owed for the honor the Divine Majesty deigned to confer
on him. Nevertheless, for those who have at heart the
integrity of history as much as the glory of Columbus, we
ought, before relating the life of this great Servant of God,
to expose, in a few lines, the calumny which is the ground
of the different imputations directed against him.
We are going to show how this calumny was impudently
brought forward, accepted, accredited, and imposed on the
learned of Europe.
In ISo5, Galeani Napione, an erudite, but cavilling and
opinionative writer, who held out against all evidence that
Columbus was born at the chateau of Cuccaro, in Mont



INTR OD UC TIOVN.


25


ferrat, examining the voluminous medley of lawsuits successively carried on in Spain on account of the inheritance
of the descendants of Columbus, imagined he found a
coruscation of historic light in a memorandum drawn up
in behalf of a certain Diego Colon y Larriategui, but which
was rejected by the court. The attorney needed, for his
cause, to attack retrospectively, and through the course of
ages, the legitimacy of the second son of Columbus, Don
Fernando. As the proof of the illegitimacy did not result
firom any ostensible document, fiom any instrument either
past or present, the crafty lawyer sought to deduce it, not
fiom an expression which he found to his liking, but, on
the contrary, from the absence of a word which he pretended to be necessary, although it did not gain him his
cause. In his will, Columbus charged his heir to give a
pension to Beatrix Enriquez, the mother of his second son,
Don Fernando. That was very clear. But the testator did
not precede with the title of wife the name of the lady.
The attorney, from this circumstance, inferred the absence
of the matrimonial tie, and consequently the illegitimacy
of Fernando Columbus. Who would believe it? this contemptible quibble appeared a light to Napione! Thereupon
he amplified quite a series of arguments of equal force, and
presented, as a discovery he made on the civil' status of
Columbus, this miserable inference, due to the cavilling of
the poor licentiate, Luis de la Palma y Freytas. Napione
had thus, at a cheap rate, the honor of presenting new and
keen views.
In I809, a French antiquarian and bibliographer, Francois Cancellieri, expert in collecting and classifying facts,
but destitute of philosophic acumen, repeated, without
examination, the pretended inference made by Napione,
of which, it must be said, nobody at first took notice.
Hitherto this bold accusation, hazarded in a work of
slender importance, did not imperil the good name of
Columbus; but, according to the common proverb, " One is
never betrayed but by his own" (les siens), some years
3




26


INTR OD UC TION.


after, a Genoese, Father Sportorno, an old Barnabite. excited with a keen resentment against the second son of
Columbus, Don Fernando, whom he accused of having
designedly disseminated some doubts in regard to the origin
and the birthplace of his father, welcomed with ardor this
imputation of bastardy, which favored his animosity.
Neither the contrary proof, resulting doubly from the
assertions and the silence of the Spanish writers, nor the
demonstration so logical of the facts, nor the character
almost sacerdotal of the messenger of the Cross, could
remove his prejudice. This stain of origin, whatever it
may cost, was necessary for him, to cast, in his turn, some
doubt on the veracity of the historian the nearest in point
of time, and the best acquainted with Columbus. In all
his writings, Spotorno recurs with a malignant satisfaction
to the pretended illicit intimacy of Columbus with Beatrix
Enriquez, and renews the charge of illegitimacy against
Don Fernando. Not content with having, in ISI9, inserted
it in his book, " Of the Origin and of the Country of
Christopher Columbus," he proudly repeated it in his
"Literary History of Liguria," but in giving it as the
product of his own sagacity. Thus, as Napione had decked
himself with the quibble stolen from a distant Spanish
attorney, so, by force of repeating the plagiarism committed
on Napione, Spotorno finishes with claiming as his own
personal property this miserable calumny, ignorant of its
true consequences.
In the eyes of unthinking readers, this pretended discovery of the secret passion of Columbus gained for Spotorno the reputation of being a learned critic; it obtained
for him, in I823, the honor of being charged by the
decurional corps of Genoa with the publication of some
documents relative to Columbus, the collection of which
formed the Codice Colozbo Amzericano. The care of
introducing the new volume with a notice of the Genoese
hero, was intrusted to him. Spotorno could not fail, in
availing himself of so favorable an opportunity, to re



INTR OD UC TION.


27


commence his imputation of bastardy. He uttered,them,
his accusations of secret amours against the father, in order
to stigmatize the son. The official position of Father Spotorno obtained for his notice as much authority as it did
notoriety. It was he that propagated the notion of the
frailty of the Hero.
Precisely at that period, Martin Fernandez de Navarrete
was continuing the " Collection of the Maritime Voyages of
the Spaniards," commenced by the learned Don Bautista
Mufoz, by order of Charles IV. A writer of a graceful
style, but destitute of originality, - accomplished with a
special kind of learning, but wanting in that reach of
thought which belongs to elevated minds, -Navarrete, obtaining many offices, many honors, carried to idolatry his
respect for the royal majesty. Indignant at the freedom of
Bossi, and especially at that of his French translator, who
briefly recalled the ingratitude of Ferdinand the Catholic
towards Columbus, he undertook the task of exculpating
the most ungrateful, by calumniating the most generous of
men. Vengeance armed his pen. Yet, in the whole course
of his researches, Navarrete found nothing that could cast
the least suspicion on the relations of Columbus with Beatrix
Enriquez. All his annotations showed Fernando as the
legitimate son of the Admiral of the Ocean. The calumny
of Spotorno came to give him a new arm.
Starting from that moment, we meet with quite a display
of accusations. Columbus left Portugal secretly, in order
to defraud his creditors. If he showed great patience in
the delays made by the Court of Spain in regard to the
project of his discoveries, this patience, this force of soul
that was attributed to his Catholic faith, is explained by
a secret cause: Columbus loved to distraction a certain
beauty of Cordova, whom he had made a mother. Consequently, with him religious appearances were only skilfulness of conduct; he conformed exteriorly to the habits of
the court, which was then very rigid in regard to morals.
His unscrupulousness and hypocrisy being once admitted,




28


INVTR OD UC TION.


Navarrete pursues with advantage his accusations, shows
the insatiable avidity of Columbus, and seems to admit
some acts of disloyalty and malversation. In wresting and
mutilating the narration of Oviedo, that old enemy of
Columbus, he supposes some unspecified crimes,- some
concealed misdemeanors, - for which it was sought to
punish him without public chastisement. Afterwards come
the charges of violence and of cruelty. The courtier has
calumniated Columbus beyond measure, in order the better
to praise the clemency of Ferdinand, who, he pretends, was
gracious to him, and treated him with kindness.
Navarrete afterwards seeks to judge of Columbus from
the point of view of the philosophy of history. He finds
that " his faults were the peculiar consequences of human
fiailty, and probably of the education he received, of the
career he embraced, and of the country in which he was
born, - a country in which traffic and business formed the
principal branch of riches, private as well as public."
Navarrete does not think that, in speaking thus, he diminishes the glory of Columbus as " the author of the discovery
of the New World," and supports his views with some
examples: ~ "Alexander dominated by wrath, and afterwards
by superstition; Alcibiades having many admirable qualities and infamous vices; Cassar uniting inordinate ambition
with eminent qualities," etc. It is thus that the disciple
of Jesus Christ is appreciated! People think they do him
much honor by comparing him to the great men of
Paganism!
Before the impassioned lucubrations of Navarrete were
entirely printed, Washington Irving, who was in Spain,
became acquainted with them. Although a Protestant,
and, therefore, a greater stranger than Spotorno and
Navarrete to the sentiments that animated Columbus, he,
nevertheless, conceived a higher and a juster idea of the
great man than they did. His rectitude of mind, aided by
his bibliographical researches, showed him the short-sightedness and the partiality of these two collectors of historic




INTR OD UC TION.


29


materials. Although controlled to a certain extent by their
influence, and not daring to come in opposition with
Navarrete, he admits only a part of their accusations,
mitigates them, and does not hazard the interpretations
of Spotorno but with a hesitation bordering on repugnance.
Far from pardoning in growing older, Father Spotorno
embittered against Fernando Columbus; and, taking pride
in the conjecture of bastardy welcomed so warmly by Navarrete, returns to the charge with a puerile ostentation. He
boasts of his pretended discovery, while the shameful merit
of this error belongs of right to Napione. In his annotations to the Genoese edition of Irving, Spotorno, the true
inspirer of the anonymous notes, reproaches the American
author with timidity. He attributes it to the circumstance
that Irving had not read his own work on the " Origin and
the Country of Christopher Columbus." He sifts again what
he had already written in the work Della Origzine, in the
Codice Colombo Americaczo, in the Literary History.
Not content with repeating his assertions, he adds, by way
of induction, new blunders to his preceding mistakes, and
finishes with proving how little he was acquainted with
Columbus.
This can be judged of from a single example: Spotorno,
having mistaken the meaning of some words of Peter Martyr in regard to an Indian of the Lucaya isles baptized in
Spain, having for godfather Don Diego Columbus, and
therefore named Diego, according to Christian custom, confounds this Diego, who served as an interpreter to the
Admiral, with his godfather Don Diego, brother of the
Admiral; and speaks seriously of the marriage of the Genoese, Don Diego Columbus, with an Indian lady of Hayti;
whereas it was the Lucayian interpreter, Diego, who espoused
the Indian lady. It is still only an error in regard to person, to situation, - a gross improbability. But what becomes culpable is, that upon this absurd notion Spotorno
dares to bring an accusation against the character of
Columbus.
3*




30


LNrTR OD UC TION.


Spotorno judges that Beatrix Enriquez did not belong to
the nobility; that she must have been very poor; and that
the remorse of Columbus, and his fear of the cause of it
being discovered, prove manifestly that his connection with
her was not cemented by a legitimate union.
The persistence of Spotorno, the positive tone of his
assertions, and especially the silence of contradictors, have
imposed on his fellow-citizens. His accusations, far from
being combated, have been reproduced with eagerness; he
has passed for a kind of oracle at Genoa, and in the whole
of Liguria.
The respect generally manifested for Spotorno by the
writers of Liguria (except in their differences on the question
of origin), their credulous repetition of his silly stuff, and
their mutual respect for the errors of each other, vwould still
have been of little consequence,if Navarrete had not seized
with malignant joy the denunciations of Spotorno against
the amours of Columbus in Cordova. And even this accusation would have had no untoward notoriety, destitute as
it was of foundation, had not the illustrious Humboldt
accorded it credit, in screening with his encyclopzedic name
the accusations made by Navarrete.
After the history of Washington Irving, the work which
most expressly and most fully treats of Columbus is assuredly that which has been published by Humboldt, under the
title of A Critical Examinzation of thie History anzd tie
Geography of the New    Continent. These two works,
then, compose solely the groundwork of science and of
history relative to the discovery of the New World. The
one by his great popularity, the other by his magisterial
authority, have fixed, and almost formed public opinion.
Academies, learned societies, astronomers, naturalists, and
especially mariners, have no opinions about Columbus but
those that are peculiar to Humboldt. We ourselves based
our opinions on him before we examined with our own eyes.
But, whatever may be our esteem for his judgments in matters of pure physical science, we are forced to declare, that




INTR OD UCTION.


31


in his " History of the Geography of the New Continent,"
the acts, and especially the thoughts, of Columbus appear to
us interpreted by a spirit foreign, - and we may say antipathic, - to his nature.
Between the two kinds of intuition of Columbus and of
Humboldt there was a gulf as broad as the Atlantic. These
two men were travellers on this globe: Columbus on water,
Iumboldt on land. Both of them observed the creation
attentively, but each of them from the particular point of
view of his faith and of his moral predispositions.
Columbus, an ardent disciple of the Word, of a strong
faith, is amazed at the aspect of the magnificent works of
his Creator. His meditations, diversified with raptures and
overflowing with poesy; arise as hymns with the melody of
the breezes, charged with the unknown perfumes of those
new regions. Humboldt, in receiving in his capacious
mind the multiple impressions of the terrestrial harmonies,
never departs from the philosophic coolness of observation,
nor allows himself to be carried away beyond the limits of
appearances.
Whilst, in his explorations, Columbus incessantly discovered the Lord, his benefactor and his master, Humboldt
never came to encounter but the great forces of nature, the
laws of nature, the majesty of nature.
Columbus had an implicit faith in the providential, in the
divine action that was manifested in him and for him. The
communications of the invisible with the visible, the influence of the immutable upon the mutable and accidental,
were to him fixed facts. His emotions were proportionate
to the vastness of his work, and did not turn him from his
object, - the glory of the Word made flesh! In the name
of the Redeemer he goes on his mission, invited to the mysteries of the unknown and of the infinite. Humboldt, on
the contrary, having no longer to discover the space, since
the form and extent of this planet were already exactly determined, could only pretend to verify some meteorological
explanations, enrich the universal flora, increase some min



32


INTR OD UC TION.


eral collections, perhaps seize the indices of some general
law of the globe, and describe the c;zsemble of its cosmic
physiognomy.
The illustrious Humboldt would have wished he were
Columbus, had he not been Humboldt. He sometimes
appears to find in him a posthumous rival, who has preceded him in the equinoctial countries, and whose penetration has divined many of the grand principles of nature.
He has more than once envied his sublime views, and
secretly compared himself to him in many an occurrence.
He occupied himself seriously with his actions, his particular habits, his writings. Notwithstanding this half sympathy, Humboldt, not being able to comprehend the immnortal
principle of such a faith, the sublimity of such a view, has
misapprehended the principal phases of the life of Columbus. He has not been able, at any one time, to see him in
all his entireness. When he vields to some admiration for
his genius or his tenderness of heart, one would say he fears
to be dominated by the noble character before him, and
therefore seeks to abase it. Without espousing the animosity of Navarrete, he welcomes, without having verified them,
the peevish assertions of the latter in regard to the harshness, the avidity, the dissimulation of Columbus, for the
simple reason that he first admitted the charge agailst his
chastity.
Upon this point Humboldt goes even beyond Navarrete.
He laughs with a deplorable laugh at the pretended fall of
that great man. This weakness appeared to him to be a
curious fact, which "Navarrete has disclosed with much
sagacity by the comparison of dates."  He says that it
was less the persuasion of his friends, and his predilection
for Spain, " that prevented Christopher Columbus from
returning to Lisbon, and accepting of the new offers of the
King of Portugal contained in his letter of the twentieth of
March, I488, than the amours and the pregnancy of a beautiful lady of Cordova, Doeia Beatrix Enriquez, the mother
of Don Fernando Columbus, natural son of the Admiral,




INTR OD UC TION.


33


born the fifteenth of August, I488."* Such is the conclusion
of Humboldt.   He pledges imprudently his great name,
with out having examined the matter by himself.
We affirm that upon this matter Humboldt has read
nothing with his own eyes in original sources; that he has
depended for it on Navarrete, who derived it from Spotorno,
who received it from Napione, who derived it from the
chicanery of an attorney in a lawsuit! Still, this accusation has been so generally admitted, that it holds the place
of a fixed fact. More than eighty writers of different stamp
have repeated it, one after the other. At the present time,
this calumny of fifty years' duration is so much accredited,
that it takes the airs of an historical fact, supporting itself
on certain dates and respectable names. And perhaps no
singl.e writer will be found, of the first or the last rank,
who, in treating of this subject, dares dispense himself
from repeating, for the eighty-first time, this error.
We are going, however, please God, to put an end to it.
We formally protest against this calumnious assertion.
We deny the fact of an illicit connection. We deny the
details that are connected with it. We assert that Dona
Beatrix Enriquez of Cordova was, in the eyes of the
Church, the wife of Christopher Columbus. We deny her
poverty. We deny her plebeian condition. We deny her
state of pregnancy at the time of the message of the King
of Portugal. We deny the pretended passion of Columbus for Beatrix that could alone have retained him in Spain,
contrary to his other interests.
And all that we have here said, we shall prove forthwith.
SE CTION V.
During the lifetime of Columbus, never was there any
suspicion cast on the nature of his connection with Beatrix


* Humboldt.   Examen Critique de 'Histoire et de la Geographize,
etc. T. I., p. 104.




34


INTR OD UCTION.


Enriquez, nor a doubt raised on the legitimacy of his
second son. The idea of such an accusation did not occur
to his enemies. After his death, no trace of it is found
anywhere. It is not seen in any cotemporary author; it is
never found in any Spanish author. Now, it was the part
of Spain, rather than that of Italy, to know the civil status
of Columbus. In Italy, even, during more than three hundred years, no such accusation is found. Not only do historians not accuse him of an illicit connection, but they
formally speak of his marriage; and the gravest among
them, and especially Tiraboschi, assert that he espoused
Beatrix Enriquez in his second marriage.*
No impediment was opposed to their union. She whom
Humboldt is pleased to call " a beautiful lady of Cordova,"t was a maiden, and free from every engagement.
The great poverty and the plebeian condition of Beatrix
Enriquez, which Spotorno brings into notice to show there
were obstacles, are both material errors.
The want of fortune could not have stopped Columbus.
At this period, what was he himself as regarded Spain?
A foreign geographer without influence, a widower charged
with a child, drawing charts to gain a livelihood. In his
first marriage in Portugal, if he had met with beauty,
birth and virtue, assuredly he did not gain riches. Father
Spotorno draws from the will of Columbus his proof that
Beatrix was very poor, because he enjoins his heir to give
her a pension. Intrinsically, this proof is without value.
But we find, on the contrary, the denial of this fact in a
circumstance relative to the execution of this testamentary
behest. During the first years, Beatrix Enriquez received
annually a pension of ten thousand maravedis at her
dwelling-house in Cordova.  Afterwards, the payments
were irregular, but she did not demand them. When the
* Tiraboschi.  Storia della litteratura Italiana, t. vi., lib. I.
cap. vi.
t A. I-Iumboldt. Critical Examination of tihe History and Geograjhy, etc. B. II.




INTR OD UC TION.


35


heir ceased altogether from paying them during several
consecutive years, she made no complaint. Never did she
take the pains of reminding him of his duty. It was
necessary that he himself should at last remember his
obligation.* This want of urgency in claiming arrears,
the nobility of silence, appears to us to refute positively
the charge of extreme poverty.
The want of high birth could not prevent the marriage;
for, according to the avowal of all historians, Beatrix Enriquez was of noble rank. Spotorno alone would have it
to be otherwise. But, on this point, we oppose to him a
witness who was his own accomplice, —even Navarrete
himself. In his quality as a Spaniard, Navarrete cannot
contest this notorious fact: the nobility of Beatrix Enriquez.,He declares her noble, and of the principal house of
Cordova.t Her rank naturally brought her into notice.
Her uterine brother, the honorable Rodrigo de Arana, was
renowned at Cordova, and the imperial historiographer
calls him " the virtuous gentleman." + Her nephew, Don
Diego de Arana, accompanied Columbus in his first voyage
of discovery, in the quality of inspector-general of the fleet.
Ramusio reminds us that he was " a good gentleman of
Cordova," and his nobility must have been well known for
Columbus to place under his orders two officers of the
Crown, in appointing him governor of the fort of Navidad.
In the third voyage of the Admiral, a young brother of
Donia Beatrix, Pedro de Arana, commanded one of his
ships; for, in consequence of their alliance, there were
always some Aranas of Cordova with Columbus. After
the death of the Admiral, and that of his son, his successor,
we still see a Diego de Arana in the mansion of the Vice* Pleito. Memoria ajustado sobre el kecko.
t "Doiia Beatriz Enriquez doncella noble y principal de aquilla
cindad." -Navarrete, Dissertation sobre la historia de la Nautica,
parte tercera. ~ 19, fol. 152.
$ Oviedo. La kistoria natural y general de las Indias. Lib. II.
cap. I2.




36


INTR OD UC TION.


queen of the Indies, where his rank, as well as his alliance,
gave him precedence over all the officers * of the illustrious
widow, Dona Maria de Toledo. The nobility of Beatrix
Enriquez  is equally made evident by the necrological
notice of her son Fernando, published by the annalist of
Seville.t  Her purity of descent was, in later times,
pleaded even by the descendants of the first marriage of
Columbus. In I671, Don Pedro Columbus, in the interest
of his cause, reminded the Queen of Spain that the two
sons of the grand Admiral of the Ocean had for mothers
ladies of the most ancient nobility.+
Let us now see whether the passion of Columbus for
" the beautiful lady of Cordova" was the true cause of his
remaining in Spain, notwithstanding   the offers of the
King of Portugal. So much the worse for the illustrious
Humboldt, if he receives from the facts a contradiction
somewhat rude. Who would not have verified the accusations of Navarrete before taking them under his shield?
In the first place, when the letter of King John II. came
to Columbus, towards the last of April, I488, the pregnancy
of Beatrix no longer existed, since her accouchement had
taken place the twenty-ninth of August of the preceding year.
Fernando Columbus, born in Cordova the twenty-ninth of
August, 1487 ~ (and not the fifteenth of August, I4SS, as
falsely stated by Navarrete, and reasserted without verification by Humboldt), was then eight months old when the
letter of the King of Portugal came to his father.  It was
not, then, the delicate state of Beatrix that caused him
to reject the offers of that sovereign.
The Protestant historians agree in withholding fiom
Columbus the merit of his patience, - to attribute it to the
* Navarrete's Collection, t. i.
t Diego Ortiz de Zunaga. Ecclesiastical Annals of Seville.
B. xiv., fol. 496.: Mem. in the Plieto de la casa de Veragas.
~ Diego Ortiz de Zuniga, Annales Eccesziasticos y seculares de la
muy noble y muy leal ciudad de Sevilla. Lib. xiv., fol. 496.




INTRODUCTION.


37


charms of Beatrix Enriquez. It was she alone that could
determine him to remain for so long a time in Spain, and
enable him to bear the delays he experienced.
The dates will give an answer to this imputation.
Like those rare flowers that will not bear being transplanted, that spring up, bloom, and die in the land where
they grow, Beatrix Enriquez, born, raised, and married
in Cordova, never passed the walls of that ancient city.
Columbus could never enjoy the charm of her presence but
in coming himself to Cordova. Now, Cordova is precisely
the city in which he least remained, and in which his
stay was the shortest, during his residence in Spain. He
sojourned there only a few consecutive months the first year
of his landing, which was that of his marriage. From.that time his visits to Cordova were short and rare, - for
duty imperiously required of him to be elsewhere..Official
documents prove this.
In I486, he was already domiciled in the ante-chambers.
In I487, he was at Salamanca for the purpose of submitting his plan to the Scientific Congress assembled by
royal order at that celebrated University. He remained
there during the winter, and part of the spring.
He follows the Court unceasingly. Some orders paid by
the treasurer, Francis Gonzales of Seville, prove that in
May, July, August, and October, he was far away from
Cordova.* The pregnancy of Beatrix retained him so
little by her, that at the time of her accouchement, the
twenty-ninth of August, he was absent. The second day
before,he had received four thousand maravedis, and gone
to Court by order of the sovereigns. A payment made in
October proves yet his absence from  Cordova. Winter
comes; the Court takes up its residence at Saragossa, and
Columbus goes there.
In I488, he is at Seville. It is there that the King of
Portugal addresses him his letter of the twentieth of March.


* Coleccion Dtilomalica, num. 2.


4




38


INTROD UC TIONV.


Afterwards he continues his solicitations. In the summer,
he receives for his travelling expenses the sum of three
thousand maravedis. The Court fixes itself during winter
at Valladolid. Columbus goes there also.
In I489, Columbus was still far away from Cordova, since
it was from that very city that the order of the twelfth of
May was issued to Seville, and other places, to entertain
gratuitously Christopher Columbus, who was called to the
Court for the services of the sovereigns.*  He came, in fact,
-to Cordova, but could remain there only a few days. It is
known that he made, as a volunteer, the campaign of Baza.
Now this war commenced at the end of May, and was
terminated only the fourth of December.
In I490, Columbus was the guest of the Duke of Medina
Sidonia; and, a short time after, that of the Duke of
Medina Celi, who was on the point of assuming the expenses of the projected expedition.
In I49I, we see him still at the residence of the Duke
of Medina Celi, and thence make some new efforts to gain
the favor of the Crown. A letter from this rich lord, addressed to the Grand Cardinal of Spain, the nineteenth
of March, I493, recalls to mind the fact that he gave hospitality to Columbus for two years; t and thus contributed
to retaining him in Spain, and avails himself of this service
rendered to the Crown to demand a favor.
Let us now judge- from these facts, from these dates,
whether it was the fascination of " the beautiful lady of
Cordova" that retained Columbus in Spain. It is forgotten
that in I488 he was fifty-two years old; that he was engaged in navigation thirty-six years; that his maturity of
judgment, and his sincere piety, could not permit an illegitimate affection to become rooted in his heart. That,
besides, his elevation of mind and his firmness of will im*Documentos Diplomaticos, num. Iv.
t Documentos Diplomaticos, num. xiv. Orig. en el real archiv de
Simanc.




INTRODUCTIO.V.                  39
posed silence on his passions, - passions that were subdued
less by age and by poverty, than crushed under the weight
of that immense thought that contained one-half of the
globe.
We shall relate, in its place, under what circumstances
Columbus married Dona Beatrix Enriquez. Here we limit
ourselves solely to estallishing the fact. His union with
her was legitimate, and he did not suffer himself to be
mastered by anything to the detriment of any of his duties.
The Royal Historiographer of Spain, Antonio de Herrera, whose impartial sagacity and accuracy are unanimously recognized, has removed every doubt in regard to
the second marriage of Columbus. These are his words:
"After the death of this first wife, he espoused a second,
named Beatrix Enriquez, of the city of Cordova, by whom
he had Fernando, a virtuous gentleman, well versed in the
science of sound learning.*
Navarrete objects that up to this time the registry of the
marriage has not been found, and cannot be produced.
But neither has the registry of his baptism been found:
does it hence follow that he was not baptized? It is hard
to explain how the charge of an adulterous connection
could be admitted against the evidence of facts, and the
judgment of the most common good sense. How could a
scandalous commerce have been tolerated by the virtuous
family of Dofa Beatrix. Would not the vengeance of this
noble house have constrained the seducer to make reparation for the stain cast on their honor? What! would it be
Cordova that Columbus would have chosen to raise his firstborn son in? Would he have charged his mistress, an
adulteress, with superintending his education? Would he
have sent him by the worthy ecclesiastic, Father Martin
Sanchez? And the Queen,- so rigid in regard to manners,-would she have given as pages to her only son, the


* Herrera. General History of the Voyages and Conquests of
Castilians, etc., Ist dec., b. I., c. 7.




40


INTR OD UC TION.


infant Don Juan, the two brothers Columbus, - one legitimate, the other a bastard? The venerable religious men with
whom Columbus spent part of his life, - would they have
been accomplices in, or dupes to such a criminal connection? For nobody could be ignorant of his relations
with Cordova, and the nature of the business that led him
there. From this well-known circumstance, Cordova was
considered his real residence, although he never resided
there six months at a time. An authentic document proves
this. The twenty-third of May, I493, while his wife, Doia
Beatrix, superintended the education of his two sons,
Columbus received the premium of first discovery, consisting of a contingent annuity of ten thousand maravedis.
It was necessary to determine a place of payment. For
his convenience, he was assigned payment at his presumed
place of residence, and therefore at Cordova.*
The cotemporary historians of Fernando Columbus cast
no doubt on his legitimacy. They treat him according to
the facts in his case, and, therefore, as the legitimate son
of the Admiral.. If they have not sought to establish his
legitimacy, it was because nobody contested it. The legitimnacy of Don Fernando is plainly seen from the ensemble
of the facts.
First, in the internal relations of the family, as well
as in its exterior and public relations, no difference except
that of primogeniture is made between Diego and Fernando Columbus. Their appearance in society was at the
same time, in the absence of their father. They were presented together at Court the same day, by their paternal
uncle, Don Bartholomew, who went for them to Cordova.t
Bath entered with the same title, the same rank, the same
service of the household of the Prince Royal. And D.
Eustaquio, grandson of Navarrete, acknowledges that Fernando Columbus was, with his brother, one of the greatest
Document. Diplom. num. xxxII. Annot. an title de rente.
t Fernando Columbus. History of the Admiral, chap. LX.




INTRODUCTION.                    41
favorites of the prince.*  At a later period, both of them
pass into the service of the Queen. Far from making the
least difference unfavorable to the youngest, it was precisely
the latter that Isabella named first her page, before she
accorded that favor to the oldest. The nomination of Fernando preceded that of his brother Diego by twenty-four
hours.t
The convention which took place between the Crown of
Spain and Columbus, in the plain of Granada, the seventeenth of April, I492, in establishing the inheritance of his
dignities in the person of the oldest of his sons, shows
implicitly that Diego, the child of the first marriage, is not
alone. The prologue of the "Journal of Columbus" states
that the sovereigns have promised the right of inheritance
to the eldest of his sons. The royal decree of the twentieth
of May, 1493, which accords royal armorial bearings to
Columbus, speaks of his sons. The act of lfzyorazgo, or
Entailment, evidently implies his state of marriage. For,
on the one'hand, he foresees the case that he might have
other children besides his two sons, whom he names; and,
on the other hand, he does not admit the possibility of
another conjugal union, since he does not stipulate any
reservation or dower for another wife. This latter condition
would have been for that purpose indispensable. At this
period the great Admiral, worn out, old, and infirm, could
not expect an alliance conformable to his rank, without
insuring to his future wife considerable advantages.
The free and natural manner in which Columbus speaks
of his two children, the unreserved affection of his language in regard to his son in his official correspondence
with the sovereigns, show the total absence of everything
like constraint of thought, or of precaution in his words. ~
* Coleccion ineditos para la Historia de Esfsana, por D. Miguel
Salva, etc., t. xvi., p. 291.
t Coleccion Dizplomatica, num. cxxv.. Institution del Mayorazgo. Documentos Diplomat. num. cxxvi.
~ Letter to the Sovereigns, July 7, I503, written from Jamaica.
4*




42


IVTR OD UC TION.


His habit of noticing and praising the precocious talents,
and the youthful services of the boy, should suffice to prove
the legitimacy of Fernando. Had his birth been shameful,
would the Admiral have dwelt complaisantly on this subject?  Would he have dared to send him, when a youth, to
compliment the Portuguese governor of Arcilla, who had,
among his officers, near relations of his first wife, Doita
Felippa Mognis de Perestrello?  And would this particular
circumstance have been related to us by Don Fernando
himself? *  Could a bastard ever have recalled such a circumstance,-one so humiliating to himself?
The legitimacy of Fernando, shown by the unanimous
belief of his cotemporaries, justified by the fostering kindliness of Queen Isabella, the regards of the Catholic King,
and the particular esteem of the Emperor Charles V.,
is corroborated by a new proof. The genealogical tree of
the family of the Admiral bears the name of Fernando,
immediately after that of Diego, his oldest son, and on the
same line.t
In the genealogies presented by the Colombos (Columbuses) of Italy before the Spanish tribunals, at the time of
the trials for the succession, Fernando was always put in
the same branch with Diego. The consultation so often
cited of the senator John Peter Sordi, for Balthazar Colombo, proves that the celebrated jurisconsult was far from
having the least doubt of the legitimacy of Don Fernando.+
In his memorial to the Court of Appeals, dated the fifteenth
of July, I792, a great jurist of Madrid, Don Perez de Castro, rejecting disdainfully, by a marginal note, the insinuation of the attorney De la Palma y Freitas (overruled in
* Historic del sign. Don Fernando Colombo, etc., cap. LXXXVII.
t The genealogical trees of the Columbuses that have been prepared for the last three hundred years, distinguish carefully the
quality of the persons. Bastards and adulterines are there so designated; and the name of Don Fernando invariably figures among
the legitimate.
$ yoannis Petri Sordi consilium, sect. xI., num. 26I.




INTR OD UC TION.                  43
the first instance), declared that in no part of the process
did he find the proof that Fernando was illegitimate.* On
the genealogical tree of the Colombos of Cucarro, which
was shown us in Rome by their last descendant, the name
of Fernando is by the side of that of Diego, under the
same title; and never was there, in his family, the least
doubt of the legitimacy of Don Fernando. Monseigneur
Luigi Colombo recognizes very expressly the marriage of
Columbus with the noble mother of Don Fernando.t Finally, these assurances received their last irrefragable guarantee from the very hand of Columbus himself. In a letter
to persons whose duty he considered it was to support his
reclamations at the Court of Spain, he reminds them that
for the service of the Crown he quitted all,-WIFE AND
CHILDREN, - and never enjoyed the sweetness of living
with his family.
The original of this letter, wholly written by the hand of
the Admiral, exists to this day. A copy of it forms part
of the Diplomatic Collection printed in I825; and, strange
to tell, the autographic authenticity of this document, which
so peremptorily refutes Navarrete, has been admitted by
Navarrete himself in his official capacity! He could not
have been ignorant of it. But, blinded by prejudice, he
looked at it without reading it, without comprehending it;
he limited himself to recognizing the writing, not seeing
what overwhelming testimony this august autograph would
bring against his calumnies.~ (See ADDENDUM.)
* Pleytos de los descedientes de Colon.
t Patria e biografia del Grande Ammiraglio, pp. 208, 299.: Christopher Columbus. " Y deje mucher y fijos que jamas vi
por ello."-Col. DiZlomat., num. cxxxvii.
~ It was not alone the royal historiographer Don Bautista Mufioz,
and the archivist General Don Thomas Gonzales, who have numbered and classified under No. cxxxvii. this precious autograph.
Don Martin Navarrete has added to it a note stating that this piece
was wholly written by the hand of the Admiral, En papel de mano
del Almirante D. Cristobal Colon.




44


INTR OD UC TION.


SE CTION     VI.
To continue further our refutation of the slander, appears
to us useless. The facts speak for themselves. Without
examining the details, it is evident that when one is wiilingly deceived in regard to the person, the family, and the
civil status of Columbus,  when one has unappreciated his
great soul, despised his genius, and calumniated the yearnings of his heart, - we are left nothing to presume from
that his work has been judged by himi with impartiality.
And, in truth, those who have written the life of Columbus, yielding to the magisterial influence of which we have
spoken, have wandered away fi-om, or been silent about
important facts, when they have not distorted them to make
them square with their preconceived opinions of historic
expositions.  After having denied the supernatural aids
which were visibly manifested in the grand dramas of his
career, they refuse attributing human genius to Columbus
himself.  Solely, in declaring him a stranger to the sciences and to mathematics, they accord him great sagacity
of observation. From fear of painting him as a hero, they
have travestied him as a common man, systematically despoiled him  of everylthing that constitutes grandeur, and
not only have they accused him of ignorance, of ingratitude,
of bigotry, of presumption, of littleness, and of puerile
vanity, but they have also wished to lessen the exterior acts
of his life; diminish the obstacles, shorten the conflicts, and
lessen the perils over which his inspirations knew how to
triumph. They did not perceive that in looking at things
through the spectacles of positivism, they fell into the mediocre, and consequently into the ridiculous and the impossible.
Could a man endowed solely with great tenacity and
power of observation know how to do what Columbus has
done? Does not the sole sublimity of his name speak of
his heart?  This renown of Columbus, the most immense,




INTR OD UC TION.


45


the most certain, an inexhaustible source of celebrity which
the course of ages and generations cannot extinguish,is it not already a pledge of the incomparable superiority
of his work? Is not the workman always greater than his
work, whether by the power of his conception, or by the
divine favor which fecundates it?
It is too much forgotten that the work effected by Columbus is unequalled in history. He could have imitated
nobody, and nobody could repeat his acts. That which he
has once done has changed the relations of peoples during
the whole course of time. This mission, unique in the
series of ages, could not have been conferred by chance, or
by pure science. To accomplish it, a mathematical relation
between the sublimity of the man who undertook it, and
the incalculable grandeur of his work, would have been
absolutely necessary, - a grandeur of which human genius,
even at this day, cannot measure the compass, or point out
the limits.
Let us sum up our observations:
It is contrary to common sense that incredulity should
explain faith,' and that Catholic genius should be presented
to our regards by Protestantism.
Apart from any details, a little reflection should suffice to
overturn totally the system of the biographers of Columbus; and, therefore, the necessity of a new, full, and complete history of the discovery of the New World has been
much felt. This necessity, which so much resembles a
duty, has been deeply felt in the Eternal City. And we
proceed to respond to it, as much for the love of truth, as
for the honor of our country; since, in real fact, as has
been said by De Maistre, " Truth always needs France."








BOOK I.
CHAPTER I.
Time and Place of the Birth of Columbus. - Status of his Family. -
His Childhood and Education. -His first services on Sea. -
His accidental landing in Portugal.
SECTION      I.
ADARK CLOUD has been cast around the cradle
of Christopher Columbus. His genealogy, his true
country, and the exact date of his birth, are still matters of
discussion to the present hour, without any of the numerous writings on these topics having hitherto definitively
elucidated them. The author of the most popular history
of Columbus, Washington Irving, begins with these lines:
"Nothing certain is known in regard to the first years of
Christopher Columbus. The time, the place of his birth,
are enveloped in equal obscurity. His ancestors are known
no better; and such has been the fatiguing sterility of the
commentators, that it is difficult to find the truth, in the
midst of the mazes of conjectures with which it is surrounded."
And after these words, in place of presenting his readers
with a clew to bring them out from this labyrinth of perplexities, he himself, in his turn, only increases their embarrassments, in increasing their incertitude.
As regards ourselves, the obscurity which several causes
(47)




HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


have thrown around the birth of the man who has doubled
our knowledge of the globe, does not appear to us to be
impenetrable. As soon as one is completely unconcerned
about the rival pretensions of famnilies, of cities, and provinces, who claim the honor of having given him birth hel
comes to recognize with certainty the origin of himi whose
destiny was without equal in the world. Let us endeavor,
then, to fix definitively the time and the place of this birth,
which was attended with such grand consequences to the
whole universe.
It is by the date of the death of Columbus that we come
to point out precisely that of his birth. It is known that
he died in Valladolid the twentieth of May, I506, at the
age of seventy-one years. He was born, then, in 1435.
According to the manuscript history of the veracious chronicler, D. Andres Bernaldez, curate of Los Palacios, who
had received the Admiral of the Indies at his house, and
seen with his own eyes his notes and charts, Columbus
must have been born about I435. This date perfectly coincides with the one assigned by the learned author of the
Ecclesiastical Hislory of Plaisazce, the canon PietroMaria Campi. It is very nearly the same date that has
been assigned for his birth by the last descendant of the
Colombos of Cucarro, Monseigneur Luigi Colombo, in the
work he lately published in Rome. This date of I435,
adopted also by Navarrete, was that which was also already admitted by Count Galeani Napione. It is the only
one that is indubitable. It is, besides, in exact relation
with the principal events recorded by historians; no fact
contradicts it, no document gainsays it. All the facts attest
its accuracy. It is, therefore, right to make it our fixed
point of departure in our investigations.
As to the birthplace of Columbus, we cannot conceive
why it has been so long contested, and so warmly disputed.
We have been surprised at the hesitating tone hitherto
adopted on this subject. It is time to make this hesitation
give place to a precise and peremptory affirmation.




CHAP. I.]


CHRISTOPHER COL UMIB US.


49


COLUMBUS WAS BORN IN GENOA.*
His father was a Genoese also. He was named Domenico, or Dominic, Columbus, and was the son of John Columbus, who once resided at Quinto, where he appears to
have enjoyed a certain degree of competency. The fact
of the father of Christopher Columbus being a Genoese,
cannot be disputed. It is proved by his own declarations,
in many authentic acts, whose originals exist at this day,
preserved in the archives of the notary's offices of Savone
and Genoa.
Dominic was married to a native of the village of Bassagno, Susana, daughter of James Fantanarossa, who
brought him a small fortune. He settled in Genoa, first
in a house that was his own property; this house was situated outside the city walls, on the road to Bassagno, which
was near it. Dominic Columbus possessed, also, a patrimony
in the valley of Nura, and some lots of land in the neighborhood of Quinto. Nevertheless, in order to make up for
the slenderness of his income, he carried on the business
of wool-combing. He had a place for weaving cloths, in
which he employed a workman and an apprentice.
It was in this house, in the suburbs of the city, that
Christopher Columbus was born. He was presented to the
baptismal font in the ancient church of St. Stephen, then
situated on a little hill, and served by Benedictine priests.
This church is commonly called St. Stephen di Arco. The
popular tradition which has for the last three hundred
years designated it as the church in which Columbus was
baptized, has, in our days, been fully confirmed.
The family name of Columbus is Italian- Colombo; in
Latin it was written Columbus; later, in Spanish, Colon;
but we follow the Latin orthography, and write it Columbus.
Some years after, Dominic Columbus having already
* De Lorgues proves this beyond the shadow of a doubt; but his
discussion and proofs of the matter are too long for our pages.-B.
5




T T T7 r /n 7 M /% "


r


50.       /1 0UI   U.C            LBOOK I.
several children, considered it would be for his interest to
rent out his house to one of those tavern-keepers who take
their stand near the entrance into a city, and to remove to
the quarter specially occupied by cap-makers, dyers, and
wool-combers. For this purpose he leased a small house
in Mulcento Street, having a ground floor, besides a hall
lighted from the door, contiguous to which there was an
apartment which could serve as a shop. The old register
of the Republic of Genoa showed this house to be No. i66.
It belonged to the religious of the Benedictine order. Several receipt-books of that community, which have escaped
the ravages of revolutions, and exist to this day, mention
the successive payments made by Dominic Columbus.
The last one that appears under his name is for the year
I4S9. From this period, his son-in-law, James Bavarello,
leased the house by virtue of an agreement entered into the
twentieth of July, 1489, in the office of the notary, Lorenzo
Costa.
Mulcento Street, narrow, rugged, and steep as it was,
was at that time the general quarter of cap-makers and
workers in woollen cloths. At the present day, in the
grave silence of its solitude, it preserves, with some remains
of the piety of its ancient inhabitants, which are here and
there incrusted in the doors or in the old walls,-a calm
and austere aspect, which reminds us of the simple and
strong faith of the middle ages.
Dominic Columbus had four sons: Christopher, Bartholomew, Pelligrino, and James.  He had also a daughter,
who, expecting no better fortune, married a pork-butcher
of the vicinity, named James Bavarello, the obscurity of
whose condition, when living, withdrew him from the
notice of history. Pelligrino died soon after he came to
his majority. He worked at the trade of his father. Most
writers have forgotten, or been ignorant of, his existence.
It is certain that the ancestors of Columbus belonged to
the nobility.
In the veins of the wool-comber there flowed very pure


9




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


51


blood. His ancestors descended from a military stock,
originally come from Lombardy, the collateral branches of
which had taken root in Piedmont, and on the Plaisantin;
whilst others, transplanted into Liguria, found themselves
obliged to turn to naval afiairs, and to trading. Undoubtedly, in the first half of the fifteenth century, there existed
several Colombos, united by ancient parentage; but their
conditions becoming widely diverse, their relations to each
other partook of their difference of rank. Some attained
high positions by their services or their fortune, whilst others
occupied only secondary positions, or were even ignored
in marine traffic. Such were the parents of John Anthony
Colombo, who served in the Indies in quality of Captain,
under the Admiral of the Ocean. Others, still, inhabiting
the market-towns of Liguria, attended to the cultivation of
their small farms. It was these bonds of parentage, and
of vicinity, that gave occasion to the pretensions that afterwards arose in regard to the true country of Christopher
Columbus.
The coat-of-arms of the Columbuses bore three argent
doves, surmounted by the emblem of justice, and having,
as a device, these three words: Fides, Spes, Charitas;
Faith, Hope, Charity. Except in slight shades of difference, these arms were common to the several branches of
the ancient Lombardian family.
Several writers have advanced the opinion that at Genoa
the business of a wool-comber did not derogate from one's
nobility. We have not been able to verify the value of this
assertion. Whatever may have been the importance acquired by the body corporate of wool-combers in Liguria,
we doubt whether a gentleman of noble descent would
have the desire to become aggregated with it. But it is
certain that a tradition of dignity, of loyalty, and of honor
existed under the roof of the artisan; and that whether or
not he had borne the arms of his ancestors, Dominic
Columbus always appeared to bear them in his mind and
in his conduct. He made his family models of sanctity




52


HIS TORY' OF


CBOOK I.


and of duty. Respect. filial piety, fraternal affection, modesty in prosperity, courage in adversity, magnanimity,
Christian purity,- such were the examples which the
wool-comber gave to the world.  And he whose limited
means obliged him to marry his daughter to a porkbutcher, knew, before leaving this world, that the eldest
of his sons had enlarged its known space, and that he
was Grand Admiral and Viceroy. It was in his children
that it pleased God to bless this industrious old man,
who, like another Jacob, after having counted, in the loin
years of his pilgrimage, some good days, some evil days
(and the latter were the most numerous), sees himself with
complaisance, at the end of his course, live again in a son
who is invested with splendor and transcendent glory.
In beginning to write this history, we love to salute at
first the respectable image of this artisan, because he humbly served God and his country, labored diligently, did
for the education of his children all that his circumstances
permitted, and did not raise them egotistically for himself,
but generously knew how to let them depart from him in
his old age.
Never has the wool-comber of Mulcento Street hitherto
received a word of approbation from the biographers of
his son. They have limited themselves to saying, " The
parents of Columbus were poor, but honest."  The certificate of morality given by the Protestant school Vwould
have been somewhat disparaging, if it were not ridiculous.  Is it that honesty alone could have produced the
example of those three sons, who, always respectful and
grateful, knew, notwithstanding their straitened circumstances, how to solace the old age of their father, who,
faitIhfully united among themselves, were up to the level
of the most difficult enterprises, as well as the most elevated positions; who supported grandeurs as naturally as
they did reverses, and who never faltered in their duty
on any occasion?  Do we observe here nothing above simple morality?  Do we not perceive there the essence of




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


53


nobility, of virtue? Besides, had not the noble origin of the
wool-comber been proved, the influence of his example
should suffice to testify that an exalted tradition was perpetuated at his fireside, which revealed the nobility of his race,
struggling against the misfortunes of life, and the monotony
and the fatigue of daily labors.
Although he saw them destined to the labor of their
hands, the honest wool-comber wished to give his children
all the education his scanty means permitted. Struck with
the intelligence of his eldest son, he resolved to second his
abilities, and give him the most complete education that
was then given. He sent him to the University of Pavia,
where his extreme youth was, no doubt, patronized by
some member of his family, which, as we have said, was
originally from Lombardy. Christopher, at that time, was
scarcely ten years old. It was a very tender age for such
laborious studies as natural pfzilosopity, astrology, and
EXTRAORDINARY PHILOSOPHY, - the teaching of which
rendered that University celebrated.
Learned researches have been made to know who the
masters were from-whom the boy learned the elements of
the sciences. It has been forgotten that the science of these
masters could have profited him but little, for he studied
only from the age of nine to twelve years. At fourteen he
was already gone to sea; and we know that between his
leaving the University and his maritime enrolment, he
passed some time as an apprentice, learning the trade of
his father. We do not question the merit of these professors; and we will take care not to seek, as others have had
the curiosity to do, what influence they exercised on him.
What is certain is, that he was attentive to the lessons of
those masters who are at present unknown; and that from
his assiduity and precocious intellect he derived fruits
enough to utilize afterwards these elementary studies.
Having prematurely quitted the University,- no doubt because the resources of his father had failed, - he returned
to Genoa, to work at his trade and labor with his father.
5*




54


HIS TOR OF


[BOOK I.


Many persons will not believe this; but history is positive in regard to it. After quitting the University benches,
he labored as a workman with his father and his brother
Bartholomew.   The instruction he received at Pavia did
not amount to much. The little science that he learned
at the Lombardian University is shown by historians. IHe
himself, avows it, and Humboldt demonstrates it. This
view is further confirmed by other writers, quoted by M.
De Lorgues.
SE CTION IL.
After leaving the narrow and gloomy streets of Genoa,
if one mounts on the ramparts, or if he ascends the rugged
mountains that overtop and surround it on every side, leaving it no outlet but to the Mediterranean, constraining it, as
it were, to tend that way, he is dazzled by the light vibrating the transparency of the air, impregnated with fragrant
odors. The bright azure of the waves playing on the
shores of an enchanting basin, and the splendid views of
the Ligurian Gulf, elevate the soul in transporting thought
to other places, beneath other skies. One feels that, notwithstanding its magnificence, the enclosure of the marble
city suffices not for the imagination of its children. He
understands that, in fact, the sea is the life, the support, and
the force of that city. A general attraction disposed the
young men of Genoa to the adventures of the sea. Christopher Columbus, whom   an enlightened love of Nature
carried to the contemplation of the divine works, and
whom a secret instinct urged to the study of geography,
preferred the sea to the sedentary and monotonous labors
of the family. A particular reason might have determined
him in the choice of such a career. Since the loss of their
possessions in Lombardy, almost all his ancestors sought
their fortune on sea. Some men of his name, and of his
blood, had become illustrious in naval service. Besides,
the way of the sea was the only road to fortune and to
glory for the Genoese.




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


55


At this period navigation was in a rude condition. Installation on shipboard made no concessions to the conveniences of life. Space was economized with great strictness. The merchant ship was forced to become somewhat
warlike in appearance. It restricted itself to keep the
defensive; but, exposed to the pirates of every nation, and
to the most unexpected attacks, it was armed, and ready to
give an answer when needed. Notwithstanding his small
scientific stock brought from the University of Pavia, the
young student was obliged, according to the usages of that
period, to commence his naval apprenticeship as a cabinboy. Unheeded in a subaltern rank, it was long practice,
close observation, and experience, that alone gave him a
theoretical knowledge of the sea. Trained in this rugged
school, the knowledge of arms became as familiar to him
as that of the winds and of naval manoeuvres. Undoubtedly
he derived from the frequency of dangers from waves and
from  men, and from the frequency of complications the
most unexpected and the most terrible, that coolness and
promptitude of resolution, that surety of glance, and that
firmness and precision in commanding, which, on sea,
insures the safety of ships.
We know he traversed the whole extent of the Mediterranean; navigated in the Levant, - at that period infested
with the pirates of the Archipelago, the Mahometan corsairs, and the freebooters of the Barbary States. In one of
the combats, which has not been retraced by history, he
received a deep wound, the cicatrix of which, though long
forgotten, reopened towards his latter years, and endangered his life. Exposed to the most perilous hazards, he
passed several years on the waves, during which period we
have no account of the vicissitudes of his life. The first
time that a historic document permits us to alight on his
trace, he is sailing under the French flag. But already
he is a seaman, and one of the officers of the famous Colombo, his grand-uncle, who commanded a fleet for King
Rene, against the Kingdom of Naples, in I459.




56


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


Towards this period, Christopher, the intelligent Jeeve of
that noble and experienced commander, became, in his
turn, master of a ship. King Rene gave him a command
in an expedition that required uncommon boldness and
ability. The object in view was to go to Tunis and bear
away the Fernandine, a galley of the first rank. When
he was in the waters of San Pietro, in Sardinia, it was
learned that the Fernandine was convoyed by two vessels
and a carack; this disproportion of forces so much troubled
the seamen, that, getting into a state of revolt, they refused
going further, and determined to return to Marseilles.
Whatever eloquence Columbus may have used, he was not
able to overcome their fear; and as he had no material
means of making himself obeyed, he had recourse to
stratagem. The evening being come, he turned the needle,
and caused the sails to be unfurled. The seamen, reassured,
thought they sailed for Marseilles; but the next morning,
at daybreak, the vessel hove in sight of Carthagena, without any of the malcontents suspecting the route they had
taken. This act of his youth, related incidentally by himself at the time that he was grand Admiral of the Ocean,
paints well his character. We there recognize his intrepidity, his resolution, his address; how little he allowed himself to be stopped by obstacles that come from men; if he
cannot surmount them, he goes round them; and the obedience which he cannot obtain openly, he gains possession
of and conquers by his ability.
It cannot be doubted that, after having obtained a command, Columbus, during the four years King Rene employed in the attempt of making a conquest of Naples,
continued to serve him. It was particularly on sea that
Rene gained the greatest advantages, and that he had
longest to sustain the struggle.
It appears certain that, afterwards, Columbus continued
to navigate, sometimes alone, and sometimes with one or
the other of the Colombos, his kinsmen. The last day of
his naval military life was marked by a dramatic circum



CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


57


stance, the consequences of which incline us to believe
that this event did not occur but by a special interposition
of Providence, in favor of him who was afterwards to be
his peaceful and faithful servant.
If Colombo, the old Genoese Admiral, was greatly renowned, Colombo the younger, his nephew, was not less
celebrated in the Mediterranean, since he there commanded
a squadron against the Mahometans. This circumstance,
no doubt, led Christopher to attach himself to him; for, in
the midst of the turmoils of his youth, he preserved alive
the faith, - the germ of which was developed in his heart
by parental example. Besides, the ardor of the Genoese
against the Mahometans was inscribed on the walls of the
city. Not far from the gateway of St. Andrew, and from
Mulcento Street, in which Dominic Columbus resided, we
still, at this day, see the street of the Moor-slayers, - via de
Matamoras.
Concurrent, then, with the fortunes of his kinsman Colombo il mozo, or the younger, Christopher, having quitted
the seas of the Levant, embarked as an officer in a vessel
cruising near the coast of Portugal, to wait there for some
Venetian vessels, with rich cargoes. Having given them
chase, he attacked them at daybreak, between Lisbon and
Cape St. Vincent. The Venetians defended themselves
with intrepedity; the combat lasted until evening; and the
fury was equal on both sides. Towards nightfall, the Venetian ship took fire; this vessel was hooked by grappling
irons to the one commanded by Columbus, to which it was
held so fast by iron chains, that it became impossible to
separate them. The fire spread rapidly from one ship to
the other. All the wooden pumps were vainly put in play.
Soon the two ships were burnt, presenting the aspect of a
horrible furnace. Now, friends and enemies have no other
resource but the sea: Genoese and Venetians dart into it;
but the danger had only changed its form. The waves
spread out a distance of two leagues before becoming spent
on the nearest coast.




58                 HISTORY OF                [BOOK I.
After a whole day of fighting, strength naturally became
exhausted. How able soever a swimmer Christopher may
have been, he would inevitably have perished had not
Providence aided him. The waves pushed near his hand
one of those large oars, at that time still used to supply
the want of sails during calms. By means of this support
he was somewhat able to rest himself, maintain himself on
the surface, and thus reach the shore. After having thanked
God for his safety, he succeeded, with the aid of public
charity, in reaching Lisbon, where he knew he should find
many of his countrymen. Among these, he had the sweet
satisfaction of finding his brother Bartholomew.




CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMIBUS.


59


CHAPTER II.
Stay of Columbus in Lisbon.-His Marriage with the daughter
of a Navigator. - His Voyages to the Canaries, the Azores, and
the African Coasts. - His Propositions of Discovery to Genoa,
to Venice, to Portugal. - Offers of the King. - His Noble Refusal. - His Return to Italy. - His Departure for Spain.
SECTION I.
LREADY, for nearly half a century, Portugal, too
narrow in her territorial limits, sought an extension
of them by sea. She had augmented her domain by several
islands far from known shores, in the bosom of the ocean.
This success did not represent the sum of the efforts of
many reigns. It was solely owing to the patronage of a
prince, who, though placed near the throne, did not aspire
to it; his only ambition being to serve God and his country.
A French philosopher has justly remarked, that all the
great navigators have been Christians. The prince who
gave the first impulse to the navigation of the ocean, was a
true Catholic.
Don Henry, son of King John, and Grand Master of the
Order of Christ, wished to procure for his knights glory
in this world, and eternal felicity in the next. While yet
very young, he distinguished himself against the Moors, in
Africa, on the walls of Ceuta; at a later period, he judged
it would be better to convert than to slay them. Notwithstanding his quality of Grand Master of an order instituted
to fight against the Mahometans, the enemies of the law of
Jesus Christ, he considered he was more obliged to subjugate them to the sweetness of that yoke, than to extend the




6o


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


states of the kings, his ancestors. He thought of carrying
the Gospel to the Moors, and to the idolaters who peopled
the shores of Western Africa, which were but little known
at that time.
Some partial discoveries were made under the auspices
of Don Henry. The Holy See naturally encouraged these
discoveries, the twofold object of which was the knowledge
of the earth, and the propagation of Christianity. To give
the zeal of the prince a pledge of his good-will, the Holy
Father conferred on the Crown of Portugal the right of
primacy over all the barbarous countries it should discover
from Cape Bajador to the East Indies. And at the same
time that he menaced with the denunciations of the Church
whosoever should dare to thwart these beneficent expeditions, the Holy Father granted a plenary indulgence to all
those who, in making part of them, should perish in fulfilling the conditions of it.  If the capital of the Christian
world applauded these efforts, the maritime cities of Italy,
and the republics of the coasts, became concerned about
them, but from other motives, seeing that their interests
were threatened.
The death of Prince Henry weakened the impulse given
to the spirit of discovery. Meanwhile, Lisbon was still the
city of maritime progress. It was there that the ablest
shipwrights were found; that the best planispheres and
works on astronomy were sold, that atlases, and the most
exact marine charts, were executed, and where the most
capable pilots were most numerous. The name of Pilot,
at that time, meant every naval officer who was not the
captain of a ship. It was applied even to captains of the
second order in the navy. A very large number of mariners, whom the munificence of the prince mathematician
attracted to Lisbon, still continued their residence there,
notwithstanding the loss of their liberal patron.
It is, therefore, not surprising that Bartholomew Columbus, the brother of Christopher, should have settled there,
in order to turn to account his talents in geography, the




CHAP II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


preeminence of which cannot be denied. His nephew,
Don Fernando, whose great modesty always disposed him
to lessen the merits of his family, while saying that he was
not highly educated, is obliged to acknowledge his superior
judgment, and his art in the construction of spheres.
While waiting for better things, Bartholomew Columbus
made his talent for geography sufficiently lucrative. It was
with the greatest happiness that he opened his house to
his shipwrecked brother. He felt great tenderness and
respect for him as his eldest brother. He endeavored to
keep him always by him. Nevertheless, this hospitality
did not become onerous to him. Christopher wrote a beautiful hand; and he used the crayon and the pencil with no
less ability than he did the pen. He also drew charts and
plans, occupied himself with copying manuscripts and transcribing rare books, because, though the invention of printing was then known in Portugal, typography was at that
time in its infancy; good printers could not be easily found,
and therefore books commanded high prices. And as his
love for geography and inclination for study had made him
familiar with the works that were most esteemed by the
reading community of Lisbon, he bought them up to re-sell
again, as occasion might require, and thus carried on a small
traffic in books. By these means he not only provided for
his own needs, but by economy, and the self-denial his filial
tenderness imposed on him, he was enabled to sweeten the
old age of his father, to whom fortune had not been favorable. The historian Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, his
enemy, bears testimony that at Lisbon, and wherever else
he was, " he always took care to provide for the wants of
his father," notwithstanding the embarrassments of his own
situation. The engaging manners of Christopher easily
introduced him to seafaring men, and caused him to be
warmly welcomed by many Genoese merchants who had
settled in Lisbon. He never forgot the kindness of his countrymen, Antonio Vazo and Luigi Centurio Escoto. He
remembered the good offices of Paulo de Negro, as well as
6




62


HISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


the assiduous attentions of the sons of Nicolao Espindola,
and he paid their benevolence with immortality, in transmitting to us the obscure names of these estimable merchants.
Dating from his sojourn in Lisbon, except some short
phases, the principal events of his life are shown us in an uninterrupted order, and remain fully open to investigation.
Properly speaking, it is here his history commences.
After his almost miraculous landing in Portugal, the first
fact we notice connected with him concerns his habits of
piety. His edifying assiduity in its offices had as a consequence the great event of his life, which was the propitious
occasion of his genius becoming developed, his comparative faculties enlarged, his being confirmed in his vocation,
and of his holding communications with the learned and
the great of the earth.
SECTION      I.
Columbus having then finished his thirty-third year, had
attained the completion of his physical vigor and of his
intellectual endowments. His tall stature gave his robust
constitution a manly elegance, which naturally assorted with
his character. His long visage presented a pure oval. Although his cheek bones were high, his rounded cheeks
softened their contours. The noble largeness of his forehead
indicated that of his thought. In his light blue eyes there
beamed a limpid serenity. His nose was aquiline. Some
freckles on his cheeks gave his ruddy complexion an animated cast. Under the influence of a sole thought for three
years, his hair, which was blond, inclining to chestnut,
began to turn gray.
His airs in natural relation with his gestures, and his
gestures so conformable to his stature, formed a perfect
union between his physical and his moral constitution.
His mien and manners revealed an innate dignity that
could not be doubted. Nothwithstanding his modest exterior, he could nowhere pass without being noticed.




CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


63


To a rare fineness of hearing, he joined a keenness of
sight that reached far, and gave him an exact knowledge
of distances. His delicacy of taste enabled him to point
out differences that were imperceptible to common people.
But all these advantages yielded to his delicacy of smell,
which discerned immediately the diverse combinations of
odors.  He admired with tenderness the works of the
Creator, sought with eagerness for flowers, birds, and the
productions of the sea, and enjoyed in a special manner
the odors of vegetation.
Plain in his clothing, Columbus had no other finery of
dress than cleanliness. In this he was exquisite. To the
absence of stains or rents, or negligence in his clothing,
which he knew how to preserve a long time, he endeavored
to join whiteness, and often fineness of linen, always slightly
perfumed. His attraction for sweet scents never became
weakened.   He delighted in odoriferous flowers, balsamic gums, perfumes in essence and in powders, and in
scented waters.
This elegance of taste was natural to him, like his ability
in horsemanship. His sole visage showed his nobleness of
mind, and a certain air of authority that struck intelligent
eyes. His whole demeanor denoted the perfect gentleman.
Although from the age of fourteen Columbus had been
always at sea, or sojourning in the ports with the seamen,
he did not participate in their ordinary vices. He detested
swearing and indecent songs; drank but little wine; could
not bear games of chance; despised effeminate pleasures;
had no inclination for the pleasures of the table, and kept
on land his frugal habits on shipboard. His extreme frugality made him prefer an almost vegetable regimen. He
passed easily from the use of meats to live on bread, rice,
eggs, fresh vegetables, dates, etc. To wine he preferred,
as a drink, water sweetened with Canary sugar and some
drops of orange-flower.
This frugality was accompanied with a habit of order, of
arrangement and of punctuality, which prevented him from




64


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I,


putting off until to-morrow what should be done to-day.
He knew the value of time. He was never seen acting at
random, or outside of the dictates of duty or of good sense.
In nothing did he stop at the good, if he expected to be
able to arrive at the better.
Affectionate to his relations and fiiends, afihble to those
about him, showing his inferiors the kindness of superiority,
graced with an urbanity which is not learned on shipboard,
his ease of elocution, the graphic turn of his images, his
expressions, often hardy, but always happy, rendered his
conversation attractive.
Notwithstanding this habitual suavity, Columbus was by
nature impatient, and inclined to anger. But this first impulse never injured anybody but himself. Reflection, not
less sudden than the transport, mastered the latter, and
effectually repressed its sallies. It would appear that this
extreme irritability was given him as a test, an occasion,
to strive against himself; to subdue his natural inclination;
to overcome this internal obstacle before sur-mounting exterior ones. Trials calculated to produce the greatest impatience were the lot of him who was to be a model of
patience itself, in order to accomplish his ever-enduring
work.
Remembering his father's example, and his mother's pious
recommendations, Christopher preserved on shipboard the
Christian habits of his childhood. W e know, fiom his own
testimony, how much the sea was an inexhaustible source
of his aspirations towards God. From his arrival in Lisbon,
he went regularly every morning to mass in the church of
All Saints, adjoining a convent of nuns. His air of distinction, and the piety of his demeanor, were remarked
through the grating of the cloister. A noble young lady
who was there among the boarders, took the most lively
interest in him. Wishing absolutely to become acquainted
with him, her tender curiosity invented a means of doing so.
Her name was Dora Felippa Perestrello. She was a
daughter of Bartholomew Mognis de Perestrello, an Italian




_  -__


CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


65


gentleman naturalized in Portugal, an old officer in the
king's household, one of the proteges of Prince Henry,
and who, in his quality of regular mariner, had been in
the last expeditions of discovery. In recompense for his
maritime services, the patronizer of the navigation, Don
Henry, had him appointed governor of Porto Santo, and
authorized him to colonize that island, where large possessions were granted him in perpetuity.  Yet, because he
was deficient in sufficient capital, the colonization scheme
was fettered- from the commencement.  The agricultural
works were arrested from  a cause as serious as it was
ridiculous. Some rabbits that were taken to the island,
in a short time multiplied to such an extent that the rapidity
of their propagation far exceeded the destruction of them by
the colonists, as yet too few in number. These little quadrupeds would eat all the vegetables, destroying at night the
plantations, and marring the efforts of the laborers.
The government of Porto Santo scarcely brought Perestrello anything but cares and expenses. He died, ruined
by the sterile extent of his domains, leaving with his widow
three daughters, whose graces and virtues constituted their
principal fortune.
This want of fortune did not prevent Columbus from
offering his hand to Dofia Felippa. From the time of the
offer until the marriage there elapsed a pretty long interval,
probably in order that the widow of Perestrello should have
time to make full inquiries about her future son-in-law, and
take precautions against her daughter's marrying a person
of inferior rank. This circumstance shows us once more
that, notwithstanding the trade of his father, Columbus
descended from an ancient stock. Not only did the marriage take place with the consent of the Perestrello family,
but after the union of the two spouses the mother-in-law
took them to reside with her in her own dwelling.
Christopher continued to work at his charts and his
manuscripts to gain their daily bread, the marriage portion of his wife being scarcely sufficient for their living.
6*




66


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


Nevertheless, the rank his father-in-law had occupied, and
the relations arising from that honorable alliance, gave him
access to the highest quarters.  One circumstance, until
this day unrecorded by biographers, attests it beyond doubt.
King Alphonsus V., who, without undertaking maritime
expeditions, still, from tradition and instinct, interested
himself about naval affairs, cheerfully admitted into his
presence this foreign pilot, whose conversation captivated
him. Columbus spoke to him about the natural sciences
and maritime adventures. One day, at the end of a conversation on cosmographic affairs, and perhaps to confirm the
Genoese in his ideas, the King showed him some reeds of
an enormous size, foreign to any climate of Europe, which
a storm had driven on the shore of the Azores. This fact,
apparently insignificant, was still very explicative.
Although the idea of his plan was not developed in a
complete manner until the fourth year of his sojourn in
Portugal, we can assert that he had already conceived the
project of examining the whole of this earth; for this man
never was inconsistent with himself. In examining into
the secret of his life, we find him always the same. That
which he was in his advanced age, he was in his youth.
The time of his birth is known only by that of his death;
the movements of his youth are known only by the revelations of his adult age; and we do not fully know the ideas
of his mature age but by the thoughts of his last years. He
has written that he who follows the business of navigating
the sea, feels the desire of penetrating into the secrets of the
world. This declaration of his old age tells us of the preoccupations of his adult age as well as those of his youth.
Here we have an involuntary disclosure of those long years
he passed on sea, without material profit to his fortune.
How wonderful are the ways in which Providence acts!
It draws from a disaster a benefit for him who appears to
have been its victim.  Columbus finds himself carried,
against his will, to the centre of those ideas that were to
expand his views, among a people who are given to making




CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


67


discoveries, and to acquire notions more and more advanced
in regard to the ocean, and the regions of the south.
The idea that increased silently within him, the principle
which reflection had fecundated, the study and the impassioned contemplation of the divine works, received soon, in
the bosom of the family circle, a rapid development. In
their friendly chattings, his mother-in-law, a lady of eminent piety, and very zealous for the cause of the Church,
struck with his desire to discover unknown countries, recounted to him the life of her husband, who had been an
able mariner. She told him how he had cooperated in the
discovery of several islands. She confided to him the notes
and the journals of his voyages. From the observations
they contained, Columbus soon drew a support for his
project.  He examined the whole of the progress of the
Portuguese on the coast of Guinea, and the route they followed to arrive there. Some time after, he embarked with
Dofa Felippa for her sterile possessions at Porto Santo, and
remained there for a certain time. It was there that his
first son, Diego, was born.
Surrounded by the immensity of the ocean, - an image
of the Infinite,- under the dazzling light of a tropical
sun, the genius of Columbus matured in the depths of his
thoughts a superhuman idea, - a project bolder than that
of any known heroism. What he had seen, what he had
heard, served only to corroborate the justness of his inductions. His habits, his tastes, his family connections, seemed
to be pre-arranged for the furtherance of the plan which
was elaborated in the depths of his reflections.
The second sister of Dora Felippa had also her claims
on the possessions of Porto Santo. She became the wife
of a noble mariner, Pedro Correa, who was governor of the
island. During their conversations Columbus could communicate to this mariner his cosmographic inductions, and
avail himself of his observations. Pedro had occasion to
make some voyages to the farthest islands of the Atlantic,
far from the African coast. He had been to Madeira and




68


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


the Azores. He had passed to the coast of Guinea, visited
the mouth of the Golden River, el Rio d'oro, sojourned
at the fortress of St. George of the Mine; extending, thus,
the domain of his experience and the scale whence to draw
his comparisons.
Pedro Correa informed him of his having seen at the
island a piece of wood delicately worked, and pushed towards the shore by the western wind, as if it had come
fiom the other side of the ocean. At the Azores, Pedro
had learned that by the west winds the waves had pushed
to the coasts of Graciosa and of Fayal some large pine-trees
of an unknown species. He was informed that at the Isle
of Flowers there were found on the strand two corpses,
whose features were different from those of the islanders.
It was pretended that barks had been met with, full of men
of an unknown race. An officer of the Portuguese marine,
Martin Vincente, told him that at a distance of four hundred and fifty leagues from Europe, towards the west, he
had drawn fiom the waves a piece of wood perfectly
sculptured, which a western breeze had for several days
pushed in sight of his vessel. Another seaman, Antonio
Leme, who had married at Madeira, informed him, that
having sailed directly for the west, he had seen three islands
at the extremity of the western line.
This informlation, which has been considered as having
a great influence on the determinations of Columbus, was
only a stimulant to his attention. These reports had no
solidity, no cohesion, among themselves, and therefore
they had no influence on his decisions. And he who collected them knew how to assign them their just value.
In the first place, he considered the islands of which
Leme spoke as pure optical illusions. He supposed that
at most they must be rocks, which, seen at a certain angle
and in certain atmospheric conditions, might have simulated
the appearance of land; or rather, that they were some of
those floating islands covered with trees mentioned by certain authors, and among others by Pliny and Juventius




CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


69


Fortunatus, and which moved in the ocean at the mercy
of the winds.  In reality, he soon ascertained that the
venturesome excursion of Martin Vincente was only a
piece of bragging, as he was never more than a hundred
leagues from the coasts. As for those sculptured pieces
of wood, those gigantic reeds, and pines of unknown
species, and those corpses belonging to an unknown race,
which the western winds had pushed to the Azores and
the Canaries, their testimony established nothing positive;
for they might have been carried from the unexplored parts
of Africa into the high seas of the equatorial regions, and
thence driven on the islands by western winds. Besides,
during many years of voyages and of transient residence in
those latitudes, he had never seen or touched anything like
them himself. In these indices all became reduced to hearsays. Irving is obliged to confess that these facts " could
not have been known by Columbus but only after he had
formed his opinion, and could hlave served only to confirm it."
However the case may have been, from the year I474
his resolution to set out for the discovery of lands which
he had a presentiment of existing in the west, was fully
formed.  Through the agency of a Tuscan residing in
Lisbon, he opened a correspondence with one of the
greatest celebrities of Italy, Paul Toscanelli, a Florentine
physician, a mathematician and a cosmographer, who was
familiarly admitted into the pontifical court during his
visits to Rome, and whose advice the King of Portugal
requested on  subjects connected with geography and
navigation.
Toscanelli, a man of ardent zeal for the advancement
of science, was incited to the study of mathematics by his
relations with an old artist, goldsmith, sculptor and engineer, named Brunellesco, who raised aloft and covered
with marble the admirable cupola of Santa Maria del
Fiore, in Florence.  Toscanelli devoted himself to the
study of nature. After having read all the narrations of




70


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


travellers, his relish for cosmography drew him into relations with the travellers of various nations who arrived in
Italy, and went to Rome, the centre of Christianity and the
permanent source of civilization.
From the only two fragments that have come down to us
of the correspondence between Columbus and Toscanelli,
it is seen: -
First. That previously to the month of June, 1474,
Columbus had communicated to the learned Florentine
his project of navigating westwards. Toscanelli forwarded
to him a copy of a letter which a few days before he had
sent the canon Fernando Martinez in answer to one the
latter had written him on the part of the King of Portugal.
Now, this letter was dated the twenty-fifth of June, I474.
Secondly. That Toscanelli took a lively interest in the
letters of Columbus; that he judged his reaching the Orient
by sailing westwards a grand and noble idea; and that
already Columbus had mlentioned to him the invaluable
advantages that would result from it to Christianity.* We
beg our readers to remark this fact and the date; for, in this
single word Christianity, were summed up the object, the
completion, and the recompense of the idea of Columbus.
Eighteen months had elapsed, during which the project
was matured.
SE CTION     III.
In I476, Columbus, having attained his fortieth year,
resolved to attempt the realization of his plan. For that
purpose his eyes naturally turned to his own country. He
was desirous of associating her in the honor of such a discovery.  Some Portuguese writers have pretended that
Columbus had first offered to Portugal the first fruits of
his project. Some historians, who have not been able to
comprehend this sublime character, have repeated it after


* Second letter of Paul Toscanelli to Christopher Columbus.




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


7I


them; but the patriotism of Columbus was too sincere, that
he should not at first have thought of that city to which
family affections, and the endearments of his childhood,
had attached him.
It is certain that he wished his country, in preference to
all others, should reap the fruit of his discoveries.  He
came, then, to Genoa, and proposed his plan to the Senate.
He would obligate himself that if he should be supplied
with some equipped vessels, he would pass through the
strait of Gibraltar and pursue his way westward into the
Atlantic Ocean, until he would find the land where spices
grow, and thus make the circuit of the world. But the
cosmographic reasons which he advanced could not be
appreciated by the noble members of that body. The
Genoese, as able as they were intrepid in the basin of the
Mediterranean, ventured but little on the ocean.  The
progress which the Portuguese had daily made in geography had yet done them no injury. They esteemed themselves masters in the art of navigation, thought they could
not be surpassed, and looked on the offer of their countryman as a dream. They made a pretext of the emptiness
of the treasury, exhausted by considerable armaments; and
in order, perhaps, to abate the pretensions of Columbus,
they told him that this desire for discoveries was nothing
new for the Senate; that already many an explorer had
paid with his life for his daring curiosity. The archives
of the republic would prove the fact. There, it could be
seen that two hundred years before the proposition now
submitted to the council, that two captains of the highest
nobility, Tedisio Doria and Ugolino Vivaldi, had departed
for the great ocean without there being ever after any
account of their fate.
Refused by the Senate of Genoa, Columbus, who wished
absolutely to make Italy the beneficiary of his discovery,
passed, it is said, to Venice; the republic of St. Mark
appearing to him, as regarded finance and marine, to be
in a way to second his views. But, notwithstanding his




72


IHISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


overtures and his scientific proofs, the Council did not
accede to his offer.
SECTION IV.
Thus dismissed by Venice, as he had been by Genoa,
Columbus repaired to Savone, to visit and console his
father, then upwards of seventy years of age.
We say Savone, and not Genoa, because, previously to
the year I469, Dominic Columbus had left the " marble
city" to settle at Savone; later, he returned to Genoa.
This intermediary residence, which lasted more than seventeen years, appears to us to be the principal cause that
has contributed to the incertitude and the errors of historians in regard to the true country of Christopher Columbus.
How different are the fortunes of men in this world!
Some, from the outset, find in decent comforts the rewards
of industry, of foresight, and economy; others, notwithstanding the regularity of their labors, and the privations
they patiently endure, never break the yoke of the painful
labor to which they seem doomed. Their recompense is
reserved wholly for eternity. They receive, here below,
only the pledges of the immortal hope inherent in the
consolations of faith. The life of Dominic Columbus was
only an unceasing struggle against obscure tribulations.
His pecuniary embarrassments, and the ill-success of his
industry, persuaded him that he would succeed better in
Savone than in Genoa. The unfortunate easily become the
sport of illusions.
The sojourn of Columbus with his parents at this time,
was about a year. He was as much attached, and as submissive to them, as he was in his childhood; he aided them
from his straitened resources, and was so identified with
them, living under the same roof, and taking part in the
same labors, that he was considered as belonging to the
corporation of wool-combers. But it is certain that in this
humble dwelling he drew marine charts, and copied manu



CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


73


scripts, which, from time to time, he took to Genoa, where
he bought and sold printed books.
SECTION      V.
If the double refusal he received, and perhaps the impossibility of his having immediate recourse to another State,
with the chance of success, caused Columbus to postpone
his project, he did not the less assiduously continue his
observations, or the less seek to enlarge the sphere of his
cosmographic comparisons. We see him crossing the German Ocean, and advancing to the Polar Seas. In February,
I474, he was a hundred leagues beyond Iceland, and verified some phenomena interesting to hydrography. From
the sombre horizons of the North, from the Ullinza Thule
of the ancients to the splendid skies of the tropics, with
his powerful faculty of generalization, he united together in
his memory the harmonies of land and sea, seeking to penetrate beyond the poetry of appearances the great laws of
the globe. Passing from'the contemplation of the works
of God to the investigation of the works of men, during the
brief periods of his stay on land, he consecrated to the study
of the writings of philosophers, historians, and naturalists,
every hour that was not employed in copying manuscripts,
and constructing spheres for gaining his daily bread.
He thus pursued his voyages, from which it does not
appear that he gained any other profit than a superior
experience in navigation. He continued his life of hardship and labor until the time came when the King of Portugal, John II., appeared to wish to revive the traditions of
his grand-uncle, Don Henry, of glorious memory.
This monarch had gathered in his marine some pilots of
the first rank, real mariners, such as Diego Cam, Bartholomew and Peter Diaz. Like his grand-uncle, he welcomed
the services of all foreigners of eminent abilities. He wished
to extend his conquests to the Indies. The energy of his
mind, and his penetration, enabled him to divine merit. It




74


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


was not difficult for Columbus, when the moment became
favorable, to obtain a lengthy audience for the exposition of
his plan. His alliance with two governors of Porto Santo,
and his antecedent relations with the King's father, obtained
for him a kind reception. At the first audience, and from
the beginning, John, surprised at the novelty of a plan that
upset all the received ideas in cosmography, showed himself but little disposed to enter into his views. But later,
during other conversations, the King, weighing the arguments of Columbus, comprehended that there was at the
bottom of his proposition something immense and superior.
From his elevation of thought, his knowledge of men, and
his relish for the natural sciences, the monarch felt disposed
in his favor, and determined to bear the expenses of an expedition. Nevertheless, before making an engagement, he
wished to know positively what remuneration Columbus
would demand in case of success.
Portugal encouraged discoveries by great liberalities.
Ordinarily, the government of the island, or of the region
discovered, was conferred on him who had taken possession
of it in the name of the Crown. Sometimes this dignity
was increased by some title of honor. But it was not with
the like compensation that this man, who was drawing
charts and copying manuscripts for the support of his
family, would be satisfied. In his eyes this recompense
appeared only shabbiness; it seemed to him it would depreciate the grandeur of his discovery. He laid his conditions,
then, before him. They were so royal that the monarch
became a little offended; and before subscribing to them,
he determined to submit to a discussion the probabilities of
success.
He charged with this examination a commission composed of three members: Diego Ortiz de Cazadilla, Bishop
of Ceuta; Roderigo, his own physicianl; and a Jew named
Joseph, also a physician, and a master in cosmography. If
Columbus required great honors, he required no less great
riches, for he had a great thought to satisfy, and this satis



CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


75


faction was the only recompense he judged worthy of his
enterprise. The revealer of the globe will be justified in
his incomparable ambition by every Christian soul.
In its report, the scientific commission concluded to reject
the proposition of the Genoese. It regarded the project as
a baseless dream. Nevertheless, the elevation of mind which
distinguished John, pleaded, without his being aware of it,
the cause of Columbus. Instinctively he had faith in this
stranger, so poor, and so firm in his demands. Notwithstanding the advice of the commission, he continued to
consider seriously about the plan of Columbus. He accordingly convoked a high council, which was composed of the
notables of the kingdom.
The project was then examined less as to its execution
than as regarded its advantages to the Portuguese nation.
The discussion became general as to the direction to be
given the royal marine. The sitting was animated, and
almost stormy. Prelates assisted at it, and among them
was the Bishop of Cauta, doubly influential by his science
and his official title as confessor to the King. His advice
must naturally have had great weight; he had already, as
president of the cosmographic commission, examined thoroughly the mechanism of the plan, - the object of the present discussion.  He declared that the reasons given by
Columbus were not solid enough for a sage and prudent
prince to engage in such an enterprise, without some previous experimentation.
Leaving out of sight the religious object of Columbus,
the prelate entered generally and warmly into the debate,
pronouncing against all new projects of discovery. Letting
the motives of a narrow and over-cautious prudence prevail
over the patriotism and the Christian zeal that could have
inspired the project, he treated the question dryly, as a minister of finance, who ought, above all considerations, to make
the expenses balance the receipts. He saw in the emptiness
of the. treasury a salutary obstacle to enterprises which hitherto were more honorable than productive. He maintained




76


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


that, far from seeking lands so distant, it would be better
policy to conceal their existence, and the route to them,
because the attraction of the novelty could not fail in exciting the warlike spirit of the Portuguese, generally disposed
for extraordinary things, and that in a short time colonization would depopulate the kingdom; that to pursue the way
of discoveries was to weaken the interior before the exterior was strengthened, and to expose the country to invasion; and that it was wiser, and at the same time more
glorious, to fight the infidels in Barbary, - those enemies
whose vicinity was always attended with danger.
This language, breathing a cold circumspection, based on
the calculations of arithmetic, irritated to the quick the
patriotism of the assembly. Pedro de Meneses, Count of
Villareal, and knight of the Order of Christ, replied with
spirit, that Portugal was no longer in her infancy, that her
princes were not so impoverished that they could not furnish the expenses for the expedition of Columbus; that from
no cause should the career so happily opened by Don Henry
be arrested; that it would redound to the everlasting glory
of Portugal to have penetrated the mysteries and sounded
the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, so formidable to other
nations; that thus would be avoided the idleness that is
ordinarily engendered by a prolonged peace. It was to outrage the Portuguese name, to menace with imaginary perils
those men who, in dangers the most real and the most
grave, showed so much valor and intrepidity.
Coming afterwards to the object proposed by Columbus,
the Count replied that this plan having chiefly in view the
propagation of the Catholic faith, he was astonished that a
prelate so religious as was the Bishop of Ceuta should dare
to oppose it. Would it not perhaps be to refuse God, to
reject this offer? Would it not at least be doing great injury
to neglect this opportunity of making the sacred voice of
the Gospel resound from pole to pole, in taking as an organ
the Portuguese nation, whose princes could, in recompense
for their zeal, hope for great accessions of empire, and that




CHAP. i.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


77


glory which insures immortality?  In his pious enthusiasm
the Christian knight added, that, " Soldier as he was, he
dared, as if he at that moment heard a voice and a spirit
from heaven, foretell the sovereign who would attempt
this enterprise a happy success, a greater power and a
vaster glory in the future, than ever was obtained by the
most celebrated heroes or the most fortunate monarchs."
This discourse was cheered by unanimous acclamations.
But the opinion of the Bishop of Ceuta was unfavorable to
Columbus even as to the means of execution. His wellknown ability in matters connected with nautical science
caused the Council, without any adequate discussion of it, to
lose sight of the project, in the midst of a question considered of more vital importance to the Portuguese nation, to
wit: the renewing of the expeditions commenced by Don
Henry, and suspended in the last reign. Contrary to the
advice of the bishop, the Council gave its opinion in favor
of discoveries, but it remained completely silent about the
project of Columbus.
The sitting of this Council is a precious monument in the
history of Columbus. rt shows that at that period the diffusion of the Gospel was already the avowed and definite
object of his enterprise.
The light and disdainful manner in which the high Council, on the authority of one of its members, had rejected the
project of Columbus, satisfied neither the justice nor the
enlightened judgment of King John. To condemn was not
to judge. The conversations of the Genoese cosmographer
returned to his mind, and he continued to reflect on them.
But time passed on.
Nothing came from the Court to put an end to the uncertainty. Columbus, firm  and resolute, girded with that
unconquerable patience which serves as armor for strong
souls, gaining his bread by the labor of his pen and of his
compass, and cultivating his intellect from every book he
traded in, acquired, during this forced inaction, an amount
of knowledge not less varied than it was solid.
7*




7S


HISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


At length the King, by his own reflection, was led to determine absolutely to risk the enterprise. What still held him
back was the exorbitant remuneration demanded by the
Genoese. In this perplexity one of his counsellors suggested
to him a means of reconciling his desire for the expedition
with what was called the dignity of the Crown. This means
consisted in furnishing secretly with the plan and instructions of Columbus a good Portuguese pilot, and to send
him for the discovery in the route indicated. Knowledge
once had of the land sought by Columbus, there would be
no longer any obligation of according him a great recompense. At length King John, alas 1 forgot one day that he
was a gentleman; and the unhappy counsellor, by whose
influence he was led astray, was Doctor Diego Ortiz de Cazadilla. The fact is but too well attested.
A ray of deceitful hope came to light up the laboriously
monotonous life led by Columbus, who was always waiting.
A message from the scientific commission invited him to
present without delay the details of his project, with the
basis and proofs, in such a manner that the theory, and the
means of executing his plan, could be thoroughly examined.
Incapable of suspecting a felony in so high a quarter, Columbus delivered without distrust the plan, the notes, the
charts,- in a word, the means of executing his enterprise.
Immediately after, one of the ablest captains of the Portuguese marine was despatched with a caravel to go apparently to revictual the isles of Cape Verd, but with secret
instructions to sail for the west, for the discovery of unknown
lands, conformably to the indications with which he was
furnished.
The greatest secrecy shrouded this spoliation of genius.
But if Columbus was defrauded of his scientific data, he
was not deprived of his firmness, his faith, his superiority
of glance, or his mysterious endowment received from on
high for the accomplishment of his work. After some days
of navigation boldly continued to the west, the crew commenced becoming astonished at the extent, and alarmed at




CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


79


the route. These men trembled before immensity. A tempest that had arisen came to add to their terrors, -the Lord
was not with them. The distracted ship turned back in her
course, and returned shamefully to the port whence she had
set out. Then, as it commonly happens in similar cases,
cowards became braggarts and banterers. Returned to port,
they turned into mockery the project of the Genoese. It
was nothing, they said, but a vain extravagance. Their
sole boasting betrayed, later, the secret of this almost sacrilegious crime.
The shaft of this felony entered deeply into the heart of
Columbus. But he was already accustomed to the sufferings of the heart. Some time before, in the midst of his
trials, death came to deprive him of the associate of his
hopes, the mother of his son, the noble Felippa, — the only
consolation of his poor fireside. Columbus remained silent,
and looked up to Heaven.
Meanwhile,the King came to know that the caravel had
not sailed the number of days or of leagues marked in the
instructions filched from Columbus. He desired to renew
the negotiation.  He would now accord all that he had
refused for so long a time. But, on his part, notwithstanding his poverty, Columbus had determined never to treat
with a court capable of such infamy. He feigned not to
understand the new dispositions of the King. HIe continued
in the isolation of his obscure occupations. But knowing
from a good source that the monarch was going to bind him
to his enterprise by a treaty, and being determined not to
yield, and having everything to fear from the counsellors of
the Crown should he persist in his refusal, he noiselessly
turned into cash the property of his wife, and prudently
prepared for his departure. Towards the end of I484 he
fled secretly from Lisbon, taking with him his young son,
Diego, whose delicate features recalled to mind the beauty
of his mother.
It was by sea that Columbus escaped from Portugal; he
directed his course to Genoa.




So


HISTORY OF '


[BOOK I.


Notwithstanding the refusal of the most serene Republic,
which he had the pain of experiencing some years before,
his patriotism prompted him to encounter anew the doubts
and the disdains of his native city. His desire of insuring
to his country the ilmmense advantages of his discoveries,
induced him to renew his applications to the Senate. But
some serious difficulties turned the government from a project that at least was extraordinary. The resources of the
Republic did not permit its diminishing its fleet by some
ships to attempt an expedition which no precedent justified.
Columbus derived from this voyage only the happiness of
seeing his respectable father at Savone, of presenting him
with his grandson, and of begging the blessing of the old
wool-comber on the head of that child, who was one day to
commingle his blood with that of the two royal houses of
Spain and of Portugal.
In listening to the projects of his sor, the heart of the old
wool-comber certainly thrilled with exultation.  For, if
Dominic Columbus knew the refusal of the two Republics
and the cupidity of Portugal, he also knew the firmness of
resolution, the ardent faith of his son, and even had a confused presentiment of his scientific superiority. He knew
Christopher had projected the tour of the earth to arrive
thus among idolatrous nations, and make the standard of
Salvation to shine before their eyes! These secret thoughts
renewed the heart of the old man with noble hopes. Such
grandeurs foreseen from the threshold of the tomb, must
have changed into a resplendent morning dawn the twilight of his last days. They were at the same time an
indemnity for his long tribulations, and a recompense for
the Christian education he had given his children.
After having, during his short stay, loaded with marks of
the utmost tenderness the venerable old man, and provided
for his wants during his absence, Christopher cast his eyes
on the Christian monarchies of Europe, to choose the crown
with which he would associate the honor of executing his
scheme.




CHAP. II.].  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.              8I
By her zeal in defending the faith, her intrepidity in
repelling the Moors, her chivalrous character, her maritime
resources, and especially the great renown of her two
sovereigns, Ferdinand of Arragon and Isabella of Castile,
then reigning together, Spain appeared to him to merit the
preference. From that time he engaged himself tacitly to
her, and regarded himself as bound to her. Then, during
the first east wind, he embarked for that kingdom, without
having any acquaintance there,-without any letter of credit
or of recommendation; solely confiding himself to the protection of Providence.




82


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


CHAPTER III.
Influence of Isabella on the Destinies of Spain.
PAIN commanded, at that time, the destinies of the
whole Catholic world.   Her struggle against the
Koran, the zeal of her crusade undertaken on the soil of
Europe, excited the sympathies of the whole Christian
world.  In applauding this heroic effort, a presentiment
was experienced that something grand would be the recompense of a faith so heroic.
One cannot well examine the annals of the navigation
and the colonization of the New World, without the sweet
name of Isabella coming to his memory; for she was the
medium of the Discovery, as the man who submitted his
plan to her was providentially destined to be its organ.
Here M. De Lorgues enters on a lengthy account of the
debased condition of Spain before the reign of Isabella;
shows how she created the Spanish power; the impulse
she gave to literature; her regeneration of the national
spirit; and then he gives a lively and beautiful picture
of that lady, who was undoubtedly the grandest of modern
sovereigns. But the details, though highly interesting in
themselves, we are obliged to pass over for want of space,
and because they more particularly belong to the personal
history of Isabella rather than to that of Columbus.
Isabella was the living personification of the chivalrous
genius of her time and of her nation.  No lady on the
throne joined a more sincere faith to a most consummate
prudence, or shone there with a more unaffected loyalty.
A kind of benediction appeared manifestly to attend her
projects as well as her acts.  Isabella could always do




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.                83
when she willed, and she always willed when she could
do.  Success crowned all her undertakings. While surrounding herself for her service with persons of the highest
capacity and of sincere devotedness, God willed that the
wisdom of her counsels should still surpass that of her
counsellors.
By Isabella was effected the chief act of European politics, -the expulsion of the Crescent. And by Isabella was
effected the most prodigious event of humanity, - that
which, in doubling its terrestrial domain, enlarged, in a
tenfold degree, the sphere of its scientific investigations.




84


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


CHAPTER IV.
Arrival of Columbus at the Franciscan Convent of La Rabida. -
The Friendship between the Father Superior and him. - He sets
out for the Court.
SE CTZION I.
T half a league from Palos, in sight of the ocean,
arises a steep promontory, surrounded with a belt of
vineyards studded with fig-trees, and the summit of which
was crowned with pines. Like the nest of a dove among
cypresses, a monastery, concealed by the forest, darted
its steeple above the tops of the trees, whence was exhaled
an odor, the sweetness of which united the odors of the
thymes and lavenders that grew at their feet.
This monastery, which was then inhabited by some religious of the Order of St. Francis, was dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin. It was called Santa Maria de la Rabida. It was
constructed on the ruins of one of those temples that paganism loved to erect in groves and on high places. It may be
seen that it became enlarged at different periods, as occasion
required, without regard to symmetry or architecture. The
enclosure contained two cloisters, a chapel, a portal, and a
garden.
From the roofing of the convent, the cupola of which,
surrounded by a balustrade, had formerly served as an
observatory, the view embraced a large horizon.
In July, I485, there was set over this convent, as Father
Superior, a man towards whom his cotemporaries were
guilty of ingratitude, but who will not be forgotten in this
history.
Subject to the rule of his institute with his whole heart,




CHAP IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


85


this religious offered to his community the example of a
true disciple of St. Francis, and the renown of his piety
passed beyond the walls of the enclosure of La Rabida.
He was suddenly called to Court. Queen Isabella had
sometimes requested his counsel; she held him in such
high esteem that she appointed him her confessor. But
the humble Franciscan could not bear the bustle of the
Court. This monk aspired only to the quiet regularity of
his cloister, and his importunities at last obtained for him
leave to reenter it. The Queen esteemed him, not only as
a religious of a holy life, as a spiritual guide, and as a great
theologian, but she also honored him for his modesty, which
could not altogether conceal his science. She considered
him an able astronomer* and an excellent cosmographer.
The evidence which she bore to his science, and to his
meekness of character, has come down to us.
This Franciscan's name was Juan Perez de Marchina.
His fervent piety had not suppressed his inclination for
mathematics, and his knowledge of the exact sciences did
not detract from  his taste for letters.  The extent and
variety of his learning cannot be doubted.  The archchronologist Oviedo says, " This religious was a great
cosmographer."t The historian Antonio de Herrera adds
that " he was a great humanist," -that is to say, a scholar
and' man of science.  The historian Lopez de Gomora
mentions also his learning, and his special knowledge of
the sciences. I As to the excellence of his virtue, it was
attested by the Sovereign Pontiff, Leo X.; and by the first
bishop of the Antilles, Monseigneur Allessandyo Geraldini,
who speaks of " his pious life and of his well-known
sanctity." ~
* Documentos Dizlomaticos, num. lxxi.
t Oviedo, Historia nat. y gen. de las Indias, lib. II, cap. 5;
Herrera, Hist. gener., decade I, liv. I, chap. vii.
$ Lopez de Gomora, Historia de las Indias.
~ Itinerarium ad regiones sub cequinoctaliplaga constitutas, Alexandri Geraldini, Amerini, episco2;i etc., lib. xiv.
8




86


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


After having shown the intellectual and ascetic superiority of this Franciscan, we may follow him in imagination
to the roof where, in his quality as astronomer, he had a
kind of observatory. He used his prerogatives as Superior
only to extend the sphere of his meditations, and to prolong
his studies.
Often during the sleep of his brethren, on calm nights,
Father Juan, elevating his soul to the Creator of the Worlds,
followed the harmonious course of the stars. Shining like
a beacon-flame, his thoughts glowed solitarily from this
steep declivity.  During the day, when not employed in
the offices of choir, he would reascend to the place of his
intuitions, of which, perhaps, nobody then in Spain had
the least suspicion. At the aspect of the waves going to
lose themselves at an undiscernible distance in the west,
he asked himself whether or not, beyond that space which
no ship had ever traversed, the empire of the " Gloomy
Ocean" was really unconquerable, -that formidable ocean,
thus named because of the obscurity which enshrouded its
nature, its limits, and its unfathomed depths.
This questioning already indicated a progress.  The
opinions of cosmographers were singularly confused in
regard to the GLOOMY OCEAN.     Some maintained that,
continuing to sail in a straight line to the west for three
years, one would not still reach a shore; others, that the
ocean was illimitable and shoreless. Conformably to this
divergence of opinion in regard to the form of the earth,
every master in geography had his own peculiar system
concerning the Gloonzy Oceanz. But Father Juan Perez,
without letting himself be imposed on by Arabian geographers and renowned pilots, asked himself whether or not
there were beyond these waters lands unknown to Christians. His solicitude for the salvation of peoples who did
not know Christ, and his desire to see the holy name of
Jesus blessed by all nations, led him continually to this
question: Is there nothing beyond that expanse of ocean?
His presentiments always gave him an affirmative answer.




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


87


Independently of his theological knowledge, the Father
Superior, by his frequent intercourse with the seamen of
Palos, was well informed in regard to the expeditions of
the Portuguese on the western coast of Africa, and knew
of the discoveries that had been made at the Azores, and
at Cape Verd.
One day, in passing by the porter's lodge, he noticed, in
the parlor, Garcia Hernandez, the physician of the community, gazing with surprise on a traveller who came afoot,
with a little boy, into this place so far away from the public
route, and who asked the brother porter for a little bread
and water for his little son. The Father Superior remarked
the air of distinction of this man, contrasted with his state
of destitution.  Noticing by his language that he was a
foreigner, he felt a curiosity mingled with interest, and
asked him whence he came and whither he went. The
stranger replied to him, very candidly, that he came from
Italy, and that he was going to the Court of the Sovereigns,
to communicate to them an important project. The Superior invited him into the cloister to take some rest, which
the latter accepted.
This stranger was Christopher Columbus. How was he
led to this monastery? Nobody could tell how.
Wherever he disembarked, whether at Port Santa Maria,
at San Lucar de Barrameda, at La Higuerra, or even at
Palos, his presence at the monastery of La Rabida cannot
be explained on natural principles.  This convent, then
completely concealed by pine-trees, and visible only from
the sea-coast, was out of the direct route which Columbus
should have followed in going to Huelva. It was not in
losing his way that he could have got there.  He must
have been led there by one of those chances, calculated
admirably, which reveal to us the action of a superior
power, before which we adoringly fall prostrate.
At this time Columbus was not going, as has been so
often said, to Huetra, to see his brother-in-law, Pedro




9


88                   HISTORI    OF              [BOOK I.
Correa, the former governor of Porto Santo,* but to
Huelva, to an obscure Spaniard named Muliar, who had
married the youngest sister of his wife, t and to whom he
would have undoubtedly confided his little son during his
solicitations at the Court of Castile.
Assuredly, if the manner in which Columbus landed in
Portugal was poetic or romantic, the way in which Providence -assisted him on his landing in Spain is not less marvellous. When he arrives, without protection, without any
recommendation, destitute of all support, in a country whose
language he does not yet know, the divine goodness directs
him to a man the best prepared for his ideas, and the most
capable of comprehending and confirming him in his
mission.
Under the coarse cloth that covered his breast, Juan Perez
de Marchena concealed a generous patriotism.    Neither
age, nor the pursuit of science, nor austerities, had narrowed his heart. His expansive soul preserved its impressions full of fieshness and vivacity, and it still felt that
perennial youth of virtue which time cannot extinguish.
He welcomed fraternally the stranger, towards whom   he
felt a sudden attraction. A kind of intimacy immediately
took place between them; for already, before their meeting,
there preixisted between them the strictest conformity of
ideas that can unite two intelligences,
The Father Superior, after the first disclosures of Columbus, invited him to remain with him, the present moment
not being favorable to submit his project to the Court.
* All the biographers of Columbus have ignored the existence
of Muliar, and, like Irving, have mistaken this obscure citizen of
Huelva for his other brother-in-law, the Portuguese Pedro Correa,
former governor of Porto Santo, an important personage.
t This is certain: " Iba derecho de esta villa de Huelva para fallar
ci un su cufiado, casado cin humana de su mujer e que a la sazon
estaba, 6 que habia nombre Muliar." - Pleyto, Probunzas hechas h5or
el Fiscal del Rey. Pregunta 13; Supplem. primer a la Coleccion
Dipblom., num. lxix.




CHAP. IV.1  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


89


It has been pretended that, distrusting his own judgment,
Father Juan Perez sent immediately for Garcia Hernandez,
physician of the community, residing at Palos, - a savant
well versed in mathematics; that the project of Columbus
was discussed among them in several conferences, and that,
after it was recognized as rational, it was decided that it
could be carried into effect. This is an error, as has been
testified by Hernandez himself, in an authentic judiciary
deposition.*
Between Columbus and his host nobody intervened. The
confidence of Father Juan Perez was complete, because the
demonstration was peremptory,- because the grand mission of that stranger was manifest to him,-because the
Franciscan possessed that rare intellectual light that elucidates great questions, and which, without discussing them,
decides on them. His knowledge of cosmography sufficed
for him to appreciate the cosmic system of the man sent
to him by Providence. He heard, he comprehended, he
believed.
Thus, in this peaceable convent of the Franciscans, the
largest scheme conceived by humanity was developed by
genius and encouraged by enthusiasm.   In this convent
there was an implicit and sudden belief in the sphericity
of the earth; of the existence of unknown islands and continents, and in the possibility of arriving at them,-at a
time when, in all the academies, in all the colleges, in all
the universities, these ideas were regarded as the dream of
a sick brain.
Columbus, become the guest of the Franciscans, disengaged from the cares of material life, and having no longel
to gain his daily bread, could give all his time to the affairs
of his soul, and to the contemplation of divine things.
* Garcia Hernandez himself has fixed the date of the conference
by the circumstance that at its conclusion the pilot Sebastian Rodreguez was sent to the camp of Santa Fe, which was done in the winter of I49I, six years after the time erroneously assigned by Irving
and his copiers.
8*




90


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


There he labored in the perfection of his interior. He sought
by prayer, and other religious exercises, to become less
worthy of being the instrument to accomplish the immense
work with which he felt himself charged. Having free access to the library of the convent, he could study the Holy
Scriptures, the ecclesiastical authors, the paraphrasts, and
the commentators. It is known that he studied St. Jerome,
St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Isidore, and that he knew
Scotus, Nicholas de Lyra, etc. Undoubtedly, it was there
he acquired that varied knowledge of theological works
which he showed afterwards. We have reason to say
that the works of the Angel of the Schools, and of the
Seraphic Doctor, the nobly speculative questions of metaphysics and of moral theology, did not prevent him from
turning his attention to a study less high, but more practical, namely, the Lives of the Saints. He loved to reflect
on the examples of those persons who had diversely served
God; -these with an humble constancy and an obscure
horizon; those with the splendor of genius and celebrity;
and both equally precious in the eyes of God, and honored
by the Church. Though he was a man of the world then,
he still aspired, from the depths of his heart, to celebrate
the glory of Jesus Christ.  Deeply penetrated with the
divine light with which the Holy Scriptures illuminate
the understanding of the sincerely submissive believer,
Columbus did not confine himself to what was to be
learned in the library.  He lived the monastic life, and
joined in the studies and the meditations of the Father
Superior, and in the offices and the spiritual entertainments of the community.    He knew the spirit of St.
Francis, and loved his Order, his rule, and his habit.
In his turn, in Christopher Columbus,Father Juan Perez
loved the man, as he had already admired the cosmographer,
the poet, the superior genius. We hesitate not to say he
loved him so much the more that, being his confessor, it
was given him to see naked that faith which remained
pure and firm in spite of the audacity of learning, and of




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


91


the curiosity of the intellect. He could contemplate face
to face that thought more vast than the known world, humbly inclined at the feet of the judge who has the power to
bind and to loosen, -having, as a priest, read clearly in
the depths of this soul, which, without being aware of it,
unveiled its beauty in disclosing its faults in the tribunal
of confession. He admired so much genius united to so
much humility. He was astonished at the grandeur of this
man so little known, in whom the highest qualities were
associated in such harmony that they seemed to make but
one by preeminence-that which we call Virtue.   The
Franciscan recognized in Columbus the mark of a providential election. It was, therefore, that he became interested in his destiny, and became attached to it with a
devotion that only ended with his life.
At the time Columbus resolved to leave the monastery of
La Rabida, Father Juan Perez procured for him a small
sum of money, and gave him an earnest letter of recommendation to a man of influence at Court,- the Prior of
Prado, - whose benevolent mediation, he said, would obtain for him an easy access and a favorable reception. As
Father Juan Perez judged that, notwithstanding her noble
origin, the sister-in-law of Columbus, the wife of poor
Muliar, could not, at Huelva, give a suitable education to
the young Diego, her nephew, he wished himself to take
charge of his instruction.  It was, therefore, under the
roof, and with the bread, the clothing, and the books of
the charitable Franciscan family, that the son of Columbus
was fed, clothed, and educated in his early youth.
The guest of the convent of La Rabida, having his heart
henceforth at ease, and his mind at rest, in regard to his
child, took leave of the venerable Superior, and, accompanied by his prayers, took the route for Cordova.




92


HIISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


CHAPTER V.
Sojourn of Columbus in Cordova. - He marries Beatrix Enriquez. -
The support of the Clergy procures for him an audience with
the Sovereigns.- His useless solicitations.- The conferences at
Salamanca.- He serves at the siege of Baza.- The Superior of
La Rabida again comes to aid him.
SECTIcON I.
C   OLUMBUS came, full of hope, to Cordova, furnished
with the letter from which he expected a result as
prompt as it would be efficacious. The great influence of
the Prior of Prado, it seemed to him, ought to exempt him
from ordinary delays, and gain him prompt access to their
Highnesses.*  But, alas! the reception he got from this
personage soon dissipated the illusion. Not only did the
Prior make him no promise, but he would' permit him to
have no hope, and would not even deign to listen to him.
Fernando de Talavera, who was to be his assiduous introducer to the sovereigns, became the first obstacle to the
issue of his project.  This man seemed to be chosen to
exercise painfully his patience and his resignation.
Justly indignant at the impediments raised against genius
in the accomplishment of its work, several writers have
treated with severity the Prior of Prado, for the anxieties
he caused to the most noble solicitor of the world. Impartiality obliges us to acknowledge that their generous
indignation has carried them too far.
Brother Fernando de Talavera, of the congregation of
* At this period, in Spain, the sovereigns received only the title
of Highness. That of MAJESTY was not used until the reign of
Charles V.




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


93


the Hieronymites, Prior of Our Lady of Prado in Valladolid, and confessor to the two sovereigns, was not an
ordinary character, envious of the glory of others, or
systematically opposed to every new idea. Equally versed
in letters and in theology, he, some years before, frankly
seconded the literary movement inaugurated by Isabella.
The wisdom of his counsels equalled his modesty. His
assiduity in business matters, and his sagacious proceedings,
augmented the revenue of the Crown with more than three
million maravedis. In the midst of the splendors of the
Court, he continued to lead the life of a true religious.
Beneath an extreme gentleness, and a smiling piety, he
concealed many austerities, as well as an ardent zeal for
the glory of Catholicity. Free from all personal ambition,
edifying in his actions as well as in his words, he possessed, without reserve, the confidence of the sovereigns,
and enjoyed, even at Court, a reputation for virtue that
bordered on sanctity.
What we know of him is not indicative of narrowness of
views. But, however learned and pious the Prior was, he
had no special knowledge of mathematics, and therefore
could not have been a competent judge in a matter of
cosmography. He judged from appearances, without being
a physiognomist, and must necessarily have been deceived.
The aspect of this stranger, -obscure, poorly clothed,
come nobody could tell how into Spain, arriving at Court
without any support but the patronage of a monk of a
rural monastery, - gave him no very advantageous idea
of the man, or, consequently, of his project. He believed
Father Juan Perez had been imposed on by this dreamer.
Accordingly, he determined to let this protege dance attendance at the vestibules, the reception-rooms and staircases, -to exercise his patience, and cause him to become
disgusted with the trade of soliciting. He thought that in
that he would render him a service.. And when, through
compassion, he consented to receive him, his air of incredulity, or of distraction, showing itself through the politeness




94


HISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


of his manners, would have discouraged the perseverance
of Columbus, had it not been sustained by the invisible
support that was given him.
We may now judge whether or not the Prior, who had
made it a rule not to interfere in any recommendation, felt
disposed to make any solicitation in behalf of this Italian.
He would have considered himself culpable towards their
Highnesses, in prevailing on them, in times so urgent, to
spare some moments in listening to an adventurer, who,
scarcely having himself a coat, came to offer them kingdoms.   Columbus, then, had to suffer and to struggle
against the prejudices of him who he expected would be
his protector.  During these disappointments and unsuccessful attempts, being at the end of his resources, and
feeling keenly the restraints of poverty, he was obliged,
in order to support himself, to recommence his copying of
manuscripts, and his drawing of marine charts.
Lost in the midst of the crowd in that brilliant Cordova,
famous for its elegant frivolities and the exigencies of its
luxury, Columbus found himself forgotten, isolated, without
friends, without familiar acquaintances, and given up to the
saddest abandonment; when, notwithstanding his destitution, a noble maiden, in whose neighborhood he lodged,
desired to console his misfortune in attaching herself to him
by an indissoluble union.
She was of high descent. Her birth far surpassed her
fortune, and her beauty her birth. She was named Beatrix.
This name, so much loved by Dante, seemed to have been
made for an Italian. Dona Beatrix Enriquez belonged to
the noble house of Arana, one of the most ancient families
of Cordova, in which virtue was transmitted by right of
birth, and which, notwithstanding its little opulence, enjoyed
that respectability which riches alone can never obtain.
The laconicism of historians, often their silence, and
always the absence of Beatrix Enriquez on solemn occasions,
some words of Columbus on his death-bed, veiled with a
modest reticence, and grossly interpreted, have produced




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


95


a general prejudice against her.  In fact, ancient historians, after having mentioned the fact of Columbus's
marriage, have no more spoken of Beatrix. It was because
they had nothing to say against her. Her modesty, the
nature of her tastes, her habits, which made her shun the
high scenes to which her title gave her access, her attachment for her native city, from which she was never absent,
have prevented her being followed throughout the course of
her life. Her history is limited to her marriage, as her.
happiness is to her union. The Christian wife enjoys
modestly the glory of her husband, and does not make a
show of it.
In what concerns Beatrix Enriquez the documents are
brief, but convincing.
They show that she descended from the highest nobility,
and was of rare beauty. Her fortune, unequal to her rank,
still insured her an independent living.  But, having
brothers, it is probable that, according to the custom of the
times and of the country, she received as a marriage portion
only her  legitimze."  The marriage of Beatrix Enriquez
took place in Cordova towards the end of November, 1486.
She became the mother of Fernando Columbus the twentyninth of August following.
It may be said that this union was providentially prepared
to fix Columbus in Spain, in order to attach him by family
ties to that heroic land which had become his adopted
country. If we consider attentively the circumstances under
which this marriage took place, we shall find in it something strange, exceptional, like the destiny of Columbus;
there will be found united in it -unexpectedness, grandeur,
and moral suffering.
Notwithstanding her noble origin, her youth, and her rare
beauty, Beatrix espoused a man then without name, and
without his family being. known; without youth, for he was
forty-nine years old; without virginity of heart, as he was
a widower having a son; and without fortune, for he
possessed no lands or other property. Assuredly his dis



96


HISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


tinguished air, the elevation of his conversations, savoring
of a picturesque inaccuracy, showed his superiority; but
his costume was unavoidably poor and plain: his hair
wholly gray, and the wrinkles of his forehead no longer
presented the charms of a long future, about which passion
so often becomes voluntarily deluded. As an object of
hope, he possessed only a project that was three times rejected by the councils of governments. Without doubt, the.Aranas and the Enriquezes were opposed to this union.
which shocked them in their legitimate pride, their interests,
their prejudices, even their reason itself, and ought to appear
less a surprise of the heart than an aberration of the mind.
There could have been no want of dissuading Beatrix, of
representing Columbus as an obscure foreigner, and as an
audacious babbler or a dreamer. She had to sustain the
opposition of her relations and fiiends, and to brave
gossipings and ridicule, - that arm which always subdues
feeble desires and overcomes common resolutions.
On the other hand, that a will so firm as that of Columbus should have yielded to the sway of the heart, the
beauty of Dofia Beatrix must have been irresistible, and
her moral qualities must have formed with her person an
ensemble wonderfully harmonious. But if he loved her on
account of her charms, of a certainty he was smitten only
with her devotedness, and loved her only because she loved
him. Gratitude, that generous sentiment which becomes
most deeply rooted in human affection, subdues the tenderness of that man whom   nothing could have subjugated
whilst he contained within his bosom the most vast thought
of the whole earth.
It was not a marriage of convenience, of fortune, or of
position; it was an inclination, pure and invincible, and
stronger than ambition, or experience, or even misfortune.
It was necessary that he should love with all the power of
his soul, and feel a sovereign charm, in order that the
necessity of quitting resolutely the presence of the object
beloved, of living voluntarily in the remoteness of separation




CHAP. v.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


97


to accomplish his work, should render his sacrifice more
meritorious, and the immolation of his heart more sublime,a sacrifice and immolation of which nobody has hitherto
spoken, or kept account of in history.
The felicity which Beatrix offered him, placed as a
temptation on the rugged route he was to travel, could not
captivate that soul wholly inspired with its mission, or turn
it from its immortal purpose. Columbus, while he was yet
in Cordova, notwithstanding the charms of his marriage,
did not the less continue with perseverance his useless efforts
to be heard and be brought before the sovereigns. Not
being able to succeed, he took his pen and addressed King
Ferdinand directly in these terms:" Alost Serene Prince," I have been engaged in navigating from my youth. I
have voyaged on the seas for nearly forty years. I have
visited all the known quarters of the world, and have
conversed with a great number of learned men: with ecclesiastics, with seculars, with Latins, with Greeks, with Moors,
and with persons of all sorts of religions. I have acquired
some knowledge of navigation, of astronomy, and of
geometry. I am sufficiently expert in designing the chart
of the earth to place the cities, the rivers, and the mountains where they are situated. I have applied myself to the
study of works on cosmography, on history, and on philosophy. I feel myself at present strongly urged to undertake
the discovery of the Indies; and I come to your Highness
to supplicate you to favor my enterprise. I doubt not that
those who hear it will turn it into ridicule; but if your
Highness will give me the means of executing it, whatever
the obstacles may be I hope to be able to make it succeed."
In this style, straightforward, firm, and concise, in which
facts take the place of words, we see stamped the character
of the man.
This letter received no answer. As its author had fore9




9S


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


seen, those perhaps to whom it was communicated mocked
at the idea, and the King did as they did.  Columbus
waited, and did not become disheartened, but persisted in
seeking to be heard in some other way. At length he succeeded in making the acquaintance of the former apostolic
nuncio, Antonio Geraldini. This prelate, at the Queen's
request, had just returned to Spain to finish the education
of her oldest daughter.
The high intellectual ability of Antonio Geraldini predisposed him for grand conceptions. At the age of twentytwo his head was encircled with the golden laurel for poetry,
amid the acclamations of almost'the whole of Italy. According to Apostolo Zeno, he composed, among other
remarkable pieces, twelve poems on the life of our Saviour.
He was a man of a generous disposition. As soon as he
became acquainted with Columbus, he experienced a lively
attraction towards him, and became his friend, when he
thought he was only his protector. He held discourse about
his project with the principal personages of the Court, and
especially the Grand Cardinal of Spain, Pedro Gonzalez de
Medona, who was also Grand Chancellor of Castile.
At the request of the ex-nuncio, the Grand Cardinal received into his presence the Genoese navigator.  More
accustomed to affairs than the Prior of Prado, and measuring men by the first glance, as soon as he saw Columbus
he recognized his marked superiority. After having heard
him he felt a high esteem for him, and conceived so high
an opinion of his personal character, that, without having
thoroughly examined his plan, he considered it his duty to
speak of him to the sovereigns. It was through this benevolent intervention that Columbus was finally enabled to obtain an audience.
Notwithstanding the poorness of his clothing, and his
foreign accent, Columbus appeared before the sovereigns
without hesitation or awkwardness. The dignity of his
air and the grace of his deportment, with the noble familiarity of his language, won their attention. One would say




CIAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


99


he was a disguised king conversing with his equals; because,
forgetting his poverty, and wholly penetrated with the sanctity of. his object, he raised himself to the height of his mission, having a presentiment that he was the legate of
Providence, * sent to the most powerful of Christian
princes, and especially those most zealous for the faith:
because he was engaged in proposing to those princes an
enterprise that would immortalize their reigns, " in doing
service to our Lord by spreading His holy name and the
faith among so many peoples," who, perhaps, were still
ignorant of the Messias. To glorify the Redeemer, carry
the Gospel and civilization to the most distant countries,
and thus turn the temporal power to a good account, was
to prepare the way for an imperishable crown in eternity.
It was plainly and solely on this religious motive that
Columbus based his hopes in addressing himself to the
Queen. The political and commercial advantages which
he urged before the governments of Genoa, Venice and
Portugal, were here presented only as secondary considerations. The first object of the Discovery, disengaged from
every human consideration, was, therefore, the glorification
of the Redeemer and the extension of His Church. Historians have hitherto left this circumstance unnoticed, or in a
state of vague confusion.
Columbus, a man of desire like Daniel, wholly animated
with the divine spirit, knowing the tender piety of the
Queen, and receiving the favor of her attention as a pledge
of her sympathy, spoke from his heart.  His eloquence
penetrated that of Isabella. From that moment she took
an indefinable interest in that stranger.  His intelligent
look, his face beaming with genius, and his language full
of natural elevation,-notwithstanding some defects in his
prosody, - showed an uncommon superiority, and inspired
confidence and esteem, mingled with respect.
The King, no doubt, experienced a little of this influence;
* Columbus.- Relation dz troisieme Voyage, etc.
*.i* e:




I00


HIS TORYS OF


[BOOK I.


but his character, full of cold circumspection, opposed to
every impulse of the heart, prevented him fiom coming to a
decision. He desired that a project founded on scientific
data should at first be verified by science; and referred the
matter to a junta, or council, of savans, which he charged
the Prior of Prado to convoke and preside over.
The commission given to the Prior was not as easy to
fulfil as one would think. At that period, Castile counted
but a small number of cosmographers, and it is acknowledged that these were not very able. For want of a sufficient number of cosmographers, the Prior summoned some
theologians.
Salamanca, where the Court passed that winter, was
naturally chosen as the place for the learned Congress.
To assist the Prior of Prado in his functions, his cousin,
Rodrigo Maldenado de Talavera, mayor (regidor) of
Salamanca, was appointed secretary.   The date of this
memorable junta has not been preserved by history.
Nevertheless, two circumstances enable us to determine
it very nearly. The junta met in November, I486. The
official reports of the sittings, imperfectly made known in
two years after, have not yet come forth from the archives
of Simancas. In the absence of these, we may, at least,
form an idea of the characters of those who shared in this
curious debate between the intuition of genius and the
incredulity of routine.
SECTION      II.
Religion and science composed almost solely the city of
Salamanca. Besides the King's College, and those of the
orders of Calatrava, of Alcantara, of the Orphans, of St.
John, of St. Pelagius, of the Mount of Olives, of the
Cross, of St. Mary, of St. Bartholomus, etc., the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Augustinians, the Benedictines,
the Hieronymites, the Bernardines, the Fathers of Mercy,
the Trinitarians, the Canons regular, the Carmelites, had
each their school.




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUM1IBUS.


IOI


These several institutions comprised nearly all the degrees of education.  Some were limited to Latin and
humanities, whilst others taught the higher branches, such
as the natural sciences, law, and theology. In the convents
where these higher courses were carried on, some public
halls exteriorly annexed to the cloister remained easily
accessible to youth.
Education, then, in all its degrees was given on a large
scale in Salamanca. These numerous educational establishments were conducted under the sole direction of a
council called the University, over which a rector presided,
who was elected on the feast of St. Martin. Nearly eight
thousand students had their names entered on the register
of the University.
From its real superiority and renown, the college of the
higher studies, then directed by the Dominicans in their
convent of St. Stephen, excelled all the other academical
institutions. It was in the halls of this cloister that the
scientific Junta assembled.
It was composed of the professors of astronomy and of
cosmography, who held the first chairs of the University,
and of the principal geographers and geometers, who had
formerly studied mathematics under Master Apollonius, and
natural philosophy under Master Pascual de Aranda, the
only two eminent professors of science that Salamanca had
yet produced. Neither Father Juan Perez de Marchena,
nor the young pilot, Juan de la Cosa, attended the meeting.
The Spaniard assuredly the best skilled in matters of cosmography, James Ferrer, the learned lapidary of Burgos,
had not, unfortunately, been summoned there. He probably
was then in Cairo, or in Damascus.
In this congress, the audience was not less imposing than
the judges. It possessed as much knowledge as they did,
and more independence.   It will be remembered how
unfavorable the president was to the project of Columbus.
His cousin, Rodrigo Maldonado, partook of his prejudices.
According to the manner in which things are usually man9*




102


IHISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


aged among commissions, it cannot be doubted that before
the first sitting, the council, governed by the well-known
opinion of the president, was prejudiced against the question to be decided, and against the person who came to
defend it.
In the first place, all considered Columbus as a vain man,
who pretended to be able to discover things that no cosmographer had ever dreamt of; whence it was inferred,
that he considered himself superior to all his predecessors.
Besides, he was a foreigner-an aggravating circumstance,
and one which constituted not the least of his faults.
On the appointed day, Columbus appeared before these
judges with great tranquillity of mind, notwithstanding
the immense distance that lay between his ideas and theirs.
Many were predisposed to see, in the theory of this
foreigner, a dangerous innovation; concealing, it may be, a
heresy.
Before speaking, Columbus had resolved, in this controversy, not to go beyond certain generalities, and not to
make known to the public the determinate cause of his
convictions.  The perfidy of Portugal kept awake his
prudence, even before the loyal Court of Isabella. What
he went to prove from cosmographic data before the
congress, was not therefore the decisive reason of his
system, and of its peremptory demonstration. He presented as principal reasons, only his secondary ones.
Notwithstanding this complication of embarrassments,
Columbus exposed with confidence the fundamental reasons
that appeared to him to be the base of his project. As he
depended especially on scientific data and principles, the
assembly could not well follow up his arguments. It was
only the Dominicans of St. Stephen's that listened to him
with attention and favor.
The discussion was too long, and touched on too many
incidental questions to be promptly terminated.  After
each statement of Columbus, there was a secret reunion of
the council, in order to consider the force of his arguments,




CHAP. v.]  CHRIS TOPIER COL UMBUS.


I03


verify the authorities brought forward, and to prepare
answers or objections for the next sitting.  These conferences occupied some time, during which Columbus was
the guest of the convent of St. Stephen. The Dominicans
provided for all his wants, entertained him generously, and
even defrayed his travelling expenses.*  Even to this day,
their community takes no small degree of honor to itself,
for the hospitality so worthily extended to the messenger
of Providence, then comparatively unknown. t
Columbus, feeling that in this Council, where the number
of theologians was far greater than that of mariners and
cosmographers, inductions purely scientific would not
suffice for his judges, determined, notwithstanding the
fear of being suspected of heresy, to discuss, at last, even
the texts of Scripture and the opinions of commentators.
The ardor of his apostleship appeared then to transfigure
him in the eyes of his audience. The majesty of his person,
the illumination of his countenance, and the keen sonorousness of his voice, gave his language a persuasion that was
irresistible to every unprejudiced mind.  The poetry and
the majesty of the Sacred Writings electrified his heart; the
energy of his words became ennobled by the grandeur of
the subject; and he turned against his adversaries, in magnificently developing to them those same texts of Scripture in
which they thought they could show him his condemnation.
His noble attitude before the Council was not forgotten.
Many among the assembly became convinced.      Among
these, the first professor of theology in the college of
St. Stephen, the Dominican Diego de Deza, took his
defence, and gained to his cause the first masters in the
University.
* " Todo el tiempo que se detenia Colon en Salamanca, el convento
de San Esteban le dava aposento y comida, y le hazia el gasto de
sus Jornadas." Fray Antonio de Remesal, Historia de la Provincia
de San Vincinte de Chiapa y Guatemala, lib. II., cap. vii.
t "Los Dominicanos ponen entre sus glorias el haber hospidado
en San Esteban el Descubridor de las Indias." —Muiioz, Historia
del Nuevo Mundo, tomo I., lib. II., cap. xxvi.




104


HISTOR OF


[BOOIK I.


Columbus had, then, in his favor the respectability, if not
the number, of the sufflages. But some fastidious intellects
and opiniative scholastics considered it singularly presumptuous that a mariner should contest the opinions of
St, Augustine and of Nicholas de Lyra. And there was
circulated a vague rumor, which became dangerous in that
country, where the Inquisition, lately established there,
displayed the activity of its new jurisdiction. Happily the
Nuncio, Monseigneur Scandiano, was not ignorant of what
had passed. The former Nuncio of the Holy See was there.
His young brother, Alessandro Geraldini, having a presentiment of the danger, obtained an immediate audience
with the Grand Cardinal of Spain. A few words from him
sufficed to show that the opinion of Nicholas de Lyra, great
as he was as a commentator, and even of St. Augustine, so
eminent for his philosophy as well as his sanctity, could
not be of authority in matters of cosmography and of navigation, - sciences that were foreign to their labors. The
opinion of the Apostolic Nuncio, of the Grand Cardinal, of
the Ex-Nuncio, and of his brother Alessandro, and the lively
sympathies of the professor of theology of St. Stephen's,
Diego de Deza, supported by some notables of Salamanca,
arrested the effects of the insinuations about which the
Holy Office had already taken umbrage.
The Court did not await the end of these conferences. It
left Salamanca the twenty-sixth of January, I487, to go to
Andalusia.
The Junta separated before spring, without having concluded anything. It condemned the project as being both
chimerical and impracticable.  Still, its proceedings were
not drawn up and sent to the Court. The campaign into
Malaga caused, for a time, the project of Columbus to
be lost sight of. Fernando de Talavera could not occupy
himself with it. In the first place, he took no interest in
it, not believing the enterprise was practicable. On the
other hand, obliged to follow the Court in his quality of
confessor to the Queen, notwithstanding his recent promo



CHAP. v.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I05


tion to the bishopric of Avila, it would be difficult for him
to follow up the affair, all the members of the Council
having been dispersed.
Still, notwithstanding the sterility of the Junta, the conferences at Salamanca served to bring into notice the erudition, the science, and gigantic views of Columbus. His
project had acquired an immense notoriety, and his name
a kind of popularity. From that time, the Court began to
treat him with consideration.  Without concluding anything, without making any engagement with him, it was
easy, during spare hours, to question him, and to converse
about his plan. The King refused to risk a dollar, looking
upon the matter of unknown lands at the extremity of the
Indies as a mere golden dream.
It appears that at several times Columbus was called to
Court. Payment for his expenses was allowed him each
time. This is seen in the accounts of the royal treasurer,
Francis Gonzalez, of Seville. We read there, at the date of
May 5th, I487: "Pay Christopher Columbus, a foreigner,
three thousand maravedis, for things done in the service of
their Highnesses." * The third of July following, an equal
sum was paid him by the same treasurer. The military
affairs that engaged the attention of the sovereigns caused
the proposition of Columbus to be postponed, but not rejected; certain dates prove the fact.  The surrender of
Malaga took place the eighteenth of August, I487, and
nine days had scarcely elapsed when Columbus received
from the royal treasury an order for " four thousand maravedis, to repair to Court, by order of their Highnesses."
The conferences about an expedition were reopened fiom
time to time; but the immediate urgency of military affairs
caused them always to be postponed to a future day. That
year, Cordova becoming infested with the plague, the Court
repaired to Saragossa, to spend the winter in that city.
There again the affair of,Columbus was brought forward
for a little time, and he was summoned to attend; for a
* Docum. Diplom., num. I.; Simancas.    f Ibid.




Io6


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


receipt of the fifteenth of October, 1487, shows that he
received another order for four thousand maravedis.
Useless solicitations, aid hopes deferred, occupied almost
all the days of Columbus during the following year.
Still, it depended only on himself to execute at last his
plan, and obtain the price he required for his discovery.
King John II., the only Portuguese that could appreciate
his genius, had cleverly resumed his negotiations with him.
Columbus, in his answer, having, no doubt, mentioned as a
reason for his refusal the fear that, once in the hands of the
monarch, his counsellors would seek some pretext to make
an attempt on his liberty, the King sent him a message,
dated the twentieth of March, enclosing a safe-conduct.
The address of the letter bore these words: " To Christopher Columbus, our particular fiiend, at Seville."  But
Columbus remained immovable in his refusal.
The sovereigns quitted Saragossa in the spring, to attempt
a surprise on the territory of the Moors. In the course of
the summer they called Columbus to Court, as is seen by
an order for three thousand maravedis, paid him the sixteenth of June, 488S. They took up their winter quarters
in Valladolid, which they quitted in February, to go to
Medina del Campo, where they were to receive an embassy
sent them by Henry VII., who desired to contract an alliance with them. In the commencement of May they went
to Cordova. At this time, it appeared to them that the
project of Columbus should receive a serious consideration.
But another impediment came in the way.
The siege of Baza had been determined upon. It was
necessary, without losing a day of the fine weather, to take
that place,-one of the strongest positions held by the
Moors. Again the project of Columbus was suspended.
Unceasingly gaining new strength in his faith, the resignation of this valiant Christian was equal to the persistence
of the almost fatal causes that so endlessly postponed his
enterprise. It is not seen that in this trying situation he
expressed any complaint, or betrayed the least impatience.




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


o07


SE CTION II.
The siege of Baza was not a simple combination of
strategies; it embraced nearly the last effort of the Crusade.
Upon its success depended the fate of the Moors in Spain.
Columbus took up his sword, and repaired to the camp.
There, in the subaltern ranks, he devoted himself silently,
and served, with as much bravery as humility, the cause of
the Cross. He appears even to have given excellent advice
in regard to operations of the siege; but his want of fortune,
and his being a foreigner and a mariner, prevented the
Board from turning it to profit. Several checks experienced in the commencement of the campaign, the torrents
of rain that fell, joined to the diseases that were multiplied
by the scarcity of provisions, disgusted the principal soldiers. The King was solicited to raise the siege, for fear
of a disaster. Before deciding to do so, he determined to
consult the Queen, who was then at Jaen. Isabella dissuaded him from doing so, promising to furnish him with
men, money, provisions and munitions: and she fulfilled
her promise.
The surrender of Baza, in spreading dismay among the
Mahometan Moors, filled Christian Spain with joy. Seville
prepared a magnificent reception for the two sovereigns,
who made a triumphal entry within its walls. Columbus
saw fete succeeding fete, and rejoicing rejoicing, which
postponed still further the renewal of the conferences he
had waited for during two years.
Scarcely had the sovereigns recovered from the fatigue of
these long-continued rejoicings, when a negotiation for the
marriage of their daughter Isabella with the Infant Don
Alonzo, - presumptive heir of the Crown of Portugal,absorbed their attention.
New fetes preceded the union of the prince and princess, which took place in April, I49I. New parades of
splendor accompanied and followed the ceremony. The




IoS


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


succession of pleasures and of solemnities appeared interminable. Banquets, dances, marches, repelled the gravity
required for scientific discussions.  With what patience
must not Columbus have been endowed!
It was impossible, before winter, to resume the discussion
at Salamanca. The report which the Junta should have
sent to their Highnesses was not yet prepared. Columbus,
knowing that the Queen would not rest until Granada was
under the domination of the Cross, was unwilling to await
the preparations for a new war. Through the efforts of his
friends, he obtained an order that the Council should reassemble, and give a definite judgment on his project.
The Bishop of Avila, Fernando de Talavera, presided
over this reunion.  His opinion had not changed. The
members declared, unanimously, that the project was
founded on a false and imaginary basis, its author affirming as truth what was impossible.
Notwithstanding  these disheartening conclusions, the
Queen did not abandon the project; her genius did not
condemn that of Columbus. As the war she carried into
Granada entailed enormous expenses, Fernando de Talavera was charged to tell him that the exhausted state of
the treasury prevented the Queen from  undertaking the
enterprise then; but that at the end of the war the matter
would be reconsidered.
After so many years of obsequious waiting, of persevering
measures, of baffled hopes, that answer would have overwhelmed any other mind but that of Columbus.     But,
accustomed to privations, to railleries, and the disdain of
proud ignorance, 'he bore with firmness this new disappointment.  Determining absolutely that Spain, whose
religious zeal and chivalric character interested his deepest sympathies, should profit by his discovery, he proposed
the enterprise to one of the greatest lords of Castile, - the
Duke of Medina-Sidonia, -who owned a fleet, ports, and
even armies. Some years before, to raise the blockade of
Alhama, which the Moors had pressed, he levied, among




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


Io9


his subjects, an army of forty thousand infantry and five
thousand cavalry.  The Medina-Sidonias held, royally, a
state of sovereignty. Their power became augmented by
their alliances with the most ancient houses of Spain.
Consanguinity united their family, among others, with that
of Her Excellency Eugenie de Montijo, Countess of Teba,
who has become the Empress of the French.
An honorable reception, and an offer to be recommended
to the Queen, was all that he could obtain from this great
lord, who was then much occupied with his preparations
for the coming campaign. The largeness of the views of
Columbus made him consider the project as an illusion,
and, it may be, a snare held out for his finances. He distrusted him, especially because he was a foreigner.
During these intervals, a gentleman named Morales,
intendant of the Duke of Medina-Celi, who possessed a
powerful fleet also, engaged his master to attempt the
enterprise.  Columbus was requested to come to Puerto
Santa Maria, a city belonging to the Duke.  A noble
hospitality awaited him there. The Duke of Medina-Celi,
struck with his grandeur of character, and taken with his
conversation, felt so much confidence in him that he had
ships proper for a voyage of discovery immediately constructed. But, when the moment for embarkation came,
changing his mind, and fearing that such an enterprise,
made in his name, would cause distrust in the Queen, he
determined to solicit first her authorization.  With this
view, he wrote to her from Rota.*
The Queen thanked the Duke for this act of deference, and
requested him to cede the shipping to the Crown, promising
that he should be reimbursed for the expenses after the war.
She told him that, though she did not much believe in the
success of the project, she was still determined to make the
trial. The Queen then requested the Duke to send Columbus to her. On the arrival of the latter, with great delicacy


* Documentos Dil1om., num. xiv,


10




II0


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


of feeling, she confided him to the good care of Alonzo de
Quintanilla, whose nobleness of spirit, grandeur of views,
and Catholic zeal, merited so well the honor of such hospitality. At several times the Queen caused Columbus to be
called, conversed with him about his plan, and assured him
that after the war he should be satisfied. But when would
the war end? All the Moors in Spain saw in Granada
their last rampart. Their defence, prepared long in advance, promised to be most desperate.  To put off the
enterprise until the end of the war, would it not be to postpone it indefinitely?
Reviewing in his mind the delays, the refusals, the
affronts he had borne in silence; seeing that his life was
wearing away painfully, and in vain, as regarded the accomplishment of his work; and fearing that Spain, blind and
deaf to her own interests, and ungrateful for the constancy
of his devotedness, was disinherited by Providence of the
grandeurs destined for her, - Columbus ceased fiom soliciting longer.  He turned away fiom the Court where his
patience was so often tried, and determined to go immediately to France, in order to treat with her king, to whom
he had recently addressed his proposition.
Already at his departure from Lisbon, foreseeing the case
where Spain may reject his offers, to economize time Columbus had sent his brother Bartholomew to propose, in his
name, the enterprise to the King of England. Since then he
had not heard from him. But he had resolved not to push
the negotiation which he believed was already commenced
in London, until after France would have formally rejected
his proposal.
Before leaving Spain, perhaps forever, he concluded to
take to his wife in Cordova his son Diego, who remained at
the monastery of La Rabida, in the charge of the worthy
Juan Perez de Marchena, who charitably attended to his
education.
He went then to the convent of La Rabida.




CHAP. v.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


III


SECTION IV.
An inexpressible sadness seized the heart of the Father
Superior when he saw at the door of the monastery his old
guest and friend, bearing on his countenance the traces of
fatigues and of disappointed hopes, endured for nearly six
years. When he learned that this great man, weary of contending with the disdain of savants and the temporizations
of the Court, had determined to quit Spain and gift another
nation with his ideas, his patriotism became as much moved
as his friendship. He trembled for his country; he feared
to see her irrecoverably deprived of the glory and of the
prosperity that such an enterprise would acquire for her.
He begged Columbus to delay his departure, and to spend
some time with him.
Juan Perez begged a friend, a disciple of St. Francis, and
he could not be refused. Besides, the peace of the cloister
was welcome to Columbus; he needed recollection of spirit,
and repose in God, from the fatigues of the world. He needed
to have his hopes renewed, to become more thoroughly
confirmed in his exceptional vocation, and to draw from
this mysterious source new force against the disdain and
the conflicts that, maybe, awaited him elsewhere.
Until then the father superior had accepted, through
spontaneous sympathy and a preexisting conviction, the
project of Columbus. He judged of it intuitively, and believed it without the influence of anybody else. Still, in
remembering that at two congresses, the Junta of cosmographers had rejected the idea of his guest, his moderation
made him think that perhaps he was deceived, that he had
mistaken his desires for reasons, and his reasons for the
truth itself; and that science, divested of illusions and of
enthusiasm, may falsify his dearest hopes.  In order to
remove these doubts, he determined to have other opinion
besides his own in regard to the views of Columbus. Accordingly, he sent immediately to Palos, for the physician




II2


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


Garcia Hernandez, a mathematician well versed in cosmography. All the three conferred on the projected plan, the
object of so many debates. The opinion of HIernandez was
entirely conformable to that of the learned Franciscan. The
project was deemed founded on truth, and its execution
practicable.*
Thenceforward, with the Superior of La Rabida, it was
no longer time for praying or for discussing-  it was time
for acting. He determined to write, forthwith, to the
Queen. But, to guard against his letter sharing the fate
that too commonly befell letters delivered to the secretaries,
it was decided that it should be put into the Queen's own
hands by some trusty person. The influence of Father Juan
on the seamen of the shore enabled him, in concert with
Garcia Hernandez, to choose a messenger who, as occasion
may require, would dexterously serve as a defender. They
confided the letter to a man of some note - the pilot Sebastian Rodriguez - who, by his address and acquaintance with
etiquette, knew how to manage things at Court.
The pilot obtained the favor of handing the letter of the
Superior of La Rabida to the Queen. The Franciscan, in
that letter, showed his zeal for the glory of the Redeemer,
his patriotism, and his attachment to Queen Isabella.
At the end of two weeks the pilot reappeared at La
Rabida, the bearer of a royal message. Isabella, thankingq
her former confessor for his intentions, invited him, on
receipt of her letter, to come to her presence; and authorized him from that moment to raise the hopes of Columbus
while waiting for further instructions. These words of hope
filled with joy the little community and their guest.
Columbus went immediately to Moguer, to request an
* It is wrongfully that modern historians, and, among others,
Washington Irving, have mentioned that the mariner Martin
Alonzo Pinzon was called to the convent for the discussion. It is
seen, by unquestionable documents, that Martin Alonzo Pinzon was
then in Rome. Columbus had no connection with him until the
commencement of July, I492.



CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBi US.


II3


excellent man there, Juan Rodriguez Cabezuda, to lend him
his mule for the Father Superior of La Rabida, who was
called suddenly to the camp of Granada by her Highness.
Cabezuda willingly granted his request. Father Juan Perez
left the convent a little before midnight, secretly and without a lantern, notwithstanding the danger of falling into an
ambuscade, or among marauders.  He travelled bravely
through the enemy's territory, trusting in God, and, speeding his way, arrived safely in the new city of Santa F6.
To give attention to the proposition at a time when the
war was so pressing, and return to a scheme that was condemned by two councils, the Queen must have been strongly
inclined in favor of the enterprise. In the midst of her
financial embarrassments, and the uncertainty of the length
of the campaign, to be still occupied with the project was
an unmistakable sign of the adhesion her heart instinctively
gave it.
Nobody better than the Superior of La Rabida could make
known to the intelligent Isabella the sublimity of the views
of Columbus. It was not alone of his project that he would
speak; he alone could reveal the predestination and the
holy intentions of the man whom Providence sent her in
recompense for the life she led, and to eternize her glory.
The Franciscan obtained complete success.
The Queen, without further thinking of the Junta of Salamanca, remembering the praises given to Columbus by the
two Geraldinis, the Grand Cardinal, Professor Diego de
Deza, and others, and confiding especially in her first impressions, charged the father superior to summon Columbus without delay. As she conjectured that in the midst of
such long-continued and fruitless solicitations his money
must have been spent, and desiring that he should dress
more to her taste, buy himself a riding-horse, and appear
respectable at Court, she ordered him to be paid twenty
thousand maravedis* by the maritime broker at Palos.


*Equal to two hundred and sixteen dollars of the present day. - B.
Io*




II4


HISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


CHAPTER VI.
The War in Granada: Surrender of the City. -The Project of Columbus Discussed. - Deception.- Columbus starts for France:
the Queen recalls him, and orders Preparations to be made for
his Voyage. —The Equipment. —The Father Superior again
assists him. - Departure of Columbus with three Ships.
SECTION.
HEN Columbus entered the new city of Santa F6, it
was impossible to attend to his project. The Queen
gave him   as a guest to the Intendant-General of the
Finances, the virtuous Alonzo de Quintanilla, who was
quite happy to have him again.
The struggle between the Cross and the Crescent was
drawing to a close. There was talk of an early capitulation; of seditions and of combats in the interior of the city.
In fact, a negotiation was soon opened for the surrender of
Granada.
On Friday, the thirtieth of December, the surrender of
the fortresses and of the Alhambra was made by the Moorish government to the commissaries of Ferdinand and Isabella. The second of January, I492, the Moorish King,
Boabdil el Chico, presented the keys of the city to the Catholic Sovereigns.
This war being, in the eyes of the Queen, only an expedition for the cause of religion, the sovereigns did not
immediately enter Granada. They determined, first, to do
homage to Jesus Christ for the conquest.
On Friday, the sixth of January, the Epiphany, or the
Feast of the Kings, the two sovereigns made their solemn
entry into the Alhambra, at the gate of which the Arch



CHAP VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UAIBUS.


II5


bishop of Granada, assisted by a numerous clergy, received
them in procession.
After a struggle of seven hundred and seventy-eight years
the Crescent was, at last, laid prostrate. This victory of
the Spaniards gave joy to the whole Christian world. John
de Strada was immediately sent to Rome as envoy-extraordinary. He made such haste that he was himself the first
to announce the news of the conquest. The Sovereign
Pontiff, Innocent VIII., thanking God with his whole heart,
ordered public thanksgivings, and a solemn procession to
the church of St. James, of the Spaniards. His Holiness
assisted there, with the whole of the Sacred College. The
Pope officiated pontifically; and, in the sermon pronounced
in his presence, the preacher praised highly the Christian
character of the sovereigns and the people of Spain.
'At this epoch, in the midst of the favors it reserved for
Spain, Providence cast a look of complaisance on " Genoa
the Superb." While one of her sons, from the ranks of the
people, meditated the most stupendous work of human
genius, another, chosen from her illustrious patricians,
occupied the throne of Apostolical infallibility.
John Baptist Cibo, a citizen of Genoa, promoted to the
tiara under the name of Innocent VIII., was truly the prince
of peace, the mediator in the quarrels of kings, and the zealous promoter of the war against Islamism. Nobody took a
more lively interest in the success of Isabella, and in the
hopes of his countryman, Christopher Columbus, than he
did.
The triumphal rejoicings of the conquest were not yet at
an end, when the Queen gave an audience to Columbus.
The aspect alone of the noble foreigner, to whom she felt
attracted by a secret communion of faith and of genius,
sustained her against the objections of the Junta of Salamanca. At this audience there was no discussion of the
project, because there existed no doubt of its realization.
The Queen, in giving her adhesion to it, instinctively felt
that there was in the man an intelligence that would over



II6


HIS TORr OF


[BOOK I.


come the difficulties. His sole presence showed his internal
grandeur. She believed in Columbus.
The project being accepted, then, without control, without restriction, and such as inspiration had conceived it,
there remained nothing but to determine the remuneration
that should result to its author after the success. A commission, still presided over by the over-cautious Fernando
de Talavera, was charged with regulating this point.
Columbus had to attend it, and make known his claims.
This was to be done categorically.
Then did that man, with a thought more vast than the
world, show the grandeur of his hopes by the price he set
on their realization. In hearing him, the commissioners
must have been stricken with stupor. The following are
the principal conditions he required from the Crowns of
Castile and Arragon. He should be,Viceroy;
Governor-General of the islands and terra Jfrma he
would discover;
Grand Admiral of the Atlantic Ocean.
His dignities should descend hereditarily in his family,
by'right of primogeniture.
He should be entitled to reserve for himself one-tenth of
all the precious stones, pearls, diamonds, gold, silver, perfumes, spices, fruits, and other productions, in whatsoever
manner discovered in, or exported from, the regions submitted to his authority.
In hearing such demands, the commissioners became
indignant at his presumption. The pride of these courtiers
became incensed at the idea that an Italian, who so often
had been ridiculed, or pitied, whilst he waited in antechambers to solicit audiences, should now stipulate for
titles that would place him above the noblest houses of
Spain. The conference was suspended.
Still, what Columbus demanded appeared in his own
eyes very simple.  He considered it very natural, as he
was going to give the monarchs kingdoms much larger




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


II"7


than those they held, to fix a remuneration the importance
of which would show it to be for an unheard-of donation.
The recompense ought to be proportionate to the service;
and he who accepts less than his due concurs in his own
humiliation. Besides, Columbus demanded only the price
he had, nine years before, required from the Crown of
Portugal.  If he added nothing, he retrenched nothing.
What he thought then, he thought now. The same causes
existed still. It was necessary, in order to realize his views,
to have a high position, great authority, and especially
great riches. It was identically the same here as it was
in Portugal.
Is it desired to know immediately the secret of this high
ambition? It was this: a secret that escaped from him
some days after, in a familiar conversation with the sovereigns, and which, he says, " made them smile." *
Columbus considered as already accomplished his discovery of unknown countries, to which he would have the
happiness of announcing Christ the Redeemer. He foresaw
that his enterprise would encounter numberless dangers and
terrible obstacles, and that it would require incessant labors.
In return for these labors, he demanded a magnificent recompense, -the only one that he deemed worthy of his works.
He had resolved, by means of the treasures he would acquire by his discoveries, to deliver the Holy Sepulchre fiom
the sway of the Mussulmans. He determined that he would
at first treat about purchasing it peaceably, and, if he should
not succeed, that he would raise fifty thousand infantry and
five thousand cavalry, in his own pay, to wrest from the
profanations of the Mahometans the tomb of Jesus Christ.
He would immediately transfer the government of Jerusalem to the Holy See, limiting himself to be the sentinel of
the Church at the threshold of that miraculous land in
which our redemption was accomplished.


* Columbus's Yournal, Wednesday, the twenty-sixth of December,
1492.




I 8S


HISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


The commissioners of the Court, not being able to divine
the secret intentions of this man, saw in his demands only
an insolent presumption, as daring as his adventures on the
ocean. Probably they did not discuss even his vanity, and
that they limited themselves to referring the matter to the
monarchs.
Fernando Talavera, still imbued with his prejudices
against the Genoese cosmographer, represented to the
Queen that there would be a great inconvenience in
their Highnesses' being parties to a treaty on the subject
of an expedition that had been adjudged chimerical; that
failure would expose them  to the mockeries of foreign
courts, and diminish in their own states the respect that
was had for their well-known wisdom; that, even admitting its success, to accord such exorbitant privileges to an
unknown person, and especially a foreigner, would inevitably lessen the majesty of the royal prestige. These observations of her confessor made the Queen hesitate.  She
proposed to Columbus conditions somewhat different, but
still highly advantageous. No doubt, the same as in Portugal, he was offered revenues, titles, and a government that
would satisfy any heart but his. But he would accept of
none of these offers, and would abate none of his demands.
What he said, he said; and he held to his demand royally,
as a king would to his word.  In all his converse with
crowned heads, when, too often, his clothing betrayed his
indigence, he naturally, by his elevated language, -the
sign of a familiar dignity, - treated monarchs as equals;
and, now that the hour for the execution of his mission
had arrived, he acted as he had spoken.
He retired, inflexible in his demand.
Neither his poverty, nor his six years passed at the Court
of Spain in fruitless proceedings, nor the course of time,
which threatened his project with death, could move him.
More than eighteen years had been consumed in diverse
attempts, and still he preferred recommencing anew his




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


II9


difficult negotiations with another state, rather than derogate from what he considered the dignity of his rights.
His friends tried to detain him. It appears that, at this
critical time, he was anew in relation with the Grand
Cardinal of Spain.  In his high opinion of Columbus,
this prince of the Church did not consider as immoderate
the conditions demanded for such services, and against
which the pride of the courtiers had revolted. But considerations of a particular character, and foreign to the
subject, prevented him from interfering personally; and
he could give only the patronage of his opinion.
Outside of the Commission, the exorbitancy of the demands of Columbus engaged the attention of the counsellors of the sovereigns. As it was sneeringly objected to
him that he showed rare shrewdness, because he had
obtained such a position that, come what would, he would
always have the honor of a command without any cost,
he offered to contribute one-eighth of the expense. Notwithstanding this generous offer, what he demanded was
still refused. The King had shown himself already averse
to the project. The influence the archbishop of Granada
exercised on the Queen had paralyzed her will. It seemed
to her that really the guasi-royalty demanded by Columbus
would be too onerous, whatever may be the discoveries he
should make.
The conference was at an end, the negotiation abandoned.
Obtaining nothing, and ceding nothing, inflexible in his
resolution of diminishing nothing in his demands, Colunmbus cast his eyes towards France, whose King had just sent
him an answer. It was at the end of January, and he was
unwilling to spend another day in useless parleyings with
the Spaniards. He bid adieu to his excellent friends, and,
crossing his mule, went on the route to Cordova, to visit his
family, before abandoning Spain, perhaps forever.




120


HIISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


SECTION     II.
Around Isabella, that star of the destinies of Spain, there
gravitated some choice spirits, who reflected the splendors
of her inspirations. Desiring ardently the glory of God,
and the grandeur of their sovereign and of the Spanish
nation, the departure of Columbus appeared to them an
immense, irreparable loss, which probably would prepare
an eternal regret and shame for their country. One of
these men, Luiz de Santangel, receiver of ecclesiastical
dues in Arragon, urgently requested an audience of the
Queen. Alarmed for the glory of his idolized sovereign,
and moved by his zeal, he told her, in a tone of reproach
mingled with complaint, his surprise that she had flagged
on an occasion so simple, -she whose courage was always
seen to be invincible. He represented to her how much
that enterprise merited her protection, since it may have
such grand results for the glory of Jesus Christ, the triumph
of the Church, and the prosperity of her kingdoms.  He
begged her to think of the displeasure she would experience if some other monarch should execute the project,
which was possible, and even probable. He reminded her
that even the person of Columbus, his purity of morals, his
faith, his science, and his superiority over the cosmographers who condemned him, merited confidence so much
the more that he demanded nothing before giving himself:
his recompense would depend on his discoveries; and, besides, he risked his own life, and the eighth part of the
expenses. Admitting that he would discover nothing, no
blame for the failure could be attached to their Highnesses;
everybody, on the contrary, would thank them for attempting an enterprise the success of which would be so glorious.
He insisted on the moral obligation of princes to extend the
domain of the sciences, to become acquainted with distant
things, and to penetrate, as much as possible, into the
secrets of the world.




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I 2


Far fiom becoming offended at the freedom of these
remonstrances of Santangel, Isabella, who appreciated
their motives, thanked him for his frankness.  At this
moment came Alonzo de Quintanilla, whose consummate
virtue always commanded marked respect. He supported
with energy the disinterested representations of Santangel.
During this time, at some paces distant, in the chapel of the
Queen, Father Juan Perez, prostrate before the tabernacle,
besought the Lord, through the merits of the passion of His
Divine Son, to enlighten, with His grace, the mind of
Isabella. Undoubtedly, God graciously heard him.
Suddenly the appearance of the Queen changed; her
looks became illumined.  A mysterious movement was
operating in her soul.  God opened her understanding.
Her eyes sparkled; she comprehended Columbus wholly;
she saw what a man Providence had sent her.  Then,
listening to nothing but what the interior voice spoke to
her heart, she thanked these two faithful servants for the
interest they manifested in her glory, and, in the accent
of an unchangeable resolution, declared that she accepted
the enterprise on her own account, as Queen of Castile.
She added, that it still would be necessary to defer the
enterprise for a little time, on account of the exhausted
state of the treasury, in consequence of the war; but, if
this delay would be unsatisfactory, she had there her jewels,
and that they should be pledged for the sum necessary for
the equipment.
Luiz de Santangel assured the Queen that she would not
have to pledge her jewels, and that he would himself advance the necessary sum out of the funds of Arragon. He
obtained an authorization from the King for the required
loan; and at a later period it was reimbursed to the
treasury of Arragon. The too cautious King would take
no part, personally, in the enterprise, having no confidence
in its success.
Immediately, by order of the Queen, an officer of the
Guards was despatched, in all haste, after Columbus, to
II




I22


HTISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


summon him back. He succeeded in overtaking him about
two leagues fiom Granada, near the bridge of Pinos, celebrated for many an encounter between the Christians and
infidels. It is said that, disgusted with so many deceptions
and equivocations, he hesitated a little time about turning
back; but when informed of what had passed, he obeyed
with an affectionate submission, divining already the part
reserved by Providence for that lady in his work, who
alone was worthy of being associated with him.
SECTION      IlL.
On his arrival at Court, Columbus was received with
extraordinary honors.  The Queen welcomed him with
such marks of satisfaction and kindness, as must have
caused his immediate forgetfulness of all his past sufferings. It is from this moment that the mission of Columbus commences; henceforward the Queen alone becomes
the soul and the medium of the enterprise.  The crafty
and suspicious King of Arragon remains a stranger to the
expedition. He gives his name and signature to the acts
of the Queen, according to the conventions agreed between
them; but it was well understood between them that the
enterprise was solely undertaken by the Queen of Castile,
at her own risk.  So, during his lifetime, the Castilians
alone had the right of establishing themselves in the countries that were discovered.
What Columbus demanded was granted, without retrenching a tittle.
On the thirtieth of April, I492, the title of the privileges
of Columbus was drawn up. The letters-patent declared
that he would be Grand Admiral of the Ocean, with the
same privileges enjoyed by the Admiral of Castile; Viceroy
and Governor-General of all the islands and the terrafirma
that he should discover; and that his dignities should be
hereditary in his family forever.
The eighth of May, to these contingent recompenses the




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I23


Queen added a favor of exquisite kindness, in naming young
Diego, the oldest son of Columbus, page to the Prince
Royal, with an annual pension of nine thousand four hundred maravedis. This envied honor was reserved for the
most illustrious houses of the kingdom.
For the equipment of the expedition, from motives of
economy, the humble port of Palos was chosen. As its
inhabitants were condemned, for some misdemeanor, to
furnish the Crown, gratuitously, for one year, with two
caravels, armed and equipped, they were enjoined to get
them ready, and place them under the orders of Columbus
within ten days.  An order was issued to suspend all
criminal processes against any person who should engage
in the expedition.
The twelfth of May, Columbus, having obtained leave to
depart, started immediately for Cordova, to make some
arrangements relative to the education of his children. It
was probably then that a nephew of his wife's, Diego de
Arana, determined to attempt with him the frightful voyage across the " Gloomy Ocean."
A few days afterwards Columbus arrived at Palos.
SECTION IV.
Father Juan Perez de Marchena, who had opened an
asylum for the poor and unknown stranger, received into
his arms the friend, loaded with honors and filled with
hopes, returning to share with him the first joys of the
happiness the better part of which he owed him. Columbus became again the guest of the community of St. Francis;
and, as will be seen, the assistance of the Father Superior
was not then less useful to him than it was in the days of
his first arrival at La Rabida.
Meanwhile, when it became known in Palos that the
intention was to navigate westwards to the "Gloomy
Ocean," - the "'tenebrous sea,"-a general consternation
spread from house to house and from bark to bark. The




I24


HISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


GLOOMY OCEAN! That name froze with fright the most
intrepid hearts.
At the present time, from the heights of our scientific
knowledge, we would assuredly show bad taste in smiling
affectedly at these terrors.  They were, at that period,
natural, and almost logical, inasmuch as they were founded
on reasonings. Let it be remembered that the telescope
had not yet penetrated into ether, to gauge space, to number the myriads of suns in the milky way, to take the
projections of the peaks of the moon, or to calculate the
velocity of the planets that revolve around our sun.
Science had not fixed the composition and the volume
of the earth; its form had remained indeterminate.
Some maintained that it was flat and long, -continued
indefinitely by the incommensurable ocean; others, that it
was square, but surrounded by the boundless ocean.  It
was stoutly denied that there were antipodes.  In consequence of the imperfect state of nautical science, the teachings of cosmographers were as whimsical and contradictory
as chaos. It is not surprising that this confusion should
act on intelligences. In the mind, the unknown touched
on darkness, - and darkness is fearful to every human
heart.  It was thought that chaos,-Erebus,-had receded into the extreme depths of that ocean which cosmographers called gloomy; because, according to the
Nubian geographer, - the sheriffe Edrysi, - and the Arabian navigators, there were met with, on entering it,
" strong currents, obscure waters, and but little light in
the atmosphere."  The uncertainty and the obscurity of
science in regard to that ocean, seemed to justify the name
given it. It was in the GLOOMY OCEAN that the pelagian
torrents were encountered, and where the gulfs whirled;
in the bosom of which Behemoth and the great Leviathan
wantoned, accompanied by other monsters.
All the works on geography gave countenance to the ill
repute in which the Gloomy Ocean was held; for on the
charts of cosmographers were seen, around the frightful




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I25


words MARE TENEBROSUM, hideous figures, compared to
which cyclops, griffins, and hippocentaurs had benignant
physiognomies.*  The Arabian geographers, forbidden by
the Koran to represent living animals, restricted themselves
to characterizing that ocean by a sign, the ominous signification of which, without frightening at first sight, no less
confounded the imagination. It was a black and crooked
hand, - that of Satan! - arising from the deep, and ready
to drag into the gulfs the seamen that would be daring
enough to brave the waters of the BAHR EL TALMET.
These submarine dangers were not the only ones the
explorers would be subject to.  Gigantic opponents may
immediately pounce on them from the air. In these latitudes there hovered, on immense wings, the rock of the
Arabians, which, with its bill, seized not only a man or
a bark, but even a ship with all its equipage; taking them
up in the clouds, and from that height amusing itself in
tearing and breaking them to pieces, and letting them fall,
men and things, into the hideous waves of the GLOOMY
OCEAN. Certain grave authors bear witness that, at that
period, they themselves participated in the common
error.
These impressions and this terror are easily explained, if
we call to mind that there did not then exist a single atlas
that did not indicate, by images of monsters more and more
frightful, the nearer degrees of latitude to the equinoctial
line. How could the people, the sailors, have escaped from
the common error?   To go into the GLOOMY OCEAN was
*Washington Irving says: "In the maps and charts of those
times, and even in those of a much later date, the variety of formidable and hideous monsters depicted in all remote parts of the
ocean, evince the terrors and dangers with which the imagination
clothed it. The same may be said of distant and unknown lands;
the remote parts of Asia and Africa have monsters depicted in them
which it would be difficult to trace to any originals in natural history." - Life and Voyages of Christoph5er Columbus, Book V.,
chap. v.-B.
II*




I26


HIS TOR r OF


[BOOK I.


to expose one's self to the danger of being burnt by the
sun; of being engulfed in the obscurity of chaos; of being
destroyed in the air, or buried eternally in the abyss of the
dark ocean. And the intrepid pilots who had frequented
Lisbon, or sailed to the Canaries or to the Azores, while
they greatly diminished these fears, were not the less convinced of the impossibility of ever traversing the Gloomy
Occaz, - the frightful BAHR AL TALMET of the Arabians.
But time sped on. Notwithstanding the royal order, and
their promise of compliance with it, the authorities of Palos
had not yet furnished a single caravel. The anchoringplace was completely deserted. All the owners of sailingvessels took them to distant creeks, or sailed them to other
ports, to escape the requisition.
The twentieth of June, the Queen, being informed of the
state of things there, sent an officer of the Royal Guards,
Juan de Peiiasola, to Palos, with power to exact two hundred maravedis a day from such as should delay or refuse
to execute his orders. He was authorized to seize, on the
coast of Andalusia, any ship or sailor that would appear to
him proper for the new service.
There was great consternation among the ship-owners
and the seamen. Some complained and some contested;
to supplications were added promises. But the equipment
did not go on the faster. At length, Juan de Peuiasola, by
main force, seized on a caravel, a good sailer, called the
Pinta, that partly belonged to two inhabitants of Palos,
Gomez Rascon and Cristoval Quintero. These men considered themselves as ruined, they and their vessel,- their
whole fortune. They cursed the coming of the Genoese
intriguing braggart, who had imposed on the prudence of
the sovereigns, in obtaining fiom them the order for this
disastrous voyage.
The calkers and carpenters felt sick, or concealed themselves. There were neither wood, nor oakum, nor tar, nor
cables. The rigor of the authority given to Peiasola succeeded no better than the reasonings of Columbus. Three




CHAP. VI.]


CHRISTOPHER COL UMB US.


I27


vessels were necessary, and still there was but a single one.
Sullenness had already begun to show itself.
In this critical situation, the zeal of Father Juan Perez
came to the aid of his friend, and of the misguided people.
The Franciscan, from the poorness of his living, and the
coarseness of his garb, is naturally sympathetic with the
people.  He is loved, because he evidently loves.  His
modest familiarity attracts, while his devotedness attaches
him. The Superior 6f La Rabida, moreover, enjoyed a
personal consideration among seamen.  He mixed with
the sailors, jesting at their terrors, and tranquillizing the
minds of their families, and went making the enrolment,
by his words and his influence, even to the neighboring
ports. The zealous Franciscan expected from this expedition the extension of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, a great
glory for the Church, and great advantage to civilization.*
He felt, as had so justly been said by the Queen, that Columbus " went into the oceanic regions to accomplish great
things for the service of God." As a Catholic, he took an
active part in the good work. and prided himself in co6perating in the apostolate of his guest; thus endeavoring to
realize the wish of the founder of the Seraphic Order,
whose zeal sought to preach Jesus Christ, His Cross, and
His holy poverty, throughout the whole universe. Thus
Father Juan labored, with heart and soul, to change poltroons into men of courage, and to decide the irresolute.
SECTION V.
There were then residing in Palos three brothers of the
name of Pinzon, - men of wealth and of influence, and all
three experienced seamen. Father Juan Perez had already
made Columbus acquainted with the oldest of them, Martin
Alonzo. He was a man of some science, of practical tact,
and of experience in maritime matters.


* Voticias Hisloriales de las Conquistas de Terra Firma, not 3,
cap. xiv.




I28


I ISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


The idea of a voyage across the "'Gloomy Ocean" did
not terrify Martin. He had recently returned fiom Rome,
whither his business had already called him several times.
In his last voyage there, he had acquired some ideas that
naturally prepared him for the grand views of Columbus.
Martin Alonzo Pinzon had become intimately acquainted
with one of the librarians of Pope Innocent VIII., who was
said to be well versed in geography. This savazt showed
him an atlas in which there was indicated a nameless land
in the ocean, towards the west. Thus, while the Superior
of La Rabida had a presentiment that unknown lands existed, the cosmographer of the papal library had come to
the same conclusion. Besides, the idea of Columbus could
not have been wholly unknown in Rome. We know that
at the time of his correspondence with Toscanelli, the latter
frequented the Papal Court. It was from the capital of the
Christian world that the learned Florentine wrote his second
letter to the Genoese navigator.
The project of Columbus, which would produce such
grand results for the Church, could not be indifferent to the
successor of the prince of the Apostles. During several
years the Holy See was informed of the ideas of Columbus.
The project interested the Holy Father so much the more,
because it was one of his own countrymen that became
inspired with it. It must have engaged the attention of
Rome at different times; whether through the ex-legate,
Antonio Geraldini, or the Spanish ambassador, Strada;
whether through the correspondence of Count De Fendilla,
former envoy of Castile, or especially through the Apostolic
Nuncio, Barthelemy Scandiano, the ulterior relations of
Columbus with the Holy See show that he must have communicated his resolution to the chief of the Church, and
invoked his blessing on the object of his labors. A constant
tradition in Rome proves the matter. Rome in our days
recalls the fact.* The relatives of Pope Innocent VIII.


* Brief of his Holiness, the tenth of December, I85I.




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


129


knew the interest the illustrious Pontiff took in Columbus's
project; it was for this reason that they had inscribed on
his tomb his participation in the Discovery, which he did
not have the joy here below of seeing effected.
We cannot see how any doubt can arise in regard to the
map bearing an indication of a land undiscovered.  Such
an indication may exist in consequence of that mysterious
initiative attending great things, which is peculiar to the
Catholic Church, or as a consequence and testimony of the
preceding communication of Columbus's ideas, submitted by
himself to the Sovereign Pontiff.
Young Arias Perez Pinzon, who accompanied his father
in that voyage, was present at the cosmographic conversations with the librarian. He saw that savant give his father
a copy of the map, which the latter preserved carefully;
perhaps with the intention of one day attempting the discovery. The cousins and friends of Pinzon, and, among
others, the pilots Juan de Ungria, Luis del Valle and Martin Nunez, knew of this document on his return.*
However that may be, as soon as Martin Alonzo Pinzon, returned from Rome, and Christopher Columbus, who
was known there, came to meet each other, all the difficulties disappeared.t
* Pleyto Probanzas del Fiscal, Pregunta xi., xii.
t The Protestant school is greatly embarrassed at this influence of
Rome being so decisive in the expedition. Not knowing how to
object to the facts just referred to, Washington Irving has passed
over them in silence. But Humboldt could not recede from their
logic. In his entire ignorance of Catholic piety and dignity, without respect for his own good name, and with an inconsiderateness
which literary justice cannot too much blame, he dares to suppose a
trick agreed on between the older Pinzon and Columbus, and, consequently, with the Superior of Rabida, in the latter's imposing on
the credulity of the people, and inventing the fable of the map
brought from Rome, in order, thus, to win public confidence.
Silence and sadness are the only reply that such a miserable explanation merits.
Besides the moral impossibility of such an agreement with men




I30


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


The news of the geographical communication made by
the librarian of the Pope went to sanction the approbation
given by the Apostolic Nuncio, the Grand Cardinal of
Spain, the first professor of theology at Salamanca, and the
Franciscan, Juan Perez de Marchena, to the ideas of Columbus.  Evidently, the patronage of the clergy seemed to
guarantee the assurances of the Genoese stranger. Distrust
in him became, therefore, less general.
Soon the news spread that the oldest of the three Pinzons,
commonly called s" Old Martin," believed in the project of
the Genoese. It was added, even, that he proposed to
make the adventure, himself, in the Nin~a, a pretty little
caravel belonging to Vincent Yanez Pinzon, the youngest
of the three brothers.  In fact, the three Pinzons had
signed a convention made with Columbus. Their example increased wonderfully the influence of the Superior
of La Rabida, and most of the seamen began to take
courage.
The Pinzons stood in high credit at Palos. Old Martin
did business in riggings and munitions for ships; he was
the principal purveyor for the marine of that port. His fortune, his education, and the ancientry of his family, placed
him at the head of the notables of the city. For the demand made on it, Palos now offered as a second caravel, a
certain carack, grown old from service, named the Gallegac;
large, comparatively, and heavy, but very solid. Although
improper for the service now assigned her, neither Columbus nor his counsellor, Father Juan Perez, dared to refuse
her, for fear of thus protracting the delays, already too
greatly extended. The carack was then received in place
of the character of Juan Perez and Christopher Columbus, it is well
to remember, that, long after the death of the three pretended
accomplices, the inquiry of the Fiscal versus the successor of the
Admiral of the Indies, showed, and still shows, the proofs of that
voyage to Rome, and of the information there received by Martin
Alonzo Pinzon. The commissioners of the inquiry collected the
depositions of witnesses de visu. —




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I3I


of a caravel, and her equipage was commenced. Columbus
even chose her for erecting in her his pavilion, as commandant, only he first changed her name, to render it Christian.
Placing her under the special protection of the Blessed Virgin, he had her blessed, and named the Santa Maria.
During the preparations for the equipment, he continued
to live the life of a member of the Seraphic Order. He did
not leave the convent but when necessity required it, occupying himself with the care of his soul, and advancing in
Christian perfection. It was undoubtedly then that he engaged himself to the rule of St. Francis, as a member of the
Third Order. His days were passed in prayer, and in meditating on the mysteries of religion. He labored to become
less and less unworthy of the goodness of God, who had
deigned to choose him for a work unequalled among men.
He became in nowise troubled about the delays, the terrors,
or the ill-will of the city, although at his departure the
opposition became so serious that it was only the royal
authority that could overcome it.
Knowing that his being a foreigner, - a Genoese, - would
render his eloquence of no avail; that he would not be
believed, and that it was necessary to accept whatever the
limited resources of Palos would place within his reach, he
accepted with complete self-renunciation what Providence
had decided. It was among his principles not to tempt
God, not to force circumstances, but to bear them with
resignation, still using unremittingly everything possible in
human action. He felt assured of success, was not discouraged at any difficulties, was no longer engrossed with
exterior things, and remained in that dear cloister where
he had met an incomparable friend, - the most intimate
and the most loving one on earth.
Henceforward, certain that his mission would be accomplished, he did not abandon his interior labors and regard
to exterior matters, but limited himself to taking a look,
from time to time, at the details of the equipment, which
the Pinzons watched with the greater assiduity, because




7T 7T r'    RI,' *',*   "


r..


I3                 otll1 Uir 1 UP            LBOOK I.
they were interested in the success of the expedition; the
three brothers, and particularly the youngest, having,
through the intervention of Father Juan Perez, advanced
Columbus the eighth part of the total expenses which he
was to furnish.
On one occasion Columbus detected an expedient, conceived by Gomez Rascon and Cristobal Quintero, to escape
from the expedition which still terrified them. They had
so managed the rudder of the Pinta, that the pieces of
which it was composed appeared perfectly jointed and
pinned, but would yield or separate at the first surge of
the sea.  He desired to make them    recommence the
work; but the carpenters fled, and the calkers concealed
themselves.
It was then that the indefatigable Franciscan Father
rendered new services to the world, in bringing the mechanics back to their work, and in cheering them with
wholesome exhortations. Thanks to him rather than to
the Pinzons, or to Juan de Pensola, who still remained to
hasten the expedition, towards the end of July, the three
ships of which the expedition was composed were ready to
take the sea.
SE CTION     VI.
M. De Lorgues gives at length the details of the preparatory measures for the voyage. "It seems to us," he says,
" interesting to restore scrupulously to history, after a gap
of three hundred and sixty-five years, some precise details
of the material preparations for that voyage." But the
scope of this work will not permit their being mentioned
here. Let it suffice to say, that the expedition was not
composed of " light barks," as asserted by Irving and
others, but of caravels, - vessels of considerable size and
tonnage. Columbus himself said he found them very
befitting for such an enterprise.
Columbus, who left nothing to chance, would assuredly




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I33


not have been guilty of the temerity of risking "light
barks." To believe him guilty of such imprudence would
be to know but little of the man whom Providence raised
for such a work.
The expedition was composed, then, of three caravels,
each having provision for a year, and a good armament.
They were respectively named the Santa Maria, the Pinta,
and the Niia.
On the Santa Maria there embarked, according to their
order of precedence, the following: The Honorable Diego
de Arana, nephew by marriage of Columbus; Pedro Guttierrez, the King's yeoman of the stores; Rodrigo Sanchez
de Segovie, named by the sovereigns Veedor, controller
of the armament; Rodrigo de Escovedo, notary royal,
charged with registering the acts and the proceedings
according to their occurrence; and Bernardin de Tapia,
the historiographer of the expedition.
After these, as mates, there were the pilots Pedro Alonzo
Niio, a true seaman; Barthelemy Roldan, a speculating
character, - more of a merchant than a soldier; Fernand
Perez Matheos, an envious and unquiet character; Sancho
Ruiz, zealous for the service; Ruy Fernandez, a good
officer; and Juan de la Cosa.  Then followed the interpreter of the expedition, a converted Jew, - Luiz de Torrez,
who knew Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Coptic, and
Armenian; then the official metallurgist, Castillo, a goldsmith from Seville.
The board of health was composed of a certain Doctor
Alonzo, a middling physician; and of a very good surgeon,
Doctor Juan, who was an amiable man, and very compassionate towards the sick.
Among the crew, there were an Englishman named
Tallerte de Lajes, an Irishman named William Rice (Guillemio Ires), two Portuguese, and a Majorcan, which, with
others, formed a total of sixty-six persons. It is to be remarked, that among the men on board the Santa Maria
there were none from Palos.
I2




I34


HISTOR Y OF


[BOOK I.


The fine-sailing Pinta was commanded by the oldest
Pinzon.  He had, as mates, his brother Francis Martin
Pinzon, his cousin Juan de Ungria, and Cristobal Garcia
Xalmiento; as physician, Garcia Hernandez, of Palos; and
as clerk, another Garcia Hernandez, whom historians have
often confounded with the former. With the exception of
Juan Rodriguez Bermijo, all the sailors were from Palos
or from Moguer, —places which, from their proximity,
were often confounded with each other. The officers and
crew of the Pinta amounted to thirty men, besides several
passengers.
The trim and coquettish Niina, commanded by Vincent
Yanez Pinzon, with a crew of only twenty-four men, carried the rest of the friends and neighbors of the Pinzons.
It cannot be doubted that, in finishing his review of the
equipage, Columbus, as was his custom, made an address,
and that, yielding to the emotions of his heart, he spoke to
them of God, into whose hands they were going to commit
their souls. Whatever may have been the resolution of
these men, when the time for departure came they were
seized with great fear. The imminence of the danger in
such an expedition turned their hearts to the Father of
Mercies. Each thought of reconciling himself with God,
of confessing his sins, and obtaining absolution for them.
Afterwards they went, in procession, to the monastery of
La Rabida, their commandant at their head, to implore the
divine assistance, and to put themselves under the special
protection of the Blessed Virgin.  They attended mass,
received the Holy Eucharist from the hands of Father Juan
Perez, and returned, in a religious procession, to the
caravels.
It was a touching ceremony. The whole of the city of
Palos participated in the emotions of the seamen, and many
a tear was shed in the chapel of the Blessed Virgin.
In order to be able to avail himself of the first east wind
that would arise, Columbus ordered that no officer should
sleep on land. Then, having embraced his young son




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I35


Diego, whom the generous Juan Perez had returned to
him, he consigned him to the special care of the good
priest Martin Sanchez, and Rodriguez Cabezuda, to take
him to his wife, Dona Beatrix, in Cordova, in order to
have his education completed.  He then returned to his
cell at La Rabida.
There he spent his time in consulting with God, in listening to Him, and in purifying'his heart, that he may merit
becoming a temple of the Holy Ghost. His knowledge of
the Sacred Scriptures enlarged his intelligence. He felt
himself destined to a mission greater, perhaps, than any
mortal being had ever received.  He went to fulfil an
unheard-of apostolate,- to carry the Cross across the
Gloomy Ocean, into unknown regions, and to put the
posterity of Shem in communication with their ancientlylost brethren of the race of Japhet.
Buried in that peaceable monastery, where he received
so many unexpected consolations, his pure and ardent faith
expanded itself before God; his profound wisdom and accumulated science presented no obstacle to the tender effusions of his piety, and the ardor of his devotion. Meditating
on the Gospel of St. John, his favorite book, he raised himself, like the eagle of Patmos, to sublime conceptions of the
Word by whom all things are made. With loving devotion,
he spent in prayer and meditation all the time not claimed
by the offices of choir; for he scrupulously observed the rule
of St. Francis.
We have reason to believe that he then made a final
spiritual retreat, while awaiting the moment for departure.
SECTION      VII.
About three o'clock in the morning of the third of August,
Columbus awakened to the rustling of the pines, whose tops
were agitated by the land breeze. The practised ear of the
mariner soon recognized the expected favorable wind.
That day was a Friday. Friday, which, among sailors,




136


HISTOR Of


[BOOK I.


is superstitiously considered as a day foreboding evil, became, on the contrary, for that fervent Christian, a day of
fortunate presage;- for it was the day of our redemption;
that of the deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre, by the Frenchman Godfrey de Bouillon; and that of the rendition of
Granada, the palladium of Mahometanism in the west.
Hence it appeared to Columbus a day providentially destined for his departure.
It cannot be doubted that, quitting immediately his cell,
he rapped at the door of the Father Superior, and that soon
the latter awoke the brother sacristan to light the wax
candles, preparatory to the celebration of mass. A few
moments after, the watch-guards on board the caravels
may, through the pine-trees, see the high window-panes
of La Rabida shine at that unusual hour. Whilst the
community were enjoying their peaceful slumbers, Columbus entered, with gentle steps, into the chapel of Our Lady.
The Father Superior, clothed with his sacerdotal vestments,
ascended to the altar to offer the Holy Sacrifice, for an intention, until then, perhaps, unheard of since the institution
of the Eucharist. At the time of communion, Columbus
approached the holy table, and received, by way of vianiczim, the bread of angels.* After his acts of thanksgiving,
he left the convent noiselessly, always accompanied by
Father Juan Perez de Marchena.
During these emotions, recollection becomes a need, and
silence a sweetness. Talk can only disturb that interior
calm which it is itself incapable of giving. It is probable
they descended, absorbed in thought and in silence, the
declivity leading to Palos. The last stars still glittered in
the firmament, and the first glimmerings of dawn began to
appear in the orient. They arrived together at the town
of Palos.
As soon as they came, the cutter of the Santa Maria
approached the shore to receive the commandant.


* Oviedo y Valdez, Historia, etc., lib. ii., cap. v., fol. 6.




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I37


The voices of the pilots and boatswains awakened the
inmates of the neighboring houses. The windows and
doors immediately flew open. The cry, " They go, they
go!" soon resounded everywhere. Mothers, wives, children, run to the quay, sobbing and weeping; relations and
friends throw themselves into barks, to approach the caravels, to bid their adieus to those they, perhaps, will never
see again. Columbus, pressing to his heart the Franciscan
father, moved to tears, bids him  a silent farewell, and
jumps into the cutter, which soon reached the Santa
MVaria.
The Commandant, received on board with the honors
prescribed by the Admiralty of Castile, ascended the poop,
and took a glance at the arrangements. The sign was
given for those in the cutters to leave, the shore-boats
were hoisted aboard, and the anchors drawn up to the
prows.
The Santa Maria bore the royal flag of the flotilla. A
faithful emblem of the sentiments of Christopher Columbus,
and. of the real object of his voyage, this flag was truly the
standard of the Cross. It bore the image of Our Saviour
nailed to the tree of the cross, while from the main-masts
of the Pinta and the Nina there waved only the banner
of the expedition, marked with a green cross between the
initials of the sovereigns, and surmounted with a crown.
Then Columbus, saluting serenely the crowd on the shore,
and, with hand, bidding a last adieu to his friend Juan
Perez, took his place on the quarter-deck; and, fully impressed with the character of his enterprise, with a loud
voice commanded the sails to be unfurled, in the name of
Jesus Christ.*
* Oviedo y Valdez, La Historia nat. y. gen. de las Indias, lib. II.,
cap. v., fol. 6.
I2*




I38


HIISTOR OF


[BOOK 1.


CHAPTER VII.
Events of the Voyage. - Fears of the Sailors. - New Aspects of the
Ocean. — Variation of the Mariner's Compass. -A Conspiracy
and a Revolt. - Firmness of Columbus. - His Prediction of the
Discovery.
SECTION      I.
DE LORGUES here complains that the incidents, of this voyage have not hitherto been completely
given to the public, and that historians have held too exclusively to the meagre account of it given by the celebrated
Las Casas, from the Journal of Columbus. To supply this
omission, De Lorgues enters into lengthy details of the
events of the voyage, relying on the authority of several
writers, and of documents, of the highest respectability.
But the limits prescribed for this work will not permit oui
following him throughout.
Remote as we are from that memorable day, how can we
avoid still admiring that calm and eminent courage, that
firm will which has to face the invisible, conquer the
unknown and the formidable, overcome the prejudices of
pilots and the terrors of sailors, vanquish the most terrible
uncertainties and the phantoms of the imagination, not less
frightful than the dangers of the sea, brave the science of
the times, and affront unknown enemies, - sea-monsters,
every possible creature in the air and in the waters, eddies,
currents, water-spouts, calms, famine, death from thirst,
etc...




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


139


SE CTION II.
On Friday, the third of August, I492, after commanding
the sails to be unfurled, Columbus entered his cabin, and,
taking his pen, commenced, also, his Journal of the Voyage
in the name of Jesus Christ: " IN NOMINE DOMINI NOSTRI
JESU CHRISTI," etc.
This prologue, which we possess entire, shows, from the
first, the specially Christian character of the enterprise.
The desire of penetrating into space, and the zeal to
evangelize the people supposed to exist in unknown regions, show, by their union of aim, that this expedition
was, prior to all other considerations, a great act of
Catholic faith. We have a glimpse of the holy union
there was between the thought of Isabella and the hope
of the pious navigator. Columbus, at first, declares that
it is, after having terminated the war against the Moors,
and erected the Cross on the towers of the Alhambra, that
the 'two sovereigns, in their zeal for the propagation of the
faith, sent him to the countries of India, to see the princes
and the peoples of those countries, in order that they may
be converted to our holy faith. He terminates this introduction to his Journal by saying that he will write every
night the events of the day, and every day the events of the
preceding night; that he will inscribe on a chart the waters
and the lands of the great ocean; and that he will banish
sleep from his eyes, iA order to direct the navigation, and
to accomplish those things that require great efforts.*
On Monday, the sixth of August, the breeze increased
sensibly; and soon the Pinta made a signal of distress,
her rudder having become unhung, and gone to pieces.
Columbus, not being able to remedy the accident, on
account of the swell caused by the high wind, still ap

* See this prologue, in extenso, in Irving's Columbus, vol. I., p.
125.-B.




I40


HISTOR Y OF


[BOOK I.


proached her.  He then discovered the machinations of
the owners, Gomez Rascon and Cristobal Quintero, who
had already tried the same means to prevent the expedition,
hoping to be able to escape it themselves. The captain,
Martin Alonzo Pinzon, had the pieces bound fast together
by strong cordage, and the voyage was continued. They
directed their course to the Canaries. The pilots of the
three caravels differed about the line to be taken to
approach them  soonest.  Columbus gave his opinion in
opposition to those of the pilots, and the event proved the
justness of his reasons.
They arrived there at night. The Commandant ordered
the captain of the Pinzta to remain at the Great Canary,
while he would go himself to try and replace her with
another vessel.  Having uselessly sought one for more
than three weeks, he had a new rudder made for the
Pinta, and had the lateen sails of the VNiia changed into
square ones. After having taken in water, wood, and fresh
provisions, they were on the point of starting, on the sixth
of September. At that moment a vessel arrived from the
Isle of Ferro, informing the Commandant that three Portuguese caravels had been hovering off that island to capture
him.  The wrath of John II., excited by the refusal of
Columbus, pursued the latter to the ocean; and, to add to
his uneasiness, a dead calm fixed him in the waters of the
Gomera, in sight of the Peak of Teneriffe, the volcanic
eruptions of which terrified the seamen.
This situation, so tantalizing, lasted from Thursday morning until Saturday before dawn. At length, profiting by a
light wind, he advanced, and beheld the last of the Canaries,-the island of Ferro,- precisely that at which the
Portuguese caravels awaited him. "He was, therefore,"
says Washington Irving, " in the very neighborhood of
danger.  Fortunately, a breeze sprang up with the sun,
their sails were once more filled, and, in the course of the
day, the heights of Ferro gradually faded from the horizon."
From the beginning of this wonderful voyage we perceive,




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


'4'


by the very words of a Protestant writer, the aid given by
Providence to its minister Columbus. That was not the
only one. God did not cease from assisting him. If the
ordinary laws of nature were never suspended in his favor,
still the most happy coincidences came always to his aid
with such a miraculous appropriateness, that they needed
no miracles.
SE CTION    III.
Here ended the nautical science of the most able mariners; they were now going to enter into unknown regions.
Whilst the heart of Columbus bounded with a noble joy in
launching into a route which no man had ever traversed,
the seamen, after having seen the heights of the Isle of
Ferro disappear, began to lament. They became desolate,
despairing of ever again seeing their country. The Admiral tried to remove their fears, and spoke to them of the
bold undertakings of gross and sordid minds. He succeeded
in cheering them up for a little time. Still, from a motive
of prudence, counting from that day, he wrote the reckonings in two distinct log-books: making in one, fictitious
reckonings for the crews; and in the other, the true ones
for himself. He feared his officers would become discouraged, if the voyage appeared too long. And he was not
mistaken.
The thirteenth of September, the genius of Columbus
endured a rude shock. His attentive eye noticed the first
index of magnetic variation. It was the first time, since
the commencement of history, that the like observation
was made.
Columbus remarked, at nightfall, that the magnetic
needle, in place of pointing to the north star, became
directed to the north-west; and that the next day, at daybreak, the variation was still greater.  Thus his only
guide, - the mariner's compass, - whose infallibility alone
inspired the officers with a little hope, began to betray




142


HISTOR ' OF


[BOOK I.


him, and he found himself destitute of all hope from the
sciences. The Commandant took good care not to communicate this piece of information to the officers, whose
brows were already clouded.
On Friday a happy omen, for vulgar intelligences, reanimated the hopes of the sailors. The crew of the.ina saw
a sea-swallow, and a ring-tail, - the first birds they saw
since they left Gomera.  The next evening a meteor, in
the form  of a fiery branch, appeared to fall from the
heavens, at a distance of about four leagues. The crews
were fiightened at it; but the contemplator of God's creation only gazed at it with admiration.
The seventeenth of September, they reached those latitudes where tropical influences are so delightfully felt.
" There was a real pleasure experienced," says Las Casas,
" in enjoying the beauties of the mornings, and there was
nothing wanting to it but the warbling of nightingales.
The weather was like the month of April in Andalusia."
SECTIONV IV.
Towards that part of the globe which borders on the
oceanic prairies, a mysterious cosmographic division seems
to take place in the skies, as well as in the deep waters.
A strange feeling of the unknown and the unexperienced,
acts on a person; he has imposing views before him; and
he feels the distant power of the equatorial regions, and
his proximity to southern skies.
The now magnificent aspects of the ocean, - its limpidity,
its solitude, - strike the beholder with an amazement that
is surpassed only by that which is produced by the nocturnal phenomena that are presented.
Since the beginning of the world, these wonders were
displayed only before the eyes of celestial spirits; for the
inhabitants of this world, they were as if they had no
existence. At length, the beauties and solemn grandeurs
of the equinoctial ocean, until then unknown, displayed




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I43


themselves to the eyes of men. For the first time since
the creation did the human intelligence exercise its faculties in these latitudes, until then the domain of petrels,
gulls, porpoises, and gigantic fishes. And he who was
chosen by Providence to be the guide of immortal souls
on the deep, was here the highest personification of intuition, and of love of the Creator. Neither before nor after
that day did a holier curiosity, nor a livelier comprehension
of nature, find its place in these moving latitudes.
The sacred image of the Redeemer, on the flag of the
expedition, which was unfurled by the breeze, seemed, in
conjuring the brute forces of the air, to sanctify the elements
in traversing the gleaming horizons; and, in the night, the
phosphorescent waves. Every evening, hymns in honor of
Mary, the Ocean Star, were wafted by the winds of the
Atlantic. Under the auspices of the WORD, Columbus took,
in the name of the faith, possession of immensity. The
Most High had accorded him the honor of being the first to
penetrate into space on which neither the eye nor the look
of mortal had ever yet lit.
In entering into these regions of the GLOOMY OCEAN, the
cause of so much terror, then enshrouded in a mystery which
he was destined to penetrate, Columbus, incited by a laudable
curiosity, and desiring, as he himself said, "to know the
secrets of the world," darted his untiring looks into the
depths of the transparent waters. He tried to ascertain the
character of the submarine vegetation, of the forests decking
the depths of those concave regions which the sounding-line
could not reach. What kind of beings inhabited those sombre
residences? What drama was now being acted in the deep
Atlantic recesses in the bowels of the ocean? And what
terrible eventualities may there not arise from those gulfs,
now seemingly dormant?- a fearful question, and one before which any other mortal would have quailed!
Both history and poetry have vaunted the fearless sang
froid of Columbus, his boldness, his passion for celebrity,




I44


HISTOR r OF


[BOOK I.


and his contempt for death; and writers have thought they
did him honor in calling him " the hero of glory."
Such views of him are all errors.
He who advanced calm and serene above the abysses of
the deep, had not, and did not think he had, any merit for
intrepidity. In no circumstance does he make any allusion
to his courage. He knew very well whom to attribute to
the "' fortitude and magnanimity " he displayed in the conducting of his enterprise. Yearning, above all things, to
glorify the Divine Word, to proclaim the blessed name of
the Redeemer in the countries he should discover, feeling
that his labors were connected with the spread of Christianity and the future relations of peoples to each other;
understanding that he was made by Divine mercy the legate
of Providence, and a deputy of the Apostolate to unknown
nations, he drew from above the secrets of his power.
Protestantism cannot deny it. '" Columbus considered himself under the immediate eye and guardianship of Heaven
in this solemn enterprise." *
Having instinctive consciousness of the sublimity of his
mission, and knowing that this voyage would tend to the
honor and glory of the Christian religion, he feared no
danger, and held as nothing his fatigues, as he wrote, at a
later period, to the supreme chief of the Church, the vicar
of Jesus Christ.t Still, notwithstanding his confidence in
God, far from reposing altogether on the divine bounty, and
lulling in a sweet quietude, he was watchful day and night.
As he was answerable to God and to Queen Isabella for the
lives committed to his charge, he did not depend on others
for the care of them. Except the hours he retired to recite
the office of the Franciscans, as was his custom at La Rabida, he passed his days and nights at the poop, watching
* Washington Irving, -Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. Bk. III., chap. iii.
t Carta del Almirante a su Santidad. -Docum. Diplom. num.
cxlv.




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I45


the helm, observing the sea, the air, the stars; mounting,
sometimes, the top-mast, in order to see farther, and the
better to judge of the regions traversed by the vessels.
Naturally of a retiring disposition, and averse to the
requirements of etiquette, he gave himself to the contemplation of the works of the Creator, which, with him, from
his youth up, was his greatest delight, as in his advancing
age it was the sweetest consolation of his soul. Better than
anybody else in the world, he knew how to comprehend the
indications of the great phenomena and the mute notifications of nature.  He found himself in that latitude, unknown before his time, where the influences of the air and
of the waters, wholly new, disconcerted the theory and the
instruments of nautical science. It is that part of the globe
where the color, the bitterness, the saltness, and the density
of the waters change, and where the constancy of the temperature only equals its mildness. Columbus remarked
"an extraordinary change in the heavenly bodies, in the
temperature of the air, and in the state of the sea." Examining unceasingly the new face of this new nature he had
met with, his genius tried to draw from the exterior phenomena some revelation in regard to the regions he had
reached. His eyes spanned the horizon, his organs of smell
interrogated the least effluvias of the saline scents that were
borne by the winds. Frequently he tasted water drawn at
different depths, to ascertain its temperature. His soundingline was ever gauging the depth of the waters. He made
experiments on the direction and the force of the pelagian
currents, and seized with eagerness the herbs and plants
passing by; for everything could be an index to a man of
his penetration. A little lobster was caught in sea-weed;
Columbus examined it attentively, because such a shell-fish
was never seen at eighty leagues from a coast. The seawater was sensibly less salt than it was at the Canaries.
Some tunnies showed themselves, and the crew of the NVina
succeeded in harpooning one.
The eighteenth of September the air was like that of
I3




HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


spring in Seville. The regular breeze pushed on finely the
vessels, which endeavored to outsail each other, in order to
perceive land, and gain the annual pension of ten thousand
maravedis promised by the Queen to the one who would
first point it out. Martin Alonzo Pinzon, whose vessel was
the fleetest sailer, took the advance, because he had seen a
flight of birds take a northern direction. He assured the
Commandant that in steering to the north he would find
land in fifteen leagues. Still, notwithstanding the urgent
entreaties of his men, Columbus would not consent to turn
aside fiom the route. This firmness appeared to be proud
obstinacy to the men, who were already disquieted about the
length of the voyage. Their fears embraced with rapture
the hope of a neighboring land announced to them by an
experienced captain, and, moreover, their own countryman.
This refusal caused a sullen discontent in the crews of the
three vessels.
SE CTZION    V.
The nineteenth of September, there arose mists without
any wind, which was for Columbus a certain sign of the
nearness of land. He was convinced there were islands
near, but he would not go out of his way to search for them,
his object being to arrive straight at the Indies. He wrote
in his Journal, " The weather is good, and, please God, all
will be well."
On Friday, at daybreak, some favorable signs appeared
towards the west. A booby passed near the ships, and a
whale came to sport at the surface of the water. The seaweeds and tropical sea-grapes showed themselves in such
abundance, that the water appeared curdled. Such was
their resistance, that the cut-waters could hardly cut through
them. They had arrived at that part called, since that time,
" the herby sea," whose extent occupies a superficies equal
to seven times that of France.
The aspect of this verdure, which at first pleased the
sight and raised the hopes of the sailors, for it appeared to




CHAP. vII.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UIBUS.


147


indicate the nearness of land, now, by its immensity, became
a serious alarm. They believed they had got to those
endless swamps of the ocean which were said to serve as
boundaries to the world, and as tombs for the curiosity of
those who affronted them. These crowds of plants, assembled in such infinite numbers, presented the aspect of an
unbounded marsh, which the Creator had placed as a limit
in the ocean, in order to interdict access to it from the
temerity of mortals. This immense and conglomerate vegetation, which from the depths of the waters appeared to
arise as a warning from Heaven, made the most fearless
turn pale. It seemed as if these indescribable latitudes had
been marked as the last limit of navigation, and that this
salt herbage, becoming more and more dense and matted,
the caravels once completely in its bonds, their return would
be impossible. And should it happen that they would not
become the prey of sea-monsters, hidden under that verdure,
they had at least the assurance that during the conflict of
their prows with the herbage, their sea-stores would become
exhausted little by little, and that famine, with all its horrors,
would be the expiation of so cursed an audacity. The minds
of the sailors became involuntarily haunted with frightful
visions, the natural consequence of the stories mariners were
in the habit of telling during the long watchings of winter, -
sometimes about the uninhabited regions of the south, and
sometimes about the submarine giant of the north, the Kraken, that terrible polypus which with one arm embraced the
White Sea, while with another he grasped the German
Ocean.  They did not forget the dainty syrens, the seamonks and anonymous monsters, large and small, that
dragged ships into whirlpools. Among the officers, the
most courageous minds, without adding anything to the real
dangers, feared the keels would give way against the reefs
concealed by this vegetation, and run aground in the midst
of those marine prairies, where it would be impossible for
them to save themselves by their boats, for never could their
oars get free from the long and knotted vegetation.




148


HISTORR r OF


[BOOK I.


There was another cause of unceasing anxiety that disquieted the three crews. The more they advanced, the
more the wind, with a very gentle breeze, seemed to push
to the west. Now, never, in seas that were known, was
there an example of such a fixity of impulsion. They
imagined that this constancy of direction, so favorable for
taking them to the unknown regions of the west, would be
an insurmountable obstacle to their return, and that they
would forever remain separated fiom their country.
The twenty-second of September, they held their course
west-north-west, and made about thirty leagues. The herbage, far fiom becoming denser as they advanced, became,
on the contrary, thinner, and almost disappeared. Some
petrels and other birds were seen. Meanwhile, the crews
became only more downcast and irritable. They got over
one fear only to fall into another. The constancy of the
winds from one quarter put the climax to their terrors.
It was in vain that the Commandant gave them assurances
and cosmographic explanations. They would not listen to
him; already they had ceased to believe in him, and they
thought nothing of either his threats or his promises.
Respect for his authority, or submission to the august
names of the sovereigns, were gone. There remained to
him no longer any human means to make himself obeyed,
and to continue the enterprise.  Columbus had, then, no
other resource but to Him who had always assisted
him.   In this conjuncture of affairs, an opposite wind
arose suddenly, as if to show the unreasonableness of their
apprehensions.
In declaring the opportuneness of this wind sent him by
God, Columbus wrote, quite simply, these words in his
Journal: " This contrary wind was of great advantage to
me, because my crews were in a state of great excitement,
imagining that in these seas no winds blew that would
bring them back to Spain." *


* Columbus's Yournal, Saturday, twenty-second of September.




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I49


But the restored tranquillity could not be of long duration.
The next day, they were again seized with their vain terrors. It was Sunday. The sea-weeds and plants of different kinds reappeared in thick beds, covering the whole
extent that was visible. The breeze pushed gently to the
west, without causing the waters to undulate.  The prolonged calm of the waves became in its turn suspected.
There were increasing murmurings among the sailors.
They said they had attained those stagnant latitudes where
the winds lose their impulsive force, and the sea its equilibrium; for they had left the sphere destined for the abode
of men. They recalled to mind those animals that attach
themselves to the keels of ships, and retain them until they
become the prey of the monsters inhabiting those submarine
forests. Already had Columbus exhausted all his reasonings; he had no human means of reassuring those imaginations scared by their own phantoms, when, in the midst of
his perplexities, and without the wind being felt, the sea
immediately surged or swelled so that all were astonished
at it."  Columbus, thanking his Master, - the good God,wrote in his Journal these words: " So the swollen sea was
of great advantage to me, which never occurred before,
save in the time of the Jews, when the Egyptians went
from Egypt in pursuit of Moses, who delivered the Hebrews
from bondage." *
The twenty-fifth of September, the Pinta was so near
the Santa Miaria that the Commandant could converse
with Martin Alonzo Pinzon in regard to a chart he had
sent, three days before, to the latter. Columbus demanded
it back; and Pinzon, tying it on the end of a cord, flung it
on board to him. On this chart were delineated some supposed islands, and Martin Alonzo thought they must be in
the neighborhood of them. Columbus told him, that without doubt, drawn by the currents to the north-east, the
caravels had not made as much way as the pilots thought.
This conversation, in a loud tone, and the answer of the


* Domingo, 23 de Setiembre.


I3*




I5o


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


Commandant, were probably meant to reassure the sailors,
who had already repeatedly complained of the length of
the voyage.
At sunset Martin Alonzo Pinzon, mounting the stern of
the Pinta, shouted, with all his might, " Land! land!
Seior, I am the first who saw it; declare my right to the
pension." Immediately all the sailors raised shouts of joy,
whilst those of the NVina mounted, one after the other, the
top-mast and became also assured it was land.  At the
sound of these exclamations, the Commandant, quite
moved, fell on his knees, his gratitude taking precedence
of his curiosity. He thanked God before having verified
the discovery, which appeared to him certain; and, in his
deep gratitude, intoned the Gloria in excelsis Deo. He
must have believed that it was really land, confusedly
perceived at a distance of twenty-five leagues. But time
dissipated this illusion, and the despondency was the
greater because hope had been so much excited.
The first of October, at daybreak, the lieutenant of service declared, with an accent of terror which he could not
control, that they had made five hundred and seventy-eight
leagues westwards fiom the Isle of Ferro. This figure cast
them into the greatest dejection. Yet it was short of the
real truth. The secret account kept by Columbus showed
seven hundred and seven leagues. The man of Providence
tried to reanimate the spirits of the sailors, and to encourage
the pilots, not concealing his satisfaction that the winds and
the waters cooperated in his enterprise.
The breezes, always propitious, pushed them on waves
steadily serene. Columbus, thanking God for his bounty,
could not refrain from writing in his Journal these words:
" The sea is always fine; be infinite thanks rendered to
God."   The flotilla pursued its course, and the signs of
land became multiplied.  The pilots desired to diverge
from the route, and go in search of islands which they
considered must be in those latitudes; but the Commandant, though assured of their existence, absolutely refused




CHAP VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I5I


going out of his way. He was determined to go straight
for the Indies.  "To lose time on the way," said he,
" would be to be wanting in prudence and reason." Murmurings were now changed into hatred.
SECTION      VI.
So many times deceived by signs that seemed to indicate
land, the crews no longer attached any faith to those illusory
appearances. They fell into a state of sullenness, - a mark
of the greatest discouragement. The sailors, at first, unknown to the officers, gathered in groups of three or four,
to console each other in mutually confiding their fears to
one another; but they only increased them by this communication. These meetings became daily more frequent
and more numerous. The discontent having become general, no pains were taken to disguise it. As Spaniards,
they naturally detested this foreigner, who had resolved,
they said, to risk their lives with his own, to make him a
great lord at their expense. They gave him the nicknames
of braggart and humbug, in order to be able to speak of
him, even in his presence, in disguised words. It is thus
that revolts are commonly commenced. The old sailors
considered the obstinacy of the Commandant in steering
to the west, -which had no end, —was a mark of folly.
They recalled to mind the sad presentiments of their families, the fright of the whole of Palos, and the opposition
made by the cosmographers of Salamanca to this scheme
of the Genoese.  They regretted their confidence in the
Superior of La Rabida, become the dupe of this intriguing
braggart.  All agreed that to push the voyage farther
would be going to certain destruction.
Already they had proved to the Commandant the imprudence of his perseverance; but he paid no attention to such
sage representations. Neither prayers nor representations
could make any impression on his diabolical obstinacy.
He heard their complaints, and saw their sadness and




I`2


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


anxiety, and did not the less drag them on to an inevitable
death.
To this danger, admitted by all, was it not time to bring
a remedy?  They had already proved, perhaps, too much
their obedience and their bravery, in penetrating into those
regions which nobody had ever seen before them. Ought
they, by a blind submission, to labor for their own ruin?
As the Commandant, with his iron will, had no regard for
their entreaties, and as nothing touched his proud obstinacy,
they ought, at least, yielding to necessity, provide for their
own safety, and make him submit to the common law of
self-preservation, whicl he had so wickedly set at naught.
Was it right that a hundred and twenty men, the greater
part of them Castilians and old Christians, should perish
through the caprice of one, and, what is worse, a foreigner,
- a Genoese? There was nothing more to deliberate about;
he must be told to turn back to Europe; and, in case of his
refusal, be cast into the sea,-that sea which he has so
much admired. This was the only good counsel, and the
only way of being delivered from a disaster. This rigor,
being resorted to for the common safety, could not attach
to the conscience of any one of them. It would not be a
crime, but a measure of " prudence,"- a sacrifice to necessity. He may, then, be " prudently" cast into the sea; and
it would be easy, on their return, to publish that he fell by
accident at night, while observing the stars.  Assuredly
nobody would take the trouble of inquiring into the fact.
They would not trouble themselves much about this
Genoese in noble Castile.
It was agreed, then, that at night he should be cast from
on board into the sea, at a moment that would be afterwards fixed. To carry the matter into effect, there was a
secret agreement between the crews of the three caravels.
We have proof that, during this voyage, the boats of the
three caravels came often in contact with each other.
This conspiracy had almost every sailor as an accomplice,
while it had yet nobody as chief.




CHAP. VII.]    CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I53


The captains of the Pinta and the JNia were not ignorant of what was hatching against the Commandant; but,
on the one hand, better informed and more experienced
than the rest of the seamen, they did not participate in all
their fears; on the other, they felt themselves, in fact, masters of the situation,- for, with the exception of some
officers of the Santca iMaria, the three crews, composed
of their countrymen, were perfectly submissive to them.
They abstained from all personal manifestations; still,
without openly encouraging them, they took care not to
prevent them. Many times, in their communications with
the Commandant, the three Pinzons, by the loftiness of
their airs and the grossness of their proceedings, made him
sorely feel his isolation, and the strength of their position.
On Sunday, the seventh of October, at sunrise, a cannon
shot from the NiCna announced the appearance of land.
The crews were full of hope; but evening came without
making any discovery. Still, flocks of birds flew from the
north to the south-west. Columbus knew that the Portuguese, in following such flights, discovered several islands;
he therefore determined to change his course to west-southwest. This change was made only at nightfall.
On Wednesday, the tenth of October, the wind became
favorable. The flotilla went ten miles per hour. It made
fifty-nine leagues in a day and night. But this so desirable
a fleetness only served to awaken the alarm of the crews.
Seeing no end to the voyage, notwithstanding the constancy
of propitious winds, they cried aloud that they were taken
to their ruin! Their fears exploded; they refused going
further, and put themselves in a state of open revolt.
Here the Commandant was in the most extreme danger
that ever the chief of a flotilla was exposed to.
Several writers have repeated that at this moment Columbus, threatened by his crew, was obliged to promise them
that he would turn back, if in three days they did not discover land. We feel it our duty to declare that these
assertions are destitute of any foundation.




I54


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


What occurred was the following:     Martin Alonzo
Pinzon, hitherto sustained by the remembrance of his
voyage to Rome, and his high opinion of the genius of
Columbus, was now seized with the general terror. His
confidence failed; he ceased to resist the counsels of fear,
and joined in the revolt with his two brothers.
Towards night, at the moment when, according to the
orders of the Commandant, the three caravels should get
quite close to each other,* the Pinta and ziWina joined the
Santa A3aria. The Pinzons, followed by their men, all
armed, jumped on the deck of the Admiral's ship, and,
with fury in their looks, and steel in their hands, summoned
him immediately to turn the prow to Castile. His own
crew, his pilots, even the crown officers and the nephew
of his wife, had joined in the revolt.  He was " alone
against all."  His arguments, his assurances, his persuasions, were already exhausted. Against this harshness
of resolution, and this unanimity of resorting to violence,
there did not remain to him the resource of even a new
objection; besides, terror neither hears nor reasons. And
yet he succeeded in appeasing the fury and calming the
agitation of those rebellious spirits, whom the instinct of
self-preservation was urging to crime. And not only did
he not yield to their demands or their threats, but he dared
even to interdict them any protestations of fidelity, or supplications for pardon; and, in conclusion, declared to them,
in a tone of authority, that their complaints would avail
them nothing; that he had started to go to the Indies, and
that he intended to pursue his voyage until, with the assistance of God, he would find it. t
How explain this exasperation of feelings, this animosity,
- increased by the fierce instinct of self-preservation, - so
suddenly hushed before a foreigner, alone and cursed,
whose word was no longer heard, whose rank and au

* Las Casas, Yournal of Columbus, seventh of October, I492.
t Miercoles, Io de Octubre.




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I55


thority were set at naught, and who invoked in vain the
names of the sovereigns? Here we have something that
no mariner, no philosopher, no man, not even Columbus
himself, could explain on natural principles. So he himself did not attribute this victory to the superiority of his
deportment in the presence of the revolt. Several months
after this success, he avowed that when his crews C were
all resolved, with one accord, to return, and had revolted
against him, setting at naught his threatenings, the eternal
God gave him the strength and courage he needed, and
sustained him alone against all."*
SE CTION VIZ
From the dawn of the next morning the divine aid, which
sustained him against the outburstings of so much wrath,
and the ruthlessness of fear, became manifest.  Notwithstanding the serenity of the atmosphere, and the softness
of the balmy breezes, the sea became swelled.  Large
waves arose, pushing the caravels with a force not hitherto
experienced.  Some petrels appeared in great number.
A green bulrush passed by the side of the Santa MIaria.
Soon after, the crew of the Pinta perceived a reed and a
stick; then a second stick, which appeared to have been
cut with a knife, and a small plank. The NVia also found
some things: one was a branch of a tree, bearing some
small red fruit. These signs sustained the hopes of the
sailors during the day.  The sailing had been excellent,
and counted twenty-seven leagues.
TThe sun went down flaming into the solitary ocean. The
whole of the horizon presented to the eye its pure azure.
No vapor indicated that land was near; but suddenly, as
if by inspiration, Columbus caused the first route to be
taken, and ordered the helmsman to steer due west.
When the caravels came together, and after they had,


* yueves, 14 de Hebrero.




I56


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


according to the custom he established on board his vessel,
sung the hymn to the Virgin, -the Salva Regina, —assembling all the men, he made them a touching address;
recalled the favors with which the Lord had loaded them
during the voyage, - giving them  constantly favorable
weather, leading them thus into those latitudes in which
a sail had never penetrated, and conducting them, with
such paternal goodness, through the dreaded paths of the
GLOOMY OCEAN. He sought to raise their hearts in gratitude to the Author of these benefits; and afterwards assured
them that they were very near the end of their fears, and
the fulfilment of their hopes. Finally, he announced to
them that they were approaching land, although their eyes
could see nothing; and assured them that even that very
night they would reach the end of their voyage. Consequently, he recommended to them to watch all night, and
engaged them to pass the time in prayer,* because they
would certainly, before day, see some island. He ordered
the pilots to lessen the sails after midnight; and promised,
besides the premium engaged by the Queen, a velvet doublet
to the person who would first announce land.
The Commandant retired to his cabin. What passed
there in the secret of his retreat?  Feeling so near the
realization of his hopes, what must not have been the fervor of his prayers! With what tenderness did he not thank
the Divine Majesty for his constant protection!
About ten o'clock, Columbus mounted the poop. Scarcely
had he got there, when he perceived a light in the distance;
but, on account of the obscurity of the atmosphere, he would
not assert there was land there. He called one of the King's
officers, Pedro Guttierez, and told him to look in the same
direction. Pedro considered it was really a light.  The
Commandant then called Rodrigo Sanchez de Segovie, to
show it to him; but while the latter was ascending to the
poop, the light had disappeared. After a certain time the


* Herrera, Histoire generale, etc., Decade I., liv. I., chap. xii.




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I57


light reappeared once or twice. It was like a flame that
ascended and descended alternately.  By this movement,
which the other mariners considered of no importance,
Columbus was certain of the nearness of land.
At midnight, conformably to the orders of the Commandant, the vessels kept but little sail. They appeared to go
rather slowly; still, a current took them strongly to the
west. The Pin/a, a good sailer, got far ahead of the other
caravels. On each deck the expectation was the same, and
the eagerness extreme. Electrified by the solemn assertion
of the Commandant, all hearts throbbed with hope. Nobody
doubted; no eyelid was closed. Suddenly a flash appears,
and a cannot shot is heard. The sailors jump with joy: it
was the signal of land! A mariner of the Pinta, named
Juan Rodriguez Bermejo, had perceived it. The clock of
the Santa Maria showed the time to be two in the morning. At the report of the cannon shot, Columbus, casting
himself on his knees, and raising his hands to Heaven,
while tears of gratitude overspread his cheeks, intoned the
Te Deum lazudamus, and the whole crews, transported
with joy, responded to the voice of their chief.
It was not until after having fulfilled the duties of religion,
that they yielded to the promptings of the joy that filled
their hearts. An indescribable movement immediately took
place in the three ships. By an order of Columbus, all the
sails were furled, - there was left only the lug-sail; and
they were tb put to until morning. The prudence of the
chief, who forgot nothing, thought it proper to put the
flotilla in a state of defence; for they did not know what
the return of day would bring. The arms were furbished,
and preparations were made for a grand ovation. Friends
and relations felicitated each other. The whole of the crew
of the Santa Mlraria presented themselves before the Commandant, to offer him their respects, and to do homage to
his genius.
I4




i58


HISTOR Y OF


[BOOK I.


CHAPTER VIII.
The Island of San Salvador. -The Archipelago of the Lucaya, or
Bahama Islands. - Searchings for Gold. - The Island of Cuba. -
Discovery of Hispaniola. - Hospitality of King Guacanagari. -
First Settlement of Europeans in the Antilles.
SECTIO1       I.
N Friday, the twelfth of October, at dawn, there was
seen issuing from the mists a flowery land, whose
groves, colored by the first rays of the sun, exhaled an unknown fragrance, and charmed the eye by their smiling
appearance.  In advancing, the men saw before them an
island of considerable extent, level, and without any appearance of mountains.  Thick forests bounded the horizon,
and in the midst of a glade gleamed the pure waters of a
lake. Rolling land, covered by a vigorous vegetation, surrounded a shore to which they directed their course.
As soon as the anchors were let down, with great recollectedness, clad in the costume of his dignities,- with a
scarlet mantle on his shoulders, and holding displayed the
image of Jesus Christ on the royal flag, - Columbus descended into his boat, followed by the staff-officer. The
captains of the Pinzta and of the VNi'Wi  having the banner
of the expedition, came each in his own cutter, with a
detachment perfectly armed. In a short time all were on
shore.
Columbus, beaming with gladness, and mute with delight, stepped on the shore with the elastic ardor of youth.
Scarcely had he touched the new land than he significantly
planted in it the standard of the Cross. Unable to contain




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


159


his gratitude, he prostrated himself in adoration before the
Supreme Author of the Discovery.   Three times bowing
his head, he kissed, with streaming eyes, the soil to which
he was conducted by the Divine Goodness; * all those who
accompanied him participating in his emotions, and kneeling, as he did, elevated a crucifix in the air.t  Raising his
grateful hands, and thanking, from the depths of his heart,
his Heavenly Father, Columbus found, in the effusions of
his loving gratitude, an admirable prayer, the first accents
of which are preserved by history: "Lord! Eternal and
Almighty God! who, by Thy sacred word, hast created
the heavens, the earth, and the seas, may Thy name be
blessed and glorified everywhere. May Thy Majesty be
exalted, who hast deigned to permit that, by Thy humble
servant, Thy sacred name should be made known and
preached in this other part of the world."...
His gratitude and piety found utterance in sublime expressions. Then, standing up with majesty, and displaying the
standard of the Cross, he offered up to Jesus Christ the first
fruits of his discovery. In order to give glory to God, who
had shown it to him, after having protected him from so
many perils, he gave the island the name of San Salvador,
which means " Holy Saviour." ~
Afterwards he drew his sword, and, all the officers doing
the same, he declared he took possession of that land in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the Crown of Castile.
Then he ordered the notary royal, in presence of the commissioner of marine, and of the captains, to draw up the
proceedings in the prescribed form.
*Ramusio, Delle navigationi e viaggi raccolte, vol. IIi., fol. I.
tRobertson, History of America, t. I, Book II., p. 120.
t This prayer of Columbus was afterwards repeated, by order of
the Sovereigns of Castile, in subsequent discoveries. Fernando
Cortez, Nuiiez de Balbao, Pizarro, etc., had to use it officially.
~ "La llamo a gloria de Dios que se le havia mostrado, librando
lo de muchos peligros, SAN SALVADOR."-Fernando Colon, Vida
del Alnirante, cap. xxv.




I6o


HISTOR  OF


[BOOK I.


The Discovery having been accomplished, tie conditions
of the treaty with the sovereigns, signed in the Plain of
Granada, became binding by the event; therefore the
titles of " Viceroy," of " Grand Admiral," of "GovernorGeneral of the islands and terra firfzma he would discover
in the Indies," were definitively acquired by him. Immediately all those present, full of admiration and enthusiasm,
recognized him as Admiral of the Ocean and Viceroy of
the Indies, and as such they swore obedience to him.
Many of them expressed deep regret for their conduct;
they besought him not to remember their threats, which
were excited by fear, and promised him a devotedness in
future equal to their present submission.
The Admiral, having declared his having taken possession, ordered the carpenters to cut, with their axes, limbs
of trees, and form a large cross from them. The island,
which he had just offered to the Saviour, and named San
Salvador,* was called c" Guanahani" in the language of the
natives. It is in the centre of the first line of the Lucavas,
and occupies the middle of the prolonged group that forms
the archipelago of Bahama. Although there was no habitation perceived in it, it was considerably populated; but
the natives, frightened at the appearance of the caravels,
which they took, some for monsters come from the sea,
others for beings come from heaven, - retired to the thickest parts of the woods, trembling with fear.
While the notary-royal was engaged in writing the proceedings of the taking of possession, the islanders, who,
until then, had remained concealed behind the foliage of the
trees, gradually left their retreats, encouraged by the expression of serenity and benevolence in the aspect of Columbus, whom his high stature, his rich costume, the sheen of
*The English Protestants, not finding the name  SA SLVADOR
fine enough for their marine charts, have substituted for it that of
cat; and in their hydrographic atlases, the island of the Holy
Saviour is nobly called Cat Island! -




CHAP. VIIi.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


his arms, and the deference he received from those around
him, pointed out as the chief of those mysterious beings, -
advanced by degrees; and then ventured to approach, tremblingly, the strange visitors. They even felt them, to assure
themselves they were not dreaming, and were particularly
astonished at their beards.  Following the example set
them by the Admiral, the Spaniards received. with smiles
of kindness, those artless children of the forest, and complacently submitted to their examinations.
Columbus observed that they were all young, and that
they differed from the natives of Africa, in the color of the
skin, and in the form of the head and limbs.  In stature
they were moderately tall, and in complexion they reminded
one of the color of the natives of the Canaries. They had
large heads and foreheads, thick hair, cut below the temples, and long behind; the chin destitute of beard; the
limbs straight, and the trunk well-proportioned.  They
went in a state of complete nudity; but they painted their
members in different colors, - these in red, those in white;
some daubed the whole body, others only the face. Certain
ones, undoubtedly the elegant and refined, contented themselves with painting only the nose. Their arms consisted
of clubs hardened by fire, and armed at the end with the
tooth of a shark, or a sharp flint.
Columbus considered that, from the kindness of their disposition, they could be easily made Christians, in using
with them mild rather than harsh means. In order to make
them well disposed, he distributed among them colored
caps, glass beads, hawks' bells, and other trifles, which
seemed to them of inestimable value. They respectfully
offered the Spaniards everything they possessed. The latter
passed the rest of the day in recreations and amusements in
the groves.
As soon as the carpenters had completed their work,
Columbus, still quite moved with gratitude, and his heart
glowing with evangelical love, ordered the hole to be enlarged that was made for the pole of the banner planted on
14*




I62


HISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


this shore, - a shore now conquered to Jesus Christ. From
this hole was erected the cross sustained by the hands of
Columbus himself, while the hymn, Vexilla regis prodezLnt, was sung. When the sacred sign was solidly fixed in
the soil, he intoned the hymn of victory, Te Deumz lazdfZIUS.
Columbus did not erect that cross in that place merely to
leave a sign of prior occupation, but in order to consecrate,
by that sign, the object of his discovery, and to be a memorial that he took possession of this advanced frontier of the
New World in the name of the Redeemer of men, Jesus
Christ. As the day was growing late, he said evening
prayers before the image of the cross; afterwards, taking
up the flag of the expedition, that Labaruzi with which he
had conquered the horrors of the GLOOMY OCEAN, the dread
of immensity, the caprice of the billows, and the mutinies
of men, he returned on board his caravel.
Early the next day the natives surrounded the three ships
in canoes made from a single piece of wood, hollowed, and
of admirable workmanship for persons who did not know
the use of iron. They brought balls of spun cotton, darts,
and domesticated parrots, to trade with the foreigners.
Everything that came from the wonderful strangers was
precious to them; even pieces of broken glass were regarded
as valuable treasures. They gave as much as twenty-five
pounds of spun cotton for a mere trifle. But the Admiral,
desiring that advantage should not be taken of their commercial simplicity, forbade these disproportionate exchanges
and sales.
On the morning of the fourteenth of October, the Admiral set off at daybreak, with the long-boat of the Santa
IJiaria and the boats of the caravels, to reconnoitre the
other side of the island. The islanders, already informed
of their coming, ran towards them, calling them, bringing
them fresh water and provisions, and thanking God for the
wonderful visit. They called to each other, and urged their
relations who had yet remained at home, saying aloud to




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


I63


them, "Come and see the men who came down from
heaven; bring them  meat and drink"; and immediately
every man and woman ran towards them, each bringing
something. They blessed God in their way, prostrating
themselves on the ground and raising their hands to heaven.
The Admiral remarked, in the midst of the deep forests,
some kitchen gardens easily irrigated, some orchards, and
" some stones suitable for the building of churches." *
The Admiral retained on board seven natives, whom he
desired to take with him to Castile, to present to the sovereigns, to learn the Spanish language, to be made Christians, and to be afterwards sent back to their country.
Scarcely removed from the groves of San Salvador, Columbus found himself in a delightful embarrassment. In
proportion as he advanced, there arose above the billows
the rich verdure of numerous islands, pointing to every
quarter of the horizon. The eye could not count them.
The natives, that were kept on board named more than a
hundred of them, and there were many more still.
Not knowing where to commence the exploration of this
archipelago, Columbus directed his course to the one that
appeared the largest, at a distance of about seven leagues.
He named it St. Mary of the Conception. In landing, he
took possession of it in a solemn form; that is to' say, in
erecting a cross. This island, which had a level surface,
appeared to be very fertile: by their features, their nudity,
their confiding disposition and gentleness, the natives reminded one of those of San Salvador. Like the latter,
they, too, admired the unearthly strangers, let them freely
examine the land, and gave them, respectfully, whatever
they demanded.
Columbus afterwards directed his course to another
island, which, through circumspection for the susceptibilities of the King, he named Fernandine, even before


* Columbus's yournal. This remark, made the fourteenth of October, I492, was not mentioned until the fifth of January, I493.








164                 HIS TOR   OF              [BOOK I.
he reached it. Its inhabitants, resembling those of the
isles already visited, appeared still " more sociable, more
civilized, and even more cunning."  They bargained for,
in place of taking, even what was offered them in exchange.
They manufactured cotton, made hammocks, and mantles
for married women. Their habitations, in the form of
tents, testified that they were not deficient in taste.
Columbus walked through the woods, admiring, with a
grateful heart, the magnificence with which he was surrounded.  He sought to recognize the various kinds of
plants that came in his way, but was often unsuccessful.
The vegetation displayed an embarrassing luxuriousness;
it was truly variety in the midst of infinity.
The natives having given him to understand that at some
distance there was a large island called Saometo, the king
of which wore clothes, and much gold on his person, the
Admiral trimmed his sails to go immediately to it.
In landing there, he noticed the superiority of this island
to the others he had seen. It abounded with superb foresttrees, and large lakes secured for it a delightful coolness.
The grass was then as high as it is in the month of April
in Andalusia. Every moment noisy flights of parrots, passing fiom one forest to another, obscured the sun by their
number. The warblings and the brilliant plumage of vast
numbers of birds unknown in Europe, and the purity of
the air, struck him with surprise. The strange productions
of this island, and its characteristic aspect, induced him to
give it the name of the royal associate of his faith, of his
hopes, and of his evangelical zeal. The island of Saometa
was then named, by him, Isabella.
At the approach of the strangers, the inhabitants fled
to the woods, taking with them all their ornaments, and
leaving only their furniture. The Admiral forbade any of
their things being touched, under severe penalties.  By
degrees the natives, seeing they were not pursued, returned
to make exchanges. Some wore very small plates of gold
suspended from  their nostrils, which they willingly ex



CHAP VIII.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I65


changed for bits of glass, cups, and porringers.  He
remained two days in this island, expecting, from what
he had heard, to be able to trade largely for gold. He
examined, with much interest, the soil and the vegetable
productions.  He says, himself: "The diversity of the
trees, and of the fiuits they bear, and of the perfumes with
which the air is charged, fill me with astonishment and
admiration; and it would seem that it ought to retain as
a resident the person who has seen it only once."
In the midst of his happiness, Columbus was sorry that
he did not know the botanical names and the properties of
the vegetable productions.  I believe," he says, " there
are here many trees and plants that command high prices
in Spain, for dye-stuffs, medicines, and spices;.... and
my not knowing them is the greatest grief to me."
While walking on the shore of a lake, he perceived an
iguana, -a reptile with claws, bristling scales, and a hideous head. To see him and attack him were the same thing
for Columbus; for he considered it of importance to accustom Spanish intrepidity to making war on the destructive
animals of this unknown region. The iguana precipitated
itself into the lake; but, as the water was not very deep,
he pursued it, and killed it with his lance. Its skin, which
was preserved, was seven feet long. Columbus afterwards
learned that this reptile, though of horrible aspect, is inoffensive in its habits.
SECTION IL
With his great desire for seeing the works of God, and
acquiring gold, Columbus was confounded at the multitude
of islands and lands, and the number of objects presented
to his observation, as well as to his enthusiastic admiration.
So he was obliged to remain satisfied with enumerating
those new lands without giving detailed accounts of them.
"My design is not to give the particulars of those islands
individually," he wrote to the Queen, " because I could not




I66


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


do so in fifty years, and because, on the contrary, I wish to
discover and see as many countries as I can." *
In this first voyage, his object was less to observe nature
than to acquire gold, and that in considerable quantity. He
sought gold, in order to make Spain interested in the matter of continuing the discoveries, by giving palpable proofs
of their importance. He sought gold, especially, in order
to commence the fund of the immense treasure he desired
to amass.  The deliverance of the Holy Land, and the
purchase of the tomb of Jesus Christ, were always before
his eyes,-the supreme object of his ambition. He desired,
then, to collect, in order to convert them into gold, the
spices of the Orient, the frontiers of which he believed he
had reached. But it was gold that he sought particularly.
Everywhere he inquired diligently about the land of gold.
The sight of the precious metal exerted in him an ardent
desire for it, and an almost loving eagerness. Never, perhaps, did a Christian desire gold for a like purpose. Not
being able to find some as soon as he expected, he addressed
himself to God, and besought Him to direct him to some,
and to its beds.
At Isabella he noticed some little gold plates in the nostrils of the islanders, and there stopped, hoping he would
be brought some gold in exchange for European trinkets.
But it is not there that the auriferous veins lie, and therefore he directs his course to an island called Cuba, " where
there are gold, spices, large ships, and merchants." According to the descriptions given of it by the Indians, he
presumes it to be, he says, the Island of Capingo, of which
so many wonderful things are related.- " According to the
globes I have seen, and the delineations in atlases, it must
be situated in this region."
The twenty-fourth of October, at midnight, the Admiral
took his course for Cuba, according to the directions given
him by the Indians on board. The course taken was west

* Columbus's yournal, Friday, the nineteenth of October, I492.




CHAP. vr.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


i67


south-west.  The sea, strewed with islets, being full of
sand-banks, through which rocks pierce, the Admiral remained at the prow the whole night. The next day seven
or eight islands were seen, which he called the Islas de
Arena, or Sand Islands, on account of the shallowness of
the waters around them.
SE CTION II.
On Sunday, at early dawn, Columbus saw before the
caravels, extending south-west, a land whose large appearance announced rather a continent than an island. Its high
and airy mountains recalled those of Italy. The stamp of
fecundity that marked this privileged land, in exciting his
curiosity, struck his imagination with great force. In proportion as he advanced, and would distinguish one form
from another, he could plainly see a power of vegetation
unknown to him before. It was no longer that thick and
tufted verdure, those watery plants, and those humid groves
of the Lucayas; here the diversity and luxuriance of the
vegetation struck him with amazement.
Columbus had now truly to regret his not knowing the
names and the properties of the plants, of his being unable
to contemplate only their forms, and of knowing nothing of
the secrets Divine Bounty deposited in their virtues, or the
harmonious relations these productions bore to each other.
Meanwhile, they saw the mouth of a river discharging
calmly its limpid waters, and presenting a commodious
harbor. When the caravels reached it, two canoes, having
natives in them, were coming out. On seeing the boats
of the caravels sounding the channel, the natives took to
flight, and went to conceal themselves.
From the deck of his caravel, the view of Columbus
embraced the two sides of the river, shaded, in their whole
visible length, with very beautiful and very green trees,
bearing, at the same time, fruit and flowers, upon which
were flying birds of brilliant plumage, and little birdlets
— J —b I —I1  L  LIIII-~~ ~~~~Y




I68


HIISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


with their sweet warblings. Among so many species of
unknown vegetable productions, his genius for close observation distinguished several kinds of date-trees different
from those that grew in Europe, in the Canaries, or on
the coast of Africa.
Desirous of commencing his search for gold, and his collection of the products of the soil, the Admiral stepped into
his long-boat, took possession of the land in the usual way,
planted a large cross in it, gave the island the name of
7uana, in honor of Prince Juan, and the port that of the
Saviour, - San Salvador. Afterwards, seeing two houses
at a distance, he went towards them. The inhabitants fled
at his approach. He found there only a dog, cowardly,
timid, and dumb, -the useless guardian of some fishing
implements.  He reiterated his commands that nothing
should be touched, and then ascended the river a considerable distance.
Here the scenes presented to his view were such, that he
candidly declares he cannot tear himself from them but
with the hope of returning to them. He feels he is treading a soil specially favored by nature, and that he is bordering on the wonders of the equinoctial regions.  He
further declares that this island is the finest that has ever
been beheld by the eyes of man.*
In the midst of this infinity of unknown objects, Columbus
endeavored to seize the sublime idea of Creative Wisdom,
to learn by what new marvel Divine Science has deigned
to manifest itself to human understanding, and to lay hold
of the index to some grand law of the globe; for, from that
time, he carried, in germ, all that he afterwards displayed
in philosophical observation, and in his tendency to generalize facts.
His poetical ideas, his great views, and his inductions,
never made him forget the practical, useful, and commercial side of things. After finding several date-bearing trees,


* 7ournal of Columbus, Domingo, 28 de Octubre.




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I69


he turns his attention to herbs, that are " as high at the end
of October as they are, at Andalusia, in the month of May,"
and recognizes in certain plants the characters of portulaca
and of nasturtium sylvestre.
The twenty-ninth of October, the Admiral weighed anchor, and sailed to the west, to go to the capital mentioned
to him by the Indians. Soon they came to the mouth of a
stream which he called the River of the Moon. Towards
evening they discerned another, which he named the River
of the Seas.
Two boats were sent to the shore to make inquiries; but
the whole population, on seeing the strangers, became
alarmed, and fled. The houses, which were like tents in
a camp, were scattered here and there, without regularity,
and presented the utmost cleanliness, with a kind of elegance in their plain furniture.  There were found there
some statuettes of female figures, and several wooden
masks, carved with considerable ingenuity. There were
also some dumb and cowardly dogs, left, uselessly, to guard
the dwellings. Numerous fishing implements showed the
kind of industry pursued by this tribe. The Admiral still
forbade anything being taken.
Neither his religious raptures, nor the poetic effusions of
his emotions, arrested nor retarded his cosmographic investigations. In enjoying the serenity of the calm nights, equally
exempt from excessive heat and excessive cold, he asked
himself why, in a latitude so little removed from the Bahama Isles, where the heat was intense, he now found a
temperature so moderate. His reflections at once led him
to attribute the heat of the Bahama Islands to their level,
which is invariably flat, and to the absence of mountains,
as well as to the constancy of the warm winds coming from
the east.
The next day, the Admiral, continuing his route to the
west, perceived a cape advanced into the sea, so richly covered with palm-trees that he called it the Cace of P.alms.
The Indians on board the Pinta told the captain that behind
I5




I7o


HTISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


the cape there flowed a river only four days' journey distant
from Cuba. Martin Alonzo Pinzon had no doubt they were
coasting, not along an island, but a continent, of which
Cuba was the chief state. In consequence of his study of a
planisphere by Toscanelli, lent him by Columbus, and
which he kept three days, Martin Alonzo believed he had
arrived in the country there hypothetically delineated.
Columbus thought that this vast country was, perhaps,
the Asiatic continent, and that he was within about a hundred leagues of Zayto and of Quinsay.
On Friday, the second of November, the Admiral resolved, in order to remove his doubts, to send a message to
the sovereign of this region. He chose, for this purpose,
Rodrigo de Jerez, who had been formerly in Africa, and
the polyglot Luiz de Torrez, a converted Jew, formerly
attached to the family of the Governor of Murcia as preceptor, - to whom he joined two Indians, as casual interpreters. These messengers, provided with glass trinkets to
procure provisions for their journey, were to go to the
Grand Khan, and inform him of the arrival in his states of
the Admiral, charged with a letter and presents fiom the
Sovereigns of Spain, who were desirous of establishing
amicable relations with him.  Columbus gave them very
particular instructions as to how they were to manage in this
mission. During their absence, he ordered the ships to be
repaired, but with the precaution of having only one on the
side at a time, to guard against every surprise, and to keep,
always, the other two ready for fighting, although, fiom
appearances, nothing was to be feared from the natives.*
*Mr. Washington Irving considers it was in this region that
Columbus and his men discovered the potato. We cannot avoid
quoting his own graceful words: " In the course of their researches
in the vegetable kingdom, in quest of the luxuries of commerce,
they met with the potato - an humble root, little valued at the time,
but a more precious acquisition to man than all the spices of the
East."-Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, Book IV.,
chap. iv.-B.




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


i7I


The messengers returned at the end of six days.
In place of the Grand Khan and his capital, they found
only a village of about fifty houses, where they were received
as if they had descended from heaven. The chief men of
the inhabitants carried them in their arms to the principal
house, and provided them with seats, while they themselves respectfully sat on the ground, surrounding them and
kissing their feet and hands.
In returning, the messengers met, on their route, with
many persons, women as well as men, who carried in their
hands some dried leaves, rolled up in another leaf, in the
form of a flageolet, and burning at one end while the other
end was in their mouth, and which they sucked, inhaling
the smoke, which they expelled from their lips in a little
cloud. They called this kind of a flageolet or large cigar a
"tobago," or tobacco, the name we have given to the plant
itself.
The envoys had travelled through a country that was
well cultivated and strewed with hamlets. They saw numbers of trees, of flowers, of balsamic herbs, and of birds
that were unknown in Europe, except nightingales, partridges, and geese, which abounded there. They had not
at any time heard the Grand Khan spoken of, and even the
interpreters and the people could not understand each other
about the meaning of the term. Nothing denoted the
existence of any gold mines in that region.
But, if there was no gold there, there were souls to be
saved and peaceable populations to be preserved; and
Columbus augured well of their disposition for religion.
His hopes in this respect he expressed to the sovereigns in
these terms: "I hold it for certain, Most Serene Princes,
that as soon as the missionaries will speak their language,
they will all become Christians. I hope in our Lord that
your Highnesses will immediately decide to send them, in
order to unite to the Church a people so numerous; and
that you will convert them as truly as you have overthrown
those who would not confess the Father, the Son, and




I72


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


the Holy Ghost"* (the Moors and Saracens of Spain).
As in the ardor of his faith Columbus had no horror of
death, he did not fear to present to the sovereigns the
remembrance of it, which the courtiers so carefully kept
out of view. He said, then, to their Highnesses: "And
when you will have terminated your career " (as we are all
mortal), "you will leave your kingdom in the greatest tranquillity, and purified from heresy and bad leaven. And
vou will be welcomed by the Eternal Creator."t With
the same artlessness the messenger of Providence, letting
his pen run freely, prayed God for their Highnesses, " that
He would be pleased to grant them long life, a greater
increase of kingdoms and principalities, and continue to
give them the will and the dispositions for extending the
holy Christian religion." +
Then he informs the sovereigns that he had put his vessel afloat the same day, and adds: " I go this day to the
south-east to search for gold, spices, and unknown lands."
Following the indications given him by the Indians, the
Admiral now directed his course to Babeque, where they
told him by signs that gold was collected on the shores at
night, by means of torches. He ran eighteen leagues along
the coast without landing. The next day he perceived a
cape, which he called Cafe Cuba.
The fourteenth of November, directing his course to the
east, he found himself in a new archipelago, or cluster of
islands. The eye could not count their number. They
were large, mountainous, and shaded with magnificent
trees. The purity of the atmosphere, the glittering of the
sea, interspersed with those masses of verdure which
seemed to come from the waves, threw Columbus into raptures. He called this gulf, so richly studded with islands,
the Sea of Neustra Senora (Our Lady).
On Friday, the sixteenth of November, at the moment


* Martes, 6 de Noviembre.
Ibid.


t Ibid.




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I73


that Columbus stepped out of his cutter to take possession
of the first of these islands, in the form consecrated by his
pious custom, there was seen lying on an eminence of the
ground two very large beams of wood, one longer than the
other, and the shortest placed across the long one, in the
form of a cross, so exact that a carpenter could not have
found juster proportions.  Falling immediately on his
knees, the messenger of the Apostolate thanked his Master
for this new mark of bounty., He revered this Cross, that
had been providentially prepared in this unknown island.
It thus seemed to him that God would not abandon him;
and he was consoled in the depths of his heart in seeing
his desires anticipated in those desert and nameless places.
After having " adored this Cross," figured by a mysterious
causality, he gave orders that it should be completed, by
having the pieces made fast, and that the erection of the
sacred sign should take place the next day, Sunday, in the
most conspicuous place.
On Sunday, the Admiral, with his staff-officer and the
principal portion of the crews, went in procession in their
boats, in order to erect the sign of Redemption. This
Cross, which was very high and very beautiful, was elevated from a towering point, from which the trees could
not conceal the view. The usual prayers accompanied its
erection, and the whole of Sunday was consecrated to its
honor by prayer and repose.
On Monday, the three vessels proceeded on their route,
but, impeded by the billows and the winds, they made but
little headway. The Admiral turned his course away from
Isabella, from which he was distant only twelve leagues,
fearing that at the sight of it the Indians of San Salvador
would seek to escape; for their native isle was only eight
leagues from the latter. But they appeared to be well satisfied with their new mode of life, - commenced to understand Spanish somewhat, made the sign of the cross, knelt
before a crucifix, recited their prayers in raising their hands
to heaven, and said the Hail holy,ueen and the Hail
I5*




I74


HISTORY OF[


[BOOK I.


Mary, with a kind of recollectedness, persuaded that they
accompanied men who came from heaven, and who would
take them back to their country.
The twenty-first of November, the voyage was continued
to the Island of Babeque, the treasures of which put their
imaginations in a ferment.
Still, in the midst of the fatigues caused by these labors,
subjects of discontent and inquietude were not wanting to
Columbus. On board the Pinla and the 1Vina his orders
were never punctually obeyed. The two captains allowed
some expressions to escape them that were more injurious
in the tone than in the terms. The brothers Pinzon, especially the oldest, could not bear the idea that a foreigner, who
without their aid could not have undertaken the enterprise,
should gather, in virtue of his treaties with Castile, a considerable portion of the riches of those countries. The
ambition of Martin Alonzo was excited by envy. An
Indian put on board the Pinta as interpreter, having mentioned to the captain the magnificence of Babeque, the
route to which he pretended to know, Martin Alonzo separated himself from the other vessels the night of the
twenty-first of November.  The weather was clear and
fine, and the air soft and cool. The Admiral, seeing the
Pinta move off, caused a signal-light to be lighted, which
was left to burn until day; but Pinzon paid no attention to
it, and continued to sail to the east, where he disappeared
in the shades of the horizon. This desertion afflicted the
Admiral.
The NVza, commanded by Vincent Yanez Pinzon,
remained faithfully at her post. Vincent Yanez had a
relish for maritime affairs and for hydrography. He possessed a better knowledge of the theory of navigation, and
of the obligations of duty, than his brothers did. Better
than theirs also, his disposition inclined him to appreciate
the genius of Columbus.
The twenty-third of November and the following day,
the Admiral, continuing the navigation, approached the




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I75


Sea of Neustra Senora, on the coast of Cuba. He saw
several capes, and discovered several ports admirable for
their security; and in one of his excursions on the shores
found some stones containing some gold, which he kept to
show to the Queen, He also found some fir-trees, exceedingly tall and straight, and proper for ships. Here a mast
was chosen for the Nina.
On the twenty-fifth he discovered a port, such as he had
not yet met with. A hundred ships could have held there,
without anchor or cable. Hills covered with fruit-trees, and
timber fit for ship-building, protected it against all winds.
Columbus, in the exuberance of his gratitude, declared that
to this day, " It pleased Our Lord to show him every day
something better than that of the preceding day; and that
he went from good to better in all his discoveries." *
SECTION IV.
On the 28th, the ships entered a bay, surrounded with
lands perfectly cultivated, forming a vast plain, studded
with hamlets. The plain was bounded by some hills and
high mountains. The Admiral, with his cutter, sounded the
port, into which there was discharged a river deep enough
for a ship to sail in. It is of this beautiful stream that he
thus writes to their Highnesses in such glowing terms: —
" The amenity of this river, - the limpidity of its water,
which is clear to the bottom; the numbers of palm-trees of
different forms, the highest and most graceful I have ever
seen, - an innumerable number of other high and verdant
trees; the warblings of the birds, and the freshness of the
air, —give this country, Most Serene Princes, a magnificence so wonderful, that in beauty and delightfulness it
surpasses all others, as much as day surpasses night. It is
this that has often caused me to say to my confidants that,
whatever efforts I may make to draw up a complete report


* Las Casas. yournal of Columbus, 25 de Novembre.




I76


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


for 3.our Highnesses, neither could my tongue speak, nor
my pen write, the whole truth. It is certain that I remain
confounded at the aspect of a beauteousness so superior
that I cannot express it. For I have written to you about
other regions, in regard to their trees, their fiuits, their
vegetables, their ports and their characteristics, as well as I
could, not as I should. But as to this land, everything goes
to show that there is not a finer region in the world. I
must now keep silent, desiring that others may see it who
will love to describe it. Besides, I feel how little the excellence of such a country can be expressed by me, and how
it will share a better fate from the lips or the pen of
another." *
In the first rank of the favors he received from God,
Columbus put the happiness of having contemplated so
many things, each one becoming always more admirable
than the preceding one. He also thanked Him who had
chosen him for this work for having preserved his health;
" for," said he, " thanks to our Lord, not one of the men
of my crews has felt to this day the slightest headache;
not one has kept his room from indisposition, if it be not
an old sailor who suffered all his life fiom the gravel, and
who found himself well after the second day of our arrival
in this country. What I say in regard to health applies to
the men of the three vessels." t
Having intuitively a clear notion of the resources of the
country: and of its preeminence over the others, when he
contemplated all its harmonious relations, admired its
splendor, extolled as a poet as much as a naturalist the
richness of its vegetation, and the beauty of its waters and
of its ports, - Columbus declares that in all he has discovered he comes to open new ways for human relations.
Then, yielding to the exuberance of his thought, illumined
from on high, he dares give counsel and a kind of precept


* Fernando Columbus. Vita del Almirante, cap. xxix.
t Martes, 27 de Noviembre.




CHAP. VIII.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I77


to the sovereigns, his masters. With a liberty wholly
Christian, he declares to them that they should not permit
the access of a country so highly favored to any stranger,
unless his purity of faith is unquestionable; because that
this Discovery, having been made in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the glory of the Redeemer and the extension of
the Church, it is not just that heresy and infidelity should
enjoy this conquest of Catholic faith. Making a resume
of his thoughts, he addresses to the Sovereigns these words:
"And I say that your Highnesses should not permit any
stranger to enter this country and traffic there, unless he be
a Catholic Christian, since the project and execution of
this enterprise had no other object but the increase and
glory of the Christian religion." *
Notwithstanding their spontaneousness, these words, inspired by the sight of new magnificences, and written fortyeight days after the first landing at the island of San Salvador, during, and even before, the complete accomplishment
of the Discovery, merit attention. These words, as well as
their date, are of decisive importance in fixing the real
character of Columbus's enterprise. It is no longer permissible to entertain any doubt of the true motives that guided
the messenger of the Cross, or to misstate the object he
proposed to himself. The glory of Jesus Christ, and the
increase of his Church, and, consequently, the salvation of
souls and the civilization of peoples, - such was the prime
object of the efforts of Columbus.
Notwithstanding the hurry he was in, the wonders of
nature in this place captivated the Admiral with their
charms.   It seemed to him   as if he found himself in
the midst of illusions and fascinations. This place, the
* Y digo que Vuestras Attezas no deben consentir que aqui trate
ni faga pie ninguno extrangero, salvo Catolicos Cristianos, pues
esto fue el fin y el comienzo del proposito que fuese por acrecentamiento y gloria de la religion Cristiana," etc.-Martes, 27 de
Noviembre.




I78


HISTOR T OF


[BOOK I.


wonders of which, astonishing the mind, inspired respect
and holy thoughts, received, therefore, the name of Puerto
Sawto (Holy Port).  For three days he remained riveted
with admiration to Holy Port, enraptured, without being
able to satiate his eyes.  Here his impatient thirst for
gold seemed quenched in the serene sweetness of the atmosphere and in the fiesh decorations of the forest, the
fragrance of which was most grateful. The contemplater
of Creation appeared, for a moment, to rule the messenger
of the Cross, - the incomparable seeker of gold, anxious to
open the placers of unknown lands, in order to obtain from
them the price of the ineffable redemption of the Holy Sepulchre. He forgets himself in his admiration of the works
of the WORD, and cannot tear himself from the charms of
these aspects. Although, in briefly stating, in his journal,
the natural beauties of this place, he modestly remains silent
about his religious feelings, we may easily divine the ecstatic
emotions with which his heart was delighted. With what
happiness did not the adoptive son of the Franciscan family
say his office, under the vaults of those perennial forests,
the primitive temple of nature, and, surrounded with the
prodigies of the Creator, mingling his voice with the grave
psalmodies of the winds that traverse these solitudes.
Still, a mind so practical and positive as that of Columbus's could not consume, without immediate utility to his
enterprise, the time accorded to satisfying the cravings of
his soul. Profiting by his stay in this place, which some
atmospherical contrarieties seemed to justify, he adopted
some means for preserving the health of his men, and sent
on different sides, under the command of an officer, accompanied with Indian interpreters, some armed pickets to
reconnoitre the country, and put him in communication
with the inhabitants. But the latter took to flight, and all
their efforts were in vain. The Spaniards succeeded only in
catching, in a village, some women and three children, and
in surprising a small boat, the rowers of which they brought
with them.




CHAP. vIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMIBUS.


179


On Friday, the thirtieth of November, Columbus desired,
before quitting Puerto Santo, to consecrate, by the sign of
Redemption, this place, in which the magnificence of the
WORD so resplendently shone. He ordered the carpenters
to prepare a very large cross. The first of December, this
large cross was taken, in grand procession, by the men of
the two caravels, to the highest point that commanded the
entrance to the port, and there erected, with all the solemnity that was possible, and firmly fixed in the solid rock.
At departing from Cuba, in order to leave it a significative name, Columbus called its eastern extremity Alpha and
Omega, " the beginning and the end," because, for the moment, he considered it was there the Indies commenced on
their western side, and that it was there, also, the east of
Asia ended. It was the reciprocal point of the beginning
and ending of the old world in the new.
SE CTION     V.
In his ardent love for the works of creation, it is in vain
that we seek in Columbus a repining thinker, a sterile contemplator of nature.  His admiration of landscapes, his
persevering study of the flora and the fauna of these new
regions, and his examinations of the soil from which he
expected to procure gold and precious stones, did not absorb
wholly his thoughts. With equal ardor, he tried to comprehend the character of that people who had so diligently
fled at his approach. Not being able to see them or observe
them, he intuitively comprehended them.
In truth, his relations with the natives of these countries,
from the moment of his first coming in contact with them,
were what the longest observation and experience would
have dictated. He never committed an error or a mistake
in regard to these peoples. He knew how to make himself
understood by them, how to make himself loved by them,
how to rule them by affability, and how to gain a personal
ascendancy over their minds. His solicitude for their sal



ISo


HISTO r OF


[BOOK I.


vation being his first object, he availed himself of every
opportunity of inspiring them with a high opinion of the
Europeans, in order that they may desire to resemble them,
and adopt their customs. He desired by a constant magnanimity to show them the sublimity of the Gospel he came
to announce to them. Were it not for the greedy cupidity
of the crews, assuredly the Indians would have felt only
gratitude and respect for the " celestial men," as they called
them.
Never did Columbus neglect any circumstance or occurrence, however insignificant it may appear. Between the
islands of Conception and Fernandine, meeting a native
alone in a canoe, he caused him to be brought on board and
well treated. It was found that this man was a courier
sent from a part of the Lucayas, to announce the arrival
of the L divine men." In order to obtain credence for this
astonishing news, he carried with him two pieces of money
and some glass pearls. Columbus, from this circumstance,
concluded that his presence would be known far and wide,
and therefore considered it of importance to spread with
the news the good name of the men come from heaven.
Prudence and good policy, so well in accord with his natural inclination, counselled munificence and gentleness
towards this infant people. In advance, Columbus really
loved them in Jesus Christ; he loved them first as the
father loves the child that does not know him yet, and they,
with their simple instinct, returned him confusedly something of his affection. They exhausted in his favor the
little constancy which their unsteadiness of character possessed. In no time and in no place have the Indians testified to a European the confidence and attachment they did
to him. Columbus had the nice gift of making himself
loved and obeyed without constraint.
The Admiral having remarked the absence of all habitations on the shores of the sea and on the borders of rivers,
notwithstanding the charms of those sites and their conveniences for residences, and seeing that all the huts were dis



CHAP VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


posed in such a manner that their inhabitants could see
without being seen, sagaciously inferred from these circumstances that some general cause obliged them to vigilance,
and that a common peril kept them on the alert. He conceived that a foreign race, hardier and better armed, arrived
in canoes on these shores, to plunder the inhabitants. He
learned, without having at first believed it, that in the peace
and abundance of this smiling region, some atrocious robbers traversed the verges of the groves, not to rifle the huts,
but to take away the inhabitants themselves, put them in
pens like cattle, fatten them, and regale themselves with
their flesh. This was only too true. The cannibal Caribs,
foreign to those isles, distinct from the natives in color, in
language, in their bodies being tattooed, in their arms, and
in their blind courage, making irruptions into their islands,
desolated their peaceable homes. Columbus expected the
happiest change in the condition of these people, henceforward delivered fiom their oppressors through the protection of Spain, and enjoying the consolations of faith and
the hope of eternal beatitude.
He blessed God for having sent him for this work of
mercy, and already acted as a precursor of the Good News.
Before speaking to the natives in a special manner concerning the Redeemer, whom he ardently desired to see them
adore, Columbus wished to proclaim to the whole universe,
in the language of the Catholic Church, the power of the
WORD, in making the name of the well-beloved Saviour
resound throughout these shores. Wherever his boats
came he planted crosses, in order that the Indians may
know in advance that this venerable sign was that of
"celestial men," or of men destined to be such. The
Protestant school has generally either remained silent about
these plantings of the Cross, or given to understand that in
erecting them the Admiral only wished to leave ostensible
signs of his having taken possession of the lands. Here
the distinction made in the things is opposed to everything
like uncertainty in regard to the intentions and their object.
i6




HISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


We will not permit a doubt to remain on this head, since
the actions and their intentions have been clearly explained
by Columbus himself.
Possession in regular form being once effected, the
Admiral still planted crosses, choosing the most conspicuous and picturesque sites. In this he had more at heart the
honoring of the Divine Redeemer than the attesting of his
priority of discovery. As much as he felt admiration for
the works of the Word, so much did he feel the necessity
of glorifying before men the Saviour of mankind.  Not
only did he thank God for having chosen him to discover
these new things, but he also thanked Him for having
accorded him the honor of having first erected on these
unknown shores the Cross, the immortal sign of conquered
immortality. He considered himself in these lonely deserts
as another John the Baptist, preparing the way for Him
who was coming, with his sanctifying grace, under the
symbol of the Holy Eucharist. Chosen by Providence,
Christopher Columbus preceded the new apostles, his
brethren the Franciscans, and his friends the Dominicans,
who were soon to be followed by the holy emulators of
Francis Xavier.
The Admiral took the greatest pains to open the understandings of the Indians he had on board,* and questioned
them frequently, notwithstanding the non-success of his questions, and the confusion in the answers. He noticed, from
the first days, their proneness for the exaggerated and the
fantastic.  Their most positive assertions never merited
more than half confidence.
Columbus had not only to distrust the explanations of the
interpreters, but he had, also, to guard against the assertions
of the savants and of travellers, with which his mind had
been imbued. It was necessary for him to have some distrust of what he saw, what he heard, and what he remem

* Columbus had, in all, twenty Indian men and women, and three
children, on board the caravels.




CHiP. viii.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I83


bered. Naturally, he could explain the things he met with,
only by the things he knew already-; for, in its march, the
human understanding attains the unknown only by the
known. Columbus had read the cosmographers, the geographers, and the travellers, and Marco Polo, as the others.
Among all these works, the Tableau of the World, Imago.Iundi, of Cardinal Peter d'Ailly, appears to have exercised an influence on his judment, in which the author's
ecclesiastical rank and his orthodoxy had no less a part than
his scientific knowledge. The penetration and presentiments of Columbus, indeed, we may say, his instinct of
revelation, prevented him from getting lost in the perplexities of systems.
It has often been said and repeated, that Columbus
quitted Cuba persuaded that he had found the extremity of
the Asiatic continent. This, again, is one of those traditional errors in regard to him which has been accepted
without examination. We will dissipate it, further on, by
the evidence of facts and documents. Even the generic
name of Indies, given by the Admiral to the lands discovered, and that of Indians to the inhabitants, make nothing
against our view. The name was, in advance, destined by
Columbus for the lands he would discover. This is what
he says to his son Fernando: "As the Indies are considered throughout the whole world as abounding in gold and
every kind of riches, he wished to give the same name to
the lands he designed discovering, in order to oblige Castile to favor his enterprise by the hope of a great advantage."* Undoubtedly, the physiognomy so characteristic
of Cuba led for a moment to the belief that he had
attained the extremity of the Asiatic continent; but more
frequently, through his spontaneous apperceptions, he
thought he had reached the advanced frontiers of a totally new world. Besides, in his first voyage, the contem

* Cotolendy, La Vie de Cristofle Colomb et la Decouverte, etc.
Paris, chez Claude Barbin, I68I.




I84


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


plator of nature sought less to explain than to mention the
regions reached by his caravels.
SECTION VI.
In directing his course to the invisible Babeque, the
Admiral perceived to the south-east a land which the
Indians told him was Bohio, where human beings were
eaten.  They appeared to have a horrible dread of the
people of Canniba,* who remained in this island or its
vicinity. They said these ferocious depredators fed on
human flesh, had the head of a dog, and only one eye, in
the middle of the forehead. When they saw the Admiral,
notwithstanding what they told him, continue the route
to Bohio, they became stupefied with fright, and speechless.
Driven by the breeze, the caravels were rapidly taken
towards the mysterious island.
The sixth of December Columbus entered a little bay,
which he placed under the patronage of the Virgin. At
the south-east of this bay, a beautiful cape was seen, which
he named in honor of Mary, the star of the sea, Cape Star.
Several promontories and harbors were also seen, to which
he gave names. He continued to sail in sight of the coast;
and, at the "hour of vespers,"t he cast anchor in a port
admirable for its safety and the magnificence of its site,
which he named St. Nicholcas, in honor of the saint
of whose feast this was the day. Columbus declared, that
after all he had said of the ports of Cuba, this one may
still be justly praised, for " a thousand caracks could here
anchor in safety."
On Friday, the seventh of December, they steered for
* Hence is derived the word cannibal, a man-eater.
t The piety of Columbus, his custom of saying regularly the
office at the hour fixed by the Rule of the Franciscans, make him
involuntarily say in his Journal, " at the hour of vespers," to indicate the time in the afternoon he reserved for this religious duty.
This expression has often escaped him without his being aware
of it.




CHAP. viii.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


the north-east. They discerned at a distance some high
mountains, and in the intermediate plains, some fields and
hillocks. The general aspect of the country differed from
the tropical physiognomy of Cuba, and vaguely reminded
them of Castile.
The eighth of December, the day of the Immaculate
Conception, a heavy rain, accompanied with wind, kept all
on board. The Admiral could freely satisfy his tender
devotion to the Blessed Virgin. During the hours of office
he caused salvos to be fired in honor of Mary, conceived
without sin.
The next day the rain continued. The wet weather, the
form of the clouds, and the condition of the atmosphere,
recalled to the minds of the Spaniards the month of October in Andalusia. The plains, they perceived, also reminded
them of Castile; and on account of this resemblance, -
so sweet to them, -the Admiral gave the name of Isla
Esianola to the island. The natives had several names
for it; some called it "Bohio," which signifies "mansion, or vast dwelling"; others, in smaller number, called it
"Haiti," which means " high land"; but the larger number called it "Quisqueya," a word meaning "'the great
land, or the great all"; for these people knew of no land
that was more extended.
The Castilians sometimes called it "Little Spain," " Hispaiola," and sometimes simply by the abbreviation, "Espagnol."
The twelfth of December, Columbus consecrated his
taking possession of the island of Hispaniola by a sign congenial to his piety. In the presence of his two crews, he
caused a very large cross to be planted at the entrance of
the port, on an eminence, seen from a great distance; not
simply to show the prior claims of Castile, and her possession of it, but "principally," he says, "as a sign of Jesus
Christ, our Lord, and in honor of Christianity." *
* "Y principalmente por serial de Jesu Cristo  Neustra Seior,y
honra de la Cristianidad."- Miercoles I2 de Deciembre.
I6*




I86


HIS TOR T OF


[BOOK I.


During six days the Admiral tried uselessly to enter into
communication with the natives. The latter always fled
at the approach of the strangers, but at the close of the
religious ceremony just mentioned, a female was caught,
who was brought on board the Santa iMaria. " She was
very beautiful and young, and had a gold ring in her nostrils." She conversed with the Indians of the caravels,
their language being familiar to her. The Admiral caused
her to be dressed in European fashion, and after ornamenting her with some glass trinkets, sent her back home with
three Indians, who were to speak to the inhabitants. But
the three interpreters, detained by dread, dared not follow
the young woman to the village, and returned to the caravels at three o'clock in the morning.
The Admiral sent nine armed men, resolute and intelligent, with an Indian interpreter, to reconnoitre the country
and get into communication with the natives. They found
a deserted village four leagues and a half distant. On
seeing the strangers, the inhabitants fled, after having concealed all they possessed. The Indian interpreter ran after
them, hallooing to them to return, that the strangers were
not fiom Canniba, but that on the contrary they came from
heaven, and were giving beautiful things to those they met
with. By degrees the natives approached, and to the number of two thousand surrounded the nine Spaniards, whom
they gazed at with veneration, mingled with fear. They
brought fiom their huts the best provisions they had, to
offer them to these guests who had come froml heaven.
During these transactions, there came a number of men
bearing reverently on their shoulders the female Indian who
had received the gifts from the Admiral. A part of her
jewels was carried with great ceremony before her, and an
immense crowd, led by the husband of the woman, went
to the caravels to thank the chief of the celestial men for
his presents. The interpreter having heard on board that
the Admiral desired to have a domesticated parrot, mentioned the circumstance, and immediately they brought




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


i87


parrots from all parts as pure gifts, desiring to receive
nothing in return for them.
The nine Spaniards returned with this cortege. They
noticed, in the course of their journey, a beautiful country,
and some cultivated fields. Although it was in the middle
of December, the trees were green and laden with fruit,
and herbaceous plants were high and in flower, the same
as in Castile in the month of April.
On Friday, the Admiral set out anew in quest of the
island of Babeque, so much praised by the Indians for its
gold. The next day, coming again near the Island of
Hispaniola, he met with a canoe managed by one Indian.
He admired the intrepidity of the islander, who, in that
fragile concern, had dared to confront so strong a wind.
He welcomed him on board the caravel, showed him every
kindness, gave him glass marbles and other trinkets, and
landed hil near the village where he resided. Then he
cast anchor in a neighboring port, which he named " The
Port of Peace," and waited for the result.
What the Admiral had foreseen was soon realized. The
Indian displaying the rare presents he had received, soon
his countrymen congregated around him, while he vaunted
the munificence of the men descended from heaven. Still,
he did not have the joy of announcing to them a circumstance that was altogether new. Already had the report
of these heavenly voyagers reached these quarters, and the
announcement of this last event was soon propagated from
one village to another. More than five hundred islanders
resorted to the anchorage. Among them some women, of
remarkable beauty, wore in their ears and nostrils some
little plates of very fine gold, which they gave joyfully,
having nothing else to offer. The Admiral gave a strict
charge that they should all be treated with the greatest
propriety and respect, as if they were already Christians;
"because they are," as he wrote to the sovereigns, " the
best people in the world, and because I have great hope




I88


HIS TOR i OF


[BOOK I.


in our Lord that your Highnesses will make them  all
Christians." *
The eighteenth of December, at early dawn, the Admiral, faithful in his devotion to the Blessed Virgin, had the
flags and pendants of the caravels displayed, and the day
being commemorative of one of her festivals, he ordered it
to be saluted with a discharge of artillery. After the " hour
of vespers," the young king of the country arrived, borne
in a palanquin, and accompanied with two grave personages, probably his ministers, or at least his counsellors.
The Admiral was just then taking dinner. The king was
not willing that he should be apprised of his visit. He
entered with a quiet air into the hall, went straight up to
the Admiral, saluted him courteously, sat down by him,
and with a wave of his hand commanded his guards to
retire, which they did, with marks of profound respect.
He retained with him only the two grave personages, who
sat at his feet. The Admiral ordered him to be served
with dinner, thinking he had invited himself, but he merely
tasted what was offered him, doing this only to respond to
the politeness of the Admiral, and then sent the rest to his
followers. After dinner, at a sign fiom him, one of his
officers brought him a belt ornamented with plates of gold
of delicate workmanship. The young king offered it to
the Admiral, who, after having graciously accepted it, conducted him through the caravel and introduced him into
his cabin. As the young monarch looked with a wistful
eye at a counterpane on the bed, Columbus made him a
present of it, adding to it a collar of beautiful amber beads
he had round his own neck, a pair of red buskins, and a
flask of orange-flower water, - hoping by these presents to
conciliate his good will and attract him the more easily to
Christianity.
The Admiral showed him a crucifix; he also showed
him portraits of the Spanish sovereigns, and spoke to him


* Dominizgo, 6 de Deciembre.




CHAP VIII.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I89


of their grandeur and power. But the young monarch and
his counsellors believed that the kingdoms of these sovereigns was in heaven, and not on earth. When he descended
into his canoe, to regain his palanquin, he received military
honors.
After his departure, his brother came on board with a
boobyish air, and meanly begging for some gewgaws.
They learned from him that, in the idiom of the country,
the sovereigns were called Caciqzues. If the Admiral did
not this day obtain much gold, it was not because he did
not hear much said about it. An old Indian informed him
of an island "wholly gold," and of others, where the
precious metal abounded in such quantity that no pains
were needed but to gather it.
The Admiral would not leave without honoring, on this
shore also, the emblem of Redemption. He had a very
large cross made, and planted in the middle of the settlement, to make the people familiar, in advance, with the
sacred sign. They flocked to it with eagerness, and knelt
before the sacred symbol, the signification of which they did
not understand, and endeavored to imitate the actions and
words of the Spaniards during their prayers. Judging of
the future by their present happy dispositions, Columbus
" hoped in our Lord that all these islands would become
Christian."
The next day, before dawn, they put to sea, to continue
their reconnoissance of the coast of Hispaniola.
On Friday, the twenty-first of December, the Admiral
discovered a port incomparably superior to any he had yet
met with. It was not necessary here to call the natives;
fame had preceded the arrival of the men come from
heaven. Late in the evening, a canoe, thronged with persons impatient to see them, came to the caravels. The next
day the shore was crowded. Men and women offered their
gifts to the celestial strangers; some, a little gold; others,
a calabash of fresh water and some yam bread, pleasant to
the taste. They appeared to have no great possessions.




90o


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


'" Men and women were as naked as they were when they
came from the bosoms of their mothers," says Columbus;
and he ordered the greatest decency to be observed towards
these simple children of nature.
He received repeated messages, beseeching him to visit a
neighboring settlement before leaving this quarter; and, as
the place was on his way, he went there. The cacique,
who had come to meet him, accompanied him, with his
attendants, to an eminence above the strand, where there
was a crowd anxiously waiting to see him. All of them
besought the chief of the celestial voyagers to go no farther,
and to remain with them.    But some messengers came
fiom another cacique, also, praying him not to depart until
their master would see him. The Admiral willingly acceded to the request. This cacique had a large quantity of
provisions prepared, with which he loaded the Spanish
boats. Afterwards, his subjects desired, in their turn, to
give provisions and parrots. They besought Columbus,
earnestly, that he should go no farther; and when they saw
him embarking, notwithstanding their entreaties, they followed him, in their canoes, to the caravels. Columbus
treated them with great kindness, and gave them glass
beads, brass rings, and little bells: " Not because they asked
for them," says Las Casas, hbut because he considered it
becoming, and that he already regarded them as Christians."
On Saturday, the twenty-second of December, the chief
monarch of the country, the Grand Cacique Guacanagari, a
young and gracious sovereign, in his desire of seeing, also,
the men come from heaven, sent one of his chief officers to
invite the Admiral to bring his vessels near his residence,
and to offer him a belt, to which was suspended, in the
form of an alms-box, a mask, made of light wood, but
whose large ears, tongue, and eyes, were of pure gold.
This envoy understood but very little of the language of the
Indians of San Salvador, and these understood as little the
idiom spoken by himself; which caused them to spend part




'CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I9I


of the day in uselessly questioning and answering each
other.  It became necessary that Columbus, explaining
their reciprocal mistakes, should divine, from their signs,
the object of this message. The next day was Sunday.
Although the Admiral, as Las Casas observes, " was not in
the habit of sailing on such a day, not fiom superstition,
but through piety, he nevertheless decided to do so, in
order to have an opportunity of displaying the symbol of
Redemption on these coasts, on this day which pertained to
the Lord, and in consequence of the hope he had conceived that the inhabitants would become Christians." In
the afternoon, more than a hundred canoes, filled with persons curious to see him, surrounded the caravels. Each
one brought his own little present.
The wind having lacked, the Admiral could not go to the
Grand Cacique Guacanagari, but he sent the notary-royal
and some officers, in boats, to salute him in his name.
During this time, an inferior cacique appeared on board the
Santa c iliaria, informing him that there was much gold in
that island, that persons came to buy it from neighboring
countries, and that as much of it could be had as was desired. The Admiral, moved at this news, and transported
with hope, thanked his Divine Master with his whole heart.
And still, as if he would redress this, perhaps, mundane
joy, he made an act of submission of his will to that of
God, and wrote, with edifying resignation, in his Journal:
"May our Lord, who holds all things in His hands, be
pleased to vouchsafe to me what is most for His service."
An irresistible curiosity urged the neighboring people to
come to the caravels. More than a thousand people came
in canoes, each one bringing some gift; and, for want of room,
more than five hundred ventured to swim, in order to get a
sight of these unearthly strangers.  Five caciques, with
their families, had come. The Admiral gave presents to
all. judging that the little gifts would be well employed.
The news about the gold became confirmed more and
more. Some of the visitors spoke to Columbus of mines




I92


HIISTOR  OF


[BOOK I.


being in the island. A native, who appeared to be wonderfully attracted to him, mentioned several places that produccd gold. Among other places le named Cibao (the
Admiral thought he meant Cipango), whose cacique had a
banner of pure gold. This country, he said, was distant,
and situated to the east. Columbus considered they were
approaching some auriferous mines; and piously thirsting
for gold, and generously craving for riches, with a fervid
accent he besought his Master to guide him at once to the
place where it would be found, and could not refrain fiom
exclaiming, "May our Lord in His great mercy aid me in
finding that gold."
During the night, the boats came back with the notary
royal and officers sent to Guacanagari, the cacique. On
their route they were pressed with a crowd of canoes, filled
with persons desirous to see the celestial men. Conducted
to the royal residence, they were received with great ceremony. Guacanagari, who regretted much not seeing the
Admiral, sent him, 7while awaiting his visit, some parrots,
with several pieces of gold.
SE CTZON VII.
On Monday, the twenty-fourth of December, before day,
the Admiral, by a good land wind, left the port; steering to
the east, in the direction where he was told the gold mines
were, and with the intention, in passing, of visiting the
grand cacique, Guacanagari. The wind having ceased,
they made but little progress that day. The Ninza was half
a league behind.
After eleven o'clock at night, the Admiral felt much
fatigued. For two consecutive days and the preceding
night, the concourse of the natives, the presents to be given
and received, the exchanges to be watched over, the questions to be put to interpreters, and their answers, the classifying and preservation of the different productions of these
countries which he wished to take to Castile, his religious




CHAP. VIii.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.               I93
exercises, and the multiplied cares of the command, did not
leave him a single minute for rest. Yielding to his need
for repose, an hour before midnight he went down to his
cabin and flung himself on his bed, undressed. He had
reason to be perfectly easy in regard to the situation of the
vessel. The sea was calm, they were in known quarters
which the boats had sounded a few days before, and, besides, there was an officer to watch over the helm.
Still, notwithstanding the order, often repeated during
the voyage, that the helm should not be intrusted to boys
or novices, as soon as the Admiral lay down the officer did
the same. An hour after, the helmsman, giving the rudder
to a cabin-boy, got to his hammock, and the rest of the
mariners who had the watch took like advantage of the
absence of the Admiral to sleep at their ease. The cabinboy in his turn became sleepy, and the Santa Maria was
carried insensibly, by the currents, against a sand-bank.
For more than a league the roaring of the breakers was
heard, but so sound was the sleep of the crew that they did
not awake but at the voice of the Admiral; for the latter,
at the first cries of the cabin-boy, alarmed at the shock,
jumped from his bed, and was the first on deck to render
assistance, before anybody else even suspected the accident.
The Admiral ordered them to take the boat and carry
out an anchor astern, to warp the vessel off. The master
and the men jumped immediately into the boat, but in
place of executing the manceuvre, they rowed away in all
haste to save themselves in the Ngina, which was anchored
half a league windward. The captain of the Niia was
unwilling to receive on board these pusillanimous deserters. They were, therefore, forced to return to the caravel;
but the boat of the Niina reached it before they did. The
Admiral, seeing that his boat deserted him, that the ship
had swung across the stream, and that she had already
leaned to one side, so that the water was gaining upon her,
tried to cut the mast, in the hope of lightening her and
setting her afloat. But he did not have men enough to do




194


HIS TOR r OF


[BOOK I.


these things, and he was obliged to abandon the idea.
The keel was too firmly bedded in the sand to have her put
to rights. He abandoned, then, to Providence the body of
the ship, hopelessly lost, and passed to the NiZia, to have
his crew transhipped to her. The sea at last broke on the
body of the vessel, but without sinking her; the seams
alone opened, but the hull remained whole. At daybreak,
he despatched Diego de Arana and Pedro Guttierrez to the
cacique Guacanagari, to inform him of the disaster.
The news moved the king even to tears.   He immediately sent all his people, with all the canoes that could
be mustered, to Columbus, to aid him in discharging the
vessel, and took measures for the preservation of the things
saved from the caravel. From time to time he sent to the
Admiral to console and cheer him, and to tell him that
" he would give him all he possessed."  So active was the
assistance, that in a few hours the vessel was unloaded.
Guacanagari gave his visitors three large buildings for their
effects, and placed armed guards for their safety from injury
or theft. Such was his care, and such the honesty of his
people, that in the transportation of the cargo and munitions of the caravel the least thing was not lost.  The
sympathies of the people for Columbus in his loss, and
the reception he received from the sovereign, mitigated
the bitterness of the accident. In no part of the civilized
world would he have received warmer or more cordial
hospitality.
Always submissive to God, and knowing that He often
draws good from what appears to us to be evil, Columbus,
in reviewing in his mind the diverse circumstances of this
disaster, - how it happened without any fault on his part,
in the absence of either storm or fog, in spite of all his
efforts to save the ship; and considering that nothing that
the Santa ilMaria contained was lost, -was led to think
"that Our Lord willed it so to happen, that he might
remain in this place." * In reality, he could leave in the
* Domingo, 6 de Enero.


*




CHAP. iII.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


I95


states of a hospitable prince a part of his companions, who
could learn the language of the natives, teach them the
Christian religion, and amass gold, during his return to
Spain. Several of the sailors requested to be left in the
island. Guacanagari was delighted to see these extraordinary beings preparing to settle near him. As sometimes
some Carib cannibals landed on the coast, and took away
his subjects, he expected, by these powerful strangers, to be
protected against them. The Admiral, to strengthen him
in his confidence, showed him the use of the Spanish arms,
— of arbalets and Moorish hand-bows, and the slaughter
that may be produced by artillery. He wished, in explaining to him how he could become redoubtable to the Caribs,
to inspire him with the respect that is commanded by force,
in order that, as occasion may require, he may substitute
fear for benevolence. The erection of a fortress, or rather
a fortlet, was then decided on. Such a building, incidental,
and almost forced, would be a proof of priority of occupation, and thus guard against any ulterior claims on the part
of other Europeans.
Every day the relations between the Admiral and King
Guacanagari became more intimate. The prince entertained for Columbus sentiments of the highest admiration
and respect, and had the greatest confidence in him. His
intelligence, awakened by a lively curiosity, urged him to
look up to these mysterious beings, and to endeavor to
imitate them. Grave in his manners, he displayed great
dignity and nobility of soul. While his officers and people,
eager for hawks' bells, which they called chuke, got in raptures at glass trinkets and gew-gaws, for which they gladly
exchanged gold, cotton and provisions, the cacique, wearing a shirt, preferred gloves to everything else; and, in
return for gold masks, gold mirrors, and golden crowns,
he only asked for a simple wash-pitcher and ewer, to wash
his hands in after meals, in place of rubbing them with
odoriferous herbs, as was his custom before he had seen
the Admiral.  Generosity seemed natural to him.   He




I96


HZISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


never saw the Admiral without presenting him with some
gift. He gave, like a true prince, for the sole pleasure of
giving. The etiquette observed at his court presented the
rudiments of a nascent civilization, which wias not wholly
deprived of elegance and taste in the midst of its simplicity.
Still, the devotedness which Guacanagari manifested to*          wards all the Spaniards ought not to be confounded with
his general admiration for the superiority of the divine
men. What attracted him especially to them was Columbus himself. Savages, like children, judge by instinct of
things which they cannot explain; it is so with them in
regard to persons and to sentiments. They are never mistaken about those who love them. The artless monarch
felt himself attracted towards the grandeur of ColIumbus;
a deep fellow-feeling attached him to that unearthly man,
and all his favors to the strangers were directed towards
their chief.
One of the characteristics of the genius of Columbus, and
of his providential role, was, undoubtedly, his quick aptitude for the sciences and occupations to which he was most
unaccustomed. It was this that enabled him to do to perfection everything useful that was connected with the interests
of which he was the depositary.  The shipwreck of his
caravel made him an engineer. He designed the plan of
a fortress, or a little square castle with bastions at the angles, and directed personally the works.
The activity of the Spaniards, aided by the subjects of
Guacanagari, soon did wonders. Ten days after the wreck
of the Santa /2faria, this strong fortress was raised on the
shore. Beneath it was a vast cave, which was to serve for
provisions and munitions of war, and also for the merchandise destined for trading.
To guard this fortress, over which waved the flag of
Castile, Columbus chose, among the crew of the Santa
Miaria, the men who appeared most steady and best disposed.   He joined to them Bernardin de Tapia, Doctor
Juan, the "genteel surgeon," the metal-founder and jew



CHAP. vIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.              I97
eller of Seville, an armorer, a ship-builder, and a tailor, -
and placed them under the command of Diego de Aiana, to
whom he delegated all the powers he himself had received
fiom the Sovereigns. He gave him as lieutenant, Pedro
Guttierrez, a King's officer. This nucleus of a colony was
composed, in all, of forty-two men.
Authority being thus established, Columbus furnished
this advanced guard of the Old World with all that was
found in the Santa aMaria; left it instruments, utensils of
every kind, biscuit for a year, some wine, a good supply
of arms, artillery, and the long-boat of the wrecked vessel.
The Admiral left them a quantity of seed to sow in the
land, intrusted them  with the merchandise with which
they were to barter, and recommended, in a particular
manner, the three officers to the cacique, Guacanagari.
Columbus left the Spaniards, then, on this new soil, in
the best condition that could be wished, -provided abundantly with everything necessary for life, in safety from
attack, surrounded with a friendly population, and under
the protection of a generous monarch.  Before leaving
them, he made the most touching address that ever was
delivered by a father to his children. He gave them admirable counsels about foresight and sagacity. He recalled
to them the glorious object of the Discovery, -the propagation of the faith; besought them to study the language of
the natives, and to attract them to Christianity by their
example and their teaching. In the name of the Sovereigns, he commanded passive obedience to the officers he
had invested with his own powers. The Admiral recommended to have the greatest regard for the sovereign of the
country, to avoid all disputes with his subjects, to observe
the most rigorous continence in regard to women, to never
separate from each other, never to go alone, always to sleep
in the fortress, and, especially, never to leave the states of
the hospitable king who had given them a welcome.
One cannot avoid having feelings of admiration for him,
in collecting the enfeebled echoes of his excellent exhortaI7




198


HISTOR r OF


[BOOK I.


tion, sealed with an almost testamentary solemnity, which
have been transmitted to us by the Spanish historians, Herrera and Mufios. And, when we remember the events that
took place a short time after, we are struck with the lucidity
of the foresight of Columbus; we see in it a solicitude and
a sagacity in regard to eventualities, which surpass human
prudence.
The second of January, the Admiral bade his last adieus
to Guacanagari. He gave him a new shirt, put a collar of
African gems on his neck, a scarlet mantle on his shoulders, red buskins on his feet; and on his finger a silver ring,
which the latter preferred to gold; and embraced him with
such Christian, paternal good-will, that the artless cacique,
who already loved him sincerely, not being able to restrain
his feelings, burst into tears.
On the fourth of January, the Nina left the harbor and
steered eastwards, in the direction of a lofty promontory,
which the Admiral named Monte-Christo (Christ-Mount).
Columbus made his observations as a h'drographer, as a
naturalist, and as a poet, and his untiring admiration for the
works of nature shows itself, still, in his Journal. Two
days after, the Niuna, continuing her course to the east, a
sailor, who was on the look-out, discerned a sail ahead. It
was the Pzizla, which a strong breeze drove towards the
Admiral.
Vainly did Martin Alonzo Pinzon hope that the ocean, in
its immensity, would conceal his desertion.  Providence
brought him back beneath the eyes of his chief, in sight of
the little Niina, that imperceptible point in an incommensurable expanse. Forced by the wind to rejoin the Admiral, the captain of the Pinta followed him to the port of
Monte Christo, and came on board his ship to excuse himself. The reasons he gave for his separation were all false,
and several of them plainly contradictory. Still, Columbus
appeared to believe them, for fear of aggravating the evil,
as the two vessels were commanded by Pinzons, and the
greater part of the two crews was composed of their rela



CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


199


tives or their fellow-townsmen from Palos. Upon every occasion, especially since the Discovery, the eldest of these
brothers made him grievously feel his isolated condition,
and his quality as a foreigner. He knew what excesses his
pride and his rudeness, excited by envy, were capable of.
He restrained himself, says Las Casas, " from yielding to
the temptations of Satan, who sought to prevent the voyage,
as he had done at the commencement."   He became resigned, and sacrificed his self-love, his sense of justice, his
personal dignity, to a duty which was of still greater importance than his rights.
Martin Alonzo Pinzon, having made his crew accomplices in his crime, passed sixteen days at the mouth of the
river Rio de Gracia, trading in gold, contrary to the orders
of Columbus. At the time of his departure, joining violence
to rapine, he took away, by force, four men and two young
girls, as slaves. But the Admiral obliged him to disseize
himself of his iniquitous prey, comforted the Indians, made
them presents, in order to make them forget the injury, and
put them ashore, so that they could return to their families.
Notwithstanding his desire of coasting Hispaniola, the
conduct of the Pinzons showed the Admiral the necessity
of regaining Castile as soon as possible. The bad condition
of the caravels, also, demanded it.
The eighth of January, near Rio d'Oro, or Golden River,
- thus named because of the particles of gold seen in its
sands, -he perceived, at a certain distance, three sea-calves,
which elevated themselves above the surface of the waters.
They reminded him of those he had formerly seen on the
coast of Guinea, and which, at a distance, had some traces
of the human face. They were mermaids,-the syrens of
the ancients.  He adds, that they are not the beautiful
beings they have been represented to be.
The ninth, they sailed to the north-east, and saw Cape
Roja. The aspect of the coast was enchanting. But he
could not spare time to make examinations and observations; he longed to return to Castile, in order to have no




200                HISTOR     OF             [BOOK I.
further connection with Martin Alonzo Pinzon, and to
inform the Queen of the fact of the Discovery. His mission once fulfilled, he was determined, he said, to suffer no
longer the ill-treatment of men without delicacy or virtue,
who insolently pretended to make their will prevail against
that of him who had done them so much honor.




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


201


CHAPTER IX.
Departure of Columbus for Europe. - Navigation distressing. -
Danger and Vows during a Tempest. -Arrival at the Azores. -
Perfidy of the Portuguese Governor. - A new Tempest. - Forced
landing in Portugal.
SECTION I.
ON Friday, the eleventh of January, the Admiral put to
sea, and while coasting along the island of Hispaniola, gave names to several capes and promontories.
Desiring to procure some fresh provisions, he sent a boat
to the land, the crew of which encountered some men with
bows and arrows, and with whom they entered into communication. The sailors induced one of these men to
follow them to the caravel. He was a stout fellow, completely naked, and with his face daubed with black. His
hair was long, tied behind, and decorated with birds' feathers. From his ferocious looks and hardy and undaunted
manner, the Admiral took him for one of those Caribs
(man-eaters), of whom he had heard.   He asked him
whether he was from Canniba; the warrior answered he
was not, and pointed to the east as the country of that race.
After having made useless inquiries, he had him served
with victuals, gave him some trinkets, and dismissed him,
inviting him to return with some gold, if he had any. As
the boat approached the shore, some sixty warriors were
seen lurking behind the trees. At the first words of their
countryman, they concealed a part of their arms and came
forth to meet the Spaniards. The latter bought of them
two bows and a number of arrows; but after receiving the




202


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


price, in place of delivering the arms, and seeing they had
to do with seven strangers, they ran to get their cords to
bind them  as captives.  Perceiving their intention, the
seven Spaniards immediately attacked them, wounding two
of them and putting the rest to flight. The seven Spaniards would have made great carnage of them, had they
not been restrained by the pilot who commanded the boat,
complying with the orders he had received.  Columbus
was at first grieved at this occurrence: he desired that his
expedition should not cost this people, whom he came to
lead to the peace of the Lord, a single drop of blood. But,
reflecting on the matter, he became consoled; for this defeat of sixty warriors by the seven strangers, ought to turn
to the advantage of the little colony he left in the little
fortress.
Before returning to Castile, Columbus desired to fall in
with the Caribs, or people of Canniba, so much dreaded in
the countries he had visited, and to see those cannibals, -
those rebels against the order of Providence, who, outraging
nature by a revolting appetite, went to steal men with the
intention of eating them. This abomination appeared to
him to be impossible; to believe it, he would require to
see it. He had also heard of an island called " Matinino,"
which was peopled only with armed women without men,
and which reminded him of the fabulous Amazons. He
was certain of the existence of that island; but the Indians
being unable to point out the way to it, he thought he
should find it east-south-eastwards. In this he was not
mistaken. But a favorable wind springing up for returning
to Spain, and seeing that his men were becoming gloomy
on account of their prolonged absence from home, he determined to take the route to Europe, and that the more,
because his ships had become leaky. To remain was no
less dangerous than to depart. In that situation, and at
that distance, he had no help to hope for but in God.
The man of Providence turned the prow towards Spain,
in the name of the Blessed Trinity. "Because," says the




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


203


venerable Las Casas, "notwithstanding the large leaking
of the caravels, he trusted that our Lord, who had led him
on by His bounty, would deign to lead him back by His
mercy."
On the twelfth of February the wind blew violently, and
in the evening there were three flashes of lightning in the
north-east, which were considered as signs of an approaching storm.  The Admiral immediately prepared for its
coming. It soon burst on them with frightful violence.
The horizon presented a terrific aspect. The sea, swollen
and roaring, opened in yawning abysses, or raised to the
skies its billows, lashed by the fury of the winds. The ribs
of the NVina groaned beneath the shocks of the monstrous
surges. The caravels became totally unmanageable. The
Pinta, whose damaged masting prevented her from wrestling longer with the hurricane, went scudding before the
wind. At night the Admiral had three lanterns, one above
the other, put at the part of the mainmast where the royal
standard was fixed, to give a sign to the Pinta to use no
sail. In order to prevent the vessels from running foul of
each other during the darkness of the night, he had a lantern raised as a signal, to which Martin Alonzo Pinzon
responded, and which he continued to do until the violence
of the hurricane made him disappear in the distance of the
foaming valleys.
Far from lessening the horror of the tempest, the return
of day only increased its fury.  The Admiral had not
quitted the deck; he personally directed the ship. The
redoubled persistence of the storm had wonderfully intimidated the most fearless mariners.  They all turned their
eyes to the Admiral, and he turned his heart to God, the
only resource in a peril so imminent. The man could do
nothing longer, - the Christian alone remained, with his
faith.
He proposed to the seamen that a vow should be made,
and that they should determine by lot which of them should
go on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Santa Maria of Guade



204


HISTOR ' OFB


[BOOK I.


loupe, bearing a wax taper of five pounds weight. By his
orders, a number of dried beans, equal to the number of
persons on board, were counted, on one of which the sign
of the cross was marked with a knife; they were put into
a cap and well shaken.  All came to draw, each one
according to his rank.
It was the Admiral's turn to begin; he put his hand into
the cap and drew the bean marked with the cross. Soon
afterwards, the danger becoming more imminent, another
vow was determined upon. This time it was to make a pilgrimage to the chapel of Our Lady of Loretto, in the Pontifical States. The lot now fell on a sailor named Pedro Villa.
As this man was evidently not in a way to pay the expenses
of the journey, Columbus engaged to bear them himself.
A little after, the storm becoming fiercer, a third vow was
determined upon. It was to go to the church of Santa
Clara, at Moguer, to have a mass celebrated, and watch all
night in prayer before the high altar. Again it was the
Admiral that drew the bean marked with the cross. Afterwards there was a joint vow made to go in procession,
barefooted and in their shirts, to the nearest church of Our
Lady, in the first land they should reach.
The despondency was extreme; each man gave himself
up for lost.  There was no doubt that the Pinta had
foundered in the storm. Everybody recommended himself
to God, or to his patron saint, but did not dare to hope for
life.  All believed themselves lost without resource; no
human chance of safety remained.  The danger of the
caravel was augmented by the want of ballast, the Admiral
not having been able to reach the " Isle of Women," where
he proposed ballasting the NAia.  The consumption of
water and provisions had lightened her so, that she rolled
and tossed at the mercy of the waves. The crew abandoned
themselves to despair.
Columbus became a prey to the most distressing anxiety.
His mind, more agitated than the tumultuous ocean, falling
from confidence to doubt, and from fear to anguish, arose




CrlAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUM1BUS.


20o5


and sank alternately, like the billows of the Atlantic. He
says so himself: every splash of a wave troubled him. He
attributed this weakness to his want of faith, and his not
abandoning himself to Providence.  On the one hand,
when he called to mind the prodigious circumstances
attending the Discovery, the favors God had bestowed on
him, in according him a triumph so grand, showing him
innumerable things of a marvellous character, causing him
to discover a multitude of islands, as if He had willed that
after so many contrarieties endured in Castile all his hopes
should be more than realized, he became somewhat encouraged. When he examined into the depths of his heart,
and there saw that his chief desire was for the greater
glory of God, it seemed to him impossible that the Almighty, who had delivered him from so many perils in his
first passage, when he had most to fear, and who had enabled him to overcome the terrors of dread and revolt,
sustaining him " alone, against all," should now render
fruitless all the miracles of His bounty in forsaking him in
this extreme danger. On the other hand, seeing that the
rigors of the heavens persisted, notwithstanding his prayers,
and that total loss was imminent, he considered that God,
on account of his sins, and in punishment for them, had
certainly determined to take from him the satisfaction of
being himself the bearer of the news of the Discovery to
the Sovereigns, and to deprive him of the glory that would
attach to his name.
To die without being able to make known the beauties
that were revealed to his astonished gaze; to leave thus
Christian nations in ignorance of the New World; and to
leave these new peoples in ignorance of Christ, - was to
him a grief as immense as was his thought. To die, when
he had just touched the shore of gold, when he believed
he held the deliverance of the Holy Places in his hands;
to die with the triumph he had gained for truth, - that
cosmographic victory the most important for mankind,was to suffer anguish of soul, of heart and of mind: it was
I8




20o6


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


to die thrice in expiring but once. If he had been alone in
danger, he would have borne, he says, his misfortune with
more resignation; he had so often seen death staring him,
that he would no more have feared it than he did on other
occasions. What increased his sorrow was the thought of
his being the cause of the loss of so many persons who
had followed him,-the greater part unwillingly,-and
who in their extreme despair cursed him, accusing him of
having brought them to ruin. He thought also of his two
sons, who were making their studies at Cordova, and who
were going to become orphans in a strange land, where
they would find themselves without support; for the Sovereigns, ignorant of the services rendered them by their
father, would no longer think of the poor children.
In the midst of the lamentations of the crew, of the lashings of the breakers, and of the creakings of the halfsubmerged AiYTa, Columbus entered into his cabin. There,
with a hand as rapid as it was firm, notwithstanding the
fearful rolling of the vessel, he traced in haste, on a parchment, a brief account of his discoveries. He enclosed it in
another leaf, in which he besought the person who should
read the lines to take them to the Queen of Castile, promising a recompense of a thousand ducats. He wrapped
this packet in a wax cloth, sealed with his signet, then put
it in a cake of beeswax, and putting the whole into an
empty barrel, threw them into the sea. The crew saw in
this offering made to the waves, only the accomplishment
of some secret vow. Lest the currents should bear away,
far from Europe, this message of a forlorn hope, he took a
copy of it, and this he enclosed in a similar manner, in
another barrel, which he attached to the poop, so that
should the iTiba be swallowed up by the waves, the barrel
might float off, and be found some day in the future.




CHAP IX. ]


CHIRISTOP-HER COL UMB US.


207


SECTION     I.
On Friday, the fifteenth of February, land was discerned in the east. The sight of it reanimated the minds
of the crew, but a strong wind blew from that quarter.
The pilots thought they were at the coast of Castile, but
Columbus concluded it was one of the Azores. Still, the
roughness of the sea, although diminished, did not permit
them to approach the land. They passed the whole day,
the night, and the next day in trying to reach it, but in
vain. The night of the seventeenth of February, Columbus, - who, notwithstanding an attack of gout, remained
since the commencement of the storm until then, that is to
say, four days and nights, exposed to the rains, the winds,
and the drenching surges, without a moment's repose, and
almost without food, —finding himself motionless in his
limbs, was obliged to take a little rest. But at dawn he
resumed the command, steered south-south-east, and at last
arrived near an island which the obscurity of the night
prevented from being clearly discerned.  At length, on
Monday, he succeeded in reaching land. They had arrived
at Santa Maria. the most southern of the Azores, and a
possession of the Crown of Portugal.
The inhabitants were at first astonished that such a frail
vessel, in the state she was in, could have borne against so
long and furious a tempest. But they were astonished still
more when they learned whence the little caravel had
arrived. At the news of the Discovery of the Indies, they
gave glory to God, and manifested the greatest joy.
Towards evening, three men came to the shore, hailing
the Nina; and, a boat being sent for them, they brought
the Admiral fowls, fiesh bread, and various refreshments,
from the governor of the island, who would, they said, the
next day pay him a visit, and bring further refreshments,
together with the three sailors, whom he still kept with
him, to satisfy his extreme curiosity respecting the voyage.




208


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


As it was late in the day, Columbus had the messengers to
remain on board all night.
Early the next morning, the Admiral, unwilling to defer
the fulfilment of the vow made by the crew, of going barefooted, and in their shirts, to the church of Our Lady in the
first land they should tread on, requested the three messengers, who returned to the town, to send a priest to the hermitage of Our Lady, situated near the sea, behind a cape.
Half of the crew went in procession to the chapel. While
the Spaniards were engaged in their devotions, the garrison
of the island surrounded the chapel, and made the poor
pilgrims prisoners.
The Admiral awaited the return of the boat, to go with
the other half of the men to the hermitage.  At eleven
o'clock, seeing that nothing appeared, he suspected his
sailors were retained prisoners, or that the boat had been
shattered on the surf-beaten rocks. The chapel could not
be seen fiom the caravel; he therefore weighed anchor,
and stood in a direction to command a view of it. Soon
there was seen a troop of armed horsemen, who, dismounting, entered the boat and made for the caravel, as if determined to capture her. When they were within speaking
distance of each other, the governor of the island, who
coimmanded the detachment in person, demanded a safeconduct for his personal safety, in case he should go on
board the caravel.  This the Admiral granted; but the
astute Portuguese still remained at a wary distance.
The Admiral demanded of him why, contrary to the laws
of hospitality, and in violation of the rights of man, he had
retained his men at a time when the Portuguese who were
in Castile were in as great security as if they were in Lisbon.
He added, that the King and Queen, of whom he was Grand
Admiral of the Ocean, had ordered him to treat with distinction the Portuguese vessels he may meet with.  He
assuredl him that if he did not return his men he would
not only continue his way with the others, but would also
chastise so odious a perfidy.




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


209


The governor answered, with an arrogant tone, that here
they were not disquieted about the King or the Queen of
Castile, nor about their letters; and that he would let him
see that he had to do with Portugal. When he had exhausted all his braggadocio, he told the Admiral that, if
he pleased, he might return to the port with the caravel,
and that, for his own part, acting, as he was, conformably
to the orders of the King, his sovereign, he felt quite easy
about the result.
The Admiral could use only threatenings against such
treachery. After making preparations for any troublesome
eventualities that may arise, he again stood out to sea,
where, for two days and nights, he was mercilessly buffeted by another violent storm.
On Friday, the twenty-second of February, Columbus, by
a sudden resolution or impulse, having returned to that port
which he thought he had abandoned, soon saw a man hoisting his mantle, as a sign to have him taken on board the
Nina. Some time after, the boat, bringing two priests and
a notary, came to the caravel. They demanded an assurance of safety, before going on board.  The Admiral
having accorded it, they came on board, and requested a
sight of his papers, to see that he was really attached to
the service of the Catholic Sovereigns.  Columbus consented to show them his letters-patent, and gave them
some of the things he brought from the New World. The
delegates of the governor appeared to be sufficiently satisfied with his character, and sent him back, with the boat,
all the men of the crew that had been so treacherously
detained. He learned from his men that if the governor
succeeded in getting hold of his person he never would be
restored to liberty: for such were the peremptory orders of
King John II.
I8*




210


HISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


SE CTIONV II.
The third of March, at sunset, the ANina was struck by a
squall of wind, which rent all her sails, so that she was on
the point of foundering; but Providence cast a favorable
look on his servant. In the height of the danger, new
prayers and a new vow were resorted to.    Lots were
drawn, to know which of the seamen should go, in his
shirt, barefooted, to the shrine of Santa Maria de la Cinta,
in the province of Huelva; and, as usual, the lot fell on
Columbus. "Which led him to judge," says Las Casas,
"that God was always with him; but willed that he should
humble himself, and not become proud on account of the
favors already accorded him."
Each of the men, also, made a vow to fast on bread and
water the first Saturday that would follow the arrival of the
caravel. Still the storm only increased in its fury. In the
evening, the turbulence of the elements still increased.
The rain, at times, fell in torrents, and lightnings flashed
and thunder pealed from various parts of the heavens.
The sea was broken, wild, and mountainous.   At one
moment the caravel was high in the air, and the next
moment seemed sinking in a yawning abyss. The aspect
of things was terrible in the highest degree, and no human
power could have overcome the danger. "But it pleased
our Lord to come to the aid of the Admiral, and to show
him land," says Las Casas. It was seen towards midnight;
but the obscurity of the night prevented him fiom recognizing where they were.
At daybreak, on the fourth of March, they found themselves near the rock of Cintra, at the mouth of the Tagus.
At the sight of the imminent danger the caravel was in of
being shipwrecked, the inhabitants of the town of Cascaes,
situated at the mouth of the Tagus, flocked to the church.
They lighted wax tapers, and said prayers, during the whole
morning, for the souls of the poor sailors of the little car



CHAP. ix.]'  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.               211
avel, which seemed already the prey of the merciless waves;
and when, with the assistance of God, Columbus entered
into the stream, the whole population ran to the shore,
esteeming it a miracle that they had been saved from a
death that appeared inevitable.




212


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


CHAPTER X.
Honors rendered to Columbus by the People and the Court.- The
Council of State proposes to assassinate him. -The King
Honors and protects him. —The Queen desires to see him.
SE CTION    L.
B   Y  skilful manaeuvring, about three o'clock in the
afternoon, Columbus reached the landing at Rastello.
He there cast anchor, thanking the Author of Life for having delivered him from so imminent a danger.
Immediately on his arrival, he despatched a messenger to
Castile, to inform the Sovereigns of his arrival. He wrote
also to the King of Portugal, who was then at Valparaiso,
requesting permission to go with his vessel to Lisbon, not
thinking he was secure in a place like Rastello, which was
frequented by a population capable of seizing on his caravel, which was believed to be laden with gold, because
she returned from  the Indies, which he had discovered.
Anticipating the susceptibilities of John II., he cleverly
insinuated that he had not been to the coast of Guinea,
but to the extremity of Asia, by sailing to the west.
Next, he wrote, without delay, to the noble Luiz de
Santangel, - the man who, of all others, was most influential in fixing the resolution of Queen Isabella,- mentioning the success of his voyage, and his then embarrassed
situation. Immediately after, he addressed an account of
his voyage to the treasurer, Raphael Sanchez, which was
soon afterwards published in Rome. His letter to Sanchez
concludes thus: -
" Although all that I have mentioned seems extraordinary




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


2I3


and unheard of, there would have been grander results if I
had at my disposal a sufficient number of ships as the case
required. It is not to any merit of mine that this grand and
vast enterprise is due; it is due to the holy Catholic faith,
and to the piety and the religion of the monarchs; for
the Lord has accorded to men what human intelligence
could neither conceive nor attain; because God sometimes
hears the prayers of His servants who obey His precepts,
even in the things that appear impossible. Such is what
has happened to me, who have succeeded in an enterprise
which, until the present time, no mortal dared to devise;
for although the existence of these islands had been already
spoken of and written about, yet all spoke and wrote of
them by mere conjecture, and under the form of doubt; but
nobody asserted his having seen them, so that they were
considered fabulous. Then, let the King, the Queen, and
the princes, with their very happy kingdoms, in concert
with the Christian world, render thanks to our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has accorded us such a victory, and such a
grand success! Let there be processions; let solemn feasts
be celebrated; let the temples be embellished with boughs
and flowers; let Jesus Christ exult with joy on earth, as He
rejoices in heaven, at the approaching salvation of so many
peoples, until the present in the region of the shadow of
death. Let us rejoice, as well because of the exaltation of
our Faith, as because of the increase of temporal goods, the
fruit of which will be gathered not only by Spain, but by
the whole Christian world." *
The tidings of the discovery of a new world by a ship
anchored in the Tagus soon reached Lisbon. Notwithstanding the unfavorable state of the weather, a crowd
flocked to the anchorage at Rastello; a large number of
barks swarmed around the caravel. Admiration was no
* Efistola Cristoferi Colomb., ad magnificum dom. RAPHAELEM
SANXIS, etc., ab Hispanio ydeomate in latinum convertit. Roma,
I493.




rrrc"/^npvn /"r?


ro -. -


214                itw2JoLs It.1 L'r           L1UUrk 1.
less excited than curiosity. Heartfelt thanks were rendered
to God for this event, which a confused intuition, a secret
presentiment, considered immense. The voice of the people
declared that this glory was given to Castile in recompense
for the zeal of her Sovereigns in the cause of religion.
SECTION      II.
On Friday, the eighth of March, a message from the
King of Portugal came to give sanction to the spontaneous
manifestations of homage rendered to the man of Providence. The chief of the nation followed the transports of
exultation presented by his people. He graciously requested
the Admiral, as the bad weather detained him at the anchorage, to be pleased to visit him at his retreat, and ordered
his officers to furnish him, without cost, everything he needed
for himself, his men, or his ship. He ordered the principal
officers of his household to go to meet him, and had a
princely entertainment prepared for him  at Sacamben,
where he was to sleep. The Admiral started on his journey, accompanied by one of his pilots, who was to perform
the functions of aid-de-camfn.  The continuance of the
rain did not permit him to reach Valparaiso until the
evening following. He made his entry, accompanied by
a splendid retinue.
The reception the King gave him surpassed all the honors
he had yet received. John II. received him as he would a
prince of the blood, -had him seated and covered in his
presence, showed him a high consideration; spoke to him
with the greatest affability, and testified his satisfaction at
the success of the enterprise; adding, that he felt the greater
joy, because, according to the treaty concluded with Castile
in 1479, the discovery of these new countries, and their conquest, pertained to him of right. The Admiral answered
that, not having read the treaty referred to, he knew nothing of its nature; only he knew that in the instructions he
received it was prescribed to him not to go to La Mina, nor




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


215


to the coast of Guinea, and that this order was published in
all the seaports of Andalusia, before the voyage was commenced.  The King made a gracious reply, saying that
these matters would be adjusted between the two Sovereigns
and himself, without the intervention of any umpire.
Afterwards the monarch confided his guest to the attentions of the highest personage of his court.
On Sunday morning, after mass, the King recommenced
his conversation with Columbus, and asked about the particulars of the voyage.  He asked many more questions
than he did the day before, and took occasion to show that
he was an admirer of cosmography. And, as in satisfying
his curiosity he recognized the grandeur of the enterprise,
he felt a secret vexation for permitting the slipping from his
hands of those marvellous regions which were once offered
to him by Columbus, before they were proposed to Castile.
He had some doubts in regard to the distances and the
route followed.  It seemed to him that there must have
been an infringement on the rights of Portugal, guaranteed
to her by the Papal Bull, accorded to the infant Don Henry.
Immediately after the audience, he summoned his Council
to deliberate on the matter.
While Columbus, as was his wont, was passing the hours
of Sunday in prayer and meditation, not many paces from
him, in the hall of the Council, the project was discussed of
robbing him of his discoveries, and of putting him to death.
His assassination was proposed to the King; but the latter, fearing God, repulsed the perfidious suggestion.
On Monday, Columbus took leave of the King.  The
monarch loaded him with marks of esteem and distinction.
By his orders, Don Martin de Norofia conducted him back,
surrounded with all the lords of the court, who went with
him a considerable distance, to do him the greater honor.
On the pressing invitation of the Queen, the Admiral went
to the monastery of San Antonio, where she was with the
first ladies of her court. She showed him the greatest kindness, manifested the highest regard for him, and was pleased




216                HISTOR2 OF                [BOOK I.
to question him about that new world which he wished to
bring under the law of the Gospel. She could not get tired
of listening to him; and detained him so long, that it was
night before he could get to his lodging-place at Llandra.
Being on the point of departing in the morning, a squire
of the King's came to offer him, on the part of his master,
to accompany him to the frontier, if he preferred going by
land to Castile; having orders to furnish him, at the cost of
the Crown, with lodgings, horses, and everything he may
need.  The weather having moderated, he preferred returning to Castile by sea.




CHAP. XI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


n I7


CHAPTER XI.
Arrival of Columbus at Palos. - His Reunion with the Father Superior of La Rabida; his Stay at the Convent. - His Departure for the Court.-His triumphal Reception at Barcelona.Action of the Holy See in Relation to Columbus. -The Story
of the Egg.
SECTION I.
FEELING of vague inquietude weighed heavily at
that time on the little city of Palos. In every family
there was deep anxiety about a relation or a friend. For
seven months and twelve days (for days were counted), they
were without news of those sons of the country whom an
order of the Sovereigns had forced to follow that grand
schemer, the Genoese, -a schemer whom more than one
mother and one wife had cursed in their waking hours.
What had become of those men? They were believed to
be hopelessly lost, - engulfed in the abysses of the TENEBROUS SEA, - and nobody dared to utter the frightful kind
of death met with by those unfortunate beings, sacrified to
the ambition of a foreign visionary.
Such was the state of feeling when, on Friday, the fifteenth
of March, at noon, the loungers about the port perceived a
caravel, which, by a light breeze, stood up the Odiel, and
soon they recognized in her the Nina. Transports of joy
immediately broke forth throughout the whole community.
By a spontaneous movement, all the shops were shut, and
the people flocked to the caravel. The bells rung peals,
cannon were fired, and the windows were graced with
I9




218


HISTORT OF


[BOOK I.


drapery.  " Columbus, in coming ashore, was received
with the same honors as if he had been a king.  The
whole people accompanied him and his men, in a solemn
procession, to the church, where they came to thank God
for having crowned with so happy a success a voyage the
longest and the most important that had ever been undertaken."* After so much anxiety and alarm, what must
not have been the exhilarating joy of those families, in
receiving into their arms the dear ones they despaired of
ever again seeing here below!
Some hours later, while the whole city, transported with
an unspeakable gladness, were offering their felicitations
and homages to the Admiral, and, by the pealing of their
bills, announcing to the neighboring towns that an uncommon event had occurred, another caravel was seen to come
near the anchorage of the Ninaa; it was the Pinta, which
was commanded by Martin Alonzo Pinzon. After a short
time, a yawl from the latter stealthily descended the river:
it was the captain, who was making his exit.
Driven by the tempest into the Bay of Biscay, Martin
Alonzo Pinzon, persuaded that the poor little Nina was
lost, addressed to the Sovereigns an account of the Discovery,-which he feigned to have made himself,-and
requested permission to go to the Court, to give the particulars of the expedition.  While awaiting their answer he
came to his native city, expecting a triumphant reception;
but when he beheld the vessel of the Admiral riding at
anchor, his heart died within him. Fearing that his chief
would have him arrested and put in irons, as was his due,
he shamefully got out of the way, with his heart filled with
rage at the noise of the triumph of him whom he hoped to
have supplanted.
The crew of the Pinta remained entire; and among the
men left at Hispaniola, none of them was a native of Palos.
Columbus could, without exaggeration, have addressed to


* Robertson. History of America, Vol. I., Book II.




CHAP. XI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMIBUS.


2I9


the people of this port, who had detested and cursed him,
these words of the Good Shepherd: " Of them whom thou
hast given me, I have not lost one." * So the joy of the
inhabitants was unbounded.  Seeing that the Admiral
brought back all those confided to his care, they were
unable to give expression to the transports of their admiration for him.
Witnesses of the reception given by their families to the
sailors of Palos, the other seamen, natives of places in its
vicinity, wishing for a like happiness, were desirous of
going the same evening to their own dwellings. But the
ovations and the enthusiasm of which he was the object
could not, for a moment, efface from the soul of Columbus,
so tenderly pious, the resolution formed during the storm
off the coast of the Azores. The Admiral would not grant
a discharge to any of them, before the accomplishment of
the vow which the perfidy of the Portuguese governor of
Santa Maria had sacrilegiously interrupted.  They had
promised to go to the first church dedicated to Our Lady,
near the place where the Ninia would land. The place
was now Palos, and the church, —Our Lady of La Rabida,
- at the convent of which the learned Juan Perez de Marchena was Superior.
Thus the generous Franciscan, who celebrated the solemn mass for the departure of the expedition, celebrated
the mass of thanksgiving for its return. Providence seemed
to have reserved that satisfaction for him. In the evening,
solemn thanks were rendered to God for the favor of the
Discovery. The next day they went to thank the Blessed
Virgin, the anchor and the hope of the poor mariner. It
was a profoundly touching ceremony. All the seamen,
barefooted, and in their shirts, from the cabin-boy even to
the Admiral, in the piteous garb of shipwrecked mariners,
saved from the billows, coming to give thanks to Mary, the
Star of the Sea, for having delivered them from the abysses


*.uia quos dedisti miki, non perdidi ex eis quem quam. S. Joan.
Evang. xvIII.




220


0ZIISTOR  OF


[BOOR I.


of the wrathful ocean, were followed by a crowd who, with
their whole hearts, joined in their prayers and in their acts
of thanksgiving.
Every sailor now found himself the object of particular
attention; he was listened to as an oracle, and his family
became proud of him. But the Admiral saw that he himself was a stranger at Palos, and that he had no relations
there. His family was that of St. Francis; his brothers of
the Seraphic Order awaited him at La Rabida; so he returned to them, and again took possession of the dear cell
reserved for him by the Father Superior.
We may easily conceive the happiness of these two friends
in finding themselves together again. That great thought
which they both had, at first, separately,-that hope which
was common to them both, and that patient faith which
knew how to triumph over the pride and the prejudices of
science, - were, at last, crowned with success. Father
Juan Perez de Marchena was not deceived, then! Beyond
that blue line of the west, which his looks so often interrogated, there existed, as he had anticipated, habitable lands,
and peoples to be led to the Saviour. The sign of Redemption was shown to the natives; the Cross was planted among
them, and saluted by the simple children of the forests.
Now could the wish of the seraphic Francis Assisium be
accomplished. The tranquil joy, the evangelical satisfaction, and the heartfelt consolation experienced by the little
community of La Rabida, cannot be expressed.
If ever, in any diplomatic congress, there was submitted
for consideration a project of more importance than the one
whose bases were, seven years before that, examined by
Columbus and the learned Franciscan in this humble monastery, we may safely assert that never was there a more
wonderful scientific calculation than that which, on the
morrow of his arrival, he prepared for the advantage of
Castile. For the interests of the Spanish monarchs, the
sketch he thus traced hastily, in the silence of the cloister,




CHAP. XI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.        2


221


was, perhaps, of more imurzIse and of more immediate
benefit than the Discovery.
From his cell he counselled the two Sovereigns to do
homage to the Holy See for the lands newly discovered, and
to entreat its benediction on the enterprise by a Bull that
would protect their acquisitions.
From his cell he also indicated how, to avoid ulterior
conflicts, the lands discovered should be apportioned by the
two maritime powers who then maintained exploring expeditions in the ocean.
For this purpose, Columbus conceived the idea of inducing the Sovereign Pontiff to assign to the discoveries of the
Castilians in the West an equal space to that which the
Portuguese would have in the East; and, in order to determine the frontiers of the two kingdoms in the illimitable
plains of the ocean, he proposed a means that was of a
superhuman simplicity.
So, full of confidence as if he held the whole space of the
globe beneath his eyes, although two-thirds of it were as
yet unknown, with a sublime boldness, or, rather, an angelic
quietness, he makes the section of the equator, which nobody had yet traversed, traces across immensity a vast
demarcation, draws from one pole to the other an ideal
line which will divide the earth, in passing at a main distance of a hundred leagues to the west of the islands of
Cape Verd and those of the Azores. To accomplish this
astonishing geographical division, he chose precisely the
only point of our planet which science would choose in our
day: the singular region of the line without magnetic
declination, where the transparency of the waters, the balminess of the air, the clearness of the atmosphere, the abuadance of the submarine vegetation, the tropical resplendency
of the nights, and the phosphorescence of the waves, indicated, in the unsteady empire of the billows, a mysterious
demarcation made by the omnipotent Creator.
This vast calculation was the boldest conception that ever
issued from the human intellect. Still, Columbus, without
19*




222


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


being astonished, without hesitating, without, perhaps, being
aware of the vastness of his operation, calmly takes his calculations of demarcation, and simply demands that they be
sent to Rome.
Assuredly, all that he advanced in these considerations
for the partition of unexplored regions between the Crowns
of Castile and of Portugal was as rational as it was bold, and
as bold as it was unknown to the rest of mankind; because
the obstacles which new undertakings are always sure to
encounter must produce objections, doubts, and, ultimately,
resistance. But the messenger of Salvation had faith in the
infallible wisdom of the Church, the depository of the truths
of the Word. We will hereafter see how the Holy See
justified this generous confidence reposed in it.
SECTION     II.
All the persons who returned with Columbus could take
some recreation after their fatigues, and enjoy the charms
of repose after so many toils and dangers. As to him,whom the lot, in three cases out of four, had designated for
the expiation of the sins of all,- he must fulfil the vows
with which a mysterious predilection had charged him.
He first went to the church of Our Lady of Guadaloupe,
bearing a lighted wax taper of five pounds' weight. In
this retreat he experienced great spiritual consolations, conversed with holy men, and formed friendships with them
that were lasting. He promised the religious of the convent that, in consequence of their kindness to him, he would
give the name of their monastery to one of the islands he
would discover, - and he kept his word.
Afterwards, Columbus returned to Moguer, near Palos,
to the Convent of St. Clair, to which he was affiliated by
the cord of St. Francis, which he wore beneath his
clothes. There a solemn mass of thanksgiving was celebrated. When evening came, he entered, alone, the chapel,
the doors of which were shut on him. There he was to




CHAP. xi.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


223


spend the night in prayer. The glimmering light of the
lamp of the sanctuary was reflected on pictures and basreliefs, and showed confusedly the warrior effigies of the
counts of Puerto Carrero, former lords of the place,- those
valiant knights of the Cross who acquired such celebrity in
the wars against the Moors. With an hereditary fidelity,
their lineage had, for ages, combated bravely against the
Crescent. The blood of the house of Puerto Carrero is
allied, as is known, with that of the ancestors of the Countess of Teba, the Empress Eugenie. The counts of Puerto
Carrero slept their sleep in this church, of which they were
benefactors. The alabaster statues of their wives and daughters, placed in lines along the walls, showed the places of
their sepulture. It was amid these funereal images of the
nothingness of human pomp, that the messenger of the
Most High, prostrate before the tabernacle, and in the presence of Christ living in the Holy Eucharist, examined, anew,
his heart. The next day, after having discharged this duty,
he saw his old friend the Abbe Sanchez de Cabezudo, who
invited him to come to see him at Palos, and to whom he
showed the Indians and the gold he had brought from the
New World.
The religious obligations of Columbus were not yet entirely discharged. He had still to go to the shrine of Our
Lady of the Cincture, in the same province of Huelva. It
is well known that he went there barefooted, and in his shirt,
according to the tenor of his vow.
After having acquitted himself, as far as he could, of the
obligations to which he had bound himself by vow, Columbus returned to the convent of his Order, to meet again his
friend and spiritual guide, Father Juan Perez de Marchena.
For more than seven months he had been deprived of the
sacred aliment of the faith, - the bread of the strong. He
felt the need of reviving his soul, of refreshing himself
with the salutary calm of the Rule, and of enjoying the
restorative repose of the cloister. In the bosom of this
friend, he deposited secrets which nobody else knew, -




234


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


what he had endured from men; what he had received
from God; his individual conjectures, which he would not
confide to paper; his cosmographical doubts; his indefinite
apperceptions, sketched in his mind; the bold corollaries
of his intuition,- all were poured into the vast heart that
was covered by the coarse habit of St. Francis. The
mutual outpourings to each other of these two minds, so
ardently smitten with the beautiful and the imperishable,
and the free communication of these two souls mutually
reflecting each other, simple in their faith and sublime in
their intuitions, -how fruitful must they not have been in
superior apperceptions and aspirations to the divine Word
our Redeemer, from whom all the love and all the charity
among us are derived!
The Admiral was unable to remain at La Rabida more
than seven days. He had to go to Seville, to await there
the orders of the Sovereigns, and arrived in that city only a
short time before receiving the despatch of the Court, which
was addressed to him with this significant superscription:
"To DON CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, OUR ADMIRAL OF
TIIE OCEAN, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR OF THE ISLANDS
DISCOVERED IN THE INDIES."
The letter containing the felicitations for his happy voyage, authorized him to make the necessary arrangements for
a new expedition on a more becoming scale, and invited
him to come to Barcelona as soon as possible.
By return of the courier, Columbus sent the Sovereigns a
memorandum of the munitions requisite for the new expedition; and, having made at Seville such arrangements as
circumstances permitted, he set out with the seven Indians
who had escaped from the dangers of the voyage, taking
with him the curiosities and productions brought from the
New World.




CHAP. xi.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


225


SECTIOV IIL
In the mean time, with the rapidity of an electric telegraph, fame had already spread, to the very outskirts of
Spain, the news of the wonderful event that had been celebrated at Palos, at Seville, and at Barcelona. The report
of the Discovery went on increasing from hour to hour;
and, as the way of Columbus to the Court led him through
the most flourishing and populous provinces, an immense
concourse of people awaited, everywhere, his arrival.
"His whole journey was, for him, a continued triumph.
The great thoroughfares and the country places resounded
with the acclamations of the people, who quitted everything in order to see him. They went out in crowds to
meet him in all the cities through which he was to pass." *
The cortege, less pompous than it was strange, was
opened by some mariners of the Nina under arms, escorting the royal standard, borne by a pilot. Then came the
sailors, some with branches of unknown trees and shrubs,
enormous calabashes, gigantic reeds, and arborescent ferns;
others, with raw cotton, pimento, cocoas, and ginger; and
others, again, with crowns of gold, bracelets, cinctures,
masks of gold, superb conches, spears, iron-wood swords,
and bows and arrows without steel. Next were seen unknown vegetables, and animals, some of which were living,
others stuffed; large lizards, serpents with brilliant scales,
alligators, and other strange animals. After these came the
seven Indians, decked in their national ornaments, and
carefully painted in white and red. They preceded the
little states-major of the expedition. At last came the Admiral, in the costume of his dignities, mounted on a charger,
which he managed with skill and ease. After him came
his three squires, who were engaged in keeping the ardent
crowd from pressing on him. Every moment the Indians,
astonished and scared at the curiosity they excited, would


* Charlevoix. Hist. de San Domingo, Book II., p. 107.




226


HTISTOR r OF


LBOOK I.


look to their protector, the Admiral, and his smile would
immediately dispel their uneasiness.
History has proved it: it was not especially to see the
Indians, and the wonderful things exposed to view in the
cortege, that caused this great concourse of people, -a
nobler curiosity prompted it. Everybody wished to gaze
on the Admiral, and imprint on their memories the image
of the man favored by Heaven, who had crossed the GLOO.MY
OCEAN, and enlarged the known boundaries of the earth.
All limbs were in motion and all heads uncovered at his
approach; it was an immense salutation. The Christian
hero, sweetly moved by these demonstrations, referred this
triumph to God alone. Still, this incomparable eagerness
to behold him was a confirmation, to him, of the grandeur
of the work for which Providence had deigned to choose
him.
In their enthusiasm, the people, having preceded, by this
ovation, the orders of the Sovereigns, the punctilious etiquette of the Court had to yield to an eagerness that was
unanimous. So, to gratify the public, as much as to remunerate with an honor without parallel a service without
equal, the Sovereigns prepared for the Admiral a reception
until then unheard of.
The fifteenth of April, the day Columbus was to enter
Barcelona, a large portion of the inhabitants went out to
meet him; the elite of the young courtiers preceded him
on horseback, and a deputation from the Court awaited him
at the gates of the city. As if to increase the solemnity,
the day was delightful. In the palace of the Sovereigns, by
a new contrivance, the vast hall was enlarged, rendered
accessible to the view, and splendidly decorated. Beneath
a magnificent canopy of gold brocade were two thrones, a
settee covered with velvet fringed with gold, and, a little in
advance, a richly-decorated armed chair.
Some moments before his arrival, the King and Queen,
wearing their crowns, and invested with all the marks of




CHAP. xi.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


227


sovereignty, entered, and sat on their respective thrones.
The Prince Royal sat on the settee.  The armed chair
remained unoccupied.
The high officers of the two royal households, the ministers and the Counsellors of State, were ranged to the right
and left, a little behind the thrones. The dignitaries of
Arragon on the one side, those of Castile on the other,
and, further on, the employes of the two civil houses, the
knights, the squires, the pages, each according to his rank
and order of precedence. In the reserved hall were seated
the ladies of the palace, the prelates, men of wealth, and
the nobility; outside the balustrade were the contractors of
the two Crowns, and the happy burgesses, who were protected by some friends of the Crown.
Outside there was heard an indescribable sound. The
narrow streets of Barcelona were thronged with multitudes
impatient to see him. At all the balconies, graced with garlands of flowers, tapestry, and ladies, were waved bouquets,
fans, and mantillas. From every terrace, and even from the
roofs of houses, covered with spectators, there went forth
accents replete with gladness.
The vociferations of the crowd, and the return of the
lords sent to the gates of the city, announced the arrival of
the cortege. Soon there was seen entering, surrounded by
the officers of the expedition, the royal standard so happily
brought back from the further coast of the TENEBROUS SEA.
People wondered at these sunburnt men, who had followed
him through so many perils. Curiosity gazed at the strange
objects brought from the New World, -the vegetable productions; the animals, living and preserved; and especially
the timid Indians.
At length Columbus came, as simple and as modest in
the magnificence of his costume as he was when he once
departed from the walls of Santa Fe. It was the modesty
which ignores self, and the simplicity which is produced by
natural greatness. But his heart overflowed with a holy
joy, and his face shone with a sublime serenity.




228


HIS TOR OF


[BOOK I.


At his entrance the two Sovereigns arose from their
thrones,* and, advancing to meet him, graciously tendered
him their hands. Always submissive to authority, in token
of homage he was about bending the knee, and kissing the
royal hands, according to the etiquette of Castile; but Isabella and Ferdinand would not permit it.  The Queen,
somewhat confused at his deference, requested him to be
seated near her, in the armed chair prepared for him.
"Don Christopher Columbus," said the Queen, " be covered
in the presence of your Sovereigns; sit by them. Be seated,
Admiral of the Ocean and Viceroy of the New World." t
Her eyes beaming with joy, with kindness, and with admiration, the Queen would not take her seat until after
Columbus, according to her orders, became covered as a
grandee of Spain, and seated in the armed chair. When
they had obligingly complimented him, they requested him
to give an account of the Discovery.
Conformably to the request made, he, the Discoverer of
the New World, casting a serene look around him, as if
taking the whole audience as witnesses of the truth of his
words, after having declared that the true character of the
expedition from which he had returned was Christian prior
to every consideration, and that it was scientific and politic
only in a secondary degree, said the favors God had pleased
to vouchsafe to Spain, by his enterprise, appeared to be the
recompense of the piety and zeal of the monarchs; that the
broad ocean, until then interdicted to the curiosity of mortals, had henceforth become open to the fleets of Spain;
and that the glorious flag of Castile was borne into the
hemisphere of the antipodes, to lands without number, now
visited by the Cross. He afterwards gave a brief and clear
recital of his voyage, from the time of his departure from
the Fortunate Islands until the time he quitted those nameless regions of which, by the grace of God, he was the
discoverer.
* lMuiioz, Historia del Neuvo Mundo, t. I., lib. Iv.
tAmedee de Pastoret. Histoire des Decouvertes, MS., p. 96.




CHAP. XI.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


229


With the genius for classification and order which was
peculiar to him, he commenced with describing the soil,
and the geological and mineralogical aspect of the lands
discovered; the most remarkable vegetable productions,
and the different kinds of animals, aquatic as well as terrestrial, he had observed.
In illustration of this general exposition of the products
of the New World, the Demonstrator of the Creation took
the specimens he had brought with him, and, one by one,
according to the class they pertained to, he placed them
before the eyes of the august assemblage:
Different kinds of amber, colored earths proper for painting, various minerals, precious stones, gold, in dust and in
grains, pure and wrought.
Passing to the vegetable kingdom, he showed gums,
resins, medicinal plants, aromatic plants, spices, dyewoods,
raw cotton, maize, sweet potatoes, tapioca, calamus, and
that feculent tubercle become the food of the poor, and
which we call the Irish potato.
Afterwards, to show more strikingly the difference of the
products of the newly-discovered countries compared to
their congeners in the Old World, he exhibited strange
animals, -some terrestrial, others amphibious, these scaled,
those stuffed, and others yet living.
As soon as he had terminated this poetic review of the
three kingdoms of nature, approaching, at last, the history
of man, - who is their crowned monarch, - he called
attention to the seven native Indians present: mentioned
the characteristic differences of their race; described their
Isocial condition, the simplicity of their manners; their
religious belief, confused and limited, but which seemed
exempt from idolatrous superstitions, and which, therefore,
predisposed them to receive with more fruit the Gospel of
Christ.
The gleaming looks of Columbus, the dignity of his bearing, the poetry of his images, the boldness of his language,
and the authority of his gestures, adding a lustre to the nov20




230
1)


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


city of his views, equalled the majesty of the subject treated
of, and kept the attention of the audience spell-bound. His
expanded soul, penetrated with the wonders of creation,
was in harmony with the spirit of that age, and the particular sentiments of that warlike Court which, the preceding year, had erected the Cross on the towers of
Islamism.  The assembly listened with breathless attention, and the deepest interest, to that lesson of descriptive
geography, and of comparative natural history, which
Columbus thus gave with illustrations. Nobody felt tired
or fatigued during this exhibition of the wonders of the
New World.
The enterprise of the Discovery was undertaken especially with a view to the glory of God and the propagation of Christianity, in order that the name of Jesus
Christ may be glorified to the utmost extremities of the
earth. And as, in terminating his discourse, the revealer
of the globe declared that an innumerable multitude of
souls, until then living in darkness, would soon enter into
the pale of the Church, and, thanks to the piety of the two
Sovereigns, would participate in the Redemption,- and
as the accents of his ardent faith, of his tender charity,
caused this consoling hope to enter the hearts of the audience,-the raptures and ardor that followed coming to
their height, an indescribable emotion, mingled with tenderness and admiration, seized on the listeners. There was
an outburst of enthusiasm.  Suddenly, by an irresistible
impulse, the King, the Queen, the whole Court, the people,
throwing themselves on their knees, raised their hands to
heaven, praising God, and shedding, with Columbus, tears
of joy. At the same time was heard the hymn of victory,the Te Deum, - intoned by the choristers of the royal
chapel.  The great voice of the people responded, and
went on prolonging itself outside, throughout the city, in
the midst of such delights, that Christian souls, according
to the venerable Bishop of Chiapa, enjoyed a foretaste of
the joys of Paradise.




CHAP XI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.                 231
Immediately after, Columbus, yet beaming with sublime
sentiments, and moved with the enthusiasm his presence
excited, surrounded with an areola of marks of respect,
bowing, took his leave of the King and Queen, and went
to the lodgings they had prepared for him. The lords of
the Court accompanied him to the gate, surrounded with
a crowd who could never become weary of gazing at
and cheering the great man, —the visible minister of
Providence.
SECTION IV.
The rumor of the Discovery, - the greatest and the most
important event for science and for humanity that had ever
occurred, - spread along the shores of Europe, reached the
central parts, and soon extended to the East. The celebrated Sebastian Cabot, who was then at the Court of
England, acknowledges that the Discovery was there considered rather a divine than a human work; * and the great
navigator himself considered it so.
But it was especially in the capital of the Christian
world that this news excited the most profound sensation.
The Court of Rome became elated with joy. The Sovereign Pontiff manifested publicly his gladness, and solemnly
thanked God for having permitted those nations yet sitting
in the shadows of death, to see the dawn of salvation. The
distinguished strangers who were in the city, and the ambassadors who came there from all the Catholic countries
to salute the chair of St. Peter, participated in this happiness.
Like the Sacred College, the learned world was in ecstasies at the Discovery. The scholars and the cosmosgraphers
of the papal library expected important results from it, and
looked upon it as the beginning of other discoveries. The
great master of classic literature, Pomponius Letus, shed


* Hackluyt, Collection de Voyages, p. 7.




232


HIS TOR OF


[BOOK I.


tears of joy on hearing of the wonder. Henceforward were
the heroes of primitive times, the demi-gods of paganism,
and the fabulous or historical expeditions of antiquity,
eclipsed. Reality had come to efface mythology, and to
surpass even imagination itself.
The sign of Redemption had been carried across the redoubtable Tenebrous Ocean, -the MARE TENEBROSUM,beyond the dubious Atlantis, by a man whose name, singularly symbolic of salvation, recalled to mind the dove,- the
emblem of the Holy Ghost, - and signified Christ-bearer,
CJzristopitorzs. And this hero was a model of a Christian.
His object cannot be called in question; for, from the twentyfifth of April, and, consequently, ten days after his ovation
at Barcelona, already a copy of his letter to Raphael Sanchez, sent to Rome, was there translated into Latin by
Aliander de Cosco, and, with the pontifical authorization,
printed by Eucharius Argentinus.  Nine days later, the
Holy Father attested, with his own hand, the sublimity of
the mandate confided by Providence to his "well-beloved
son" Christopher Columbus.
After this solemn attestation of his Discovery, Columbus
could have died satisfied. Although he had, as yet, met
with only islands, - the advanced sentinels of a continent
completely unknown, - by that fact alone the New World
was discovered. He had accomplished his task. But God
destined him for other trials, and other recompenses.
A certain school is obstinately determined to see in the
Discovery nothing but the effect of Chance; or, at most,
but the application of a new idea in hydrography. They
reduce the merit of this prodigy to a mere change of route.
The Portuguese, say they, attempted to reach the Indies by
going eastwards, following the coasts of Africa, when
Christopher Columbus thought of reaching them by sailing
westwards across the Atlantic Ocean.  He found some
islands, which he had no great right to count as discoveries, and which he mistook for Asia; hence he did
not find what he sought, and found what he did not seek.




CHAP. XI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


233


We appeal to good common sense: that movement of
the crowds, those marks of astonishment and enthusiasm,
and those benedictions of the people of the Azores, of the
banks of the Tagus, of Spain, of the whole Christian
world, - would they have arisen from a mere change of
route? Assuredly, what the Discovery consisted in, what
its extent was, or its true name, were not then known; but
the conduct of the people indicated the grandeur of the
event. At the period of the discovery of the Canaries, of
the Azores, of the islands of Cape Verd, did anybody witness those thrills of exultation that were now manifested?
It was felt that Columbus's Discovery was a matter that
concerned the destinies of the whole of humanity. The
crowds were not transported with joy because the route to
Asia was found to the west in place of the east, but because
a new world had been discovered. And the legend given
to Columbus for his arms is an official proof of it: " For
Castile and Leon, Columbus found a new world." *
The assertions of those who attribute the honor of the
Discovery to the sole sagacity of Columbus, as well as to
the superiority of his scientific knowledge, or of his experience in maritime matters, would have been completely disavowed by himself; for he did not attribute to his genius
what he had not received from it, nor to science what it
could not have given him.  He has positively said that
science, atlases, and the mathematics, were but of little
service to him in his undertaking; f} and the truth of this
is seen at every hour of peril.
Thevet, one of our old mariners, who coasted with some
of his sailors, says Columbus " was not very experienced
in maritime affairs." In his Cosmography, published in
Milan, in I556, Jeronomo Girava Terracones judged that
"Christopher Columbus, the Genoese, was a great mariner,
* "Por Castilla y por Leon
Nuevo Mundo hallo Colon."
t Columbus. Libro de las Proficias, fol. 4.
20*




Ir ir lr o  TI /~ ' 1, WI:~


rF.....


234                t11 /.1  1   ' L/         LUUrK i.
but only a middling cosmographer."  Humboldt declares
that " Columbus was but little familiar with mathematics";
accuses him of having made " false observations in the neighborhood of the Azores," and speaks of his "' absolute want
of knowledge in natural history." A member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences esteems "Aristotle as much more
advanced in geography than Christopher Columbus was,"
and is " astonished at the ignorance of the latter in matters
of cosmography."
The Discovery cannot, then, be attributed to the scientific
superiority of Columbus.  Besides, in his time, several
mariners pretended to be abler than he, and were placed
above him by public opinion. Since it is not, then, to the
genius of Columbus that we can attribute the merit of his
work, to what can we refer it?
We answer, without equivocation: The superiority of
Columbus, of his genius, and of his grandeur, was owing
to his religious faith.
Certainly faith had not infused into him nautical science,
which is the result of practice and observation; but his faith
having obtained the grace of God, he did what others would
not dare to do. He justified, in advance, by his example,
those memorable words of the illustrious Donoso Cortes:
" The man accustomed to conversing with God, and to
exercising himself in the meditation of divine things, all
other circumstances being equal, surpasses other persons,
either by the intelligence and force of his understanding, or
by the surety of his judgment, or by the penetration and
sagacity of his mind; but, especially, I know of none where,
in equal circumstances, he will not surpass others in that
practical and sober-minded sense which is called common
sense." *
His assiduous study of nature having persuaded Columbus
that the spherical form is that of the large bodies of creation,
* Denoso Cortes. Essay on Catholicism, Liberalism and Socialism,
Book II., chap. viII.




CHAP. XI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


235


- of the stars and of the planets, -he started from the
principle that the earth was round.  His mode of conceiving the divine work became proportioned to his elevated idea of the Creator; and his faith in the Redeemer
being equal to his belief in the Word by whom all things
have been ordained, he soon found, in his knowledge of
the Sacred Scriptures, the confirmation of his cosmographic
ideas. He was persuaded that this world was created from
a plan, and with calculation; * that nowhere is the sun the
destroyer of life; that there are no uninhabitable zones; that
the TENEBROUS SEA could not forever separate the nations,
and deprive, always, certain countries of the knowledge of
the Word. Columbus firmly believed that the words of the
prophet were not in vain, announcing that the confines of
the earth should see the Salvation sent by God; that people
would come from the north and from the sea. t  Consequently, he did not believe that the Creator had delivered
any part of our habitation as an inheritance to monsters,
and unconquerable brutes.  From his confidence in God
came his firmness, his patience, his resolution, his tranquillity of mind, —the means of undertaking and of executing his work.
Such, in their simplicity, were the first motives that
prompted Columbus,- the basis upon which he founded
the project of the Discovery. Mathematics have nothing
to see here. Considerations drawn from geography came
only to support his theological inferences.  Pure science
could profit him but little, inasmuch as its principal doctrine was itself an error. It, at that time, taught that the
sea occupied only the seventh part of the earth, while it
really covers more than two-thirds of it.
Still, the lucidity of his reason, the superiority of his intuition, and the ardor of his faith, do not suffice to explain
his enterprise.
We must say it distinctly, for it is the truth, it is useless


* Sap. xi. 21..0


t Isaias, xxx: 27, and xLIX: 12.




236


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


to try to explain, on human principles, the superhuman
work of the Discovery. All those who have studied the
life of Columbus,-the historians, his cotemporaries, and
the historiographers of the Indies, who had the official
documents under their eyes, -have been led to recognize,
in the circumstances of the arrival of this man in Spain,
in those that detained him there, and in those that permitted
the execution of his enterprise, an ordering beyond and
above mortal foresight.
Unless we absolutely deny all providential action on
humanity, we cannot fail in recognizing the divine hand by
which Columbus was conducted. If ever the superior power
which presides over the government of the worlds should
manifest itself in this, it would assuredly have been in the
most considerable event of our planet. When we review all
the facts and the details of the Discovery, we are forced to
acknowledge, with Cladera, the learned author of " Historical Researches on the Discoveries of the Spaniards in the
Ocean," that it is necessary to do violence to our reason
in not believing that, in such a work, Columbus derived
from on high his chief support.  The Admiral himself
avows, with his modest laconism, that our Redeemer had
directed him in the route.*  And from the fact that in his
mind, in his inmost thought, and in his final object, the
enterprise of the Discovery was allied with the triumph
of the Cross over the Crescent, and the deliverance of the
Holy Places, a singular and wonderful coincidence can be
seen between certain incidents, and even certain dates of
the voyage.
Friday, - the day of Redemption, the day of the conquest
of Jerusalem, the day of the rendition of Granada, - seems
to have marked the principal incidents of this Christian
expedition.
On Friday Columbus unfurled his sails for the voyage.


* Aca me ordeno neustro Redentor el camino. Documentos Diplonaticos, num. cxxxvII.




CHAP. xi.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


237


On Friday he completed his observations on magnetic
variation.
On Friday the first signs of the New World were seen in
the tropical birds.
On Friday was perceived the sea of herbs, - that great
oceanic phenomenon.
On Friday, the twelfth of October, land was discovered.
On Friday, the same day, Columbus planted the first
cross in the soil of the New World.
On Friday, the nineteenth of October, he wrote that he
would return to Castile in the month of April; and it was
in the middle of the month designated that he made his
triumphal entry into Barcelona.
On Friday, the sixteenth of November, he found a cross
already completely prepared, in a desert island in the sea
of Nuestra Seinora.
On Friday, the thirtieth of November, he erected a very
large cross at Puerto Santo.
On Friday, the fourth of January, at sunrise, he started
back for Spain.
On Friday, the same day, in the afternoon, Providence
brought back to him the deserter captain, Martin Alonzo
Pinzon.
On Friday, the twenty-fifth of January, the sea gives him
fresh provisions.
On Friday, the fifteenth of February, having escaped from
a most frightful tempest, he sees the Azores.
On Friday, the twenty-second of February, he was restored his crew, seized on by the Portuguese.
On Friday, the eighth of March, the invitation of his
enemy, the King of Portugal, becomes the first attestation
of his glory.
On Friday, the fifteenth of March, he reentered Palos in
triumph.
Now, remark the strange coincidence of the day of his
departure with the day of his return, and of the principal
incidents of his voyage.




238


HIS TOR T OF


[BOOK I.


We have given the dates, and the reader may draw fiom
them the conclusion he pleases. It will no less remain a
fact that during the voyage the chief events occurred on
a Friday.
If to the singularity of this coincidence we join that of the
lot which, in three cases out of four, causes the mark of
the Cross to come into the hands of the Admiral, and thus
directly designate him as the person who is to accomplish
the vows of all, - if in these there is nothing seen but the
workings of Chance, or Hazard, it must be allowed that this
assiduous Chance, which so obligingly complied with the
intentions, the sentiments, and the wishes of Columbus,
merited gratitude from him, and ought to receive some
consideration fiom us.
When the messenger of the Cross, confessing the uselessness of the compass and the astrolabe for the Discovery, declared that our Redeemer had directed him in the route, he
expressed a truth that is more manifest now than it was
when his pen wrote it.
At first, this voyage, undertaken in opposition to the
prejudices of the unlearned, and the data of the science
that then prevailed, by a fearful route across a redoubtable
sea, remains to the present day a model for navigators to
follow. Columbus, probably without his knowing it, indicated to future generations the surest and safest route to
the Antilles.
The return of Columbus to Europe was, probably, still
more astonishing than his outward voyage.
The Admiral did not follow the route already traversed.
He had a caravel much damaged in the keel, another damaged in her masting; both leaking. He chose, by inspiration, the surest route, -that which enabled him to avoid
the changes of weather and the fogs so common between
the Azores and the banks of Newfoundland, and which
would enable him to escape the tempests so frequent in the
vicinity of the Bermudes. It is true he still encountered
frightful tempests; but these great perturbations of the




CHAP. XI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


239


atmosphere were exceptional.  He had taken the most
favorable route for his caravels, without decks. An officious Chance turned him from a danger of which he could
have no knowledge: and the fierceness of the tempests only
showed the better the obliging nature of Chance in protecting him; for, with a vessel so small and crazy as was the
1nI'a, 'nobodv could, on human principles, explain how he
was preserved fiom a watery grave. The inhabitants of
Santa Maria at the Azores, and those of Cascaes and of
Lisbon, were justly'stupefied with astonishment at seeing
how such a small caravel, so much damaged, could have
borne against the violence of such storms.
" Such," says Washington Irving, " were the difficulties
and perils which attended his return to Europe; had onetenth of them beset his outward voyage, his timid and
factious crew would have risen in arms against the enterprise, and he never would have discovered the New
World." *
But this provident and attentive Chance, or Hazard, took
very good care, in his outward voyage, to prevent obstacles
from being insurmountable, and knew always how to oppose propitious occurrences or coincidences to the most
terrible difficulties. When we call to mind the character
of the men who accompanied Columbus, the insolence of
his officers, even after the Discovery, and his own crew
abandoning him when his caravel ran aground, we can
judge what would have happened had the wrath of the
GLOOMY OCEAN added its perils to the terrors of the
imagination.
Happily, officious Chance, which preceded the steps of
Columbus, watched him, guided him, and directed him
with the greatest solicitude.
This Chance which gives him winds and waves when
he needs them; which appeases wrath, and preserves his
authority to him at the most critical moment, - this Chance


* Life and Voyages of Christoiher Columbus, Book V., chap. II.




240


0HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


by which, without any visible index, he predicts the moment of the Discovery, -this Chance which enables him
to state, in October, that he will return to the Sovereigns
in April,- this Chance which protects him from envy,
from hatred, and fiom the fury of the waves; which foils
the ambushes of Portugal, and prepares a triumph for him
in the very court of his enemy, - this Chance, so intelligent and so powerful as to thus put on all the airs of
Providence, - this Chance, whatever be its name, appears
to us a prodigy as miraculous as the" most resplendent
miracle.
From the very first moment, what the cosmographic system of Columbus presented of the marvellous was perfectly
appreciated in Rome. The supernatural character of his
mission was there recognized asif by instinct.
And this glorification of Columbus was a striking manifestation of the infallibility of the Church.
We now invite the attention of our readers to a fact
which, for the first time, is going to be presented in its
reality, and to which the historians of Columbus have not
hitherto alluded, - a fact not less curious than ignored;
not less ignored than authentic; not less authentic than
edifying; and not less edifying than demonstrative of the
truly supernatural authority bequeathed by Jesus Christ
to His Church.
SECTION      V.
On the twenty-fifth of July preceding, while in the midst
of the terrors of Palos Columbus was preparing to cross the
Atlantic, his illustrious countryman, Pope Innocent VIII.,
visited by death, went to give God an account of his government of the Church.
His successor was Alexander VI., assuredly one of the
least worthy popes mentioned by history; but whose faults,
it must be said, have been grossly exaggerated by the spirit




CHAP. xi.]  CHRISTOPHER COLU1MBUS.


241


of party, especially in confounding the private life of the
soldier with the official and regular life he led after his
election to the tiara. Nevertheless, such as he was, with
his qualities and his defects, then common to the greater
part of the great lords of his time, as long as he acts in
quality of inheritor of the primacy of Peter, he commits
no eirors and yields to no fiailties; none of his acts are
censurable. As De Maistre has remarked, his Bullary is
without reproach. And fiom the fact that the legacy of
the spiritual power, against which the gates of hell cannot
prevail, seems guaranteed by Providence against the errors
of human weakness, it would appear that this pontiff, on
account of his very infirmity, was tdestined to show  the
better, in its splendor, the indefectible power of the See
of St. Peter.*
Agreeably to the advice of Columbus, the Catholic Sovereigns petitioned the Sovereign Pontiff to grant them  the
donation of the lands they had discovered in the West, and
of. those they still hoped to discover there.
Whatever may have been the personal feelings of Alexander VI. towards the court of Spain, the demand could
not be immediately accorded; this affair would require the
greatest prudence. Already Portugal had obtained a privilege for its discoveries in the East.
It would be necessary that a favor now accorded to Spain
should occasion no conflicts under the reigns of the present
monarchs, or in future ages; and that the action of the
Apostolate should not lead to sanguinary rivalries between
*Alexander VI., like Columbus, his cotemporary, has been the
victim of the vilest calumnies from many Catholic as well as nonCatholic writers; so I purpose, after getting through with this work,
preparing for publication, in English, the true life of that pontiff,
derived from original documents, and other authentic cotemporary
writings. In the mean time, I would beg leave to refer the reader
who wishes to know the real history of that pope, to the
' Dublin Review" for January, I859, No. XC.; Article, History in
Fiction. -B.




242                 HISTORY OF                [BOOK i.
Christian nations.  Still, it was necessary to assign limits
to the claims of the two Catholic Crowns.
Here was the difficulty: Where did the East end? and
where did the West commence, in the illimitable space of
the ocean? Such was the problem to be solved.
Never had there been a more delicate geographical or
political difficulty submitted to the Papacy.  According
to the traditionary prudence of the Holy See, and the ordinary temporizations of the Roman chancery, such a question
would, at first, have to be taken up by commissions of cosmographers in Portugal, in Castile, and in Italy; and their
reports would have to be deliberated upon, in order to come
to a sure decision. A delay of two years would have been
necessary for such an investigation.
But evidently the Spanish Sovereigns attached to their
written petition a copy of the notes penned by Columbus
in his cell at La Rabida. And such was the interest this
Christian enterprise created in Rome, and such the confidence of the Holy See in the holiness of purpose and purity
of motive of Columbus, that, without hesitation or delay, as
if suddenly enlightened in regard to the work and the man
of the Discovery, it accepts his cosmographic system; recognizes, explicitly, the spheroidal form of the earth, and its
rotation on its axis, having the two poles for its extremities;
and maintains all the scientific deductions of Columbus. In
the then contradictory state of cosmography, this declaration
was strikingly bold.
Alexander VI. does not treat as a diplomatic negotiation
the privilege he is about to concede. Here he yields to no
personal predilection; it is not an act of condescension of a
Spanish pope to Spanish sovereigns. There is no longer
either Spaniard or sovereign to be thought of here; the
Pontiff proceeds solely as Chief of the Church, with the
aid of the venerable cardinals present then in Rome; for
the question is not concerning an international interest, or
of an affair to regulate for Castile, but about 'interests of




CHAP. xi.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMB US.


243


vital importance to Catholicity, to the salvation of souls,
and to the extension of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
As the demand of Castile was just, the Sovereign Pontiff,
with the concurrence of the Sacred College surrounding
him, accorded it, by his Bull of the third of May, I494.
The principle being granted, the question was how to
regulate its application, - to fix a limit to the expeditions
of the Castilians, and to divide between these and the
Portuguese the unknown parts of the globe, into which
these two powers were to introduce the Gospel and
civilization.
It is here we see visibly the participation of the Church
in the Discovery, and where we perceive her agency, in the
benediction given by Innocent VIII. to the enterprise of his
countryman.  His successor accepts, as a pontifical obligation, the patronage of the Discovery of the New World.
He has faith in Columbus. He yields full credence to him
in extraordinary things; requires no proof from him, and
justifies his calculations.  It is solely on Columbus he
depends; it is relying on Columbus that he engages in the
vast partition of the unexplored world, between the Crowns
of Spain and of Portugal. Everything the Messenger of the
Cross proposes is granted in full, as a thing that is indicated
by Providence. The Chief of the Church imposes on the
Crowns of Spain and of Portugal the vast proportions of
the geometric calculation made by Columbus. To assign
them the limit that would maintain each respectively in its
rights, the Sovereign Pontiff, with a superhuman confidence,
draws on the map (as yet informal) of the world a line
which, departing from the North Pole, passing a hundred
leagues to the west of the Azores and the Cape de Verd
Islands, traverses the Southern Ocean to the Antarctic Pole;
thus going round the whole earth without coming across
(oh, prodigy!) the least habitable spot about which there
could be any contest.
The miraculous precision od this line was meant to secure
to Spain, in recompense for her zeal, the exclusive posses



21_A


HISTORY OF


f[BOOK I.


sion of the new  continent in its whole extent.  Some
Protestants have remarked that the Holy See, by this
demarcation, exposed itself to the danger of putting these
two rival nations in presence of each other at the same
point, inasmuch as the line passed over latitudes and
longitudes which no ship had ever traversed; and that it
is presumable that, in so vast a prolongation, the line
would cross some land. Yes, but this line has miraculously passed through the only space in which there is no
land found. Here is the prodigy of the thing!
If the illumination of Columbus's genius, that mental
look of a prophetic reach cast on the face of the earth
with so much justness and fairness, astonishes us, we are
no less seized with admiration at the absolute confidence
the Papacy reposes in Columbus.   We must bow, with
respect, before that exceptional confidence whlich authenticates and sanctions as things already verified the intuitions
of his genius.
Rome comprehended Columbus. Now, to comprehend
is, in a certain sense, to become equal to. All the sympathies of the Holy Father, and of the Sacred College, were
in favor of Columbus.
Never could there have been submitted to the chair of
Peter an affair more grave or more delicate, or one that
apparently required more slowness of action; and still, as
has been well remarked by Humboldt, " never was there a
negotiation with the Court of Rome terminated in a shorter
time." What surprises this savant is the two Bulls, " literally the same in the first half," issued "; in the interval of
twenty-four hours." *
His surprise shows how much the illustrious Protestant
was a stranger to the character of Columbus. It is precisely
this distinction between the two Bulls (when one would
have sufficed) which proves the esteem of the Papacy for


* Humboldt. Histoire de la Geographie dicu zuveaut Continent,
t. III., p. 54.




CHAP. xi.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


245


the Revealer of the Globe, and the importance it attached
to his work. In the first Bull, -that of the third of May,
- which is called the Bull of Concession, the Holy See
awards to Spain the lands discovered, with the same privileges and rights which the popes accorded to the King of
Portugal, in 1438 and I439. This is the donation made
to Spain, on the demand of her Sovereigns. But the next.day, the fourth of May, in proceeding to the separation of
these two donations, in order to solemnize the better this
unique measure without a precedent or an analogue, the Sovereign Pontiff consecrates, by a particular Bull, the boundary
Jie has fixed, which is the same as that pointed out by Columbus, in whom he has full confidence. A circumstance
characteristic of the reason why these two were separated
was this: The Pope, in speaking of Columbus in the Bull
of Concession, of the third of May, limited himself to calling him his "' dear son," without qualifying him more
explicitly. But the next day, in the Bull of Partition, or
Repartizmiento, as it is sometimes called, as if he felt it
his duty to give a more solemn testimony of esteem to
the messenger of the Good News, the Chief of the Church
characterizes, officially, the hero who had enlarged the
world.  He does not confine himself to calling him his
well-beloved son" (dilectlum j iunz); he recognizes him
as fully worthy of this mission; and certifies that he is
highly worthy of praise by many titles, - et flurimum
commendandumn; and declares that he was destined for so
great a work, - ac tanto negotio apturn.
This Bull of Partition bears, evidently, the character of a
benediction and of a divine recompense.
Here we no longer find the mode of proceeding of the
Roman chancery. The Holy Father speaks on his own
responsibility.  After having declared that he knows the
two Sovereigns to be truly Catholic monarchs; that he has
always known them, and that their piety is well known
throughout the whole Christian world, - after having mentioned their constancy, their labors, their expenses, their
2I*




246


HIS TOR r OF


[BOOK I.


fatigues, their perils, their conquest of Granada, and their
expulsion of the Mahometans, the Sovereign Pontiff recalls
to mind that they have joined to these titles of glory the
intention of diffusing the Faith in islands and in a terra
firma that are unknown, in order to have the Redeemer
adored there. The Chief of the Church declares that he
recommends to God this holy and praiseworthy object.
He moreover declares that he grants this donation of exclusive privilege, not to the direct demands of the Sovereigns, or of other persons acting for them, but that he does
it of his own accord and from his own pure liberality, acting knowingly, with certainty, and in the plenitude of his
apostolic power.*
Still, this liberality of the Vicar of Jesus Christ is, like
the greater part of papal recompenses, submitted to a
certain condition. The Sovereign Pontiff orders the two
Sovereigns, in virtue of holy obedience, to send to these
countries men of probity, fearing God, well informed,
experienced, and capable of forming the inhabitants to
the Catholic faith and good morals.
In the whole of this Bull one feels that there is a supernatural grandeur and an imposing majesty pervading it.
In concluding it, the Sovereign Pontiff reminds the two
monarchs that the source of all power, of all empire,
comes from God alone; and announces to them that, if
confiding in Him, they persevere in the accomplishment
of their design in the manner pointed out to them, God
will direct their actions, and that soon their efforts will
have the most prosperous success for the happiness and
the glory of the whole Christian world.
SE CTION    V.
While in all Christian countries the name of Columbus
was winning the highest admiration and praise, his person


* Bull of the fourth of May, I 493. Coleccion Diplomatica, num.
XV III.




CHAP. XI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMIBUS.


247


received in Spain unusual honors. At all times he was
admitted to the presence of the Sovereigns. He was treated
with the most extreme deference. Queen Isabella could
not tire of asking him questions and listening to him. She
created new armorial bearings for him, permitting him to
quarter, in his blazon, the royal arms of Castile and of
Leon with his own proper ones. Nothing was decided in
regard to the new expedition without having it submitted
to him.
Such was the favor in which he was held, that often the
King was seen riding on horseback, having at his right his
son, the heir-presumptive of the throne, and at his left the
Admiral of the Ocean, - an honor that had never an example. At this time the King felt proud of Columbus,
who had become the object of the enthusiastic admiration
of the people, and of the jealousy of the powerful.
After the Sovereigns, the first Spaniard who rendered
distinguished honors to Columbus was a prince of the
Church, - the Grand Cardinal of Spain, - Mendozza.
With this intention he gave him a splendid banquet,
assigned him the place of honor, and had him served under
a dais, as a monarch, with covered dishes; each viand that
was presented to him being first tasted before him, according to royal etiquette, and treating him in every respect
conformably to his title of Viceroy. This banquet opened
the series of festivities that were rendered him by the
highest personages of Spain, and became the rule of the
etiquette which was respectively observed in his regard.
It is with this solemn banquet that some persons have
connected the anecdote of the egg, -that insipid story to
which the mnemory of Columbus probably owes its greatest
popularity in Europe.
One of the party, it is said, having asked him whether,
if he had not discovered the Indies, some other person
would not have done so: as his only response the Admiral ordered an egg to be brought him, and proposed that
it should be made to stand on an end on the table. One




24S


HISTOR OF


[BOOK I.


after the other the guests tried it in vain; then he took it,
and brealking it a little on one extremity, made it stand on
the flattened one. Such, in substance, is the story as it is
told. Washington Irving hesitates not to give it credit.
To surpass him, no doubt, M. de Lamartine has this farce
acted at the very table of King Ferdinand.
We will not waste our time in demonstrating the absurdity of this tale by its utter improbability. In the first
place, it is without sense or wit; it proves nothing, it
explains nothing. No consequence to the point can be
inferred from it. It is no more an answer than it is an
allusion; and presents, on the whole, but a gross piece of
trickery.
It was not by breaking an egg at the end, when the question was how to maintain it by its own equilibrium, that
the Admiral showed the cause of the Discovery. It was
not by this low artifice, - this want of delicacy, - that he
would show his superiority of genius and of perseverance.
Would Columbus have explained the favors with which
Providence had loaded him, and justified the truth of his
theory by a juggler's trick? and, still more, by a clumsy
trick, not to say an unfair one?
The circumstances of time and of place tend no less to
contradict this silly story. Who then would have dared,
whether at the table of the Sovereigns, or at that of the
Grand Cardinal, to propose so impertinent a question to
the Viceroy of the Indies?  Who would have ventured a
question that would be as disobliging as it would be disrespectful?  And how could the Admiral have forgotten the
rules of etiquette to the point of giving orders to his august
host, and ask that an egg be brought him? Was this sport
compatible with the number and the dignity of the guests?
None of the Spanish historians have mentioned such a
circumstance. The Milanese, Girolamo Benzoni, the only
old historian who relates this miserable story, was, no
doubt, unable to distinguish his former recollections from
each other. At any rate, the anecdote of the egg is most




CHAP. XI.]


CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


249


positively of Italian origin; we recognize it as such, and
we have every reason to think that Columbus must have
heard it from the lips of his own mother. With some
probability it has been attributed to the celebrated architect
Brunellesco, by whom the church of Santa Maria del Fiore
raises its cupola into the sky of Florence. Here the fact
does not seem improbable, however trifling it may appear
to be. Around a joyous table at a tavern, Florentine artists
may come to these bantering questions, to these jggllings,
where jesting holds the place of reason, and where one can
avail himself of "pill and poll" rather than of logic. At
such a table we can easily conceive such a trivial trick to
be played, but not elsewhere. Before us, Voltaire has said
that the story of the egg was referred to Brunellesco.*
Upon this point we are entirely of his opinion.
For the dignity of history, we beseech our readers to
recite no longer this miserable anecdote, and not to impute
to the Revealer of the Globe so unworthy a trick. To believe it would be to misunderstand strangely his genius, his
dignity, his elevation of sentiment, and the atmosphere of
glory and of respectability which his grandeur at that
time inspired.
A satisfaction superior in his mind to all the honors he
had yet received, came to increase the happiness of the
Viceroy of the Indies. He had the joy of learning that his
respectable father, still enjoying all his intellectual faculties,
rejoiced in his success, or rather his triumph, as did formerly the patriarch Jacob at the elevation of his son Joseph.
Christopher was, also, the next in dignity after the King.
On his return to Spain he sent to his father a trustworthy
person to bear to him marks of his pious affection, and to
ask him for permission to attach to his service his young
brother James, afterwards known as Don Diego, then a
wool-comber at Genoa. The old gentleman courageously
consented to have this last link of the family circle rup

* Voltaire. Essai sur les Mceurs, c. CXLIV.




250


HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


tured, and to remain without any of his children. We
have proof that after the second departure of the Admiral
the old wool-comber still remained in the neighborhood of
Arco, which he had chosen on quitting Savone.
At the time we are speaking of, James Columbus, aged
twenty-six years, was working at his trade. On receiving
his brother's letter he abandoned, without pride, his woolcombing business, to become in a few weeks aid-de-camz
to the Admiral of the Ocean, and afterwards administrator
and Governor-General ad inferim. With that facility, or
rather with those graces which Providence bestowed on the
posterity of the old comber, in quitting the workshop to
mix with the grandeurs and honors of Spain, James, or Don
Diego, appeared not to be out of his sphere. He soon attracted respectful notice, as is shown by the following
circumstance:
The seven Indians led by Columbus to Barcelona had
learned from him the principles of Christianity. He inspired them with Faith. They besought, of themselves,*
to be admitted to baptism, which they were judged qualified to receive. A grand pomp solemnized these religious
first-fruits of the Indies. The King, the Infant Don Juan,
and the first personages of the Court, were tle sponsors of
the catechumens. Don Diego Columbus became one of the
seven godfathers. He, after the King and the Infant, occupied one of the five first places of the Court at this
ceremony. As for Christopher Columbus himself, being as
a father to all the Indians, he did not become the godfather
of either of them; for in the Catholic Church the father
cannot serve as godfather to his own children. The favor
accorded to Don Diego, on the occasion of this baptism,
shows what a sovereign influence the Admiral then exercised on the Court, and on public opinion.


* Herrera.  Histoire des Indies Occid., dec. I, liv. II, chap. v.




CHAP. xII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


25i


CHAPTER XII.
Preparations for the Second Expedition. -The first Bureau of the
Colonies. -The Father Superior of La Rabida embarks with
Columbus
SECT1ON.
HAT man, after having so long endured the airs of
patronage or pity of those who had seen him wait
patiently, in vain, in antechambers, finding himself immediately, in his turn, sought and solicited by the great, would
not have enjoyed his triumph over fortune? Still, history
does not detect in Columbus the least symptom of weakness.
Writers have been unanimous in lauding his modesty and
unvarying artlessness. He wished he could escape from
those noisy praises and those pompous receptions, in order
to go to Rome, and depose at the foot of the Holy See the
account of his voyages, and to implore for spiritual favors.
But the service of the Crown of Castile would not permit
this pilgrimage. John II., King of Portugal, listening to
the advice of his courtiers to have the precedence of Spain
in the new expeditions, prepared for the matter secretly.
Each Court had its secret agents in the other, to apprise
it of everything going on that concerned it. So, as soon as
the Spanish monarchs received certain information of the
designs of Portugal, they displayed great activity.  A
worldly-minded ecclesiastic, Don Juan de Fonseca, Archdeacon of Seville, but a bureaucrat by instinct, and a
brother to men in high credit with King Ferdinand, was
charged to provide for the armament of the fleet, and to
superintend the execution of the measures already prescribed by Columbus when going to Seville. Conjointly




HISTORY OF


[BOOK I.


with this Director, or Superintendent-General of the Marine, there was created the office of Controller-General, to
which Juan de Soria, of a bureaucratic family, was promoted; then, the place of Paymlaster, to which Francisco
Pinelo seemed destined as a matter of right; he was a
member of the municipality of Seville, had a reputation
for probity, and was the person who lent the Queen five
millions of maravedis for this armament. Such was the
first germ of that powerful colonial administration which
was afterwards to become the roval Council of the Indies.
Among other preparations for the new expedition, an
order to freight a vessel of two hundred tonnage was
issued to Juanoto Berardi, a Florentine fitter-out, established
at Seville, who was in relation with all the ports in the
matter of provisioning ships. He was familiarly known at
court by his Christian name, Juanoto. He had as first
clerk a countryman of his, an excellent arithmetician, an
amateur of cosmography and of polite literature, who, if he
did not amass a great fortune in conducting the affairs of
his patron, prepared, by his relations with the Admiral,
the bases of a renown which has surpassed his knowledge,
his merit, his voyages, and, probably,. his pretensions.
This clerk was naemed Amerigo Vespucci.
Afterwards, the Queen adjudged an annuity of ten thousand maravedis to the Admiral, as being the first who perceived the light on the island of San Salvador.
The next day, the twenty-fourth of May, the Queen
ordered him to be paid, by Francisco Pinelo, a thousand
doubloons in gold, to defray his expenses. The twventysixth, an order was issued, that wherever he should arrive
he should have lodgings gratuitously for himself, as well as
for the five domestics of his suite, and that all the baggage
of his household should pass duty free.
Two days after, the Adimiral was nominated CaptainGeneral of the Fleet of the Indies. He was authorized to
make direct nominations, himself, to all the offices of the
new government. The royal seal was confided to him, with




CHAP. XII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


253


authority to use it as he may judge proper: and, afterwards, the Sovereigns, by a solemn act, confirmed all the
titles and privileges that were assured to him by the treaty
of Santa Fe.
Loaded with marks of consideration, with testimonials
of admiration and of gratitude, Columbus at last took his
leave of the Sovereigns. After the audience he was conducted from the palace to his dwelling by the whole Court,
with great ceremony.
It was thus that he left Barcelona loaded with honors,
with felicitations, and bearing with him the high hopes that
Spain had reposed in him.
SE CTION II.
Still, in the midst of this general triumph, a voice was
heard in the crowd execrating and cursing Columbus: it
was that of a sailor of Seville named Juan Rodriguez Bermejo, who, the first on board the Ptinta, halloed " Land!"
the night of Wednesday, the twelfth of October, I492, and
who claimed the annuity of ten thousand maravedis. He
conceived. it is said, such spite because it was adjudged to
another, that he went over to Africa and became a Mahometan, thinking of finding more justice among cMussulmans
than among Christians.
It has been said that this dispute with a poor sailor about
the recompense, " little accorded with the acknowledged
magnanimity of Columbus."  Fortunately, the disinterestedness of the Admiral defends him from every suspicion of
cupidity. He was the first who perceived land, since he
saw the light at ten o'clock, and announced what the obscurity of the night did not permit the sailor to see until
two in the morning. The fact sufficiently justified his
claim to the royal prize. Moreover, this title of annuity
becoming an official proof of the priority of Discovery, the
Admiral should not cede his right to any person.
On the morrow of his departure, the Sovereigns ad22




254


HISTORr OF


[BOOK I.


dressed general instructions to the Admiral for the government of the colony he was to found. It is a curious fact,
that these instructions were nothing more than the co6rdination of Columbus's own ideas, and that they all had been
suggested by him only. So he received as a rule of conduct, his own judgment. The first lines of this document
that have come down to us, testify once more the religious
sentiments of the Queen, and her appreciation of the superhuman character of the Discovery. Filled with respect for
the Revealer of the Globe, Isabella seemed to have resigned
into his hands the sovereign authority of the new countries.
She decided nothing without consulting him; and when
she desired to nominate any person in the government of
the Indies, she demanded from him the approbation of the
Admiral.
The Sovereigns having received fiom Rome the Brief
nominating a Vicar-Apostolic for the Indies, addressed an
official copy of it to Father Boil, - a religious of the Benedictine Order, highly esteemed by Ferdinand for his tact in
diplomacy, - charging him to prescribe everything that
was necessary for the divine service.
Desiring to provide for it with magnificence, Isabella
made a gift, to the future church in the Indies, of all the
necessary material, of sacred vessels, and a complete set of
ornaments taken fiom the royal chapel. Twelve religious,
chosen from among the different religious orders, were to
accompany the Vicar-Apostolic.
From the Court, messengers were despatched in quick
succession to the Admiral, and to the Director of the Marine,
to hasten the departure of the fleet. The end of July had
come; the Admiral had received the solemn homage of the
Commandant and Captains of the Fleet. He reviewed a
small corps of cavalry from Granada that was to emlbark
at Cadiz. The horses were noble animals, and worthy of
the accoutrements of their riders. The Director and the
Controller of the Marine, having an interest that the keen
eye of the Admiral should not perceive the secret arrange



CHAP. xIi.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


255


ments made with the sub-contractors, became openly hostile
to him. Juan de Soria, to make a parade of his virtue at
Columbus's expense, and to show his incorruptible integrity, refused to enter on the file of equipments a domestic
belonging to the Admiral, although, in his quality as Chief,
the latter could give orders to everybody. His functions as
Controller, his zeal for the Crown, already involved in so
many expenses, forbade him to yield to the desire of the Admiral, which he taxed with being extravagant. Feeling
that he was sustained by the Director, Fonseca, he went so
far as to be wanting in personal respect for the Admiral;
the latter piously bore the indignity in silence.
The conduct of Juan de Soria became the topic of conversation at Court. The Vicar-Apostolic, sensible of the
outrage, wrote about it to the Queen. Father Boil was, at
that time, one of the sincere admirers of the elect of Providence.
Isabella immediately wrote a letter to Columbus capable
of repairing the offence. The same day, -the fourth of
August, - she wrote to the Archdeacon of Seville, recommending to him to have the greatest regard for Columbus; to smooth every difficulty, and to see that nobody
opposed him. She enjoined him to satisfy him in everything, - not only in the matter, but also in the form. She
charged him to notify Juan de Soria that he would have to
conform to the desires of the Admiral; that he must oppose
him in nothing whatever, and to say to him that his conduct gave her much displeasure. The next day, not being
able to contain her indignation, she had a severe letter
written to the Controller of the Marine, intimating to him
that she required that the Admiral should be treated with
consideration and honor, and conformably to his title, and
threatening him with chastisement in case of a second offence.
The eighteenth her resentment had not yet calmed; in
sending orders to Fonseca, concerning the departure of the
fleet, she again reminded him of the regard he owed the
Admiral, and, addressing other orders to Juan de Soria, she




256                 HISTOR     OF              [BOOK I.
could not refrain from again reprimanding the latter for his
past fault.*
In order to cut short all diffirences that may arise in
regard to tlle fperso;zel Columbus may take witl him at
the expense of Castile, the Queen fixed the household of the
Grand Admirial at thirty persons: ten squires afoot bearing
swords, and twenty domestics of every grade, in pay of the
Crown. Isabella recommIenlded further that the Admiiral
should be pleased in everything, because she desired it,
and such was her good pleasure; and that she would be
much displeased if the reverse should happen.
It would be hard to carry royal fvor foarther. The sincerity of Isabella cannot be doubted. To her admiration
for the extraordinary man whom Heaven had sent her as
a visible recompense for her faith, were joined delicate
sympathies, strengthened by conformity of views in many
respects, and producing a tenderness almost maternal.
It is to be regretted that the long correspondence between
the Queen and the Admiral, henceforward lost to the world,
is reduced to some friagments of official missives, the greater
part of short and of only commonplace interest. The last
letter the Queen addressed to Columbus at the moment of
his entering on his second voyage, shows with what fineness of intellect and scientific curiosity she pursued the
question of the Discovery.
Twenty days before that on which the minister of Providence went again to explore the ocean, the Queen, in
returning him the book of his navigation, — which remlained
in her hands, and of which she had taken a copy, - assured
him that save the King and herself, no mortal had read a
word of it. She said to him that the more she read it, the
more she saw how much his scientific knowledge surpassed
any that was ever possessed by a mortal being. She
* Letter of the fourth of August, to Fonseca. Of the fifth, to Juan
de Soria. Schedule of the eighteenth of August, to Juan de Soria.
Colec. Diplomnat., Nos. LXIII., LXV., LXVI.




CHAP. XII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


257


insisted on having hydrographical and geographical directions, which would enable her the better to follow on the
chart the islands and lands he would have discovered. She
desired that he should mark the degrees and measure the
distances on the chart, which she requested him to send
her, promising him to keep it concealed if he so desired
it. To solace him in his scientific observations, she counselled him to take with him  a good astronomer; and,
thinking of anticipating his wishes, she had the ingenious
address of nominating, as if done by herself, his faithful
friend, Father Juan Perez de Marchena, whose name,
through mistake, she wrote " Antonio" in place of "Juan."
" Because," said she, " he is a good astronomer, and it has
always appeared to me that his sentiments are perfectly
conformable to yours." * At the same time, in order to
prevent delays, she enclosed an order signed in blank,
that he may inscribe on it the name of the astronomer he
would prefer.
It was just that this Franciscan, who was the first to appreciate the mission of Columbus,- who welcomed him in
his lowliness, participated in his theory, had a presentiment
of the existence of the New World, and who had prayed to
God and supplicated the Queen for its Discovery,- should
be the first to celebrate the sacred mysteries in the immensity of the ocean, and the first to bless these unknown
shores in the name of Christ the Redeemer. And to
bring this about, a singular concurrence of circumstances
operates in his favor. Without solicitation on his part, he
is called by the Queen to this voyage. It is as a savant
that he is a member of the expedition. It is by this title
that he is on board the Admiral's ship, forms a part of the
ship's officers, necessarily disembarks with them to take
every possession, and thus finds himself the first priest, the
first religious, that enjoyed the happiness of planting the
Cross in the new soil.


* Documentos Diplomat., number LXXI.




*




BOOK II.
CHAPTER I.
His Departure. - His Arrival at the Canaries. - He determines to
consecrate to the Blessed Virgin the first Lands he will discover,
and directs his Course to the Caribbees. - The second of December he announces that Land will be discovered the next day,
which becomes a fact. -Diego Marquez wanders in the Land
of the Cannibals. -Dominica, Guadaloupe, Montserrat, Antigua,
Santa Cruz, St. Ursula, and the Eleven Thousand Virgins.
SECTION I.
A   NUMBER of boats were ploughing incessantly the
Bay of Cadiz. Fourteen caravels anchored around
three large caracks, the most elevated of which, the Maria
Galanta (the Gracious Alary), bearing the standard of
the Admiral, contained within them the preparations for a
colony.
Besides provisions, seeds, young trees, wheat, rye, oats,
and leguminous plants, to confide to the bowels of the earth,
the Admiral caused to be embarked some animals, particularly horses for reproduction, farming utensils, chalk, brick,
iron, etc. Without counting the ships' officers, the religious,
military men, laborers, gardeners, blacksmiths, masons,
carpenters, and domestics,- forming an effective number of
five hundred men in the pay of the Crown, -a number of
persons, of every age and of every rank, rendered enthusi(259)




260


HIS TOR 2 OF


[BOOK II.


astic for the regions of spices and of gold, solicited the favor
of going there at their own expense. Only seven ihundred
could be admitted, who were distributed among the caravels. But such was the greediness for gold, that more than
three hundred of these fortune-seekers glided secretly into
the ships. What a contrast between the consternation and
the tears that characterized the first departure from Palos,
and the overflowing of joy and the lively anticipations that
now resounded around the fleet!
On board the Gracious alfary there were remarked Gil
Garcia, alcaid-major; Bernal Diaz de Pisa, lieutenant of
the controllers-general; Sebastien de Olano, receiver of the
crown taxes; the astronomer, Father Juan Perez de Marchena; the physician-in-chief, Doctor Chanca; some hidalgos; Melchor Maldonada, a cousin to the cosmographer
of that name; and two baptized Indian interpreters, one of
whom had as godfather the brother of the Admiral, and
called the same as he was, - Diego Colon. There also was
seen, as a simple passenger, the estimable Francisco de
Casaus, better known under the name of Las Casas. His
son, Barthelemy, whom his ardent love for the Indians
ought one day to immortalize, was then pursuing his first
studies at Seville.
The Admiral, somewhat ailing, but with a mind ever
vigorous, had by him his youngest brother, Don Diego,
-whom hle took with him, and his two sons, Diego and Fernando, who came to give him their last embraces and
adieus. At the moment when it was announced that the
wind was favorable, the Admiral found himself well; and
the twenty-fifth of September, an hour before sunrise, in
sight of his two sons, (who gazed on him from the shore),
fiom his ship, the Gracious i.]ary, he gave the order for
sailing.
The fleet, spreading their sails with alacrity, followed
him, steering for the Canaries, where they put into port.
They arrived there the first of October, departed the next
day, and on the fifth came alongside of Gomera, to take




CHAP. I.]   CFiRISTOPIER COLUMBUS.              261
in wood and water, and purchase calves, goats, and sheep,
which they thought could be more easily acclimated in the
new countries than the animals raised in Spain. There
they took in eight hogs, the parent stock of nearly all the
hogs of the Antilles and of the new continent.
The seventh of October, each captain of a caravel received
a sealed letter, which he was not to open but in case of his
getting separated from the fleet by bad weather. It marked
the route to be followed to arrive directly at Hispaniola.
Columbus directed his course further to the south than he. had done in his first voyage. He wished to come to the
terrible Caribs, of whom he had heard such dreadful reports, and he took the direct course to get to them. The
Admiral had chosen the Gracious lMary for his pavilion,
because of her name. It is known that he was very devout
to the Blessed Virgin.* He placed his second voyage under
her special protection, and resolved to give her name to the
first islands he would discover. The patroness of mariners,
the Ocean Star, seemed pleased with this homage, and to
favor his voyage. There were none of those fields of seaweed they met with in their first voyage.
On the evening of Saturday, the second of November,
Columbus was convinced, from the sudden variations of the
winds, the character of the rains, and the color of the
waves, that land must be close at hand, though nobody else
even suspected it. He was so certain of it, that he gave
orders to take in sail, and to have arms ready for any event
that may occur. He judged with his usual sagacity. Early
in the morning of Sunday, the third, a mountainous island
was descried in the west, which, in honor of the day, he
named Dominica.
Solemn thanks were rendered to God by the whole fleet.
The joy was extreme; for all the raw voyagers, having found
that their life on board was much more constrained than
what they were accustomed to, sighed for land. In making


* Herrera. Histoire gener. des Voyages. Dec. i., liv. vi.




262


HISTOR OF


LBOOK [I.


for this island, another one was discovered to the right of
the Graciozes iliary. It was covered with tall forests. A
little further on, four others were perceived. The Admiral, not being able to find a convenient port in Dominica,
directed his course to the second island. He landed on
this, bearing the royal banner of the expedition, and took
possession of it in the name of their Highnesses, in legal
form; and, consecrating it to the Virgin, le gave it the
name of his ship, Jlaria Galanta. Father Boil and his
religious were not on board the Admiral's vessel, but on
board another one. In his quality as astronomer, the friend
of Columbus, Father Juan Perez de Marchena, was by him.
He was thus the first minister of Jesus Christ that trod
the soil of the New World; and he must have been the
person that blessed all the wooden crosses that Columbus
planted in all the lands he discovered, to express the object
of his enterprise, and to render homage to the Redeemer.
The next day, the Admiral made for the largest island
of the group, and gave it the name of Gzuadalozpe, in
grateful remembrance of Our Lady of the Convent of
Guadaloupe, in Spain, and agreeably to the promise made
to the religious of that monastery.
The smallest of the caravels was sent to find a landingplace. Tie captain, having found a place for anchoring,
went ashore, accompanied by some of his men, and entered
some houses whence the inhabitants had fled without waiting to take all their children with them. Here they found
two very large parrots; a quantity of cotton, some spun and
some woven; a quantity of provisions, and especially four
or five bones of the legs and arms of human beings.
The Admiral found himself in the principal of these
Caribbean islands, towards which he directed his course
in leaving the Canaries. With a precision which savors
of a prodigy, he came in a straight line to the centre of the
principality of the cannibals; for Guadaloupe, which its
ferocious inhabitants called Turitquiera, was the seat of
the confederation of the man-eaters.




CHAP. I.]


CHRISTOPHER COL UMB US.


263


SECTION I.
The next morning, the Admiral sent into the interior
some detachments, under the conduct of captains, to procure some information about the inhabitants of the island.
These detachments were distributed in certain places, which
they reconnoitred in vain, and returned without being able
to find a single man. They met with a little boy, whose
father, no doubt, left him in order to flee more speedily.
They also brought with them some foreign women, who
were retained captives in the island, as well as a youth of
about fourteen years of age. They took and brought with
them some native women also; but these would not go to
the caravels, only constrained by force.
In the evening, Diego Marquez, charged with the command of one of the caravels, having gone ashore, without
permission, with eight men, did not return aboard. The
next day they did not appear, and therefore the Admiral
became very uneasy about them. It was feared that they
were devoured by the Caribs; for they had among them
very able mariners, who, by the sole observation of the
stars, could find their way back. The Admiral sent some
strong parties in search of them; he had trumpets sounded,
and arquebuses fired in the woods. After having waited in
vain two days, to rouse the spirit of discipline he feigned to
be going to depart, saying that, as they went ashore without
his permission, they must abide the risks and perils. The
friends of Marquez implored him not to abandon these unhappy people to the ferocity of the cannibals. He appeared
to be overcome by their supplications, and waited longer.
In the mean time he took in wood and water, and had the
matter of washing strictly attended to. Then he sent the
fearless Alonzo de Ojeda, whose sagaciousness was known
to him, to search everywhere around, at the head of forty
men.   Notwithstanding the activity of Alonzo's march
across trackless forests, and his discharging arquebuses




264


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


and sounding the trumpet at intervals, he returned without a trace of his countrymen, or even of a native.
The Admiral, on his part, made, with the ship's officer,
fiequent incursions into the island, examining the soil and
the deserted dwellings of the tribe. They saw a number
of human skulls, that were used as utensils; found in one
house the neck of a man cooking in a kind of pot, and in
other dwellings several human heads and limbs suspended
from the beams of the houses, as if curing for provisions.
They learned from the captive women that the men of
that part of the island, to the number of about three hundred, with their chief, had gone in ten large canoes, to
catch men for their provisions, in the neighboring islands.
They went even to the distance of a hundred leagues in
these canoes, to seize on men whose flesh appeared to them
a delicious dish. They did not much esteem that of women
or of children. Still, as the occasion offered, they seized on
both children and women, —the former to fatten, and to eat
them when they would come to the age of puberty; the
latter to serve them as slaves, or as mistresses, when their
beauty would merit that honor. If they had children by
them, the unfortunate little ones were not spared. In spite
of the entreaties of their mothers, they were unfeelingly
mutilated, employed in various offices until puberty, and
then slaughtered for eating. The cannibals treated them
like capons, in order the better to fatten and to improve, the flavor of their flesh. They preserved only the children
whose mothers were born in the island.
More than twenty captive women followed the Spaniards
to their vessels, and three young boys came also to seek
refuge among them. These unfortunate boys had all three
undergone mutilation.  At several times, captives came
begging the Spaniards to take them with them. Columbus, after having decorated them with hawks'-bells and
glass beads, had them  sent on shore, against their will.
He thought the sight of these ornaments would determine
some of the islanders to come to receive such presents.




CHAP. I.]


CHRISTOPHER COL UB US.


265


But the next day, when the sailors went ashore for water,
the captives ran to them, deprived of their ornaments.
Their masters had brutally stripped them of their finery.
They implored the strangers to take them away, liking better to abandon themselves to them than to remain exposed
to the cruelty of the cannibals.
At the moment the fleet, after eight days' waiting, was
on the point of weighing anchor, Diego Marquez and his
companions were seen, leading with them ten women and
boys. Their haggard and exhausted looks bespoke what
they had suffered. Vainly did they climb trees, to know
where they were. The forests were so dense as almost to
exclude the light.
Notwithstanding their hardships, and his joy at their
return, to make an example of them Columbus had the
firmness to put the captain under arrest, and to deprive
of part of their rations the eight men who had strayed
away without permission.
The next day, at noon, the fleet coasted an island that
was high and picturesque. The Admiral named it M1ontserrat, in honor of the celebrated sanctuary of the Virgin,
at the hermitage of that name. But no trace of culture or
of population was discovered on its shores. Taking advantage of its proximity to them, the cannibals had depopulated
it even to the extinction of all human life. "The Caribs
had devoured all the inhabitants." Columbus, viewing the
place with sadness, passed on without remaining long
there.
In the evening another island was discovered.  The
Admiral, placing it under the patronage of the Blessed
Virgin, called it Santa Mlaria del Rotunda.
The next morning a new island, of beautiful appearance,
was discerned in the distance. The Admiral put this one
also under the patronage of the Virgin, giving it the name
of Santa lfaria la Antigua, which it still bears, under
the abbreviation of Antigua.
The following day they anchored at an island in which
23




266


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


they saw villages and signs of cultivation. A boat, well
manned. was sent on shore, to get water and procure
information. They found a village deserted by the men;
but they secured six women and a few boys, captives from
other islands.
The boatmen, as they were returning with their capture,
perceived along the coast a canoe, containing four men, two
womeni and a child, come out firom a little cove.  The
Indians were so stupefied with astonishment at the aspect
of the fleet, that they remained for more than an hlour
motionless, with their eyes fixed on the ships; and as, in
their amazement, they had not noticed the boat, it stole
close to them, cutting off their retreat to the shore. The
Caribs, at last perceiving the manoeuvre, resolutely took
their bows and arrows; and, although they had to deal
with more than twenty-five men, the women, as well as
the men, commenced attacking.  They soon pierced two
of the Spaniards with their poisoned arrows; and'were it
not for the bucklers and cuirasses of the boatmen, the latter
would soon have experienced much evil, so strong were
their bows and unerring their aim. Seeing this, the captain had the boat run against the canoe, which was upset.
The Caribs did not the less discontinue shooting their arrows, swimming, as dexterously as if they were on land. At
length they escaped, diving into the water. The Spaniards
were unable to capture only one of these ferocious islanders;
but, soon after he was brought on board, he died from the
effects of a wound he had received in the conflict.
The next evening they perceived an island, which
Columbus named Santa Cruz (Holy Cross). The day
following, he came in sight of a large island, which was
followed by a train of upwards of forty islets. The principal of these he named Santa Ursula, and the others he
collectively called T/e Eleven Tzhousand Virginzs.
The next day they reached a large and beautiful island,
the native country of the Indian women who had taken
refuge on board the caravels. The natives called it Bori



CHAP. I.]   CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.                267
quen. The Admiral, coming to change its destinies, gave
it the name of the precursor of the Divine Master. He
named it Sanz z7an Baitisla. Exposed to the incursions
of the Caribs, the inhabitants, like their enemies, made use
of bows and arrows; but only in self-defence. Their neat
dwellings and fruitful gardens denoted their possessing a
certain degree of ingenuity.
The Admiral now turned his course to Hispaniola, towards the fortress whose garrison occupied his solicitude.
They perceived a land which nobody in the fleet knew.
Although Columbus passed along a coast which he had
never approached, it appeared to be familiar to him. Of
the mariners who had already come to Hispaniola, 1' all
were uncertain whether it was the island they were seeking."  Still, " we did not the less," says Dr. Chanca, " with
the grace of God and the scientific knowledge of the Admiral, take a route as direct as if we had followed a known
and traced way."




368


IHIS TOR OF


[BOOK II.


CHAPTER II.
Ruin of the Garrison left at Hayti. - Guacanagari suspected. -
Founding of the City of Isabella. -Unknown Diseases.
SECTION L.
N the twenty-second of November, the fleet entered
the Gulf of Samana, which the Admiral named Las
Flechas, the " Gulf of Arrows." He at the same time
assured them that they had got to Hispaniola. Continuing
his exploration towards the north, he examined the qualities
of the soil, for, in leaving his little garrison in the fortress,
his intention was not to found a city there.
While a boat was sounding the mouth of the Rio del
Oro, or Golden River, distant from the fort about seven
leagues, some mariners who went ashore found two dead
human bodies in the grass; one having his feet bound with
a cord of Spanish grass, the other with a cord about his
neck, and his arms extended and tied by the wrists to a
stake in the form of a cross. These bodies were in such a
state of decay, that it was impossible to ascertain whether
they were those of Europeans or of natives. The next
day they found two other bodies, one having a beard, which
no longer left any doubt of their not being Europeans.
This aspect of things produced gloomy forebodings.
Immediately they steered towards the little fortress. It
was night when they arrived in its vicinity, but though they
came in sight of its situation, they could distinguish nothing. The fleet stood at anchor about a league from land,
not venturing among the reefs upon which the Santa Maria
had foundered the preceding year. All eyes were anxiously




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


269


directed towards the site of the fort, hoping to see some
light, or hear some sound. Nothing, however, was heard.
Astonished at this dead silence, the Admiral ordered two
shots to be fired from cannon of the largest calibre, to see
if the fortress would respond to them; but the artillery
of the fortress made no response. Everything remained
in the silence and immobility of the tomb.
Towards midnight a rowing of oars was heard; it was
that of two Indians who demanded to see the Admiral.
His vessel being shown them, they rowed up to it, declining
to go on board. They desired first to see Columbus personally, being unwilling to trust anybody else. The Admiral came and spoke to them from the barricading; but
such was their distrust, that they demanded a light to assure
themselves that it was he, and no other. On their demand
being granted, as soon as they recognized Columbus they
mounted on deck without hesitation, and testified great
joy in seeing him.
They brought him as presents two golden masks, sent
him by Guacanagari, to whom one of the envoys was a
cousin. They spoke freely in the presence of the ships'
officers. On their being asked by Columbus concerning
the fate of the Spaniards, they answered with great znaivete
that they were well, although several had died of diseases,
or of the combats they had with each other; that others
had gone to distant places, each taking four or five wives
with him. They also said that the two caciques, Caonabo
and Mayreni, having made war on Guacanagari, burnt his
dwellings, and although he was wounded in the leg, he
would come on board the next day with them. Several
times during the interview they were plied copiously with
wine, and they left, about three o'clock, tolerably intoxicated.
It appears that at a moment of bacchanalian unguardedness
with the Lucayan interpreter, Diego Colon, one of them
avowed to him that all the foreigners were dead. When
the faithful Diego Colon reported this to his godfather, the
Admiral's brother, he was not believed. On account of the
23*




27o0


HIS TOR r OF


[BOOK II.


difference between the dialect of Guanahani and that of
Hispaniola, he had ill understood what had been confided
to him.
The light of the next morning showed a deserted shore.
There was no shouting, nor no rowing among the waters,
and no human form appeared on the beach. All was still
and silent; judging from the first voyage, they expected to
see a multitude of canoes joyously surrounding the fleet,
ofTering all kinds of native productions in the way of exchange, or even as pure gifts. This estrangement of the
natives appeared to be of evil augur. The Admiral sent
some men to the residence of Guacanagari, but they found
it reduced to ashes. They perceived no Indians, but in
their dwellings they found some remains of European
clothing.
The Admiral, accompanied with the staff-officer, and a
party, came ashore, and went straight to the place where
the fortress had been erected, but alas! there remained only
the site; everything was burnt or demolished. Overcoming his grief, he ordered excavations to be made under the
ruins, to find a well, in which he directed the gold and
precious things that would be acquired in his absence to be
thrown, in case of sudden danger. It was found, but nothing was discovered in it.
While these labors were going on, the Admiral, with his
escort, went along the shore to look out for a site for a city.
They came to a small village, the inhabitants of which fled
at their approach. In the houses they found a number of
things that belonged to the Spaniards, and which certainly
could not have been obtained in the way of barter, such as
a beautiful Moorish robe, stockings, whole pieces of cloth,
and the anchor of a caravel.
TWhen Columbus returned to the ruins of the fortress,
some Indians with candid looks were there, who were bartering gold. They understood several Spanish words, and
knew the names of all those who had remained with Diego
de Arana. Near by they pointed out the graves of eleven




CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


27I


of his men, already covered with herbage. They all said
that Caonabo and Mayreni had killed them.
Other Indians made their appearance gradually.  A
brother of Guacanagari came, escorted with guards, to present his respects to the Admiral, whom he saluted in
Spanish, and telling him that all the Christians were dead.
His account of the causes of the disaster was in every
respect conformable to what the preceding Indians had
related. Quarrels had arisen among the Spaniards about
gold and about women. The authority of Diego de Arana
was set at nought. His two lieutenants, Pedro Guttierrez
and Escobedo, having killed a man named Diego, went
away with nine others, who revolted with them, into the
provinces of the King of the Mountains, Caonabo, a prince
of Caribbean origin, who immediately put them to death.
Others, with arms and ammunition in their hands, deserted
to remote places, in order to traffic for gold at their ease.
Others, in parties of three or four, marauded about the
country, entering the dwellings of the Indians, eating their
provisions, taking away their wives and daughters, and
maltreating the men. The protection King Guacanagari
extended to the Spaniards caused the Indians to bear these
outrages patiently; but the tyranny becoming insupportable,
they sought to deliver themselves from these strangers,
whom they thought to have come from heaven, but who
had made a hell of their existence. The brave Arana, the
only officer who had remained faithful to the flag, with ten
others, kept at the fortress every night.  Unfortunately,
depending too much on their cannon, and on the timidity
of the natives, they neglected having sentinels, and went to
sleep, all at the same time, in perfect security, as they
imagined.
Caonabo, who was surnamed Lord of the Golden Houso,
in concert with a neighboring cacique, amassing a numerous
army, cautiously traversing the forests, came by a night
march and surrounded the fort. They invested it without
opposition, all being asleep. At the watchword from




272


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II,


Caonabo, his warriors precipitated themselves on the ramparts, yelling their frightful war-cries, and got possession of
the fortress before the inmates could put themselves on their
defence. The latter were all massacred, and the fortress
was burnt down. Then Caonabo turned his warriors to
the other Spaniards who lived outside the fortress. All
the dwellings were set on fire, and eight of the unhappy
victims, pursued by the Indians, rushed to the waves, and
were drowned.
Guacanagari had the generosity to fly to the defence of
his unworthy guests; but he was too late. In an engagement between his troops and those of the Lord of the Golden House, Guacanagari, more brave than able, was put to
flight, and himself wounded by a stroke of a stone from
the hand of Caonabo. His troops gave way at the first
shock. IIe took refuge in a wood, and the conqueror burnt
his residence before he could reenter his territory.
Columbus assured those he left at the fortress that they
were in perfect security, provided they would adhere to his
injunctions. They had everything necessary for the wants
of life, and the generosity of Guacanagari provided bountifully for its comforts. In following the recommendations
of Columbus, they would have preserved their original
influence over the minds of these people, who believed
them to be immortal. They could have made them Christians, and happy vassals of the Crown of Castile. Still,
after having lost the prestige which the conduct of Columbus had gained for them, their disorderly conduct and
oppressions would have remained unpunished, if they had
at least adhered to his last injunction, which was, - Never
to separate fiom each other, or to sleep outside of the
fortress.
SE CTZIO     IL
The Admiral nominated a commission, composed of two
engineers, an architect, and a shipbuilder, under the presidency of Melchor Maldonado, to make a topographical




CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


273


report to him of the most suitable site for a city. While
the commission were coasting the shore in a boat, a canoe,
in which were two Indians, hailed them. The pilot recognized in one of them the brother of Guacanagari. He
came to request the strangers to visit the king, who was
confined from his wound. Maldonado, accompanied by the
members of the commission, went ashore, and proceeded
to the residence of the monarch, which was composed of
about fifty buildings. They found him stretched on a hammock, surrounded by seven women. He testified his regret
at not being able to see the Admiral; told how Caonabo
and Mayreni had massacred the Christians, and wounded
himself. The members of the commission believed in the
sincerity of his words. When they were leaving, he gave
each of them a golden ornament, and charged them to tell
the Admiral that he would be grateful to him for a visit, as
he was not in a state to go to see him. Besides these
entreaties, the brother of Guacanagari was sent to Columbus, to give him a direct invitation.
The next day, after dinner, the Admiral ordered his
seventeen caravel captains to go ashore, richly dressed in
glittering arms. He soon joined them with his staff officer,
whose rich costume would have attracted notice in a large
city. He never neglected anything that was calculated to
produce a favorable effect. With this brilliant cortege he
arrived at the dwelling of the king, who had prepared to
receive him.
When Columbus appeared, Guacanagari, without leaving
his hammock of cotton network, exhibited great emotion
and respect on seeing the Admiral. In expressing his
regret for the death of the Christians his eyes filled with
tears. He recited their deplorable end, and did not forget
the efforts he had made to save them. He pointed out on
several of his subjects scars evidently received from Indian
weapons, and the bandages that enveloped his own bruised
leg. As Doctor Chanca had brought vwth him a surgeon,
who belonged to the marine, Columbus told the king that




274


HISTORr OF


[BOOK II.


they both were very skilful in curing wounds, and invited
him to show his wound or bruise to them. This he did
readily. Doctor Chanca, finding there was not light enough
in the apartment for the examination, said he could see
better in the open air. The cacique, leaning on the arm
of the Admiral, left his hammock, and, as soon as he was
seated, the surgeon removed the bandages. Guacanagari
told Columbus that the sore was produced by a stroke of
a stone. No trace of contusion or bruise could be perceived externally. Still, he seemed to suffer when it was
pressed, or the limb was moved.
The impression of the Spaniards was that the lameness
was feigned. Father Boil, impressed with this opinion,
believed that Guacanagari was an accomplice in the massacre of the Spaniards; he was of opinion that he should be
immediately arrested and made an example of. But Columbus, remembering the many marks of attachment he
had received fiom him, that his place of dwelling was
burnt down, the recent scars of his subjects, and the conformity of his statements to those of the other Indians he
had interrogated, refused to believe that he was guilty.
Father Boil, who, as a diplomatist, considered he was a
thorough judge of human nature, was nettled at the confidence Columbus still reposed in the cacique, notwithstanding these appearances of guilt. The Admiral told
him that it was at least prudent to dissemble until his guilt
would be fully ascertained, and even if it should turn out
that he was really guilty, it were better not be in haste,
lest they should, on their landing, have a multitude of
enemies to encounter; and that it would be more prudent
to retard the punishment of the crime, and then render it
more terrible.
Guacanagari gave the Admiral, as presents, eight marks
and a half of gold, a coronet of gold, three calabashes full
of gold-dust, and a cap encircled with precious stones, and
thought himself oftdone in munificence when presented




CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


275


with some Venetian mirrors, hawks' bells, and copper ornaments; -for the Indians preferred copper to gold.
At the departure of the Admiral, the cacique, notwithstanding his lameness, accompanied him to the ships. The
sight of these numerous vessels struck him with astonishment. Hitherto he had never seen only two caravels, of
middling size, at the first voyage of Columbus; now he
was on board a very large vessel, which appeared to command the rest of the squadron. The cattle, asses, sheep,
swine, and goats were wonders to him, but the Andalusian
horses struck him with amazement. He noticed some Carib
prisoners, whose chains had not subdued their fierceness;
he contemplated them  with fear and shuddering, even
though they were in chains.
His attention was more agreeably arrested in another
part of the vessel. Among the ten women who had been
delivered from Carib captivity, and who were installed on
board the Gracious Mlary, was a young female distinguished
above her companions by a queenly loftiness of air and
manner, and whom they called Dora Catalina. Guacanagari
addressed her some words of courtesy, with tender looks of
sympathy. Notwithstanding the difference of the dialects
they spoke, they understood each other fully, and entered
into an agreement in the presence of all, without anybody
suspecting it.
The Admiral had a collation prepared for the cacique,
gave him marks of friendship and confidence as in former
times, and told him that he intended settling near him and
building lhouses. Guacanagari expressed much satisfaction
at the idea, but observed that the situation, on account of
its humidity, was unhealthy, which was indeed the case.
Columbus spoke to him of God, of Jesus Christ, trying
to induce him to become a Christian, and desired he would
wear suspended from his neck a medal of the Blessed
Virgin until he would be baptized. But when the cacique
understood that it was a symbol of the religion of the
Christians, he refused it. It was only through the irresist



276


HIS TOR r OF


[BOOK II.


'ible entreaties of Columbus that he was induced to accept
of this sign of a worship against which he had become
prejudiced by the gross licentiousness of the garrison. Still,
notwithstanding his desire to please the Admiral, he appeared to be ill at ease. Father Boil found, in this circumstance, a confirmation of his suspicions, and counselled
anew to have him arrested. Columbus would not consent
to it; something inexplicable assured him of the innocence
of his guest.
Guacanagari, without comprehending exactly what was
going on, saw plainly, fiom the cold and reserved air of the
Spaniards, that they were no longer the same to him as in
the first voyage of the Admiral, and that Columbus alone
was always good,    always worthy of reverence. He
asked permission to return to land before sunset.
The next day, the natives were seen in large numbers on
the shore. A messenger fiom the cacique came to inquire
of the Admiral when he was going to sail, and was informed that it would be the following day. At a later hour
the brother of Guacanagari came on board the Gracious
Mary, under the pretext of bartering some gold. Avoiding
the presence of the interpreter, Diego Colon, he spoke to
the Indian women, and especially to the beautiful Catalina,
to whom he conveyed a message fiom the king, his brother.
About midnight Catalina gave the signal to her companions; they noiselessly let themselves down from the side of
the vessel into the sea, and swam bravely for the shore,
which was three miles off. A blazing light on the shore
was the beacon which love had provided for the fugitives.
With all their precautions they were overheard by the
watch, and the alarml was raised. During the time necessary for manning the boats, they had got the advance, so
that they reached the land safely before the boats could
come up to them. Four of them were retaken on the
beach, but the high-spirited beauty Catalina made good
her escape into the forest.
When it was day, Columbus sent to Guacanagari to de



CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


277


mand back the fugitives. The officer charged with the
message found neither the cacique nor any of his subjects.
His residence was silent and deserted. All had departed,
taking with them their effects, provisions and utensils.
This desertion confirmed the suspicions of the guilt of
Guacanagari.* Columbus alone refused to condemn him.
SE CTION      II.
The president of the topographical commission reported
that a suitable site, near a convenient port, had been found.
While they were directing their course to it, the weather
changed and became unfavorable. It cost more pains to go
back thirty leagues than it did to come all along from
Spain. Yet this contrariety had its advantages. They
were constrained to put into a harbor that abounded with
fish, and were struck with the advantages of the place.
It was provided with an excellent port, and was near two
rivers, watering a soil that was inexhaustibly fertile. At a
short distance were stones fit for building. The plateau
was protected on one side by an impervious forest, and on
the other by a natural rampart of rocks, which commanded
the port, and which could easily be rendered impregnable.
They decided to go no farther. Doctor Chanca considered
"this place the best situated in the world," and thought
that Providence had conducted the fleet there, in seeking
refuge from bad weather.
It was with unspeakable pleasure that the greater part of
the Spaniards, strangers to a sea-faring life, took possession
of the verdant soil, the odoriferous shades, and the unknown
fruit of this country, where, in trees always green, birds
built their nests as they do in spring-time in Europe.
The provisions, guns and ammunition, and implements
of every kind, were stored in buildings that were immediately constructed.
* Petri Martyris Anghieri, Decad. I, lib. Ix.
24




278


HIS TOR r OF


[BOOK II.


A plan of the city was formed, and, when Columbus had
determined its proportions, he laid, in the name of the Most
Holy Trinity, the foundation-stone of it, giving it the sweet
name of Isabella.
In his estimation, the service of God surpassing all other
considerations, the first edifice that was erected should be the
church. It was pushed with such activity that, on the sixth
of January, the anniversary of the entrance of the Sovereigns
into Granada, High Mass was solemnly celebrated in it by
the Vicar-Apostolic, assisted by Father Juan Perez de Marchena and the twelve religious who accompanied Father
Boil.
Only three public buildings were built of stone. The
houses of private persons were built of wood, plaister, or
earth. Everybody tried to have a dwelling for himself, so
that, in a few weeks, Isabella had the appearance of a small
city. At the same time, vegetables and cereal crops grew
with great rapidity. The Indians, whose fears were removed by the affable countenance of Columbus, were earnest
in aiding the Spaniards in their labors, and considered
themselves handsomely paid in receiving some European
trifles.
In order to hasten the completion of Isabella, the first
city of the Spaniards in the New World, Columbus, as it
were, multiplied himself, being almost everywhere at the
same time. This incessant fatigue undermined his strength,
and he fell sick, without his mind losing its vigor. While
he watched at the founding of the colony, he studied the
means of securing its prosperity. He often inquired of the
natives respecting the interior of the island, and sent a caravel to explore it. He became persuaded that Isabella was
the natural outlet of the gold mines of Cibao, distant three
days' journey. The joy of this news was lessened by the
invasion of a quasi epidemic disease, under the ravages of
which the stoutest hearts of the expedition became discouraged.




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


279


CHAPTER III.
Europeans disappointed in their Hopes. - Fraud of the Purveyors of
the Marine. - Conspiracy against Columbus. - Revolt. - Enmity
of the Vicar-Apostolic towards Columbus.
SECTION I.
T   HE hidalgos who had come out with so much enthusiasm to seek for gold, did not know how rude the life
of a mariner is. The rations, consisting of salted meat and
fish, and mouldy biscuit, did not agree with their constitutions. The fatigues consequent on the building of their
houses, and other causes, but particularly the alternations
of heat and wet weather, produced deadly fevers.
As the Admiral was somewhat ill at the time when things
were put on board at Cadiz, he could not himself inspect
the provisions, animals, and munitions. It appears that
Juan de Soria, the controller of the marine, did not neglect
availing himself of this circumstance. At the unshipping
at Isabella, it was found that the greater part of the provisions were damaged, or in insufficient quantity. The
better part of the wine had leaked, on account of the casks
being badly bound. The supply of medicines fell far short
of the order given by the physician-in-chief. The superb
chargers which the Admiral had reviewed at Seville were
replaced by mean horses. We can now conceive the instinctive repugnance of Columbus towards the controllergeneral, Juan de Soria, and why the latter was the irreconcilable enemy of the man who knew his frauds. Thus, in
the first expedition of a royal fleet to the New World, we




280


HISTORr OF


[BOOK II.


already find the immoral speculations and fraudulent connivances with which the administration of the marine has
been so often reproached.
The frauds of the bureau of Seville aggravated, then, the
condition of the colony from its commencement. Cruel
disappointments and discouragements were experienced.
Still, the sailors, soldiers, and laborers, accustomed to
fatigues, continued the works so perseveringly, that by the
end of January a large number of houses were erected, and
the Admiral had the city surrounded with a wall of dry
stones, in Arabian fashion.
Desiring to avail himself of the favorable weather for the
return of the fleet to Spain, and to procure more provisions,
the Admiral sent back all the ships except five, which were
destined for the colony, as well as for making further discoveries. He placed the fleet under the command of Antonio de Torres, who sailed in the Gracious Mary. He
intrusted to Torres a memorial, which the latter was to
present personally to the Sovereigns, with some specimens
of native gold.
This precious document, which has descended to us with
the marginal annotations of the Sovereigns, is the best testimony of the eminent superiority of Columbus in matters
of government and public administration. We perceive in
it, under the veil of human prudence, that faith in Providence which was the basis of his character and the secret
of his sublime aspirations. It is seen that, fiom minute
financial details to great social influences, nothing escaped
him. No mind was more positive than his, or more accurately practical, notwitstanding the poetic grandeur of his
views.
The fleet sailed on the second of February, I494. By
order of the Admiral, it carried the Indians (men, women,
and children) he had taken on the Caribbean islands to
Spain, in order that, becoming Christians, they may come
back and serve as interpreters. The Caribs, it appeared to
him, would be of great utility in this respect, because,




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


28I


coursing all the islands of the archipelago, they were familiar
with their different dialects.
As soon as the fleet had quitted Hispaniola, great disquietude began to possess those ardent and frivolous minds,
strangers to every kind of labor, who had attached themselves to Columbus, thinking they could amass fortunes
amid the flowers and delights of these unknown regions.
Reality now stared them in the face. Many of them
expressed their disappointment and discontentment to each
other, and sought to leave the exile they had imprudently
imposed on themselves. The metallurgist, Firman Zedo,
an ignorant and blabbing man, disgusted with his sojourn
in the island, decried it to his heart's content. He insisted
that it contained no gold, that the shining specimens which
the Admiral was pleased to decorate with the name of gold
were only lamellas, or grains of mica, or of a matter that only
resembled gold. He declared that the wrought gold brought
by the natives was the fruit of hereditary savings; that the
sources were entirely exhausted, and that nothing could be
obtained from them to repay for the search. His declarations dispelled the charm. The discontented, to become
seditious, only needed a leader. They found one in the person of Bernal Diaz de Pisa, the lieutenant of the paymastergeneral, a functionary appointed by the Sovereigns.
Taking advantage of the sickness of Columbus, he determined to institute a kind of inquiry regarding the conduct
of the Admiral, and to show by numerous witnesses that
he deceived the Sovereigns by a delusive report; and that
there was nothing but ruin and death to be expected in this
island, full of impenetrable thickets, and inhabited by a
naked and sottish race, just the people fit for such a country.
Bernal Diaz and his abettors were to take possession of the
buildings at night; but at the very moment when the plot
was going to be executed, the Admiral, suddenly restored to
health, and informed of the evil design, had the chief coispirator immediately arrested; on his person were found
the proofs of his crime, written by his own hand, together
24*




282


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


with the names of his accomplices. The Admiral could
immediately have had him judged according to the rigor of
the laws, but he limited himself to securing his person, and
sending him back to Spain, with an account of the proceedings, in order that the Sovereigns themselves may judge
his case. The clemency of Columbus has been admired
by historians. Irving cannot refrain from saying: " The
Admiral conducted himself with great moderation. Several of the inferior mutineers were punished according to
the degree of their culpability, but not with the severity
which their offence deserved." *
Still, notwithstanding the generous forbearance of Columbus, this chastisement, so conformable to law and justice,
and to the exceptional position in which he was placed,
became the source of accusations and implacable recriminations. Those who, perhaps, would have been the victims
of the revolt, became the detractors of the Admiral, whose
firmness, tempered with clemency, saved them from ruin.
Castilian pride could not bear to see hidalgos punished by a
foreigner, and he a Genoese. The malcontents felt that
they were sustained at Court by their families. Columbus,
alone, a stranger, and now absent, must succumb.
To guard against any recurrence of such another attempt,
Columbus ordered the guns and munitions to be taken from
four of the vessels, and put into the principal one, which
was devoted to him. Then, leaving the five ships to the
command of his brother, Don Diego, to attend to the malcontents, he advanced to the mountains of Cibao. There,
according to what the Indians had told, there were mines
of gold. The very name of the king of these mountains
was of good omen. He called himself Caonabo, which
means " Lord of the Golden House."
In order to strike the natives with astonishment in his
march, he chose the most vigorous of his men and horses,
* Washington Irving. History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. Book vi., c. viii.




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


283


and set out with the greatest order, surrounded by his principal officers, at the head of his cavalry, which supported
a regiment of about eighty men, divided into sections. He
maintained in his little army the strictest order, so as to
excite wonder at a distance by the regularity of their movements. After having gone over the rolling ground which
lies between the sea-shore and the mountains, they came to
a narrow and rugged defile or path, which the cavalry could
not pass. It was the only route that led directly to Cibao.
The exuberant vegetation, and the ruggedness of the way,
arrested the progress of the expeditionary corps.
At the request of the Admiral, a number of high-spirited
young cavaliers, who had learned the service of pioneers
under Queen Isabella, set bravely to work, and in a few
hours opened a road for the troops. In honor of the gallant cavaliers who had effected it, it was called " El Puerto to
de los Hidalgos," or The Gentlemen's Pass.
This obstacle having been overcome, the army, from the
top of the mountain, beheld a majestic plain, extending as
far as the sight could reach, watered by several rivers,
which, in their serpentine meanderings, diffused freshness
and life on their borders, where the luxuriant vegetation of
a tropical clime lavished its indescribable richness. The
art of the natives coming to the aid of nature, converted
this abode into an enchanted garden, interspersed with parterres, orchards, groves, meadows, leaf-covered bowers, and
light habitations.
At the sight of this enchanting view, Columbus stopped
his horse, and made the column halt, in order to gaze
undisturbed at the scene, and to raise his heart to the
Author of these beauties, and thank him publicly for being
permitted to behold so magnificent a scene. He named it
the Vega Real, or Royal Plain.
In approaching the habitations, the trumpets were
sounded, the banners displayed, and the tambours beat
the charge. Seized with fear and wonder, some of the
natives came before these powerful strangers, to gaze at




284


HISTOR 2' OF


[BOOK II.


them with respect, and offer them the fruit, provisions, and
gold they possessed; while others, scared, took to flight, or
shut themselves up in their cabins, thinking themselves safe
behind their barricades of reeds. The Admiral forbade
forcing the fragile asylums, or disturbing their inhabitants.
He reached the banks of the Yague, a small river, the
mouth of which he had seen in his first voyage, and which
he had named the Golden River.
For two days, the royal standard of Castile was carried
among numerous populations. Afterwards, they came to a
chain of lofty mountains. It was the district of Cibao, the
domain of the " Lord of the Golden House."
On Saturday, the fifteenth of March, it became necessary
to open another route for the cavalry. The next day the
expeditionary corps ascended with ardor the rugged slope.
Gradually the vegetation became less abundant. On the
borders of rivulets and rivers they beheld only pines and
cabbage-trees; besides, the rugged surface presented only
vexatious undulations, intersected with rocks.  Still the
Spaniards looked with joy on these things, because they
saw particles of gold in the bottoms of all the streams,
which indicated that there were mines in the vicinity.
On his route the Admiral found some unknown plants,
and collected some amber and lapis lazzli; he also discovered a metalliferous vein, showing the presence of copper. He resolved to continue his explorations no farther,
but to secure the advantages he had gained by a fortress,
which would protect the communications between the
mountains of Cibao and the port of Isabella. He chose a
suitable site on a rocky plateau, which the Yague, with its
pure and fresh waters, almost surrounded, forming a natural
defence for it.  The climate was salubrious.  A born
architect, the Admiral planned a fortress for this place.
From the height of the ramparts, which were constructed
of wood and stone, the eye beheld a delightful savanna.
He called this fortress St. Thomas, because of the incredulity of the Spaniards in regard to the gold of this region,




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


285


until they had beheld it with their eyes, and touched it with
their hands, in the beds of the rivulets.
Columbus, after having traced the route which was to
connect Isabella and Fort St. Thomas, appointed fifty-six
chosen men and some horses to the latter place, under the
command of Pedro Margarit, the father of a family, and
destitute of fortune, whom he himself had recommended
to the Sovereigns,- a circumstance to be noted, inasmuch
as this officer became afterwards one of the principal causes
of the misfortunes of the colony and of the troubles of the
Admiral.
SECTION IIZ
After Columbus returned to Isabella, he had scarcely
recovered from his fatigues when he received a message
from  Pedro Margarit, informing him  that the cacique
Caonabo was preparing to besiege the fortress. Without
being much alarmed, because he knew the timidity of the
Indians, their fear of horses and of fire-arms, the Admiral
still sent it a reinforcement of seventy men, with an additional supply of provisions. Then he set about having the
city of Isabella completed.
The fertility of the soil appeared incredible. Leguminous
seeds germinated in three days, and arrived at maturity in
three weeks. The thirtieth of March,- Easter Sunday,a laborer presented Columbus with some ears of wheat
which he had sown at the end of January. They were
certain of obtaining two crops in the year. Still, this hope
would not suffice for present needs. The fever raged to a
great extent. The able-bodied laborers, overtasked, became
disheartened, and did but little work, while the hidalgos,
wrapped up in their pride, yielded to bitter regrets, and
cursed the Admiral and the Discovery. Without being of
any utility for the colony, they consumed the provisions,
which began to decline visibly. The greater part of the
meats was spoiled, the medicines were nearly used, and




286


HISTORT OF


[BOOK II.


there remained but a small quantity of wine. The wheat
alone offered some resource; but it was necessary to use it
with economy.
The Admiral thought of distributing in the interior of the
island the troops, consisting of four hundred infantry and
sixteen cavalry, in order to leave only the workmen and the
sick in Isabella. In the mean time, he commenced putting
on short allowance all the members of the colony, without
exception of rank or person. He was himself the first person to submit to the common law. This measure of safety
appeared insupportable to certain persons. The flour being
exhausted, the rations were distributed in wheat in its crude
state. Everybody was then obliged to grind his own wheat
with a hand-mill. But there were not mills enough; besides, the volunteers, the hidalgos, and those who, accustomed to easy lives, had come to the island to amass
fortunes, refused submitting to the required labor.  The
sick and the convalescent could not of course do it; and
the common laborers, obliged to do it alone, in addition
to their other work, became sick, or feigned to be so.
Columbus considered it would not be just to have all the
weight of this calamity fall on the poor laborers. The erection of a public mill, and the completion of a canal, which
he wished to pass through the centre of the city, were the
only means to remedy these inconveniences. He ordered
that labor at these two works of public utility should be
obligatory, under severe penalties.  The necessity of the
case justified this severity; for this collective and temporary
labor would, in a short time, render irregular daily labor
unnecessary, and, without much effort, would give bread
to all in a convenient manner. But Castilian pride revolted
at the idea. The employes, the men of the royal household,
and the hidalgos, felt profoundly humiliated to be obliged
to work at manual labor.
The Christian soul of Columbus, arising above the considerations of rank and prerogatives, maintained the principle of equality before the law of danger and that of public




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


287


safety. All healthy persons, distributed in companies, had
to do their share of the work, and the chastisement of the
refractory secured the execution of the measures. No consideration could move him, and his salutary inflexibility
was a grievance which the Castilians would not pardon.
But he gained his point, and the event justified the sagacity
of his course.
Columbus laid down, as a principle, this maxim of the
religious of the early ages of the Church: " He who does
not work does not deserve food." To noble idlers and lazy
self-seekers he presented the choice of work or retrenchment
of rations. For this he was accused of cruelty,- a charge
which the Vicar-Apostolic invested with the appearance of
truth. The latter, without perhaps meaning to go so far,
instilled into the minds of the disaffected the spirit of disobedience and revolt.
Here a short explanation in regard to Father Boil, and
his evangelical labors, becomes necessary.
Father Bernard Boil, a native of Catalonia, and a Benedictine monk of Montserrat, was in high credit at Court,
for his knowledge, his ability, his acquaintance with diplomatic affairs, his shrewdness, and the fertility of his intellect; moreover, his moral character was irreproachable.
He had not come to the Indies of his own accord, moved
by the spirit of his vocation, and had not sought the
apostolate.
Nominated by the Sovereigns to this Vicariate-Apostolic,
he obeyed, in embarking for it, as if he were going on a
mission of diplomacy,- a matter for which he had a natural aptitude. His choice of the greater part of his fellowlaborers, partook of that want of divine election which was
the case with himself. Among those he took with him,
some were really qualified to evangelize the poor idolaters;
but the greater number of them, better qualified for the
quiet regularity of a cloister, found themselves without
power or influence in their new mode of life. They had
no zeal or facility for learning the language of the natives,




288


HISTOR r OF


[BOOK II.


and speaking to them of God. They edified nobody, they
consoled nobody, and they (lid not even console themselves
for their estrangement; but passed their time in criticising
the conduct of the Admiral, and in sighing for their native
country.
From the time of his arrival in the colony, Father Boil,
until then a great admirer of Columbus, was opposed to
him on the subject of the supposed complicity of Guacanagari in the massacre of the Spaniards at the fortress. He
was mortified that the Admiral should seem to believe
rather in the savage than in his own penetration as a diplomatist.  Hence the enmity of the Benedictine against
Columbus.
While the pious brother Juan Bergognon, a religious of
the Order of St. Francis, and brother Roman Pane, called
the " poor hermit," of the Order of St. Jerome, were engaged in studying the language of Marcorix, - the dialect
which was most generally understood throughout the island,
-the Superior of the Mission, disgusted with the poor
Indians, wrote to the Queen to acknowledge the uselessness of his sojourn among them, on account of the difficulties of their language, and requesting her to order his
return.
In spite of the opposition to which we have referred,
the needed public works were completed, through the
firmness of Columbus. He sent the garrison of Isabella
into the interior of the island, to explore it thoroughly;
to show the natives the banner of Castile, and the power
of its subjects; to find the beds of gold, all the riches and
all the resources of the country, and its strategetic conveviences. This measure presented to the colony the advantage of causing its provisions to last for a longer time, and
of accustoming the soldiers to live on the diet of the natives.
The Admiral then sent all the troops to Pedro Margarit,
under the conduct of Alonzo de Ojedo, who was to take
charge of the command of the whole army, while Margarit
was to have that of Fort St. Thomas.




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COL U1MB US.


289


CHAPTER IV.
Voyage to Cuba.- Discovery of Jamaica.- The Queen's Gardens.
-Periodical Storms. - He desires to crush the Power of the
Caribs. - Columbus falls into a Lethargy. - Bull of Partition. -
Treaty of Tordesillas. -Wonderful Firmness of Pope Alexander VI.
SE CTION.
IN order to follow more easily the first footsteps of the
Castilians and the operations of Columbus in Hispaniola, we will briefly mention its political and territorial
divisions.
Five kings, or grand caciques, each having under his
orders a certain number of lords, or subaltern caciques, - a
kind of vassals, - reigned over the island of Hayti, which
the Admiral named Hispaniola. These five kings were,
Guarionex, Caonabo, Behechio, Guacanagari, and Guayacoa.
Guarionex, descended from the most illustrious stock,
governed the north-east part of the island, in which was
comprised the magnificent plain, which was called Vega
Real; it was in his territory that Isabella was built, without
his permission.
Guacanagari reigned over the north-east, from Artibonite
to beyond Monte Christo.
Guayacoa occupied the most eastern parts: those that
were most exposed to the attacks of the Caribs. His subjects were better armed than the other islanders, and knew
how to defend themselves with courage.
Behechio possessed the greater part of the island, - that
which extended from Antibonite westwards to Cape Tibu25




290


HISTOR  OF


[BOOK if.


ron, and embraced in its limits the salt lake of Xaragua, for
a long time the theme of mysterious stories.
Caonabo reigned over the mountainous parts, from the
heilghts of Cibao to the southern shore. Being of Caribbean
origin, his genealogy was unknown.   Thrown on the
island by mere accident, a romantic amour detained him
there. Having become a soldier, he put the crown on his
own head. His military talents secured his power. The
neighboring kings feared his enmity, or sought an alliance
with him.
Each of these grand caciques had under him some secondary caciques, who were sovereigns de facto in their respective districts. Save the populations of the east, who
were exposed to the incursions of the Caribs, and the tribes
under the warrior-king, Caonabo, the natives were of a
timid and pacific disposition. The delightfulness of the
climate, the facility of living without labor, a hereditary
apathy, and a propensity for vague reveries, rendered every
kind of corporal labor insupportable to them; and the more
so because their diet, almost exclusively vegetable, hardly
allowed them to prosecute any heavy labors.
After having fortified Pedro IMargarit with admirable
instructions, - comprising, foreseeing and counselling everything; the places to be traversed, the observations to be
made, the means of obtaining provisions, of rendering justice among the natives, of winning their affection and leading
them to Christianity, - the Admiral provided for the safety
of the city, which was left without a garrison, and prepared
for the continuation of his discoveries, not wishing to be
forestalled by Portugal. To act in his absence, he instituted a council, composed of Father Boil, of Pedro Hernandez, of Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal, and of Juan de
Luxan, under the presidency of his brother, Don Diego
Columbus. The choice of Father Boil will excite no surprise, when it is remembered the Admiral never revenged
an outrage done to himself; that he placed the public good
before every consideration; and that, notwithstanding his




CHAP. iv.]  CHRISTOPIER COL UB US.


291


difference of opinion with the Vicar-Apostolic, he honored
in him his official character; besides, he could not ignore
his capability, and perhaps he was disposed to give him, as
occasion may require, a participation in the official affairs
of the colony.
SECTION     II.
The Admiral chose from among the five vessels remaining at the port of Isabella the three smallest caravels, -the
2Nina, the San yuan, and the Cordera, - manned by crews
that were known to him. The Nina was commanded by
Alonzo Medel, of Palos. The Cordera belonged to a man
from Palos, Cristobal Perez Nifo. The San Yuan had as
captain a mariner from Malaga, but the crew were from
Palos or its environs.
The Admiral put his pavilion on board the Ninia, that
little ca;avel that had carried him back to Europe; and,
changing her name, he had her called the Santa Clara
(the St. Clare), in memory of the first daughter of the
Seraphic order. He took with him a few, but chosen ship's
officers -the astronomer, Father Juan Perez de Marchena;
the physician-in-chief, Doctor Chanca, and other distinguished characters.
On the twenty-fourth of April, the Admiral left the port
of Isabella, and directed his course to the west. He dropped
anchor in a port belonging to the possessions of Guacanagari, thinking that cacique would come and renew their
former relations.  He wished it the more, because the
munificent hospitality of that prince might be of great advantage to the colony, which was threatened with a dearth of
provisions; but, at the sight of the caravels, Guacanagari
retired to the woods. This circumstance came anew to
confirm the prejudice entertained against him. Still, the
Admiral did not condemn him. The cacique may be afraid
that the treasure of his heart, the beautiful Catalina, may
be taken from him.
The Admiral set sail the next day, with changeable winds.




292


HISTORT OF


[BOOK II.


At last, after four days' rough sailing, he doubled the cape
he had seen in his first voyage, and which he had named
Alpha and Omega. It is at present called Maysi. Afterwards, steering southward, he came to the admirable harbor
of Guantanamo. Having gone ashore with the staff-officer
and the interpreter, Diego Colon, they came to a place
where preparations were being made for a su1mptuous feast
before fires that were abandoned. There they found great
quantities of fish, utias, and guanas, cooked or cooking.
The Spaniards were rejoiced atfinding this bounteous feast, to
which they helped themselves. The natives had concealed
themselves at their approach. At length they beheld about
seventy of the islanders on the top of a little hill, gazing
at them with awe and amazement. By friendly signs, one
of them was induced to come near them. As the Lucayan
dialect was better understood on this coast than at Hispaniola, it was easy to dispel his apprehensions. In a short
time his fellow-countrymen approached the strangers with
gentleness and veneration. They were preparing for their
cacique a banquet, which he was going to give a neighboring cacique; and they cooked the fish to preserve it during
the transportation. The ravages which had been made of
their provisions by the Spaniards gave them no concern;
for, they said, one night's fishing would replace the loss;
but Columbus, unwilling to have their labor for nothing,
distributed among them  some small European objects,
which filled them with joy. Shaking hands with the sailors, they parted, mutually well pleased.
The next day he continued his course westward, in sight
of the coast, which he observed with attention. His caravels were followed by an innumerable throng of Indians in
canoes, who came to offer them fruit, cassava bread, fish,
and calabashes filled with excellent water. Like the other
islanders, they believed the white men descended fiom
heaven. The Admiral gave them hawks' bells and other
trinkets, which they considered of inestimable value. On
inquiring of them where they got gold, they uniformly




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


293


pointed to the south. Columbus then directed his course
in that direction.
At daybreak on Sunday, he beheld the blue summits of
lofty mountains. It was the Island of Jamaica, which he
did not reach until after a day's sailing. The island appeared to him of marvellous beauty.
As they approached land, an armada of canoes, manned
with painted warriors, brandishing their arms, and uttering
fearful yells, sallied forth from  the numerous creeks to
oppose their landing. Some presents calmed this fuiry, and
the squadron cast anchor in a port to which Columbus gave
the name of Santa Gloria, from the ravishing beauty of the
surrounding country. Afterwards he sought a convenient
place for calking the Niia, as she leaked considerably.
Here also another flotilla opposed his landing. Notwithstanding the savage yells, and some arrows directed against
the caravels, the Admiral entered the harbor, which, fiom
its commodiousness, he named the Puerto Bueno.
Needing quietness to have the calking done, and to take
in a supply of fresh water, he reflected that it would be
well to let the natives see they were not afraid of them.
Some boats, well manned and armed, were accordingly sent
towards the shore. These coming close to the beach, let fly
a volley of arrows from their cross-bows, which wounded
seven or eight of the Indians. A dog which found his way
into the party, seeing them flee, pursued them with fury,
biting them on the hinder parts while they fled.* The
next day, the caciques of that region sent envoys with proffers of peace and amity; afterwards, there came charged
t with provisions canoes whose sterns and prows were ornamented with painting and carving. These canoes, formed
from the trunks of single trees, were of colossal proportions.
One that was measured by the Admiral was ninety-six feet
*The incredible success obtained by this dog gave origin to the
idea of employing these animals as auxiliaries in the wars against
the Indians.
25*




294


HIS TOR OF


[BOOK II.


long, and eight feet broad. Here the quality of the food
was better than in the other islands; the fruit was better
flavored, and the plants had more aroma in them.
The Admiral took possession of the island in the accustomed form; erected a cross on its soil with the appropriate
prayers, and, putting it under the patronage of the apostle
of Spain, gave it the name of Santziago (St. James). In
three days the repairs of the caravel were completed; and
Columbus, after having sailed by the coast twenty-five
leagues without finding the least trace of gold, directed his
course to Cuba, to know whether it was an island or a continent. He thought he could settle the question, when he
would have coasted it some fifty or sixty leagues.
On the eighteenth of May, he came near a large cape,
which he named Cabo de la Cruz (Cape of the Holy
Cross). This coast, which hitherto extended to the west,
suddenly formed an immense bend, which swept to the
north. A tempest, such as no European ever experienced
in these latitudes, put them in great peril; when it passed
of', they found themselves in the midst of rocks or keys,
and sand-banks, between which they made a league, visibly guided by Providence. A countless number of small
islands, some low and sandy, others elevated and covered
with verdure, and of a charming aspect, formed a kind of
labyrinth. Not being able to give each of them a particular
name, Columbus called them  collectively the " Queen's
Gardens." His officers besought him to quit these parts,
where to recede was no less dangerous than to advance.
They were in continual danger of running aground.
Some phenomena of a particular character engaged the
attention of the Admiral. The variableness of the weather
presented in its caprices a kind of periodic regularity, which
was calculated to surprise the great observer of nature.
Every morning the wind came from the east, - every evening from the west; at the approach of night heavy clouds
gathered in the west, increasing as they came to the zenith,
and sending forth sheets of lightning, followed by peals of




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


295


thunder. But, as soon as the moon rose, the whole menacing mass would soon disappear. This atmospheric singularity, and the immense number of little islands, inclined
Columbus to think he was in the archipelago of five thousand islets, situated at the extremity of India, spoken of by
Miarco Paulo and Mandeville; and, although the caravels
touched ground more than once, notwithstanding the precautions of the pilots, he was unwilling to depart from this
country until he would know how the matter stood.
These islands, for the most part, were inhabited. In
the largest of them, which the Admiral named the Santa
Jfaria, they found houses, which the inhabitants fled fiom
on their approach, some geese, some herons, and four dumb
dogs, which, it was afterwards ascertained, they fattened for
their grand entertainments.*
The Admiral spent nearly a month in navigating this
dangerous archipelago. During these operations they descended frequently on the coast of Cuba, to know the extent
of that country, and whether it was an island or a continent. At last he went ashore himself, in order to solve this
geographical problem.
Some of the natives said Cuba was an island, but almost
all agreed that it had no end. Some fishermen, questioned
on the subject, said it extended endlessly to the west. The
embarrassment of Columbus soon increased. In the region
now arrived at the interpreter could not be understood, and
it became necessary to resort to the language of signs. This
imperfect mode of expressing ideas led the Admiral into an
error that was almost inevitable. On the one hand, he understood that in the west there reigned a cacique named
Magon, or Mango, wearing a long robe; on the other hand,
an archer of the expedition, who had been hunting in the
woods, saw a man clothed in white, like the almoner of the
Santa Clara; afterwards he saw two others, and, further on,
he counted thirty.t He considered it prudent to return
*Fernando Columbus. Histoire de Z'Admiral, chap. Lv.
t Viewed at a certain angle, white cranes could produce this illusion.




296


HISTOR OF


[BOOK II.


hastily to the ships. The Admiral immediately despatched
two parties of armed men in quest of these people clothed
in white, but one of these parties could not advance more
than half a league, on account of the thickness of the forests;
and the other, which was to go in a different direction by
the shore, perceiving on the sands the recent footprints of
some monstrous animals with claws,* hastened back also.
These circumstances, collated with the new atmospheric
changes he experienced, and the accounts of travellers about
the country of Mangu, or Mangon, as well as the traditions
about the Grand Khan, whose states extended to the ocean,
persuaded Columbus that he had arrived at or near the
extremity of India.
He then continued his navigation to the north-west, finding new groups of small islands, and observing, on his right,
the large island of Pines. Thinking that from the latter
the Gospel would be spread among the small archipelagos,
he named it Evanzgelista. He noticed the sudden direction
the coast took to the south, - a new circumstance which
served to confirm him in his conjectures, from its conformity
with what had been written by travellers. Again, he was
informed by natives that there was no known limit to this
coast, even if pursued during more than twenty days' travel.
The conformity of these reports, and coincident circuImstances, changed his doubts into certainty. In order to forestall Portugal in any attempts she may make, the Admiral
considered it important to take possession of the ter-ra
firma as soon as possible, and accordingly proceeded to
make a formal and authentic record of the discovery of
the continent of Cuba, which was considered the commencement of the Indies.
There were in the three caravels fifty seamen, among
whom were some pilots of high reputation, and persons
skilled in cosmography. None of them had any doubt on
the subject, and all knew the data upon which Columbus


* They were undoubtedly alligators.




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


297


founded his conjectures. They were firmly persuaded that
Cuba formed the commencement of the Indies. From these
circumstances Columbus conceived the bold project of returning to Spain in a route by Asia and the Mediterranean.
God alone, and the angels, knew at that time the form of
the new continent, the immensity of the Pacific Ocean, and
the distance that separated Cuba from the coasts 'of China
and of the Indian Archipelago. The error of Columbus,
inevitable as it was, and fiom which he could not have been
exempt save by divine revelation, serves to show the fertility
of his genius and the boldness of his inductions. In his
plan glitters the first idea of circumnavigating the globe*.
Doubling the Aurea Chersonesus and the peninsula of Malacca, he might emerge into the seas frequented by the
Arabians, and anciently known by the Roman merchants.
He might pass Tapobrana, and, continuing on, arrive at the
shores of the Red Sea. Thence he might go by land to
Jerusalem and the other holy places, - the constant object
of his solicitude and of his heroic ardor. Then he could
take shipping at Joppa, and return to Spain, traversing
the whole length of the Mediterranean. But the want of
provisions, the shattered state of his caravels, and the remonstrances of his sailors, obliged him to turn back.
SE CTIOV III.
In recompense for his fatigues during this cruise, the contemplator of Creation was invited to witness grand natural
spectacles. In proportion as he retired to the deep and
clear waters of the coast of Cuba, scenes of animated
nature vivified the solitudes of the ocean. One day they
came to where the sea was almost covered with tortoises.
The next day flights of cormorants and cranes would fill
the horizon; and the following day, the whole air would be
filled with clouds of butterflies, until the evening shower
would dispel them.
In continuing his route, he re6ntered the waters that had




298


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


formerly alarmed his men. He found the sea thick and
white, which he had crossed before arriving at Evangelista.
The heavy and turbid waves were so vividly white that they
dazzled the sight. The caravels could make but little sail,
and had to make fiequent soundings. To this local phenomenon there was soon added another, not less annoying
to the crews,thanvery curious to an inquiring mind. The
sea became as black as ink, so that nothing could be seen.
Any other heart than that of Columbus would have quailed
in the presence of such a transition. At length, on the sixth
of July, they landed at the extremity of the gulf formed by
the jutting out of Cape Santa Cruz. The Indians of the
country hastened to bring them provisions, - a matter they
much needed.
To thank God for the signal favors granted them among
so many perils, Columbus had an altar erected at the nearest shady place, and mass solemnly celebrated.
During the ceremony, an aged cacique, venerable in
spite of his nudity, came near, observing with attention
everything that was done. He perceived that the ceremony
must be of a sacred and religious character. After Columbus had finished his thanksgiving, the old man saluted him,
offering him a basket of fine fruit, which he held in his
hand; and seating himself by him, addressed him in the
following terms, through the interpreter Diego, whose dialect he understood: " It is meet and just to render thanks
to God for the blessings He vouchsafes us. It appears to be
your manner, and that of your people, thus to relder Him
homage; that is all well. I have been informed that some
time ago you came with your forces to these countries,
which until then were unknown. Remember, I beseech
and implore you, that the souls of men, on leaving the
body, enter on two ways: one, leading to a noisome and
dismal place, covered with darkness, prepared for those who
have been unjust and cruel to their fellow-men; the other,
pleasant and delightful, for such as have loved and promoted
peace among men. Beware, then, if you believe yourself




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


299


to be a mortal man, of doing injury to anybody, and bear
in mind that everybody will be rewarded or punished
according to his works."
Columbus was moved and consoled by these words.
Until then he had never noticed in the Indians anything that
indicated a clear idea of a future life. The Admiral blessed
God for havingvouchsafed this light to men of good-will,
secluded in these distant regions. This old cacique reminded him of one of those just men of the primitive law,
dwelling, like Raguel, in idolatrous countries. Columbus
answered, through the interpreter, that he came from the
extremity of the ocean, sent by his Sovereigns to teach the
true religion, to cause justice to reign, to subdue the inhuman Caribs, and force them to peace, and to protect pacific
nations.
The old cacique was overjoyed at these words, and could
not refrain from shedding tears. Then, to his great astonishment, the interpreter told him of the grandeur of the
monarchs of Spain. Conceiving the highest idea of the
strangers, and especially of their chief, he suddenly announced his resolution of following them. Forgetting his
years, he desired to traverse the ocean, to behold those
things the description of which had excited his curiosity.
But his wife and children cast themselves at his feet, imploring him not to quit them: at length he listened to their
remonstrances, and consented to remain among his own
people.
Columbus remained several days at anchor in the river,
which, from the masses celebrated on its banks, he named
the Rio de la Miisa, and the natives brought him abundance
of provisions. He had some repairs done to the ships, and
had supplies of water, wood, and fresh provisions taken in,
and on the sixteenth of July he directed his course to Hispaniola; but, as he was about doubling Cape Santa Cruz,
a violent squall struck the ships, and nearly threw them on
their beam-ends. Their promptitude alone saved them;
fortunately they were able to take in sail immediately, and,




300


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


letting go their largest anchors, kept from driving. But
the Santa Clara was so much damaged by the keys that
she leaked on every side, and the utmost exertions of the
crew could not prevent the water fiom gaining on her. To
add to their troubles, their stock of provisions began to run
out; each man had, per day, only a biscuit and a cup of
wine. The Admiral, unwilling to fare better than the
others, contented himself with the rations of a sailor. The
danger was so great that he wrote to the Queen, in giving
an account of this expedition: " God grant that my fiatigues
may be profitable to His service and that of your Highnesses. Never could self-interest make me expose myself
to so many fatigues and perils; not a day passes that I am
not every moment exposed to death." The billows burst
with so much violence, that they sank the sides of the
Santa Clara under water. The crew no longer expected
any human succor to raise the ship, held down by the
weight of the anchors. In the imminence of this impending shipwreck God aided His servant, and enabled him to
take shelter in a little cove of Cape Santa Cruz, where the
natives brought him abundance of cassava bread, fried fish,
fowl, and fruit of every kind.
The Admiral remained here three days, to rest his sailors,
and to repair the damages done his ship. The wind continuing contrary for the return to Hispaniola, he stood
across for Jamaica, to complete his exploration.  There
also he was assailed by storms, and his men became quite
fatigued.
The wind having changed to the north-east, the Admiral
directed his course to Hispaniola. He did this in so unerring a manner, that the next day, the twentieth of August,
he arrived at the western cape of the island, which he
named S/. 3iiichael. On the twenty-third a large canoe
approached the caravels, having on board a cacique, who
said, in a loud yoice, in Spanish, " Admiral, Admiral, how
could you have conjectured that this cape belonged to
Hispaniola?"  In truth, he did not know that it did; he,




CHAP. iv.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


30o


however, found himself there, come in a straight line, with
such precision, that it seemed miraculous.
In reflecting on the character of that impious race who
for so many ages had desolated the homes which Providence had prepared for the peace and happiness of its children, and calling to mind their continual violation of the
laws of humanity, and their ruthless descents on peaceable
populations who shuddered at the sole mention of their
name, he resolved to subjugate the whole race, and to make
them labor for the advantage of the people they were accustomed to devour. By this act of justice he hoped to win
the grateful affections of the islanders for the Christians,
whose faith he desired they would ardently embrace.
While waiting to see what the Queen would decree in
relation to these ferocious savages, he desired, at least, to
go with his caravels to the Caribbean archipelago, to search
for the haunts of the cannibals, and burn their canoes, to
prevent them from continuing longer their depredations.
He hoped to be able to make them powerless for evil, and
to oblige them to remain in their islands, and cultivate
them, in place of their transporting other men there to
fatten for their feastings.
After having endured some new storms, on the twentyfourth of September the Admiral perceived the most eastern cape of Hispaniola, to which he gave the name of the
archangel RapSael. Notwithstanding the crazed condition
of the caravels, the weather becoming calm, he directed his
course to the Caribs, whose power he wished to crush.
But God, no doubt, willed that His servant, the messenger
of peace, the gentle dove, the emblem of spiritual regeneration, should not effect a mission of chastisement, or of
vengeful punishment. As soon as they passed the Island
of Mona, borne by a favorable wind towards the haunts of
the cannibals, the invisible power which until then had
sustained him was suddenly withdrawn. Abandoned now
to the laws of nature, Columbus was obliged to submit to
their rigorous exactions.
26




TT T r' I" /~% 7-D 'I-        /'% TZ


r

302                 11  1 UKl I  r UP         LBOOK II.
It was just five months since he had departed from Hispaniola.  For a hundred and fifty consecutive days, his
study of nature, his examination of waters and soils, his
contemplation of the wonderful works of God, his efforts
to reconcile with each other the contradictory statements
of the natives to attain some geographical verity, and his
prolonged struggle against the elements, maintaining his
soul, his intellect, and his body, in a triple activity, exhausted all his forces. The feeling of his responsibility,
and the necessity of constantly directing the navigation
himself, were too much for his age, his infirmities, his
want of nourishment, and his privation of sleep.
All his organs became simultaneously torpid. His brain,
as well as his eves and his limbs, yielded to fatigues that
surpassed human endurance. There was a total suspension
of all his physical and moral faculties. It was a state of
complete lethargy. Were it not for the pulsation of his
arteries, and the flexibility of his members, one would have
believed his sublime soul had returned to its Creator.
Under these circumstances, the pilots, left to their own
counsel, spread their sails for the harbor of Isabella.
SECTION IV.
Two months before the departure of Columbus on his
second voyage, Portugal addressed Castile a protestation
against the Bulls of the third and fourth of May, I493,
which, it alleged, infringed on the rights with which her
Crown was previously invested.
Castile, fearing to see a change in the friendly relations
existing with her ally, desired to have the reclamation
attentively examined. The thirtieth of July, I494, Isabella
charged Don Guttiere de Toledo, professor in the University of Salamanca, to send her forthwith the masters in
astronomy and in geography he would judge most capable,
in order that they should confer with the pilots she had
assembled.




CHAP. iv.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


303


Meanwhile, Portugal, while addressing herself to Castile,
was not inactive in regard to influential members of the
Pontifical Court. She used all the resources of her diplomatic art to obtain from the Holy See, under some form,
an invalidation, or a retraction, of the Bulls accorded to
Spain. But to the importunities and solicitations of John
II. the Pope answered, simply, that he had in advance
anticipated all contestations in drawing a line of demarkation from one pole to the other, and that his donation was
irrevocable.  The Court of Spain, having informed the
Holy See of the reclamation of Portugal, received from
the Pope precisely the same answer.
Still, Portugal did not consider herself defeated.  She
returned to importuning the Holy See, advancing, as reasons, her priority in maritime discoveries, her pious intentions, and several considerations drawn from geographical
science. All were useless; the Pope remained immovable.
The Holy Father depended with such confidence on the
boundaries fixed by the data furnished by Columbus, that he
referred the ambassadors and envoys to the Bulls of the
third and fourth of May, I493.
A circumstance in this controversy, hitherto overlooked
by historians, but which, however, shows very plainly the
providential character of the papal line of demarkation,
deserves to be remarked here.
It appears that the Queen of Castile herself, foreseeing
already the possibility of the marriage of the Infanta, her
daughter, with the presumptive heir of John II., to prevent
every cause of disagreement with her powerful neighbor,
was noways averse to consenting that the Pope should
revise his Bull of Partition, and modify it so as to be more
favorable to Portugal. Isabella considered it a simple matter of course that, at her own request, the Holy See would
restrict a privilege solely accorded in her favor. She was
so sure of it, that, in writing to Columbus the fifth of
September, 1493, she spoke of the amendment of the Bull




3o4


HISTORT OF


[BOOK II.


as a thing already obtained.* The Queen of Castile joined
her entreaties to those of John II. The two parties interested being thus of accord, it was expected that the pretended error of the Bull would be rectified.
But when, in his Bull of Partition, the Holy Father declared that he had made the donation by the spontaneous
impulse of his own liberality, without regard to any entreaty,
and acting in virtue of his apostolic plenitude, he attested a
truth no less formal than it was imposing. So, respecting
himself, the incomparable donation, given without any external human impulsion, and in which he seemed the first
to recognize the character of a divine favor, the Sovereign
Pontiff remained immovable in his determination.  He
rejected the solicitations and the modifications proposed
by Spain, as he had rejected the persisting reclamations
and the obsequious supplications of Portugal. His decision
remained as inflexible as a divine decree. The Holy Father
had pronounced in his quality as Chief of the Church; his
word already existed in time as irrevocable as the accomplished and the indefectible. All this is strange and marvellous. In such a case, the greatest saint and the grandest
genius, united in the same person, could not have acted
better than did Alexander VI. Still, in order to put an
end to these complaints, and to show the immutability of
his resolution, the Pope issued, on the twenty-sixth of September, a Bull, by which, in confirming his donation to the
Sovereigns of Castile, he extended it in place of limiting it.
This Bull took its title from its object, and was called, in
diplomacy, the " Bull of Extension " (.Bua de Extension;).
From that time, the contest remained between the two
Crowns.
The pertinacity of Portugal, and the yielding disposition
of Spain, who did not wish to alienate an ally to whom she
was going to be still more united by the ties of blood, were
such, that with a common accord they signed a treaty in the


* Coleccion Dzilomat., num. LXXI.




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


305


city of Tordesillas, by which they respectively bound themselves to abide by a boundary that would be agreed on by a
learned commission composed of an equal number of Spaniards and of Portuguese, who would be charged with correcting the pretended errors of the Bull.
What was the consequence of the yielding temper of
Spain and the jealous ambition of Portugal, and what was
the result of the change made in the decision of the Holy
See? This deserves notice.
When he sanctioned the calculation made by Columbus,
and when he made the partition of the unknown and of the
future contingent, in fixing as a line of demarkation the one
pointed out by the Revealer of the New World, t-he Sovereign Pontiff, without saying it, munificently gave Spain
the new continent in all the integritv of its extent!
The commission, without regarding the line traced by
the Sovereign Pontiff, as if it did not exist, agreed to draw
another straight line, running from the Arctic to the Antarctic Pole, and passing three hundred and seventy leagues
to the west of the islands of Cape Verd. This was removing the line fixed by the Holy Father two hundred and
sixty leagues farther westwards.
Hence it followed, that for having disregarded the apostolate of Christopher Columbus, doubted of the inspired
science of the Holy See, considered herself more equitable
than the Sovereign Pontiff in regard to the rights of Portugal, and for having dared to correct the Bull, Spain lost
her exclusive privilege over the New World; and the vast
empire of Brazil was acquired by Portugal.
The pretentious calculations of the commissioners were
founded on no cosmographic data; whilst, on the contrary,
the line traced by the Sovereign Pontiff pointed out precisely the most appropriate ground for it on the face of the
globe, - a ground truly worthy of our serious investigations. Involuntarily struck with this marvellous foresight
of the Holy See, the great Humboldt has shown the insignificance of the measures agreed upon by the commission,
26*




306


HISTORt OF


[BOOK II.


who pretended to make a more ingenious or more exact
division than that made by Alexander VI. The illustrious
Protestant, speaking of the means then resorted to for determining a line of imaginary demarkation, says: " The
state of science, and the imperfectness of all the instruments
that could serve on sea to measure time or space, did not
permit yet, in I493, the practical solution of so complicated
a problem. In this state of things, Pope Alexander VI.,
in arrogating to himself the right of dividing a hemisphere
between two powerful empires, rendered, without knowing
it, a silgnal service to nautical astronomy, and to the physical theory of terrestrial magnetism.*
Noticing, further on, the disdainful silence of the commission on the subject of the papal line of demarkation,
HIumboldt again remarks: t" The lines of the papal demarkation merit being stated exactly, because they are of great
weight in the efforts being made to perfect nautical astronomy and the methods of longitude." t
The enemies of the Church, the detractors of the Papacy,
while contesting its right to make this astonishing donation,
are obliged to acknowledge the magnificence of the remuneration it accorded to the Catholic zeal of Spain.
Whatever may be one's religious faith, and at whatever
point of view he may place himself, one fact in this contest
must be plain to him: namely, that the Holy See showed
more confidence in Columbus than Spain did. The Revealer of the Globe was more justly judged by the Church
than by the government to which he devoted himself.
If we examine with impartial minds the documents of
this conflict between the two Catholic powers, we cannot
avoid having a feeling of wonder, mingled with respect, in
seeing how events have justified, at the same time, the foresight, the certitude, and the action of the Holy See. Here
the Church acted in the manner of Providence, who, in His


* Humboldt. Cosmos, etc., t. n., p. 340.
t Ibid, p. 572.




CHAP. Iv.]   CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.               307
recompenses, always surpasses the expectations of men;
for, having presumptuously tried to do better than the
Church did, Spain lost the better part of the magnificent
donation which was granted her. In order to chastise her
pride, God had only to abandon her to herself. The fulfilment of her own desires was her first punishment.




308


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


CHAPTER V.
Columbus meets his brother Bartholomew. -Prompt recovery of
the Admiral. -He receives the first letter that is sent from
Europe. - Supplies received. -Excesses committed in his absence; odious conduct of Pedro Margarit and of Father Boil.
- General Conspiracy of the Caciques. - Fidelity ofGuacanagari,
through regard for Columbus. - Cause of the sterility of the
Missions. -Father Boil and Father Boyl.
SECTIO2N.
W     HAT the Santa Clara bore on her quarter-deck
under the name of "Admiral," was a motionless
body, deprived of all consciousness. The twenty-ninth of
September the flotilla entered the longed-for port.  The
colony rejoiced at its return: five months' absence led to
the fear that it had perished. At length, after a sleep of
five days and nights, a voice well known to the heart of the
Admiral drew him fiom his lethargy.    In awaking, he
found himself in the arms of his brother Bartholomew, of
whom he had had no account for more than eight years.
His other brother, Diego, also attended to him with the
utmost care.
The Admiral was much comforted by this unexpected
meeting, and his recovery commenced forthwith; for a
disposition so loving and so exquisitely sensitive as that
of Columbus, joy of the heart must be the most efficacious
remedy. The satisfaction arising from fraternal love proved
to be the most salutary kind of medication. Providence
had prepared this consoling surprise for His servant. Columbus found in his two brothers a faithful support, at a
time when fatigue, treachery, and enmity, freely stirred




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


309


up during his absence, rendered their devotedness so necessary.
We have said, and we will have occasion to repeat it,
that in the wonderful life of Columbus everything is an
example and a lesson. The incidents connected with it,
men and things, also convey their own instruction. If the
family of the old Genoese wool-comber is a model to be
proposed for the household of every artisan, the image of
fraternal affection which united to each other these three
brothers throughout life, is no less beneficent to the heart.
As, from this period, the two brothers of Christopher
Columbus acted important parts in the affairs of the colony,
and participated in the political life of the Admiral, it will
not be devoid of interest to know who these two auxiliaries
were whom Providence sent to His messenger.
Bartholomew Columbus left Lisbon in I485, to go, on the
part of his brother, to propose to the King of England the
project of Discovery, which was rejected by Portugal.
The ship he sailed in was captured by pirates, who robbed
him of everything, and left him on an unknown shore.
For a long time all his energy was taxed to procure the
necessaries of life, and renew his wardrobe to effect his
voyage. He spent several years in an unprofitable labor,in constructing spheres and drawing charts for mariners,
before he could succeed in re~lching the coast of England.
There, he had first to learn the language of the country; to
provide for the means of existence; to obtain the countenance
of some patrons, and to learn the usages and the etiquette
of the Court. It was only in the middle of the year I493
that he obtained an audience of King Henry VII. The
monarch liked the plan.  To make the proof more sensible, Bartholomew painted an atlas. His reasoning was so
clear and convincing, that the King welcomed the project,
and entered on the preliminaries of a treaty with him.
Bartholomew departed immediately to seek his brother.
While on his way to Spain, in passing through Paris, the
news of the discovery of the New World, and of the tri



310


HIS TORY OF


[BOOK II.


umphal reception of Columbus, had reached London. The
King of France, Charles VIII., welcomed, with honor, the
brother of the man who had enlarged the known world.
It was he himself who informed him of the event, and of
the elevation of Columbus to the rank of Admiral and of
Viceroy.  Knowing that he went through his states, he
graciously induced him to accept of a hundred gold
crowns, to defray the expenses he would have to incur in
his kingdom.
Notwithstanding the haste he made, when Bartholomew
arrived at Seville the Admiral had already departed on his
second voyage. He visited his sister-in-law, Dora Beatrix
Enriquez, in Cordova, and, taking his nephews, Diego and
Fernando, who were studying there, brought them to Valladolid, and presented them at Court. The Queen found the
two boys were well raised, and complimented their uncle
on their deportment; and, to finish their education and form
their manners, wished to retain them at Court. The soldierly and chivalric bearing of Don Bartholomew, his
facility for learhing languages, his conversation and his
experience, pleased King Ferdinand much. His abilities
as a mariner were recognized. The Queen desired to retain him in her kingdom, as much for his own worth as
to please the Admiral. Bartholomew received letters of
nobility, and the command df three ships that were to take
provisions to the colony. When he arrived in Hispaniola,
the Admiral had started on his second exploration of Cuba.
Having entered on a sea-faring life a few years later than
his brother, and sailed many times with him, he united
theory to the surety of practice. Largely endowed with
physical qualities, the cast of his physiognomy expressing
frankness and a jovial humor, - when it was not severe,
was in harmony with his tall stature, and sustained with
the vigor of an athlete.  Of a chivalric intrepidity, very
able in the management of every kind of arm, he knew, by
the consciousness of his strength, and the manly tranquillity
of his courage, how to command respect for his person.




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


3"I


One would say he was born to command; and if his devotedness had not determined him to remain eclipsed in
the glory of his brother, he would have become illustrious
by himself, on his own account, so much did he possess a
high degree of military instinct, the genius of a navigator,
and the foresight of an administrator.
His elocution was correct and easy, and the vivacity of
his style was not wanting in elegance. With him, observation supplied the place of study. He spoke Latin, Italian,
Portuguese, Danish, English and Spanish. Although he
was a good Catholic, and devoted to his religion, his piety
was not tender and elevated, like that of Christopher; he did
not know the sweets of the interior life, and did not always
suppress the sallies of his frankness, and of his muscular
strength, against courtiers and traitors, and the obstacles
which Castilian vanity opposed to the doing of good.
The second brother of the Admiral, Don Diego, did not
resemble Don Bartholomew, save in his absolute devotedness to his oldest brother.  Born several years after his
brothers had gone to sea, Diego did not possess their robust
constitutions. His sickly childhood required long and tender care.  Little Diego, being the last son of Dominic
Columbus, the only one who had always remained at home,
Suzanna Fontanarossa kept him tenderly by her as long as
possible.
When the Admiral returned from his first voyage, Diego
quitted his trade, to obey his brother, who had written for
him. With that docility to duty, and that instinct for becomingness, Diego, presented at Court, was soon on a level
with his new career. His tender regard for his brother,
the observance of his examples and of his recommendations,
taught him what he ought to know. The devotedness of
Diego was ennobled with a religious sentiment. He admired in his oldest brother the twofold preeminence of
piety and of genius. He venerated him on account of his
virtues; for Diego had no ambition for either renown,
honors or riches. His sudden elevation did not puff him




312


HISTORT OF


[BOOK II.


up, for his heart appertained to God. He remained in the
world without loving it, and solely through pure obedience,
because such was the wish of his brother, his superior, his
chief, whom  he regarded as a second father. He aspired
only to the service of God, and always occupied the different offices assigned him by the Admiral, as the employment
which God wished himn to discharge.
His inclination was for retirement, and the stud(y of letters,
which tardily presented him their charms, when a moment
of respite permitted him to open his brother's books. In
the solitude of his dwelling he imitated the regular habits
of the Admiral, recited the office every day, and raised his
heart to God.
This devotedness, so replete with self-denial, this voluntary, secondary existence, multiplying sacrifices without
effort, assured the Admiral a vigilance against every attack,
whilst the vigorous qualities of Don Bartholomew infused
into his orders experience, foresight, and force, - in a word,
the means of executing them.
SECTION      11.
Besides the news brought by Don Bartholomew from
Spain, the Admiral soon received more recent news, by
Antonio de Torres, who came with four caravels, charged
with provisions, refreshments, medicines, clothing, and
merchandise, which he had requested, and briningg, for the
service of the hospital, a physician and an apothecary, besides some miners and gardeners.     The caravels also
brought some live stock, and divers other matters. They
likewise brought, for the household of the Admiral, some
special objects, in which the Queen manifested her delicate
ingenuity in providing for the comforts and state of the
Revealer of the Globe.
But that which most concerned the Admiral was the satisfaction manifested by the monarchs. This was visible in
the deference shown him in the royal letters. He recog



CIAP. v.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


313


nized in the gentle tone of them the very thought of the
Queen. The Sovereigns replied to him in these terms, as
laudative as they are respectful: " If we had been present we
would have been of your opinion." * They gave him an
account of the arrangement with Portugal in regard to commerce on the coast of Africa, and of the convention, signed
the seventh of June, with the same power, relative to the
line of demarkation. They confirmed all his nominations to
office, approved of all his demands, and accompanied their
obliging words with an ordinance, intimating to all those
who resided in the Indies to obey the Admiral as Viceroy
and as Governor. The order given to Juan de Fonseca,
the director-general of marine, for the continuation of supplies of every kind to the colony, and the project of establishing a regular correspondence with Hispaniola, in
despatching a caravel every month, prove sufficiently the
intention of founding there a Castilian dominion. In her
arrangements for the future of the colony, Isabella could
not forget the propagation of the Catholic faith and the salvation of the Indians, the prime object of the discovery of
those regions. She wrote to Father Boil, to excite his
zeal, and to induce him to persevere in the enterprise of
converting the natives; she endeavored to rouse the indolent missionary to action,t and assured him that by perseverance he would overcome all the difficulties of the
language.
A missive of the Queen, dated the sixteenth of August,
I494, was particularly calculated to console the Admiral,
and refresh his soul with its sweet sympathies.
This letter, the first that had come from the old world to
the new, is of peculiar importance for the history of Columbus. It recalls the true object of the Discovery with a
frankness wholly Christian. Under no pretext can anybody
here, as the Protestant school has speciously done elsewhere,
* Documentos Difplomat., num. lxxx.
t Mhuhoz, Historia del Nuevo Mundo, lib. iv. ~ 24.
27




3I4


HISTORT OF


[BOOK II.


suspect, in the expression of religious sentiments, some political interest; because, already for more than a year, Castile, thanks to the Bulls of the third and fourth of May,
1493, was already in the legitimate possession of the lands
discovered, and those she may still discover. Consequently,
every exhibition of Catholic zeal would have been superfluous.
Moreover, this administrative correspondence was solely
destined for the eyes of the Admiral.  But the secret
escaped from the heart of the pious Queen, in speaking to
the messenger of the Cross.
At first she mentions to him: "We have had a great
pleasure in learning the things you have written to us; and
for all these things we render heartfelt thanks to our blessed
Lord. We hope that, with His aid, this work, which is
yours, will be the cause of our holy Catholic Faith receiving great extension."
Thus, the glory of Jesus Christ, the increase of His
Church, is the first and chief theme of this royal communication.  Before any reference to political or commercial matters, the object in view was the propagation of
Catholicity.
After having undesignedly shown the true aim of Columbus, the Qieen equally bears witness that this idea is the
conception and the personal property of the hero. Isabella,
who had with an attentive interest followed the development of this idea, and weighed the objections raised by its
opponents, without foreseeing it, refuted in advance fiom
that date the future detractors of the glory of the Admiral.
Her precious testimony, dated the sixteenth of August,
1494, proves that the idea, the object, and the plan of the
Discovery were the fiuit of a spontaneous inspiration,
ripened by study; and not the putting in practice of another
person's thoughts, or the execution of an odious purloining,
as his calumniators, at a later period, have pretended.


* Letter dated from Segovia, the sixteenth of August, I494, and
counterszgned by Fernand Alvarez.




CIAP. v.]   CHRISTOPHER COLUM1lBUS.


315


The Queen goes on to say: " And in all this, one of the
chief satisfactions we enjoy is to feel that this enterprise has
been conceived, explained, and executed by your genius,
your ability, and your labor. And it appears to us that,
since the first overtures, all that you told us should arrive
has been in the major part effected, with as much precision
as if you had seen it accomplished before telling us of it."*
SE CTZIO    II.
Nevertheless, the consolations adverted to could not
remedy the evils that were committed during his absence.
The commandant, Pedro Margarit, who possessed, in the
instructions of Columbus for the Spanish colony, all the
elements of strength, life, and prosperity, deceived the
expectations of the Admiral, and had set the Council of
the Government at defiance. In place of proceeding to the
exploration of the island, he came and encamped at ten
leagues from Isabella, quartering his soldiers in the villages
of the Indians, where they lived dispensed from all military
exercise, while he himself yielded to sensual indulgences.
Tidings of these excesses soon reached Don eiego Columbus. With the concurrence of the Council, he wrote to
Margarit, enjoining him to execute the orders of the Admiral. But, in place of complying, Margarit gave an insolent
answer. He affected to look down with contempt on Don
Diego, came when he pleased to Isabella, and troubled himself no more about the Council than if his sword were the
only authority in the island. His soldiers considered they
did the Indians much honor in taking from them their
wives, their provisions, and their gold, and in consuming
in some days the provision that would have sufficed for the
Indians the third of a year.
After having ruined the inhabitants of the Vega Real,
Pedro Margarit, frightened at the consequences of his guilt,


* Documentos Dzplomat., num. lxxix.




316


HIISTOR OF


[BOOK II.


attempted to forestall the return of the Admiral, by taking
possession of the ships brought by Don Bartholomew. As
he could not seize on them alone, he recruited some malcontents, and promptly formed them into a party, to which
he gave consistence in attracting the Vicar-Apostolic to it.
A conformity of situation diminished the distance between
these two characters. They were both Catalonians, and
therefore not subject to Castile. Pedro Margarit had violated all his duties as chief of the military corps; Father
Boil had omitted all his obligations as chief of the
mission. These two murmurers, discontented with everything, because in the depths of their hearts they were
discontented with themselves, increased their faction with
those hidalgos who could not pardon the Admiral for having submitted them to manual labor. They slandered the
Columbuses, declared them upstarts, foreigners, and took
pleasure in degrading these true gentlemen.
Father Boil feigned that he was quitting the colony
through pure devotedness to it. It was necessary, without
delay, to undeceive the monarchs, who were led into the
belief that this country yielded gold, aromatics and spices,
whereas it yvelded only fevers, and other diseases unknown
in Castile. They thus schemed their, departure, seized on
some vessels that were anchored at the port, and basely fled
as true deserters. Several religious, whom the attraction of
novelty induced to follow Father Boil to the Indies, not
being able to become used to a mode of life for which they
were not destined, followed him in his cowardly desertion.
The first mission in the New World was sterile, because
he who directed it was not called from Above, - he had
not consulted God. He had come among the savages by
order of the Court, as if on a diplomatic mission. This
fact, in the beginning of the Discovery, proves that nobody
is a prophet unless he is chosen by God, and that the ministry of the Gospel has not been conferred on all indiscriminately. The apostolate is not imparted by royal nomination. A special vocation is needed for a special mission




CHAP. V.]


CHRISTOPHER COL UMB US.


317


requiring a particular vocation. While Father Boil experienced only weariness, dryness and disgust in his functions,
and while, without doing any good, he assisted in doing
evil, a poor Franciscan monk, and a Hieronomite religious,
who had come, led by a true vocation, in less than a year
had already learned the language most generally spoken in
Hispaniola, and had the consolation of publishing the glory
of Jesus Christ and the doctrines of the Church among the
different communities, in addressing the chiefs, - even the
caciques themselves.
We will say more: evangelical grace was not granted to
Father Boil. The spirit of strength and of truth, which consecrates the apostolate, could not descend on this Catalonian
diplomatist; for in reality it was not he whom the Chief of
the Church had nominated as his Vicar-Apostolic. The
boldness of this assertion may appear rash; still, we will
maintain it. We owe it to truth, to the dignity of the
Church, and to the justice of history, to clear up this singular fact, hitherto enveloped in obscurity, even for Spaniards.
We will do it in a few lines, so as not to retard the course
of our recital.
From all the documents and all histories, it is evident
that Father Bernard Boil, a Catalonian and a Benedictine
monk, went to the Indies as Vicar-Apostolic. This is a
patent, authentic and indubitable fact, which we fully recognize. Nevertheless, it was not this religious that the Holy
See had nominated. It was with a culpable inconsiderateness, and in a manner almost fraudulent, that Father Boil,
undoubtedly without his own knowledge, found himself in
possession of a title which was not designed for him.
Ferdinand had, indeed, through his ambassador, presented to the Holy Father for nomination as Vicar-Apostolic
of the Indies, the name of Father Bernard Boil,* a Bene*Through scrupulous exactitude we are obliged to say that at
Court it was then written Bail; but, as the greater part of historians
have written it Boil, we have followed their orthography. The
Catholic Sovereigns addressed him thus: " Devoto Fray Buil."
27*




3IS


HIS TORT OF


[BOOK II.


dictine, well known by his ministers, and familiar at Court.
But knowing the attachment of Christopher Columbus for
the Seraphic Order, the participation of the Franciscans
in the Discovery, the Chief of the Church reserved this
honor for the humility of a disciple of St. Francis; and he
named spontaneously, by a brief of the seventh of July,
1493, as Vicar-Apostolic to the Indies, "Friar Bernard
Boyl, Provincial of the Franciscans in Spain." *  For the
first mission in the New World there was, above all, need
for fervid preaching and active charity, and not simply for
the offices of choir, the love of learning, or the shrewdness
of protocols.
When the official copy of the Bull arrived in Castile, the
Kino thought that there might have been in Rome an error
in the designation of the person, on account of the similarity of name; that the Pope had designated Friar Boyl when
he wished to have nominated Friar Boil, and that it perhaps was a simple inadvertence of the chancery in the
address of the Bull; and the more so, because the titular
name was only on the margin; that is to say, the address
was not in the body of the letter, but on the margin.
Meanwhile, the matter becoming urgent, it was not
deemed necessary to delay the departure of the Fleet,
or to postpone the sailing of the missionaries before
having an explanation of the part that was not considered clear. In consequence, as if it were a matter of no
moment, the Bendictine, Father Boil, received advice of the
arrival of the Bull.t Nevertheless, to spare him any embarrassments he may have from scruples of conscience, the
* This is textually the address of the Bull: "Dilecio filio Bernardo Boyl fratri ordinis minorum, Vicario dicti ordinis in Hlispvnioorum regnis."-A collated copy taken from the autograph
register of the apostolic letters of the first year of the pontificate of
Alexander VI., page 122. Obtained from the secret archives of the
Vatican, and certified the seventh of February, 1851, by the Prefect
of the Vatican.
t Letters of the twenty-fifth of July and of the fourth of August,
I493. - Col. Dizl. Nos. LII. and LX.




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


319


original of the official where the, true superscription is read,
was not sent to him. Under the singular pretext that it
was not becoming to expose it to the accidents of the
route,* it was retained in the office of the Secretary Royal.
We ought to add that, for a long time, some considerate
hand has made this important document disappear from
the archives of Castile. It does not therefore form  a part
of the diplomatic collection published by order of the
Crown of Spain. But the original of the Bull is preserved
in Rome in the secret archives of the Vatican: it exists
there; and a copy of it, duly collated and certified, was
delivered for the first time for publication, on the seventh
of February, I85I.t
Friar Bernard Boyl, Provincial of the Franciscans, appointed Vicar-Apostolic, had not, then, any knowledge of
his nomination.
Friar Bernard Boil, chosen by the King, was sent in
place of Friar Bernard Boyl, designated by the Holy
Father. In the eyes of Ferdinand, there was, in the substitution he dared to make, only the retification of an address;
he saw in the change that was made, only a letter in the
name, and a title as regarded the person. It was Boil, in
place of Boyl, and Benedictine, in place of Franciscan.
Apart from this difference of orthography and of habit, it
was always a religious, and a person of irreproachable
morals; and, at bottom, he found no inconvenience in
sending to the Indies a Benedictine well known at Court,
* E1 truslado della autorizado vos enviamos, como vereis: la original queda aca por algun peligro que podria haber in el camino." -
Registrado en el archivo de Indias en Sevilla. Coleccion Dijlomzitica, num. LII.
t We cite the text certified by the Pontifical Archivist: "Descriptucm et recognitumn ex autog'ra-pho regesto litterarum apostolicarum Alexandri P. P. V., anno I, pag. 122. tCuod adversatur in
tabulariis secretioribus Vaticanis. In quorum fidem hic me subscrzipsi et solito signo signavi.
"Dabam ex tabularius hrmefatis VII., idus Februarii, anno I85I.
" MARINUS MARINI,
" Tabularior S. R. E. Prefectus."




320


HIS TORY OF


[BOOK II.


in place of a Franciscan, who probably was but little
known there.
But the spirit of the Church cannot be trifled with. The
Bull of the Holy Father did not come to its address, and
the consequences are known.
If he had remained penetrated with the spirit of his rule,
and given to prayer and study, this Benedictine could have
edified his community, while serving Spain with his diplomatic ability. But, solely invested by the King with a spiritual mandate, and usurping, although unknown to him,
the powers which the Sovereign Pontiff destined for the
Order of St. Francis, he did not receive the invisible assistance that would have made them fiuitful; he did not
possess its efficacy, its power; on the contrary, in his
illegitimate attributions, swerving from his vocation, and
his own proper character, and not being where the Church
wished him to be, he faltered, and fell beneath his own
proper character. While his title of Vicar-Apostolic required from him the example of courage, of self-denial, of
tender charity, and of constancy in trials, he showed himself tepid and cowardly; a missionary without virtue, a
priest without dignity, and a citizen without allegiance;
he dishonored his Order, became the echo of slander, the
counsellor of conspirators; and, at last, shamefully joined
civil defection to religious desertion.
The accomplice of Father Boil, the commandant Pedro
Margarit, in abandoning his post, did not even take the
pains of delegating his powers to one of his officers. The
soldiers, finding themselves left to their own counsel, disbanded, going in troops in several directions, and multiplying the outrages with which they had harassed the Indians.
IHitherto, the natives had remained submissive to force; but
when by this division the Spaniards were weakened, they
thought of recommencing the bloody scenes of the fortress.
With the exception of Guacanagari, who, always retained
by his devotedness to Columbus, bore and made his subjects
bear the ruinous maintenance of a hundred soldiers impu



CHAP. v.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


32I


dently domiciled in his dominions, the caciques became
indignant at seeing themselves thus oppressed. Exasperated
at the tyranny of which they were the unhappy victims, the
inhabitants of the Vega resolved to make up by their number for the inferiority of their arms..The kings of Xaragua, of Higuey, and of the Vega,
entered into a league with Caonabo, to exterminate the
proud depredators on all points of the island. Guacanagari, suspected on account of his hospitality, was kept out
of this secret coalition, and treated as an enemy. Caonabo,
aided by his brother-in-law, attacked him suddenly, took
away fiom him one of his wives, and killed the one he
loved most, the beautiful Catalina, who to join him had
cast herself from the Gracious MAfry into the waves. At
divers points of the island Spaniards were massacred. The
cacique Guatiguana massacred ten of them who were on
the banks of the Grand River. Then he burned down the
building that served as an hospital, and in which there
were then forty patients and convalescents.
Such were the consequences of the misconduct of Margarit, and of the slanders of Father Boil; and such were
the critical conjunctures when Columbus returned to the
island.
Unpleasant tidings reached him from several quarters.
In the mean time Guacanagari came to Isabella, and would
by all means see the Admiral. He came to his sick-bed,
and showed himself profoundly affected at his illness. He
adverted to the tragical events of the fortress, protested
anew with tears that he could not have prevented that misfortune; he reminded him that he was his friend, and that
it was for that reason the other caciques had treated him as
an enemy. He informed him of the plot formed for the
extermination of the Spaniards; asked his aid against his
neighbors, now become his enemies; and feeling, on seeing
him, his first affection for him revive, offered to second him
by every means in his power.




y T T  ITT /-% 7'% A,' /% VI


r-f-'- -.


322                 U1S1L uVI   'r LJUa 11.
CHAPTER VI.
Columbus tries to break the League of the Caciques. - Caonabo is
captured. - Combat of two hundred and twenty Spaniards
against ten thousand Natives. -The Famine Plot.
SECTION L.
OLUMBUS could not leave unpunished the assassinations committed by Guatiguana, and especially his
heinous crime against the forty patients in the hospital.
Moreover, the hostility of the natives was become permanent.   At this time, Captain Luiz d'Artiaga was
closely blockaded in the fortress of Magdalena. Columbus,
foreseeing that longer forbearance would occasion a greater
effusion of blood, gave orders to attack the cacique Guatiguana suddenly, and simultaneously to relieve the fortress.
The troops of the cacique were defeated and routed, but
the chieftain himself made his escape.
At the same time, the Admiral endeavored to break the
league formed by the grand caciques, in detaching from
the coalition Guarionex, who reigned over the magnificent
country of the Vega. He sent for him, and assured him
that the chastisement inflicted on Guatiguana was a measure wholly personal, and that the crimes of the Spaniards
committed in his absence would be equally punished. In
this interview the Admiral acquired such an ascendancy
over Guarionex, that he determined him to give his sister
in marriage to the Lucayan, Diego Colon, the baptized
interpreter who had served him so faithfully,* and to per* This is the marriage spoken of by Spotorno, confounding, by a
strange aberration, the Indian interpreter, a native of San Salvador,
with his godfather, Don Diego Columbus, the brother of the
Admiral.




CHAP. vI.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMTBUS.


323


mit a fortress to be built in the midst of his dominions, which
he dedicated to the Virgin, under the name of La Conception. By this means he would have communications with
the country of the gold-mines, and could repress any insurrection that may take place. From that time the coalition
became weakened, and was reduced to Caonabo, his brotherin-law Behechio, and the King of Higuey; and furthermore, the two latter could not dare to do anything without
the support of the " Lord of the Golden House."
By paralyzing the power of Caonabo the peace of the
island would be secured. But it was no easy matter to
capture that cacique in his mountains, where the thorny
thickets afforded him  a natural defence. On the other
hand, it would not answer to remain exposed to his onslaughts. While perplexed on this'subject, Columbus was
relieved by an offer of Alonzo de Ojeda to seize on the
Carib chief by stratagem, and deliver him alive into his
hands.
Ojeda set out on this daring expedition accompanied by
nine cavaliers of tried courage and vigor, and, after traversing a distance of more than sixty leagues, succeeded in
attaining his object. We are sorry that our space will not
permit our giving the details of this romantic exploit.
The cacique had three brothers. One of them especially,
Manicatex, who was naturally of a military turn of mind,
collected a body of five thousand archers, and sent emissaries to other divers caciques to form a general rising against
the Spaniards. Caonabo, seeking to take revenge by a
feint, complained to the Admiral that during his detention
the caciques bordering on his dominions maltreated his subjects, and besought him to be pleased to send some soldiers
to different points of his territory. He expected his brother,
Manicatex, would ensnare them, and make prisoners of
them, in order by an exchange to effect his own release, or,
at least, massacre them, which would render more easy the
extermination of the rest of the strangers. But Columbus
took good care to send, in place of small bodies, a strong




324


HIS TORT OF


[BOOK II.


detachment, under the orders of Ojeda, - a measure which
frustrated the plan of the captive Carib.
The Admiral knew that, with the exception of Guacanagari, the whole island was going to rise up in arms, so he
determined to remain no longer inactive.
On the twenty-fourth of March, though still ailing, he
entered on the campaign with an effective force of two
hundred infantry and twenty horse. The inoffensive Guacanagari, at the head of his warriors, accompanied him,
according to promise. The Admiral formed this small
number of men into two corps, in order to divide the multitude of enemies he perceived on entering the Vega, and
which, it is said, amounted to more than a hundred thousand men. Manicatex, on his side, had skilfully divided
his troops into five battalions, who were to occupy the five
outlets of the plain, support each other, and reunite when
the handful of Spaniards marching against them would have
entered the space unoccupied; then advancing, they could
surround and stifle, by their multitude, this little force,
which the scouts had disdainfully represented in their reports by a handful of maize.
The skill of the Admiral frustrated the able tactics of
Manicatex. Don Bartholomew Columbus advanced resolutely with a hundred men, while another detachment
charged impetuously on the left, and the intrepid Ojeda,
with his twenty horse, precipitated himself on the main
body. The shock of the cavalry broke all the lines, and
the fire of the arquebuses caused a general rout. One of
the brothers of Caonabo was taken prisoner, and brought
to share the fate of the " Lord of the Golden House."  The
Spaniards led a large number of their prisoners to Isabella.
This day insured for some time the general tranquillity
of the island, in inspiring such an idea of the power of
the foreigners, that soon after, when a Spaniard alone and
unarmed, passed in lonely and unfrequented places, the
Indians prostrated themselves before him, and were eager
to put themselves under his orders.




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


325


SECTION II.
The Admiral continued his victorious march through
several parts of the island, maintaining military discipline
among his troops, and rendering justice to the natives,
whom his presence also protected from all insults by the
soldiery. Afterwards, in order to guard against any new
confederations of the caciques, he resolved to build three
more fortresses in the most important positions of the Vega.
He drew the plan of them, and gave them the names of
Santa Catalina, Esperanza, and Conception. With the exception of Behechio, brother-in-law to the "Lord of the
Golden House," who remained quiet in the recesses of
his most distant residence, the grand caciques made their
submission, and offered to pay tribute to Castile. They
expected it would be a light tax on vegetable productions,
or one payable in labor on the public works undertaken by
the Spaniards.
But the treasury of Castile wished to be indemnified for
the expenses advanced for the two expeditions. The Admiral should'prove that Father Boil, Firman Zedo the
assayer, Pedro Margarit, and the bevy of deserters who
followed them, lied against the facts of nature, and against
the clearest evidence. To transmit gold was the sure means
of encouraging the Sovereigns to prosecute the discovery of
unknown regions, and thus amass the means of redeeming
the Holy Places. Accordingly, he decreed the following
tax: Every inhabitant of the districts of Cibao and of Vega
Real, aged over fourteen years, was to pay the receiver of
the royal dues, every three months, the measure of a hawk's
bell of gold-dust or grains. Manicatex, the brother of
Caonabo, was, in addition, obliged to pay, every three
months, half a calabash of gold, amounting to about one
hundred and fifty pesos. In the provinces that did not
possess gold mines, the quarterly tribute consisted of twentyfive pounds of cotton for each individual. Guarionex, King
of La Vega, offered to pay the impost in small grain in
28




326,31,


HISTORY OF


CBOOK II.


place of gold, on the pretext that his subjects did not lIknow
how to gather it in the rivers of his territory. Columbus -
refised the offer, and required the tribute to be paid in gold.
On this point some historians have taxed, with rigor Ind
improvident avidity, the conduct of Columbus. Las Casas,
in his zeal for the defence of the Indians, could not fail to
raise his voice against the first impost they had to bear.
He points to the advantages of the proposition of Guarionex,
who offered to cultivate a fertile plain of fifty-five leagues,
the produce of which would furnish all Castile with b'read
for ten years. But it was not grain that Castile wantecd.
King Ferdinand demanded gold, and not small grain. And
the pretext assigned by Guarionex that his subjects did not
know how to gather gold in the rivers where it was to be
found, was not admissible; in our own days, even, no head
of an administration would have been contented with it.
The Admiral was constrained to procure gold. HIe knew
that nothing else would satisfy King Ferdinand. Seeing,
however, the difficulty some Indians had in furnislhig the
dust required, he lowered the demand to one-half of a
hawk's bell.
Nowithstanding this lowering of the tribute, a gloomy
sadness spread over the greater part of Hispaniola.
The servile labor required by the caciques from their
subjects was never only of short duration; they limited
themselves to some rights in hunting and fishing, to a little
cassava or cotton, or to service in time of war. Their diet,
almost exclusively vegetable, did not give them strength.
They avoided all severe labor, Nature having herself provided for their principal wants. The greater part of their
time was passed in slumbering, in plays, or in dances.
Those near the sea-shore spent their time in drealmy and
sterile reveries on the borders of the sea; while the inhabitants of the valleys and mountains of the interior whiled
awav their hours under delightful shades, occupied with
telling stories, singing, and dances of several kinds. They
had wandering poets and story-tellers, who recounted the




CHAP. VI.]  CHIRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


327


adventures of the Caribs, and the histories of sorcerers.
These forest troubadours supplied with their feet the place
of a harp or a mandolin; they were also great newsmongers. They translated into the several idioms of the
island the poems or areytos of the celebrated Anocoano,
whose name signified " The Golden Flower."
The Indians, seeing their inability of expelling the foreign
intruders by arms, resolved to overcome them by famine.
As the Spaniards were great eaters, and had received no
provisions from abroad for a long time, they hoped to be
able to extirpate them by bringing them no food. Accordingly they ceased from cultivating the land; they even
plucked up the fruit-trees, and retired to the mountains,
hoping to find there in roots, wild fruit, utias, fish, and fowl,
sufficient for their own subsistence.
This measure was not carried into effect without obstacles; but it was principally at the cost of those who resorted
to it. They took refuge in the most sterile and dreary
heights. The cold and damp air of the caverns increased
their troubles. They could settle down nowhere, and
passed the nights exposed to the inclemency of the weather.
The roots and fruit they met with here and there could not
suffice for the nourishment of these multitudes, who fled
unceasingly from fear of the Spaniards. The privations,
the fatigues they endured, together with the insalubrity of
the forests, where the excess of vegetation vitiated the air
during the night, by the disengagement of carbonic acid
gas in too condensed a state, engendered diseases of an
epidemic character, which thinned the ranks of these poor
wanderers; while the Spaniards found resources in fishing
in the sea and rivers, and in the provisions that arrived
without delay from Castile.




328


HISTORr OF


[BOOK II.


CHAPTER VII.
Complaints made to the Court against Columbus and his Brothers.
-Don Diego Columbus comes to Spain. —Chicanery of the
Board of Marine. - The Bureaucratic Bishop, Don Juan de Fonseca. - Diego Columbus returns to Hispaniola. — Ingratitude
of Aguado. - First Hurricane.
SECTION     I.
IN the mean time the noble deserters had arrived at
Court. Their justification was not possible but in representing the government of the Admiral under a repulsive
aspect.  Pedro Margarit and Father Boil found in the
bureaus of the marine a corresponding echo of their exaggerations and calumnies. The archdeacon Fonseca, and
the controller Juan de Soria, were not remiss in seconding
these complaints. The hidalgos who had stealthily embarked spoke only with bitterness of Hispaniola, - a land
of disasters and of deceptions.
These deserters, assuming the guise of victims escaped
from the despotism of Columbus, came to seek refuge under
the parental power of the monarchs, and to implore protection against the arbitrary proceedings of the Governor
of the Indies. They exhibited letters dictated by malevolence, in which poor people who were too sick to embark
represented their deplorable situation; they added that the
gold of the island was found only in sand in some rivulets,
and in too small quantity to make the gathering of it profitable. The riches of Hispaniola existed only in the imagination of the Genoese. Not content with attacking his
character as head of the government, they sought to cast a




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


329


slur on his probity; they accused him of connivance in
procuring gold for himself to the detriment of the rights of
the Crown. In their blind hatred, they had already circulated this report before their departure from the island.
But the receiver of Crown taxes, Sebastien de Olano, in
a letter to the Sovereigns noticing this calumny, wrote
that, far from authorizing the delivery of merchandise, and
receiving gold in lieu thereof, in the absence of the controllers-general, the Admiral had, on the contrary, expressly
forbidden it.*
Against these bitter accusations, who could take the
defence of the Admiral? who could recall the terrible conjunctures in which he acted? Columbus was a stranger,
and absent; his enemies had nobody to contradict them,
and the multiplicity of their complaints must necessarily
obtain credit for them.
The sacerdotal character of the Vicar-Apostolic served to
give a sanction to all these calumnies, without the need of
his taking the pains to renew them. His presence in Spain,
when he was thought to be at the evangelical post to which
he had the honor of being called by Ferdinand, sufficiently
showed the grievousness of the occurrences in Hispaniola.
Notwithstanding the instinctive faith Isabella had in the
excellence of Columbus, the number and the unanimity
of the accusations that came against him could not fail
in shaking her confidence a little. Making every allowance for wounded pride and exaggerations, this concert
of complaints necessarily revealed some fault in the administration of the Admiral. Wishing to succor the sick
without delay, and not to abandon the first germs of the
colony, on the seventh of April the Queen ordered the
director of the marine to send, without delay, four caravels
to Hispaniola.
Two days afterwards, she entered into a contract with
Juanoto Berardi, who was to provision and arm twelve


* Documentos Diiplom., num. lxxxi.
28*




T  T T C' 171 /', 7-) /I/       /" 7~


r...


330                 1,1 V 1(  r        LBOOK II.
ships destined for Hispaniola. At the same time she wrote
to the director-general of the marine, that Diego Carillo, a
commander of a military order, should go and take upon
himself the government of the island until the return of the
Admiral, whose long absence led to the fear that he had
perished in the voyage of exploration.
As a consequence of the unfavorable impression produced
at Court, the propositions of some pilots who sailed with
him in his first voyage were,welcomed, in derogation, as
they were, of his rights and privileges. They offered to
undertake discoveries for the Crown without any indemnity, and at their own risk and personal expense. Fonseca
supported these propositions.
Just at this juncture the ships commanded by Torres
arrived in Spain.  Don Diego Columbus brought specimens of gold, and of various animal and vegetable productions; it was therefore easy to confirm the Queen in her
natural dispositions towards the Admiral. Still, such was
the clamor raised against the Viceroy, that Isabella considered it prudent to inquire into the cause of these complaints.
In place of Carillo, she had the delicacy to appoint Juan
Aguado, an officer of her own household, who had been to
Hispaniola, and who was under obligations to Columbus,
inasmuch as the Admiral had recommended him to her on
his return to Castile. From  these circumstances, Isabella
had reason to think that this choice of a commissioner of
inquiry would be less disagreeable to the Viceroy than any
other she could make. Accordingly she wrote to Fonseca
to apprise him of the nomination of Aguado, who would
take the command of the four caravels that were to sail for
Hispaniola. As the ships brought by Torres contained a
large number of rebel Indian prisoners, captured with arms
in their hands, Don Juan de Fonseca received orders to have
them sold in the markets of Andalusia. He, at the same
time, was directed to send to Court Bernal Diaz de Pisa,
the author of the first troubles in Hispaniola.
Although an ordinance had been expedited for the sale of




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


33I


the prisoners, according to the custom that then prevailed in
regard to infidels and idolaters, still a scruple arose in the
mind of Isabella. The enterprise of the Discovery having,
as a prime object, the conversion of nations who did not
know Christ, the Queen considered within herself whether
she should not treat these people as future children of the
Church, and whether it was not contrary to the Gospel to
enslave them? She commanded that the prisoners should
be carried back to Hispaniola, and all set free, with the
exception of nine, who were destined by the Admiral to
serve as interpreters, and w.ho were to remain some time
in Castile, to learn the language.
This attention of the Queen for the Viceroy of the Indies
served only to increase the hate entertained for him by the
superintendent of the marine. It does not appear that he
followed the injunctions of his sovereign with much assiduity; for, in twenty-five days after, she had to renew the
expression of her will. From this moment the hate of
Juan de Fonseca towards Columbus, and all that pertained
to him, did not become lulled any more. Sometimes underhand and dissembled, sometimes imprudent and supercilious, it contrived every means to thwart the designs of the
Admiral, to oppose his glory, and to force him, by the obstacles it raised against him, to consume the years which
would have sufficed for him to discover the rest of the globe.
For a long time, in Spain, the episcopal title which was
borne so unworthily by Don Juan de Fonseca has preserved
him from the severe reproof of history. The historiographers royal, fearing censures, though forced to acknowledge
his aversion, and even his " mortal hatred" for Columbus,
have not dared to expose his conduct, and stigmatize it with
their reprobation. For our own part, the ecclesiastical dignity he profaned shall not arrest our pen.  It is meet to
show, for the honor of the Episcopate, what sort of a bishop
the director-general of the marine was. He had the title
of " Bishop," but was not a pastor of souls. Without fulfilling the duties of a bishop, and without caring for his




332


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


flock, which he never guided, and did not even know, he
still was called a bishop. Not seeing in the Episcopate but
a dignity supported on revenues, he exchanged, when occasion offered, his bishopric for one more lucrative, - bartering the See of Badajos for that of Cordova; quitting the
bishopric of Cordova for that of Palencia; abandoning that
of Palencia, as soon as possible, to pass to that of Burgos;
then, from the See of Burgos, ascending to the archbishopric
of Rosano; and, from the arch-episcopal dignity, aspiring
to a dignity still higher! This instance of favor, almost
unique, under the reign of Isabella, who was very scrupulous in the presentations for the Episcopate, was the personal work of King Ferdinand.
It was not in the nature of Isabella to have any predilection for Juan de Fonseca. The body of the Spanish bishops
is the less responsible for the conduct of this prelate, as he
existed only in a nominal manner. He was never an authority in work or example; and never did his words or
his mandates edify anybody.  He did not ascend to the
evangelical chair, but always remained confined to the
arm-chair of the director of the marine; and, save his
taking possession, during which he received the homage
of the diocese, whence he departed the next day, he was
not seen to perform any pastoral function. The Spanish
Episcopate does not claim him among its glories; the
Church does not claim the director of the marine. We
may, then, with full liberty, utter our sentiments respecting
Juan de Fonseca, the instigator of all the injustices, of all
the wrongs, that the man who had doubled the known
creation had to suffer until his death.
A favorite with King Ferdinand, Don Juan de Fonseca
knew how to make him a partaker of his own malevolence.
The King, as is well known, did not wish to contribute anything for the Discovery. He took no other interest in it
than the hope of finding gold mines, in order to draw fiom
the treasury of Castile the sums necessary for his projects
of conquest in Europe. Ferdinand, who could not easily




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


333


bear another's superiority, never pardoned his glory. Juan
de Fonseca and his courtiers (for the favor he was in drew
around him a court) detested Columbus.  Several grand
families were indeed jealous of the sudden elevation of this
foreigner, and the director of the marine knew how to
make these feelings subservient to his plans.
SE CTION    II.
On account of the chicanery of Fonseca, the caravels
were not ready to sail until the end of August.
Aguado took with him on board Don Diego Columbus,
who was returning to his brother, and some religious who
went to replace the deserters of the Apostolate, who had
returned with Father Boil.  He also took with him the
well-known metallurgist, Pablo Belvis, with several master
miners and founders, provided with all the instruments of
their art, as well as with a certain quantity of mercury to
separate gold from sand, by means of amalgamation.
Aguado had received, from the text of his letter of credence, which was conceived in vague and brief terms, a
discretionary power; but which assuredly was limited by
the verbal instructions that accompanied its delivery. The
Queen had nominated him, thinking that, by the choice of
his person, what was disagreeable in his office would be
mitigated in the eyes of the Admiral. Aguado, whose
intelligent activity was praised by Columbus, was, in truth,
a cunning fellow, who very well knew his own interests.
In his relations with the director-general of the marine,
he noticed the influence of Fonseca on the King, and the
dispositions of the latter towards the Admiral, and then he
understood the side he should support himself on for his
own interest. From that time, he appeared to have received instructions contrary to those he received from the
Queen; and it may be asserted, that in landing, before
inquiring into any case, he put in execution a plan of conduct that was quite opposed to his antecedents, to his




334


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II,


friendly relations with the Admiral, and so odious that he
could have received it only from Fonseca.
Directed by pilots formed under Columbus, the squadron
arrived safely, in October, at the port of Isabella. At
that very time Columbus was combating, in the states of
Caonabo, the brothers of that cacique who had revolted.
Aguado, as if he had been Viceroy of the Indies, attributed
to himself all the powers of the government, and called to
account the officers who were appointed by the Admiral.
He reprimanded some of them sharply, and dared to imprison others, - paying no respect to Don Bartholomew
Columbus, appointed by the Admiral governor of the place,
as if he did not exist. He announced that he had come to
inquire into the conduct af the Admiral, and to punish him
promptly.
Don Bartholomew having demanded to see his letter of
credence, AguLado rejected with haughtiness this request,
saying that he would show it only to the Admiral himself.
However, he had it proclaimed the next day by sound of
trumpet. After having vented his vanity against the officials of the Admiral, fulminated threats against him, and
sought to wound him in all his feelings, he said that the
oldest of the Columbuses prolonged his absence from fear
of him, not daring to appear before his judge; but that he
well knew how to make him appear. Accordingly, he took
a troop of cavalry to go in quest of him, when Columbus,
hearing of the arrival of the commissary, returned to
Isabella.
The decisive moment had come. Aguado was going to
triumph, for he knew the fine sensibility of the Admiral,
and in advance was sure that his multiplied affionts and
insolence going beyond all human endurance, it would be
impossible for Columbus to restrain himself; in this case,
there would be nothing wanting but a report to show that
he was wanting in respect for the royal authority. But the
more provoking the offence was, and the farther it passed
beyond the bounds of decency, the greater the secret pleasure




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


335


the servant of God experienced in making the sacrifice of
his will. He resigned himself to the injustice with a satisfaction which even his enemies could not question; besides,
he could not, as a Christian, disregard the principle of
authority.
When, therefore, Aguado advanced to show his letter of
credence, the Admiral received him with grave and punctilious ceremony, with the sound of trumpets, took the letter
and read it, and having heard the commissary, graciously
assured him that he was quite ready to do what would be
prescribed for him on the part of the Sovereigns. For
some time this calmness and moderation astonished and
confounded Aguado. Still, as this deference foiled his object, he commenced talking in an arrogant tone, hoping, by
the unbecomingness of his manners, to provoke the wrath
of the Admiral. But, to his amazement, Columbus "bore
his insolence with great modesty."
Aguado, foiled in his plans, and seeing the uselessness of
provocations, had nothing left but to collect accusations
against his former protector. He gathered the testimonies
of the scum  of the colonists, of the slothful, the cowardly, and of the discontented. Knowing that there had
arrived, as they said, "a young Admiral who was to kill
the old one," the Indians themselves came to proffer complaints against Columbus, their only defender, whom they
made responsible for all the excesses committed by the
Spaniards. Some caciques assembled at the dwelling of
Manicatex, and resolved to lay their griefs before the envoy
of the Sovereigns, - the redressers of wrongs. In December the inquiry which was opened by Aguado formed a
large pile of papers, which appeared to him more than
sufficient to insure irretrievably the ruin of the Columbuses.
He was now prepared to return to Spain, and had given
orders for that purpose. The preparations for his departure
were actively going on, when, in the beginning of January,
one of those tempests unknown in Europe, but which the




336


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


Indians called " hurracan," * burst on the island. It was
one of those frightful convulsions of nature whose devastating character recalls the eruptions preceded by earthquakes. Within the memory of man no such perturbation
was known. A conflict of typhoons had taken place in the
atmosphere. The most violent of the whirlwinds traversed
the north-western parts of Hispaniola, tearing up by the
roots the largest trees, and hurling them to a great distance.
When the hurricane reached the harbor, it whirled the
ships round as they lay at anchor, snapped their cables,
and sank them. As soon as the furious commotion in
the air ceased, the sea suddenly swelled up. The bellowing waves arose to to the skies, overspread with gloom.
Suddenly they overleaped the natural barriers opposed to
their fury, and inundated the lowlands of the coast. The
Spaniards believed the end of the world was at hand, while
the Indians saw in this fearful ruin the punishment of the
crimes of their oppressors.
After this elemental scourge had passed off, there was
a hurrying to the port. Alas! of Aguado's four caravels,
and three others that were at anchor, only a single one remained, - the smallest, the oldest, and the most fiagile of
all, - the Niia! - that caravel which had succored the
Admiral in his shipwreck at Navidad, which had brought
him back to Palos, which had afterwards, under the name
of Santa Clara, borne him to the exploration of Cuba, the
discovery of Jamaica, and the archipelago of the " Queen's
Gardens," whence she had returned rickety, leaky, and
ready to founder in the port, seeming to be inevitably
doomed to perish!


* Hence our word hurricane.




CHAP. vIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


337


CHAPTER VIII.
Gold Mines discovered. -Departure of Columbus for Spain with
the sick and Indians. - Romantic Devotedness of a Cannibal
Princess for Caonabo. -To save Provisions the Crew want to
cast the Indians into the Sea, but they are protected by the
Admiral. - He predicts the very Day when they will reach Land.
SECTION      I.
OLUMBUS immediately ordered the repairing of the
Santa Clara, and the building of another caravel
which would be named the Santa Cruz (the Holy Cross),
knowing the urgent importance of arriving in Spain when
his new accuser would come there. During the building
of the new vessel, for which the timbers of the wrecked
vessels that had been saved from the waves were made subservient, he received news that was of more value for his
defence than the vindication of his government, although
the latter was directed by the most consummate prudence.
Some months before the hurricane, a young Arragonian
named Miguel Diaz, attached to the service of Don Bartholomew Columbus, having a quarrel with one of his
compatriots, fought with him and wounded him dangerously. Knowing the inflexible character of Don Bartholomew, he would not venture to sue for pardon, but took
to flight, accompanied by the witnesses of the fray. Their
wandering course led them to the banks of the Ozama, in
the territory of a young female cacique, whose beauty captivated Diaz. The Indian princess soon became enamored
of him, and became a Christian, to marry him. She took
the name of Catalina.
29




338


HISTOR OF


[BOOK II.


Fearing that her husband would feel too much isolated
from his countrymen, and may abandon her some day, she
informed him of the existence of gold mines, at a distance
of seven leagues from their residence, and engaged him to
bring his countrymen to her territory. Diaz immediately
saw in this communication the means of obtaining pardon.
Accompanied by some of his wife's subjects, he resolved to
go and present himself to Don Bartholomew. Concealing
himself in the neighborhood of Isabella, he learned, from a
friend, that the wounded man was alive and quite well;
then he no longer feared to make his appearance. Don
Bartholomew welcomed him, and reconciled him with his
adversary. The news he brought was a providential support for Columbus.
Without loss of time he despatched Don Bartholomew
with an escort of a detachment of infantry, and accompanied by the metallurgist Pablo Belvis, and some miners.
They passed by the fortress of Conception, where they took
guides, and, traversing the domains of the cacique Bonao,
they arrived at the river Hayna, on the bank of which they
found gold ore in abundance. They perceived it, also, in
its tributary streams, and collected nuggets of it of considerable size.
Don Bartholomew returned with some nuggets of gold
of great value. The Admiral received them with a lively
gratitude to God for having fulfilled his desires, in sending
him, at the moment of his departure, the best means of
confounding his enemies, of encouraging the Catholic
Sovereigns to continue the discoveries, and of enabling
him to crown his labors with the conquest or the purchase
of the Holy Sepulchre. In accordance with his usual
habits of piety, he immediately retired to his oratory to
thank the Lord, and offer Him the first fruits of the new
discovery of gold. That part of the lands on the Iayna,
where the gold mines were found, was called " St. Christopher," from the name of the fortress which Columbus
ordered to be built there.




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


339


Before leaving, the Admiral would regulate, during his
absence, the interior government of the colony. By virtue
of his powers and privileges, he named as his LieutenantGeneral his brother, Don Bartholomew, with the title of
Adelantado, —a title by which he was always afterwards
designated. He also nominated as superior magistrate of
the colony Francisco Roldan, once attached to his personal
service, and whom he had formerly raised to the rank of
judge of the " first resort."
Already Columbus was earnest in providing for the principal spiritual wants of the colony, so sadly neglected by
Father Boil. He felt convinced that, during his absence,
the Catholic religion would be preached to the populations
of the island. He confided the honor of this apostolate to
a Franciscan, Father Juan Bergognon, with whom he associated the pious Friar, Roman Pane, who was favored with
the gift of languages. Then he sent the latter into the
country of the cacique Guarionex, and charged him to
reduce to writing a memoir on the primitive religious opinions of the Indians, their genesis and cosmogony. Notwithstanding his zeal for the glory of the Saviour, Friar Pane,
who humbly called himself the Poor Hermit, for a moment
became afraid at the idea of going alone among an irritated
and capricious people. IHe mentioned his fear to the
Admiral, and besought him to permit him to take some
Christians with him to console and sustain him in his solitude. Columbus, with the best grace, authorized him to
take with him any person he judged proper, and took care,
at the same time, to station a post of infantry within reach
of the residence of the missioners, to prevent the idolaters
from making any attempts on their persons.
Although the fickleness of their character, and the confusion that reigned in their religious opinions, preserved
the Indians from a fierce fanaticism, their priests, called
Biohutis, who acted at once the part of physicians and of
sorcerers, had an interest in preventing a new religion from
ruining their rather lucrative occupation, and they could




34~


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


have armed the hands of their credulous dupes. Fundamentally, the religion of the islands consisted in a gross
faith in certain idols, which they named Zemes. These
zemes, sometimes of wood, sometimes of stone, and very
varied in their forms and attributions, were very nearly
similar to the fetiches of the negroes. The Bohutis, or
priests, did not constitute a distinct body; they had no dotations nor hereditary privileges. They did not reign over
the caciques, and, on their side, the caciques did not endeavor to lessen their influence on the superstition of the
people. To overthrow this religion, destitute of formal
dogmas and of symbols, and holding to the soil by no traditional root, the mildness and charity of the Gospel should
have sufficed. Unfortunately, the violence and vices of the
Spaniards gave these people false notions of Catholicity,
and, confounding the religion with the men, they made
Christianity responsible for the crimes of their oppressors.
SECTION     II.
At the end of February, the two caravels were ready for
the voyage. The sick, the discontented, and the disappointed hidalgos, to the number of two hundred and
twenty-five, besides thirty-two Indians, - among whom
were the haughty Caonabo, with a brother, a son, and a
nephew, -were divided among the two vessels. Aguado
embarked on the new caravel, and Columbus on the poor
but faithful Santa Clara.
On the tenth of March, I496, the two vessels left the
port, and proceeded to the east, to try a new route. Experience had not yet revealed the winds that prevail in these
latitudes. It was not at that time known that it was necessary to steer directly northwards, so as to fall in with the
track of westerly winds to favor the return to Europe.
Columbus had to make way against the winds, and to
weary himself with incessant toils. He passed twelve
days in thus struggling before he lost sight of the eastern




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


341


cape of Hispaniola. At length he gained the open sea, on
the sixth of April. Their provisions having become diminished from a consumption of twenty-six days, the Admiral
determined to stop at the Caribbee Islands, to take in a
fresh supply.
On the tenth, casting anchor before Guadaloupe, he sent
two boats, well armed, on shore, to procure provisions,
which were to be paid for in European trinkets; Suddenly
the beach became covered with amazons, decorated with
tufts of feathers, and armed with bows and arrows, prepared to oppose their landing. As the sea was rough the
boats remained at a distance, and two of the Indians from
Hispaniola swam to the shore. They told the women that
there was no injury intended for them, and that the strangers
sought only provisions, for which they were ready to pay
in gems, and that they came from heaven (from Turey).
The women referred them to their husbands, who were on
the northern side of the island.
The boats proceeded thither.  They perceived on the
beach a crowd of warriors of ferocious aspect, yelling and
discharging flights of arrows, which, however, did not
reach their mark. Seeing that the boats did not the less
approach the land, they hid themselves in the adjacent
forest, whence they rushed forth with hideous cries as the
Spaniards were landing. A discharge of fire-arms soon
made them retire to the forest, leaving their habitations
deserted. In these were found provisions, some beautiful
parrots, and the arm of a man, which was roasting before
a fire.
The Admiral sent a detachment of forty men to reconnoitre the island. They returned the next day, bringing
with them three children and six women, among whom
was the haughty wife of a cacique.
The Spaniards passed nine days on the island, laying in
a supply of cassava. Being on the point of setting sail, he
sent on shore the captive women and children, with many
presents, such as all Indians dote on. But the wife of
29*




342


HIS TORr OF


[BOOK II.


the cacique declared she and her daughter would remain
on board, and go and see the country of the mighty strangers. This motive was but a pretext.
This intrepid woman, seeing Caonabo in chains, and
knowing that, like herself, he was a native Carib, with
cannibal instincts, -was touched with his misfortune. A
horrible sympathy retained her at his feet. Sacrificing her
duties, her future, to the enthusiasm of a suicidal glory,
she suddenly forgot her children, her husband, her tribe
and her country, to consecrate herself to solacing the
weariness of the hero, whose exploits had electrified her
imagination.
SE CTION IlZ.
On the twentieth of April, they again opened sail. The
struggle against the winds recommenced, and by the twentieth
of May they were still in the midst of the ocean. None
of the pilots knew the latitude they were in, and sadness
and discouragement became general. Their fresh water
had already failed them, and their provisions became so
reduced, that Columbus was obliged to put every one on a
daily allowance of six ounces of bread. As usual, he gave
himself the example of equality in distress. The ignorance
of the distance they were from land increased the general
inquietude. The pilots differed among themselves about
the route, and thought they were wandering in the boundless ocean. The Admiral now assured them that they were
about a hundred leagues from the meridian of the Azores,
which was the exact case.
Columbus paid particklar attention to the sick. His
compassion, and his piety, found means to console these
poor people, the greater part of whom were suffering before
they came on board. Whilst in the caravel of Aguado, the
sick workmen and soldiers received no attention from the
commissary; those on board the Santa Clara received
every care and comfort that were possible.. We cannot




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


343


doubt that the venerable Father Juan Perez de Marchena,
seconding the Admiral, assisted. them with spiritual aid,
the value of which is doubly felt in misfortune.
About this period Caonabo died, and his brother survived
him only a few days.
The sufferings from scarcity of food continued to increase
from hour to hour, and low murmurings were heard. The
Spaniards darted alternately looks of pity and of wrath at
the thirty Indians who were on board. Famine, that horrible feeling which overcomes every tender sentiment, excited
cruelty and suggested crime. Some of the Spaniards proposed to kill and eat the Indians; others advised that they
should be thrown into the sea, as so many expensive and
useless mouths. The latter party seemed to prevail.
On the seventh of June, this cruel resolution was made
public. When it became known to the Admiral, the compassionate mildness which he had hitherto exhibited gave
place to the most courageous energy. He arose in the
height of his majesty, and stilled the tumult of despair.
God coming to his aid, he silenced the promptings of
famine, and declared firmly to these men that he discovered
the Indies to beget souls for Jesus Christ the Lord; that
these Indians, redeemed at the price of the same blood,
were their brethren; that he conducted them to Castile in
order to make them children of the Church, and friends to
the Spanish nation; and that he would not permit the
perpetration of this abominable crime.  He reminded
them that patience in sufferings was a characteristic virtue
of Christians, - the mark of their superiority.  He further
added, that the fear which instigated this cowardly crime
was the effect of error and ignorance, as in three days they
would be in the waters of Cape St. Vincent.
The pilots scoffed at these words; but, on the evening of
the third day, the Admiral ordered that sail should be taken
in during the night, as they would see land the next day.
The event proved the correctness of his announcement.
Reflecting on the matter, and remembering how, from




344                 HISTORY OF                [BOOK II.
the first Discovery, all the diverse predictions of the Admiral were verified by the events, the greater part of the
sailors, and even of the pilots, were not far from thinking
that perhaps he called to his aid the secrets of magic; and
that at least, in all great circumstances, he was endowed
with an inspiration almost divine.




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


345


CHAPTER IX.
Columbus wears publicly the Habit of the Franciscans. - He goes
to Court. - At the sight of him the Queen forgets all the accusations brought against him. - Measures taken in favor of the
Colonies.- Columbus refuses a Principality.- He establishes a
Majorat, or Mayorazgo. - Outrages received when entering on
his Third Voyage.
SECTION     I.
ON entering the Bay of Cadiz, Columbus found three
caravels, commanded by his old pilot, Pedro Alonzo
Nino, on the point of sailing with supplies for the colony.
Nifo immediately delivered him the despatches addressed
to him; and, after having read them, he considered it proper
to modify a little the instructions left with his brother Don
Bartholomew.
The flotilla having sailed, Columbus occupied himself
with the care of the sick and distressed whom he brought
with him. The paternal solicitude with which he had continually treated them during the voyage, at length opened
their eyes. When embarking, they were prejudiced against
him; but they landed as grateful for his goodness, as they
were indignant at the offences he had received from the
commissary Aguado.
Columbus did not go immediately to Court. Having informed the Sovereigns of his arrival, he determined to await
their orders. It was not until a month after, that they wrote
to him, from Almazan. Their message was dated the
twelfth of July, I496.
It is evident that Aguado had full time to communicate
to the director of marine the enormous pile of documents
he had brought with him from Hispaniola; to add verbal




346


HISTOR r OF


[BOOK II.


comments to them, and thus deceive the Sovereigns. It
appears his proceedings were not unsuccessful.  After
having many times heard the complaints of Father Boil
and Pedro Margarit, the Queen had yet to consider the
hostile testimonies of the commander Gallego, of Rodrigo
Abarca, of Micer Girao, and of Pedro Navarro,- all servitors of the royal household, and therefore worthy of
confidence.
During the month that elapsed between the arrival of
Columbus and the answer of the Sovereigns, history has
lost sight of the Admiral. It is only known that, disgusted
with the deceit and the weaknesses of the Court, and counting only on God, he wished from that time to retire from
the world. Unmindful of what may be thought of him, he
allowed his beard to grow, and wore exteriorly his cord
over the habit of St. Francis, the latter being somewhat
shortened. We have reason to believe that he even seriously contemplated following to La Rabida his venerable
friend Father Juan Perez de Marchena, who went there to
finish his mortal career.
Some writers, who did not comprehend the eminently
Christian character of Columbus, have been puzzled about
the religious habit with which he invested himself on his
return from his second voyage. Washington Irving conjectures that he put on this garb " in fulfilment of some
penitential vow made in a moment of danger." * But, in
the first place, he encountered no tempest on his return.
He had contrary winds, because they blew towards the
Antilles; but they were regular, and alternated with calms.
This conjecture is therefore unsustained by facts.  The
statement of Oviedo can leave no doubt as to the cause of
the costume he adopted: he says it was through disgust for
the world, t and the mortification he felt at the injustice
done him.
* Washington Irving. History, etc., Book ix., chap. iI.
t Oviedo y Valdez. Hist. nat. y gen., etc., lib. II., chap. xII.




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


347


Las Casas, in his History of the Indias, says he saw the
Admiral in Seville, clothed very nearly like a Franciscan
monk.* The curate of Los Palacios mentions his receiving at his house the Admiral, wearing the cord of St.
Francis, and a garment the cut and color of which recalled
the habit of the religious of the Observance. t Humboldt
considers it was " through devotion he appeared in the
streets of Seville wearing the habit of the monks of St.
Francis." +  So it is gratuitously that Irving supposes a
vow which no circumstance could have occasioned, and
of which no cotemporary writer makes mention.
At length the letter of the Sovereigns came to hand.
They felicitated the Admiral on his happy voyage, and
invited him to come to Court when he would have sufficiently recovered from his fatigues. The letter was conceived in gracious and flattering terms. Columbus immediately repaired to Burgos, where the Court then resided.
During his journey, in order to remove the prejudices the
deserters from the colony had inspired against the Discovery,
he displayed the rarities he had brought with him, -gold
masks,nuggetsof gold, the Indians who accompanied him;
he had a chain of gold put round the neck of Caonabo's
brother, that weighed six hundred castellanos. ~
Whatever may have been the complaints lodged against
the Admiral, the Queen wholly forgot them as soon as he
appeared, and felt for him only the natural attraction, the
feeling interest, mingled with respect, with which the envoy
of Providence had formerly affected her: His aspect alone
was a conclusive refutation of the charges of his enemies.
Columbus exposed in its reality the situation of the colony.
Isabella now knew the dire necessity that constrained him
* Las Casas. La Historia de las Indias, lib. I., chap. ir., MS.
t Andres Bernaldez. Hist. de los Reyes Cat., chap. vii., MS.
$ Humboldt. Hist. de la Geograjhh. du NVuveau Continent, t. I,
p. 22.
~ Equal to the value of three thousand one hundred and ninety-five
dollars of the present time. -B.




348


HISTOR OF


[BOOK II.


to those measures of safety which egotism and vanity taxed
with cruelty. The Admiral narrated to their Highnesses
his discovery of the archipelago of the Caribbees, of Cuba,
and of Jamaica; spoke of the mines of Cibao, and of those
of Hayna; gave them some masks ornamented with gold,
some cinctures embellished with gold, some purses filled
with grains of gold from the mines of Cibao, and others
withnuggets aslarge as nuts, that were yielded by the mines
discovered at the time of his departure. He also presented
them with many objects unknown in Europe, such as sacred
stones, images, arms, instruments, besides animals, birds
and plants, which they had not yet seen. These productions
of the new country charmed the Queen. Ferdinand was
more sensibly touched by some fragments of gold ore than
by anything else. They thanked Columbus; loaded him
with kindness, and treated him publicly with all possible
honor, to the great disappointment of his enemies.
If we did not know the uprightness of the Queen, incompatible with every kind of dissimulation, we would have an
unquestionable proof of sincerity in the letter, so full of royal
bounty and maternal gratitude, she addressed from the port
of Laredo, the eighteenth of August, to thank him for his
advice on the route to be taken by the fleet that was to convey to Flanders the Infanta Dona Juana, the affianced bride
of the Archduke Philip of Austria. The Queen thanked
him doubly for the sagaciousness of his advice, always of
great weight, and for the delicacy of his attention; to which
was added the timeliness of his letter, coming at the moment
of departure. Isabella recognized in this circumstance that
zeal and affection which he always manifested in everything
that concerned her service, and begged him to consider that
she received this testimony as that of a most particular and
faithful servitor.
After having assisted at the embarkation of her daughter,
the Queen could scarcely resolve to part with her. She
remained two days and nights with her on board the ship.
She had prepared a cortege for her, chosen from the nobility




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


349


of the two kingdoms of Castile and Arragon. The fleet,
composed of a hundred and thirty sail, under the command
of the Grand Admiral of Castile, conveyed an escort of
about twenty thousand men. It sailed, with a fair wind,
on the twenty-second of August; and when it disappeared
from sight, the Queen returned to Burgos very sad, to
occupy herself with other preparations for the reception
of Princess Margaret, daughter of the Emperor Maximilian III., who had recently espoused the Infant Don Juan,
the Prince Royal.
SECTION      II.
In the midst of these maternal preoccupations and cares,
Columbus could not becomingly press the Queen to order
immediately preparations for a third voyage of discovery.
It became necessary for him, as at the time of his first expedition, to wait in silence and restrain his legitimate impatience. During the forced inaction of his sojourn at Burgos,
the Admiral could not fail in promptly entering into intimate intercourse with a man of that city already become,
at the request of Isabella, his correspondent before he left
Hispaniola, but whom as yet he knew only by character.
This man was the celebrated Jaime Ferrer, the lapidary,
who travelled in all parts of the known world, and was at
once a traveller, a close observer, a linguist, a mathematician, an astronomer, a cosmographer, a metallurgist, a
scholar, a philosopher, a poet, and almost a theologian. In
the original work of M. De Lorgues there is a lengthy and
highly interesting notice of this extraordinary personage, to
which we would invite the attention of such of our readers
as are acquainted with French, as we have not space for it
in the present work.
In a letter to the Queen, this lapidary, speaking of Columbus, writes as follows: " I believe that in its high and mysterious designs divine Providence has chosen him as its
mandatory for this work, which seems to me to be but an
introduction and a preparation for things which this same
30




350


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


divine Providence reserves to itself to disclose to us, for its
own glory and the salvation and happiness of the world." *
SE CT IO IZI.
In the commencement of autumn, Ferdinand returned to
Burgos. There were neither money, nor vessels, nor men
for the contemplated expedition. Still, Isabella ordered six
million maravedis to be advanced for the equipment of a
squadron for Columbus.
The twentieth of October, the pilot Pedro Alonzo Niio,
returning from Hispaniola with three caravels, entered the
port of Cadiz. In place of repairing immediately to Court,
he went to visit his family, and contented himself with writing that he had a large amount of gold on board his ships.
Ferdinand, much pleased at this news, immediately changed
the destination of the six million maravedis, employing
them to fortify Roussillon, then menaced by the French,
and ordered the deduction of a similar sum for the Aldmir-al
from the gold brought by the caravels from Hispaniola. It
was only towards the end of December that Ninio presented
to the Sovereigns the despatches with which he was
charged. Then appeared the sad explanation of the metaphor used by the pilot. The large amount of gold boasted
of in the letter, consisted of three hundred Indian prisoners, from the sale of whom the vaunted gold was to come.
This absurd hyperbole had a deplorable effect on public
opinion. Ferdinand became very angry, and the Queen
was much hurt that, notwithstanding her preceding orders
respecting the liberty of the Indians, so many of them
were now sent her. Still, in sending them to Castile, the
Adelantado had only conformed to the royal orders concerning the Indians who should take part in the murder of
Spaniards. The Admiral was much grieved at the cargo


* Coleccion Dijplomatica, docum. num. lxviii.




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMIBUS.


35I


sent by the Adelantado, and particularly at the accounts he
received fiom the colony.
All the enemies of Columbus appeared to be now justified. All the specimens of gold shown by the Admiral
were mere baits. The bureaus of marine at Seville were
rejoiced at the humiliation of the Genoese. The minds
opposed to new things disapproved highly of the discoveries. At Court, nobody felt restrained in criticising distant
colonizations. The Admiral was censured, even in his
presence. Everybody blamed his views; he was, as he
himself says, " oppressed with reproaches." Statesmen and
financiers pretended that the monarchs would never cover
their expenses, and that there was nothing to be gained but
ruin and misfortune from such bold projects, especially
when they were confided to foreigners.
The report of these clamors came to the ears of the Admiral. He feared that their influence would at last dissuade
the Sovereigns from the enterprise. He expressed his disquietude to the Queen, who answered him " with that great
heart which everybody knew her to have," that he must not
pay " the least attention to these remarks, because her intention was to pursue this enterprise, and sustain it, even if it
should yield only rocks and stones; that she would not stop
at the expense, that she considered as well employed what
she had expended and would still expend, because she
believed our holy faith would be extended, and her kingdoms enlarged, and that those who disparaged it were no
friends to her royal Crown." *
SECTION IV.
It was not until the twenty-third of April that Isabella
issued an ordinance for the purchase of commodities for the
Indies. The Admiral obtained leave to take in the pay of
the Crown three hundred and thirty persons, of different


* Christopher Columbus. -    Navarrele's Collection, t. i.




352


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


trades, who should go and settle in the Indies. The same
day, the Queen extended the powers formerly accorded
hilm; and, to give the Admiral a new pledge of her solicitude for his interests, she solemnly confirmed the privileges
that were given him in the city of Santa Fe.
Such was the generosity of Isabella, that, in consideration for his recent discoveries, she offered Columbus to give
him, as an appanage to his vice-royalty, a principality which
would be constituted in Hispaniola, in the quarter he would
choose himself. This private domain would have an extent
of fifty leagues by twenty-five in breadth; and at his option
it would be erected into a duchy or a marquisate.
Without doubt this offer was very tempting. Columbus,
the father of a family, would thus see himself recompensed
in his posterity. This duchy, - a true principality, - would
have enabled him to found a powerful house for his second
son, while the oldest one would succeed to his dignities as
Admiral of the Ocean and Viceroy of the Indies. But the
man of desire, the contemplator of the Word, would be
influenced by no human considerations. In him the apostle
got the mastery over the head of the family. Designing,
from the commencement of his enterprises, to discover the
space of the whole globe and make its circuit, and, finally,
to deliver the Holy Sepulchre, he feared that the natural
attachment for an estate so vast, and the government of this
little state, would tempt his heart as a father, retard his
explorations, delay the accomplishment of his almost evangelical labors, and perhaps divert him from the continual
vigilance he owed to the general interests of the colony; so,
with a renunciation wholly Christian, he refused the royal
offer.
Hitherto most historians have admired this disinterestedness; but the true motive of Columbus has escaped their
notice. This motive, which his modesty concealed, they
have interpreted in a sense purely worldly. According to
these writers, he feared that the envy of the grandees would
be increased by this favor, and that the officers of the




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


353


exchequer would accuse him of having chosen the best part
of the island, and of having sacrificed the public interests
to his own personal advantages.  These considerations
appear to us to be very feeble and very subordinate, if not
very puerile, when the Admiral's greatness of soul is considered. We cannot admit that they could stagger a character so superior to the caprices of mere opinion; and,
assuredly, they would not have arrested a heart eager for
riches, or a mind like his, accustomed to overcome obstacles. The influence of his vocation can alone explain his
sublime refusal.
Notwithstanding the inducement of royal pay and the
hopes of gold, nobody came to be enrolled for the new expedition. An ocular witness explains to us the cause of this
universal repugnance. "Because those who went with the
Admiral * * * returned sick, emaciated, and of so sickly a
color that they appeared more dead than alive, the country of
the Indies was so much decried, that nobody could be found
who would venture to go there."
In this extremity, in consequence of the unfavorable reports the enemies of Columbus had spread against the
Indies, it became necessary to seek in the prisons and the
galleys for recruits for Hispaniola.
The Sovereigns published a pardon for all subjects guilty
of certain crimes and misdemeanors, on condition of their
serving for a certain time. Those who were condemned to
death, on their passing two years there, were to be liberated;
and a year's sojourn there cancelled all condemnations
short of capital punishment. Thus, save the cases of
heresy, treason, arson, and coining, all swindlers, perjurers,
robbers, and even murderers, by going at their own expense to Hispaniola, could return at the end of that time,
rehabilitated. By a letter patent addressed to all the officers of justice, they were ordered to conduct all those that
were condemned to banishment, or forced labor, to the
Assistente of Seville, who was to deliver them to the Admiral. Isabella also accorded to Columbus the power of
30*




354


HISTORY OF


[BOOK II.


dividing among the colonists lands proper for settlements,
under certain conditions.
She confirmed the nomination of Don Bartholomew
Columbus as Adelantado of the Indies. But the King appeared offended at this nomination, which he pretended to be
too important to be made directly by the Admiral without
the permission of the Sovereigns; the letter of ordinance
simply nominated Don Bartholomew   Adelantado of the
Indies from the twenty-third of July, without any mention
of the anterior nomination of him by the Admiral.
Notwithstanding the kindly dispositions for a new enterprise manifested by the Queen since the month of July,
1496, no steps for its execution were taken by the Bureau
of Marine at Seville, up to the month of September, I497.
Columbus spent a whole year in waiting and soliciting their
back pay for his men, the greater part of whom had abused
and calumniated him, but whom  he compassionated and
defended, because they were suffering. The most lively
solicitude of the Admiral did not proceed from these delays.
His greatest anxiety was about the colony, which was left
without even indispensable necessaries, and which he foresaw was in a worse state than was represented, - and such
was actually the case.
Soon a public misfortune occurred, which put off still
further the preparations for the expedition. This was the
lamented death of the Infant Don Juan, on the fourth of
October.
Sympathizing with the idolized Queen in her bitter and
profound affliction, the Admiral had the magnanimous
courage of keeping silence until the twenty-third of December. At this period, seeing the impossibility of overcoming
the passive opposition of the bureaus of Seville, who represented that they could not provision the ships on account of
the exorbitant prices demanded by victuallers, and the little
anxiety they showed in furnishing him with supplies, Columbus obtained permission, conjointly with Fonseca, to fix




CHAP. ix.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


355


the prices of provisions and munitions destined for the Indies,
and to engage purveyors at fixed prices.
Thus, after eighteen months' patience, the Admiral of the
Ocean, the Viceroy of the Indies, was obliged to go himself,
from store to store, to purchase provisions, wine, oil, etc.
This strange and fatiguing role, which his zeal for the service of God and of his Sovereigns made him accept, was
not the least of his sacrifices. Still, notwithstanding his
efforts, with the sum he received he could provision only
two caravels. The presentiment he had of the wants of the
colonies in Hispaniola, made him despatch there these two
vessels under the command of Pedro Fernandez Coronel,
who sailed on the eighteenth of February, 1498.
The Queen, giving a new mark of her high consideration for the Admiral, took into her household his two sons
as pages.
It appears that at this time Isabella insisted anew on Columbus's accepting the appanage of that principality of
twelve hundred and fifty square leagues in Hispaniola, formerly offered him, but he persevered in his refusal with
generous devotedness. Still, this attention of the Queen to
his interests suggested to him the idea of disposing definitively for the future of the revenues and incomes which
his convention with the Crown of Castile guaranteed to his
line by right of primogeniture.
SECTION      V.
With the consent of his royal protectress, the Admiral
resolved to establish a mayorazgo, which would perpetuate
in his descent the remembrance of the Discovery and the
fruit of his labors. Accordingly, on the twenty-second of
February, 1498, Columbus, by an authentic act, founded
his institution of Mayorazgo, or Majorat. Without entering
into the details of this strange document, we will only
advert to some stipulations that paint to the life the char



356


HISTORT OF


[BOOK II.


acter, the inmost life, and the faith of the man who doubled
tile known world.
In the first place, this institution of mayorazgo, which is
to be the realization of the fruit of his perseverance and
labors, is made under the invocation of the Most Holy
Trinity, who, he says, " inspired me with the idea, and
afterwards made it perfectly clear to me that one could
navigate and go to the Indies from Spain, by traversing the
ocean westward." *
Then he recalls that it was by the grace of the Almighty,
in the year I492, he discovered the land of the Indies and
numerous islands; that thus our Lord accorded him this
triumph over error and incredulity, and, as a consequence,
he hopes, with certainty, that before long the rights that
have been granted him over these islands and terra firma,
will yield considerable proceeds, and that therefore he institutes a mayorazgo.
But this mayorazgo, this solemn and testamentary act,
the effects of which will be the completion of his glory and
the enduring recompense of his labors, - before founding
it, before specifying its conditions and requirements, and
even before announcing it, - he places under the personal
protection of the Chief of the Church. As he has labored
for the glory of Jesus Christ, and as his course of life has
prepared a great extension for Christianity, he confides the
respect for the rights he is to acquire, and the integrality of
his institution, to the vigilance and the authority of the
Sovereign Pontiff, because this mayorazgo is instituted "for
the service of Almighty God." It is under the fulminations
of the Church that he shields the maintenance of his supreme and last will.
The institution of a mayorazgo, or majorat, is but too
often the consecration of pride and paternal complaisance
for a vain posterity. But in this case, Christian humility,


* INSTITUCION DEL MAYORAZGO. Coleccion DiZlomat., docum.
num. cxxvi.




CHAP. ix.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


357


and a sincere devotedness to the Church, show themselves
all at once.
Columbus constitutes, as his heir, his eldest son, Don
Diego, and after him the eldest of his sons; the succession
to be thus transmitted by the right of primogeniture. He
imposes on his heirs the obligation of taking in their signature but the simple title of Admiral, without any enumeration of his dignities. The possessor of the mayorazgo
must write his signature according to the formula used by
Columbus himself. Now this formula, composed of initials,
was a prayer. For always, in the presence of God, he
made the sign of the Cross at the commencement of all his
writings, and in signing them traced a prayer in the form
of a sign-manual, or signature.*
Afterwards he obliges the inheritor of the mayorazgo, in
honor of the Almighty and Eternal God, to pay to the poor
the tithe, or tenth, of his revenues. By these poor, the heir
should at first, by preference, understand the necessitous of
the family of the Admiral. Thus, by this solemn act, which
the Pope, the Catholic Sovereigns, and consequently Spain,
the Republic of Genoa, and the States of the New World,
were called upon to witness that he did not blush at the
poverty of his parents, -he who wrote, "I am not the first
Admiral of my family," and who compared to the favors
bestowed on David the graces God had vouchsafed to grant
him.
After these orderings, Columbus comes to the pious sub*His sign-manual was composed of the following letters thus
disposed: -
S.
S. A. S.
X. M. J.
XpO   FERENS.
These initials signified: Servus SupIlex Altissizmi Salvatoris. -
Christus, Maria, 7ose5h. - CHRISTO FERENS. The suppliant servant of the Most High Saviour. -Jesus, Mary, Joseph. - Christbearer.




358


HIS TOR r OF


[BOOK II.


ject of his solicitude, the final object of his ambition on
earth, - the redemption of the Holy Sepulchre.
He declares it to be the duty of every person who has
wealth to serve God, either with his person or with the
property he has received from Him. He recalls that, at
the time when he was preparing to set out for the discovery
of the Indies, he had the intention of supplicating the Sovereigns to employ all the profits accruing from the Indies
in the conquest of Jerusalem. Consequently the inheritor
of the mayorazgo will take care to amass large sums of
money, in order to go with the Sovereigns to make the
conquest of Jerusalem; and in case of their refusal, must
go alone, with all the forces he can collect. He hopes
that their Highnesses, seeing him undertake this enterprise,
will aid him to accomplish it.
After delivering the Holy Places from the yoke of the
Turks, Columbus occupies himself with insuring the temporal independence of the Holy See against all the eventualities of the future. As if he foresaw that Protestantism
was soon about to emerge from the shade of a German
cloister, he thinks of shielding the Sovereign Pontiff from
its attacks. His own words leave no doubt as to the thought
of the servant of God:" Item. I require of Don Diego, or of whomsoever may
be in possesion of the estate, that in case of any schism, on
account of our sins,* taking place in the Church of God,
and that by violence any person, of whatsoever nation or
rank he may be, should undertake to despoil her of her
privileges and property, that immediately, under pain of
being disinherited, he will hasten (unless he should be a
heretic, which God forbid) to offer, at the feet of the Holy
Father, his person, power and wealth, for the purpose of
suppressing the schism, and preventing the spoliation of the
honors and property of the Church."
* " Que si en la Iglesia de Dios, por nuestros pecados naciere alguno cisma," etc. Coleccion Diplomat., num. cxxvi.




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


359


In well considering this solicitude for the temporal existence of the Holy See, one would say that the Revealer of
the Globe had foreseen the heresy which was one day to issue
from the monastery of the Augustinians of Wittemburg, and
the terrible perturbation by which so many nations would
be detached from spiritual unity. This very large defection
may well lead to the fear that the schism would become
established even in the city of Rome, where, in fact, it tried
to introduce itself. In such an occurrence the mayorazgo
would have been a powerful aid, as it ought to amount,
annually, to more than twenty-five million maravedis.
The Admiral wished, further, that his heir should build
a church in the Vega Real of Hispaniola, in honor of the
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION of the Blessed Virgin, under the
title of Santa Jlfaria de la Concepbcion; that he should
found a well-organized hospital; and that he should also
found a faculty of theology, composed of four chairs, which
were to be specially destined for the instruction of those
who would devote themselves to the conversion of the
Indians, with the obligation on the part of his heir, when
the revenues of the estate would permit it, to increase the'
number of chairs and subsidies for evangelical laborers for
the Indies.
In this testamentary act the whole soul of Columbus is
reflected. In all his disposals it is seen that he wishes to
have the course of his constant ideas continued after his
death, and from the depth of his tomb to have the real
objects of his life attained, - objects so great in his eyes
that his Discoveries were only the means and the preparation for them. Thus:
To pay tithe to God in His poor.
To deliver the Holy Sepulchre.
To secure the temporal independence of the Pope.
To comfort the sick.
To labor for the conversion of the Indians.
Such were the objects the Messenger of the Cross had
proposed to himself; and he requires that his heir, and




360


HISTORT OF


[BOOK II.


consequently his continuator, should accomplish this glorious task.
This sole institution of mayorazgo appears to us to be the
best answer that can be made to those who retrospectively
accuse this illustrious Christian of avarice and ambition.
Disinterestedness is to himself so natural, that he supposes
it in his heir; and if he recommends to him the amassing
of riches, it is in order that he may the more efficaciously
expend them to the advantage of the Church.
Nobody has hitherto sufficiently remarked this zeal for
the house of the Lord with which this servitor of God was
inflamed.
Has any other layman ever devoted himself to the Church
with such ardor? The self-renouncement, the complete selfabnegation, and all the sentiments of Columbus, - were
they not truly those of an Apostle? What more could a
saint have done, if he had been Grand Admiral and Viceroy, than to give his days, his nights, his repose, his dangers, his privations, his arrangements, and those of his
children, to the Catholic Church, and in preparing, in
his mayorazgo, an extreme resource for the necessities of
the Sovereign Pontiff, in case of attack or dispossession?
Has any other Christian ever manifested more enduring
solicitude for the glory of the Gospel, the redemption of the
Holy Sepulchre, and the dignity of the Pontificate? Has
any man ever made a more complete sacrifice of the fruit
of his labors? Not only did Columbus give assurance to
the Papacy of the cooperation of his mayorazgo, and the
arms of his heirs, but he was willing to go so far as, in case
of need, to dispossess, to disinherit wholly, his descendants,
in order to save the independence and the authority of the
Holy See!
SE C7TION    VL.
Notwithstanding the declared wish of the Queen, the
Admiral had to spend the months of March, April, and a




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


3-6i


part of May, in providing himself the things necessary for
the colony, as well as those for the new expedition. His
active perseverance succeeded in frustrating the studied
inaction of the director of marine, and in surmounting the
obstacles thrown in his way by the malevolence of the
bureaus, in such a manner, that at the end of May there
were at the port of San Lucar six caravels ready to sail.
But this approaching departure, which was a kind of interior triumph, exasperated the spleen of Fonseca and his
creatures. Until then no offence had been offered to the
Admiral but indirectly and cautiously; it was resolved to
try gross and public insult.
A certain Jew, who found it convenient to receive baptism, Ximeno Breviesca, who had become a paymaster, and
wished to advance rapidly in the esteem and support of
Fonseca, undertook the task.
On many occasions this Ximeno sought to brave and
offend the Admiral. The day of sailing he followed him
to the port, abusing him in the grossest manner. It appears
even that he dared to follow him on board, and there provoke him with his outrageous abuse. It is well known that
at the moment of embarking the Admiral always recommended himself more especially to God and to the Blessed
Virgin, and disposed himself for his voyage with particular
acts of piety. His heart, at such moments, superabounded
with Christian charity; he was therefore ready to pardon,
and, consequently, to bear injuries. But this day the offence
was so grievous, so intolerable by its persistence and bravado, that the old mariner remembered what he owed to
his rank as Admiral. Impunity this time may be attended
with disastrous consequences. The offence was given in
the presence of the whole squadron, of the crowd on the
quay, of some bandits and other criminals who were on
board, - all these would take his patience for pusillanimity
and cowardice. At the momentof departure it became,
perhaps, necessary for the safety of the ships and the maintenance of discipline, to prove on the spot that age had not
3'




362


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IL.


reduced his vigor, and that he knew how to make his person respected as well as to have his orders executed.
The patriarch of the ocean made a step towards his
insulter, and with his fist dealt a blow on his impudent
face. The miserable wretch fell down, stunned. The Admiral limited himself to giving a few kicks to this vile
snarler, who fled in the midst of hootings, concealing,
under his humiliation and forced tears, his secret joy; for
from that moment his fortune was made.
It is undeservedly that writers of a particular school
have been pleased to consider the chastisement inflicted on
Ximeno by the Admiral as a mark of his ungovernable
temper. It was quite simply an instance of the police on
shipboard. Columbus did not yield to hastiness or to the
excitement of self-love. He did what he had to do, according to the custom of the seamen of his time and the necessity of the moment.
Whatever had been the behavior of Columbus in this circumstance, the most consummate prudence could not have
preserved him from the snare laid for him with an infernal
cunning. If he limited himself to having Ximeno chased
by his squires, he would seem to be distrustful of his own
strength. This moderation would kill him morally; he
would lose his personal ascendancy over the squadron, and
over the malefactors it transported. This was just what his
enemies wanted. If he himself chastised the insolence, -
had he given only a blow, - there was sufficient matter to
accuse him of corporal violence, of rage, and of brutality.
By this act alone all the accusations of Father Boil, of
Pedro Margarit, and of Juan Aguado, in regard to his violence and cruelty, would be proved beyond doubt.
This occurrence, which was brought about by Fonseca,
was amply commented on at Court through the care taken
by him and his partisans. Since even on the soil of Spain,
in a port of the Catholic Sovereigns, the Admiral thus
treated one of their officers, what could he not have done in
those distant regions, where his authority was exercised




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.               363
without control? Ximeno, the infamous satellite of Fonseca, became the object of the complaisance and favor of the
Court. The insulter was pitied, consoled and indemnified
for his mishap. The insulted was reproved by public
opinion. He was no longer there to defend himself. He
had weighed anchor, receiving outrage for a farewell, and
bearing with him a presentiment of the blame with which
he would be loaded in his absence.




I




BOOK III.
CHAPTER I.
Columbus takes a new Route for his Third Voyage. -Dead Calms
of the Torrid Zone. —The Heat spoils the Provisions, etc. —
Excessive Thirst makes him change his Course. - Island of
Trinidad descried. - Discovery of the New Continent. - The
Orinoco. -The Gulf of Paria. -Happy Escape from Dangers.
-Departs for Hispaniola.
SECTION I.
O    N the thirtieth of May, I498, the six caravels opened
sail in the port of San Lucar. The Admiral started
on the voyage, placing himself under the patronage of the
Most Holy Trinity, whose august name he vowed to give
the first land he would discover.
It was no longer islands that Columbus sought.  He
hoped this voyage would almost equal his first one in its
importance. He first stood to the south, in order to avoid a
French fleet that was cruising about Cape St. Vincent
On the seventh of June, he anchored at Porto Santo,
where he heard mass, and took in wood and water. Thence
he stood for Madeira, where the governor, and the greater
portion of the inhabitants, who were already acquainted
with him, received him with great honors. He next made
for Gomera, and thence continued his route.Always solicitous for the colony, when he came to the
island of Ferro he despatched three vessels directly to
31*           (365)




366


HISTORY OF


[BOOK III.


Hispaniola with supplies, under the command of his
brother-in-law Pedro de Arana, of his cousin the Genoese
Juan Antonio Colombo, and of Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal. He carefully pointed out their course, and the nearest way. They were alternately to have the command, each
one for a week.
Then, with his other three snips, he turned his course to
the torrid zone, in the name of the Most Holy Trinity.
An attack of gout, which for four days was attended with
fever, came to add to his troubles. But the energy of his
will overcoming the violence of his pains, he did not cease
from directing personally the voyage. Leaving the barren
island of Buena Vista, the Admiral stood to the south-west.
IHe persevered in keeping this direction, though the force
of the currents, which was north and north-east, greatly
retarded his progress. Still, he desired to keep this route
until he would cross the equinoctial line, when he intended
to steer for the lerra firma of the Indies in the West.
On the thirteenth of July, the wind suddenly ceased, the
ocean became like a mirror, and the sails hung flaccid fiom
their masts. The vessels remained almost motionless. The
crews panted under the heat of a vertical sun, unmitigated
by any refi-eshing breeze. They were then in the regions
of the calms, unknown until that time, and they became
quite dejected.
The first day the air became like a furnace, and the tar
melted; but happily the next day some thick clouds
shrouded the heavens, and some showers of rain fell in
large drops.  Still the heat remained suffocating. The
provisions began rapidly to spoil, and even the salt meat
became putrid, the wheat became parched as if with fire,
and the staves and hoops shrank from the wine and water
casks, some of which leaked and others burst.
This excessive heat continued for eight days, and the absence of wind rendered it impossible to escape from it.
Columbus addressed himself to God, who had so many
times aided him in his dangers and difficulties. He remem



CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPIHER COLUMBUS.


367


bered his having found a great change in the atmosphere
every time he had passed a hundred leagues to the west of
the Azores, at the point designated by the famous line of
Papal Demarkation. "After that," he says, "I resolved,
if it should please the Lord to send me wind and a propitious time, to leave the latitudes in which I found myself,
to push no farther to the south, but, without retrograding,
to sail to the west, until I would find the temperature I had
met with in the latitude of the Canaries, and then steer to
the south."
The event justified his expectations. In advancing to the
west, he found the atmosphere to become milder.and more
serene accordingly as he approached the meridian already
mentioned. But the wine-casks were empty, and there
remained but a single barrel of water in each of the three
ships. Being in danger of perishing from thirst, notwithstanding his regret for having to depart from his intended
route, he made sail for the Caribbean islands, hoping to be
able there to procure provisions and water, and refit his
ships. The distress of the crews was frightful. In the
midst of the most alarming apprehensions, Alonzo Perez
Nizzardo, on the thirty-first of July, discerned three summits of mountains which appeared united at the same base.
It was the land desired!
It appeared distant about fifteen leagues; and by a wonderful, if not prodigious singularity, seemed at that distance
to present the mysterious emblem of the Trinity, whose
name the Admiral had vowed to bestow on it! Hence the
name he gave it, of Trinidad.
SE CTION     II.
The strange circumstances of this discovery, its three summits appearing to rise from the same mountain, and recalling
to mind the vow made by the Admiral to give the august
name of the Trinity (Trinidad) to the first land he would
discover, have stricken with astonishment the cotemporary




368


HISTOR T OF


[BOOK III.


chroniclers and historians. Mufioz, who had under his eyes
the narrations and the documents, informs us that Columbus
attributed this discovery to a signal favor from God.*  He
regarded as miraculous the circumstances, the time, the
place, and the aspect of these three summits, - a sight in so
intimate a relation with the design he had formed of consecrating to the Holy Trinity the first land he would discover.
According to his invariable custom, he planted a very
large Cross on the shore, where he glorified the name of
Jesus Christ.
After advancing further, the Admiral noticed between the
island of Trinidad and a neighboring land, which he took
for an island, a violent current, accompanied with a strange
and terrible sound. "' The water," says he, " came from
east to west, with as much velocity as the Guadalquiver
when swollen by floods."  He saw that this direction of
from east to west continued at all hours without interruption, with a velocity of two miles and a half an hour. He
seriously feared that he could not advance, on account of the
shoals indicated by the boiling and raging, nor turn back,
on account of the violence of the current. While at a late
hour of the night sleeplessness, inquietude, and his desire
to make observations, retained him on board, he suddenly
heard a terrible roaring fiom the south. He beheld the sea
which came from the west forming, as it were, a hill of
water as high as the masts of the ships, and advance towards him. To its uproar was added the tumult of other
currents. However, this liquid mass lowered itself, lifting
up high the caravel, and passed on to the mouth of the
strait, where it stood for some time struggling against the
counter-current of the strait. The Admiral felt the imminence of the danger so great for several weeks after, that he
was painfully affected by it. All thought they would be
lost without resource. The next day he had soundings
made by the boats. They found a depth of six or seven


* Muiioz. Hist. del Nuevo Mundo, lib. VI., sec. 23.




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


369


fathoms. They also found that there were two currents, -
one to enter, the other to come out. " It pleased the Lord,"
he says, " to give me a good wind, and I traversed the interior of this emboucJure, after which I found a tranquil expanse again." The Admiral gave to this dangerous pass
the name of Serpent's Mouth (Boca del Sierpe).
SE CTION IIL
It has been generally admitted that the first point of the
new continent perceived by Columbus, was the coast of
Paria. This, however, is an error refuted in advance by
the Admiral himself, in his report to the Sovereigns.
It is not uninteresting to point out precisely the first place
that presented itself to the longing eyes of the Europeans.
It can be done with certainty from the account given by
Columbus himself of the third voyage.
Before leaving the Boca del Sierpe, the Admiral had at
his right, a little forward of the prow, the last western cape
of Trinidad, and on the left, as much before as behind, the
superior extremity of the delta of the Orinoco, - an immense river, which discharges itself by seven great mouths
and forty smaller issues, over an extent of about fifty leagues,
which they divide into islands and islets of various extent.
A thick and vigorous vegetation here displayed its profuse
prodigality.  It was therefore impossible to avoid taking
for islands and islets these portions of land, then half
submerged, and forming numberless canals, and among
which no regular current indicated the discharge of a river.
It was, then, to these masses covered with sombre verdure, appearing to arise from the waters and gradually
bounding the horizon, that the Admiral first directed his
attention. Although there was no index to make him suppose that these islands were formed by the embouchure of a
river, he had a feeling something uncommon, strange and
inexplicable in regard to the nature of these islands; for,
far from giving a collected name to them, he designated the




370


HISTOR OF


[BOOK III.


country by the name of Tierra de Gracia (Land of Grace),
because the grace of God had alone conducted him there;
and he did not speak of islands in this part of his report.
The first part of the New Continent that necessarily
gained the attention of Columbus, when he wished to double
Point Jeacus, is comprised between Cape del Moro and
Cape de Medio, in the delta of the Orinoco. The vegetation was so gigantic that Columbus inferred it was not under
the predominant action of saline humidity, and that the
influence of the seas here yielded to the abundance of fresh
water, and that he at last saw terra C rma.
To satisfy himself in regard to the character of it, he
tacked about towards the interior coast of Trinidad, and at
a distance of twelve leagues perceived to the north-east the
top of a promontory, which he considered to be a continuation of the Land of Grace. This was afterwards proved to
be the case. On examining the sea-water he found it to
have a fresh taste, and that it was good for drinking. He
soon was in a current that pushed him to the north-east,
and advancing further, he perceived, near Cape Lapa, an
embouczhre still more narrow than that of the Serpent's
Mouth, having the same noises and turbulence of the waves.
With the design of finding another outlet, as well as to
open a communication with the inhabitants of this country,
he steered along the western coast. The more he advanced
the sweeter he found the water, and the better for drinking.
After sailing eighteen leagues along the coast, he sent boats
on shore. They found recent traces of people, much cultivated land, fruit-trees in bearing, and saw multitudes of
monkeys. But they could see no human being. The Indians are, from their infancy, so accustomed to the exercise
of their principal sensual faculties, that they acquire a superiority of sight, of hearing, and of smelling, which enables
them to perceive strangers before they are seen themselves,
to hear their steps and recognize their tracks, and thus they
are enabled to escape them. So it was in Gracia the same




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMIBUS.


as it was in Trinidad; the Spaniards were unable to find
any of the natives.
This day being Sunday, Columbus ordered it to be solemnized on that new land, the possession of which he took in
the form he was accustomed to. A large Cross was raised
on the most prominent spot of the beach, and the sacred
name of our Redeemer resounded on this unknown shore.
In this ceremony, the Admiral was represented by his majordomo, Pedro de Terreros, for an acute ophthalmia forced
him to remain in his cabin. The first European, then, that
landed on the New Continent was Pedro de Terreros.
The next day the Admiral neared the coast. A small
canoe, with five men, came towards the caravel nearest the
shore. The captain called them, and made a sign that he
wanted to go ashore. They understood him, and approached
nearer to receive him. The captain, in jumping into the
canoe, designedly overturned it. The Indians wished to
escape by swimming, but they were all, except one, secured
by the Spaniards, and brought to the Admiral.
These men were finely formed, and free and graceful in
their movements. Their color recalled their origin. The
Admiral gave them hawks' bells, glass trinkets, and sugar,
which delighted them exceedingly, and then ordered them
to be taken to the shore. Agreeably to what he expected,
their countrymen, informed of the good treatment they had
received, soon came in crowds to the strand. All wanted
to come to the caravels. They brought with them bread,
fresh water, a green kind of drink, a kind of wine, together
with bucklers, bows, and even poisoned arrows. They
gazed at the Spaniards with unspeakable astonishment, and
found the smell from them very grateful. The next day he
proceeded eight leagues westward, to a point which he
called Aguja, or the Needle, and found the country beautiful and the shore very populous. " I cast anchor," he says,
" in order to have more leisure to contemplate this verdure,
this beautiful country and its inhabitants."
The beauty and amenity of this place was such that he




3 72


HISTORT OF


[BOOK 1ILt!


named it Tue Gardens. Many Indians came, on the part
of their king, to beg him to come ashore. Columbus could
not, on account of his ophthalmiia, comply with this invitation. His apparent indifference redoubled their curiosity.
They were tall of stature, and had dark hair, which they
partly concealed by brilliant bandages which they wore
round the head. Their only clothing was pieces of cloth
around the waist, those of the women being much longer
than the ones worn by the men. The greater number of
them had their necks ornamented with plates of gold.
Some women wore, also, bracelets of fine pearls. The
Admiral endeavored to learn where they found the gold.
All answered that it was in a very high country, towards
the west, but not far distant; still, they would beseech him
not to go there, because the natives were cannibals. Columbus' likewise inquired of them where they got the
pearls, and they answered it was from a country in the
north-west.
Notwithstanding his desire to verify, himself, the places
designated, Columbus had to renounce it, the pressing necessities of the colony filling him with inquietude, as the supplies he sent to Hispaniola would become damaged more
and more. The caravel he commanded was not proper for
explorations, on account of her great size. His health was
impaired by continual watchings, and his eyes were in a
state bordering on blindness. So he felt it necessary to
make for Hispaniola, whence he could send his brother
Bartholomewv to continue his discoveries.
He steered to the west until he found there were only
three fathoms of water. He cast anchor, and sent a light
caravel called the Correo, or Courier, to see if the passage
was open. The Courier came to the middle of a very large
gulf, which was surrounded by four other smaller gulfs, into
which. were discharged the waters of several rivers. The
water was very fresh. "I never drank such," says the
Admiral. He called this kind of interior sea the Gulf of
Paria, or of Pearls. He expected to find a strait to the




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


373


north, for there was no issue to the west or the south; but
in all these points he found himself surrounded by land.
So, on the eleventh of August, he turned back on his course,
to attempt the passage of the dangerous strait on the northeast, which he had prudently avoided on the fifth, by which
he would be enabled to return to the Gardens. The next
day he anchored near Cape Paria, in a port which he named
Puerto de Galos, from a species of monkey that abounded
there.
SECTION IV.
On the fourteenth of August he approached the strait.
The north-eastern extremity of Trinidad does not face the
south-eastern Cape of Paria directly. Between the extremity of the island and the point of the main land there are
several islands, between which the outlets are not navigable
for ships; but between the largest of these islands and the
American continent there is a pass of about a league and
a half in breadth, -the only one by which a passage can
be made to the Caribbean Sea, - and a fearful passage it
must be.
During the months of July and August, the heavy rains
and floods that swell the rivers discharging themselves into
the Gulf of Paria give the currents of fresh water a powerful impulse. This body of rain and river water rushes
against the islands which oppose its issue, and, from the
conflict between the body of fresh water struggling for an
outlet, and the tide of salt water struggling to enter, there
results a concussion loud and violent, or a truly turbulent
sea, foaming and roaring as if breaking over rocks.
If for entering the Gulf of Paria Columbus needed the
aid of Providence, its assistance to enable him to come out
of it was no less needed.
A little before noon, the three caravels came to the pass.
A frightful commotion was seen in the waves. The river
water pushed towards the sea was opposed by the tide of
32




374


]HISTO r OF


[BOOKc III.


salt water rushing with all its force towards the gulf. The
waves arose as high as mountains, and with a roaring that
frigohtened the most courageous of the men.
There being no wind, the sailors could not use tleir sails,
and they feared they would be cast, by the violence of the
currents, against shoals, or be wrecked against the rocks on
one or other of the coasts. The Admiral declared that if
they should succeed in extricating themselves fiom the danger, they may well say they were delivered from the mouth
of the dragon. Hence the name of Boca decl D)raonz,
-which it still bears.
Notwithstanding the imminence of the peril, the Admiral,
availing himself of a land breeze, made the caravels proceed. Scarcely were the vessels in this kind of a terrible
defile than the wind immediately fell; and now they expected every moment to be cast against the rocks. Columbus turned to his Protector, and did not invoke Him in vain.
At the moment of the greatest danger invisible aid came to
him fiom Above. A wind arose with force, and the fiesh
water swelled up in waves like hills. "At length God willed
that this same fresh water should overpower the salt water,
and bear the vessels forward." It was by the force of the
wind that their safety was effected. But such was the assurance Columbus felt, and the confidence he had in "lthe
mercy of the Divine Majesty," that in that solemn moment
he occupied himself tranquilly with hydrographic observations. Accustomed to the prodigies of divine aid, he does
not mention this marvellous succor in his report of the
voyage.
As soon as the caravels had escaped from the foaming
"'Dragon's Mouth," Columbus gave public expression to
his gratitude.  He thanked the Lord loudly for having
delivered him from the abyss.
Sailing to the north-east, he recognized the exterior coast
of Paria, and signalized, in front of Cape Three Peaks, the
three islands, which he named Thze Witnesses, no doubt in
allusion to the three miraculous events of his third voyage,




CHAP. I.]    CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.                375
which was undertaken in the name of the adorable Trinity.
Afterwards, leaving to the north-east two islands, which,
in honor of the Blessed Virgin, he named one Conception,
the other Assumlbtion, he arrived at Margarita, and thence
came to Cubagua, since celebrated for its pearl fisheries.
From this island he continued his route to Hispaniola.




376


HISTORT OF


[BOOK III.


CHAPTER II.
His Speculations in relation to the Places he had visited. - His Discovery of the Equatorial Swelling. - His ideas about the Terrestrial Paradise. - His Discovery of the great Equatorial Current. -
Great Scientific Conquests result from this Voyage. -Arrives at
the Island of Beata, where his brother Bartholomew comes to
meet him.
SECTION 1.
IN none of his former explorations had such strange circumstances and appearances engaged the attention of
Columbus, as those into the causes of which he now sought
to penetrate. In spite of the convulsive contractions of his
inflamed eyelids, the heaviness produced by his sleeplessness, and the painful twinges of his gout, he tried, at certain hours, to examine with a rapid scrutiny these grand
displays of nature. The qualities of the soil, the vigor of
the vegetation, the color of the natives, - which was not
black, as in Africa, in the same latitude, - the mildness
of the temperature, the changes of the constellations, the
movements of the waves, the direction of the currents, and
the abundance of fresh water in the midst of the sea, raised
in his mind a number of questions and of ideas.
From certain traits of cosmographic physiognomy, imperceptible to all other observers, he recognized the face of one
of the grand geographical divisions of the globe, and the
choicest part of one of the principal continents. By his
sole inductions from spontaneous apperception, and impressions which he could not explain, he felt convinced
that the part of the earth in which he then was staying
was more elevated than that whence he came. It seemed
to him as if he was climbing what may be called the back




CHAP. II.]


CHRISTOPZHER COLUMBUS.


377


of the ocean, like a mountain; he felt assured that he had
approached the highest part of the globe.
Already this simple assertion excelled, with all the loftiness of genius, all the teachings of the science of his time.
Columbus was on the way for a grand discovery; namely,
the equatorial swelling.
In a communication addressed to the Sovereigns, the
Admiral says, clearly, that it is believed the earth is
round; but that, from what he has seen, he conjectures it
is not perfectly spherical; that it has rather the form of a
pear, very round, except the part that has the stem, and
that this part is nearer the skies. In fact, the equatorial
swelling measures a height of twenty-one kilometres, or
about five times the height of Mont Blanc.
Columbus says Aristotle placed the most culminating
point of the earth under the Antarctic Pole; that other
savants had opposed his opinion, and placed it under the
Arctic Pole; but that, for his own part, he judges that the
swelling of the globe is towards the equator. He excuses
the errors of his predecessors, as they could have had no
knowledge of the lands which he had only recently discovered. He says he does not pronounce on the geodetical
constitution of the other hemisphere, as he has not visited it.
From the consideration of the equatorial swelling, Columbus passes to other scientific speculations. He tries to seize
on the historical character of the country. He endeavors to
find what may be the destination of a region so different
from those he had formerly traversed, or that had been
described by travellers. This country, being the nearest
to the heavens, and consequently the first that received the
sun's rays, Columbus asks himself if this sublime elevation,
and the delightfulness of its temperature, did not indicate
the primitive sojourn of the first man, the terrestrial Paradise? He does not say that he found the site of this place
of delights; but he supposes that at the culminating point
of the equatorial swelling this place ought to be found; but
that nobody can find it, save by the Divine permission.
32*




378


HIS TORT OF


[BOOK III.


What confirms him in this opinion, is that gigantic river
whose immense volume cannot be compared to any of those
that are known. He presumes that this river, whose waters
are so abundant as to freshen the sea water to so great a
distance, is one of the four rivers flowing fiom the terrestrial Paradise mentioned in the Scriptures.
SECTION     IL.
Whatever may have been the error of Columbus on the
subject of the terrestrial Paradise, the ingeniousness of his
inductions amply made up for the imperfection or inadequacy of his data. Larger apperceptions than his could not
be drawn from what he had discovered. His judgments
on present or apparent things, though yet unknown, are
always based on cosmographic facts, and on profound
considerations.
Dating from this period, the Revealer of the Globe felt
certain that he had touched a land about which Europe had
no information. Therefore he did not believe that he was
in Asia, but on a continent totally unknown until that time.
As from the quality of the water he inferred, or divined,
the character of the land, so from the movement of the
waters he divined one of the general laws of the globe;
namely, the great flood of the ocean, or the equatorial
current. He asserted that the waters of the ocean, like
the heavens, move fiom east to west, which is the opposite
of the earth's moving, or revolving, fiom west to east. He
also asserted, that in this meridianal quarter the course of
the pelagian current was accelerated; for, even on the day
of Our Lady of August, - the feast of the Patroness of the
Seas,- between the hour of mass and that of complin they,
with a light breeze, made a progress of sixty-four marine
leagues.




CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


379


SECTION III.
During this voyage, in which Columbus discovered so
many things in so short a time (from the first to the
eighteenth of August), his reasoning and inductive faculties show themselves to be still superior to his discoveries;
he sees vastly more with his intellect than by the progress
of his caravels. What he perceives by his corporal sight
is nothing, when compared to his intuitive perceptions.
This man, bowed down by suffering, and almost blind,
saw everything and observed everything, objectively and
subjectively: the earth and its productions; the air, and
its qualities, its temperature, and its influences.  Thus,
then, as he expected before his departure, this voyage,
undertaken in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, was
no less important than his first one.  He now returned,
after having made the peaceable conquest of three grand
verities, of three cosmographic facts, which will ever be
of utility to science:The existence of a new continent.
The equatorial swelling.
The great oceanic current.
The least of these three discoveries would have secured
immortality for the discoverer. To this revelation of the
grand laws of the globe were joined, multiplied by his
genius, some apperceptions, curious and very important
for the interests of science.
In addition to this acquisition made for the advantage of
humanity, the Revealer of the Globe, from that time, possessed a scientific certitude which was not yet based on any
testimony or observation, but which was no less firmly fixed
in his mind. He knew, without our being able to tell how,
that beyond that continent from which there came so large
a river there was still an ocean.
Such was the importance of this third voyage, that there
remained no longer any grand discovery to be made. The
Messenger of the Cross left but very few for future genera



3So


HISTORY OF


[BOOK    III.


tions. Thanks to him, the whole world was thenceforth
open to the investigations of man.  For three centuries
nobody has discovered in the laws of nature anything
broader, more profound, or more fundamental for science.
For three centuries nobody has derived from any voyage
as many intellectual acquisitions.
It is to be remarked that the Report, or Relation, of his
Third Voyage, so much commented on and criticised by a
certain coterie, was not a report quietly elaborated in the
silence of the closet, but a veritable extemporary production.
It was written at sea. The Admiral, from his sick-bed in
his cabin, dictated it to one of his secretaries, Diego de
Alvarado, or Bernard de Ibarra.  This document bears
the character of improvisation, giving utterance to the
abundance of his thoughts. The condensed erudition of
Columbus would be noticed there, if it did not totally disappear before the grandeur of the syntheses, the immensity
of the views, the profoundness of the revelations, and the
new speculations offered by him to the reflections of his
cotemporaries.  This document contains intrinsic proofs
of its being written during the passage from  Margarita
to Hispaniola.
SECTION IV.
The Admiral trimmed his sails for San Domingo, a seaport or city which Don Bartholomew was to establish in
his absence. But the currents and the east winds bore him
from it; and when he thought he was at the mouth of the
Ozema, he found himself at the little island of Beata. At
first he was astonished at this error in his calculation, but
on reflection he found it to be a confirmation and proof of
his discovery of the great pelagian current. Fearing to be
a long time delayed, he sent a boat to the shore, where an
Indian was found who took charge of a letter for the Adelantado, and was to take it to him across the mountains.
The Admiral sailed for the port, and in a few days per



CHAP. II.]   CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.              381
ceived a caravel coming to join him. Don Bartholomew
hastened to his aid, and, alas! his devotedness was never
more needed.
Columbus arrived at Hispaniola pale, emaciated, almost
blind, and needing repose for body and mind, and still
ingratitude and crime, which during his absence had put
the island in a flame, did not permit him to enjoy an hour
of quietude and restorative tranquillity.




35z


HISTOR 2 OF


[BOOK III.


CHAPTER III.
Events that occurred in Hispaniola during the Admiral's Absence.
-He forbids bad Christians from working in the Mines. - Discontent of the Castilians. -The Adelantado goes to Xaragua. -
Revolts.
SECTION I.
T   understand the circumstances under which Columbus resumed the reins of his government, it will be
necessary to take a glance at the events that took place in
IHispaniola during his absence from the tenth of March,
I496, until the thirtieth of August, I498.
The Admiral, on leaving the island, promised the colonists
to send them timely aid. The three caravels commanded
by Pedro Alonzo Niiio were, indeed, charged with provisions, but from the connivance of the marine in regard to
their quality, and the little care bestowed on their preservation during the voyage, the greater part of them spoiled,
and consequently became useless. From this time until the
Admiral had sent the two caravels under the orders of
Pedro Coronel, fourteen months had elapsed without the
unfortunate colonists receiving any news from the mother
country. They believed themselves forgotten, and accused
the Admiral of their ruin.  During this time their clothing and their implements, tools and utensils, had worn out,
and they had no means of replacing them. Humiliations
were added to privations and weariness. The mettlesome
and hectoring hidalgos, and the young men who came to
amass gold, were indignant at seeing themselves in rags, or
wearing garments made from the barks of trees or from the
cotton of the natives. Their indignation at length became




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


383


converted into hatred. In all their misfortunes they did not
forget venting their wrath against the Genoese braggart,
that bigot who had no regard for the noble sons of Castile.
They cursed the Sovereigns for having placed them under
the government of that foreigner. Their hopes about gold
became frustrated; for, notwithstanding the discovery of
the rich mines of Hayna, the Adelantado did not permit
them to labor at them.
This interdiction merits an explanation.
Columbus, seeing that the covetous idlers by whom he
was followed, in his second voyage, rushed on Hispaniola as
on a prey, tyrannizing over the Indians, robbing them of the
little gold they had, and trampling on all the laws of Christianity and humanity, had a horror of their cooperation in
his work. He wished that no impure hands should pollute
that gold which he was going to offer to Jesus Christ, and by
which he hoped one day to redeem His tomb. He desired
that only innocent hands should extract from the bowels of
the earth this pure homage of faith. As in the old law, for
the construction of the tabernacle and the making of ornaments for the high priest, artisans animated with the spirit
of wisdom* were to be chosen, so the Revealer of the
Globe intended that only true Christians alone should enjoy
the happiness of cooperating in this act of Catholic piety.
Even before the arrival of the Europeans the Indians
attributed a certain value to gold. They travelled and made
voyages to procure it, bought and sold it among themselves
by means of exchanges, and performed some superstitious
ceremonies to find its best beds. During the twenty days that
preceded their labors, they separated themselves from their
wives, and lived in continency, imposing certain fasts and
other mortifications on themselves. This custom was turned
to advantage by Columbus. He declared distinctly to the
idlers who came to Hispaniola to seek gold, that it would
be shameful for Christians to do less to procure it than the


* Exodus xxxv: 31, 35.




384


HISTORY OF


[BOOK III.


pagan and uneducated Indians did. He told them that in
order to utilize doubly their labors, they ought, before commencing to dig for it, cease from their violent practices,
reform their dissolute lives, repent sincerely of their sins,
and confess them, put themselves in the state of grace,
live in a state of continency, impose fasts on themselves and
do penance,- and that thus reconciled with God, their
labors would be blessed, and they would more abundantly
obtain temporal goods. Accordingly, he gave permission
for the working of the mines only to those whose regularity
of life and manners was attested by the priests or the
religious of the colony.
This measure wounded to the quick the hidalgos who
were not able to go back with the commissary Aguado.
They expected that in the absence of the Admiral, his
brother, the Adelantado, who was less scrupulous, would
give them permission to go to the mines. But Don Bartholomew carried out strictly the orders of the Viceroy.
The distress and discontent became greater, and increased
from day to day. The studied negligence of the bureau of
marine had thus attained its object. To prevent the supplies from coming to Hispaniola would lead to revolt, in
giving to the power of numbers the force of misery and
despair. It was expected that by embittering the minds
and incensing the pride of the Castilians, the government
of the Adelantado would become impossible. But obstacles and perils served only to increase the energy and activity of Don Bartholomew. Wherever he came he enforced
obedience. So, notwithstanding the distress occasioned by
want, and the general ill-will, he had a fortress built near
the mines of Hayna, which was named San ChAristobal (St.
Christopher). Another fortress, much larger, was erected
on the right bank of the Ozema, and named San Domingo.
This fortress was built conformably to directions issued by
the Admiral from Cadiz, and brought by the pilot Pedro
Alonzo Niio.
All the parts of the island visited by the Spaniards may




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMSBUS.


385


be considered as having submitted to them; but the most
western part, equally distant from Isabella and San Domingo, the state of Xaragua, remained independent. This
kingdom, over which reigned the grand cacique Behechio,
neither attacked nor recognized the Castilian authority.
Since the capture of the proud Caonabo, his wife, the celebrated Anacoano, ( the Golden Flower," had retired to the
residence of her brother Behechio, over whom she exer-,
cised great influence. The inaction of this cacique has
been attributed to her influence, though his own elevated
sentiments disposed him favorably towards the Spaniards.
Still, Don Bartholomew considered it his duty to delay no
longer the subjugation of this kingdom,- the only one that
had not acknowledged the sovereignty of Castile. To his
wish of not leaving the example of such independence to
the caciques who had submitted, was added that of employing usefully, and maintaining in discipline, men whom want
of employment had demoralized. The Adelantado marched
towards Xaragua prepared for war, without desiring it, and
under the pretence of going on an exploring expedition.
Behechio, very susceptible in his pride, on getting news
of this visit, immediately collected an army of forty thousand men, which, divided into cohorts, followed, without
being seen, the march of the Spaniards. But soon, by the
counsels of his sister, " the Golden Flower," he recalled his
troops.
On the invitation of the cacique, Don Bartholomew repaired to the royal residence, where he was received with
distinguished honors. A grand entertainment awaited him,
which was graced by the presence of the beautiful, charming, and gifted Anacoano. On this occasion, in a friendly
conversation with the cacique, the Adelantado skilfully induced him to agree to pay tribute to the Catholic Sovereigns, and insure their protection. As there were no gold
mines known to be in the kingdom of Behechio, Don Bartholomew smoothed the difficulty in accepting tribute in
provisions, which was not onerous for the cacique.
33




386


HISTOR OF


[BOOK III.


SE CTION    II.
While the Adelantado was away with his caravel to get
provisions for the colony, some malcontents, taking advantage of his absence, attempted to ruin his authority and
seize on the ruins of the government of the island. Their
chief was Francisco Roldan, a former servitor of the Admiral, who had been raised by the Viceroy to the dignity
of alcalde-major, or chief judge of the colony!
Since the departure of the commissary, with whom he
had a secret understanding, he was filled with the idea of
seizing on the government of the colony. Aguado, having
recognized in him the stuff for a traitor, informed him of
the disposition of the marine at Seville, and especially
of the hatred of Fonseca for the Admiral. He knew that
Pedro Margarit, and the deserters leagued against the
Columbuses, had, on their return to Spain, received no
punishment.
To carry out his machinations he addressed himself to
all the disaffected of the island, whether Spaniards or
natives, who soon formed a strong party. He pretended
that his opposition was not to the Admiral, but to the
Adelantado, who, he said, exercised unlawful authority.
He contrived to procure arms for his partisans, and, after
having committed great excesses, they came out in open
revolt. Roldan meditated nothing less than the assassination of the Adelantado, whom he considered the chief obstacle to his ambition.
As the rebels were one day loitering on the coast of
Xaragua, they perceived, with alarm, in the distance, three
ships making their appearance. They were the three vessels the Admiral had detached from his squadron at the
Canaries, and which he had sent in all haste to the colony,
under the command of Pedro de Arana, of Juan Antonio
Colombo, and of Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal.
The caravels having cast anchor, the rebels thought themselves lost, thinking that a strong force had come to make




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


387


them give an account of themselves. But Roldan comprehended, at first sight, that these vessels, a long time at sea,
had no doubt missed their way, and that the misdeeds in
the island were unknown on board. He dared to present
himself as charged by the Adelantado with the supervision
of the country, and demanded arms and provisions for his
men. The captains willingly complied with his demand.
The rebels were thus put in communication with the crews.
The rebels boasted to the sailors of the easy and sensual
lives they led in Xaragua, and urged them to desertion.
These proceedings were not noticed until a little after
their occurrence, and the crews were kept close on board.
Carvajal, hoping to bring Roldan back to his duty, went to
confer with him.  Roldan declared his good sentiments
towards the Admiral; that he had taken up arms. only
against the Adelantado; and that he had even prepared
a letter for his old master, whose arrival he impatiently
expected.
The three captains, being of opinion that the winds and
the currents may yet for a long time delay the arrival of the
caravels at San Domingo, agreed to put ashore the artificers
and others who had come in the royal pay, in order that,
under the conduct of Juan Antonio Colombo, they may go
by land to San Domingo, and thus save time and provisions.
But scarcely had these men, to the number of forty, well
armed and equipped, landed, than they all, except seven,
passed to the flag of Roldan.  Nevertheless, with these
seven brave men, Juan Antonio Colombo, a man truly
worthy of his illustrious family, ventured to go to Roldan,
to represent to him the wrong he was doing to the Admiral,
his benefactor, to the Sovereigns, and to the colony, of
which he was the chief judge. His eloquence remained
fruitless. Juan Antonio went on board the caravel, accompanied by the few who remained faithful, and set sail for
San Domingo, with the brother-in-law of the Admiral,the noble Pedro de Arana, -while Carvajal remained at
anchor for some days longer, to try and bring the rebels
back to their allegiance.




388


HIS TORY OF


[BOOK III.


CHAPTER IV.
Proclamation of the Viceroy. -Permission given the Malcontents
to return to Spain. - Promises of Pardon. - Defection of the
Troops. - He cannot resort to Force. - Humiliations he has to
endure. - Carvajal brings Roldan to an Arrangement with the
Viceroy.
SECTION L
O    N  his arrival, the Admiral issued a proclamation,
which ratified all the administrative acts of the
Adelantado, and mentioned the revolt of Roldan as the
cause of the public calamities.
Carvajal, in presenting himself to the Admiral, represented the feelings of Roldan, without disguising the force
at his disposal. In his judgment, it would be necessary to
proceed with lenity and circumspection. The crews who
returned with the Admiral were for the most part sick, in
consequence of the fatigues of the voyage, and the influence
of the new climate they were in. Among the old colonists,
some were homesick, and others disposed to espouse the
cause of the rebels. So, to assuage the general excitement,
and conciliate the good-will of all, the Admiral issued
another proclamation, offering permission to such as may
desire it to return to Castile, in the five vessels that were
nearly ready to put to sea. At the same time, lie wrote
to Miguel Ballester, commandant of the Fortress of Conception, to see Roldan, who held a force in that quarter,
and to promise him, in his name, pardon and oblivion of the
past; and even, if he required it, to give him this promise
in writing, in order that he may come to San Domingo.
Some days after, Ballester, knowing that the rebels would




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


389


have a meeting at Bonao, went there. He found them full
of arrogance. Roldan, treating with contempt the proffered
pardon, haughtily replied that he would not accept it, having no need for it; that, on the contrary, he could, at his
pleasure, sustain or ruin the authority of the Admiral himself. Playing the honest man, he declared he would listen
to no proposition until he would have an account of the
unfortunate Indians taken away from the district of Conception; that, with the force he had, it did not become him
to listen to propositions, unless for his advantage; and that,
above all, he would consent to treat with no person but
Alonzo Sanchez Carvajal, who was an honest man.
Carvajal was sent anew to treat with the rebels; but they,
becoming more arrogant in proportion as they knew the
feebleness of the government, would not listen to him,
although he was the commissary of their own choice. He,
however, obtained an interview with the chiefs of the brutal
horde. He delivered to Roldan a letter from the Admiral,
in which his soul is reflected in as clear and simple a style
as his heart. It was as follows:
" DEAR FRIEND, -
"My first care on arriving in this capital, after having
embraced my brother, was to inquire about you. You
cannot doubt that, next to my family, you have for a long
time occupied the first place in my affections; and I have
always counted so much on yours, that there is nothing.
in which I would not entirely have depended on you.
Judge, therefore, of my grief when I learned that you
were embroiled in a feud with the persons who are the
nearest to me in the world, and who ought to be the dearest. Still, I have been consoled on being informed that
you ardently desired my return. I flattered myself then
that your first sentiments in regard to me were not changed,
and I expected that, as soon as you would hear of my arrival, you would not delay coming to see me. Not seeing
you appear, and thinking that you apprehended some re33*




390


HISTOR r OF


[BOOK III.


sentment on my part, I sent Ballester to you, to give you
all the assurances that you could desire. The little success
that attended that step has filled me with regret. And
whence could that distrust come which you seem to have
in me? At last, you demanded to have Carvajal sent to
you. I send him. Open your heart to him, and tell him
what I can do for you, to regain your confidence; but, in
the name of God, remember what you owe to your country,
to the Kings (our sovereign lords), to God, and to yourself;
take care of your reputation, and judge of things more
soundly than you have done in the past. Consider with
attention the abyss you are digging under your feet, and
no longer persist in a desperate resolution. I have represented you to their Highnesses as a man of the colony
whom they may most rely upon; it concerns my honor and
yours that a testimony so advantageous should not be belied
by your conduct. Hasten, then, to show yourself again the
man I formerly knew you to be. I have detained the ships
that were all ready to sail, with the hope that, by a prompt
and perfect submission, you will place me at liberty to confirm all the good things I have said of you. I pray God to
have you in His holy keeping."
This language was so reassuring, this goodness so persuasive, that Roldan, Requelme, Mojica, and Gamez, the
four principal chiefs, mounting on horseback, prepared to
go with Carvajal to the Viceroy. But the troop of rebels,
perceiving they were going to depart, opposed them, telling
them that they should not come to terms without themselves, swearing that if there should be any agreement it
should be in writing, and with their common consent.
At the request of Carvajal, the rebels put the conditions
they required in writing. They were so harsh, so debasing
for the government, that they seemed a mockery. It was
all that could be expected from a gang of perverse men.
The brave Miguel Ballester, who had joined Carvajal,
saw, like him, that these bandits sought only to prolong




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


39I


their impunity for the tyranny they exercised on the poor
Indians, whose defenders they pretended to be. He therefore wrote to the Admiral, beseeching him, cost what it
would, to effect a compromise with these people, because
the flame of revolt was secretly propagating itself, and he
feared that even his own little troop, already diminished
by some desertions, would pass to the rebels. Alas! these
apprehensions were but too well founded. The Admiral,
desiring to know the real force that could be opposed to
the rebels, ordered all the men of San Domingo to appear
under arms, that he may review them. A report was immediately circulated that they were to be led to Bonao
against the rebels.  Only seventy men responded to the
call, and all these were not effective for service. One was
without a horse, another without arms; some affected to be
ill; and of the rest, more than half of them had relations
among the rebels, or were disaffected to the service. Columbus saw that resort to arms would end only in prostrating the dignity and authority of his government. Hence
moderation became a necessity; it was indispensably requisite to temporize skilfully, in order to open a way for some
eventuality that would permit the reestablishment of power.
Columbus immediately proclaimed permission, for all
who desired it, to return to Spain. There were five vessels ready to go to sea, on board of which were the Indians
made prisoners in a late insurrection. During three weeks
he delayed their departure; but not one of the malcontents, so clamorous in crying for an end to their exile,
thought now of leaving the island. At length, on the
eighteenth of October, the order for departure was given.
SECTION     II.
It was by these ships that the Admiral addressed to the
Sovereigns an account of his discovery of terra frma, with
a geographical chart of his voyage and a maritime chart of
the route to be followed to arrive at the coast of Paria. As




392


HISTORY OF


[BOOK III.


he still suffered from his ophthalmia, he dictated his letter to
his secretary, Bernard d'Ibarra. He confided to a gentleman named Arroyal, to present them to the Queen, a hundred and seventy pearls, chosen from the finest that were
procured, and certain gold ornaments obtained in the new
continent. Columbus besought the Sovereigns to notice
that these were the first pearls obtained from the West.
He proposed that the discoveries in the terra frma. should
be continued with three ships, by Don Bartholomew, as soon
as the presence of the Adelantado would be no longer
necessary on account of the troubles caused by Roldan.
The Admiral, in a particular report, exposed in their sad
reality the events that had supervened during his absence.
He added that things would be made right again, if the
Sovereigns would arrest the spread of the enmity conceived
against his expeditions, and if the gentlemen of the bureau
of marine would abstain from traducing the Indies, from
hindering the expediting of affairs, and from delays in the
way of supplies, as they had done at the departure of his
squadron, - delays which were very prejudicial to the colony during his absence. It was, moveover, from Seville
that the leaven was carried which was the cause of all the
trouble.
The Admiral, after having sincerely shown the evil,
pointed out how it may be remedied:
It would be necessary to prolong a year or two longer the
power given the colonists to employ in their service the
natives who had been made prisoners-of-war. With the
exception of clothing, equipments and wine, which it
would be necessary to import from Spain, everything else
necessary for life could be procured from the soil. He was
preparing to raise large crops of cassava, a kind of food
to which the Castilians had already become accustomed.
Sweet potatoes, and ajes, were abundant in every locality.
The rivers were numerous, and abounded with fish, and
poultry and hogs multiplied there soon. Utias were so
numerous there that a dog, led by a domestic, could catch




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


393


from fifteen to twenty of them in a day. The means of
subsistence were abundant; and there was nothing wanting
but Christians, who would be such in practice as well as in
name.
He proposed to send, at each departure of the ships for
Castile, fifty of these vicious and ungovernable souls, who
would be replaced by an equal number of orderly men. At
the same time, some pious, zealous missionaries should be
sent from Spain, to labor in the conversion of the Indians,
and particularly to reform the vicious inclinations of Christians who were unworthy of this name. In order to facilitate the spiritual mission of these religious, he requested
that an able judge should be sent, who would be well versed
in law, and was already accustomed to administering justice;
without whom, he said, the religious would obtain but little
fruit in their labors. He insisted on having a Spaniard for
judge, because the malcontents complained of his own
rigor, saying that, as a Genoese, he spared but little the
blood of Castilians.
This frank and open manner of exposing the evil, and
indicating the remedies, was not appreciated by the Court.
SE C TOlN III.
At length, on the seventeenth of November, an article of
capitulation was drawn up between the chiefs of the rebels
and Carvajal, assisted by the major-domo Diego de Salamanca, which was subject to the ratification of the Admiral.
It was stipulated, Ist, that Roldan and his partisans
should embark for Spain from the port of Xaragua, in two
ships that were to be provisioned and ready for sailing
within the space of fifty days; 2d, that they should each
receive a certificate of good conduct, and an order for the
amount of their pay; 3d, that they should receive back certain property which had been sequestrated from them, and,
among the rest, three hundred hogs taken from Roldan;
4th, that each of them should have, to serve him, some




394


HISTOR OF


[BOOK III.


Indians, whom they could take to Castile if these desired to
follow them, and with the privilege of taking, by preference, the Indian women they had made mothers, or who
were going to become such.
This convention was signed by the Admiral on the
twents-first of November. At the same time, he proclaimed a further act of grace, permitting such of the rebels
as chose to remain in the island to enter into the royal service, or to hold land in any part of the island. This
measure was a large element in the prosperity of the colony. At this time the rebels appeared impatient to depart,
and they set out for Xaragua. The stipulation of furnishing them with ships postponed the intended expedition of
the Adelantado, who was to follow up the discovery of
Paria and secure the pearl trade. The Admiral was profoundly grieved at this state of things. There remained to
him but three ships, and these he had intended for the continuation of his discoveries.  The sea stores on hand
scarcely sufficed for the passage of the rebels to Spain,
therefore the voyage of exploration must not be thought of
for the present.
The Admiral found, in the absence of these firebrands,
some compensation for his regrets.  He could, at last,
occupy himself with the interests of the colony, establish
order, collect tribute, extend the culture of lands, raise farm
stock, organize the working of the mines, and ameliorate
the condition of the Spaniards in the island.  Without
reposing for an hour, he charged his youngest brother, the
modest and pious Don Diego, with the government of San
Domingo, and went with Don Bartholomew to visit the
interior of the island.
When the ships were on the point of weighing anchor,
the Admiral wrote to the Sovereigns, invoking their justice,
stating the circumstances under which the certificates were
wrung from him, - to save the island from utter confusion
and ruin, - and that he had signed these agreements with
the insurgents because he was unable to subdue them. He




CHAP. Iv.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.               395
besought their Highnesses not to recognize engagements
made against his will, under the pressure of revolt, and
really null and void from the want of liberty on the one
part, and of loyal execution on the other. For these reasons, he advised that Roldan and his band should be seized,
and that their gold (of which they were said to have large
quantities) should be taken from them until their conduct
would be investigated, and that the women they had taken
with them through constraint, and among whom were many
daughters of caciques, should be taken back from them.
This letter was confided to the care of an officer whose
devotedness was unquestionable.




396


HISTORY OF


[BOOK III.


CHAPTER V.
The Chiefs of the Rebels cannot control them.- Arrival of Ojeda,
who comes to patronize the Rebels.- Simultaneous Revolt of
the Natives. - Columbus, abandoned, and on the point of flying
to sea from his Enemies, is providentially aided. -Voluntary
Submission of the Chiefs of the Rebels. - Order is reestablished
and Prosperity commences.
SECTION     I.
W       HILE Columbus thought that the rebels had sailed
for Spain, the latter considered it proper to remain.
Xaragua had too many attractions for them to leave it.
Under the pretext that the ships had not arrived within the
specified time, that they were badly equipped, and still
worse provisioned, they refused to depart. However, Roldan, in a conversation with Carvajal, having expressed a
desire to see the Admiral, to come to terms with him, Columbus sent him a safe-conduct, the inviolability of which
was guaranteed by three highly-esteemed hidalgos and two
sea-captains. Among the signers we cannot omit mentioning the name of a gallant man and good Christian, Cristobal Rodriguez, surnamed La Lengua, because he was the
first Castilian who learned to speak the principal language
of Hayti. The Admiral had strongly encouraged him in
this study. With a constancy equal to his disinterestedness,
Rodrigo la Lengua rendered great service in the government of the island, often exposed to the danger of losing
his life among the Indians, and became, as an interpreter,
the zealous auxiliary of the Franciscan religious.
Soon after, Columbus, following the example of the
Good Pastor, who seeks his sheep that have gone astray,




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


397


came himself with two caravels to the port of Azua, to
obtain a meeting with Roldan. Far from being touched
with a kindness that was not due to him, Roldan went on
board the caravel of the Admiral, and haughtily proposed
his conditions, as if he had been a conqueror. He engaged
to lay down his arms on these conditions: Ist, he should
be reestablished in his office as chief justice; 2d, a proclamation should be issued declaring that the troubles that had
arisen were the consequence of malevolence and false reports; 3d, the expulsion from the island, and the immediate
transportation to Europe, of fifteen persons whom he would
designate; 4th, that those who remained should have lands
granted them in place of royal pay.
Extravagant and insolent as these conditions were, Columbus granted them, through love of peace. But, on his
going on shore, the companions of Roldan added another
to them still more extravagant, namely, that if the Admiral
should fail in the fulfilment of any of these articles, they
should have a right to assemble and obtain their execution
by such means as they would judge proper. This was the
height of insolence and insult. Still, Columbus, ceding to
inexorable necessity, signed it, adding that he would consent to it as long as they themselves would obey the orders
of the Sovereigns, his own, and those of the functionaries
appointed by him. This express stipulation, which appeared to him his last resource, and the sheet-anchor of his
authority, he inserted in the commission as chief judge given
to Roldan; but, on sight of it, the latter insolently commanded that these words should be effaced, and, appealing
to the brutality of his accomplices, threatened to hang
immediately whoever dared to contradict him. The Admiral had still to submit to the will of his former ungrateful
and rebellious servitor.
This moderation of Columbus scarcely made any impression on the arrogance of the triumphant traitors. Roldan
presented himself as the only real authority, even under the
very eyes of the Admiral himself. In San Domingo,
34




398


HISTORT OF


[BOOK III.


always surrounded by malcontents and the declared enemies of the Columbuses, he offended, molested, and threatened whoever dared not to join his party.
Our heart sickens at the recital of such outrages.
To add to his crosses, in place of the efficacious support he expected from  the Sovereigns, he received an
answer dictated by Fonseca, and the ambiguous terms of
which indicated dispositions of an equivocal character. He
was informed that the Sovereigns had received his letters.
That as to the rebellion of Roldan, this affair being of great
importance, their Highnesses would examine it attentively,
and provide a remedy for it. Evidently his report, so precise, so complete, had not convinced the Sovereigns. He
sacrificed his days, and those of his brothers, to the interests
of the Crown of Castile, without his being able to inspire
the monarchs with that noble confidence of which he was
so worthy, and which would have been the chief recompense for a heart like his.
This disheartening conviction, which would have paralyzed any will but his, did not prevent him from pursuing
his plan of reorganization of the colony. He sought, at
first, to gain by mildness and material interests the old abettors of Roldan, by giving them lands; but the grants were
at such distances fiom each other tlhat the rebels were scattered over a large space, far apart from each other,- and at
sufficient distances from the older settlements. He formed
a company of chosen men, whose devotedness was equal to
their moderation and bravery, whose business it was at the
same time to receive tribute from the natives, maintain
peace among the Spaniards, and repress, at the start, any
risings among the latter. He prepared to rid the colony of
incorrigible malcontents who at no price would work, and,
among others, the fifteen individuals whose insufferable
turbulence had been denounced by even Roldan himself.
He appointed the two honorable alcaids, Garcia de Barrantes and Miguel Ballester, to go to Castile, to support at
Court his demands for the interior government of the col



CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


399


ony. In order that they may be enabled to enlighten the
Sovereigns in regard to the revolt of Roldan, and on the
measures that should be taken, he furnished them with the
depositions and proceedings taken against the rebels.
A large number of the malcontents embarked in the caravels, taking with them some Indian women, several of
whom were mothers, or about to become such. Each of
them clandestinely introduced into the caravels several
Indian slaves, contrary to the express orders of the Admiral.
SE CTION IZ
Before the departure of the caravels, alarming reports
had come from the north-western extremity of the island: a
general revolt was preparing. The Ciguayans, more warlike and more impatient of the foreign yoke than the other
islanders, had risen in arms. The Admiral despatched
against them the Adelantado in haste, with all the force at
his disposal.
While his brother was separated from him by revolted
tribes, and San Domingo was without defence, information
of a still graver character than the insurrection came from
the opposite part of the island: four caravels had appeared
in the port of Yaquimo. Alonzo de Ojeda, formerly under
great obligations to the Admiral, but now a creature of
Fonseca's, commanded them. In violation of the privileges accorded by the Sovereigns to the Admiral, he went
to the coast of Paria and the Gulf of Pearls, and he brought
back with him gold and slaves. His temerity, emboldened
by the protection of Fonseca, inspired him with the idea of
hurrying the downfall of Columbus by seizing on his power
and his person. He offered the Spaniards settled in the
neighborhood of Yaquimo to rid them of the tyranny of
the Columbuses. He pretended that these foreigners, fallen
in disfavor with the King, were no longer countenanced at
Court but by the Queen, whose declining health, since the




T T T  7T / 7-l '"   / 7 T1'


r -...


400       11     101      /.1 Ur            LBUuK ill.
death of her son, left no hope for her recovery; and that
henceforth Don Juan de Fonseca, his patron, was the only
true authority for the Indies. He said he was authorized to
take upon himself, in concert with Carvajal, the provisory
government of the island, and declared he would immediately insist on payment of their back pay for such as
would march with him to San Domingo.
The old companions of Roldan, incapable of not availing
themselves of an occasion for revolt, applauded this proceeding. Ojeda, having reunited these audacious enemies
of tranquillity, would constrain the peaceable or less ardent
colonists to swell his party, and to effect this purpose he
would surround their habitations during the night.
When the Admiral received this afflicting news he was
without disposable troops, and the doubtful character of the
feeble garrison of San Domingo added to his inquietude.
There remained to him no means of meeting so many
perils. At this juncture his only resource was perhaps
his chief danger, and certainly it was the greatest of his
humiliations; this only resource was to put himself under
the protection of the traitor Roldan. But would not the
interview of the chief justice and Ojeda, men equally violent and ambitious, lead them to unite so as to overthrow
legitimate power, and substitute their own for it? Defection was rife among the subordinates of the Admiral;
one after another abandoned him in this accumulation of
dangers.
In this ingress of enemies from without, come to arouse
the slumbering revolt within, together with the rising of the
natives, the Admiral recognized the secret machinations of
the Bureau of Seville. Remembering the ingratitude of the
Court, the continued malevolence of King Ferdinand, which
his frigid politeness could never wholly conceal; seeing his
authority without support in Spain, without respect or
effective force in the island; seeing his life and that of his
brothers was continually menaced by bandits accustomed to
every species of crime; feeling his state of isolation, and




CHAP. v.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


401


the powerlessness that was its consequence; and considering the misfortunes of the poor Indians, whom the excesses
of impious Christians prevented from embracing the Gospel, - he felt a great loathing for men. Bowed to the
dust, and sinking under the weight of so many afflictions,
this great soul, who had overcome so many fears and surmounted so many dangers, was overwhelmed with a mortal
sadness.
This day was the anniversary of the birth of the Saviour,
-Christmas Day of the year I499.
The courage of Columbus, until then unconquered,
suddenly failed him. He shuddered with horror at the
assassination to which he was doomed. The instinct of
self-preservation alone remained to him, and, for the first
time, he thought of saving his life. He resolved to cast
himself, with his brothers, into a caravel, -to fly across
the ocean from the rage of his enemies. But in the midst
of his darkest apprehensions from his officers, and the
mortal anguish of his heart, he did not invoke the Divine
Majesty in vain. That Providence who had so many times
shown him His tutelary vigilance, came personally to his
aid. God deigned to speak to his perplexed servant. A
voice from Above said to him: " O man of little faith!
why art thou cast down? Fear nothing. I am with thee,
and I will provide for thee." *
SECTIOV III.
Conformably to the mysterious announcement of divine
aid, the aspect of things immediately changed, without
effort made on his part. Before the day was ended, he
learned the discovery of immense gold mines. Roldan, far
from sharing his power with Ojeda, thought of only repulsing from the island this dangerous rival. The struggle
* "Mi soccorse all' hora Nostro Signore, dicendomi: o huomo di
poca fide non haver paura, io sono."-Fernando Colombo, Vita del
Ammarzglio, cap. LXXXIV.
34*




402


HIS TOR OF


[BOOK III.


was ardent between these adversaries, - one worthy of the
other by his audacity, cunning, and physical force. At
length, after a series of curious and dramatic incidents,
Roldan compelled Ojeda to take to his ships and put to sea.
The facility with which Ojeda recruited partisans among
the old insurgents, caused Roldan to reflect seriously on the
matter, and determined him to sustain unreservedly, in
future, the authority of the Admiral, whence his own derived its power.
As soon as the old rebels saw that the chief justice was
now executing the orders of the Admiral, and laboring for
the reestablishment of order, they conceived a mortal hatred
for him.
During these occurrences, a young hidalgo, named Fernando de Guevarra, cousin to Adrien de Mojica, who had
been one of the chiefs in the revolt of Roldan, came to
Xaragua to embark on the ships of Ojeda, because the
Admiral had banished him fiom the island on account of
his depraved habits. But when he came, the caravels of
the turbulent favorite of Fonseca had already sailed for
some days. Roldan permitted him to remain in Xaragua
until the Admiral would have pronounced on his fate.
Guevarra, possessing an agreeable person and winning
manners, obtained admittance to the court of Queen Anacoana, and presumed even to aspire to the hand of her
daughter, the young Higuenemota. Having gained the
affection of this charming princess, he obtained the consent
of her mother to their union, which he appeared to desire
legitimating by the blessing of the Church. But whether
Roldan was himself enamored of the young beauty, as has
been stated by Las Casas, or rather that he did not consider
as serious the promise of this shameless libertine, or that he
should not, in the precarious position in which Guevarra
was placed, suffer a marriage to take place which would give
some political importance to a man stricken administratively
by the Viceroy, the chief judge ordered Guevarra to quit
immediately the quarter he had chosen for his residence.




CHAP. v.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMlBUS.


403


Notwithstanding this order, the young hidalgo could not
bring himself to leave the place where his lady-love resided.
Informed of the disobedience of his order, Roldan caused
Guevarra to be brought before him, admonished him strictly,
and reproached him with having abused the confidence
of a lady so eminent as Queen Anacoana, -a disloyalty which the Viceroy would not pardon. Guevarra implored him to be permitted to remain in Xaragua, but
Roldan being inflexible, he pretended to submit. Still, the
judge learned that, in the place of obeying, Guevarra was
concealed in the palace of the queen, and that he sent for a
priest to baptize his affianced bride. Roldan commanded
him to quit immediately the territory of Xaragua, and to go
and present himself in person to the Viceroy, to receive his
orders.
Far from complying with this injunction, the hidalgo
answered with threats, and, with some malcontents, hatched
a plot against the life of the chief justice. It was agreed
between them to seize on him and put out his eyes. Informed of their plan, he saw that a vigorous, sudden attack
could alone prevent a revolt, and issued a warrant against
Guevarra and seven of his accomplices. Their sudden
arrest was effected in the very palace of Anacoana, and
beneath her own eyes. The whole eight, loaded with irons,
were marched to the citadel of San Domingo.
On learning the arrest of Guevarra, his cousin, Adrien
de Mojica, one of the old accomplices of Roldan, became
incensed against him. He immediately started for Bonao,
the place of meeting of the old rebels, and the residence
of Pedro de Requelme, the most intimate friend that Roldan
had. It was not hard for Mojica to excite the inhabitants
of Bonao, and to bring over to the party even Requelme,
upon whom Roldan so much relied, and whom he had
appointed deputy judge. Mojica found himself at the head
of a large and audacious party. They determined not only
to free Guevarra, and make away with Roldan, whom they




404


HIS TOR r OF


[BOOK III.


considered a traitor to their cuse, but also to put the Admiral to death.
Roldan, informed of their project, followed them in haste,
without their suspecting it. One night, while the principal conspirators were assembled at their place of meeting,
Roldan, with seven domestics and two soldiers, suddenly
pounced on them, and seized on Mojica, with some of his
accomplices, whom they led in chains to San Domingo.
Immediately Roldan sent an official report of the arrest
to the Admiral, and requested his orders. The Admiral
was at that time occupied with the fortifications of Conception. The news was very afflicting and very embarrassing to him. He had promised himself that he would never
C touch the hair of any one's head."  And it was in shedding tears he replied to the chief justice, that since these
incorrigible disturbers of the peace had, without provocation, made a new attempt at rebellion, he must visit them
with justice conformably to the laws of the kingdom.
Roldan immediately pronounced their condemnation.
Adrien de Mojica was condemned to death, and his accomplices, according to the degrees of their culpability,
to banishment or imprisonment. The execution of Mojica
was to take place from the top of the fortress. At the sight
of the preparations made for him, this blustering hidalgo,
seized with fear, hoping, perhaps, that his former friends
would come to rescue him, repulsed his confessor in order
to gain time, or to extend the terrible moment. Roldan,
indignant at his cowardice, ordered the wretch to be flung
from the top of the fortress into the foss.* As to Guevarra,
the chief justice kept him a prisoner until the fifteenth of
* Availing themselves of the mistake of Herrera, a certain school
has completely denaturalized these facts, in attributing them to
Columbus, who was then absent. We have here reported the facts
as they really occurred, and not according to a version against
which the very statements of Columbus himself, and of his son
Fernando, protest in advance.




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


405


June, when he sent him to the Admiral, who was still at
Fort Conception.
The conspirators were at the last extremity. The Adelantado, on the one hand, and the chief justice, pursued
them with rapidity and vigor, and carried the sentence into
execution on the spot where they caught them. For this
purpose they took with them a priest, in order that the
wretches may at least make good confessions, and receive
absolution.
The promptness of the punishment, the inflexibility of
the chief justice, and his deference for the least desires
of the Viceroy, frightened the rebels; they took to flight.
The peaceable portion of the community became reassured,
and the Indians returned to the obedience of Castile. They
recommenced paying their tributes. The peaceable colonists were enabled to prosecute their labors in the cultivation of their lands, —labors that were much encouraged
by the Admiral. The plantations became multiplied, and
flocks and herds increased.  Tranquillity reigned in the
whole island; and a single Spaniard could with security
traverse the whole island, unarmed.  Already a number
of Indians had asked for baptism, and they commenced
clothing themselves in European fashion. They were led
to abandon their old custom of living in isolated habitations,
and to come and live in villages, which permitted their
being the more easily instructed in the Christian religion.
A bright future seemed to await the colony. Columbus
felt assured that, in three years' time, the royal tribute alone
that would be received in the island would amount to
sixty millions annually. In truth, in five years after, they
amounted to more than a hundred millions.
But already, through the influence of the bureaus of
Seville, an event was preparing which was to change the
destiny of the Indians, frustrate the sweetest hopes of Columbus, turn the children of the forest from the sweet yoke
of the Gospel, and deliver their race to ruin and despair.




406


HISTOR OF


[BOOK III.


CHAPTER VI.
The Enemies of Columbus in Seville. - Secret Hostility of Ferdinand.-A Commissary is appointed.-Bobadilla is invested
with extraordinary Powers.- Indians sold as Slaves. -Isabella
annuls the Sales, and orders the Indians to be restored to Liberty.
SECTIONV.
THE atrocious insult given to Columbus by the ex-Jew
Ximeno Breviesca, was recompensed with giving him
the office of paymaster-general of the marine.  Fonseca
rewarded, as a service rendered the Crown, every mark of
animosity shown against Columbus. The daringness of his
attacks show how much he counted on support from the
highest quarter. The ill-will of Ferdinand towards Columbus was no longer a secret. The monarch envied the celebrity of the great man, and was jealous of the high opinion
and affectionate regard entertained for him by the Queen.
The unwavering confidence she had in him irritated the
selfish susceptibility of the King. Since the year I496, he
regretted the title of "Viceroy" given to a foreigner, which
seemed to him to diminish the majesty of his crown. In
his letters he always called him "Admiral of the Indies."
The titles of " Viceroy" and of " Perpetual Governor " were
intentionally omitted.
The new discovery of the terra firma, and the profound
observations of Columbus in these regions, with the packages of pearls and of golden ornaments forwarded by him,
gave great satisfaction to the Queen. Still, she did not
write to him herself, but charged Fonseca to do so. As
regarded Ferdinand, he did not find that the results of these
expeditions had hitherto covered the payments made by the




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


407


treasury in advance, and saw in the person of Columbus
only an occasion of unprofitable expenses.  Accordingly
he lent a willing ear to the accusations that were made
against him.
SE CTION I.
The Sovereigns resolved to send a commissary to Hispaniola, to regulate matters there.  Columbus had more
than once requested that a jurisconsult, learned in the law,
should be sent; but unfortunately the person chosen was
not a jurisconsult, but a military man, the commander
Francisco de Bobadilla, -a man who enjoyed the esteem
of Fonseca, and who had great credit at Court. Yet the
departure of Bobadilla was delayed more than a year, when
the Queen made a visit to Seville. From this time it was
that, through the influence of the bureaus, Columbus fell
into disfavor with her. No longer are his demands granted.
He is refused his eldest son, Don Diego, whom he wrote
for, and whom he wished to train in the management of
affairs, and prepare for the government which he was one
day to exercise.
Previously to this period, the Queen had ordered all the
Indians who had been brought to Spain as slaves to be set
free, and sent back to their own country.




408


HISTORY OF


[BOOK       III.


CHAPTER VII.
Arrival of Bobadilla at San Domingo. - He besieges the Fortress,
and sets the Prisoners at Liberty. - He seizes on the Papers and
Effects of the Admiral, who was then absent. - He imprisons
Columbus and his two Brothers. - He sends them, in Chains, to
Spain.
SECTION      I.
W     HILE Columbus was assiduously engaged in enlarging the Fortress of Conception, on the morning
of the twenty-third of August two caravels were perceived
from San Domingo, struggling against the land breezes,
and making for the mouth of the Ozema.
Don Diego Columbus, thinking that these caravels brought
Don Diego, the eldest son of the Admiral, immediately
despatched a boat, to know if he was on board. The boat
having accosted one of the caravels, the Gorda, inquired
who the commandant was.     Bobadilla answered that he
himself was the man; that he called himself Commander
Francisco de Bobadilla; that he came as a commissary of
the Sovereigns, to judge the rebels; and that the young
Diego had not embarked. The boat returned.
This news, which was soon circulated about, spread dismay among the old insurgents.
Towards ten o'clock, the wind having fallen, the caravels
made their entrance into the port. Bobadilla, at first sight,
could see at some distance two gibbets, from which two
bodies were suspended. Nothing more was, in his mind,
necessary to justify the charges of cruelty brought against
the Admiral., The greater part of the functionaries of the




CHAP. vi.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


409


government soon came on board the caravel, to present
their homage to the envoy of the Sovereigns.
The next day, accompanied by his suite, he went to the
church, where Diego Columbus, and Rodrigo Perez, the
then deputy judge, also attended. After mass, at the very
door of the church, Bobadilla ordered his letter-patent to be
read, authorizing him to investigate the late troubles that
had arisen in the island. Then he demanded of Don Diego,
and of the deputy judge, to surrender to him Fernando
Guevarra, Pedro Requelme, and the other prisoners detained in the fortress.
Diego Columbus replied that the Viceroy had titles superior to this commission, as would be seen at the proper time
and place, and that in his absence he could not comply with
such a requisition; and he requested a copy of the letterpatent, to forward to the Admiral, on whom everything
in the island depended. Bobadilla answered that, as he
had not power to act, it was useless to give him the copy
he demanded; but he would soon show he had authority,
not only as chief justice, but as governor, and that he had
command over them all, - even over the Admiral himself.
The next day, after mass, Bobadilla ordered the notary to
read, from the church door, a royal ordinance conferring on
him the government and judicature of the islands and terra
frma of the Indies, and, afterwards, a royal mandate ordering Columbus and his brothers to deliver him up the
fortresses, arms, munitions, and other royal property.
He then went and attacked the fortress (which made no
resistance), and took possession of the prisoners detained
there.
He next went and took possession of the residence of the
Viceroy, who, he said, would need it no longer, as he was
going to send him and his brothers, in chains, to Spain.
He seized on all his furniture, gold, plate, jewels, pearls,
horses and arms; and all that without witnesses, or taking
any inventory of them. The mineralogical curiosities, the
rare shells, and the vegetable collections the Admiral had
35




410


HISTORY OF


[BOOK III.


gathered or formed in his voyages, and the religious memorials given him, became the prey of this brutal and greedy
ignoramus. The notes and observations of Columbus, his
charts and drawings, and documents containing the effusions of his piety and the inmost secrets of his sublime
heart, were scrutinized and profaned by the looks of this
sycophant. In addition to these, he suppressed from the
administrative documents every writing that would have
confounded the accusers of the Admiral.
SECTIION     lI.
Don Diego despatched a messenger to the Admiral, who
was then at Conception, informing him of the arrival and
proceedings of Bobadilla. Columbus at first thought that
this envoy, like Aguado, infatuated with his powers, exaggerated them. Not finding in his conscience anything that
could have caused such rigor on the part of the Sovereigns,
he was inclined to think that Bobadilla had fabricated his
titles, to impose on the credulous, and, like Ojeda, recommence troubles. Still, in order to be nearer, and become
more fully informed of the affairs of San Domingo, he came
to Bonao,-a place that was daily increasing in importance. From this place he wrote to Bobadilla, felicitating
him on his arrival in the island, and requesting him not to
take any important measures before he would have studied
the localities. He gave him to understand that, desiring
to go to Castile, he would resign him the reins of government, and would furnish him with all the information he
may need. But the commander returned no answer to this
letter. He held to the silence of hatred, or of disdain, for
a fallen rival.
Some time after, an alcaid, sent by the new governor,
came to Bonao, to publish an official copy of his powers,
and to command the inhabitants to obey him.   Having
heard this notification, the Admiral protested, before the
alcaid, that his titles of " Viceroy" and " Governor" could




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


4II


not be annulled by the powers given to Bobadilla, and that
the nomination of the commissary regarded only the administration of justice; and therefore he required all those
present to be obedient to him in everything else, as
formerly.
Still, although Bobadilla had, like a pirate, seized on the
residence of the Viceroy, he was not quite easy.  The
Admiral had some devoted officers with him. He exercised a great influence on the caciques. His brother, the
Adelantado, was in Xaragua, at the head of a faithful
troop. A rumor was circulated in San Domingo that the
Admiral was going to commence a general movement in
the island. As, in virtue of his treaties with Castile, Columbus was Perpetual Viceroy and Governor of the Indies,
no order could annul his privileges. In justice he could
resort to arms to maintain his rights. The new governor,
then, fearing that the Admiral would repel with the sword
the mandate that was signed by the ingratitude of Ferdinand and the error of Isabella, judged it prudent to employ
persuasive and gentle means to bring him to submit.
The piety of Columbus, and his affection for the Order of
St. Francis, were well known, and the commander thought
that the best intermediary in this affair would be a Franciscan. Accordingly, on the seventh of September, he besought Father Juan de Trasiera to go to Bonao and inform
the Admiral of his having fallen into disfavor with the
Sovereigns, and to show him the letter of credence given to
the new Governor. The Franciscan father could not refuse
the sad commission. He informed the Viceroy of all that
had passed in San D6mingo. To convince him of the
reality of the facts, which appeared to Columbus like an
uneasy dream, he showed him the letter of credence, whose
terrible laconism removed every uncertainty, and dispensed
with further explanation. The following is a copy of this
strange letter: -


" DON CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, our Admiral of the




413


HISTORT OF


[BOOK III.


Ocean, we have ordered Commander Francisco de Bobadilla, the bearer of this present, to tell you, on our part,
certain things with which he is charged. We pray you to
attach credence and credit to them, and to act accordingly."
The letter was signed by the King and the Queen, and
countersigned by the Secretary, Miguel Perez d'Almanza;
so there was no more room for doubt. The Sovereigns
broke the conventions made with him, violated their word,
and disposed of privileges and offices which belonged to
him and his descendants. They condemned him without
a trial, or giving him an opportunity of justifying himself.
At first, on thinking of this atrocious iniquity, which would
have subverted the reason of any other mortal, Columbus
was overwhelmed with sorrow, and blushed with shame for
the Sovereigns. But if they stifled the sense of gratitude,
forgot their promises, and falsified their words, the Admiral
respected his oaths. He resolved not to fail in his obedience, and to give, in a Christian manner, the example of
submission to even unjust authority.
Columbus, in order not to give offence to the pride of the
new Governor, took the route to San Domingo on horseback, without an escort, and almost without servants, having for a sword-belt only his cord of St. Francis, and, for
arms, his breviary. It was between prayer, the poetry of
the Psalms, and the contemplation of nature in these equinoctial regions, that the disciple of the Cross, fully resigned
to the divine will, came humbly to his enemy. As soon as
Bobadilla was informed of his approach, he had Don
Diego, the Admiral's brother, seized and put in irons on
board a caravel.
Soon after, the Viceroy having come to salute the new
Governor, the latter, refusing to see him, ordered him to be
immediately arrested and incarcerated in the fortress, with
iron fetters on his feet. Columbus, having offered no opposition to the satellites, followed them to the prison.
The Admiral knew, no more than his brother Diego, the




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


4I3


cause of this treatment. It was kept a strict secret. Nobody
was allowed to see or speak to him. But Bobadilla sent
him word to write to his brother the Adelantado, to beware
of executing the persons condemned to death, whom he
held in the prison at Xaragua, and to direct him to return
to San Domingo without his soldiers. Columbus readily
exhorted Don Bartholomew to submit with docility to orders given in the name of the Sovereigns, and besought
him not to trouble himself about his imprisonment, assuring
him that they would return to Castile, where the evil would
be repaired that had been done them. As always, fully
deferring to the wishes of his brother, the Adelantado
immediately resigned his command, and took the route to
San Domingo.   Scarcely had he arrived there than he was
arrested and put in irons on board another caravel; so that
the three brothers were kept isolated from each other, without communication with each other, and in a state of the
greatest destitution.
Columbus had on only the light coat he wore at the time
of his arrest, and which he used to wear in the heat of the
day. Bobadilla had seized on all his other clothing, even
his sayo, or surtout. On the stone floor of his dungeon,
with the pains of his rheumatism and the twinges of his
gout, he had to suffer cruelly from cold during the nights,
for he was almost naked -  desnudo en cuerfo."  His
fare was composed of the most wretched stuff.
Bobadilla finished where he ought to have commenced, on
arriving at Hispaniola, - he opened an inquiry concerning
the late troubles that had arisen in the island. But, in place
of seizing on the persons who had been in revolt against
the Admiral and his brothers, as he had been ordered by
the Sovereigns, he gathered all the rebels, ringleaders,
criminals, and the prisoners he had released, to come and
depose against the Admiral, the Adelantado, and even the
mild Don Diego. The consequence may be readily foreseen.
When it appeared that the inquiry had collected against
35*




414


HISTORY OF


[BOOK III.


the three prisoners proofs of every crime, save the least
offence against chastity, Bobadilla resolved to send them
to the director of the marine, or to his friend Gonzalo
Gomez Cervantes, at Cadiz. To insure the strict execution
of his orders, he chose a young officer, Alonso de Vallejo,
a nephew to Gonzalo Gomez Cervantes, and a protege of
Fonseca's, in whose house he had grown up to manhood.
Columbus was not without some uneasy apprehensions.
The disdain for every form of justice, the strict secresy
observed, and the inhuman treatment he had received,
were of ill omen. He did not know where the measures
adopted against him would end; and, when the silence of
his obscure prison was suddenly troubled by the clang of
arms and the tramp of soldiers, he felt certain he was
going to be assassinated or led to a scaffold. Seeing at the
head of the guard a favorite of Fonseca's, young Vallejo,
whom he had formerly'seen in Seville, he thought his last
hour had come. "Vallejo," said he, mournfully, " whither
are you taking me?" " On board the Gorda, your Excellency, to embark," replied the other. " Vallejo! do you tell
me the truth?"  "By the life of your Excellency," replied
the officer, " I swear I am going to lead you to the caravel
to embark." The frank manner and accent of the officer
reassured the Admiral. He felt as if relieved from a stupendous weight. He feared he was going to be executed
without judgment, as he had been imprisoned without trial,
and that he would leave his children behind him enshrouded
in an opprobrium with which his enemies would have
sullied his memory.
Columbus was placed on board the Gorda, the same
vessel in which his two brothers were. The three were in
irons.
The voluminous inquest taken in their case having been
confided to the care of Alonso de Vallejo, commandant,
and to Andres Martin, master of the vessel, at the commencement of October they weighed anchor.
Vallejo, though a dependent of Fonseca's, was a man




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


415


of honor. He was grieved to see in irons the master of all
navigators, and the conqueror of the Gloomy Ocean, whose
mild and calm dignity in the midst of so many insults, alone
belied the odious charges brought against him within a few
weeks. The master of the Gorda, Andres Martin, shared
in silence the sympathies of the young officer. So, as soon
as they were out of sight of the port, they respectfully
came to the Admiral and besought him to be permitted
to take off his chains. Columbus refused this alleviation
of his evils. He did not wish, even at that distance, in the
liberty of the ocean, to appear to contravene the orders
given by the mandatory of the Sovereigns. Notwithstanding
the annoyances and pains which the chains gave his aching
limbs, he kept them on, recognizing only in the Sovereigns,
in whose name they were put on, the power of delivering
him from them.
The disciple of the Gospel uttered no complaint. He
remained silent, wishing to give an example of Christian
submission to legitimate authority, even when it is deceived
or abused. But if Columbus addressed no communication
to the Sovereigns regarding the iniquity of which he was
the victim, at least his heart was solaced in writing to the
virtuous friend of the Queen, Dona Juana de la Torre,
who had nursed with her breast-milk the son of Isabella, -
the Infant Don Juan.
SE CTIO N IIl.
This letter, which we would like to reproduce religiously
in its whole length, bears in full relief the expression of the
providential character and the superhuman mission of
Columbus. We perceive, in the superior animation of its
style, the spirit of an inspired Christian, and the simple,
natural language of a seaman.
The disfavor into which he fell does not move Columbus
in the ordinary way. He does not consider his adversity as
a purely individual fact,- the consequence of the hostility




4i6


HISTOR 2 OF


[BOOK III.


of individuals or of a coterie, He recognizes, in what he
experiences, the warfare of the world against the spirit of
faith.  ' If it be something new for me," says he, ' to complain of the world, still its habit of maltreating is very old.
It has battled with me a thousand times, and I have resisted
it until the present, when neither arms nor counsels can
avail me. It has barbarously sunk me to the bottom." *
Yet, " sunk to the bottom" as he appears to the eyes of the
world, the disciple of the Word is not cast down. He
adds: " Hope in Him who has created us sustains me;
His aid has always been very prompt. A short time ago,
being still more thrown down, He raised me with His divine arm, saying to me, ' 0 man of little faith! why art
thou cast down? Fear nothing: I am with thee, and I will
provide for thee.'" He reminds the excellent DoiaJuana
that he was, as it were, forced to come fiom abroad 'l to
serve these princes with an innate affection, and to render
them unheard-of services."  " God," says he, " has made
me the harbinger of the new heaven and the new earth, of
which, in the Apocalypse, He speaks by the mouth of St.
John, after having spoken of it by that of Isaias, and He
has shown me the place where they are to be found. All
showed themselves incredulous. But God gave the Queen,
my mistress, the spirit of understanding, accorded her the
necessary courage, and rendered her heiress of all (this New
World), as being his dear and well-beloved daughter."
The change of opinion, and the violent measures adopted
in regard to him, do not disconcert him. He knows that
the affairs he has conducted " pertain to those who cannot
but gain, from day to day, in the esteem of men." Still,
matters have come to that pass, that the vilest wretches
think they have the right to outrage him. " But," says he,
" thanks be to God, this iniquity will some day come to the
knowledge of him who has the authority to repress it."


* " Con crueldad me tiene echado al fundo." - Carta del Almirante al ama del princibe D. Yuan.




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


417


This authority, whose protection the herald of. the Cross
invokes, - what is it, unless it be the Papacy itself? Who
can oppose the violation of his rights, and the injustice rendered him, if it be not the successor of the Prince of the
Apostles, and the grantor of the donation made to the Catholic Sovereigns? To him alone belonged to evoke this
cause, to protect with his fulminations the Messenger of the
Church, and prevent him from succumbing under the shafts
of iniquity and the artifices of regal felony. The intimate
bonds which attached the mission of Columbus to the apostolic interests of the Holy See, naturally made him hope in
its aid. Yet, he does not insist on this eventuality. He devises no project; he forms no plan; he exculpates himself
from nothing, because he does not know what he is accused
of. He tries not, in advance, to repel charges which he
cannot foresee precisely, having done nothing that could be
reprehended.
Not a word escapes him, making any harsh allusion to
the Queen. One would say he knows how she was led into
error.
What a Christian!
He has been stripped of everything, outraged, and put in
irons; he bears them this moment; his flesh is bruised; and
still this violent reverse of fortune, the audacious spoliation
of which he is the victim, the secret enmity of the King,
and the triumph of his persecutors, have not been able to
shake his constancy. Finishing his letter he says: " God,
Our Lord, remains with His power and His knowledge as
heretofore, and he especially punishes ingratitude."


P




418


HISTORT OF


[BOOK III.


CHAPTER VIII.
The Queen grieved at the Indignity offered to Columbus.-His arrival
at Court. - Ovando appointed to supersede Bobadilla. - Columbus occupies himself with the Deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre.
-He composes religious Poems, and a Compilation from the
Scriptures, entitled "Book of the Prophecies."
SECTION I.
IVINE PROVIDENCE seemed to give propitious
winds in order to shorten the sufferings of the Admiral. His voyage was very happy and rapid. The two
caravels, leaving in October, entered the Bay of Cadiz on
the twentieth of November.  Never did any vessel come
in so short a time. Like their captain, all the officers lavished the most respectful attentions on the Admiral and his
brothers. By care of the master of the Gorda, as soon as
they cast anchor a confidential man was secretly despatched
to Granada, where the Sovereigns then resided, with the
letter to the nurse of the Infant Don Juan. The swiftness
of this messenger outstripped the arrival of the despatches
and the proceedings sent by Bobadilla. Happily for Columbus, Granada was not Seville; bureaucratic hostilities and
local rancor had not perverted public opinion there. Around
the Alhambra the memory of the Discovery, - that grand
conquest of Catholic faith, - and the glory of the standardbearer of the Church, were religiously preserved. Whoever
his detractors may have been, the lustre of his services, and
the grandeur of his work, admired even by Mahometans,
caused a general burst of indignation at this outrage, which
scarcely seemed credible. We may judge what passed in
the heart of Isabella.




CHAP. vIII.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


419


As soon as Doia Juana de la Torre communicated to the
Queen the letter of Columbus, the indignation of Isabella
was only surpassed by her grief. A courier was immediately despatched to Gonzola Gomez de Cervantes to set
the Admiral and his brothers instantly at liberty.  The
two Sovereigns hastened to write Columbus a letter, in
which they deplore the offences given him, so much opposed to their sentiments, which they felt wounded in his
person. With reiterated expressions of regard and esteem,
they invited him to come immediately to Court, and ordered,
at the same time, that two thousand ducats should be advanced him, in order to remedy the destitution in which
Bobadilla had dared to place him.
The seventeenth of December, Columbus, with his
brothers, was conducted to the solemn audience of the
Sovereigns, who welcomed him with marks of the greatest kindness, and of bitter resentment towards his persecutor. A few days afterwards the Qleen called him to a
private audience, in order to have an explanation of the
causes of the animosity with which he was pursued, and
of the true state of the Indies. In this interview Columbus
presented himself alone.
At the sight of the Revealer of the Creation, Isabella,
calling to mind the indignities he had suffered in her name,
was moved to tears. When the venerable man beheld this
mark of tenderness, he could no longer restrain the feelings
suppressed within his breast; they burst forth in tears and
sobbings. Columbus and Isabella wept at the same time,
without proffering a word to each other. It was after this
colloquy of their souls that Columbus, in a few words, upset
all the charges of his accusers.
The tears of Isabella were a sovereign balm for the bleeding heart of Columbus. The Catholic Queen assured him
that all his grievances should be redressed, and that he
should be reinstated in all his dignities and privileges;
still, on account of the enmities existing against him, perhaps it would be better not to expose him immediately to




T O  n I ",-r 71" ^ / ' 71


r....,,,,


420                 t11 1 ufI 1 Ur'         LIJUUK ill.
new embarrassments, in reinstating him in the government
of Hispaniola. After this audience, Columbus addressed
the Sovereigns a formal complaint against the tyrannical
acts committed by Bobadilla, and in which he shows the
vices and malversations of the new administration. And
almost at the same time, in order to interest in his reclamation some personages who formed part of the Council of the
Sovereigns, he wrote a note, the rough draft of which, written with his own hand, has been happily preserved.
In this we find no artifice of language, no oratorical arrangement, no diplomatic shrewdness. It is the Messenger
of the Cross who speaks. He recalls to mind that he came
voluntarily to offer Spain the conquest of the Indies, and
that he gave her the preference at a time when France,
England, and Portugal had separately decided to risk an
expedition. " Then our Saviour," says he, " ordained the
route for me.  I have placed under the power of their
Highnesses lands larger than Africa and Europe. There
is reason to hope that the Holy Church will prosper wonderfully by it. In seven years I have, by the Divine will,
accomplished this conquest. At the moment that I hoped
to obtain recompenses and repose, I was suddenly seized and
put in irons, to the detriment of my honor, and the service
of their Highnesses," etc. The Admiral beseeches the
members of the Council, as faithful Christians, to examine
all his conventions with the Crown, to consider how he
came from afar to serve these princes, how he has quitted
wife* and children, condemning himself to almost never
seeing them, in order the better to watch over the service;
and to notice that, in return for this devotedness, he has
been, in the decline of his life, despoiled of his dignities
and his rights, without any regard for justice or mercy.
As to the memorandum in which he justified his administration, it cannot be doubted that it contained conclusive
* " Y deje muger y fijos que jamas vi por ello." - Col. Diplomat.,
num. cxxxvii.




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


421


facts and important considerations; for, as a consequence
of this communication, in spite of the influence of the Seville bureaus, the principal innovations of Bobadilla were
annulled, and the regulations of Columbus again put in
force.
Though acknowledging the administrative sagacity of
Columbus, the monarchs did not judge it prudent to send
him back to Hispaniola until such time as the animosity
raised against him would have subsided. It was decided,
in removing Bobadilla, to nominate in his place a temporary governor for two years; this time appeared sufficient
to dispel factions, efface the traces of enmities, and reestablish the regularity of the government. It was, they
said, especially in the interest of the Admiral that this
measure was adopted.
Assuredly, when she promised to reinstate him in his
titles and functions, the Queen was sincere; but the astute
Ferdinand had secretly resolved to take away forever from
Columbus the viceroyalty, as well as the real government
of the Indies. Everything from that moment was directed
to this point.
SECTION ILf
Seeing the animosity manifested by the colonists towards
Columbus, and the secret determination of Ferdinand not
to reinstate him in his government, most historians have
thought that Columbus, notwithstanding his genius, was
not qualified for the position of governor.
In the system of those writers who deny all providential
action in human affairs, and who maintain that the sole
progress of Portuguese navigation would necessarily have
led to the discovery of a continent situated to the west of
Europe, Columbus could not avoid committing faults as
governor, because he could not possess all the qualifications
for such a position. But our readers, who will remember
the superior gifts accorded to the herald of the Cross, his
eminent qualities, surpassed only by his virtues; those who
36




422


HISTORT OF


[BOOK III.


know that, with the true Christian, mercy surpasses justice,
will not doubt that so many excellent faculties, so many
diverse aptitudes, and such a keen penetration, united to
close observation, experience, and long-tried  patience,
qualified him to administer becomingly the government of
the country he had discovered.
Here M. de Lorgues enters into a lengthy and able exposition and vindication of the government of Columbus.
We cannot follow him but on a few points.
The only well-founded accusation brought by his enemies
against the Viceroy was, his formal opposition to the baptism of some Indians.
It may appear strange that the messenger of salvation,
who planted the Cross everywhere, and invited the natives
to venerate it, should repel them from the Church, when
they desired to enter her fold. But still, that he did so
there is nothing more certain.
A number of Indians, enticed by the charm of novelty,
their childish inclination for imitation, and, especially, the
privileges accorded to converts, without having the least
notions of real Christianity, demanded baptism as they
would have demanded a European vest or cap. The Admiral opposed, with all his might, the condescendence of
certain ecclesiastics, whose too indulgent proselytism favored
this pretended religious movement, and who, with the
desire of increasing promptly their flocks, admitted the
Indians to baptism simply on their demand. It was through
piety that he opposed the conferring of this sacrament; that
is to say, its profanation. His manner of treating the Indians was always paternal. He recognized in the children
of the forests his brethren in Jesus Christ. He loved them
because he had discovered them in order to bring them
under the sweet yoke of the Gospel.
It has been objected to Columbus, as a proof of his incapacity for governing, that he proposed the colonization of
Hispaniola with criminals.
Honestly speaking, the idea of recruiting the colonists




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


423


from the prisons and bagnios ought not to be attributed to
Columbus, but to dire necessity itself. Such a measure
shows the sad extremity to which he was reduced. Let us
not forget that, at the time of this proposition, the prejudice
against the Indies was so great that no recompense could
induce a Castilian to go there. A sojourn of two years
there compensated for capital punishment. Moreover, it
was a question of life or death for the colony. Again: the
exclusion procured by Columbus of the most criminal malefactors, gave reason to hope that this penitentiary system
would be attended with happy results. And, if these culprits had not arrived under unfavorable circumstances, in
the midst of rebels whose example and suggestions had not
awakened their evil instincts, there is reason to believe that
their deportation would not have been a matter of regret.
Never was there a more difficult government than that
with which Columbus was charged. He operated on the
unknown, deprived of all administrative precedents, continually restrained by the difficulties of climate, of hygiene,
of old customs and new needs, the perpetual conflicts between the hidalgos and the natives, continual insubordination, and the pedantic pretensions of the bureaucracy of
Seville.
Yet we do not find, after having rigorously examined the
matter, that Columbus committed even the shadow of a fault
in his whole administration. Assuredly he was not infallible; still, he did not err. The protection of God extended
to his works; and, if he was tried in his person, he was
recompensed for his labors. None of his institutions contained the germ of vice, the occasion of disorder, or the
principle of embarrassment for a future period.
We can find no defect in his administration, the same as
we can find no vice in a saint. It was because he had not
in view his personal elevation, the grandeur of his family,
or the enriching of his children, but the glory of Jesus
Christ, the aggrandizement of Castile, Christian civilization,
and the good government of the Indies, and to develop and




424


IHISTOR OF


[BOOK III.


make the most of the resources of these countries for the
advantage of the people. Believing in the perpetuity of
his work, Columbus did not sacrifice to the present the
resources of the future.
Notwithstanding his active search for gold, as soon as he
became governor of these new countries, very far fiom
occupying himself principally with gold mines and working
them, he paid special attention to the culture of the earth -
the first and the last object of all real colonization.
Under the name of " Royal Farm," he established an agricultural institution where there were preserved, in the purity
of their blood, reproductive animals of each species. By his
care plantations were multiplied, and attempts made at
horticulture and in the acclimating of plants and animals.
He felt that it was necessary to abandon the European
regimen for that of the Indians, and he tried to get the colonists to adopt the fare of the latter. In this his sagacity
was in advance of the dear-bought lessons of experience.
In place of bachelors, thirsting for gold, and incapable of
attaching themselves to the soil to cultivate it, he wished to
admit only married persons of industrious habits, who
would cultivate the earth, clear the forests, make canals for
irrigating the lands, or attend to the raising of live stock.
SE CTZON II.
The temporary deprivation of the Admiral of the government of the Indies having been decided on, the choice
of the Queen fell on a personage in high favor with the
King, and an intimate friend of Fonseca's. He was grave
and courteous in his manners, and fluent in speech. He
was the commmander of Lares, and his name was Nicolas
de Ovando.
The splendid fleet appointed to convey Ovando to his
new government, consisted of thirty-two sail. The directorgeneral, the paymaster Ximeno de Breviesca, and Gonsalvo
Gomez de Cervantes, by extraordinary activity, managed to




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


425


have the ships ready to sail in less than six months. If Columbus were a man that could be governed by envy, he
could not without displeasure, and even suspicion, behold
this warlike machinery, this display of force accorded to a
temporary governor.  The superintendent of the marine,
who had formerly refused him the gratuitous passage of a
single domestic, now found no difficulty of accommodating
ten mounted body guards, and twelve foot guards, for the
new governor, who also had with him some officers of high
rank, and went surrounded with pomp which the Viceroy
would not have dared to think of. Evidently the temporary governor was favored otherwise than was the governor
who had a perpetual and hereditary title.
SE CTION    IV.
But suspicions and vulgar jealousies did not easily find
their way to the great heart of Columbus. While the
equipment of the fleet was going on, he, in his retreat, occupied with prayer, study, and the meditation of heavenly
truths, lost sight of the intrigues of the Court and the petty
agitations of the world. A sublimer ambition engrossed his
thoughts. It was not enough to have discovered a new
continent; it remained for him to receive the reward of his
labors.
Human glory was incapable of remunerating him. It
was from the Most High that he expected a recompense.
Columbus hoped that, as a crowning of his favors, the
Divine Majesty deigned to reserve for him the deliverance
of the Holy Sepulchre, hitherto refused to the efforts of the
Crusaders.
It is known that such was the constant desire of Columbus. Since his third voyage, by which he had so much
enlarged the known space of the earth, he longed to put this
heroic project in execution. Sometimes with his friends,
the Franciscans of Granada, sometimes with those of
36*




426


HISTOR OF


[BOOK III.


Zubia, where he spent his time in intimate acquaintance
with the Summa of the Angelical Doctor, in reading the
masters of theology, in nourishing his spirit with the delights of the Holy Scriptures, and in trying to discover in
apocalyptic images some luminous rays that would throw
light on the question of the Holy Places, attract the attention of the Catholic Sovereigns to them, and induce them
to engage in the glorious enterprise of delivering them.
Sometimes, in the intervals of his researches, the contemplator of the WORD, electrified with the poetry of Israel
and with the sublime hymns of the Church, tried also to
render into verse the emotions prompted by his piety. A
poet in sentiment, he was still more so in expression, even
in the language of his adopted country.
The religious stanzas of Columbus, unhappily, are lost.
The last vestiges of them are found in the sketch of his
work on the Prophecies,* where they were inserted at random.   His poetry, like Christian genius, is grave and
solemn. One perceives in it disenchantment from    the
world, the depths of faith, and the logic of divine things.
His longest piece has for subject, "T The End of Man."
Columbus develops in six strophes, each commencing with
a Latin word, this Catholic maxim: Jl~cnJzorare nzoviszsiszza
tua c non fz eccabis ilz wcterZzm. " Remember thy last
end and thou wilt never sin."  These six strophes bear the
stamp of the grandeur and the inflexibility of our dogmas.
In them are found those profound impressions, that longilng
desire for heaven, and that horror for sin which are so
characteristic of holy souls. If, in a language become tardily his, and which he began to lisp only towards his
forty-ninth year, Columbus showed himself a poet, what
* Unfortunately the paraphrase of the Memorare novissi'ma iua;
the commencement of an ode on the birth of St. John the Baptist,
entitled, "Gozos del nascimiento de S. Juan Bautista;" a stanza
on the subject of Christian duty; and here and there some detached
verses on the leaves of the LIBRO DE LAS PROFECIAS, -compose
solely what is come down to us of the poetry of Columbus.




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


427


harmonious effusions would he not have uttered in the idiom
of Dante and of Tasso, the sweet language of his youth?
This fact of poetic inspiration occurring to Columbus in
his adversity and his old age, appears to us worthy of remark. Some great geniuses and great saints also composed
poetical pieces in their last years. Youth begins with
poetry, and old age returns to it as a solace and a consolation. But this return to poetry,- a reflection of the
eternal youth of the soul, - seems to be the exclusive
recompense of an age which has become gray in the practice of virtue. To recall here only one example: a little
before his death the great Bossuet employed himself in
translating the Psalms of David into French verse. At a
distance of two centuries these two sublime characters
experienced the same desire, and sought in the same source
for its gratification.
For nearly seven months, in concert with some religious
savants well versed in sacred letters, Columbus carefully
examined the Scriptures and the ecclesiastical authors, in
order to unite the several texts, and point out the interpretations that had reference to the events he had accomplished,
as well as the passages that were applicable to the tomb of
the Saviour. At length, his work appearing to him complete, on the thirteenth of September, I50I, he sent a copy
of it to a learned theologian of Seville, Father Gaspard
Gorricio, a Carthusian, to be examined, and, if need be,
enriched with additions.
This precious manuscript, which was designed for the
Sovereigns, has been lost. Its rough draft formed a large
handsome octavo volume of eighty-four leaves, with the title
of " A Collection of Prophecies on the Recovery of Jerusalem
and the Discovery of the Indies." Humboldt has no hesitation in calling this production ( the sketch of the extravagant
work of the Profecias."  He has even disdainfully called
it ' his pagan and biblical Profecias." *  The high repute


*Eaxamen Critigue, etc., t. i., p. 102.




428


HISTORT OF


[BOOK III.


of his name has caused this judgment to be accepted, which
tends to depreciate Columbus in the esteem of erudite
scholars. 7We cannot acquiesce in this sentence, which was
passed unjustly, and without an examination of the fragments of the work that remain. We first notice two points:
Humboldt acknowledges that the extravagant work is only
a sketch, or rough draft; and he admits that several religious aided Columbus in the work.
In truth, the printed fragment of the " extravagant
work" looked over by Humboldt, is only a sketch, a kind
of rough draft traced by another hand than that of Columbus. The passages collected, and the authorities diversely
classed, are not united by any reasoning, and present only a
simple collection of materials. Is it permissible to judge
soundly of a work from the fragments of a sketch, or a
rough draft abridged by a mutilation of fourteen pages?
The learned religious who aided Columbus in his book, did
not consider it " an extravagant work." The erudite Carthusian of Seville had this work in its entireness, that is
to say, completed by fourteen pages, which a criminal
hand afterwards retrenched from the sketch, - the only
copy that has come down to us. These fourteen pages
must have formed the most important part of this work;
Munos, and Navarrete agree in this opinion. It was because he possessed this manuscript whole and entire that
Father Gaspard Gorricio conceived a very different opinion
of it from that of Humboldt.
The learned Carthusian addressed several letters to Columbus on the subject. As soon as he received and read
the manuscript, he wrote to him that he would endeavor
to comply with his desire, and that the more so because
he hoped to profit by it, and whet his intellect with an
occupation so useful, so consoling, so instructive, so conducive to the service of God, and so promotive of the good, as
well as the honor of Spain and of the whole Christian
world. After having thoroughly examined the work, he
declares that he can add to it but very little, because




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


429


Columbus had already collected the cream of all the authorities, sentences, words and prophecies in the Holy Scriptures, and in the commentators. He found that what was
left to him to glean was meagre.   Nevertheless, with
fervor and interior consolation he gave himself to his task.
Elevating himself to the generous views of the contemplator of Creation, Father Gaspard Gorricio prayed to the
Almighty to enlighten him in his researches, in order that
he may respond to the " holy desires" * of His Excellency
the Viceroy of the Indies.
The work of Columbus on the Prophecies having for sole
object the deliverance of the holy places, the Admiral does
not insist on the advantages of this conquest. The two
Sovereigns knew his project. He had apprised them of it
before his first expedition, had again spoken to them about
it on his return from his second voyage, and returned to it
before he went to discover the new continent; consequently
he deduces no motive of the kind from it. But, as he
founded his views on the authority of the Sacred Writings
to accredit the exclusively religious aim of the proposed
expedition, he first lays down, as an introduction to his
work, certain principles for a sound interpretation, drawn
from St. Augustine, St. Thomas, St. Isidore, and Gerson.
Then entering on his subject, he recalls to mind the marvellous manner in which he was chosen to accomplish several
expressions of the prophets, and especially those of Isaias,
relative to the nations on the confines of the globe.
Notwithstanding the number of his enemies, who watched
every opportunity to ruin him, and the vigilance of the
Inquisition, then so watchful to repress every expression in
the least doubtful as regarded Catholic orthodoxy, Columbus
writes without guile that the Most Holy Trinity inspired
him with the first idea of his enterprise; that it was the
Redeemer, that is to say, the Word made flesh, who indicated to him the route; that our Lord, showing himself


* Res.puesta del P. D. Frey Gaspar Gorricio.




430


HISTOR OF


[BOOK III.


propitious to his desire, had accorded to him the spirit of
understanding, and that He had afterwards opened his intelligence in a manner almost palpable, giving him the necessary force for the execution of his project.* He states that,
in his Discovery, the sciences and mathematics were of but
little use to him, and that it was from God alone he received
the idea, as well as the resolution, which were crowned with
success.
Assuredly, if we be disengaged fiom every prejudice, we
will find neither exaggerations nor " extravagances" in this
work on the prophecies. For our own part, we admire its
erudition, its loftiness of view, and its clearness of reasoning. As to his accomplishment of the prophecies, Columbus only asserts a fact that was already declared such six
years before by the noble lapidary of Burgos, Jaime Ferrer,
and since then admitted by Christian philosophers, bishops,
and princes of the Church of eminent merit.
The servant of God, seeking to penetrate into all the
secrets of our globe, and measuring the zeal of others by
his own, hoped, now that he had brought distant countries
in communication with each other, that the name of the
Saviour would be speedily borne throughout the whole
earth. In the ardor of his faith, he fearlessly deduced from
this evangelical result that all nations would soon be converted to Christ, and that all peoples being once ranged
under the same law and the same Chief Pastor, the end of
the world would not be very distant.
The accomplishment of the prophecies, and the infallibility of the word of God, are the bases of his induction:
our Lord has said, " that before the consummation of the
world, all that was written by the prophets should be fulfilled."  From these words, by a series of reasonings which
a mutilation of fourteen pages prevents us fiom fully appreciating, he concludes the necessity of speedily delivering


* Libro de las Profecias.




CHAP. VIII.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


431


the Holy Sepulchre, -not to give Spain a political advantage, but to make a gift of it to the Catholic Church.
What the disciple of the Word ardently desired, was the
deliverance from the yoke of the infidels of the land of miracles, to unite Jerusalem with Rome, and to give the tomb
of the Saviour to the successor of the prince of the apostles. Thus Palestine would have appertained to the Holy
isee, according to the natural bond which unites the old
Jerusalem to the new Jerusalem, the same as the Old Testament to the New Testament. The Holy Places would have
been added to the domain of St. Peter, as an appanage of
his right of apostolical primogeniture. Tne question of the
Holy Places, that gordian knot of the religious interests of
the future, would have been untied by the gold of the new
world, or severed by the sword of its discoverer, and would
not now have served as a pretext to the ambition of Greek
and Russian schismatics, who pretend to be the orthodox
church.
Columbus thought that, with the income from his dues of
tenth and eighth, he could undertake this enterprise. On
two occasions he made in his budget calculations of raising
an army of a hundred thousand infantry and ten thousand
cavalry.* At the time when he was making this pious calculation, he was not receiving of his revenues enough to buy
a cloak with. The two thousand ducats the Queen ordered
to be paid him in Cadiz were used in the concerns of his
house, as well as in those of the house of the Adelantado.
It was necessary for him to sustain in Cordova the modest
establishment of his wife, and also to provide for his brother
Diego, who was inclined to separate altogether fiom the
world. In his double quality of Viceroy and Grand Admiral, he was obliged to maintain a kind of state, and had
to keep a certain number of officers and of domestics.
After more than a year's stay in Spain, his resources had
become exhausted.


* Carla del Almirante Colon a su Santidad.




432


HIS TOR OF


[BOOK III.


Still, when we remember the strict principles of order
and domestic economy which the Admiral always exhibited, we cannot easily conceive, even allowing for his
exceptional expenses, how he could be thus reduced to
destitution. We cannot doubt that his liberality to hospitals, and his charity to the poor, - those friends of God, -
materially contributed to his pecuniary embarrassments.
In all probability, counting on his revenues then due, and
which ought to amount to eight thousand ducats, he must
have discharged a debt of gratitude as well as of piety, in
refunding to the Franciscan community of Granada what
he had formerly cceived at La Rabida.
But, as he did not receive that year the sums that were
due him from Hispaniola, and that a first remittance of four
thousand ducats did not come until the second of ALugust,
I502, he was without available funds. He who had given
Castile lands a hundred times larger than herself, was without a foot of earth, a garden to walk in, or a roof to shelter
his head. He was reduced to live in a hotel, and was
often without the means of paying his bill. But a thing
otherwise painful to his charity was his not having a small
piece of money to give as an offering when lie was at
church. It was his not having anything to offer to the
Church and to the poor, that made him most regret his destitution. Columbus does not speak of this drawback which
tends to diminish the becoming splendor of his rank, and
to lower the dignity of his titles. To him, poverty is not
painful but so far as it injures the poor, whom he cannot
assist.
The discredit cast on the colony prevented the Admiral
from receiving any advances.  His embarrassment, his
want of pecuniary credit, and the unfiiendliness of the
government, were notorious, and became known abroad.
A letter of the secretary of the Venetian embassy in Spain,
in which Angelo Trivigiano boasts of his having become
the " great friend" of Columbus, shows at the same time
his embarrassment, and his inexhaustible bounty.




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.              433
The grandees, who take as the guide of their conduct the
favor of the Court, abandoned the old navigator. With
the exception of the Franciscans and some learned foreigners, no visitors came to trouble the solitude of the fallen
Viceroy. He now saw that he who devotes himself to the
interests of all, obtains no individual gratitude.  Lightened from the burden of an administration, he with more
fieedom raised his thoughts to God. Sublime transports
more frequently elevated his soul into the inscrutable heights
of celestial converse.  The contemplater of the WORD
found in his forced leisure some consoling compensations.
The ingratitude of the King, and the injustice of public
opinion, served only to detach Columbus more and more
from temporal concerns, and led him, like the Apostle of
the Gentiles, the happy admirer of the invisible- St. Paul
- to live in Christ only, and to wish to possess no other
science but Jesus, and Him crucified.
37




434


IlISTOR 2 OF


[BOOK III.


CHAPTER IX.
The real Motives of Columbus for undertaking the Fourth Voyage.
-Before his Departure he indicates, in an unfinished Chart to
the Queen, the Isthmus of Panama. - Don Bartholomew accompanies him through Affection alone. - Columbus writes to the
Holy Father, and informs him of his Project to deliver the Holy
Sepulchre. - His Precautions against the Enmity of Ferdinand.
SECTIONV.
FAR from seeking repose from the fatigues of a seafaring life, and from struggles against the wickedness
of men, Columbus, tired of a state of inaction, which would
not turn to the advantage of Catholicity, proposed to the
Queen to pursue his discoveries without delay.
Modern historians, judging by humanitarian principles
the motives of this exemplary Christian, have attributed his
proposition to the fear of being forestalled by petty rivals -
by men who had ventured in his traces, and had already
acquired some celebrity. It is by envy, by maritime emulation, and by ambition alone, that they explain the zeal,
the ardor of which urged him, in spite of his advanced age
and infirmities, to search, attentively, the terrestrial space
which still had remained unexplored.
Here there is a complete mistake; an interpretation
different from the reality. But it is a natural consequence
of the prejudices these writers entertain in regard to a
man who was a model of disinterestedness and of faith.
We can state positively that Columbus then, and for some
time before, was under no illusion in regard to the Court,
and that he no longer expected either favors or riches from
it.  It was solely to glorify the Redeemer, to bear the
standard of the Cross to the rest of the earth, and thus to
complete the work of his discoveries, that he wished to




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


435


enter again on the task he proposed to himself. During his
voyage, he wrote to the Sovereigns: " I have not made this
voyage in order to obtain honor or fortune; this is certain, as every hope in regard to this matter had already
vanished before my departure." *
Having found the New World, he thought that the first
object of his mission being attained, it remained for him to
make a tour of the globe and redeem the Holy Sepulchre,
in order that, after having shown the emblem of salvation
to peoples until then unknown, they could freely bring their
adorations to the tomb of the Saviour. He desired, before
dying, to open the route for them.
A secret attraction united itself to his religious fervor, to
urge him to this voyage: it was the happiness of contemplating the unknown parts of the earth. The frosts of age
had by no means cooled down the ardor of his enthusiasm
for the works of nature. Columbus could never get tired
of admiring the creation, and raising his soul to the Creator.
No man in the world had seen such an extent of ocean and
shore as he had. The more he saw, the larger became his
notions of the magnificences of the WORD, and the more
complete the grandeur of his impressions.
A marvellous circumstance! In the midst of the wonders of the Alhambra, a sudden mental illumination showed
Columbus, across space and the unknown, an image of
the globe, and indicated to him, between the two grand
divisions of the new continent, a narrow  space, which
should serve as a point of communication between these
immense regions; only, in this mysterious intuition, he
took an isthmus for a strait. He spoke of a strait of the
sea while it was only one of land that existed, and showed
Isabella, on an incomplete chart of the unexplored world,
the point where this strait ought to be found, and by which
one could go to Asia. He pointed it out with an astonishing
precision. Washington Irving acknowledges he conjectured
* Letter of Columbus to the Catholic Sovereigns, written from
Jamaica the seventh of July, 1503.




436


HISTORY OF


[BOOK III.


that this strait was situated about the Isthmus of Darien,*
and, in fact, it is there the land strait is placed which unites
the two great divisions of the new continent.
The Queen having approved of the design, Columbus set
about the preparations for his expedition. He asked for
permission to take with him his second son, Don Fernando,
who was a page to the Queen, and happily endowed, and
whose society would, in some measure, make up for the
separation from his family which his mission imposed on
him. Always considerate and maternal in her bounties,
the Queen acceded to his desire, and accorded the pay of a
naval officer to young Fernando.
The Admiral afterwards repaired to Seville, to give orders about his voyage. While confiding himself, without
reserve, to the care of Providence, he did not omit the precautions that human prudence dictated. He engaged the
Adelantado to accompany him in this voyage. This valorous mariner, undeceived in regard to the Court of Castile,
and attaining the age when repose is a compensation for
advancing years, did not participate in the Catholic enthusiasm of the Admiral, and was but little disposed to expose
himself to the perils of an expedition of this kind. Nevertheless, seeing the advanced age and physical infirmities of
his brother, which the energy of his will prevented him
from feeling; remembering the state he was in on his
return from his two last voyages of discovery; and considering that his presence would be absolutely necessary
for him, Don Bartholomew sacrificed anew to fraternal
love his personal feelings, his need of repose, and his resolution of never again serving a government that was so
ungrateful: so he consented to embark with the Admiral.
As to Don Diego, the other brother of the Admiral, the
crying injustice committed towards the Viceroy, and his
experience of the wickedness of men, appear to have fixed
him in his vocation. He resolved to quit the Court and the


* History of Christop5her Columbus and His Voyages, B. xiv., c. v.




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


437


world, - to serve, in future, only the Church. He embraced
the ecclesiastical state, the life of which he already led amid
the cares of government.
SECTTIO       II.
Since the death of his countryman, Pope Innocent VIII.,
Columbus had not yet entered into correspondence with his
successor in the See of the Prince of the Apostles.  In
departing on this voyage, which ought to be the completion of his expeditions, the Herald of the Cross wrote to
the Chief of the Church, to render him an account of his
silence, of his actions, and of his intentions, and to invoke
his protecting cooperation.
From  the noble and familiar style of this letter, one
would say that an august relationship attached the mission
of Columbus to the destinies of Catholicity. One notices
in it the confidence of a son who speaks to his father.
Though a laic, a married man, and the father of a family,
Columbus asks, as a matter of course, and without mentioning his titles, for a delegation of spiritual authority, -just
as a veritable legate of the Holy See would have done.
He prays the Supreme Pontiff to issue a Brief, prescribing
to the heads of all the religious Orders to let him choose
in their convents six religious to make Apostolic missionaries of them, and whom he reserved to himself the right
of nominating, directly or by his agent, and to the departure
of whom no ecclesiastical or secular power could oppose
itself. He wishes that, at their return to their convents,
these religious should be received there, and treated as if
they had not left them, and even with more favor, if their
works should merit it. He asks for some cooperators, because he hopes, in our Blessed Lord, that he will be able
to proclaim His holy Name, and His Gospel, in the whole
universe.*
* Carta del Almirante Colon a su Santidad; Coleccion Diplomat.
Docum., num. CXLV.
37*




438


HISTORr OF


[BOOK III.


Not being able, fiom its length, to give the whole letter
here, we abridge its contents.
Columbus says, first, that when he departed on his first
voyage of discovery he had formed the resolution of coming
personally, on his return, to bring to his Holiness an
account of that expedition; but that the pretensions of
Portugal obliged him to go in all haste on his second voyage, and that thus he was not able to effect his resolution.
He speaks also of his third voyage towards the south-west,
in which he found immense lands, and sea-water which
was quite fresh.
He says that his heart will abound with joy and delectation when, at last, lie will be able to come to his Holiness
with the whole history of his discoveries, which he has
expressly written for him in the form and manner of the
Commentaries of Cesar, -from the first moment to the
present day, when he feels disposed to make, in the name
of the Blessed Trinity, a new voyage, which will be for its
glory and the honor of the holy Christian religion. The
Herald of the Cross declares to the Holy Father that the
very object of his toils is a recreation to him; and such, that
he fears no dangers, and is disposed to regard as nothing
the labors and the divers kinds of deaths with which lie is
menaced, without the world having returned him the least
gratitude. He has entered on his enterprise with the intention of employing the revenues which would result to him
from it, in restoring the Holy Sepulchre to the Church.
He recalls the fact that, after his arrival in the new region,
he wrote to the King and the Queen that, before seven
years, he would raise fifty thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry; and in five years would double the number,
and thus would have an army of a hundred thousand foot
and ten thousand horse. Our Lord had palpably given him
the proof that the funds could accrue from his revenues;
but that Satan put all his efobrts in play, so that at that
time nothing could be realized.  The government was
violently taken from him. Behind all these iniquities, he




CHAP. ix.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


439


saw a manceuvre of the eternal enemy, who was afraid that
so pious a design should be accomplished.
The rough sketch which we possess of this letter, dictated
by the Admiral to his young son Fernando, remains unfinished; but there can be no doubt that it was terminated,
and that it made part of the package which he had charged
Francisco de Rivarol to send to Rome. We have implicit
proofs of this circumstance.
Looking from afar towards his departure, Columbus
drew up a memorandum for his son Diego, in which he
sets forth his rights and titles, and the manner in which
they may be maintained. This precaution evinces his fears.
The unfriendly disposition of the King was known to him.
Fearing that in his absence, or after his death, which may
take place in some distant region, open spoliation would be
superadded to the violences already committed against him,
and that he would be robbed of the papers and parchments
containing his titles and privileges, he intrusted them to his
faithful fiiends, the religious, and put them for safe keeping in their convents.
While resorting to these measures of prudence, he did
not the less omit writing to the Sovereigns, recommending
to them his children and his brothers, in case he should
succumb during this voyage.  His letter betrays his uneasiness. Isabella, who was then in Valencia de la Torre,
to quiet his anxiety, wrote him a letter, signed by the two
monarchs, and couched in extraordinary terms of deference
and consideration.  The Sovereigns remind him of the
grief they experienced at his incarceration, as everybody
knew; they promise to do much more for him than have
been specified in his privileges; and reiterate the assurance
that, after his death, they will put his eldest son, Don
Diego, in possession of his titles, offices, and dignities.
Notwithstanding these royal promises, Columbus continued taking his measures to guard against the ill-will of
the Court. He intrusted to the jurisconsult, Nicolo Oderigo,
ambassador from the Republic of Genoa, a copy of his




44~


HIS TOR r, ETC.


[BOOK III. CH. IX.


Privileges, which he kept in a chest at the convent of the
Carthusians, in Seville. Not only did he intrust Oderigo
with copies of all his titles, but he also confided to his care
the letter of the fourteenth of March, he had just received.
Francisco de Rivarol was charged with the task of forwarding them.  Columbus requested his countryman to
apprise, secretly, his son Don Diego of the place in which
he would have deposited them.
Fearing his enemies would make some attempts on everything that pertained to his name, his rights, and his honors,
he deposited with the Franciscans and the Hieronymites
duplicate copies of his treaties with the Sovereigns. Having done this, he occupied himself unremittingly with the
preparations for his voyage.
As in the days of his poetic youth, thrilling with hope,
and unshakable in his resolution, Columbus again takes to
the sea. He no longer goes in order to serve a king whose
ingratitude and secret hostility are but too well known to
him, but sacrificing himself in advance for the good of
the whole human race. It was only by works still more
prodigious than those he had already effected that he hoped
to be able to break through the obstacles raised by the
Court, and attain to his definite object,- the deliverance
of the Holy Tomb. Terra _firma being now discovered,
it seemed to him that, if he should be able to pass the strait
which must exist towards the middle of the new continent,
nothing more could prevent him from circumnavigating the
globe, and that he could return to Spain by Asia and the
African coast. For this voyage of discovery, he counted
on the providential assistance which had always sustained
him in the most critical moments; and it was with the
ardor of youth that, in the sixty-sixth vear of his age,
Columbus launched into the regions of the unknown, the
veil of which he hoped this time to remove completely.




BOOK IV.
CHAPTER I.
Columbus departs with four Ships. -He succors the Portuguese
Fortress of Arcilla, besieged by the Moors. - The Governor of
Hispaniola opposes his entrance into the Port. - Columbus predicts a violent Tempest, and begs the Governor to delay the Fleet
that was about to sail for Spain. -His prediction is sneered at,
but the Tempest comes and the Fleet perishes. -Judgment of
God visible.-Columbus, with his Ships, preserved.
SECTION.
OBLIGED to condense into one volume the history
of this wonderful man, we have to abridge the recital
of the principal events of his life, and omit every incident
in which he is not personally concerned. For this reason
we are obliged to sacrifice the graces of style to brevity.
But we will accept without a murmur the charges of dryness and of meagreness which will be made against us,
provided we can, nothwithstanding the narrowness of our
limits, reproduce at least the principal features of this
extraordinary character.
The fourth expedition of Columbus has been the least
noticed of all his voyages, though, in his own estimation, it
was the noblest and the most advantageous.     Several
writers have been, in fact, ignorant of it altogether.
At the present day, to recompose in its reality the recital
of this prodigious enterprise,' independently of the testi(441)




442


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


mony of Spanish historians, we possess four cotemporary
narrations that were written by eye-witnesses, and persons
who were among the principal actors in this memorable
voyage. These are, first, the Relation of the Admiral, addressed in the form of a letter to the Catholic Sovereigns;
next, the History written by Fernando Columbus, partly
from memory and partly from the notes of his father; then,
the Summary of its dramatic incidents, made by Diego
Mendez; and, lastly, the Notes and the Journal of the
Notary-Royal, Diego de Porras, an enemy of Columbus.
No other maritime expedition of that period furnishes so
many minute circumstances, or presents history with such
vouchers for its veracity.
SECTION I.
After meeting with the usual opposition fiom the Bureaus
of Seville, Columbus at length succeeded in getting ready
a little squadron of four caravels, the smallest of which was
of only fifty tons burthen, and the largest seventy. They
were named the CaitIana, commanded by Diego Tristan,
on board of which the Admiral took his place; the St.
J4imcsn, commanded by one of the Porras; the Galician,
commanded by Pedro de Torreros; and the Biscayianz,
commanded by Berthelemy Fieschi.
With the exception of the two brothers, Francisco and
Diego de Porras, whom he accepted solely to please MIorales, the Treasurer-Royal, his other officers he chose fiomn
among men who were proper for such an enterprise, and
the greater part of whom had been schooled in his former
voyages. Among this number, however, we are not to
count the physician forced on him by the Bureaus of Seville,
-a certain charlatan who was formerly an apothecary in
Valencia, named Bernal, —a perverted character, whose
attentions were dreaded by the sick, and who, in the estimation of the Admiral, deserved to be many times hanged and
quartered, if justice were rendered to his deeds.




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


443


Without counting the officers of his household and his
four interpreters, the Admiral took with him, in these four
little vessels, a hundred and fifty men. Each caravel was
furnished with provision for two years. It was with this
little armament that he undertook to circumnavigate the
globe, to defend himself against every aggression from unknown peoples, among whom     he would probably be
obliged to get fresh supplies of provision, and repair damages done to his ships.
The squadron, when ready to sail, was detained in the
Bay of Cadiz by south winds. During this forced stay, a
boat, which-was driven by the contrary winds on the coast,
brought information that the Moors were blockading the
Portuguese fortress of Arcilla, on the side of Maroc. Immediately on hearing this, the Admiral, a true Knight of
the Cross, not caring for the adverse winds, set sail for that
port and arrived there speedily.
The sight of the Spanish vessels sufficed to put the Moors
to flight, who had, besides, encountered a vigorous defence.
The Governor of the place, while gallantly defending the
ramparts, received a wound. The Admiral sent his son,
his brother, and the captains of the caravels to wait upon
him, with expressions of friendship and civility, and offers
of the service of the squadron. The Governor received the
deputation with marks of the highest regard, lavished caresses on young Fernando, and sent his chief officers to wait
on the Grand Admiral in return, some of whom had. the
honor of being connections of his by their relationship to his
first wife, Dona Felippa Moni de Perestrello.
Columbus continued his voyage the same day. As if he
had received a return for his zeal, the wind became favorable. " The Lord afterwards gave me such auspicious
weather that I came here in four days," he says, writing to
Father Gorricio from Great Canary, where he stopped to
take in wood, water, etc. In this letter he says he goes on
this voyage in the name of the Blessed Trinity, and that it




444


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


is thus he hopes for the victory.*  This militant expression
discloses his only wish. Christopher Columbus saw at the
bottom of all the contrarieties that had retarded the accomplishment of his work, the conflict of the spirit of the world
with the spirit of the Church, of which he was the champion.
His life was a continual warfare against the prince of this
world, and he hoped to triumph over him at last. He terminates his letter by recommending himself to the prayers
of the Father Prior, and of the whole saintly community.
On the evening of the twenty-fifth of May, Columbus
took his departure for the New World. The winds were
so favorable that in sixteen days the little squadron reached
the group of Caribbee islands. They touched at St. Lucy,
whence they sailed for Martinique, and afterwards to the
island of St. John, now called Porto Rico.
From the latter island, Columbus directed his course to
San Domingo, in order to deliver there the letters with
which he was charged, and to exchange the Galician for
one of the fleet which he knew would be returning to Spain,
under the command of Antonio de Torres; because, notwithstanding the fine weather, he had seen the defects of
the Galician. She sailed very badly, could not carry any
canvas, and delayed the other caravels.
The twenty-ninth of June, the squadron having arrived
before the port of San Domingo, they cast anchor at a
league from land. The Admiral sent the captain of the
Galician, Pedro de Torreros, in his long-boat, to state,
himself, to the Governor the necessity he was under of procuring another vessel, and to request him to let him have
one of the caravels that were going to sail, or to furnish
him with another one, for which the Admiral would pay
out of his own pocket. He was also to ask, on the part of
the Admiral, for permission to enter the port with his four
caravels, to put himself in shelter from a violent tempest
which he foresaw was approaching.


* Cartas del Almirante, al R. P. Gas.ar.




CHAP. i.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


445


The Governor, who, in regard to the Admiral, had received particular orders from  the Sovereigns, and who
knew he was interdicted fiom touching at Hispaniola, objected to his request, - the formal orders of the Sovereigns.
It is evident the need of repairs of damages, or taking
refiuge in a storm, was not foreseen. Undoubtedly Ovando
could have given permission for landing; but he feared to
displease the bureaus of marine, if he should accede to the
Admiral's demand. Perhaps, also, he was not convinced
of the necessity of replacing with another a vessel one
that had been at sea scarcely two months. As to the need
of escaping fiom a tempest, - the serenity of the atmosphere, the brightness of the sun, and the azured calm of
the waves, gave it the air of a joke. Not only did he refuse giving the Admiral another ship, but he even forbade
him landing.
All that had been requested being refused, the captain of
the Galician returned to give the Admiral an account of the
failure of his mission. He was able, in passing, to count
thirty-four vessels ready to sail. It was the fleet Torres was
to take back to Spain, to which were added two caravels
belonging to Rodrigo de Bastidas.
It is not easy to imagine the indignation with which the
great man was seized in being thus repulsed "firom a land
and ports which, by the will of God, he had gained for
Spain at the price of his blood."  This refusal, so contrary
to the laws of humanity, and to the usages of seafaring life,
spread consternation among the crews.  They regretted
being under the command of a man whom such a rigor
seemed to reject from the natural rights of man.  They
were seized with the most dismal forebodings.
But, however poignant may have been the indignation
the Admiral felt at this heartless refusal, his humanity, his
Christian charity, outweighed his resentment.  He sent
word anew to the Governor, entreating him at least to
detain the fleet that was about to sail, and not to let it
depart for eight days, because the hurricane would extend
38




HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


to distant regions; and that, for his own part, he would go
without delay to seek a shelter from it.
Though Ovando was persuaded that the Admiral sought
a pretext to show himself in the city, as he knew nothing
of navigation himself, he determined to have the counsel of
the pilots and of the commandant Antonio de Torres. It
must be acknowledged that no atmospheric appearance
seemed to justify the prediction of the Admiral, and accordingly it was decided that the fleet should depart at the time
set for it. The pilots, in looking at the heavens, merrily
jeered at the inauspicious announcement of the old Admiral, who was looked upon as a morose dotard, a false
prophet.
Columbus, much embarrassed about the state of the
Galician, saw no better expedient than to give the worst
ship the best captain. Accordingly he passed over to her,
as her chief captain, his brother Bartholomew, - a man
fertile in resources, - and immediately sought shelter along
a neighboring coast. At some leagues distant he found a
small cove sufficiently shut, where he managed as best he
could, and made every preparation for receiving the hurricane with as much haste as if he actually saw it coming.
SECTION III.
Meanwhile, the placid appearance of the sea, the brightness of the heavens, and the gentleness of the breezes, put
those who were going to depart in high spirits. Oxando
had given all the rebels leave to return to Spain.  The
greater number of them desired nothing more, as their fortunes were already made. Besides. they took with them
quantities of gold, capable of soothing or buying their
judges.
They were distributed, to the number of five hundred,
among different caravels. Bobadilla, the ex-governor, who
consoled himself for his disgrace with piles of gold, took
his place in the commandant's ship. Roldan also, deprived




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


447


of office and called to render an account of his rebellion,
had heaped in this vessel masses of gold, obtained by every
kind of rapine during his revolt.  This vessel also took
with her a large amount of gold for the royal treasury.
Never was there such a quantity of gold seen at the same
time.  Other riches, equally acquired at the expense of
justice and humanity, and paid for with the blood and the
lives of the unfortunate Indians, were heaped up in each
of the other caravels.
The fleet had come, with a gentle breeze, off Cape
Raphael, - a distance of about eight leagues, - when the
wind began to cease; then suddenly disquieting signs
showed themselves.  The heavens became murky; the
light of day soon declined; the air became heavy and
suffocating. It was the prelude to the tempest.
Though they were in sight of land, they could not seek
refuge there. No breath of wind would move the sails,
which hung flaccid from the masts. The ocean became
dull and green, and as motionless as a lead coffin. It was
no longer possible to return to port, or to escape the danger
of the coast by taking to the high sea.
The tempest soon followed the threat. More than twentysix caravels, all laden with gold, were involved in wreck
and ruin beneath the surges; others were borne by the
foamy waves to unknown latitudes, where they foundered.
Of the whole of this superb fleet, there returned to Hispaniola only two or three vessels, shattered and half
swamped; whilst one only, the oldest and the smallest
of all, continued her route to Europe.  She was named
the Aguja, and " carried all the Admiral's money, which
~consisted of four thousand pieces of gold; and was the first
that arrived in Castile, as if by the favor of God." * The
crazy vessels that returned to Ilispaniola brought with them
the poorest and the most obscure persons of the fleet; there


* Herrera.   Hist. gen. des Voyages et Conquetes des Castillans
dans les Indes Occid., dec. I, liv. v., chap. II.




44S


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


was among them but one hidalgo, Rodrigo de Bastidas.
He was " a very honest man," * and had also been inhumanly persecuted by Bobadilla.
On this terrible day perished, without a single exception,
the traitors, the calumniators, and the sworn enemies of
Columbus. " There," says Herrera, "perished Francisco
de Bobadilla,- he who had sent away the Admiral and his
brothers with irons on their feet, without trial, or giving
him an opportunity to defend himself. There also ended
his days the rebel Francisco Roldan, and a number of his
accomplices, who had risen in arms against the Sovereigns
and against the Admiral, whose bread they had eaten, and
who had tyrannized over the Indians. There also perished
the cacique Guarionex (who had obstinately refused to
receive the Gospel). The two thousand pieces of gold were
submerged with that  eptile of gold of prodigious size." t
Everything was lost. The sea swallowed all these iniquitous riches, and their iniquitous possessors, to the number
of five hundred men.,
During the occurrence of this disaster, the Admiral,
retired in the little cove, left the hurricane to roar, and
confided himself to the care of God.
During the day, the four caravels held out against the
buffetings of the winds as well as they could, and held their
places. But "the tempest was terrible during the night,
and separated the vessels." In the midst of the obscurity
three of the vessels were wrung from the port, leaving the
Capizana alone. Each of the three was driven to a different quarter, expecting nothing but death, and thinking that
the others were hopelessly lost.  They had to abandon
themselves to the violence of the waves. The Galician,
which, happily, was commanded by the Adelantado, lost
* Rafael Maria Baralt. Resumen de la Historia de Venezuela, t. I.,
chap. vii.
f Ibid. Dec. I, liv. V., chap. II.: Oviedo yValdes. Hist. at. et gen. des Indes, liv. II., chap. IX.




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


449


her long-boat. He had to let her go, in order to save the
caravel. They were compelled to hold out to the high sea.
The three caravels were much shattered, and lost large
parts of their riggings, and of their provisions. The vessel
of the Admiral, although fiightfully shaken, received no
damage. He himself says: " Our Lord preserved the one
I was in in such a manner, that, though strangely assailed,
she did not suffer the least damage." After having been
driven before the winds for several days, the four caravels
met each other again at the port of Azua, on Sunday, as if
to celebrate together this holy day, and thank God for His
manifest protection. The circumstances of this unexpected
reunion appear to have struck even the Admiral himself,
who was so much accustomed to the bounties of the Divine
Majesty.
This disaster was not considered as a simple accident;
all cotemporary writers looked upon it as a providential
chastisement. The action of Divine justice was here so
manifest, that, without exception, all the historians of the
time contemplated it with awe.
If the discernment of the'tempest, which spares the innocent and treats with rigor the guilty; casts in the abyss of
the ocean the riches accumulated at the price of their souls,
-and if the pass, or safe-conduct, given amid the yawning
abysses to the little treasure of the Admiral, which was
maliciously placed in the most fragile of the caravels, -
strike us with astonishment, this astonishment will be
changed into amazement in thinking of the protection
which, during this same moment, shields the person of
the Admiral and his squadron in the sea of the Antilles.
Benzoni, who lived in HIispaniola forty years after this
event, and who still could hear some eye-witnesses of it,
cannot avoid seeing, here, the execution of a Divine judgment.*  The chastisement of the rebels, and the loss of
*Giralomo Benzoni. —La Historia del Nuovo Mondo, lib. I.,
fogl. xxiv.
38*




450


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


their iniquitous riches, appeared to him a salutary example
given to the world, and a high lesson in historic philosophy.
SECT ION IV.
The prediction of Columbus, its terrible accomplishment,
the immunity accorded to the little treasure of the messenger of the Cross, the preservation of his four caravels, and
the exemption of his own from every damage, -facts
which are attested by eye-witnesses, by official and other
authentic documents, and by all historians, - cannot now
be called in question.
It is a remarkable fact, that nobody has ever dared to
attribute such a chain of circumstances to Chance, - that
complaisant patron of the difficult which some people are
pleased to charge with the unforeseen and the extraordinary, when our reason does not find an explanation that
satisfies it.
It is in vain that one would attempt to explain this stupendous event on natural principles, or that he would
attribute it to the consummate ability and experience of the
Admiral. A prediction of this kind is beyond and above
the facts of observation or of experience. Ask men who
have made navigation a specialty-ask sea-captains and
pilots, and they will tell you of the impossibility of such a
prediction, or prophecy, from the data of nautical science.
The learned Arago did not believe in the possibility of
predicting a tempest, and still less in divining it before its
precursory signs.
The positive circumstances of the facts leave no room for
chance. Humboldt and Washington Irving,* the rationalistic writers and the contemners of the supernatural order,
* Irving pretends that if the guilty were punished, the innocent
cacique Guarionex participated in their lot, and that thus the innocent and the guilty were confounded. We will first remark that,
from the Catholic point of view, this objection is of no force; and
next, that, in fact, Guarionex, obstinately deaf to the voice of the




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


451


have not dared to introduce Chance here, and risk an interpretation of this stubborn event that would be in accordance
with their systems.
What discrimination was there not manifested by the
tempest, in leaving to pursue her route the frailest of the
caravels, charged with the revenues of the Admiral, and
contenting itself with damaging the vessels of Rodrigo de
Bastidas, while it inexorably submerged, after having shattered them, the solid and firm caravels of the fleet, which
were charged with perverse men and homicidal riches!
What nicety of tact in the hurricane, which respects the
Capitana, that bears the pavilion of the messenger of the
Cross, and does not " damage her the value of a straw,"
according to the expression of Columbus, leaves her at her
moorings in the cove, while it pulls from their anchorage,
drives and tosses in the high sea the other three caravels,
and holds them in imminent danger, as if to show by this
difference of fate the difference of their destination, and
more fully reveal a protection altogether special.
And what are we to think of the calm weather which
one would say had an understanding with the tempest,
bringing back to Columbus the three caravels dispersed in
the illimitable regions of space, as if to permit them to
solemnize that day, in accordance with the pious custom of
the Admiral?
Is this astonishing prevision the effect of Chance? In
this case, at least, this Chance is so ingenious in its combinations, transcendent in its calculations, and so very far
removed from the accidental and the unforeseen, that it can
scarcely be recognized; and if it be really Chance, we must
declare that it has much changed, and is no longer like
itself.
The enemies of Columbus, struck with the immunity
Gospel, many times pardoned by the Admiral and the Adelantado,
to whom he was ungrateful, besides his being an instigator of assassinations and an accomplice in revolts, cannot, even in the eyes of
men, appear innocent.




452


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


which preserved his money and his caravels, and seeing
how all at once he was revenged on his persecutors, attributed to his magical powers this terrible catastrophe.
When we call to mind the exalted piety of Columbus,
and the crying wrongs that were done to him, our hearts, in
accord with our reason, recognize here a great lesson given
to the world. As the wisdom of the Creator is revealed
by the marvels of His works, so the eternal government of
Providence becomes visible to us in such an act. We ought
not to forget the evangelical generosity of the counsel of
Columbus. After the refusal rudely given by Ovando, the
Admiral sent a second time to him, not hoping to bring
him to better sentiments towards his own person, but to
turn his enemies fiolm the danger to which they exposed
himself, and preserve the fleet from imminent destruction.
It seems as if God vouchsafed to send to these sinners
this last warning, as a proof of their hardness of heart.
But these avaricious men, now loaded with riches, were
impatient to return to their country. They longed to get
to Castile, to enjoy the firuit of their rapine. Their past
transgressions were, in advance, legitimized by gold; and
they hoped to receive the favors with which the high credit
of Fonseca would recompense their hatred of the Admiral.
They rejected, with disdain, the counsel of the patriarch of
the ocean, and responded with derision and contempt to
this act of Christian magnanimity. After having loaded
him with bitterness and calumnies when he governed them,
they saw, with joy, his ships repulsed from the land he had
discovered.  The presence of the just man would have
troubled their guilty illusions. Wishing to have nothing
from him, not even a counsel, they rejected his warning.
They said to the servant of God as the impious of ancient
days said to the Lord Himself: " Depart firom us." *
This act of divine justice, authenticated by official writings, political documents, and the testimony of the historians


* " Recede a nobis." -Job xxi: I4.




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


453


of the time, executed in the second year of the era of the revival of learning, the renaissance, during the advance of
printing, the literary development of Spain, and the lucidity
and progress of criticism, - appears to come to prove, and
to render credible to the most obstinate infidels, the miracles
of the Old Testament, demonstrates, indubitably, the intervention, sometimes palpable, of the Sovereign of heaven in
the things of the earth, and gives credence to the temporal
chastisements of peoples under the old law, as recorded in
the Scriptures, attested by the highest traditions of the East,
and the memory of which is preserved even by profane
antiquity.
Neither in the days of the patriarchs, nor after the exodus
from Egypt, nor under the judges or the kings, ever did a
sign show itself more evident than that by which the wrath
of God was that day manifested in the bosom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Still, the man in whose favor this divine judgment appeared to have been operated, never made any allusion to
his rejected warning. At first, in continuing his voyage, he
did not, perhaps, know the prodigy that had been operated,
and in which he acted his part conformably to his character
of messenger of salvation. But when, in two years after,
he came to know the catastrophe in its details, he designated it by its true name, -a MIRACLE. In writing to the
King, he stated that for a long time (perhaps some ages)
our Lord God had not shown the world a miracle so
signal.*
This catastrophe struck the cotemporary historians with
awe, because of its enormousness. But, altogether miraculous as it was, it has, in our estimation, nothing more
extraordinary than certain circumstances in the preceding
voyages of Columbus.
The prediction of this tempest appears no more aston

* " Grande tiempo ha que Dios Neustro Sefior no mostro milagro
tan publico."- Sufplem. primer a la Coleccion Diplomat., num. cvi.




454


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


ishing than the announcement of land made to the day, and
almost the hour, on the evening of the eleventh of October,
1492, when they were yet twenty-one leagues from any
coast, and when the most practised eye could discover no
new sign in the immensity of the ocean. And this fact
ought not to appear more extraordinary than the assurance
given to the crews, enraged by famine, and who wanted to
destroy the Indians, that in three days* Cape St. Vincent
would be seen. And this prescience is no more worthy of
astonishment than the discovery of Trinidad, appearing to
Columbus with even the sign of the name he had designed
before quitting the port.
In the course of the voyage, the history of which we
briefly epitomize, the extraordinary is so near the prodigious, and the prodigious so constantly attaches itself to
Columbus, that we cannot avoid becoming familiar with it.
The laws of the general order of things are not interrupted for the advantage of Columbus. He cannot avoid
neither dangers nor sufferings, but the manner in which he
surmounts the most accumulated perils, and the confidence
he shows in face of the most alarming extremities, cannot be explained without faith in invisible aids, and the
assistance of supernatural power. We say then, with the
sincerity of the most profound conviction, he who does not
believe in the supernatural cannot comprehend Columbus.
SECTION     IV.
The Admiral passed some days at Azua, to permit his
crews to repose and refresh themselves, and to repair the
injuries done his three caravels that had been separated
from each other. The crews had no information whatever
in regard to the fate that had befallen the fleet. Thence the
little squadron went to the port of Yaquimo, to await calm
weather.


* See ante, page 343.




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


455


The fourteenth of July, the sea becoming calm, the
Admiral steered to the south. He was borne on by the
currents until he found himself in the vicinity of some little
islands near Jamaica, destitute of springs, but where the
sailors obtained a supply of fresh water by digging holes
in the sand on the beach. The calm continuing, he was
swept away to the group of small islands on the south-east
coast of Cuba, to which, in his second voyage, he had given
the name of Queen's Gardens. Thence he resolutely continued his course to that part of terra firma where he
considered the strait ought to be found.
He now held to the south-south-west. His voyage was
soon impeded by a strange state of the atmosphere. The
heavens became overcast, the sun clouded, and the stars invisible. Notwithstanding the force and the variation of the
winds, he felt that the sea opposed to his progress a constant force, although irregular in its violence. They were
drenched with frequent showers. Often some flaming lightnings seemed to set the horizon on fire; it required all the
vigilance and energy of will of the Admiral to continue his
course. His men became quite disheartened.
The ardent faith alone of Columbus enabled him to surmount these difficulties. Steadily occupied with the Holy
Places, and with his thoughts fixed on the object of his aim,
he did not wait to count the obstacles. His sixty-seventh
year commenced weighing on him without his paying any
attention to it. 'In spite of his rheumatic attacks, his stature,
still straight and firm, sustained admirably the majesty of
his physiognomy, upon which the nobleness of his thoughts
seemed stamped. In proportion as he advanced in age he
also advanced in Christian perfection. The sweetness of
his looks, imbued with a loving tenderness, was expressive
of something evangelical. His hair, of a lustrous gray, or
rather white, encircled his temples with that crown of
honor of which the Scriptures speak. With the amplitude
of his Franciscan habit, and the dignity of his bearing, his
whole person put one in mind of one of those images of a




456


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


patriarch or a prophet of which he has formed an idea
from the Holy Scriptures. You would have said he was a
shepherd-king, transported from Idumea or Mesopotamia
into the vast plains of the Atlantic.
One was impressed with the sanctity as much as with the
grandeur of this Admiral, whose mouth never hurt the feelings of anybody, or uttered a rude expression. He never,
by his words, sent to the Devil neither man, nor rope, nor
manceuvre, nor obstacle, nor weather, as is habitually done by
mariners.
Always penetrated with the holiness of his object, the importance of attending to duty, and the merit of obedience,
he failed not to apprise the disobedient of their sins, and
threatened to abandon to the anger of God the person
who persevered in doing evil, or who, through negligence,
omitted doing his duty. God.being the sole object of his
actions, Columbus, when he ordered some new manceuvre
or some new fatiguing labor, used to say, " We must do
such or such a thing for God," and would try to inculcate
into the minds of his men the obligations of duty, -a matter about which most of them would take but little trouble.
In leaving the port of Yaquimo he became dangerously
ill, and several times " approached the gates of death."
The sentiment of his responsibility and the object of his
expedition surviving his loss of strength, he had a small
cabin erected on the quarter-deck, and thence, from his bed,
would give directions about the route, prosecuting his disproportionate contest with an overcast sky and an unknown
sea.
At length they perceived, to the south, an island surrounded by several islets; it was Guanaja, situated in fiont
of the Gulf of Honduras. The Admiral ordered it to be
examined. The Adelantado immediately had two boats
equipped, and landed with a strong detachment. He noticed that the island abounded with pine-trees, like those of
the Antilles, and had traces of civilization, for he saw some




CIIAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


457


crucibles for smelting copper in, some fragments of which
appeared to the sailors to be gold.
Meanwhile he beheld a kind of galley, eight feet broad
and very long, formed from the trunk of a single tree. The
cabin, in the form of a gondola, covered with palm-leaves
artistically interlaced, and sufficiently close to exclude the
rain, was filled with merchandise of various kinds, -pieces
of cotton, chemisettes, copper hatchets, Mexican or wooden
swords, earthen vessels, almonds, and cocoa-nuts. The
Adelantado, without any opposition, tied this canoe between his two boats, and brought it to the Capitana.
There were on board it some women clothed with cotton
dresses, and twenty-five men, who wore broad cinctures
around their loins. They testified no fear in seeing themselves in the power of the strangers. Columbus treated
them with great kindness, but he uselessly employed his interpreters, and tried himself to obtain any certain information from them. He understood they were returning from
Yucatan, a rich and cultivated country. He selected several of their articles of commerce, for which he gave them
in exchange hawks' bells, with which they were highly delighted. He returned them to their canoe, but retained one
of them, an old man who was named Giumbe, to serve as
a dragoman or interpreter, and who appeared to him intelligent and expert in coasting navigation.
39




458


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


CHAPTER II.
Columbus Discovers Terra Firma near Cape Caxinas. - Atmospheric Contrarieties. - Sufferings of the Crews.- A Disaster. -
The Island of Quiribi. - Search for a Strait at Chagres. -The
Isthmus of Panama.
SECTION      I.
F   ROM   the island of Guanaja the Admiral directed his
course to the south, in search of terra frma. He
perceived it near a cape, which he named Caxinas, from its
abounding with trees bearing a kind of apple with a spongy
core, which the natives called caxinas. As soon as he
doubled the cape, the tempest recommenced. At length,
on the seventeenth of August, at a distance of fifteen leagues
from the cape, they reached land on the bank of a river,
and the Admiral took possession of it in the usual form,
by the erection of a large Cross. In commemoration of
this circumstance the river was called Rio de la Posesion
(the River of Possession).
The squadron continued to sail in sight of land, notwithstanding the adverseness of the winds. By orders of the
Admiral the little caravel, the _Biscayian, went as near as
possible to the shore, entering every gulf and creek of any
size, for fear of missing the passage or strait by which
Columbus hoped to enter into the seas of the Levant or the
East Indies.
The sailors became exhausted with labor, and harassed
with terror. Drenching rains, a boisterous sea, and contrary currents, gave them no respite since they had left the
Queen's Gardens. Now    and then they would land for
some hours on certain coasts, in order to see the inhabit



CHAP. II.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


459


ants and observe the productions of these countries. They
thus saw some tribes who spoke different dialects, but who
understood but imperfectly the old Indian Giumbe, the interpreter. Some, tattooed on different parts of the body,
exhibited on their members figures of leopards and of
stags; others had cotton waistcoats and cuirasses. The
chieftains had caps of white or colored cotton. Some
wore tresses of hair in front. When arrayed for any
festival, some smeared their faces in black, others in red;
these traced lines on their foreheads; those painted black
circles around their eyes. This whimsicalness in decorating themselves astonished young Fernando Columbus,
and he wrote, thirty years afterwards, "They all believe
that in these different states they are perfectly beautiful,
whereas they are as frightful as the very devils."
In advancing to the east they saw tribes who lived on
uncooked fish and on flesh meat. The ferociousness of
their looks showed that of their manners. On seeing them,
Giumbe said they were cannibals. Still farther eastwards
they came across a tribe who had their ears bored and hideously distended, which caused that region to be called
Costa de la Oreja, or the Coast of the Ear.
The sea became more adverse, and the wind increased in
severity. The sailors became exhausted from incessant
fatigues; the greater part of them became sick or unmanageable. The continual drenching rotted the sails, which
tore into shreds. They lost anchors and tackles as well as
boats, and the larger portion of their provisions. Each of
the caravels leaked in several places; and such was the
danger, that at each returning gust of the tempest the sailors
thought themselves lost. The crew of the Biscayian had
prepared for death, and received the last sacraments from
Father Alexandre. In the other caravels the sailors, seeing
themselves deprived of the succors of the Church, asked
pardon of each other for their faults, and confessed their
sins to one another. There was not a single one among
them, large or small, that did not make some vow or




460


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


promise to make some pilgrimage. Among the domestics
of the Admiral several engaged to embrace a monastic life
if they should escape from this imminent peril.
These terrific scenes were repeated several times.
As regarded Columbus himself, what troubled him most
was to see that he had exposed his young son to such perils,
and to know that in the worst vessel of the squadron was
his brother the Adelantado, who had not consented to accompany him but through submission to his desires. And
often his thoughts recurred to his son Diego, whom he had
left in Spain, and who might become an orphan, and perhaps be despoiled of his rights and honors. Happily, far
from being borne down by his own sufferings, young Fernando was incessant in his attentions to him, and displayed
a fortitude above his age. Columbus thus wrote of him:
" Our Lord gave him so much courage, that it was he who
put the others in heart. And when there was occasion for
manceuvring, he did it as if he had been navigating for
eighty years; and it was he who consoled me."
At length, after a struggle of sixty days to make a distance of seventy leagues, they arrived, on the fourteenth of
September, at a cape where the coast, making an angle,
turned directly to the south. As soon as they had doubled
it, they had an easy wind and free navigation. The Admiral, in the name of the crews, solemnly thanked God for
this sudden relief from their troubles; and, as a token of his
gratitude, he gave the cape the name of Gracios a Dios,
or " Thanks to God."
Here the Indian interpreter, Giumbe, who had his share
in the sufferings, was dismissed with presents.  He appeared to be much pleased with the munificence of the
Admiral.
Continuing his course along the coast of Mosquito, being
greatly in need of wood and water, the squadron anchored,
on the sixteenth of September, near a large river, up which
some boats were sent to procure the requisite supplies. As
they were returning to the ships, a sudden swelling of the




CHAP. I.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMIBUS.


46I


sea rushing in, and encountering the rapid current of the
river, caused a violent conflict, in which one of the boats
was swallowed up, and all on board perished. This loss
was keenly felt by the crews, and especially by the Admiral.
In his affliction, he named this river El Rio del Desastre
(the River of Disaster).
SECTION      II.
On the twenty-fifth of September, Columbus came to an
excellent landing between the little island of Quiribi and
the main land, opposite an Indian village named Cariari,
which presented a delightful aspect. It was situated on the
bank of a beautiful river. The sailors preferred reposing
themselves from the fatigues of the voyage to going on
shore.  The next day the Admiral ordered them not to
leave the caravels. When the savages, who were prepared
for battle, perceived that these strange beings were pacific,
and made no movement to molest them, their hostility ceased,
and their curiosity predominated.  They approached the
waters, making signals of peace, and showing the Spaniards
cotton tunics, colored gowns, and weapons. The boldest
of them swam to the ships, to propose exchanges.
Wishing to give them a high idea of the generosity and
disinterestedness of the white men, Columbus forbade all
traffic. He gave them presents of hawks' bells, which they
prized very highly; but would take nothing in return. The
people of Cariari made signs to the Spaniards to come
ashore; but, seeing that invitations and entreaties were
useless, they held counsel among themselves; and, either
because their pride was wounded at the refusal of their
proffered gifts, or because they saw in it a mistrust of their
intentions, they resolved, in their turn, to receive no presents
from these strangers. Accordingly they left them lying in
a heap on the strand, where the Spaniards found them on
a subsequent day.
In order to oblige these mysterious strangers to come on
39*




462


HISTORRT OF


[BOOK IV.


shore, and wishing, at first, to gain their confidence, the
people of Cariari deputed an old man, bearing a kind of
flag of peace at the end of a staff, and leading two young
girls, decorated with all their finery, to be presented to the
Admiral. The oldest of them was only eleven years old.
They were secretly provided with magic powders.   He
placed them in a boat which was returning from Aiguade,
and requested the sailors to take them to the caravels. The
Admiral gave them clothes and hawks' bells, had them
served with eatables, and in the evening sent them back
on shore; but, as the strand was completely deserted, the
boat had to bring them back on board. The Admiral took
measures for their safety and repose. In the morning he
again sent them on shore; but, some hours after, when the
boats returned to the landing-place, the two young girls
came   and returned everything  they had received as
presents.
The next day, as the Adelantado approached the shore,
two of the principal inhabitants, entering the water, took
him out of the boat in their arms, and, carrying him to
land, seated him, with great ceremony, on a grassy bank.
The Adelantado made several inquiries of them, to which
they answered with great kindness. Fearing that he could
not recollect everything they told him, he ordered the notary
to write down their replies. When the Indians saw the
latter trace some black characters, they suspected it was
some magical artifice. Seized with terror, they fled precipitately, and thought they were counteracting the baleful
spell, in casting over their heads, and towards the Spaniards,
some secret powder, which the wind wafted towards the
latter.
The squadron, on the fifth of October, departed fiom
Cariari, and sailed along what is at present called Costa
Rica (the Rich Coast), from the gold and silver mines in
after years found among its mountains.  On their route
they stopped at a couple of places, where the Indians gave
the Admiral several mirrors, and some ornaments of pure




CHAP. IL.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


463


gold. At length they passed before Cobrava, and perceived five Indian villages near rivers. Here they got new
information about gold. It was known that the natives
made their mirrors from gold obtained from Veragua, and
that the latter place was not far distant. The Indian interpreters assured the Admiral that the gold regions ended
there.
SECTZON Ill.
Any other man, loving riches, and knowing that the possession of gold mines would conciliate the favor of the
Court, and stop the mouths of his enemies, would have
no more urgent desire than to view this country abounding
in gold, take solemn possession of it, go back to Spain,
and return with forces sufficient for its occupation. But
Columbus, now wholly taken up with finding a strait,
would not stop for the mines, which he considered as
already secured to the Crown; so hIe departed, amid
drenching rains, to continue his voyage in quest of the
wished-for strait.
He soon found himself precisely at the spot where, from
the vaults of the Alhambra, lie had concluded there must
be a passage that would enable him to carry the standard
of Salvation to the sea of the South. He had the Biscayian
to examine the smallest recesses in the shore. They were
then on the coast of Chagres. He even sought the strait at
what is at present called Panama.  He searched for it
where a particular configuration seems to have prepared
for the severance of the two great parts of the American
continent. One would say that nature was suddenly arrested in her work by the Most High, who, no doubt,
reserves for the genius of man the opening of this grand
passage. Columbus came to designate its locality.




464


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


CHAPTER III,
Columbus has a terrible Struggle with the Elements. -Globular
Lightnings. -A frightful Water-Spout. -Columbus. almost
dying, is roused by the Cries of the Sailors; he invokes his
Divine Master, and conjures the Water-Spout. - He forms a
Settlement on the Rio Belen.-The Indian Chief prepares to
destroy the Spaniards. -The Adelantado captures the Chief in
the midst of his People.
SECTION I.
THE stormy winds continued to howl. During four
months, save some rare intervals, unpropitious winds
and drenching rains, in addition to the constant opposition
of the currents, exhausted the strength of the men, and disheartened them. The captains and other officers, as well
as the sailors, begged for an immediate return to Castile.
The Admiral, whose resolution was never shaken by obstacles, at any rate began now to have some doubts with regard
to the exact position of the strait. He considered that perhaps, notwithstanding the grave reasons for his conjecture,
the passage he sought for may be placed much farther
south, towards those lands which he thought must exist
in the southern portion of the globe. So, reflecting on the
state of his persoinnel, of his damaged munitions, and of
his crazed and worm-eaten ships, he resolved to turn back
and visit the gold mines of Veragua, about which he had
heard such wonderful reports.
On the fifth of December he left the port of El Retrete,
and, directing his course towards Veragua, came to Puerto
Bello. The next day he pursued his route, but was obliged,
by the winds, to return to Puerto Bello to await a calm.




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


465


But as he was about to enter the port a violent squall drove
him to the main sea. The waves became so high, and the
successions so great, that there was no longer any directing
of the vessels. The Admiral fell sick again; one of his old
wounds reopened, and during nine days all hope was lost
of his recovery. Contrary squalls, continually changing,
prevented the caravels from either entering a harbor or
reaching the high sea.
But they had yet to encounter a tempest in all its fury.
The four caravels, become the sport of the waves, were
pushed sometimes to their summits, which rose as high as
mountains, and sometimes were precipitated into the yawning abysses at their bases. Globular lightnings, whose
blazings lasted several seconds, followed each other uninterruptedly; and such was their terrific fury, that, notwithstanding his sickness, the Admiral would every moment
rise in his bed to see if the masts and riggings were not
swept away.
In the midst of this "C elemental strife " the rain fell in
drenching showers, which extinguished the lightnings, but
soon came in torrents. It continued thus for eight days.
The crews became so harassed that they wished for death
in order to be delivered from so many evils. It appears it
was at this time that Father Alexandre, worn out with
continual anguish, succumbed to the consequences of his
sufferings. Thus the first chaplain that first died on the
ocean from the fatigues of the apostolate, was a Franciscan.
The glorious first-fruits of such a death seemed justly due
to the Seraphic Order.
But the greatest danger was yet to come. A new trial
awaited these unhappy people.
On the fifteenth of December, while the Admiral was
still in bed and apparently in his agony, harrowing shrieks
came from one of the caravels, which were immediately
repeated from the others. These cries of despair resounded in
the very soul of the dying man. He shuddered, and opened
his eyes.




466


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV,


Something frightful was going on in sight.
At a certain point agitated by a vibratory movement, the
sea, swelling with all the waves which it attracted to this
centre, arose as a single mountain, while dark clouds
descending in the form of a reversed cone stretched themselves down to the marine whirl, which arose tremulously
at its approach, as if to join it. These two huge forms of
cloud and sea suddenly met and embraced each other in the
form of a whirling X. " It was," says the historian of San
Domingo, " one of those water-spouts which seamen call
frionks, which were then so little known, and which have
since submerged so many vessels."*  A sharp, hissing noise
preceded the fatal whiff of this frightful form, then without
a name in our language. This kind of water-spout is the
most fiightful manifestation of that hellish tempest which
in the Orient receives the very name of the spirit of evil, -
Typihon. Woe to the ships that encounter it in its passage!
At the cries of distress which reached his heart, the great
man became suddenly reanimated. In face of the impending ruin he rises, with his wonted vigor, in order to survey
and weigh the peril. He, also, perceives the formidable
thing that is approaching. The sea appeared to be sucked
up towards the heavens. For this unknown phenomenon
he saw no remedy: art was useless, and navigation powerless; besides, there was no steering any longer.
Immediately Columbus, the adorer of the Word, suspected, in this terrific display of the brute forces of nature,
some satanic manceuvre. He could not exorcise the powers
of the air, according to the rites of the Church, fearing to
usurp the authority of the priesthood; but he called to mind
that he was the chief of a Christian expedition, and that his
object was a holy one, and he desired, in his way, to compel
the spirit of darkness to yield the passage to him. He had
blessed wax candles immediately lighted and put in the lanterns; then he girded himself with his sword over the cord


* P. Charlevoix, Histoire de Saint Domingue, liv. iv., p. 24I.




ChAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMAB US.


467


of St. Francis, and, taking the book of the Gospels, standing in face of the water-spout which was coming near, accosted it with the sublime declaration which commences the
Gospel of the well-beloved disciple of Jesus, St. John, the
adoptive son of the Blessed Virgin.
Trying to raise his voice above the howling of the tempest, the Messenger of Salvation declared to Typhon " that
in the beginning was the Word; that the Word was with
God, and that the Word was God. That all things have
been made by Him, and that without Him was made
nothing that was made; that in Him was life, and that the
life was the light of men; that the light shineth in darkness,
and that the darkness did not comprehend it; that the world
was made by Him, and that the world knew Him not; that
He came to His own, and that His own received Him not;
but that He has given to those who believe in His name,
and who are not born of the flesh, or of blood, or of the will
of man, the power to become the children of God; and that
the WORD WAS MADE FLESH, and that He dwvelt among us."
Then, in the name of the divine" Word, Jesus Christ.
whose words calmed the winds and appeased the billows,
Christopher Columbus commands the water-spout to spare
those who, becoming children of God, go to carry the
Cross to the extremities of the earth, and navigate in
the name of the Thrice-Holy Trinity. Then drawing his
sword, with a full and ardent faith he traces in the air with
the steel the sign of the Cross, and describes a circle around
him with the sword, as if he had really severed or intercepted the water-spout.*  And, in fact, oh prodigy! the
water-spout, which was coming straight towards the car* Hence the idea first spread among sailors, that one would protect himself from the water-spout by cutting it with a sabre and
reciting the Gospel of St. John. In his translation of the Life of
Columbus, Cotolendy recalls this belief. He says, in a marginal
note, in speaking of the water-spout, "A person is safe from it by
cutting it with a knife, and the Gospel of St. John." -La Vie de
Christofle Colomb. In x2mo, chez Claude Barbin, i681.




468


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


avels, appearing to be pushed obliquely, passed between tle
half-submerged caravels, and went off bellowing to lose
itself in the immensity of the Atlantic.*
This sudden retreat of a destructive phenomenon appeared to Columbus himself as a new favor from the Divine
Majesty. t  "' The same piety which prompted him to have
recourse to God to be preserved, prevented him from having any doubt that he was indebted to Him for his preservation in this extremity." +
Having nothing to object to the authority of the fact, the
Protestant Irving, to weaken the effect of this miraculous
event, attributes to a collective proceeding the work of the
individual inspiration of Columbus.  He says: "At the
sight of the water-spout, which advanced on them, the despairing seamen, seeing that no human effort could avert
the danger, set about reading passages from St. John the
Evangelist.  The water-spout passed between the vessels
without doing them any injury, and the trembling sailors
attributed their safety to the miraculous efficacy of the
words of the Scriptures."~
It is in vain for Irving to try to hide under the plural
form the spontaneous initiative of Columbus, and to keep
out of sight his individual action. The event itself, intrinsically, protests against such a disfigurement of history, and
opposes to it both moral and physical impossibilities. How
could the caravels, separated from each other by the terrible commotion of the elements, scarcely able to see each
other across the watery vapors and the globules of foam
filling the air, and still less hear each other, - how coLild
they, we say, settle on a plan of combating the waterspout, agree about the choice of an Evangelist, and fix oa
* Fernando Colombo; Vita deli' Amariglio, cap. xciv. Las
Casas; 1Historia de las Indias, lib. II., cap. xxiv.
t IIerrera. Hist. Gen. des Voyages, etc., Dec. I., liv. v., cap. Ix.
% P. Charlevoix. Hist. do S. Domzinge, liv. Iv., p. 242.
~ Washington Irving. Hist. of Christopher Columbus, Book XV.,
chap. vi.




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


469


the passages deemed proper for warding off the peril? In
the rapidity of its march, did the frightful water-spout leave
time for deliberation?  Of whom, and how, take counsel?
Not to mention other reasons, Irving does not seem to have
considered that none of the pilots would of himself have
conceived an expedient so singularly foreign to nautical
science, and at the same time so bold in a spiritual point
of view. At most, all they would have ventured on would
be some prayers of the Liturgy destined for the warding
off of storms. To recur to the words of the well-beloved
disciple, and choose his sublime declaration, it was necessary that one should himself be advanced in the splendors
of divine knowledge, find himself at the height of this superhuman intuition, merit the divine protection, be agreeable
in the eyes of God, - in a word, be Christopher Columbus.
Every Catholic soul will think as we do, and no judicious
mind will believe in the truly inadmissible plural of Irving.
SECTION II.
As soon as the water-spout disappeared, the fury of the
sea abated, and little by little there came a calm.
The sailors, the greater part of whom were sick, remained
debilitated, dejected, and unable to attend to the least manoeuvre.  In considering their labors, their fatigues, and
their hardships, which no constitution could withstand,
Herrera regards this calm as an act of the Divine mercy.
He says, positively, that God accorded it to them to preserve their lives.*
On the sixth of January, I503, the squadron entered a river,
which the Admiral, in honor of the feast of the day, named
Beth/lekem, or, by contraction, Belen. It was only a league
firom that of Veragua, the country of the gold mines. From
Puerto Bello to Veragua the distance is about thirty leagues.
To traverse it required the labors and the sufferings of nearly
* Herrera. Hist. Gen. des Voyages, etc., Dec. I., liv. v., chap. Ix.
40




470


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


a month.   To commemorate these unheard-of traverses,
the Admiral named this portion of the coast Costa de los
Co rsstes.
On the banks of the Belen was an Indian village, the inhabitants of which rose to arms at the sight of the foreigners.
On their becoming cooled down, information, though with
difficulty, was obtained from them in relation to the situation of the gold mines. The next day an armed boat was
sent to the river of Veragua. The inhabitants made a show
of opposing the landing; but Diego Mendez, who knew a
little of their dialect, gave them to understand that they
came with the sole object of trading. They then became
quite civil, and bartered twenty gold mirrors for some European trinkets.
The twelfth of January the Adelantado, with some boats,
ascended the Veragua, to the residence of the chief of the
country, who had the title of Quzibian. Apprised of the
intended visit, he came to meet the Adelantado. The interview between them was quite friendly. The chief gave
them the gold ornaments he had about him, and received
in return some gifts which he considered of great value.
They left each other mutually well pleased.  The next
day curiosity led the chief to Belen. The Admiral gave
him a grand reception, and showed him through the caravels. The Quibian conversed with him by signs. The
attendants of the chief exchanged some gold mirrors for
hawks' bells. Suddenly some suspicion crossed his mind,
and he went away abruptly.
The twenty-fourth of January, while a bellowing storm
convulsed the ocean, the river, without any visible cause,
suddenly swelled, and with such violence, that the tacklings
broke as if they were threads. The caravels were driven
against each other.  The Admiral saw the danger was
extreme. His caravels were on the point of being borne
away. C Certainly," he says, " I never saw them in more
imminent danger;" and he artlessly adds, with a touching
modesty, " Our Lord brought a remedy, as He has always




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


471


done." Whence came this sudden inundation? The Admiral attributed it, not to continual rains, that would have
led to a gradual swelling of the river, but to a sudden cause,
- to a tremendous storm raging in the interior of the country, on that chain of high mountains running from north to
west, to which he gave the name of St. Chrisztofer.
Experience has. since verified the admirable accuracy of
his conjecture.
Notwithstanding the continued rains, the Adelantado, at
the head of seventy men, made a trip into the interior of the
country, and came before the residence of the chief. The
latter, with gracious airs, came, becomingly escorted, to
meet him. The next day the Adelantado, conducted by
three guides, whom the cunning chief gave him, had to
ford a river forty-three times, in order to make a distance
of four leagues. The next day they found some mineral
gold on the surface of the soil. The guides, having conducted the Adelantado to the top of a very high mountain,
showed him lands which extended beyond sight, and assured him that in that whole region, and for twenty days'
journey beyond, there existed gold mines. They named
with confidence the places where it would be found more
or less abundant.
As the state of his equipage no longer permitted Columbus to continue, during this expedition, his search for the
strait, he resolved to establish at this point a military post,
which would also be a factory for trading in gold, while he
himself would return to Castile, to procure reinforcements
and munitions. He made several presents to the chief, in
order that he may not be offended at the settlement made
on his lands. The site which the Admiral chose was somewhat elevated, and near the mouth of the river. On this
site he erected a fortress, and assigned it eighty men, under
the command of the Adelantado. He left them one of the
caravels, the Galician, for their use. But to the drenching rains and inundations there had already succeeded a
drought. The river had become considerably lower; the




472


HISTORr OF


[BOOK IV.


sand had formed an impassable bar at the mouth of the
river, and there were only three feet of water. There was
nothing to be done but to have patience. Columbus waited
until those rains, so much cursed by his sailors, but now so
ardently desired, should come to deliver him from this
blockade.
SE CTION IIL
Meanwhile, the chief, seeing that a settlement was formed
on his territory, resolved to attack these strangers unawares,
and to burn their ships. Dissimulating his intentions, he
pretended to be collecting his troops to fight against the
cacique of Cobrava Aurira, with whom he lately had a
skirmish, in which he was wounded in the thigh. While
he made his preparations beneath the eyes of the Spaniards,
without there being any suspicion of him, a man on board
the St. fames attentively observed his doings and those
of his men.
Diego Mendez, the man alluded to, came to the Admiral
and said to him: " Senor, these people, who have been
making preparations for war, say they are going to join
those of Veragua, in order to march against the Indians
of Cobrava Aurira. I am confident, on the contrary, that
the preparation is for burning our ships, and massacring
all of us."  The Admiral charged Mendez to watch the
Indians closely. Without losing i moment, the latter concluded to arm a boat, and sail along the coast of Veragua,
to reconnoitre the enemy's camp. He had not made half
a league when he found assembled more than a thousand
warriors, well provided with provisions and liquors. Bringing the boat to, he dared to jump on the beach, and go alone
into the midst of them. He offered to accompany them to
the war with his boat. This they refused, saying it would
be useless. He reentered his craft, and remained the whole
night watching them. That very night they had fixed on
to execute their project. Seeing they were discovered, they




CHAP. III.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


473


returned to Veragua, while the intrepid Mendez came back
to the Admiral, to make his report.  "I recounted," he
says, "( to his Excellency what had passed, and he appreciated it exceedingly."
Encouraged by this first success, and by the thanks of the
Admiral, the brave Mendez offered to go and spy them in
their camp. Still, as he meditated a stratagem, he needed
a companion, and he found one. Rodrigo de Escobar
wished to be the man. In their route Mendez encountered
two canoes with strange Indians, and learned from them
that the project, disconcerted by his presence, would be
executed in less than two days. He gave them some toys,
and besought them to take him to Veragua. At length
they consented, and landed him in sight of the Indian villages.
When he returned and made his report, the arrest of the
chief and his officers was decided on. The execution of it
was assigned by the Admiral to the Adelantado. Don Bartholomew took with him eighty men, who followed him
two by two, to some distance from the residence of the
chief. Then he advanced with five men to the fortress of
the chieftain, seized on him, and fired a shot from an arquebuse, —the signal for the Spaniards who were lying in
ambush. Forthwith the officers and relations of the chief,
to the number of fifty, mute with astonishment, were seized
and bound with strong cords along with himself.
The vassals of the cacique sent forth shrieks of woe, and
supplicated the Adelantado to restore him to liberty, offering, for his ransom, a treasure which they said was buried
in the neighboring forest. But the Adelantado would wait
for nothing, knowing that the assembling of the tribe would
be attended with sanguinary results.
The cunning chief, however, soon made his escape,
through the carelessness of the officer who got charge of
him.
The copious rains that now fell permitted the three
caravels to pass the mouth of the river. The Admiral
40*




474                HISTORY OF               [BOOK IV.
desiring, before he returned to Spain, to go to Hispaniola,
to send thence to the new fortress reinforcements and provisions, cast anchor about a league from the mouth, so
as to avail himself of the first favorable wind. But the
cacique was not asleep during this time.




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


475


CHAPTER IV.
The Natives attack the Spanish Camp. -The Crew of a Longboat is Massacred. - The Admiral cannot go to their Relief on
account of the extreme Roughness of the Sea. -His extreme
Sadness. -He has a Miraculous Vision. -Departure for Hispaniola and forced Landing at Queen's Gardens. -Arrival in
Jamaica, where the Vessels are stranded in the Bay of Santa
Gloria.
SECTION I.
O    N the sixth of April, as the Admiral was preparing
for his departure, sixty men from the garrison came
in their long-boat to the anchorage to bid their comrades
farewell. The twenty men who remained with the Adelantado were scattered here and there; some on the bank of
the river and some with Diego Mendez.
The cacique, taking advantage of this temporary diminution of the garrison, immediately, with his forces, surrounded
the camp. They numbered more than four hundred men.
Happily their terrific war-cries gave the Spaniards time to
arm themselves. Soon the Indians were repulsed, leaving
nineteen of their number dead, and fifty prisoners of war.
The Spaniards had seven wounded, some mortally. The
brave Adelantado received a slight wound on the breast.
The Indians fled to the woods.
After the battle was over, the long-boat of the Capizanza,
commanded by Diego Tristan, which had been sent for a
supply of fresh water, came to the scene of action. Her
force consisted of but eleven men, three only of whom were
armed. Contrary to the remonstrances of Diego Mendez,
who was well acquainted with the character of the Indians,




476


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


Tristan would ascend the river. The consequence was
that when he got to the place that afforded fiesh water, his
boat was surrounded by the Indians in their canoes, and all
on board, except one, were massacred. The one who escaped did so by swimming under water to the opposite
shore. He returned to the camp and related the sad event.
In the evening the long-boat of the Galician returned
with the men who had gone to bid good-by to their fiiends.
The next morning they tried, with a boat, to get to the Admiral, to beg him to come to their assistance and take them
away; but the roughness of the sea prevented their passing
the mouth of the river. Elated with their triumph over the
crew of the long-boat, the Indians continued to harass the
camp, but the Adelantado was there.
SECTION     IL.
The Admiral felt great anguish of mind. For ten days
he awaited the return of the long-boat, and still there was
no appearance of her. Having a presentiment that some
misfortune had occurred, he sent several times a boat wellarmed in quest of her,'and to try to bring some news from
the camp, but always the surf at the embouchzure of the
river prevented its going any farther.
Hitherto, though he was without news from the long-boat
or the fortress, he was in hopes the Indians would not
attack the factory, on account of the fifty prisoners detained as hostages on board the St. 7ames. Every evening they were shut up in the forecastle of the caravel, the
hatchway of which was secured by a strong chain and padlock; and, for additional security, some of the sailors slept
on the hatch, which was so high as to be considered out
of reach of the prisoners. One night they neglected to
fasten the chain. The Indians, noticing this negligence,
collected, noiselessly, a number of stones from the ballast
of the vessel, and made a heap of them under the hatchway. Several of the most powerful warriors mounted on




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


477


the top, and, bending their backs, by a simultaneous effort
forced up the hatch, flinging the sailors who slept on it to
the opposite side of the vessel. In an instant the greater
part of the Indians sprang up, plunged into the sea, and
swam ashore. Several, however, were prevented from sallying forth, others were seized on the deck, and forced back
into the forecastle; and this time the officers themselves
secured the chains. In the morning, when they went to
give their rations to the prisoners, they found them all dead.
The latter had, in their despair, strangled themselves.
The escape of the prisoners increased the anxiety of the
Admiral, and the suicide of so many persons added to the
horrors of the situation. It was feared that the escaped
Indians would attack the Spanish camp.
A first-class sailor of the Biscayian, Pedro de Ledesma,
offered to go ashore if the Admiral would have him sent
to the beginning of the breakers, where the boat should
wait until his return. He bravely attained the shore, and
reached the camp unexpectedly, where he was received
with delirious joy as a liberator.
Ledesma returned to the Admiral with a verbal message
from the Adelantado. Across the surges and breakers he
reached the boat and was conducted to the Admiral, who,
in recompense for his exemplary courage, immediately
raised him to the rank of an officer.
SECTIONV III.
The report of Ledesma filled the heart of Columbus with
grief and alarm. His men on land were exposed to impending danger, without his being able to assist them. He
felt for his brother, who had under his orders a troop
thinned by death and ready to revolt, and who were surrounded by a multitude of furious savages. His leaky
ships could not withstand a new assault from the tempest.
The crews had yielded to their fearful apprehensions. As
regarded himself, to his paroxysms of pain were added a




478


HISTOR T OF


[BOOK IV.


violent fever. The sea and the heavens persisted in their
inclemency. He saw only anguish and gloom among his
sailors. Even the captains were shedding tears of woe.
In the midst of this gloomy desolation, Columbus made
an effort to get to the round-top (,une) of the mainmast, to
see if he could perceive any encouraging signs.  Seeing
none, he sank down at the foot of the round-top, as formerly the prophet sank at the foot of the juniper-tree in the
desert, who, with a desolate heart, asked of God to be taken
fiom this world. Still Columbus did not murmur, or express any wish. His dejection was too great to be spent
in words. He sighed inwardly and fell asleep. Affliction
had beset his soul, when he heard a " tender voice," the
words of which we endeavor to translate with scrupulous
fidelity. This voice said to him,
"1 Oh, thou fool! slow to believe and to serve thy God,
the God of all! What more did He for Moses, or for His
servant David, than He has done for thee?  From thy birth
He has taken the greatest care of thee. When He saw
thee come to a fitting age, He marvellously made thy name
resound throughout the earth. The Indies, those wealthy
regions of the world, He gave thee for thine own, and
empowered thee to dispose of them according to thy pleasure.  He delivered thee the keys of the barriers of the
Ocean Sea, which was shut up with such mighty chains.
Thy orders were obeyed in many countries, and among
Christians thou didst acquire honorable fame. What more
did He for the people of Israel when He led them forth
from Egypt?   Or even for David, whom, from being a
shepherd, He made King of Judea?  Turn then to Him,
and acknowledge thy error; His mercy is infinite. Thy
age shall be no impediment to any great undertaking.
He has many and vast inheritances yet in reserve. Abraham was above a hundred years when he begat Isaac;
and was Sarai youthful? Thou urgest for succor despondingly. Answer! who hath afflicted thee so much and so
many times,-God, or the world?    The privileges and




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


479


promises which God hath made to thee, He hath never
broken; neither hath He said, after having received the services, that His meaning was different, and was to be understood in a different sense: nor doth He inflict pain in
order to show forth His power. He performs to the very
letter. He fulfils all that He promises, and with increase.
Is not this His custom? I have shown thee what thy Creator hath done for thee, and what He doeth for all. The
present is the reward of the toils and perils thou hast endured in serving others."
'' In hearing this," adds Columbus, " I was as one almost
dead, and had no power to reply to words so true; I could
only bewail my errors. Whoever it was that spoke to me,
finished by saying: 'Fear not!  Have confidence.  All
these tribulations are graven in marble, and it is not without cause.'" *
In transcribing these words, repeated by Columbus himself with his charming artlessness, we are seized with an
indefinable feeling of respect.
Yet, while recognizing the elevation and poetry of these
inimitable lines, the Protestaht school tries to see in them
only an ingenious fiction, or the product of a fevered delirium. It suspects the truth of the vision, and reduces the
recital of the Admiral to an ably concocted scheme to give
an indirect lesson to King Ferdinand.
Our pen will not descend to discussing this odious imputation. A single fact will suffice to refute it.
In the letter in which Columbus reports this vision, he
takes no occasion to remind the Sovereigns of the outrageous and unjust manner in which he was deprived of his
government, to reclaim his reestablishment in his dignities
and powers, or to demand, as an act of justice, the chastisement of his enemies.
All that he says is very plain and direct, and it seems to
us that it contains no adroit allusion or circuitous hint. In


* Cuarto y ultimo viage de Colon.




4So


HIS TORT OF


[BOOK IV.


truth, craftiness, or resorting to tortuous ways, formed no
part of the character of Columbus.
Who can doubt of the reality of this vision but those who
really deny the supernatural order, and the divine action on
humanity? Poor blind creatures, deprived of interior light,
and deficient in the sense of religion, which is the very essence of human reason! Whoever admits divine revelation
believes in the apparitions with which the patriarchs were
favored, in the inspiration of the prophets, in the invisible
strengthening of the martyrs, and in the prodigies operated
by the saints; and cannot yield up to doubt the vision related by Columbus. Such language can be repeated, but
it could not be fabricated.
What Columbus mentions passed during his sleep. It
was not even precisely a vision like that of the father of
believers, or of Israel, the father of the twelve tribes; nor,
still yet, a wind like that which blew on the prophet in his
desolation. It was a voice. Columbus does not relate what
he felt, or what he saw, but simply what he heard. Fides
ex audi/tu,-" Faith cometh by hearing."
Whence came this voice, and who uttered it? The servant of God does not say;- influenced, no doubt, by his
Christian modesty. He mentions the fact only, with a discretion replete with respectful gratitude; and, without designating the quality of the compassionate being who consoled
him, he limits himself to saying: t Whoever it was that
spoke to me."  But already the words that precede these
have, without his being aware of it, stamped this disclosure
with the seal of Christian veracity.
Every adept in psychological studies will recognize here
the experimental force of the true, and will find in the
words of Columbus the criterion of truthfulness.
To return to our narrative.  After awaking from  his
sleep, Columbus felt much comforted and strengthened.
The weather, however, still continued inclement.  For
nine days more his constancy was further put to the
proof.  At length the sea became calmer, and, by the




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUlMBUS.


48I


extraordinary exertions of Diego Mendez, everything was
brought away from the Galician to the three other
caravels.
SE CTION     IV.
Towards the end of April the Admiral gave, in the name
of the Blessed Trinity, the order for sailing. The three
caravels opened their sails, and took their course for Hispaniola, where it was necessary to go without delay to
repair the ships and procure provisions. The continuation
of bad weather, and the incredible number of tempests they
had to encounter, in exhausting the physical strength of the
sailors, terrified their imaginations. The pilots no longer
found any explanations for the atmospheric rigors that presented themselves.  The crews were persuaded that the
numerous magicians on the coast had plied the resources
of their black art to keep the ships away from land, and
cause them to perish. Columbus felt convinced that the
furiousness of the elements, conjured against his caravels,
was a last effort of the Enemy of Salvation to oppose the
accomplishment of his object.
It cannot be denied that this voyage, undertaken in order
to open a passage for the Cross over the immensity of the
ocean, and to bring it back to Europe, by the circumnavigation of the globe, encountered from the winds, the waves,
and watery and fiery meteors, an opposition as violent as
it was exceptional; and that the perseverance, the struggle
of Columbus, was one of the greatest examples of constancy against forces which so terribly surpassed human
resources.  This hostility of the elements made a deep
impression on the mind of young Fernando Columbus,
though he showed great courage, in order not to add to
the anguish of his father. Later, after having several times
traversed the Atlantic, when he wrote his history, an experience of thirty years having modified his cosmographic
ideas, what he had seen, what he had suffered during this
expedition, seemed to him impossible. He distrusted his
4I




482


HIS TORT OF


[BOOK IV.


own recollections, fearing the exaggerations of a youthful
imagination; and, to control the fidelity of his memory,
consulted the Narration of an officer with whom he had
voyaged, the trusty Diego Mendez.*  He there found his
recollections justified.
These contrarieties of the elements seemed really combined
in order to constrain Columbus to keep out to the sea, and
always away from the new land. Herrera says: "As they
left one port, it seemed as if the winds spied their departure, in order to use afterwards all their force on the vessels,
as against rocks, that could have resisted them; and thus, by
the force of the'winds, they were pushed, now to the east,
immediately after to the west, and thus in so many ways
and so often, that the Admiral, and all those who were with
him, did not know what to decide on. t It is a fact, that
since then no maritime exploration on the rest of the globe,
no posterior voyage in these regions, was tried in this cruel
manner.
The caravels, pierced with holes, leaked; the provisions
were injured, and the same as lost. Still Columbus, not
being able to resign himself to the idea that the strait did
not exist in these regions, wished to continue his search for
it; and, notwithstanding the contrary advice of the pilots
and the fears of the sailors, he bore to the east, in place of
the north. As the officers had contests in regard to the
route followed, and the one to be pursued, which each of
them estimated according to the chart he had drawn up,
Columbus, with that superiority of command which everybody recognized in him, seized on the charts, and imposed
silence on all. After having made thirty leagues, the leaking of the Biscayiacn was so great, that it became necessary
to abandon her. Her equipage was divided between the
two remaining ships. The Admiral did not the less con* Fernando Colombo. Vita deli' Ammiraglio, cap. xcIv.
t Herrera. Hist. Gen. et Voy. et Conq. des Castilians dans les
Ind. Occid., Dec. I, liv. v., chap. Ix.




CHAP. IV.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


483


tinue his route. He passed Port Retrete, and a number
of islands, which he called Las Barbas, and which belonged to the cacique Pocorosa.  He approached land
anew, and advanced ten leagues to the west.
Accustomed to the favors of Providence, which he had
so many times experienced, the Admiral continued his
exploration, with his ships riddled and almost destitute
of provisions. The first of May the pilots, justly frightened
at the state of things, represented to him the condition of
the caravels, and the dejected state of the sailors, enfeebled
by privations and fatigues. Columbus then gave orders to
steer directly north. For two days they had a favorable
wind. His officers feared they were carried to the east of
the Caribbean archipelago, while the Admiral feared they
were driven to the west of Cape St. Michael. The latter
opinion was afterwards found to be the correct one.
The second of May he came to two islands, which, from
the number of tortoises seen on them, he called, from their
name, Tortz/gas. Tie currents and contrary winds now
drove 'him anew to the Queen's Gardens, although he had
endeavored to keep wide of them. His sea-stores were all
gone, except a little biscuit, oil, and vinegar; and the water
entered at all parts, requiring the pumps to be incessantly
worked.
In this sad situation they were assailed by a tempest. In
a few hours they lost successively three anchors.  At
midnight the cable of the St. yames snapped, and the
caravel was driven with such violence upon the Capitana,
that both were much injured. " It was a marvel that both
did not go to pieces." The sea remained boisterous for ten
days. At length they got to Macaco, on the coast of Cuba,
where they rested themselves, and procured some provisions.  Making sail again, he endeavored to beat up for
Hispaniola; but the adverse force of the currents and of
the winds made his efforts of but little avail.
The tempest recommenced.     The St. James was
obliged to run into a port. The Capitana wished to




484


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


keep the sea in spite of the storm. In the night the water
gained so much on her, that she was on the point of foundering. " Their force and industry could not overcome the
water, although they labored incessantly at the pumps.
Already the water had risen to the deck."*  Columbus
himself says: "' My vessel was on the very point of sinking
when our Lord conducted me miraculously to land."
The twenty-third of June the Cajitana, followed by
the St. yames, was pushed on the north coast of Jamaica, into a port well sheltered, but met with none of the
natives, from whom they could obtain provisions, nor was
there any fresh water to be had. The next day, with inexpressible pains and perils, they sailed along the coast, seeking a harbor more to the east. The Admiral recognized,
towards the middle of the northern part of the island, the
beautiful harbor which he had perceived at the time of his
discovery of Jamaica, and which he had named Santa
Gloria (Holy Glory), because the harmonies of the works
of the Creative Word were there displayed with inexpressible magnificence, and because his religious soul enjoyed
in their contemplation a felicity the ravishing delights of
which appeared to him to be, as it were, a shadow of
those of the elect.
This hospitable island was densely populated, and
abounded with all the necessaries of life. Columbus was
not the only person who recognized in their coming here
a particular favor fiom God.  His flag-officer, the brave
Diego Mendez, considered this event as an act of the
Divine mercy.
The two caravels, reduced to mere wrecks, were ready
to sink even in the port.  Columbus, therefore, ordered
them to be run aground, and fastened together side by
side. He then had thatched cabins erected at their prows
and sterns; and, to prevent all altercations with the natives, nobody was allowed to go ashore without especial


* Herrera. Hist. Gen. des Voyages, etc., Dec. I., liv. vi., chap II.




CHAP. IV.]   CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.                 485
license. Their provisions were all consumed, and famine
stared them in the face; but, through the indefatigable and
devoted exertions of Diego Mendez, a supply was obtained
from the caciques. For this favor Mendez himself says the
Admiral "thanked God for having brought me safe and
sound from the midst of these savage nations." *
* Relacion hecha _bor Diego Mendez de Algunas a Contecimientos
del ultimo Viage del Almirante Cristobal Colon.
4I*




486


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


CHAPTER V.
Columbus writes a Letter to the Sovereigns, which he cannot send
but by a Miracle. - Diego Mendez undertakes to be the Bearer. -
Mendez is marvellously aided by Providence, and finally arrives
in Hispaniola in a Canoe. -This Voyage a truly miraculous
one. -Revolt of the Brothers Porras against the Admiral.
SECTION      I.
N    EITHER the abundance of provisions, nor the friendly
disposition of the natives, could deceive the foresight
of the Admiral. He knew the fickleness of the savages,
and their innate dissimulation.  These people, now so
ready to assist, may to-morrow become enemies. Twice
he had already experienced their warlike propensity. They
possessed flotillas of canoes that were not to be despised.
It would be easy to starve out the new-comers, or burn
them with their thatched cabins. The sailors, broken down
by the prodigious hardships they had undergone, were deprived of all energy. The caravels could not be put to
sea again, and no others could be built, all the mastercarpenters having perished in the disaster of the sixth of
April.
Columbus found himself thus shipwrecked without a tempest, being neither on land nor on sea, exposed to possible
danger from the shore, and deprived of the resources of the
sea, - a disheartening position, because there was no outlet
from it! How was he to obtain aid?  How make known
to the Quleen his discovery of the gold mines of Veragua,
and the existence of an unexplored sea on the other side of
the new continent? The Admiral no longer had a boat of




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


487


any kind that could attempt to make a voyage from Jamaica
to Hispaniola, - a distance of forty leagues, - over a fickle
sea, and against the currents and east winds, which often
require the struggle of a month from a well-equipped ship.
He was sad on account of this position, apparently so
humiliating for the conqueror of the GLOOMY OCEAN;sad on account of his long privation of the sacraments of
the Church and spiritual comforts; sad, especially, because
this exile, whose term was indefinite, postponed the deliverance of the Holy Places, for which his heart yearned.
In the perplexities of this situation he would, at all
events, write to the Catholic Sovereigns a summary of his
voyage, and demand their assistance to deliver himself and
his crews from this place.
That Columbus should have prepared a message, notwithstanding the impossibility of transmitting it, must
appear a singular affair; no other man in such a position
would have thought of it, for the means of sending it were
not within the natural range of humanity. So, accustomed
as Columbus was to the bounties of the Divine Majesty, he
said, in writing his letter to the Sovereigns, that if it should
reach them it would be by a miracle.
It was, in truth, by a miracle that it came into their
hands. This letter, for a long time forgotten, though it was
formerly printed in Spain, made a great noise some fortyseven years ago, among learned societies. Venice, Bassano, Pisa, Florence, Genoa, Turin, Milan, Pavia, Rome,
and Paris, occupied themselves with it. The learned Morelli, a librarian in Venice, had it republished, accompanied
with notes, under the title of LETTERA RARISSIMA.
This letter is no less remarkable on account of its maritime transactions than for its scientific discoveries, or for
the events it relates, than for thoughtful observations. It
derives, especially, an extraordinary interest from the critical circumstances under which Columbus penned it, and
from his mode of transmitting it, which was still more astonishing. Properly speaking, this document is neither a
letter nor a report, nor a summary of the voyage; it is a




488


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


communication from  the Revealer of the Globe to the
Catholic Sovereigns.
The Admiral at first relates the unheard-of sufferings and
difficulties of this voyage, announces the existence of the
ocean on the other side of the discovered land, mentions
the existence of gold mines in Veragua and in the adjacent
countries; he dwells particularly on this latter godsend,
which he knows is the only object of the desires of the
King, and says, " I make more of the scale and of the gold
mines of this country than of all that has been done in the
Indies."
Before speaking of himself, he occupies himself with the
wants of his crews, and with their back pay. He invokes
for them the interest of the Sovereigns, and declares that
never will anybody bring better news to Spain than they.
The destitution of these men, who have served and suffered, recalls to his mind that those who have deserted the
colony, flying fiom labor and calumniating his government,
had received offices; which is, he says, a sad example. This
lack of justice leads him to the lack of zeal shown for the
deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre, - the constant thought
of his life. He seems, from his sense of Christian dignity,
not to wish to speak again of a project already sacrificed by
the ambition of Ferdinand to uncertain aggrandizements in
Italy. This affair he does not call by its name; he does
not name it, so well is it known to the Sovereigns; but his
thoughts, nourished by the daily bread of the sacred Scriptures, present it under a biblical figure. He gives to the
matter of the Holy Places awaiting their deliverance the
image of the Saviour Himself, awaiting, with outstretched
arms, all the day, for an unbelieving people.*  He says:
"The other affair, the most important one, remains where
it was, calling with outstretched arms! It has been passed
over as foreign, even to this hour.t
*Expandi manus meas toda die ad populum incredulum qui graditur in via non bona post cogitationes suas. - Isazic, Lxv.
t Christophe Colomb. Lettre aux Rois Cathol/ques, datie de la
yamaique, le 7 Yuillet, I503.




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


489


Continuing this idea, which, for its own honor, he did not
wish to expose more to cold disdain, or to the endless adjournments of the Court, the Revealer of the Globe, seeing
plainly that he must deliver, with his own resources, the
Holy Sepulchre without the cooperation of Ferdinand, demands what is due to him as the part due to God Himself.
He says to the Sovereigns, "It is just to give to God what
belongs to Him," as if his part were that of the Church.
He reclaims the restitution of his property, and of his
honors; and the chastisement of those who have robbed
and calumniated him. " In acting thus," he says, "' your
Highnesses will show a high degree of virtue, and will leave
Spain a grand example and a glorious memory as just and
grateful princes."
Although his reason and his sense of equity, no less than
his heart, revolted at the manner in which his services were
recompensed, neither bitter reticence nor vengeful irony can
be perceived in his complaint; he even excuses himself for
having awakened recollections which he wished to have left
buried in silence. But the enormity of the injustice, and
the excess of the ingratitude he has received, move him to
pity his own fate. The epic character of his misfortunes,
the poetry of his trials on sea, and the iniquity done him, -
assuredly without an equal after that of the Jews towards
the Saviour, - transport him, mentally, beyond the time;
and the Revealer of the Globe, placing himself in the point
of view of after generations, deplores the mortal destiny of
Christopher Columbus. He exclaims: " I have hitherto
wept for others, but now Heaven have pity on me; and
O Earth! weep for me!.... Weep for me whoever has
charity, truth and justice! " It is not Castile or Europe
that the Messenger of the Cross invites to weep for him, but
the whole world: " O Earth! weep for me! "
What other mortal ever dared to utter such language?
What poet, what prophet, what hero of the Gospel, in
speaking of himself, used a more energetic boldness of
images, and clothed with a grander majesty the accents that




490


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


came from his heart. Here, indeed, we feel that " the style
is the man." Grandeur, simplicity, sadness, boldness, are
found naturally harmonized, as if they were a single utterance of the soul.
The message remained without a messenger.
Columbus knew the physical impossibility of crossing a
sea of forty leagues, against the currents and the winds, in
the frail canoes of the savages. It would have been a mad
undertaking. For one chance of success there were a thousand chances of failure, and, consequently, of death.
During nine days he meditated and remained in the presence of God, consulting Him, and at length determined to
know what, according to the expression of Peter Martyr,
the Most High had decided on in his regard.
There can be no doubt that a Christian, ready for sufferings, and willing to make to God the sacrifice of his life for
the preservation of his companions, could attempt this undertaking. But who would be this generous person?  Columbus saw nobody capable of this heroism but his old
servitor, Diego Mendez, a man who loved God and his old
master, and who had no earthly ties to keep him back.
The tenth day the Admiral called him to a private conference, and thus addressed him:
'* Diego Mendez, my son, none of those who are here, but
you and I, know the danger in which we are placed. We
are few in number, and these savage Indians are many, and
of irritable and fickle natures. On the slightest provocation they could easily, from the land, set fire to our strawthatched cabins and burn us all. The arrangement you
have made with them for supplying us with provisions, and
which they now fulfil with so much cheerfulness, may not
continue acceptable to them, and it would not be surprising
if to-morrow they brought us nothing; nor have we the
means of compelling them by force to supply us, but are
left entirely at their pleasure. I have thought of a means
of rescuing us, if it meet with your views; in the canoe you
purchased some one may venture to pass over to Hispan



CHAP. V.]


CHRISTOPHER COL UMB US.


49I


iola, and there procure a ship, by which we all may be delivered from the perilous situation in which we are placed.
Tell me your opinion of the matter."
Mendez replied: " Senor, the danger that threatens us is,
I well know, far greater than is imagined. As to the project of passing fiom this island to Hispaniola, in so small
a vessel as a canoe, I hold it not only extremely difficult,
but even impossible; because I know nobody who would
venture to run the extreme risk of traversing a gulf of forty
leagues between islands where the sea is so extremely
impetuous."
There was a moment of silence. Columbus made no
answer, because there was nothing to object. The question was not one of reasoning, but one of sacrifice. His
looks, his manner, sufficiently told Mendez that it was meet
for himself, a man of courage and of faith, who had experienced the bounty of God, to offer himself anew for the
salvation of his companions.
Mendez understood this mute language, and replied:
"Senor, I have several times put my life in imminent'
peril to save you, and all those who are with you, and
God has preserved me in a miraculous manner.   Still,
there are murmurers who say that your Excellency intrusts to me all affairs wherein honor is to be gained, while
there are others in your company who could execute them
as well as I do. For this reason, I beg that you would
summon all the people, and propose this enterprise to
them,. to see if there is among them any one that will
undertake it, which I doubt. If all decline it, I will risk
my life for your service, as I have many times done."
The next day all the officers and crews were assembled.
The Admiral explained the state of matters to them, and
proposed sending a canoe to Hispaniola. They were mute
with astonishment at the proposition, and every one drew
back from the thoughts of it, declaring it the height of
rashness.
Then Mendez arose and said: " Senor, I have but one




492


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


life; yet I am willing to hazard it for the service of your
Excellency, and the good of all here present; because I
hope that God, seeing the intention that governs me, will
preserve me, as He has already done so many times."
The Admiral, having heard this announcement, arose
from his seat, and, calling the noble Mendez to him, embraced him reverently. He then kissed him on the cheeks,
and said aloud: " I well knew that there was nobody here
but you who would undertake this achievement;" and then
added: " I have a firm confidence that our Lord God will
enable you to overcome the dangers that threaten you, as
He has done on so many other occasions."
Though he counted on the Divine bounty, Mendez neglected no precaution of human prudence.  Drawing his
canoe on shore, he adjusted a keel and a little mast to it,
payed it carefully with a coat of tar, and took in provisions
for eight persons.
The courage of Mendez excited a noble emulation. The
captain of the Biscayian, Barthelemy Fieschi, offered to go
with Mendez to Hispaniola. To protect them against the
Indians, some men decided to accompany them. A second
canoe was got ready.   In each canoe there went with
Mendez and Fieschi six Spaniards, whom they had chosen,
and six Indians, which were to serve as oarsmen. It was
agreed that, after having landed in Hispaniola, Fieschi
should return to inform the Admiral of their safe arrival;
while Mendez should take to the Governor the letter with
which he was charged, and that, after having despatched
a well-provisioned caravel to Jamaica, he should embark
for Spain, with the despatches addressed to the Sovereigns.
SECTION     II.
They set out on their perilous voyage: there was no
wind; the sky was without a cloud, and the sea perfectly
calm. The Indians, especially, suffered exceedingly from
thirst and exhaustion.  Still, the commanders cheered




CHAP. v.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


493


them with the hope of soon arriving at a small island
called Navassa, which lay in the way, and where they
could procure water and take repose.
The third night had closed on them without any sight
of the island. One of the Indians had died from thirst and
exhaustion, and the others had become completely prostrated and disheartened; in fact, they gave up for death,
and the Spaniards had to take their oars.
Mendez, the envoy of Columbus, alone trusting in God,
preserved( some hope. Meanwhile, the moon arose in the
north. Mendez, who continually had his eyes about him,
noticed that a dark, broken line concealed her lower disk;
so he concluded that an opaque mass, or an island, interposed between the moon and the canoes, at no great distance.  He thanked God for having succored him with
this celestial sign, aroused the energy of the oarsmen, who
redoubled their exertions, and the next morning, at dawn,
they reached Navassa.
This was a low, flat island, having a circuit of only half
a league. It was formed of bare rocks, and had neither a
stream, nor a tree, nor a plant. Fortunately, however, in
the hollows of the rocks there was found abundance of
rain-water. Mendez rendered heartfelt thanks to God for
this fiavor. Considering the little height and extent of the
island, he saw that if his eye had not been directed to the
moon at the precise moment it was, they would have passed
the island without being able to distinguish it, and would
infallibly have perished in the sea.  They regaled themselves with this water which came fiom the heavens.
Several of the Spaniards, notwithstanding the entreaties
of their 'officers, drank of it so as to become sick, and
some of the poor Indians drank of it to such excess that
they died on the spot.
Having reposed for some hours, the voyagers reentered
their canoes. They rowed during the night, and the next
lorning they landed at Cape St. Michael, at present called
T'iburonz, on a beautiful shore, where they were kindly re42




494


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


ceived by the natives, who flocked in crowds to receive
them, and supplied them plentifully with provisions.
Having passed two days in this place, to rest himself
from his fatigues, Mendez set out for San Domingo; but
having learned on the way that Ovando, the GovernorGeneral, was in Xaragua, he repaired to the latter province,
amid the greatest hardships and dangers. His confidence
in God, and the remembrance of his master, sustained him
in his trials and difficulties.
As soon as Mendez quitted him, Fieschi wanted to return
to inform the Admiral of the safe arrival of his despatches
to Hispaniola; but such was the fatigue of both the Spaniards and the Indians, that he could not prevail on one of
them to accompany him. For nothing in the world would
they enter anew in a canoe on such a voyage. Its late success appeared to them a miracle, which ought not to be
counted on a second time. The Spaniards considered this
prodigious voyage, effected in three days and three nights,
as marvellous as the preservation of the prophet Jonas
during the same length of time, in the belly of the whale.
The intrepid gentleman was therefore obliged to await the
ship which Mendez went to solicit from the GovernorGeneral.
SECTION      III.
Kept continually confined to the hulks of the caravels,
the crews had their eyes constantly directed to the north.
They expected the return of Captain Fieschi, and hoped to
see his canoe. Many weeks had elapsed in this useless expectation. The climate, the diet - exclusively vegetableto which they were reduced, and the absence of wine and
cordials, after the unheard-of fatigues they had undergone,
acted unfavorably on the weakest constitutions. A certain
number of the sailors became bedridden.
These circumstances cast a deep gloom on their spirits;
to which were added the uncertainty of the future, and the
isolation and the state of inactivity to which they were




CHAP. V.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


495


constrained. Now weariness leads to idleness, and idleness,
as is well known, is the parent of vices. The sailors, having nothing to do, made secretly their comments on their
situation.
Our readers will not have forgotten that the four caravels
employed in the expedition were chartered in Seville. The
Admiral had himself chosen his corps of officers, except the
two Porras, who were likewise from  Seville. One of
these he had appointed captain of the St.  amres, and
the other notary of the expedition.  Columbus, through
regard for Morales, their brother-in-law, treated them with
the kindness of relatives, though they were incompetent for
their situations.  Far from being touched with an indulgence so paternal, they resolved to conquer brilliant positions for themselves, at the expense of the honor, and even
the life of their benefactor.
They soon drew around them a large party, the crews
being almost exclusively from Seville. They secretly assured them that the Admiral retained them in the rotten
hulks of the caravels in order to have a guard, because he
was exiled, and could not return to Castile; that even Hispaniola was closed against him, and his government given
to another. He had sent his creatures, Mendez and Fieschi,
to Spain, to appease the wrath of the Sovereigns; and it
was evident that everything here was sacrificed to his personal interest. By degrees these men ruined the Admiral's
authority, in recalling how the bureaus of Seville were
accustomed to treat this Genoese, and how he was obliged
to reinstate Roldan in his office. They assured them that,
in arriving at San Domingo, they would be well received
by the Governor, Ovando, who detested the Admiral, and
would be delighted to know that he was forsaken by
everybody.
Meanwhile Columbus, diligently employed with the sick,
and deeply solicitous for the welfare of the men who had
accompanied him in his search for the strait, was himself
prostrated from his physical sufferings. The pains in his




496


4HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


joints kept him confined to his bed. Accustomed to sufferings, and exercised for a long time in the virtue of
resignation, he showed no sign of impatience. A secret
presentiment assured him that Diego Mendez had arrived
safely in Hispaniola, and that the noble Fieschi would have
returned if he had been able. His submission to the Divine
will, and his perfect acquiescence in it, removed far from
him the violent thoughts and the secret irritations that then
agitated, the minds of many of his sailors.
On the second of January the Porras and their adherents,
to the number of forty-eight men, arose in open revolt.
They meditated killing Columbus and his friends; but being
assured by some officers that they would incur the vengeance of the Sovereigns, they for the present contented
themselves xvith taking six canoes which the Admiral had
purchased from the Indians, and with these, after helping
themselves with arms and provisions, they went away,
shouting defiance. There remained to the Admiral only
some officers, and the sick and infirm. The canoes he had
purchased as much to deprive the Indians of facilities for
attacking his cabin barracks, as for any use of which they
could be to him.
Supported by his domestics, he went every day to the
cabin barracks, which were converted into an hospital,
where he remained comforting the sick in every possible
way, administering medicines to them, and dressing their
sores with his own hands, pained, as they were, with gout.
His attentions were blessed by God, whom he continually
besought in favor of these poor people. Not only did none
of them die, but in a short time all were enabled to leave
the hospital.




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


497


CHAPTER VI.
The Insurgents, in imitation of Diego Mendez, want to pass to
Hispaniola. -Three times they make the Attempt, and as often
they are repelled by the Sea.-They plunder the Habitations
of the Indians, and try to excite them against the Admiral. -
The Indians determined to starve out the Strangers. -Anxiety
of Columbus. - He addresses himself to God, who inspires him
with the Idea of utilizing the approaching Eclipse of the Moon.
SECTION I.
FRANCESCO DE PORRAS, accompanied by his
band, went towards the most eastern point of the
island, - the one whence Diego Mendez had started for
Hispaniola. On their way they plundered and maltreated
the Indians, telling them to go and get payment from the
Admiral, and to kill him if he refused satisfying them.
They assured them that they had only this means of delivering themselves from him, as his object was to exterminate
them, the same as he had alieady done elsewhere. As soon
as they came to Cape Aomaquique, the rebels put into the
canoes provisions, water, and some articles of merchandise,
and, taking some Indian oarsmen, departed for Hispaniola.
When they had made four leagues the waves commenced
swelling, and a contrary wind arose. They tried to return
to the shore, but the water entered the canoes and threatened submerging them. They now sought to lighten them
by throwing overboard everything except their provisions
and arms. The sea becoming more and more rough, they
resolved to get rid of a part of the oarsmen, in order to
lighten the canoes, and, for this purpose, they killed with
their dirks some of these unfortunate creatures. Seeing
42*




498


HISTOR Y OF


[BOOK IV.


this, several of the Indians of themselves jumped into the
sea, trusting themselves to their expertness in swimming;
but after having sustained themselves for some time on the
waves, they were obliged, from fatigue, to return to the
canoes. They begged only the favor of catching the canoes
even with one hand, to rest themselves a little; but far
from yielding to their entreaties, the rebels cut off their
hands with their swords, and left them to drown. At length
the rebels reached land.
They now deliberated on the course to be taken: some
were for going to Cuba, and going thence to Hispaniola;
others for returning to the caravels, and bringing away all
the arms and merchandise that remained; and others, again,
those who had joined the rebels only at the last hour, were
for returning to the obedience of the Admiral. But the
majority were in favor of attempting anew the passage to
Hispaniola.
They waited for six weeks for a more favorable time.
During this period they pillaged and ruined the surrounding
country. At last, judging the auspicious moment had
come, they entered their canoes; but as soon as they got
some distance from the coast the waves arose, and it was
with great difficulty that they got back to land.
After some time, taking the appearances of the sea for
an invitation, they again reentered their canoes, determined
this time to cross this difficult passage; but again the wrath
of the sea alarmed these guilty consciences. With all their
efforts they could not go beyond the place they had reached
the first time. They considered themselves happy in being
able to get back to land. Relinquishing from that time an
idea which appeared to them chimerical, and doubting not
that Mendez and Fieschi had perished in their attempt,
they abandoned their canoes and resumed their business of
pillage.




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


499


SECTION     II.
The prudence of Columbus was such, that a friendly
relation was preserved with the Indians. They brought
provisions in abundance, but, by degrees, required more
and more for them. Either through the instigations of the
rebels, or on account of the excesses committed by the latter
in other parts of the island, the Indians immediately ceased
from bringing any further supplies. This interruption of
relations with them caused great disquietude. To resort to
force would be an alternative full of danger, and of but
temporary efficacy, while the Admiral and the convalescents would be left exposed in the caravels. All the seastores were nearly gone, and gaunt famine now threatened
the Spaniards.
In this horrible perplexity Columbus alone preserved
some hope, and besought the Lord, his Master, as he always
did; and, as usual, his appeal was not in vain.
It was on the occasion of this threatened famine that the
well-known prediction of the eclipse of the moon took place,
and which several writers have arranged so as to make it a
worthy counterpart of the story of the egg broken on the end.
Yet between the two anecdotes there exists all the difference there is between fable and reality. The story of the
egg is a fable, and the one of the predicted eclipse a reality.
We have only to rectify some of the accessory circumstances,
and especially the words attributed to Columbus on this
occasion.
It has been inconsiderately said that the Admiral, having
calculated an eclipse, invited the Indians as it were to a
show, and that he told them his God was incensed against
them because they refused furnishing him with provisions;
that in three days they would see the moon, at its rising,
redden and then become dark, as a sign of the punishments
that would be inflicted on them; and that at the time of the
eclipse the frightened Indians supplicated Columbus to appease his God, promising to furnish him, in future, with




500


HIS TOR r OF


[BOOK IV.


provisions; that then having adroitly shut himself up, he
seemed in converse with his God, and that a little before
the eclipse was over, he announced to them that he had
obtained their pardon. This gross juggling, an unworthy
way of working on the credulity of the savages, and of
bringing forward the sacred name of God, appears to us to
be absolutely at variance with the almost evangelical character of Columbus.
And first, let us remark, that the words ascribed to Columbus are by no means verbatim, and that they could not
have been so.
The cotemporary writers, Fernando Columbus, Diego
Mendez, Oviedo, Las Casas, were not able to collect the
exact words of Columbus. Fernando Columbus, the only
eye-witness, then scarcely fifteen years old, had taken no
notes of them, and he wrote his account of these events
more than twenty-nine years after their occurrence. Evidently, he may have forgotten the exact words used by his
father. Diego Mendez was then absent, and it was only at
the end of thirty-two years that he penned it as a hearsay.
Oviedo had no knowledge of this fact but only indirectly.
It is known that he willingly lent himself to the representations of the enemies of Columbus: besides, he gathered
their version of it only twenty-five years after the event;
and Las Casas, who still wrote, at the age of eighty-four
years, his History of the Indies, did not terminate it until
fifty-three years after the death of the Admiral. It is evident, then, that neither the one nor the other have derived
directly from their true source the words they attribute to
Columbus, and that among all these versions that of Fernando Columbus, an eye-witness, is to be preferred. But
it is evident to us that the translators of the text of Fernando, which is lost, allowed some inaccuracies to glide
into their version. In the main the accounts of the four
cotemporary writers appear to us worthy of credit as
regards the principal fact. They agree upon the main
point, and seem to err only in attributing to Columbus con



CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


50o


duct and language that were incompatible with his character. This is explained by the distance of time between
the event and the published account of it. When historians
have reported as a curious novelty this astronomical expedient, in order to show the inventive genius of Columbus,
they have, in good faith it is true, attributed to him the language they would themselves have used in his place, - that
which they considered becoming his situation. It is their
own spirit they have benevolently lent him; this is plainly
seen.
Let us, at last, state the real circumstances of this event,
and restore its true aspect.
When, through Diego Mendez, Columbus made a treaty
with the caciques of the neighborhood of Santa Gloria, to
be furnished with provisions at current prices, he told them,
first and foremost, that God, his Master, had made him
come to this place, and that he would remain there until
it would please Him that he should leave it. He presented
himself, then, to them in his real character, -as a guest
sent them by Providence, - and kept the sailors on board
the caravels, to preserve the hospitable islanders from their
cupidity. When, notwithstanding his vigilance, the Indians,
violating their promises, wanted to starve out the shipwrecked Spaniards, Columbus, seeing no human resource
for escaping the threatened famine, invoked the aid of the
Divine Majesty.
In place of aiding him with a material miracle, as He
would have done for a patriarch or a prophet of the Old
Law, and of sending him some manna or some quails, the
Most High assisted him with an idea. He succored His
servant with a notion derived from the scientific order dependent on the architecture of the heavens. He inspired
him with a means that had never been employed since the
commencement of certain history, and of which the Admiral
himself would never have thought. God reminded him that
in three days there would be an eclipse of the moon. Thus
the moon, that sign by which Diego Mendez was preserved




502


HIS TOR ' OF


[BOOK IV.


fiom a horrible death from thirst, was to save Christopher
Columbus from famine. In his perplexities, every time the
Messenger of the Cross went to pray, the idea of the eclipse
came into his mind. Columbus inferred from this circumstance that he must derive his safety from the eclipse. God
simply indicated to him the subject; his genius furnished
him with the mode of rendering it efficacious.
The Admiral concluded to utilize this phenomenon, so as
to secure a supply of provisions, and show the Indians the
superiority of the God of the Christians over their zemes.
He sent an interpreter to the caciques to invite them to a
grand exhibition, which the strangers would give the third
day from that. As he foresaw, they came in crowds. He
then reproached them with their breach of faith, and their
unkindness. He recalled to them that he was their guest
by the will of God, his Master. He told them that this
God, who permitted His messenger to arrive happily in
Hayti, had, on the contrary, raised the sea, and repulsed
the attempts of the rebels who had separated from him.
He added, that God, his Lord, knew of their project to
starve out the strangers, notwithstanding the agreements
made with them to supply the caravels; and that assuredly
He, who rewards the good and punishes the wicked, was
displeased with them on account of their want of good faith
and humanity. And to prove to them the superiority of the
servants of his God over their zemes, he announced to them
what their bohutis were ignorant of, and what even their
zemes did not know: that the same evening, at the rising
of the moon, they would see that luminary reddish, notwithstanding the serenity of the heavens, and then become obscure, and refuse giving light.
Many of the Indians were alarmed at the prediction,
while others went away deriding it with mockeries. When
the night came, the blood-color of the moon made the most
daring of them tremble. When they beheld a dark shadow
stealing over her, they shrieked with terror, and ran with
provisions to the caravels, supplicating the Admiral to




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


503


appease his offended God, and promising that they would,
in future, bring provisions regularly.  Yielding to their
entreaties, the Admiral said he would go and speak to his
God; and, in fact, he did retire to his cabin. Whoever
comprehends the character of Columbus will have no doubt
that he prayed to God for them, beseeching Him to open
their hearts to the light of the Gospel, to inspire them with
mild and humane sentiments, and to avert from them the
evils with which the natives of Hispaniola were afflicted.
The eclipse began to decrease when the Admiral, having
finished his prayers, returned from his cabin, and told the
caciques that he had spoken to his Master in their favor;
that God heard their promise of treating the Christians
kindly, and of bringing them provisions; and that, as they
entertained these sentiments, his Master would be favorable
to them. He told them that this phenomenon, an object
of terror to the greater portion of idolatrous peoples, was
not a threatening presage to the servants of Christ, and that
soon the moon would be no longer of a reddish-brown
color, but would reappear in her ordinary pure whiteness.
Columbus, from this circumstance, took occasion to show
the Indians the sign of Salvation, and to inspire them with
a salutary fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. In fact, the caciques thanked the Admiral, and went
away praising the God of the Christians, of whom they no
longer spoke but with the greatest respect and reverence.
From  that time they steadily furnished provisions, for
which they were scrupulously paid in articles of exchange.*
* Those who reject the supernatural will find insuperable difficulty,
not in explaining this eclipse, but in explaining how it occurred precisely at the time Columbus so much needed it. For our own part,
the more we reflect on the circumstances under which it took place,
and call to mind how very rarely such eclipses occur, the more we
are inclined to think that its occurrence at that particular time
was. as regarded Columbus, of a truly providential or miraculous
character. - B.




504


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


SECTION III.
The favors Columbus had on so many occasions received
from God, gave him the very greatest confidence in His
bounty.  Knowing that here below, as throughout the
universe, nothing happens but by His permission, he
sought to know what could be the object of the interruption of his enterprise, and whence proceeded his long delay
in that place, so unavailing for the glory of God and the
salvation of souls.
He attributed to diabolical influence the contrarieties he
had experienced during this voyage. He believed he could
see the hellish origin of this unexampled persecution he
had endured. Nevertheless, after having submitted him
to terrible proofs, the Lord had come to his aid. Notwithstanding the fierceness of the struggle, He had permitted him to erect the Cross on different points of the
new continent. He had miraculously conducted him, in a
shipwrecked state, across seven hundred sea miles, and left
him in a place he was acquainted with already. But why
does God appear to abandon him now?
Columbus continually thought of his strange situation.
He took to himself a confidant, who, at the end of three
centuries, has revealed to us what his thoughts were, and
shows what his prepossessions were during the painful
anxiety of this state of exile.  This confidant was the
sketch of the Book of the Prophecies, which the Admiral
took with him on his voyage, in addition to some rare
works, the ordinary companions of his route, and among
others the " Imago Mundi" of the learned Cardinal Peter
D'Ailly.
It is seen by the Book of the Prophecies that this soul
remained unchangeably youthful and poetic beneath the
weight of years and the teasings of sufferings.  It was
in verse that the Revealer of the Globe spoke to himself.
He proposed to himself the question, "What can be the




CHAP. VI.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


505


cause of so long an exile?"* and his acquaintance with
divine matters, his faith, rather than his genius, sought the
solution of the problem.
Eight months had elapsed since the departure of Diego
Mendez, and still there was no account from Hispaniola.
Except the Admiral, certain of his safe arrival, nobody else
preserved the least hope on the subject.  Admitting the
prodigy that Mendez had reached the shore of Hispaniola,
there were yet, from Cape St. Michael to San Domingo,
more than a hundred leagues to be traversed across rugged
mountains!
In order that no degree of bitterness should be withheld
from Columbus, it was among the persons whom, by his
attentions and moral medication he had restored to health,
that there was formed, secretly, a conspiracy still more formidable than the first one. Instigated by the apothecary
Bernal, the old patients resolved to seize on the remaining
canoes, take everything that was on board, and massacre
the Admiral, who had, as they said, put them in this dire
situation. The secret was buried in a profound silence.
Columbus suspected no danger; but Providence watched
over him. The time was fixed: it was during the night
that the plot was to be carried into effect. A few hours
before the moment fixed for its execution, towards evening,
a sail was descried in the north-east, like an apparition on
the sea. Its appearance frustrated the perpetration of the
contemplated crime. The ship approached the shore, and
cast anchor at some distance from the caravels.
*SE CTION    IV.
All the Castilians saw with joy, mingled with doubt, this
little sail, which they thought ought to cast anchor nearer.
* At page 77 of the Libro de las Profecias are found the following
lines, written by the hand of Columbus:" Qual sea la causa de tanto destierro
Por mill prolongado y mas de quinientos."
43




506


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


The boat of the brigantine soon came near the Cai3zitana.
The boatmen asked for a rope, and on its being cast to
them, they attached to it a barrel of wine, together with a
side of bacon, which were drawn up into the caravel.
Then the officer tied to the end of a boat-hook a letter for
the Admiral, and immediately removed away some distance from the caravel. In recognizing him, most of the
sailors were struck with astonishment. It was the traitor
Diego de Escobar, that commandant who had revolted
against the Viceroy of the Indies, and who had, with his
troops, passed over to Roldan. The mission confided to
him by Ovando constituted a grave offence towards the
Admiral.
In the mean time, Columbus left his cabin and came on
the deck. Escobar called out to him, saying that the Governor was sorry he had not in the harbor a vessel large
enough to send for him and his men; that his interests
should be attended to; that as soon as possible he should
be delivered from that place; and offered to take charge of
his reply, if he would have it ready immediately, because
the brigantine would have to leave without delay. Columbus acknowledged the receipt of the message from Ovando;
recommended to his favor Diego Mendez and Fieschi, assuring him that they went with no other object than that
of informing him of the disaster, and to request his aid.
He advised him of the revolt of Porras, who had added
to the perils of the situation, and finished in recommending
himself to his care and diligence.
During this time the boat remained still. From the caravels the pilots put some questions to the boatmen; but,
complying with the order they had received, these men
remained silent. As soon as the despatch of the Admiral
was sealed, the boat came back near the CaSitana, took
it, and then pushed vigorously for the brigantine, which
immediately hoisted her sails.




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


50o7


CHAPTER VII.
The Rebels attack the Admiral. - They are defeated by the Adelantado, who makes their Chief a Prisoner. - Columbus receives
some Aid, and returns to Hispaniola. - He departs for Spain.Successive Tempests. -Providentially aided, he arrives at San
Lucar.
SECTION I.
W       HEN, the next morning, the crews saw no more of
the brigantine, they thought it was all a dream.
The circumstances of her arrival and departure, and the
reserve and silence of the boatmen, seemed to the officers a
matter of evil augur. They concluded that the Governor
did not want to save them, on account of his enmity
towards the Admiral. Columbus sought to dispel their
suspicions, professing himself satisfied with the communications received, and gave as a reason for the sudden
departure of the brigantine, the desire to bring caravels
more promptly to their aid.
In real truth Ovando had sent the traitor Escobar only
to see if the Admiral could, with his own resources, leave
that place. There was full proof of this. But the interest
excited by the misfortune of Columbus, and the earnest
entreaties of some Franciscans, prevented the Governor
from thwarting the exertions made by Diego Mendez on
behalf of his shipwrecked companions, and made him, at
last, appear to desire to succor them himself.
With his sentiments of adoptive paternity, the Admiral
was grieved to see a part of his crews foolishly separated
from him; he considered them as children who had gone
astray. He hoped, by the announcement of a speedy return




508


HIS TORT OF


[BOOK IV.


to Castile, to bring them back to the paths of duty, and to
spare the poor Indians the injuries the rebels continually
inflicted on them. He offered them full and entire pardon,
on condition that they would reenter the caravels without
further delay. In order to prove to them that he had received news from Hispaniola, he sent them a part of the
bacon and some of the wine that had been brought by
Escobar, and chose, as messengers, two men of merit who
had had relations with Porras. When these two messengers
appeared at the rebel quarters, Porras came to meet them,
and took them apart, unwilling that his men should hear
their propositions, lest they should accede to them. Still
they knew that Diego Mendez had arrived in Hispaniola,
and that caravels were expected daily.
We cannot follow this brutal revolt throughout. Let it
suffice to say that at length the rebels came to attack the
Admiral, when they were met by the Adelantado, and
the few troops who had remained with him, and that the
Adelantado, with prodigious valor, overcame six of their
most valiant men, who had sworn to take his life, slaying
most of them, and making a prisoner of Francesco de Porras. The rest of the rebels, finding themselves deprived of
their leaders, were soon put to flight.
Columbus thanked his brother, but especially the Lord.
He rendered many thanks to God, holding it for certain that
He had delivered him fiom death. This victory cost the
Admiral's men only two wounds. Don Bartholomew soon
recovered fiom the one he had received, but unfortunately
the brave captain of the Galician, Pedro de Terreros, succumbed in a few days after fiom his wound, which he received in the groin.
The rebels, having no longer a chief, offered to make
their submission. They bound themselves by oaths and
fearful imprecations to be obedient in future. The Admiral
deigned to pardon them all. He merely retained Porras a
prisoner on board the caravel, placed the insurgents under
the command of a trusty captain, and cantoned them in the




CHAP. vn.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


509


island, in order to avoid collisions, which may take place if
they should reenter the barracks in the caravels.
SECTIOVN I.
More than a year had elapsed when, to the unspeakable
joy of the crews, two caravels entered the bay of Santa
Gloria. They were under the command of Diego de Salcedo, a brevetted perfumer, and a former esquire of the
household of the Admiral. The first of these caravels was
chartered by the indefatigable Diego Mendez, and was laden
with bread, wine, meats and fruits. The second was sent
by Ovando, whom public opinion forced to show kind feelings, in spite of him. He feared Mendez would have the
start of him, so he confided his caravel, also, to the command
of Salcedo. As soon as the two caravels had left the port
of San Domingo, Diego Mendez, who had freighted another
ship, embarked for Castile with Bartholomew Fieschi, to
give the Sovereigns an account of the recent maritime
expedition.
Columbus, having thanked God for His mercy, went on
board the caravel chartered at his expense, with his officers,
and the sailors who had remained faithful to him. The
others took their place in the caravel sent by the Governor.
The twenty-eighth of June the ships left the Bay of Santa
Gloria, where so many dangers and -mysterious aids, so
many sufferings and invisible consolations, had alternately
cast down and raised up the largest heart in the world.
The struggle the Admliral had sustained against the billows during the whole course of this voyage, since the
solemn hour that he had predicted the tempest, recommenced as soon as he was out of the bay. The twofold
violence of the winds and the waves detained him more
than a month in this passage. A circumstance worthy of
note is, that with his sails, and his experienced sailors, it
required continual manceuvring, for more than a month, to
cross the space which, by the divine favor, his envoy, Diego
43*




5IO


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


Mendez, had traversed in less than four days with oars, and
in canoes!
Notwithstanding the nautical improvements of our era,
the hydrographic study of these regions, aided by experience, there is not this day a naval officer, midshipman, or
admiral, that, at the price of a kingdom, would attempt the
passage from Jamaica to Hispaniola or Hayti, under the
same conditions, and with the same embarkation that Diego
Mendez did. It cannot be denied that during this fourth
voyage of Columbus, the prodigious is continually met with.
'It will be understood with what reason he said to the Catholic Sovereigns, alluding to matters so extraordinary,' "Who
can believe what I have written here?"  And still he adds,
immediately after, " I say that in this letter I HAVE NOT
RECOUNTED THE HUNDREDTH PART OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO   IE." Those who were with the Admiral can
attest the truth of it.*
At length the Admiral reached the little island of Beata,
whence, by way of land, he apprised the Governor of his
approach; then continuing his voyage, he arrived at San
Domingo on the thirteenth of August.
The Governor, with a grand cortege, composed of the
office-holders and principal inhabitants, came to greet Columbus. The public hastened to lavish tokens of respect
on him. Seamen honored in his person the incomparable
navigator; and the Franciscans, the Messenger of Salvation, the precursor of their future preaching. The people
saluted in him the majesty of misfortune borne with patience; his reverses gained him all hearts. It was in the
government palace that Ovando installed him, and gave him
fetes and banquets.
Notwithstanding the appearance of these good relations,
the Admiral, who always saw to the bottom of things, knew
how to reduce to their true value these demonstrations of
* Lettre aux Rois Catholiques daUe de la yamaifue le 7 cuillet,
1503.




'CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


5II


Ovando; and, on his side, the Governor could not believe but
that the Admiral sought to obtain influence in the island,
hoping to be soon put again in possession of his rights, for
the nomination of Ovando limited his powers to two years.
Soon Ovando wished to show Columbus that he was the
real Governor of Hispaniola. He raised a question of
competency, and pretended to take cognizance of the rebellion of Porras, because it took place within the limits of
his jurisdiction. He required the surrender of Porras, detained on board the caravel, and after the first examination
set him at liberty, without any judicial inquiry, or committing anything to writing. Moreover, he even spoke of
arresting those who had taken up arms to defend the Admiral. What he did in this respect was, he said, only in
the interest of justice, and for the maintenance of the rights
of the Government, which those of the Admiralty could not
overrule. Columbus determined to bear patiently every
injustice rather than occasion the least difficulty in the
colony, limiting himself to representing how illusory would
be the authority of an Admiral, if he could not punish a
revolt on board his ship. Then he smiled with that calm,
Christian resignation with which he was so deeply imbued.
Such of the miserable partisans of Porras as had not,
already deserted on arriving, demanded to be permitted to
return to Spain. Destitute of all resources, and even of
clothing, they solicited passages in some ship. The Admiral, after their rebellion, could justly have left them to the
care of the Governor, and embarked solely with his own
people and his officers in the caravel, and the more so because one ship could not contain all the passengers; but,
considering all they had suffered during this voyage of
discovery, he pitied them for their crimes, for what he
called their " moral infirmity," and considered he could not,
with a good conscience, abandon them. He appropriated
for their use the caravel that was being refitted, and, at his




512


HIISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


own expense, bought another, in which he himself was to
sail with his family and friends.
To meet this increase of expenses it became necessary for
him to see what revenue had been received for him during
his absence. According to a rough calculation made by his
friends, the total amount should come to about eleven thousand castillans; and still only four thousand were accounted
for. This produced a warm contest with the Governor;
the latter, in the discussion, skilfully laid his snares, but the
Admiral baffled them, and he remained master of his just
indignation. The only thing he did was to use all his
efforts to have the caravel. refitted as soon as possible; for
his stay in San Domingo in the house of so craftily polite an adversary, became insupportable to him. Besides,
he was placed in a false position; he could not utter his
views, give counsel, or freely express his thoughts about anything. He felt that he was a stranger in the administration
of a country of which he was the donor, the Viceroy, and
the perpetual Governor! He saw this magnificent island
stained with blood and devastated, where he wanted to introduce civilization and the blessings of Christianity.
The sufferings of the poor Indians especially afflicted the
heart of Columbus. Alas! it was not this he expected
when he discovered these countries. He loved these artless
and whimsical children of the forests; he had received the
gift of reading their hearts and of subjugating them by his
personal ascendancy. They shed tears of grief the first
time he separated from them at Navidad. At Santa Gloria
they likewise bewailed his departure. But now he could
do nothing in their favor; his only hope for them was from
the justice of the Queen. Alas! that noble Isabella added
still more to his afflictions. The latest accounts from Castile informed him that she was momentarily despaired of.
This news transpierced the heart of Columbus with grief.




CHAP. VII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


5I3


SECTION III.
At length, on the twelfth of September, Columbus, after
having bid farewell to the Governor, and received the hearty
adieus of the most honorable of the colonists, entered with
his friends, his officers and his men, on board the caravel
he had purchased. The other one that was refitted was appropriated for the other mariners who wished to return to
Spain, and was commanded by the Adelantado.
When they were about two leagues from the port, and still
in sight of it, a sudden squall struck the mainmast of the
Admiral's vessel, shattering it in pieces to the quarter-deck.
In place of returning to have it replaced by another, he immediately went, with his family, on board of the vessel
commanded by the Adelantado, and, sending back the
damaged ship to port, continued on his course.
Throughout the voyage he experienced very tempestuous
weather. On the ninth of October, a sudden gust shattered
the mainmast in four places. He was confined to his bed,
at the time, from rheumatism; yet by his advice, and the
inventive genius of the Adelantado, the damage was skilfully repaired; the mast was shortened, and the weak parts
were fortified by pieces taken from other parts of the vessel;
then the whole was well secured with cordage.
A few days after, another tempest sprung the foremast.
There remained yet seven hundred leagues to be traversed.
Far from making for the Azores to repair and replace his
masting, as any other commander would have done, the
Admiral, accustomed to the favors of the Most High, appeared to be no way concerned about this new accident.
His pains left him no repose; besides, his mind was agitated with gloomy presentiments. He longed to get near
the Queen, and he continued to make straight for Castile.
The remaining part of this voyage continued difficult and
painful. Tempest-tossed for several weeks, he at length,
on the seventh of November, " by the permission of God,"
arrived at the port of San Lucar.




514


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


CHAPTER VIII.
Columbus sojourns in Seville. - Sickness and Death of Isabella. -
Unspeakable Grief of Columbus at her Death. -His Sickness,
Poverty, and Moral Sufferings. -From his Bed he counteracts
an Intrigue of Fonseca in Rome. -Fruitless Reclamations of
Columbus before Ferdinand. - He nobly rejects an Offer made
him by the King.
SECTION      I.
T   HE adored Isabella was succumbing from a chronic
disease.  Notwithstanding the ardent desire of Columbus to have gone to Medina del Campo, where the
Court resided, he was obliged to remain in Seville, the
nursery of his enemies. His sufferings detained him at a
hotel. The few fiiends he counted in this city were then
absent; even his great admirer, the learned Gaspard Gorricio, had, for the time, left his monastery. He was like a
stranger in this city, which had become the seat of colonial
affairs. During his absence the bureaus of the marine had
received their complete organization. The Admiralty of
the Indies formed a true marine and colonial ministration
under the presidency of Don Juan de Fonseca, the implacable enemy of the great man.
Columbus, who expected to be able, at last, to rest from
his fatigues and cares, thus found himself unwillingly under
the lash of his persecutors. The sailors whom, through
pity, he had brought back at his own expense, and among
whom there were several rebels, could not get their pay
from the bureaus. Knowing his generosity, they importuned him, well aware that he would not forget to urge
their claims with all the earnestness in his power.
Confined to his bed, almost unable to move, and writing




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


5I5


only with great pain, he knew of the proceedings of his
enemies, and that the rebels who had made an attempt on
his life were at large, and were received at Court plotting
against him, while the documents of their procedure had
remained in the caravel that had returned to San Domingo
to be masted. Columbus wrote to the Sovereigns to apprise
them of what had occurred.
The Admiral, oppressed with his physical ailments, had
still to bear the keenest moral sufferings. He knew that
the heroic woman who had comprehended him, who had
sympathized with him, and who was his protectress and
friend, was a prey to an incurable disease.  He could
neither write nor speak to her at this dreadful moment.
He dared not recall himself directly to her remembrance, -
a matter he yet counted on; besides, the virtuous Dona
Juana de la Torre was no more, who alone would, perhaps, have the courage of speaking of him by the sick-bed
of Isabella.
The Queen had received the letter which the Admiral
wrote the seventh of July, I503, from Jamaica, and which
was miraculously carried by Diego Mendez to Hispaniola,
and thence to Castile. She had not waited for the arrival
of this trusty squire to occupy herself with the interests of
the Admiral. While he was languishing on the coast of
Jamaica, she gave a proof of her constancy and grateful
remembrance, in nominating his eldest son to the rank
of body-guard, with a pay of fifty thousand maravedis per
annum.   Soon after, she wrote twice to the Governor,
Ovando, to take good care of the rights of the Admiral,
conformably to the royal stipulations. Later she had accorded to his brother, the Abbe Don Diego Columbus,
letters of naturalization, in order to be able to invest him
with a benefice.
Isabella admitted into her presence the pious and faithful
servitor of Columbus. She listened to the details of the
voyage; and on learning from him the state of the colony,
-the massacres of Xaragua and Higuey, the horrible




516


HISTORT OF


[BOOK Iv.


slavery for which the work in the mines served as a pretext, the lamentable end of the noble and hospitable Anacoana, - her heart writhed with grief, and, with an indignation that cannot be expressed, she said to the President
of the Council of Justice, in speaking of Ovando, —" I will
appoint him to a place that will never be coveted."
To reward the devotedness of the valorous Diego Mendez,
whom Columbus made a captain, she raised him to the nobility, giving him, with his letters-patent, armorial bearings
that would perpetuate the form of his heroism.
It was rumored about Court that Isabella had exacted a
promise fiom the King to recall fiom office and chastise
Ovando, who was reeking with the blood of the Indians;
to protect this distant people, whom she had so much
desired to range under the standard of the Cross, and to
reinstate in his rights, in his titles, and in his government,
the Viceroy of the Indies, Don Christopher Columbus. This
rumor was well founded. It was even said in Seville that
the Queen had spoken of Columbus in her will. This was
a mistake. Motives of prudence imposed silence on her,
which, far from implying forgetfulness, testified her faithful remembrance of him. It was even in the interest of the
Admiral that she omitted making any disposition in his
favor. Already he.had enemies enough; she feared, for
him, the animosity of the King. On the twenty-sixth of
November, I504, Isabella breathed her last, and with her
death the glory and the happiness of Spain became eclipsed.
SE CTZIO      IL.
During this time a keen anguish agitated the mind of
Columbus. He shuddered at the idea of losing Isabella,
who was the soul of discoveries, the patroness of the Indies,
the protectress of truth and of justice, the image of the
beautiful and the good, the ideal of regal superiority. He
addressed his prayers to the Adorable Trinity for the preservation of her life.




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


5I7


On being informed of her death, who shall tell the rending of heart and the bitterness of grief he experienced?
The father who loses his only daughter feels no keener
anguish of heart. To paint this unutterable affliction it
would be necessary to measure in its sublimity that attraction for each other of the two souls which Providence had
predestined to elaborate the greatest work of the human
race. By its immensity the grief of Columbus bordered on
the infinite; its multiple suffering was as vast as the spirit
that animated the body of that Queen, which was stamped
with an indelible majesty. It was the rending of a superior
sympathy, rooted in tenderness of soul, fecundated with the
splendors of faith, and vivified in Christ, who was its principle, its safeguard, and its immortal end.
His only stay in this world was gone. He had lost more
than a protectress, more than a sovereign: he had lost a
friend. Yes, the Queen loved with a maternal tenderness,
and honored with a respectful deference, the man whom
God had sent her to double the known space of creation.
Isabella refound in Columbus her own qualities; that is
to say, her eminent virtues. She admired in him especially
that modesty of a hero, that simplicity of a saint, and that
artlessness of a child which the Patriarch of the Ocean
preserved throughout the vicissitudes of his unequalled
labors.  An involuntary respect inclined the great and
venerated Isabella towards this old man, breathing grandeur, transpiring the sublime, and beaming from this world
with the impress of immortality.
Columbus always saw in the incomparable Isabella the
type of purity, of constancy, and of fidelity to her word;
the flower of human graces, and the poetry of humanity.
To whom will he henceforth recount the ravishments which
the marvels of unknown regions produced in him? Who
now will undertake new discoveries? Who now will follow him in thought, and thank him for his distant fatigues?
Who will come to aid him? to realize, in fine, the chief


44




5IS


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


object of his hopes,- the deliverance of the tomb of the
Divine Saviour?
When he understood that his loss was effected in the
death of Isabella, he experienced a lifelessness of heart.
His desolation was as mute as the tomb; his unspeakable
grief found no utterance. It is only known that his physical sufferings were redoubled by it.
As soon as Isabella, that sign of honor, of confidence and
of union, was dead, the spirit of discord, appeared. Mistrust and discontentment showed themselves in the high
places of the Court; looks became gloomy, and grave inquietudes disturbed men of peace and of foresight. Machiavelism took possession of politics; jealous mediocrities and
adroit hypocrisies raised their heads, and the good and the
just became objects of suspicion.
SECTION III.
Since his landing, Columbus could not leave his bed, nor
use his hands, especially during the day, on account of a
debility which prevented him from holding the pen, and
permitted him writing only at night. He was obliged to
take from the hours of sleep those for his correspondence,
and for the management of his affairs. Yet the activity of
his mind, in the midst of his sufferings, astonishes us.
After his arrival he learned that the Sovereign Pontiff,
Julius II., no doubt knowing the relations established between his predecessors and the Revealer of the New World,
complained of not having received from him news from the
Indies. He made a report of his discoveries to the Chief of
the Church; but, fearing that his semi-official communications with the Pontifical Court should be made a ground for
new accusations, before sending this document to Rome
he thought it prudent to give copies of it to the King, and
to the new Archbishop of Seville, Diego de Deza, his friend,
and formerly his defender in the celebrated conference at
Salamanca.




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


5I9


But what we admire still more than his moral force, and
his patience in his sufferings, is his generosity of character,
and the evangelical perfection of his charity, which caused
him to take under his shield the seamen he had brought
back with him, a part of whom had threatened his life.
He did not limit himself to pardoning them. To furnish
them with means to return home, he was obliged to submit
to a deduction of twelve hundred castillans discount on the
money he received at San Domingo. On his arrival at
Seville, in his first letter to the Sovereigns he earnestly
recommended to their solicitude those men whose pay was
still due, and whose need was extreme. Some days after
he still reminded the Court of their necessities and poverty.
The twenty-eighth of December he recommended to his son
Diego to intercede on their behalf. Without fearing to be
considered importunate by his persistence, on the first of
December he recommenced writing in their favor.
But this energy of claiming for others justice and humanity, he could not use in his own regard; he limited
himself to recalling to mind his services, and the engagements of the Crown towards him. He did all that his situation permitted him to do. On his arrival at Seville he
wrote to the Sovereigns, announcing his return, and stating
that he awaited their orders. Ferdinand, on this occasion,
said the most flattering things of him to his son Diego,
which the latter, in the innocence of his heart, believing
them to be sincere, transmitted to his father. But to the
message the Admiral added a memorial, in the form of " a
very long letter," on the administration of the government
of the Indies, in which he depicted in its reality the situation of the colony, the origin of the evils there, and indicated the proper remedies for them. No reply came to
this memorial.
The Admiral wrote twice afterwards, without being honored with any answer. He wrote repeatedly to his son
Diego to obtain an answer for him, but it was in vain.
Diego could get none.




520


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


Columbus having been informed by some member of the
Bureaus of Seville that three bishoprics were to be established in the Indies, he demanded from the King the favor
of being heard before anything definite would be decided on
in this matter. No answer came. In the course of December
he learned from public rumor that presentations had been
made and approved of, in the ordinary manner.
During the time that the Admiral was languishing in disfavor, - sick, and in a state of destitution, — in this calumnious city, become for him another Cedar, the Chief of the
Church, who took a deep interest in the viceroyalty of the
Herald of the Cross, was astonished that in this creation of
bishoprics, caused by the rapid progress of the conversion
of the natives, the Viceroy of the Indies had uttered no
opinion, and that no reference had been made to him.
This silence of Ferdinand in regard to Columbus, the Crossbearer of Catholicity, appeared suspicious.
At the Pontificial Court they were not ignorant of the
envy and persecutions of which he was the object. This
erection of an archbishopric and two bishoprics all at the
same time, to provide for the sudden wants of the three
centres of population, caused some doubts in the Roman
chancery. Undoubtedly the three bishops proposed, offered
all the guarantees of piety and of orthodoxy that could be
desired.  They were the Franciscan Father Garcias de
PadiHa, the Doctor Pedro de Deza, nephew to the Archbishop
of Seville, and the Licentiate Alonzo Mansa, a canon of
Salamanca. So these nominations were approved of by the
Holy See. Nevertheless, in its prudence it did not expedite
the Bulls until it would be more fully informed about the
state of affairs. Thus the Court of Rome listened to, as if
it heard them, the wishes of the Admiral, which Ferdinand
had rejected. The bishops did not depart for Hispaniola.
If Columbus insisted so much on giving his advice in the
creation of these bishoprics, it was that the glory of God
and the honor of the Sovereign Pontiff filled him with a
pious solicitude. He felt fully persuaded that an undue




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


52I


advantage was taken of the distance, to lead the Holy Father
into error, and to make his sacred authority serve for worldly
purposes.
This circumstance, which has not hitherto been remarked
by any historian, deserves to be placed in its true light.
Hoping to increase the importance of his government,
and give Hispaniola a rank or consequence that would
conduce to his ulterior views, Ovando conceived the design
of soliciting the creation of an archdiocese and two dioceses
in the island. The sole fact of this creation would sufficiently attest his religious zeal and his administrative ability.
He demanded, then, the erection of the archbishopric of
Xaragua, having as suffragans the bishopric of Larez and
that of Conception. Ovando found a particular interest in
erecting into an episcopal see the village of Larez, built
under his auspices, and which contained about sixty inhabitants. By this means he expected to attract settlers there,
and perpetuate his enterprise. As to Conception, where
there were grouped about a hundred and fifty individuals,
protected by the solid fortress that had been built by the
Admiral, the bishop would not have to complain of such a
residence. It received the name of a city: the place was
salubrious and well protected; he could save his soul there
in peace, and could consider himself safe from all the attacks of his future flock.
As regarded the archbishopric, it seemed natural enough
to establish it in San Domingo, the capital of the colony,
which possessed a citadel, a military post, and the largest
population of any place in the whole island. But although
Ovando wished the creation of an archiepiscopal see to increase the lustre of his government, his ambitious and domineering character made him fear the presence of a superior
and independent authority, who could have limited and
controlled certain points of his proceedings. He proposed,
then, the establishment of the archdiocese at Xaragua, a
place distant from the capital some seventy leagues, across
mountains and valleys, without an open road, without
44*




522


HISTOR T OF


[BOOK IV,


dwellings and without inhabitants. Xaragua! that dolorous
image, that fiightful memento which Ovando ought never
to have recalled! a place that was burnt after the massacre!
a heap of ruins and of ashes given up to silence, to desertion, and to dismay!
Still, such a proposition was examined, weighed, and
approved of by Fonseca, president of colonial affairs. Lo!
how this nominal bishop would have organized the service
of God in Hispaniola! He dared to say that Christianity
made great progress in the Indies, because idolatry diminished there daily. Idolatry, in fact, had diminished there,
inasmuch as the Indians disappeared from sight. After the
massacres, the executions in mass, the assassinations, the
arbitrary murders and the deaths caused by the works on
the mines,- and thus idolatry was getting gradually extinguished. Could such means have gained souls to Christianity? It will now be understood why everything was
concealed, or tried to be concealed, from the Admiral; how
shameful trafficking and spiritual turpitude were in dread
of his penetrating and clear discernment.
The views of Columbus were secretly communicated by
him to the Apostolic Nuncio. The evangelical solicitude
of the Herald of the Cross did not end here.
Notwithstanding his pecuniary embarrassments, he contrived, partly by the aid and credit of a few friends, to
raise funds to defray the expenses of a voyage to Rome,
and despatched there, in all haste, the Adelantado, with
a message to the Holy Father. Don Bartholomew, always
ready to comply with the desires of his brother, departed
under the pretence of going to visit his native country, in
order to excite no suspicion, and speedily accomplished his
voyage. We have the proof that in I505 he was in
Rome, where he edited the history of the first voyage of
Christopher Columbus, accompanied with a chart of his
discoveries.
The stay of the Adelantado in the Eternal City was not
of long duration, but the object of his journey was attained.




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


523


The Holy Father refused to expedite the briefs. All the
entreaties of the Spanish Ambassador had no effect on the
Holy See. Before the Chief of the Church the confidential
advice of Columbus prevailed over the assertions of the
Spanish Crown and the cunning of diplomacy.
While in Seville, Columbus one day received a visit from
Amerigo Vespucci, who was called to Court, by the King,
about marine affairs, and who came to receive the commands of the Admiral; that is to say, under the pretence of.
making himself agreeable to him, he sought to obtain a
recommendation from him. Amerigo had made with Alonzo
de Ojeda and the pilot Juan de la Cosa, a voyage to Terra
Firma, by the aid of the charts of the Admiral, of which
the director of marine, Juan de Fonseca, had traitorously
given them a copy; and still Columbus seemed to forget
his participation in that felony. He only knows or remembers that he has voyaged, made observations, and suffered
without much advantage to his fortune; and, as all his
former relations with Vespucci were agreeable, Columbus,
without looking closer into his character, judges him to be
" a very good man." He accepts the proffered services of
Vespucci, and gives him a letter of introduction to his son
Diego.
The Admiral having received no answer to his letters to
the King, flattered himself that by going to Court he could
verbally advance his interests. The weather had become
mild. He thought he could bear the gait of a mule,- that
of a horse being too painful for his state of suffering.
Already, on the twenty-ninth of December, he had written
to obtain from the King permissioni to make the journey on
a mule, " saddled and bridled," a matter that was interdicted by an ordinance.*
Don Diego obtained the permission, which was signed
the twenty-third of February; but the severe pains of the
* The ordinance referred to, was because the universal use of
mules occasioned a decline in the breeding of horses. -B.




524


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


Admiral, increased by the displeasure produced by these
delays, and the inclemency of the weather, did not allow
him to avail himself then of it.  He passed the Lent in
Seville, unable to use his limbs. Notwithstanding his sufferings, he diminished in nothing his austerities, observed
strictly the Lenten Fast, and followed with exactness the
rule of the Seraphic Order.
At length the genial influences of spring ameliorated his
condition. In the course of May, supported by his brother,
the Adelantado, and mounted on a mule, he took the route
to Segovia, where the Court then remained. Still, such
were his sufferings that he fell sick anew in Salamanca.
After some other delays, occasioned by the severity of his
sufferings, he at length came to the end of his journey.
The King welcomed him with his usual politeness, to
which he added an air of graciousness and satisfaction; but
did not give him his title of Viceroy, or treat him according
to his rank, as he had done during the lifetime of the
Queen. He listened with patience to the recital of the perilous voyage, and with interest to the account of the mines
of Veragua. He let the Admiral recount the shipwreck at
Jamaica, the abandonment to which the Governor of Hispaniola had delivered him, the revolt of Porras, the aflfonts
received in San Domingo, without giving him any other
consolation than those vaguely polite words with which
the experience of Columbus could no longer be deceived.
Protesting the interest he felt in his regard, and acknowledging the titles, as old as they were incontestible, of the
Admiral to the gratitude of the Crown, the King contrived
to terminate the audience without deciding, or even promising anything.
Columbus, after having allowed some days to pass, considered it his duty to recall to the remembrance of the
King the services he had rendered. Ferdinand replied to
him in a very polite manner, which could not be forgotten.
Still, the coldness of his accents counterbalancing the kindness of his words, his airs of a monarch, taken designedly




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


525


to maintain him in a circumspect reserve, and to prevent
every direct question that would have led to a frank reply,
showed the real disposition of the King. He spoke particularly to the Admiral about his gout and his rheumatism, recommended to him, above all, to take good care
of himself, mentioning the medicines proper for him to
take, and then, with a gracious nod, gave him leave to
withdraw.
If such a manner of treating as an imbecile old man
the Revealer of the Globe seemed to Ferdinand a clever
piece of dexterity, what it partook of the cruel must have
deeply revolted the heart of Columbus. For some days he
remained in his retreat, offering to God these secret outrages; then he essayed to put before the eyes of the King,
in a few lines, the object of his reclamation.
In his letter, far from feeling embarrassed at the listlessness, almost disdainful, which the Court manifested towards
him, the Admiral, who always avoided recalling the superhuman character of his Discovery, and the favors with
which the Lord had privileged him, this time speaks loudly
and strongly to his earthly Sovereign. He calls by their
proper names things which some people would fain ignore.
The memory of prodigies effected, the consciousness that
his rights have been violated, and the sentiment of revolted
justice, impress on his style a vigor which cannot be rendered in the translation. This letter thus commences:
"MOST PUISSANT KING:"Our Lord God sent me miraculously here to serve
your Highnesses. I say miraculously, because I went to
present my enterprise to Portugal, whose King had extended
discoveries more than any other had done, and that he had
his sight and hearing and all his other faculties obscured to
that point, that during fourteen years he could not comprehend what I exposed.to him. I say also miraculously,
because I received urgent entreaties by letter from three




526


HIS TORT' OF


[BOOR IV.


princes, which the Queen (God be with her) saw, and
which were read by Doctor Villalon," etc.
The Admiral added that from the greatness of his services, and the advantages which must result from them,
everybody thought His Highness would honor him, and
would show him his good-will by deeds, and that in this he
would only fulfil what had already been promised him verbally, what had been engaged to him by writing, under his
signature.
The King replied that he well saw the advantages which
must result from the Indies, and that he merited all the
favors that had been granted him. Still, as his demand
was of a complex character, since there were at the same
time questions of titles, of government, of pecuniary rights,
of accounts to be settled, of arrears to be paid up, - in a
word, of things almost litigious, - it would be meet to
choose as an umpire a man capable of this kind of arbitration. The Admiral accepted this proposition, and besought
the King to refer the matter to the new Archbishop of
Seville, Don Diego de Deza. Ferdinand agreed to this.
The Admiral specified expressly the question he intended
for settlement: it was solely that which concerned his revenues, the amount of claims on articles exported from the
Indies, and on those that were imported there. As to his
titles, and the government of the Indies, he did not admit
that they could be called in question, his right to them being
too clearly written down. It appears the archbishop did
not act in this matter; either because he thought his firiendship for Columbus would make him somewhat of a party
in this affair, or because his modesty prevented him pronouncing as umpire between his Sovereign and the Viceroy
of the Indies, he declined the task.*
* It is more probable that the matter was not really submitted to
the archbishop at all. At least such appears to be the view of Mr.
Washington Irving. -B.




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


527


At length, Columbus seeing that his representations were
without force, since he had not the power of making them
effectual, offered to leave the matter in dispute to the generosity of the King himself. He told him, in order to avoid
the tardiness of litigation, to fix himself the amount that was
due to him, because he was worn down from labors and infirmities, and he longed to see this matter terminated, in
order to be able to retire to some corner and die there in
peace.
The King graciously replied that he did not wish to deprive himself yet of his services; that he was determined
to satisfy him in every respect, that he could not forget that
they owed the Indies to him, and that he intended to accord
him not only what belonged to him legally in virtue of his
privileges, but also to recompense him with the riches belonging to the Crown.
After assurances so formal, to utter a doubt would have
been an offence. It was necessary to be silent and wait.
Besides, if the grandees had forsaken him, there yet remained
to him his old friend Diego de Deza. Columbus was also
held in high consideration, and beloved by the illustrious
Cardinal Ximenes, Archbishop of Toledo. He retained a
ray of hope, for at times he allowed himself to be beguiled
by the insincere words of Ferdinand. His own uprightness
was such that he did not believe others capable of dissimulation so long continued, nor of such a contempt for the
most sacred rights.
As it was especially the Queen who had made engagements to the Admiral, it appeared proper to submit his
reclamations to the Junta de Descaigos, a council or tribunal instituted to watch over and superintend the execution of the intentions and testamentary obligations of the
Sovereigns of Spain. The Council took the matter regularly
into hand. It spent much time in examining the documents,
in discussing them, and in deliberating on them; but still
without coming to any decision. One would have said
that it excepted to its own competency. A high influence




528


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


seemed to paralyze it. In Segovia the same spirit was
manifested that animated the coterie of Seville.
At the end of a certain time he obtained that the Council
referred to should resume the consideration of his case; but
it was only to recommence delays. The Court was much
divided in regard to this reclamation. In their righteousness, Cardinal Ximenes and the Archbishop of Seville did
not admit that one could dispense himself fiom giving
Columbus what had been promised him. The authority
of these two eminent prelates ranged on their side all who
feared God. But around the King the courtiers, who were
so by blood, were in the majority; for them, reasons of
state overruled every private consideration of conscience
or of engagement. The interest of the state, said they, is
opposed to the execution of the treaty of the seventeenth of
April, 1492, notwithstanding its ratifications; the recompense demanded is too much above the services rendered;
it is not politic to make an individual, and especially a
foreigner, so powerful.
The Council made no decision.   Evidently the secret
intervention of the King was the cause of its having made
none.
The Admiral, being no longer able to sustain in Segovia
the expenses which his rank required, removed to Valladolid, where the Court made only a short stay. But in
order that his tribulations may reach their height, sickness
came to add to the tortures of the gout, with which he was
" racked without mercy."
Then Ferdinand, who, without seeming to pay any attention to them, watched the declining strength and the pecuniary embarrassments of the Admiral, judging the moment
opportune, proposed to him to renounce his privileges, and
to accept in exchange for them a demesne situated in Castile, the fief of Carrion de los Condes, to which would be
added a pension from the exchequer of the Crown. The
Admiral rejected with disdain this offer, by which it was
intended to take advantage of his helplessness. As inflex



CHAP. VIii.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


529


ible in his destitution and infirmities as at the time when
strong only in hope, in the plain of Granada, he obliged
the Court to consent to his demands: he yielded nothing,
diminished in nothing his disregarded rights, and kept the
silence of indignation, limiting himself to appealing to God
against this iniquity.
We will not weary our readers with details of his pecuniary embarrassments, nay, his very destitution, bordering
on absolute want.  In this respect, and from the same
causes, he was nearly in the same condition he was in
previous to his fourth voyage of discovery. Neither will
we detail the many other fruitless efforts he rmade, ably
seconded by his son Diego, to regain his titles and his
government, either for himself or for his son. Ferdinand
could not, in fact, be moved.
Following in the wake of a certain school, the majority
of the biographers of Columbus blindly repeat that the
Admiral died without his having any suspicion of the importance of his discoveries, and that to the end of his life
he took, or rather mistook, the New Continent for the Asiatic
coast.
This is a complete error. It must be remembered that
Columbus gave the name of Indies to the lands he discovered, in order to interest the Court in them, because at that
time the Indies were considered the richest country in the
world for spices, pearls, gold, and diamonds. It ought also
to be added, that the Admiral, since his third voyage,
pointed out a country of which there never before had
been any mention made.
The logic of facts is more convincing than that of historians. It outweighs all their subtile conclusions.
We have said, and we repeat it, that since his third voyage Columbus knew that the New Continent was not Asia.
We can affirm that he knew the ocean surrounded with its
waters this new continent; for before undertaking his fourth
expedition he talked of finding a strait, a passage which
45




530


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


would have conducted him to the ocean on the other side
of the Isthmus of Panama.
This is a positive fact, established by the words of Columbus himself, the testimony of his enemies, and the unanimity of the writers of his time. In Granada, under the
ogives of the Alhambra, the Admiral announced the existence of the ocean on the other side of the New Continent.
If in his letter of the seventh of July, I503, he speaks of
Ciguare, and of the Ganges, he only conforms to the ideas
then generally admitted, and without which he could not
have been understood; but he did not believe that he found
Asia. And even when he is obliged to use the name of
Indies, through prudence or through modesty, not daring,
or being unwilling, to form one himself, to impose on a
land so vast, he knows well that God has delivered to him
a soil that was totally unknown to the ancient world.
Columbus has so exact an idea of his discovery, he is so
fully convinced that this new continent is not Asia, that he
indicates how the sea confines it; he traces the geographical
position of Veragua, in regard to the opposite lands on the
other side of the ocean, and says that they are found situated
as Tortosa is in regard to Fontarabia, and Pisa in regard to
Venice.
If, for a certain time, Columbus really believed that he
had arrived at the Indies, his last expeditions rectified and
fixed his ideas in regard to the importance of his discoveries.
He had no more doubts after his fourth voyage. He then
clearly saw the immensity of his discoveries; he was then
fully conscious of the enormity of the royal injustice, and
felt that never was there a more flagrant iniquity committed
against a man. By the apostolic donation of the Holy See,
and the papal line of demarcation, of which he was the
secret cause, he had assured to Castile one-half of this
globe; and still he was refused his rights, his titles, his
honors, his bread! He possessed in the world only his
revenues, and they were not forthcoming. It was to the
friendship or the commiseration of some Genoese, that




CHAP. VIII.]  CHRISTOPHER COLU.MBUS.


531


he owed the means of being able to live wretchedly, by
borrowing.
He saw disappearing indefinitely the deliverance of the
Holy Sepulchre, - the ardent desire of his whole life, - at
a time when everything seemed ready for its realization.
Gold now abounded, and every new arrival promised for
the next season greater riches; but there was nothing for
Columbus!*   What must he not have felt in his heart?
Still no complaint was heard from him. Confining in the
depth of his loneliness the bitterness of his sorrows, lie
offered them  to Him  who had borne the Cross.    This
calm in the height of affliction, does it not reveal something else besides virtue? Can we find in history an example similar to it? Philosophy is as incapable of inspiring
as it is of explaining this sublime resignation.  It was
because the Messenger of Salvation held the crucifix before
his eyes. He remembered that our Divine Lord, coming
to bring to poor humanity more than a world, and more
than all the worlds, - the Truth, the Way, and the Life, -
was calumniated, persecuted, bound with cords, scourged,
given as a spectacle to the crowd, and delivered to death,
notwithstanding His declared innocence. Like Him, the
Revealer of the Globe remained silent; and, like Him, he
pardoned his enemies.
* Some writers of a certain school look upon the idea of Columbus,
in regard to the deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre, as visionary.
Now we maintain that it was, on the contrary, perfectly practicable,
and that Columbus had provided, or at least discovered, all the
means for making it an accomplished fact. Had the selfish King
Ferdinand, and the worldly-minded Fonseca, seconded, in place of
thwarting, as they did, the plans and endeavors of Columbus, there
can be no doubt that the glorious idea would have been realized.
No - Columbus was no visionary. -B.




532


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


CHAPTER IX.
His Disease becomes worse. - He sees his End is approaching. -
He deposits his Will in the Hands of the Notary of the Court. -
Errors of Historians-and Biographers in regard to the Date of
this Will, and of the Order relative to Dofia Beatrix Enriquez. -
He receives the last Sacraments. - His last Words. - He dies on
Ascension-Day. -Posthumous Voyages of Columbus.
SECTIOzN L
A   FTER the death of the Queen, the strength of Columbus declined gradually. The energy of his powerful
organization, exhausted by long toils, and enfeebled by
sufferings, being no longer sustained by the presence of
Isabella, soon gave way. The strength of his will alone
retarded a dissolution which appeared imminent.
In addition to his other sufferings, an old wound he had
once received reopened; some gouty swellings plagued his
hands and feet, and his disease gained on the principal
centres of life.
In his atrocious calculation in regard to the time Columbus had to suffer, Ferdinand showed an exact penetration;
but there was a secret of suffering deep in the heart of
Columbus which this astute politician could not fathom.
It was this:
Notwithstanding his perfect resignation to the will of
God, and his pardon of the iniquities committed against
him, a desolation more bitter than the ingratitude of the
King afflicted him incessantly in his solitude: it was the
remembrance of those countries he went to discover in the
name of Jesus Christ; the wrecked images of those popu



CHAP. ix.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


533


lations, formerly so happy, to whom he was the first to
show the Cross, to be saluted by them, and who were now
ruined by an insensate barbarity.  The Revealer of the
New World felt himself martyred in the Indians, dismembered in the dispersion of their tribes, and the punishments
inflicted on these unhappy people, who expired cursing the
sublime religion which he ardently wished them to embrace
and cherish.
In the midst of his physical torments, and of the humiliating embarrassments of his state of destitution, Columbus,
commending the fate of his two sons to the bounty of
Providence, could yet have forgotten his distress and humiliation, and the perfidy of the monarch; but no human
preoccupation could take away the recollection of these
unfortunate Indians, or diminish his indignation at the
treatment they received. By what words could such an
affliction be consoled?  How moderate the grief which
penetrated the disciple of the Word to the very core, and
mitigate his moral agony?-a grief as wide-spread as a
whole nation, and multiple as the populations of that unfortunate race, whose end he foresaw, and whose lamentations he seemed to hear?
He soon saw that no human aid could arrest the decay
of a body worn out in all of its organization. He re-read,
for the last time, his will; and, finding in it nothing to
change, desired to make an authentic deposit of it in trusty
hands.
Duty obliges us to pause for a little time before this last
act of his, which has served as an occasion for the most
rash accusations against the moral purity of this great
servant of God.
Washington Irving pretends that " on the eve of his death
he executed a final and regularly anthenticated codicil."
This author adds, A clause of this will " recommends to
the care of Don Diego, Beatrix Enriquez, the mother of
his natural son Fernando. His connection with her was
never sanctioned by matrimony, and either this circum45*




534


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


stance, or some neglect of her, seems to have awakened
deep compunction in his dying moments." *
Ever since it was broached by Napione, developed with
acrimony by Spotorno, commented on by Navarrete, Irving,
and Humboldt, t and followed by the whole Protestant
school, none of the biographers of Columbus have hitherto
failed to reproduce pointedly this assertion of the regrets
the remembrance of Beatrix Enriquez excited in the Admiral during his last moments, and to point out, as a proof
of his " deep compunction," his last codicil, executed "' on
the eve of his death"; that is to say, the nineteenth of
May, 1506.
We will no longer allow the Revealer of the Globe to be
calumniated, even to his very agony. It is time to put an
end to this falsification of facts, arising from an audacious
transposition of dates.
We declare, then, formally, that this " deep compunction"
of Columbus in his last moments is a pure fiction.
We further assert that Columbus made no testamentary
disposition " on the eve of his death."'
We positively declare that the " final and regularly authenticated codicil" which it is pretended was made "on
the eve of his death," and, consequently, on the nineteenth
of May, I5o6, dated already more than four years prior
to this time!
The last codicil of Columbus, -" a document written by
his own hand, dated the first of April, I502," and deposited
in the cell of the Rev. F. Gaspar Gorricio, of the Carthusian monastery of Des Grottes, prior to the departure of the
Admiral on his last voyage, - was, after his return, confirmed in its tenor. He declares this himself. In proof
of his constant desire, Columbus reproduced it with his
own hand the twenty-fifth of August, 1505. Feeling his
end approaching, the Admiral wished to invest it with a


* Life and Voyages of Columbus, Book XVIII., chap. Iv.
t See Introduction, secs. iv. and v. -B.




CHAP. ix.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


535


character of authenticity, by depositing it, in a legal form,
in the hands of the notary of the Court, Pedro de Hinojedo,
and to name as his executors his son Diego, his brother
Bartholomew, and Juan de Porras, the Treasurer-General
of Biscay; which he did on the nineteenth of May, I506.*
To arrive at the true sense of the words of Columbus, in
relation to Beatrix Enriquez, the rectification of this date
is indispensable, because the interval which separates the
date of the will from the act of its deposition renders inadmissible the injurious interpretation given to regrets expressed by the Admiral.
Now after having reestablished the dates in their proper
order, let us reproduce the facts in their place, and restore
the words to their true sense.
In his last codicil of the first of April, I502, recopied by
his own hand the twenty-fifth of August, I505, and.deposited in legal form only on the nineteenth of May, I506,
Columbus was occupied with the condition of his consort,
Beatrix Enriquez, who was always in rather straitened circumstances. But far from feeling any remorse on account
of her, as has been said, his remembrance of her only reveals to us his delicacy of soul.
Our readers, will remember the circumstances under
which the marriage of Columbus with this Cordovan lady
took place. Soon after his marriage he left Cordova, and
scarcely ever returned there; at least he did not sojourn
there. It was because he did not belong to himself; he
owed himself to the work of Providence. The service of
the Sovereigns which he here turned to the glory of God,
and to the increase of the Church, retained him continually. He sacrificed pitilessly his domestic happiness to the
interests of the Globe. In the same manner as the Apostles
separated from their wives and children to go and spread
the Good News among the nations of the earth, Christopher


* Testamento y Codicilo del Almirante Cristobal Colon en Valladolid, a 19 de Mayo, de I506. - Col. Diplom. Docum., num. cLvIII.




536


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


Columbus, disengaging himself from the restraints of domestic happiness, abandoned the felicity he had promised
himself, in order to labor solely for the increase of our
domain, to discover the totality of the terrestrial creation,
to carry the sign of Redemption to unknown peoples, to
prepare ways for the Gospel, and, in fine, with the proceeds
of his toils, to redeem the Sepulchre of the Redeemer.
Still, at the time of undertaking his last expedition of
discovery, the boldest and the most dangerous of all his
voyages, while he was writing his testamentary dispositions,
coming to recollect the long-continued sacrifices and the
silent devotedness of Beatrix, the abandonment in which
he left her so many years, and calling to mind that he forgot
assigning her a dowry in his act of mayorazgo, Columbus
conceived a profound regret, —a scruple of heart. He
feared that he would appear to be ungrateful, and to have
really too much neglected her who had devoted herself to
him and for him, in the hour of his tribulations, and whose
ingenuous tenderness took delight in calming the anguish
of his incertitude, and in disguising from him the state of
her comparative destitution; he was afraid of not having
sufficiently accorded or reconciled the attentions due to his
consort with the exigencies due to the service of God.
Being no longer able to modify, as to the basis of it,
his institution of mayorazgo, known by the Sovereigns and
by the Holy See, in favor of the noble Beatrix, who demanded nothing and wished for nothing, and whose silence
and resignation equalled the devotedness of her first love,
he was obliged to limit himself to recommending her to his
universal heir, in terms which would render doubly obligatory his testamentary Will. "It was," he said, " for the
ease of his conscience."  He recalls, in two words, how
much he is indebted to her. And as he did not judge it
becoming to mention, in this last act of his Will, why this
obligation was a weight on his heart, he considered it sufficient to say, -- It is not expedient to mention here the
reason."




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBBUS.


537


In these words solely, Napione, Spotorno, and Navarrete,
equally strangers to the real history of Columbus, and to a
knowledge of the human heart, believed they found proof
of an illicit connection. They referred his regrets to an
irregular position towards Beatrix Enriquez. Washington
Irving, not daring to contradict them, has almost ranged
himself with them, though with evident hesitation.
The absurdity of such an interpretation is truly astonishing.
What! If the cause of the recommendation he made, -
that reason which he did not judge it expedient to mention,
— had been an illicit connection, would he have recalled
the fact or circumstance that Beatrix Enriquez was the
mother of Don Fernando?  When he mentioned the ma'ternity of Beatrix, could he have concealed anything
regarding the nature of their connection? Evidently the
modest reserve of the Admiral could not concern this
maternity, which he avowed so clearly. Mysteriousness
becomes impossible after such clearness of expression. The
reticence, then, of the testator, was not in regard to the birth
of his second son.
The same writers who have seen in these words the
avowal of a fault wrung from his conscience at the awful
moment of bidding adieu to life, have forgotten the date of
this will. They have confounded the drawing up of this
document with the act of its deposition, which was done
by the Admiral four years later, on the eve of his death.
From some words, the meaning of which their disregard
for this great character prevented them from seizing, they
have inferred the existence of an illicit connection, and of a
barren remorse towards the last moments. The difference
of dates did not make them hesitate. We will not refute
their assertions here, or notice their blind obstinacy. Referring our readers to the proofs we have given in the
Introduction,* it will suffice to say that the marriage of


* Sections IV. and V.




538


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


Columbus, demonstrated by so many logical inductions, by
divers documents and proofs, recognized by his descendants,
the genealogical trees, and the traditions of his relatives,
was avowed by himself, with his own hand, five years, four
months, and twenty-eight days before the act of deposition
made " on the eve of his death" in an autographic document which, happily, has been preserved to us. He calls
this lady his wife, - this lady from whom his mission kept
him always so long separated. He mentions the cause of
this heroic separation.
And even in the will, the article invoked against Beatrix
Enriquez presents a proof of the legitimacy of his son. If
Doia Beatrix was not the legitimate wife of the Admiral,
would he not have put her pension in the charge of his son
Fernando, - the heir of a million and a half? Would it
not have been natural to impose this obligation on Beatrix's
own son, in place of transferring it to the son of another bed?
But Columbus left it expressly to Don Diego, in his quality
of first-born, because the pension of the widow of the Admiral of the Indies was to be paid by his successor in the
Admiralty,- the continuator of his titles and privileges.
Let us be pardoned for the length of this last answer to the
last calumny of the last historians of Columbus, and re-.mark, in passing, that such an accusation never came into
the minds of his persecutors neither during his life nor
during the existence of his direct line. The spirit of false
criticism, and of a vain erudition, has invented it in our
own days.
To judge, up to the last moment, of the character of Columbus, this Will is of great importance. The dates in it
are not less significative than the expressions themselves.
The dates attest the invariable fixity of the determination
of the testator. What he had written in I501, prior to his
last expedition, he confirms in I505. What he wrote at the
latter time he sanctions anew in I506, by the act of deposition made " on the eve of his death." By his unchangeableness of intention we see his constancy of will, and that




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


539


precision of reason which was the cause of it, and which
formed the basis of his energy of character.
This consecration of his last wishes, effected thus in
solemn circumstances before the notary-royal, comes, in
justifying it, to authorize what we have said in a manner
somewhat peremptory concerning the sublime candor and
loving disposition of Columbus. It is appropriately that
we have spoken of him as raised by Providence, inflamed
with zeal for the glory of the divine Word, and submitting
his science to his faith, as he did his genius to humility.
Men never become hypocrites oi the bed of death; they
do not dissimulate on the threshold of eternity. Now, by
the act of deposition made "on the eve of his death,"
Columbus declared, for the last time, the superhuman character of his Discovery. He reiterated, in the face of the
tomb, what the ingratitude of the Court had forced him to
write to the King and to his counsellors: " By the will of our
Lord God I have given to the King and the Queen the Indies,
as a thing that was mine; I may say it because.... " He
mentions further, in this solemn moment, the famous Line
of Demarcation running from one pole to the other; not
the deceitful and fallacious boundary agreed on diplomatically between the Crowns of Castile and of Portugal, upon
which he always remained silent through respect, of which,
however, he seems to have made no account, and which
he never mentioned, regarding it, perhaps, as an offence
towards the Holy See, -but that astonishing Line which
was drawn at a hundred leagues from the Azores and Cape
de Verd Islands, by the Sovereign Pontiff, assisted by the
Sacred College, and which will always remain, even for
incredulity, as one of the greatest prodigies of the human
mind, and as a testimony of the indefectible inspiration of
the Papacy.




540


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


SECTION     II.
When he had heard the reading of this act of his, - his
last will, -and the witnesses, as well as the notary, had
signed it, Columbus asked for a writing-pen.
Already, by his verbal recommendations made to his
eldest son, he had provided for the interests of his faithful
servitors. Formerly he had promised to the heroic Diego
Mendez the commissariate-general of the police of Hispaniola; Carvajal and Geronomo were confided to the
kindness of his heir. But in his last moments his gratitude would leave souvenirs to some estimable persons
whose obligingness he had experienced during the first
years of his stay in Portugal.  As several of them had
ceased to live, he extended to their children and heirs
this proof of his affectionate remembrance. He added a
note to his Will, with his own hand, mentioning the persons, and the small legacies he wished to leave them.
Among these was a poor Jew, who lived near the gate
of the Jewry, in Lisbon, to whom he bequeathed half a
mark of silver.
Moreover, through a generous delicacy, he desired that
these bequests should be faithfully discharged and forwarded
to the legatees, without their knowing by what title, or
whence came the godsends.
After he had consigned to the notary the last act of his
wishes, Columbus turned his thoughts wholly from earthly
things and the concerns of his family, in order to converse
no longer but with Heaven.
Few details have been transmitted to us about the last
moments of this existence, without equal among the sons
of men.   The learned canon of Plaisance, Pietro Maria
Campi, had collected on the closing scenes of this Christian
hero exact notions, which he intended for publication, when,
with a rude visit, death came to interrupt his labors. From
what he had been able to procure concerning the last moments of the Revealer of the Globe, he inferred that his




CHAP. IX.]


CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


54I


death was that of one of the elect, -the worthy end of an
apostle and a martyr.*
Nevertheless, in the absence of documentary details concerning the last phase of this luminous star in the sphere
of intelligences, it is still possible to trace sufficiently exact
its most striking circumstances.
We can imagine what a hotel must have been at that
period in Spain. It is easy to represent to ourselves that
chamber in which the Admiral of the Ocean lay on his
bed of sufferings. The bare walls had as ornaments only
his chains, which he always kept suspended before him in
his study, as formerly the generals of Rome, who were conquerors, preserved the civic and mural crowns obtained as
the reward of their courage.  His chains were the only
recompense he had received from the world. There he,
who had received so many divine favors, whom God had
raised to remove the veil which hid from humanity onehalf of the globe, lay, forgotten by the great ones of the
world, and the people, a prey to the dissolution by which
the decomposition of our mortal coils is effected. Nevertheless, amid the approaches of death, his lucidity of mind
subsisted still, and his thoughts remained as clear and perspicacious as they were in the times of his discoveries.
Conformably to the usage of the time, and the particular
inclination of his piety, he put on the habit of the Third
Order of St. Francis, which he so often wore, - a costume
in which the great Isabella rendered back to God the soul she
had received from Him. His two sons, his officers, some
Franciscan fathers, and some friends, by turns saddened and
comforted by the words of the ardent disciple of the Eternal
Word, assisted at the last struggle of his robust constitution
against dissolution. He himself contemplated with attention its rapid progress. Having finished his edifying exhortations, he desired, for the last time, by the Sacrament of
Penance, of putting himself in the way of receiving his


* Pietro Maria Campi. Dell' Historia Ecclesiastica di Piacenza.
46




542


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


God. No pride taken in his works, no looming of vanity
taken in his glory, by an intrusive temptation, came to
trouble the recollectedness of his last hour. The humility
of the habit of St. Francis truly enrobed his heart.
He saw there before his eyes, suspended from the bare
wall of his apartment, his chains, - the only recompense
he had really received for his superhuman labors. Fearing,
perhaps, that the sight of them mav secretly embitter the
hearts of his children against the injustice of the Court, in
order to conceal this image of regal ingratitude he ordered
that these chains should descend with him into the tomb.
After having given himself this proof of the sincerity of his
pardon of the offences committed against him, he made a
last confession, and received absolution.
The day had come which is one of the great festivals of
Catholicity, - the anniversary of that on which the Son
of God, after having accomplished our redemption, and
founded His Church, ascended to His Father, to reenter
into His glory. Hourly the Grand Admiral of the Ocean
felt himself advancing to the port that opens to eternity.
He asked for the favor of receiving once more on earth the
bread of angels. What a spectacle was then presented in
that chamber of the hotel! The envoy of the Most High,
the ardent adorer of the Word by whom all things were
made, receiving the visit of the Divine Word, under the
Eucharistic symbol! What divine light must not have
illumined his bed of sufferings! With what happiness
must he not have prostrated himself before his Divine
SMaster, who came to him!     The Divine Redeemer,
who reads souls, knew with what ardor he had desired
the deliverance of His tomb, and the glorification of His
Name among the nations of the earth, and his persevering
and pious aspirations for attaining these sacred objects.
So, notwithstanding the awe which every mortal creature
must feel before the majesty of the Author of Life, Christopher was filled with hope.
A moment more and he enters on the possession of eternal
life.




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


543


The integrity of his intellectual faculties remained complete throughout. When he felt his end quite close, he
emerged from his seraphic recollectedness, and asked for
the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. He was able to join
in the prayers that were said for him. He listened, with
humble contrition, to the recommendation of a departing
soul, which was made at his bedside by one of the Franciscan religious; he gave the responses himself.  Then,
feeling that his last moment had come, at the hour of noon,
the disciple of the Word addressed to the Father of the
Worlds the same words that were uttered by the Saviour,
when expiring on the Cross: In manus tuas Domine
commendo spiritum meum (" Into Thy hands, oh Lord,
I commend my spirit").
This was on Ascension-Day, the twentieth of May, I506.
SECTION     II.
As in the times of the persecutions of the Church the
martyrs were buried with vials filled with their blood, and
with the images of the instruments of their tortures, the
chains with which ingratitude charged the feet and hands
of Columbus were enclosed in his coffin. Afterwards the
Franciscans accompanied his corpse to the cathedral-church
of Valladolid, where the obsequies of the Admiral of the
Indies were celebrated with little pomp; after which these
religious transported his mortal remains to the vaults of
their Convent of the Observance.  Columbus, who first
found an asylum among the Franciscans, received from
them his last hospitality.
Amid the intrigues and the parties dividing the Court,
the name of Christopher Columbus remained forgotten.
In an order given by the King, on the second of June, I506,
fourteen days after the death of the Admiral, to send to his
son Don Diego the gold and the objects that belonged to
his father, not a single one of those expressions is found
that common decency would have suggested.




544


HISTOR Y OF


[BOOK IV.


The death of Columbus made so little noise, that in the
following years some works published abroad spoke of him
as being still living. But Rome watched over his glory;
the Papacy preserved from forgetfulness the name of the
Revealer of the Globe.
Seven years had passed without his name being completely forgotten.  The more discoveries were extended,
the more the importance that was attached to the work
of Columbus.
Knowing that neither prejudices, nor calumnies, nor injustice, could avail anything against the immortality of his
work, old Ferdinand, -desiring, perhaps, to appease the
inward accusation of his conscience, or may be to deceive
public opinion, efface the remembrance of his injustice
towards the hero, and acquire the name of a monarch who
was just and grateful, - ordered that pompous obsequies, at
the expense of the Crown, should be made for the Grand
Admiral of the Ocean; and that Castile should concede,
gratis, two metres of land to the man who had given her
half the globe.
Accordingly, in the year I5I3, the funereal solitude of
Columbus was suddenly disturbed. By a royal order, his
coffin was taken from the convent of the Franciscans of
the Observance at Valladolid, and transported, with great
pomp, to Seville.  A  solemn service took place in the
cathedral. After the absolution, his friends, the Carthusians, bore the coffin of the Admiral to the other side of
the Guadalquiver, to their peaceable retreat of Santa lflaria
de las Grutas (St. Mary of the Grottos). There it was
deposited, not among the lords of Alcala, as has been erroneously stated by the annalist of Seville, but in a sepulchre
entirely new, in a vault under the Chapel of Christ.
In the peace of this cloister he remained asleep in the
Lord until I526, when the hammer that troubled the repose
of his sepulture at Valladolid, resounded in his vault. By
his side were placed the mortal remains of Don Diego, his




CHAP. IX.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


545


successor. Those who had slowly put to death the father
had also succeeded in getting rid of the son.
After an oblivion of ten years the two coffins were
again disturbed. The remains of Columbus, taken from
the silence of the Carthusian cloister, were taken on board
a caravel. Thus the man who had first crossed the ocean,
inflamed with pious hopes, was also the first who was to
cross it after his death. He returned with his chains to the
city in which he had been loaded with them.
In the year 1536 the body of Columbus was transported
from Castile to San Domingo, -that city which was founded
by his orders, and to which he had given as a coat-of-arms,
besides the Lion and the Tower of Isabella, the Cross and
the Key, the emblems of Catholicity. It was deposited in
a recess in the sanctuary of the cathedral, to the right of the
main altar.
A treaty of peace concluded between France and Spain,
in 1795, having assured to the former of these powers the
definite possession of Hispaniola, the government of Spain
did not wish to abandon this glorious relic to the new possessors of the island.
In the month of December the remains of the Admiral
were exhumed in San Domingo, and taken on board the
brigantine, the Discovery, to be transported to the island
of Cuba. On this occasion the display of military pomp
and religious ceremonies was extraordinary. One would
have said it was the triumphal march of the relics of a
saint.
His remains were taken by the Discovery to Ochao,
whence the San Lorenzo conveyed them to Cuba, where
jthey arrived on the sixteenth of January following, and
where new military and religious honors awaited them.
Here they were deposited near the grand altar of the cathedral, to the right of the sanctuary, in the presence of all the
notables of the island, and with sentiments of religious
respect.
Let us not be deceived:
46*




546                 HISTORT OF                [BOOK IV.
These military and religious exhibitions, these unusual
gatherings, this pious earnestness of troops of the army and
navy. and of the civil and ecclesiastical corporations, were
less a testimony rendered to the Discovery of these countries than a homage offered to the memory of the Christian
hero who, ' after having first discovered this island was the
first to raise the standard of the Cross in it, and to spread
among the natives the Faith of Jesus Christ."
By these successive exhumations and transportations we'
see that the vicissitudes of the fortune of Columbus, and
the fluctuations of his destiny, were not terminated by death.
As on four different occasions he had sought from the Franciscan family an asylum, so he had made four voyages of
discovery, and so, also, his remains were sent four times to
find a definite place of sepulture. Would we not say that
the wonderful survived him beyond the tomb, as if he were
not to resemble the rest of mortals even in death I




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


547


CHAPTER X.
The Private Life of Columbus. — His Public Life a Model for
Administrators.- Providential Character of Columbus. - His
Christian Mission and Relations with the Church. - His Spiritual Affinities. - The Legend of St. Christopher. - His Affinities with the Patriarchs, the Prophets, and the Apostles. - Similitude of Moses and Columbus. -Of the Sanctity of Columbus.Testimonies of the Most High in favor of His Servant. - Public
Miracles of a Cross that was erected by Columbus.
SECTION I.
ITHERTO, without stopping for the philosophical
examination of the facts accomplished by Columbus,
we have simply recounted, in abridging them, the principal
events of his life. We will now take a look at the ensemble
of this vast existence which we have been obliged to sketch
so briefly.
It is in vain that we would apply to Columbus the recent
principles of the pure rationalist school in relation to its
philosophy of history, or that we would confine our appreciations within the systematic rules of modern biography,
equally inspired by its influences.
The life of Columbus is the complete overthrow of these
pedantic principles, imperiously imposed by the pure rationalist school on those writers who consider themselves
philosophers merely because they are heavy, deprived of
spirit, and always proceed by way of negation, never affirming anything positively, and devoted to perpetual doubt.
The real history of the discoverer of the New World cannot lessen itself so as to keep within this philosophical
system of biography, - a true Procrustes' bed, - to the




548


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


measure of which it requires all human actions to be reduced, even were it at the cost of the most ruthless mutilations of truth, and the dislocation of the best established
events of history.
We cannot admit the opinion of Navarrete based on this
theory, when judging of Columbus he says: " His faults
were the part of nature and of human frailty, and probably
the result of the education he had received, of the career
he embraced, and of the country in which he was born,a country in which traffic and merchandizing formed the
principal branch of riches, both public and private." We
do not believe in this original transmission of the qualities
or the vices of a nation to the individuals who compose it;
because then every member of the aggregation would be
equally stamped with the same character and the same predispositions. Experience gives a flat contradiction to this
absurdity, which would give itself the airs of knowledge
and superiority. No disposition for traffic or for speculating shows itself in the administrative acts of Columbus.
Neither do we accept of the opinion of Washington
Irving, based on the same system: * " Great men are compounds of great and little qualities. Indeed, much of their
greatness arises from  their mastery over the imperfections
of their nature, and their noblest actions are sometimes
struck forth by the collision of their merits and their
defects." t
According to this system, the life of a saint could never
be written, especially if he was a man of genius, and he
* Washington Irving. History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, Book XVIII., chap. v.
tThat is to say, in other terms, that their indolence creates energy;
their cowardice, bravery! How will the collision of qualities opposed to noble actions, and which, therefore, ought to produce only
vices, attain to virtue, to grandeur, to the sublime? This is what we
challenge every man in existence to explain. See, now, to what a
height, or rather depth of absurdity, this modern system of biography leads.




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


549


thought and acted in critical circumstances, and in an
elevated position; for he must necessarily have weaknesses
and show defects, since it is absolutely necessary that a man,
because he is man, should exhibit a compound of virtues
and of weaknesses. This school of the philosophy of history does not admit that a man is ever different from others,
as regards the basis of his character, which is equally
composed of virtues and of foibles; only his qualities, both
good and bad, are respectively more pronounced according
to the traits which distinguish his individuality. So, not
being able, on human principles, to explain the sublimity
of the language of Columbus in his vision on the coast of
Veragua, astonished at the diction of the old navigator,
rather than recognize the grandeur of his Christian soul,
Humboldt dares to advance the strange opinion which he
thus expresses: " The eloquence of uncultivated minds,
cast in the midst of an advanced civilization, is like the
eloquence of the primitive times. When we observe superior men of a strong stamp of character, and but little
familiar with the riches of the language they use, in one of
those impassioned flights which, by their very wildness, are
opposed to the exercise of thought, we find in them that
poetic coloring of sentiment which appertains to the eloquence of the primitive ages." * Whence it logically
follows, that any man of a strong stamp of character, and
but little familiar with the Spanish language, could, in a
similar case, have used the sublime language of Columbus!
The most recent work published in France on Christopher Columbus, contains the proof of this systematic mode
of appreciating men. In a Notice amply developed and
remarkable for erudition, the learned editor (directeur) of
the Nouvelle Biographie General, Doctor Hoefer, says:
" Great geniuses, like other mortals, derive above all things
from the man and from the epoch." It is the historians who,
judging the past through the prism of the present, that give


* Humboldt. Examen Critique, etc., t. III., p. 240.




550


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


us false ideas. It is thus that they represent Columbus as
inspired by glory to serve humanity, whilst such an ambition never came into his mind, no more than to Guttenberg,
his cotemporary, who, with Schmffier and Faust, sold as
manuscripts the first books that were printed.
' Columbus, before crossing the Ocean, had, at first, taken
care to stipulate for himself and his heirs conditions truly
princely: see the man. He afterwards had at heart to carry
the Catholic faith to the antipodes, and to wrest the Holy
Sepulchre from the hands of the infidels: see the epoch."
According to this principle, the personality of Columbus
would be reduced to the reproduction of the general ideas
of his time. He would be onlv the incarnation of the dominant thought of his epoch.
The authority of facts, and the impartiality of history, as
well as the doctrine of Catholicity, reduce this theory to
nothing. The history of the Church, in every page, disproves these assertions and pretensions. Undoubtedly no
man can altogether escape from all the influences of the
dominant ideas of his time, and in the midst of which he
lives. He cannot continually assimilate the true when he
respires only the false, or show himself great if he wis
never in contact but with littleness. But the grace of God,
that invisible force which leads men, notwithstanding their
wavering, operates on certain souls, and seems to modify
human nature. The man thus assisted becomes then master
of things to which he seems not to have been destined naturally, and of which his education, his acquired science, his
keenness of intellect, would not have rendered him capable.
The sole sublimity of St. John, a man without education or
letters, upsets from its base the modern system of the philosophy of history.
What of the Jewish or of the Roman ideas of his epoch
does one find in St. John, the Son of Light, the declarer of
the NVORD, and His well-beloved disciple?  To what age
of literature appertain his collaborators, the writers of the
Gospel, -a work without a known type as without a pos



CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


55I


sible imitation, without relationship with the productions of
the languages of antiquity, or the traditions of the learned
Orient, and still accessible to all, and marvellous to everybody!
The rationalist school, proceeding according to its theory
on the philosophy of history, cannot explain the Gospel.
It will no more explain its propagators, - the apostles and
martyrs.  The history of the Church, which presents us
with eighteen centuries of observation, of experience, of
active and beneficent life, has, it seems to us, the right to
count for something in this world. It makes indissolubly
a part of the constitution of the European nations. Now,
this tradition of eighteen centuries contains the permanent
refutation of the principles of this philosophy of history;
for from generation to generation, by an uninterrupted succession, this Church has produced astonishing and perfect
men, eternally.worthy of admiration, who have justified the
words, " God is admirable in His saints." These perfect
men, these saints, - to call them by their glorious name,appear to us, as well as the Church, to be in nowise explicable by this philosophy.
This school is obliged to attribute to enthusiasm, to hallucination, certain facts, whose happy results surpass the
calculations of science, and the cogitations of the wisdom
of the world. In desiring to avoid recognizing a supernatural action, - a Providence, - it becomes necessary to
admit a blind and deaf power: namely, Chance. Then we
have explanations that are contrary to good sense. The
laws of reason become subverted; the rules of the just,
our notion of the beautiful, are reversed or overthrown, to
attribute to illusion, to error, and to deceit, the government
of humanity. The new philosophy of history is only fatalism, applied to the recital of the events of the world.
The writers imbued with this system, in order to submit
Columbus to their theory, accept, complaisantly, every
imputation, every biographical error, which tends to lower
him, to place him nearer the level of other men. They




552


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


accuse him of ingratitude, of puerile vanity, of ignorance,
of avidity, of duplicity, of an illicit connection, and of
religious enthusiasm, which, in their eyes, is the greatest
of his faults. Nevertheless, the inevitable power of truth
gets the mastery of them to that point, that, not being able
to deny the sublimity of Columbus, they are forced to
admire, after his patience and his energy, his unalterable
virtue; and with his disinterestedness, his pardon of injuries and offences, and his magnanimity! —in such a manner that, notwithstanding their criticisms, Columbus still
remains a prodigy of moral grandeur.
But none of these writers recognizes the providential
character of Columbus, or his Christian mission.
We declare, so as to have no more to return to this subject, that this system of philosophy, conceived beyond the
Rhine, hatched by Protestantism, and introduced and acclimated in France during the first years of the "' Restoration,"
cannot, neither proximately nor distantly, be reconciled
with the discovery of the New World, or with the life of
its Revealer. In vain will you narrow, cramp, lessen the
man, distort and dislocate the facts; the supernatural will
not show itself the less evident, as it is absurd to attribute
certain series of facts to Chance alone; and when Chance
disappears, Providence becomes manifest.
With all frankness we say: An Apostle of the Cross, a
Messenger of Catholicity,- Christopher Columbus, resuming the thought and the militant fervor of the middle
ages, cannot be comprehended and appreciated but by
Catholics; the Hero of the Faith is not intelligible to incredulity.
SECTION I.
Those deceive themselves very much, who, after having
read the Holy Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, imagine
they know the whole history of our Lord Jesus Christ.
His well-beloved disciple, in concluding his relation of the
Divine Master, says clearly that He did many other things,




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


553


and that the books that could be written of them would fill
the world. Simple reason would, in reality, inform us that
the sole facts reported by the evangelists could not embrace
a whole life, or even the whole of the three years of the
preaching and teaching of the public life of the Redeemer.
In like manner, those who would believe to have seen
here the entire life of the disciple of Christ, Christopher
Columbus, would be much mistaken. Columbus did, and
said, and wrote many things which will never be repeated,
never read, or never known by men in this world. His
abridging genius suppressed details; he said himself that he
did not write the hundredth part of what had happened to
him, and we have had frequent proof of it, in seeking to
reconstitute his life.
Independently of these causes of obscurity, the prejudices
of his cotemporaries, a certain party spirit indulged in by
the Spanish historians, and a badly understood patriotism,
have, in a measure, concealed Columbus from us. Those
who wrote during the lifetime of King Ferdinand, or of his
grandson, Charles V., were obliged, for fear of exciting the
royal wrath, to touch but very lightly on the actions and
words of Columbus. M. De Lorgues shows this at considerable length, but as the matter is somewhatforeign to our
purpose, we are reluctantly obliged to pass it by.
It is evident that, with the view of disguising the wrongs
done by King Ferdinand, and to render somewhat less odious
the excesses committed in the conquest of the Indies, the
official writers of Spain have systematically misrepresented
the history of Columbus. They have taken care to underrate and to calumniate the natives most worthy of regard,
among others the two sovereigns who had most welcomed
the Castilians, - the noble and faithful Guacanagari, and
the artless and amiable Anacoana. Not being able to find
any fact wherewith to reproach the Admiral, they have circulated vague insinuations against his character, and omitted designedly the edifying incidents of his life, which,
in revealing his full Christian grandeur, would the more
47




554


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


clearly have shown the iniquity of the malevolent monarch.
How, in fact, could an official writer have dared to speak
of a Viceroy to whom his title was refused, of a Grand
Admiral without a squadron, or of a Governor-General
who was prevented from officiating? The King's malignity followed him to the tomb.
Nevertheless, the transcendent purity of character of
Columbus, and what was presented by his extraordinary
and almost superhuman role here below, struck these prejudiced men, and led them to avow that pagan antiquity
would have raised temples to this demigod who had discovered the New World. Truth has wrung from them
the declaration that he who thus had opened a way for the
Gospel merited a statue of solid gold.* Without daring to
proclaim it loudly, they have recognized the apostolate of
Christopher Columbus.
This shameful silence, this malice prepense, of these
writers against an immortal glory, imposes on us the duty
of exposing clearly what they hoped to conceal, of recognizing authoritatively the special character of Columbus, of
establishing, once for all, the role which was assigned him,
the providential destination of his commission, and to show
the marks of divine favor by which this exceptional man
was distinguished from the rest of mankind.
SECTION II.
The moral grandeur of Columbus was not inferior to his
work.
Without waiting to consider what his vast existence
presents of the mythical and of the superhuman, let us
contemplate his providential mission. And in order to
judge the better of his public life, we will first examine
him as a private individual. Let us view him in his paternal home at Genoa:


* Oviedo.   Histoire Nat. et Gen. des Indies, liv. vi., chap. viii.




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


555


The most characteristic trait of the character of Columbus, that which formed the basis of his moral physiognomy,
and which from the cradle to the grave distinguished him
through life, was his abiding sense of duty.
The love of his parents is, for the child, the first of his
duties. He ought to love them    before knowing God.
Now, Columbus loved his parents. We have seen that he
strove to alleviate their poverty when he himself was
needy. He had provided for the wants of the old age of
his father before he risked his life in his first voyage of
discovery. He sent the first fruits of his success and of
transient competency to the venerable old man; and when
the latter took his leave of this world, Christopher no more
forgot him than he did the pious mother who first had
taught him to love and serve God. He gave the name of
his father to the capital of the island of Hispaniola. Time
did not cool down his filial piety.. Age, sufferings, the
cares of a family, did not extinguish in his heart the remembrance of his parents. In his seventieth year, he still gave
to his father and mother a mark of affectionate solicitude
in thinking of the succor of their souls, and in foundingi
masses for their repose.
However ardent the filial affection of Columbus was, it
diminished in nothing his fraternal affection. He tenderly
loved his brothers, who mingled with respect the return
with which they paid him back. Both of them showed
him an equal devotedness. In recommending to his eldest
son to love his young brother, Don Fernando, he said to
him: "Ten brothers would not be too many for you. I
have never found better friends at my right and my left
than my brothers."  Never was elder brother more provident, more grateful than was Columbus towards his younger
brothels. His solicitude for their interests is seen even in
his official relations with the Sovereigns. He thought of
their welfare in his institution of Mayorazgo. In this regard, the dispositions of this act are, perhaps, without an
equal. He had their services present to his mind when




556


5HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


writing his Will. He named, as his first testamentary executor Don Bartholomew, and knew how to inspire his
children with the respect and attachment for his brothers,
of which they were so worthy.
The sacrifice of his heart, which Columbus had made to
the cause of the Gospel, prevents us from judging of him
as a husband. We wtill not speak of his conjugal life,
which was a continual privation of domestic happiness.
All that is known of his marriage is, that he had all the
responsibilities and cares of it, without enjoying the sweet
compensations for them that are found in the endearments
of the domestic hearth. But who can doubt that he who
showed himself to be so tender a father, was not equally
an affectionate husband?
Columbus had for his eldest son, who was at so early
an age deprived of his mother, bowels truly maternal. lIe
loved him  with the provident tenderness Dona Felippa
would have for him had she lived. He cherished with an
equal affection his second son, Fernando.  The artless
complaisance with which he speaks of this little boy, even
in his letters to the Sovereigns, and the manner in which he
recommends him to his elder brother, manifest the exquisite
sensibility that animated his paternal heart.
Great efforts and researches have been made to ascertain
what was the first cause of the conviction of Columbus,
and of his determination to discover an unknown continent. Some writers have thought that he possessed some
mathematical knowledge superior to that of his age, and
that he was the first who had made use of the astrolabe and
the quadrant. Especially a great influence on the mind
of Columbus has been attributed to the quasi-sibyline verses
of a tragedy of Seneca, entitled _lMedea.*  In the same
*.... "Venient annis
Saecula seris, quibus Oceanus
Vincula rerum laxit, et ingens
Peateat tellus, Typhis que novos
Detegat orbes, nee sit terris
Ultima Thule...." —Medea, Act II.




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


557


manner, it has been believed that the idea of the existence
of a continent to the west, beyond the pillars of Hercules,
was suggested to him by some ancient authors.
These inferences, with which minds have hitherto been
contented, will not bear a thorough and serious examination.
In the first place, the nautical instruments known by
Columbus were already familiar to all the mariners of his
time; and, even before he was born, the mariner's compass,
the astrolabe, and the quadrant and sextant were used. His
particular specialty in mathematics would appear, at the
present time, questionable. Humboldt accuses him of gross
ignorance in this respect, and of having made false observations in the neighborhood of the Azores. He finds that he
was not familiar " but with the practice of the methods of observation, without having sufficiently studied the principles
upon which these methods are founded." * It is not, then,
to transcendental mathematics that the honor of the idea
and of the energetic will of Columbus should be attributed.
Great importance has been attached to the verses of the.Jedea, because they have been found twice copied by the
hand of Columbus. But nothing proves that they had the
least influence on his determination. The very paper on
which was written the reflection of Columbus upon the
slubject of these verses, testifies, by its certain date, against
this supposition. These verses, to which nobody, not even
Columbus himself, paid any attention before his discovery,
are transcribed in the rough sketch of his Book of the
Prophecies, Las Profecias; consequently, not only after
his first expedition, but even after his fourth voyage, while
he languished, shipwrecked, in Jamaica.  These verses
had no meaning before the enterprise of Columbus. His
expedition has endowed them with a marvellous meaning;
but, until he appeared, nobody had remarked it. It would
be equally injudicious to attribute a determining influence
to the fragments of authors which everybody, as well as
* Humboldt. Exanmen Critique, etc., t. III., p. 20.
- 47*




55S


HIS TOR OF


[BOOK IV.


Columbus, could have examined. Assuredly certain ideas
of Eratosthenes and of Posidolnius, reported in Strabo, the
words of the Timaeus of Plato on the subject of the Atlantis, some cosmographical ideas of Aristotle on the form and
the little extent of the earth, (livers cursory views of the
geography of the Arabians, the work of Albertus MI1ag11nus,
- the Liber Coszmograrp/icus, that of Roger Bacon, - the
Opus ilajus, as well as the book of Cardinal Peter D'Ailly,
the Iijag~o j]ztlzi, - were known and examined; and still
these several authorities had converted nobody to the idea
of Columbus. And when, at the Junta of Salamanca, he
heard the voice of an adherent, it was not that of a cosmographer, but of a theologian, the Dominican Diego de Deza.
Moreover, the science of that period could have only misled Columbus. In the first place, it had no positive teaching: it opposed conjectures to other conjectures, without the
authority of experimentation being able to decide the controversy. There was no agreement in regard to the form
or the extent of the earth; and the only datum upon which
Columbus could have supported himself relative to the
aqueous mass of the globe was a manifest error, the opposite of the teachings of subsequent observation.
If some believed in the existence of antipodes, others
denied it to such a point that even after the death of Columbus there were savants who inveighed against such a
belief. In the time that Herrera wrote his " General History of the Indies," there were some doctors who sneered
at the idea of there being antipodes. This historian declares that the pretended insights which are imagined to be
found in certain passages of the ancients in regard to the
existence of unknown lands, were extremely uncertain, very
obscure, and almost unintelligible until the Discovery of
Columbus gave them the clearness and the sense which
have been attributed to them since that period.
The dissertations of biographers to ascertain the origin
of the project of Columbus to discover the other half of the
globe, appear to us to be equally worthless; deprived, as




CHAP. X.]


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


559


they are, of authority, and incapable of leading to conviction. What author better  than Columbus himself can
inform us whence he derived his first idea? Let us listen
to him; this idea did not come to him from either sphere
or compass, or from mathematics, or from his own reflection. He does not attribute to himself the merit of it. This
idea presented itself to him by a sudden inspiration. " It
was," he says, " the Holy Trinity who incited in him the
thought, rendering it more and more clear to him that one
could go by sea from the West to the East." *  This idea,
which showed itself at first as a luminous point in the light
and shade of the imagination, acquired gradually, by
meditation, its development and perfect lucidity. This
first inspiration was afterwards strengthened by the reading
of various authors. Columbus, then, discovered in their
writings what the commonalty of readers did not notice in
them. But we may safely affirm that, by their sole authority, some verses from Seneca, and passages from ancient
authors, would never have produced that unalterable conviction which knew how to resist eighteen years of doubts,
of negations, and of scientific disdain.
Columbus has taken a place in the history of the progress
of the sciences, from which he never will be dispossessed.
In our own days, Humboldt, whom his admirers call "< the
modern Aristotle," is attracted to him; he admires him
"preserving, amid so many material and minute cares,
which freeze the soul and contract the character, a profound
and poetic sentiment of the grandeur of nature." It is, in
fact, unheard-of that the chief of a squadron, a governor
having the care of a new administration, bestowed equal
attention on the observation of the country he was exploring. Humboldt acknowledges that " what characterizes
Columbus is the penetration and extreme accuracy with
which he seizes the phenomena of the external world.
He is quite as remarkable as an observer of nature as he is


* Libro de las Profecias, fol. Iv.




56o


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


as an intrepid navigator. Arrived under new heavens, and
in a new world, the configuration of lands, the aspect of
vegetation, the habits of animals, the distribution of heat
according to longitude, the pelagian currents, the variations
of terrestrial magnetism, - nothing escaped his sagacity!.... Columbus does not limit himself to collecting isolated
facts; he combines them, he seeks their mutual relations
to each other. He sometimes rises with boldness to the discovery of the general laws that govern the physical world."
Want of space prevents us from mentioning here his grand
views, his bold judgments on Nature, the conquests of his
genius in the regions of the unknown, which he penetrated
with so much audacity; we will limit ourselves to mentioning the principal discoveries which have come forth from
his writings.
These grand discoveries in the scientific order, are seven
in number:
I. The influence exercised by longitude on the declination of the magnetic needle.
2. The variations to which isothermal lines are subject,
in following the direction of curves from the western coasts
of Europe to the eastern shores of the New World.
3. The position of the great field of sea-weeds in the basin
of the Atlantic, whence issue the shoals of fish destined for
our food.
4. The general direction of the tropical seas.
5. The geological causes of the configuration of the Antilles.
6. The equatorial swelling, implying a flattening at the
poles.
7. The continental equilibrium of the globe, which nobody before him supposed.
In addition to his discovery of the New World, mankind
owes to Columbus these seven discoveries, the least of which
would assuredly have rendered illustrious a whole academy.
These conquests were not the fruit of acquired science, but
the recompense of attention united to a faculty of obser



CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


56I


vation, which enabled him to seize and to compare the
phenomena of this world. If he was not supported by
science, as we are assured by all savants with Humboldt
that he was not, who, then, revealed to him all the secrets
of these causes, until then hidden from human knowledge?
In default of physical studies, he carried into his investigations an assiduity so great, a desire so ardent to penetrate
into the secrets of Nature, and Faith aided him to rise so
high, the better to discover the order of Creation, that he
could more easily than another perceive the indices by
which the fundamental laws of our globe are revealed. He
did not seek knowledge, or the secrets of nature, through
simple curiosity; he besought God to enlighten him; he
implored Him to come to his aid, -not to dispense him
from mental labor (to which man is doomed), or to obtain
the knowledge of things without effort on his part, -but to
guide him in his investigations. And his thought,- rendered
more keen by the contemplation of divine things, becomes
more agile, more easily sustained in the higher region of
the understanding, - thus saw further, quicker, and more accurately than science, proceeding according to its own data,
would have enabled it to do.
Columbus loved Nature especially on account of its Creator, his Master, and always saw the Divine Architect in
his work. Far from becoming weakened by years, his
close intimacy, his familiarity with Nature, like true friendship, could only become more intimate and inseparable by
his explorations. The more he knew Nature the more he
loved the Word made flesh, and the more he desired to
serve Him. In growing old, his admiration and his gratitude increased with his years. In his soarings there is no
doubt; his belief is firm and complete, because he connects
visible things with their invisible principle, according to the
Catholic doctrine, -the only true philosophy. If, in his first
explorations, supporting himself somewhat on the teachings
of science, he made some mistakes, some blunders, experience and observation modified his first opinions, and he




562


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


was enabled of himself to correct them. If at first, in order
to combat the opinion of those who regard the earth as extended to infinity, he said, in comparing our planet to the
other creations of God, "' This world is not as large as the
commonalty of men consider it; I say that this earth is a
small affair," it was because he considered what he had discovered of little extent compared to what could be discovered.
The portion of the writings of Columbus which paper
has collected, that at least which has come down to us, is
not very extensive. We possess only a very small part of
what issued from his pen. He wrote a great many letters
to the Queen as well as to some religious, to the apostolic
prothonotary, Peter Martyr, and to some notables of the
Court. We have scarcely only sixteen of them, unless we
give the name to some epistolary fragments scattered in
various documents.
The History of his four voyages, written for the Holy
Father on the plan of "Caesar's Commentaries," is lost, as
well as the Narration of his second voyage, addressed to
the Catholic Sovereigns. His notes, his geographical
charts, which the curate of Palacios, Las Casas, and Don
Fernando had before their eyes, have disappeared. The
observations he had written down after his third voyage,
his remarks on natural history, and his cosmographic views
seized on by Bobadilla, the twenty-sixth of August, I500,
were never returned. Nothing is absolutely known of what
has become of the complete Book of the Prophecies. We
have of it only the rough sketch, informal and mutilated.
What characterizes the style of Columbus is its spontaneity, its brevity, its strength, the absence of arrangement
and of art. He would wish to say everything at the same
time; hence results in certain passages something diffuse,
and apparently obscure, but which is elevated, profound
and synthetic, in the manner of St. Paul. Sober in his
style as in his life, Columbus, avoiding phraseological
embellishment, goes always straight to the point in the
simplest and shortest manner. Such is his heedlessness for




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


563


all arrangement in his writings, whatever they may be, that
even his official reports to the Sovereigns bear the impress
of improvisation. Never did he, even as Admiral, make a
studied report. One would say that there were several
men in him. He writes at the same time in quality of Messenger of Salvation and of Contemplator of the Creation;
he speaks as a mariner, as a missionary, as a naturalist, and
seems urged to say everything at the same time. Still,
when writing as head of the colonial government, he does
so with method and precision, and shows himself to be an
admirable administrator.
The intimate relation between the style and the character
of the man, which nowadays has become.a proverbial
verity, is seen in a palpable manner in the writings of
Columbus.
This man lived in the presence of God. His meditations
were made in the very midst of the most divine manifestation of the infinite that is accessible to our senses: namely,
the ocean! The ocean, one over the whole globe, and so
diverse in its unchangeable unity, -the ocean, which absorbs our contemplation, which makes the poet dumb, interdicts philosophy, and scares the semi-thinker,- fecundated
the genius of Columbus. Near the brilliant skies of the
tropics, near the Fortunate Isles and in the lands of the
Azores, the boldness of his thoughts came from reflection;
his maturity of conviction was formed under the inspiration
of the divine Word, - that conviction which neither the
force of time nor the weakness of man was able to shake.
Like his genius, the style of Columbus seems to tower
and increase in grandeur with his years. His most remarkable production was written in his sixty-seventh year.
The fire of youth and of poetry, warming his breast, pierced
through the iciness of old age like the volcanoes of the
Andes at the limits of perpetual snow. He thus shows an
unalterable strength, exempted from the laws of time and
of 'physical influences. The ardor of his piety, the freshness of his inspiration, are still seen at the end of his fourth




564


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


expedition, in his disastrous voyage of I503. Escaped
miraculously fiom an inevitable shipwreck, his ships shattered and half-submerged, with great difficulty reaching a
port where the leakages put them in danger of sinking, finding himself in the face of threatened famine, and racked
with a merciless gout, far from participating in the despondency of his crews, or being terrified by this state of things,
he unites his thoughts with those of the Catholic Church,
solemnizes with her the feast of St. John the Baptist,
and, during the fast he is obliged to observe, he celebrates
in majestic verse the birth of the precursor of the Messias.
This poetic inspiration, amid sufferings and ships halfsubmerged, is undoubtedly the only example of literary
composition that has ever been produced in similar circumstances.
What an idea does not this peaceful chant of a Christian
soul give us of the serenity of spirit and the piety of Columbus, overcoming the pains of the flesh and the terrors of
his situation, thinking, at that great distance, only of participating in the joy of the Catholic Church, and of celebrating
on that day the nativity of St. John, who leaped in the
womb of his mother at the voice of the Virgin blessed
among all women, who bore within her the Divine Saviour!
SECTION IV.
If Columbus had limited himself to the discovery of new
lands, we might, in fully recognizing his genius, consider
him simply as a cosmographic navigator; but his discoveries
are so closely connected with his private life, with his faith,
and his apostolic role influences his official acts to such an
extent, that it is diametrically opposed to justice to judge
of him without regard to his religious sentiments, the principle and the end of his public existence.
And if anybody be surprised that, after having mentioned his excellent qualities, we have not, witlh that strict
impartiality which history requires, and which it is the




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


565


duty of the historian or the biographer to conform to,
sought the weak part of the character of Columbus, in
order to put his failings side by side with his virtues, and
fairly submit them to the appreciation of the reader, we
reply in advance to such a reproach, that it is in vain we
have auscultated the heart of this hero; we have examined
it in every point of view, and never have we been able to
detect in it a voluntary fault, a wrong, or a failing. To go
to the end with our declaration, we even frankly avow that
we are not surprised at this total absence of censurable propensities or actions in the whole course of his life, because
we find no vices or defects in saints.
Generally speaking, in great men the weaknesses inherent
in our nature can be recognized, although mitigated by
their generosity, the elevated scenes in which they moved,
the respect for public and individual opinion, and the fear
of posterity. But in the heroes of the Gospel there is no
fault of character, no weakness; charity, in purifying them,
elevates, ennobles them. They have to such an extent
admired and imitated the divine model, that they have
modified their own nature, in order to approximate to it as
nearly as humanity will permit.
We will, then, in all frankness, speak our opinion of
Columbus:
This man had no defect of character, or no worldly quality. We have weighty reasons for considering him a saint.
It is with just reason that we go straight to the point,
speaking of what is seen in him, and not troubling ourselves about what is not found in him, for the very reason
that his other biographers, who, to comply with the requirements of the so-called system of historic philosophy, have
labored by erroneous inferences, to show that Columbus had
faults of character, have not been able to cite a single one
in support of their charges against him.  Furthermore,
because these writers, one after the other, yielding to
the logic of facts, have all been led to efface, themselves,
the consequences of their blame and of their reservations,
48




566


HIS TOR r OF


[BOOK IV.


and to finish with a eulogy of the virtues of Columbus so
complete, that they wholly neutralize their own criticisms
of him. Without their knowing it, this attempt only serves
the better to show plainly his moral superiority.
SE CTION V.
It can be safely affirmed, that by an intimate solidarity,
the purity of life of the private man serves in advance as a
pledge of the dignity and irreproachable conduct of the
public functionary. After having seen Columbus taking
care that justice and equity should reign supreme in his
own household, we naturally expect from him strict observance of duty, especially when political responsibilities or
interests are united with his moral obligations.
In the elevated scene to which he suddenly ascended,
invested the same day with the triple dignities of Grand
Admiral, Governor-General, and Viceroy, Columbus never
failed in his engagements or duties. During his administration, nobody accused him of partiality. The haughty
hidalgos, the persecutors of the Indians, alone complained
that he protected the natives: his solicitude for them
wounded their Castilian pride. But Columbus, the disciple
of the Gospel, was not to be swayed by class privileges;
his zeal was extended to the interests of all. He established,
strictly, complete equality before the laws. We have already
shown* that his administration was exempt from blame;
so, without waiting here for any more details, we will
glance at some groups of facts:
His refusal of a principality, lest his particular advantages or interests should turn him from his public duties,
shows, more than words could do, his disinterestedness.
Grand Admiral of the Ocean, Viceroy, and GovernorGeneral, with a perpetual title, he never forgot the obedience


* Book II., chap. vIII., ~ ii.




CHAP. x.]   CHRISTOPiHER COLUMBUS.               567
he owed, and submitted to the orders of a simple commissary of the Sovereigns, so much did he respect legitimate
authority visibly delegated from Above.
Always he gave the example of devotedness, and of
equality in misfortune. During dearths or sickness, whether
at sea or on land, he availed himself of none of his privileges, and would accept of only the common allowances.
His administrative measures present no eagerness for temporary advantages, that blind yielding to imaginary urgency
which shapes the greater part of the acts of authority in the
management of affairs. He never sacrifices to the actualities of the present day the interests of future days, for he
knows that the acts of the administration endure longer
than the administrator does, and that the future is wholly
contained in the present. On no occasion do we see him
descend to hankerings for earthly glory, yield to any ambition for popularity, or truckle for the favors of the Court.
The chicaneries of the bureaus, the injustice and ingratitude
of the King, do not cause him to vary in his conduct.
When even the text of his conventions with the Sovereigns gave him the right to defend by arms the perpetual
government of which he was in possession, and his viceroyalty of the Indies, which no posterior order could annul,
he gives the example of Christian obedience to legitimate
authority. He respects to the end his oath of allegiance,
and does not consider himself absolved from it by the injustice of others. In place of entertaining any rancor, or punishing the Sovereigns by his inaction, he still seeks to serve
the Crown of Castile. After the death of the Queen, he
recommends to his son to redouble his zeal for the service
of the King, and to seek to lighten the weight of affairs for
him.
The activity of Columbus, his care of details, his foresight, his moderation, his firmness, his devotedness, his
respect for authority even when it is inimical to himself; his
protection of the weak, of the sailors who participated in
his toils and sufferings, and his grateful remembrance of his




568


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


faithful and zealous subordinates, make him a model of
public virtues.
As religion is the secret of this force, the bond of all his
actions and of his virtues, Columbus is shown to men of the
world as a bright example. A saint seems to be a model
only for the purest-minded among Christians. A bishop,
a founder of a monastic Order, a missionary, appear to be
proposed as examples only for bishops, priests and religious.
One would say that the cloister or the sanctuary has alone
profited by their history. Providence has judged it expedient to show mankind a laic who is a functionary according to the Gospel. Columbus, a layman and an administrator, in the official world, is especially a model, a lesson,
for high functionaries, and even for sovereigns. His life is
pregnant with fruitful instruction.
Subordinates will there learn to bear courageously the
miscalculations they may make, and the injustices that may
be done them, in the course of their functions or their
career. The life of Columbus shows that merit may not
be rewarded here below: he suffers, but he does not rise
in rebellion. The Christian sees in these trials a means of
making himself a better man, and of atoning, by his resignation, for his secret negligences towards God. Besides,
resignation to the Divine Will brings with it an interior
sweetness, which is not known by the spirit of the world.
If Columbus, planting himself on his strict rights, his
conventions with the Crown of Castile, had arisen in insurrection, and repulsed with arms the commissaries Aguado,
Bobadilla, and Ovando, who sought to dispossess him; if
he had secured to himself an independent state, appropriating to himself the island of Hispaniola, his end would
have been that of an ordinary man: the grandeur and the
poetry of his labors would have been eclipsed in this vulgar
turn of fortune; the interest which the whole world will
evet attach to his touching memory would long since have
vanished; he would have been despoiled of that halo of
glory, the wreaths of which his ill-fortune so holily supported.




CHIAP. X.]


CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


569


In seeing such grand services so badly rewarded, such
just rights ignored, one learns to support with less pain
petty injustices, clashings of interests, the promptings of
self-love, the wrongs done by the public, or by superiors.
What are the wrongs of an administration, of a municipality, of a captain of a corps towards an individual, of an
employe, or of an officer, when one thinks of the services
rendered by Columbus, and the manner in which he was
rewarded for them? One will no longer complain of oppositions, of little vexations, or of unjust preferences, in calling
to mind what Columbus suffered without murmuring.
If we arise to the cause of his force of soul, of his tranquillity of mind, in what concerns him, we shall see that his
knowledge of the feebleness of human nature, his high conception of God, his notion of the divine goodness, his desire
for pardoning, to be, in his turn, pardoned; his consciousness of the fleetness of this world, of the instability of terrestrial things, and the detachment from transitory things
of his soul, which was wholly raised to immortal joys and
splendors, sustained him during his trials. He consoled
himself with hopes of the imperishable, and of the supreme
good, for the deceptions and the iniquities of the present
life.
SECTION VI.
We have been contemplating a man of perfect virtue, of
an entire purity of heart, whose moral grandeur surpasses
the most celebrated types of antiquity, and who is not inferior to the noblest of those of the heroes formed by the
Gospel.
But this is not all. To form a correct judgment of Columbus, let us endeavor to enter into the depths of his
character.
Assuredly, when we examine him thoroughly, embracing
in the same view the principal acts and events of his career,
we are led to recognize that his public character, which was
in necessary relation with his private character, presents, in
48*




570


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


a special manner, the marks of a religious mission, and of
an evangelical mandate. As was so justly said by Father
Ventura, - " Columbus is the man of the Church."
In reality, Columbus belongs much more decidedly to the
Church than he does to the marine. Though fixed in the
world by his functions, he habitually lived in it more like a
religious than a laic. After his arrival in Spain, - a country which Providence destined to serve for His views,
Columbus was miraculously conducted to a monastery,
where he prepared himself for his great mission.
There he unites himself solely with religious or with
ecclesiastics. At Court, where he was introduced by the
former Apostolic Nuncio, from all, with the exception of
the Grand Cardinal and the Queen, he receives only opposition. At the junta of the savants in Salamanca he encounters only distrust or disdain. He is supported only by one
man, who is a religious and a theologian. The Dominicans
next become his hosts; he receives fiom them hospitality
and pecuniary aid.
When, tired of waiting, he is going to quit Spain, it is a
monk who retains him; who goes to the Queen, and causes
himl to be called back, and who, finishing with his prayers
what he had commenced with exhortations, obtains the
royal word of Isabella.
It is to this monastery that Columbus returns; it is here
that he prepares himself for his expedition, not with compasses, charts, or other aids of the sciences, but by penance,
prayer, and the meditation of things divine. His expedition
takes the religious character of its origin and object: he
gives the name of the Blessed Virgin to his ship, and hoists
the Cross in her; he departs on a Friday, and commands
the sails to be unfurled in the name of Jesus Christ.
It is in the name of Jesus Christ that he takes possession
of the lands he discovers. It is to honor the Redeemer that
he erects Crosses everywhere he lands. After having proclaimed the glory of Jesus Christ on the billows, he spreads
His Name in the virgin groves of the archipelagos, and




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


571


the coasts of the New Continent. Through his piety, the
prayers of the universal language of Catholicity strike the
ear. The inhabitants of the islands, and the tribes of
the woods, salute the symbol of Redemption and of eternal
beatitude. Following the example of Christopher Columbus, they voluntarily kneel before this emblem, the signification of which they do not yet know, but the mysterious
influence of which they feel.
He was the first who carried the Cross to the new country. He was the precursor of the missionaries, the herald
of Catholicity, and the tacit mandatory of the Papacy. He
was the first who conceived, or, at least, formed the idea,
of a seminary for the foreign missions, — and desired to
found it at his own expense.
He presents the Holy See with an opportunity, or
occasion, of showing the spirit of infallible sagacity that
perpetually inspires the Church, an9 of proving, in an
unquestionable manner, that the Papacy, far from striking
with an anathema those who admitted the existence of a
new continent, as was so often repeated by some writers
of the eighteenth century, praised the man who discovered
it, and formed a judgment of the form and dimensions of
the globe, much bolder, and more exact and sagacious, than
did the cosmographers and savants of that period.
Far from secularizing himself after his Discovery, of enjoying in the world his triumph, his sudden importance,
or of delighting in his vice-royalty, he aspires only to new
explorations, in order to proclaim, in countries still more
distant, the Name of the Redeemer.  He regularly says
the office of the Franciscan religious. At Valladolid, at
Granada, wherever he sojourns, it is in their monasteries
that he has his abode. Outside of the Seraphic Order, he
has no intimate relations but with the Dominicans, the
Carthusians, the Hieronymites, with ecclesiastics of edifying lives, and with simple men serving God. He is but
very seldom seen in commerce with the grand, or with the
favorites of the Court. A Tertiary, or member of the Third




572


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


Order of St. Francis, he lived as a true religious not raised
to the priesthood.
The subsequent voyages of Columbus had for their object
only the diffusion of the Gospel. All his posterior discoveries being merely the execution of his plan, it may truly
be said that, - thanks to him, - the Perpetual Sacrifice of
the New Law, announced and prophesied in the Old Law,
has been really established on the earth. At every hour
of the day and of the night, the immolation of the Divine
victim is renewed in the two hemispheres.  When the
vesperal chant of complin announces the close of day in
Europe, that of matins has already preceded the dawn in
other regions; and while the night covers with its shadows
the Eastern hemisphere, the August Sacrifice is offered up
in the Andes, and among the islands of the Pacific. The sun
shines incessantly on the ceremonies of the Church of Jesus
Christ.  The words of the prophets, the accents of the
psalmists, the recitals of the evangelists, join and succeed
each other according to the rules of the Roman Liturgy;
and from the Old World to the New the glory of the Word,
like His mercy, is announced to man.   The power of
Catholic unity is strikingly manifested in the permanency
of this homage rendered to our Lord; for, on this globe, it is
solely the Catholic Church that offers this unchangeable perpetuity of aspirations to Heaven. The Holy Sacrifice is
continued without interruption, like organic life, the respiration of plants, or the rotation of the earth around its axis.
After the discovery of the totality of our planet, to show
there the emblem of Salvation, Columbus had but one
desire, the deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre, in order to
facilitate the access of all nations to it, and to give the possession of it to the Holy See. He had no temporal inquietude but in relation to this spiritual object, and to preserve
from all future dismemberment the patrimony of the Church.
His recourse to the Holy See, the spiritual powers he besought fiom it, the services he offered to render it, the consideration the Papacy manifested for him, the confidence it




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


573


reposed in him, as well in regard to the Line of Demarkation as to the erection of episcopal sees in the Indies, and
the assiduous relations it required of him to keep with it, -
seem to confirm tacitly the character of apostolic legate
with which he showed himself invested in his acts and in his
intentions. His exemplary piety, his confidence in God,
the lustre of his rank, the humility of his life, his unheard-of
misfortunes, and his services without equal, distinguish him
from the rest of mortals. Since the beginning of the world,
never did any man accomplish so vast a work as he did.
The evangelic mildness of the means corresponded with
the holiness of the object. Without shedding a drop of
blood, without causing a tear to flow, he doubled the known
space of the earth, and opened to science an illimitable
field.
Evidently God chose Christopher Columbus as a Messenger of Salvation.
From the cradle this man was marked with a mysterious
seal. Belonging to the era of the revival of letters, which
is so familiarly known to us, he seems still more to participate of the legendary existence of the sainted civilizers
of the middle ages. He remains surrounded with the marvellous, notwithstanding the prosaic accusations of his
enemies. Columbus introduced himself to notice during
the full movement of literary progress, the blooming season
of universities and of printing in Spain. He occasioned
the institution of naval schools, of hydrographic commissions, and the development of the marine. And still his
imposing grandeur seems to elevate him above the level of
history, to render him back to the shadowy ages of the
myth and the epopee. It is because every grandeur which
is detached from the earth carries in itself its sublimity, and
every sublimity its poetry.
For the reason that Columbus, chosen by God, was called
to accomplish the work of Providence, the mark of this
election is seen in the midst of the positivism of the details
of the functions he had to discharge. This high dignitary




574


HISTORr OF


[BOOK IV.


of the marine, this Governor-General of the colonies, has
something about him that is strange and exceptional, which
at first sight does not strike the vulgar mind, but which
Christian souls and interior men may easily remark.
SE CTION     VI.
In the primitive history of Catholicity, which an uninterrupted filiation conducts to the cradle of mankind, we see,
by an express intention of Providence, the patriarchs and
prophets receive in advance, at their birth, names symbolic
of the character or the role they are to display. Equally
in the establishment of the Gospel, we see also, without exception, the first cooperators chosen by our Lord, bear
names figurative of their particular destination.
Before the divine Redeemer of men preached His doctrine, His precursor, John the Baptist, descended from the
priestly race of Abia, bore the significative name which was
given him by supernatural authority,* notwithstanding the
opposition of his relations, who all wished him to be called
Zachary, like his father, and spurned the name of John, because no one of their family had borne it.t The name of
John,- 7ohanncs, -expresses true piety, grace, mercy,
which he who prepared the ways of the Lord announced to
men. Rectas facile semitas cjus.
The first of the evangelists was called Levi, son of Alpheus. Jesus Christ, in calling him to follow Him, gave
him the name of Matthew, which expresses, at the same
time, a voluntary gift and the gratuity of the favor.
Not to multiply examples, we will mention only one
more, that of the Prince of the Apostles, St. Peter, the
Chief of the Church.
At the time the Divine Redeemer perceived him casting
nets with the aid of his brother in the Sea of Galilee, he


*Luke I: 61.


t Ibid.




CHAP. X.]


CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


575


was simply Simon Bar-jona. Already these two names
united, presented an interesting signification. Jesus tells
him to leave his nets, that He will make him a fisher of men.
Immediately, with an obedience as unfeigned as it was submissive, he abandons the nets, his means of gaining a living. And although married, having in his charge his sick
mother-in-law, he follows the Messias without the least hesitation, without inquiring about his new means of subsistence, or of providing for his family.
This unhesitating confidence, this prompt obedience, an
index of the uprightness of intention and of the faithful simplicity which distinguished the eldest of the Apostles, was
strikingly represented by his name of Simon Bar-jona, for
in Hebrew-Syriac Simon signifies who obeys, and Bar-jona,
Son of the Dove. In advance, the name of this obscure
fisherman, expressing obedience and simplicity, foretokened,
also, the Eldest, since the Dove ( in Latin Columbus) was
the symbol of it.* But to these two names the Divine
Master added a third, which was to complete the figure of
his destiny; he gave him the name of Cephas, which, interpreted, means Peter,-a rock, -the foundation-stone.
And such is the power of this name, that after having said
to him, " I say to thee that thou art Peter," our Redeemer
immediately adds, " and upon this rock I will build my
Church." t
It would not be astonishing if the man chosen to double
the known extent of the earth, and to carry the Gospel
among unknown nations, should not likewise present in his
name some mysterious or symbolic meanings.
* The Dove, the emblem of a pacific message, a memento of the
ark of Noe, became, on account of its antiquity, the emblem of
Seniority, and in this quality figured in the standards of the most
ancient of peoples, the Assyrians, from whom Juda descended by
Arphaxad.
t Et ego dico libi quia tu es Petrus et super hanc Petram aedificabo,
Ecclesiam meam et portae inferi non prevalebant adversus eam."St. Mattt. xvi: I8.




576


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


After his birth, the oldest of the sons of Dominic Colombo was presented at the baptismal font in a church dedicated to St. Stephen, the first martyr. There a baptismal
name was added to his family name. This infant had from
that moment the names the most appropriate that could be
for the functions he was to discharge among men.
From his parentage his surname was COLOMBO. This
name, which in Latin is COLUMBUS, a Dove, means at the
same time innocence, purity, simplicity of heart, -the
message on water, the pacific message, the divine message;
the prompt arrival, the happy news, the discovered land.
It also expresses navigation, maritime genius, the primary
piece of every ship - the keel.*  To these names, so expressive, which he held by right of blood, the Church
added another, which was to be indicative of his future
mission, - CHRISTOPHORUS, - that is to say, who bears
Christ, who transports the Cross, who spreads the Gospel.
The power of his name augurs that of his destiny.
Everything in his life is a subject of surprise and astonishment. In his early youth, though of an ancient race, he
performs obscure labors in poverty. Afterwards, on the
day set by Providence, he who was formerly only a cabinboy becomes Grand Admiral of the Ocean; the former
apprentice of a wool-carder takes his rank as perpetual
Governor, Admiral, and Viceroy of the Indies. He is saluted
in his triple dignity in a land situated beyond the GLOOMY
OCEAN. The revolted crews, who two days before desired
to cast him into the billows, become humbled before his
genius, and take an oath of obedience to him, as to a
monarch.
If we consider at one stretch, and in mass, the events of
the life of Columbus, we immediately perceive that the
*In ancient times, in Italy, the keel of every vessel was called
the COLOMBO. This name is still found in the "Treatise on Naval
Constructions," by Bartolomeo Crescentio. —A. Yal. Ai-cheologie
Navale.




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


577


picturesqueness and the poetry of these events almost equal
their grandeur.
The white sails of his three caravels -remind us of the
three white doves on the azure field of his paternal or
family arms, having, for device, the three names of the
three theological virtues; his first expedition, wonderful
for its rapidity, and the return of which was still more
wonderful on account of the successive tempests that beset
it; the mysterious relations between Fridays and the events
of this enterprise, undertaken in honor of the Crucified;
the report of his triumph rejoicing his old father, as a reward for his filial piety; his three first voyages, undertaken
and accomplished with three caravels, in the name of the
Thrice-Holy Trinity; his career of discoveries, composed
of four maritime expeditions; his hospitality fiom the
Seraphic Order four times; then his posthumous voyages,
for finding that funereal repose which Dante, during his
lifetime, implored from the Franciscans of Corvo; the
visible assistance of God during his gigantic labors; the
wonderful scientific conquests due to this man, whom some
modern savants exclude from the ranks of the learned; the
protection accorded to him who touched him, and to those
who went in his name; his chief sufferings coming from
those whom he had most obliged or served; the majesty
of his old age; the vigorous poetry of his intellect, which
resists time and misfortunes; in fine, his agony, radiant
with intelligence, and his final departure on the anniversary of the Ascension of the Redeemer, - this strangeness,
these oppositions, these grandeurs, which one would say
were destined long ago for recitals in heroic tragedies, or
for the strings of the harp, do they not separate Columbus
from all tle human existences recorded in history?
The facts and events of this man's career are no less curious, strange and wonderful, than they are certain and
indubitable; and yet those who witnessed them, who participated in them, who aided in their accomplishment, did
not understand them, or did not heed them. The chiefs of
49




578


HIS TOR Y OF


[BOOK IV.


the bureau of marine were as silly as they were irreligious.
They did not see that their chicaneries would add to the
grandeur of their innocent victim, and that they were
raising him in the eyes of posterity, when they thought
they were lowering him in the estimation of the courtiers
of the King.
But, in order to be just, it must be acknowledged that
some choice Christians, such as the illustrious Franciscan
Cardinal Ximenes, and the learned Dominican Diego de
Deza, Archbishop of Seville, had glimpses of the mysterious seal affixed to his august destination. Some `others,
away from the Court, had a clear perception of his grandeur; like the noble lapidary of Burgos, they considered
that Christopher Columbus had fulfilled a providential
mandate. Since that time several learned Spanish theologians and commentators have been struck with the mystic
connection existing between the acts of Columbus and
certain sentences in the Holy Scriptures. Father Acosta
acknowledges that divers passages of the Prophet Isaias,
among others chap. lxvi., may be applied to the Discovery
of the Indies, and says: " Several very learned authors declare that the whole of this chapter refers to the Indies."
In his book " De Consolatione Ecclesia," the great Cardinal
Valerio extolled implicitly the character ot Columbus.
Maluenda, Thomas Bozius, Ponce de Leon, Botera, Father
Thomas of Jesus, Solorzano Herrera, and all those who
have seriously studied the epoch of the Discovery, have
been persuaded that the mission of Columbus was providential. It was not without surprise and admiration that
they have seen his ships, and even his armorial ensigns,
announced by the Prince-Prophet. We find in the Holy
Scriptures nine passages clearly applicable to the Discovery
of the New World.
The progress of time has served only to render more
manifest these relations, and to elucidate their applications.
That the mission of Columbus, - that event which was to
modify so profoundly the future circumstances of humanity,




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


579


-was shown to the Prophet; to whom the Messias was
revealed, will appear in nowise extraordinary to those souls
who are, happily, imbued with divine truth. As to those
persons who will not ascend so high, and who demand
more recent testimonies, we answer that, outside of written
documents, there exists, even to this day, the proof of a
forgotten announcement, of a mysterious presentiment of
peoples, relative to the.mission of Columbus, and we loyally forewarn them that without Columbus the mysterious
figure which is going to be presented to them would be
inexplicable.
SE CTIO N    VIII.
To the revelations of Israel there succeeded, after the
times of the Messias, a prophecy, the author of which is
no better known than the origin, the origin than the date,
the date than the language, and still which a constant transmission has brought down to our own days. This mysterious prophecy, without a written text, without an avowed
father, come nobody knows whence, like the mysterious
rumors that agitated the Roman world immediately previous to the birth of the Saviour, has been represented
under the form of an anonymous tradition; collective, perhaps, but assuredly popular.
This tradition has been personified by sculpture, has been
installed in the ruined basilicas of Antioch and of Byzantium, and in the old churches of Romanic style, whence it
has glided into monasteries and abbeys, and even into
Gothic cathedrals, by means of mural paintings and statuary. A pious belief has caused the adoption, as commemorative of the past, this symbolic image of the future. We
desire to recall the colossal effigy of St. Christopher, and
his popular legend.  It must not be forgotten that St.
Christopher was the patron saint of Columbus.
Let us first see the real history of this saint, and afterwards we will appreciate the signification of the symbols
that are assigned him.




580


5HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


From hagiography we learn the following particulars of
him: Opherus, a Syrian by birth, was a pagan, and of
gigantic stature, - a kind of Goliath, proud of his strength,
and desirous of serving none but the most powerful king on
earth. Having become a Christian at the sight of a miracle, in the ardor of his faith he would have no other name
but Chrisoptoorus (Christ-bearer). St. Babylus, Bishop
of Antioch, admitted him to baptism. Christopher published the Gospel in his own country, in the environs of
Palestine, in several countries of Asia Minor, and travelled
constantly, preaching courageously the Good News, until
the time when, arrested by the emissaries of idolatry, during
the persecution of the Emperor Decius, he sealed with his
blood the Cross which he had borne.
His martyrdom was promptly celebrated in the East.
Soon the Orientals rendered him honors.  St. Ambrose
praised him highly. St. Christopher is classed in the most
ancient martyrologies. Formerly two churches in Constantinople were dedicated to him. The ' Mosarabic Breviary,"
attributed to St. Isidore of Seville, makes mention of him.
In the time of St. Gregory the Great there was a monastery
in Sicily under the name of St. Christopher. From the
seventh century downwards, Toledo, and several other cities
in Spain, possessed some relics of this martyr. In Paris the
parish church of his name was one of the most ancient ones
in the city.
Nothing is more authentic, nothing more precise, than
this history of St. Christopher. Nothing, again, is better
established than the ancientness of the honors rendered to
him since the fourth century of the Church. Still, if we
now take into consideration the manner in which the faithfill honored St. Christopher from the commencement, we
will find no connection between the apostolic acts of his
life and the symbols under which he has been represented.
His image is that of a gigantic, or rather colossal, saint,
whose attitude expresses neither doctrine, nor penance, nor
martyrdom. He does not pray, he does not speak, he does




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


58I


not suffer. Nevertheless, he is not motionless in his glory;
he marches across waters, bearing the infant Christ on his
shoulders.
Assuredly, in this image of the confessor of the Faith,
nothing recalls his apostolate or his martyrdom.  This
representation being in nowise applicable to the events of
the life of St. Christopher, it evidently can refer only to his
name. Now, since an expression has been given to this
name, really symbolic, which cannot regard the past, it
must necessarily refer to the future.
This fact implies, forcibly, the existence of a prophecy
for a long time forgotten; of a mysterious announcement,
the origin of which is at present unknown, but upon which
has necessarily been founded the sculptural type of St.
Christopher, such as it was first produced by the East, and
such as it is still preserved in the south of Christian Europe.
From these circumstances it is permissible to infer that this
prophecy was probably cotemporaneous with the martyrdom of St. Christopher. It would not be impossible that
this figure was literally the reproduction, in stone, of the
prophecy of the saint who first took the name of Christbearer (Christopher), and would have announced that one
day a great man, bearing also " Christ" in his name,
would effectually transport the Law of Jesus Christ across
the ocean-sea. This would explain how Oriental genius,
giving to the holy martyr the emblem of the holy voyager
announced, has produced, in sculpture, the form of a colossal man, in relation with his gigantic work. By a unique
exception in sacred iconography, and the usages of religion,
popular piety adopted these figurative symbols of the future.
The Church welcomed the colossal effigies of St. Christopher, which, in rendering homage to the giant martyr of
the Faith, represented the future apostolate of a great man
who would bear " Christ" in his very-name.
To every serious mind, it becomes evident, ist, That a
mysterious tradition has occasioned the figure of this symbolic statue announcing the future in place of recalling the
49*




58 2


HISSTOR OF


[BOOK In.


past, and therefore deprived of all the mementoes of the
apostolic life and of the martyreal palm of St. Christopher,
and represented him solely where he never was, on sea,
and made him crossing waves, whereas he evangelized only
on land; 2d, That the knowledge of this prophecy, the
cause of the colossal effigy, being lost, there was afterwards
a pious legend composed, which underwent alterations and
variations, according to the times and the places. It remains certain that the far East was the original source of
this tradition, and that it was there the first churches and
first statues were raised in honor of St. Christopher.
Now in what manner was St. Christopher first represented?  How did the iconographic chisel of the statuary
write the name? The facts will give the answer.
St. Christopher is invariably represented under the form
of a giant bearing the infant Jesus on his shoulders, passing
the sea without being completely wetted, and supporting
himself on a verdant tree having its top and its roots.
Let us analyze this emblem, and the results will easily
enable us to find the signification of the whole.
This giant saint is a very good Christian, a hero of Catholicity. He carries beyond the sea the infant Jesus, - that
is to say, the dawn of the Gospel on the new land. The
little Jesus holds in His hand the globe of the earth, surmounted with the Cross. This sphericity of the globe
epitomizes in advance the whole system of the Discovery.
The cross surmounting the globe announces the diffusion of
the Gospel among all peoples. The Catholic giant, with
his forehead encircled with a halo of glory, the indication
of sanctity, supports himself, in traversing the billows, on
the trunk of a flowering tree bearing leaves and, fruit, which
at once reminds us of the flowering rod of Aaron, the root
of Jesse, the trunk of the tree of Salvation, - that wood
which has saved the world. It is to be noticed that this
tree, towards its top, has date-bearing branches, which is
characteristic of the Orient, and at its foot fibrous roots,
the sign of transplantation, of new culture. Besides, the




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


583


old Latin device of St. Christopher, expressing the generosity of this giant apostle, who has the gentleness of a dove,
and the Good News of which he is the bearer, reads thus:
" QUI TE MANE VIDENT, NOCTURNO TEMPORE RIDENT."
These words evidently imply future movement, a subsequent voyage, and can in nowise be referred to the past.
In the course of time, after the invasion of the Vandals,
who were Arians, this colossal statue having become unintelligible to many minds in Germany and other countries,
there was a legend composed which may explain this
figure, and connect it with the life of St. Christopher. By
degrees, the accessories of this effigy were modified: in
place of a missionary bearing the Christ, a hermit was
represented, carrying, gratuitously, travellers on his shoulders across a deep river. Such an employment at that
time, when there existed but few bridges or ferry-boats,
may have been of great utility. St. Christopher, on account of his strong shoulders, has been supposed to be the
predecessor of the confraternity of bridge-builders modestly
devoted to this good work, following the example of the
young shepherd, St. Benezet, to whom the country of Venaissin owed the bridge of Avignon. It has been said that,
to try him, Jesus Christ, under the form of a child, came
one night to him, to beg him to take Him across the river,
which had been swelled by the recent rains, and that the
saint, taking Him on his back, recognized, by His weight
becoming more and more heavy, that he bore the Master
of the World.
The mysterious tradition, and the colossal effigy which
consecrated it in the churches of the East, took thus, in
coming amid the woods of Germany, and the fogs of the
shores of the North, the character of a commonplace
legend, - a Christian anecdote, to beguile the long evenings
of winter. Paintings having conformed to the variations of
legendary tradition, the sea was finally replaced by a river.
On one side is a hermit, with relics in his hand, near a
chapel with its bell-tower; on the other, a brave German




584                HISTORY OF               [BOOK IV.
on horseback, going to a mill, the water-wheel of which is
seen.
It is not in the north of Europe, then, that we ought to
seek the exact representation of the colossal statue of St.
Christopher. To find it, we must return towards the south,
adjacent to the country where it originated.  There St.
Christopher is, indeed, the giant who carries Christ, and
passes the great sea or ocean, having water only to his
waist, holding, in place of a staff, the mystic tree which is
to be transplanted, or even holding in his hand a cross,
which he takes to the other side of the sea.
It is a curious circumstance that the churches, the images,
and the name of St. Christopher are more spread in the
south than in the north, and among the populations of the
shores than among those of the interior districts. Among
all Christian countries, Spain was the one in which were
most multiplied the effigies, the churches, and the chapels
of St. Christopher. Certainly no other nation in Europe
possessed as anciently, or on as many altars, relics of this
martyr, or raised higher statues to this holy giant who was
to pass the sea.
So an ancient tradition, for a long time unheeded —
ascending at least to the twelfth century, and recalled by
Columbus * after his third voyage - had pointed out Spain
as the country that was to accomplish a great religious mission. In his " Natural and Moral History of the Indies,"
Father Acosta, whose profound and comprehensive views
Humboldt has noted, says, also, " that it has been predicted
for a long time that the New World was to be converted to
Jesus Christ by the Spanish nation." Is it not strange, that
a country confined between mountains and the sea, and
which, therefore, could extend itself only by the ocean,
should be designated for this evangelical work! This idea
of an evangelic action beyond the GLOOMY OCEAN, is it
not astonishing!


* Libro de las Profecias, fol. iv.




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


585


It was, in fact, from Spain, a country in which St. Christopher was so much honored, that the messenger of the
Good News departed to carry the Cross beyond the ocean.
And it is so natural to see in the Catholic mission of
Columbus the interpretation of the emblematic figure of St.
Christopher, that the first geographer of the epoch of the
Discovery, Juan de la Cosa, in finishing his map of the
New World, in place of naming the conqueror of the
GLOOMY OCEAN, contented himself with painting the symbolic figure of the saint who bears Christ on his shoulders
across the sea.* In his estimation, the prediction contained
in this religious image was already realized.
In fact for more than ten centuries the colossal statue we
have been speaking of expressed, in relief, the act of piety
which was one day to put the old world in possession of the
new one.
It is also to be remarked, that since the Discovery the
statues of St. Christopher are less colossal, and the churches
dedicated to him less numerous, than before that epoch.
Those that existed already are preserved; it is but rarely
that new ones are dedicated to him.   Now the gigantic
effigy has received its true interpretation. Henceforward
the palm of his triumph, the crown of his victory, can be
rendered to the Syrian martyr, St. Christopher. It remains
to us to venerate in him only the martyr of Jesus Christ,
and probably the author, or the occasion of the mysterious
prophecy, with the accomplishment of which Christopher
Columbus was charged.
*M. Ferdinand Denis thinks Juan de la Cosa sought, in this
effigy, to reproduce the very countenance of Christopher Columbus.
We are wholly of his opinion; and the editor of Herrera undoubtedly participated in it in advance, for, in his publication of
i628, the portrait appears to be but simply an enlargement of the
miniature likeness of St. Christopher, placed at the head of the map
of Juan de la Cosa.




586


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


SE CTION IX.
One cannot judge of Columbus as he would of the Emperor Henry III., Louis XIV., Cromwell, or the great
Frederic.
This man is not wholly explicable by the facts of observation, since extraordinary events, and a concourse of
marvellous coincidences, enter into his enterprises as a navigator, and into his administrative acts, and that the spirit
that animated him, and his religious character, make him
partake more of heaven than of earth.
The contemplator of the Word, the herald of the Cross,
the liberator in hope of the Holy Sepulchre, bears in all his
habitudes the lmark of his apostolate. The ambassador of
God to unknown nations is distinguished among all men by
the character of his august career.
There is something of the mysterious and the sublime
mixed up with his life: the dramatic and the poetic enter
into his existence. Everything that comes in contact with
this man acquires dignity or confers distinction. By their
persistence, or their excess even, his tribulations pertain to
the domain of the epopee, as much as to that of history.
Some miserable, envious, and ungrateful wretches, whom
their mediocrity destined to forgetfulness, appertain to history, for the very reason that they attacked the Herald of the
Cross. Their names remain to be in eternal disgrace.
But those who served faithfully this good master, gain
immortality by their connection with him. Their names
cannot be effaced from the pages of history. Everything
that belongs to him, or is connected with him, becomes
increased in glory or in utility; so much so, that the titles
of nobility accorded to his brothers cannot exalt them.
That of brothers to Columbus far surpasses their letterspatent. His faithful squire, Diego AMendez, obtained armorial bearings.  His faithful steward, Pedro de Terreros,
wounded mortally in defending him, had in advance received a title to immortality. Columbus reserved for him




CHAP. x.]    CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.               587
the honor of being the first European that trod the New
Continent. His Indian interpreter, Diego Colon, a poor
idolater, was, after he was baptized, married to the sister of
the noblest sovereign of Hispaniola. His Spanish interpreter, Cristobal Rodriguez, surnamed La Lengua, acquired great honors. His domestics became officers; his
officers navigators.  His first pilots attain to celebrity;
others are placed in important posts or in honorable employments, like Sanchez de Carvajal, who was appointed
body-guard.  The devotedness of his countryman Barthelemy Fieschi, has eternally associated him with the glory
of his last expedition.
If he had had no relations with Columbus, who would
have remembered the jurisconsult Nicolas Oderigo, although
temporarily charged with a mission by the Republic of
Genoa? and even would the generous Dominican Diego de
Deza, and the learned Carthusian Gaspard Gorricio, be
known beyond the other side of the Pyrenees? After having charmed the erudite Court of Isabella, Peter Martyr
would have been forgotten for the last three centuries, if, to
guard against the effects of time, he had not spoken of
Columbus.   By the fascination of his conversation, the
Revealer of the Globe led Doctor Garcia Hernandez, of
Palos, and Doctor Chanca, of Seville, to visit the newlydiscovered regions; and their confidence in him has saved
them from  inevitable forgetfulness.  By conversing with
the first clerk of Juanato Berardi, Columbus made a cosmographer of him. He raised this book-keeper, who was
named Amerigo Vespucci, almost to the height of a rival.
In like manner, for having generously welcomed the
traveller, then unknown, when he came, poor and wayworn, to the monastery of La Rabida, the Seraphic Order,
aspiring only to the privileges of humility, sees itself invested
with honors which were refused to science; and until the
end of time it will participate in the glory of the Discovery.
The sons of St. Francis have received the reward or prize
of the valiant. The first priest who celebrated the holy




588


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


Sacrifice on the ocean was a Franciscan; the first priest
who trod on the newly-discovered land was a Franciscan;
and the first priest who preached in the Indian language
the name of the Redeemer, who promulgated the Law of
Jesus Christ, and the authority of the holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church, was a Franciscan.
The Seraphic Order had the honor of conferring the first
baptism, of founding the first convent, and of furnishing
the first bishop for Hispaniola, as it had the honor of drawing from its bosom the first martyr which the Apostolate
counts in the expanded spaces of the ocean.
In sober truth, this man appearing on the scene of the
world during the era of the Revival of Learning, borrows
nothing from the epoch; he outstrips it as regards intuition
and science; but the full, implicit, and ardent faith of the
middle ages, with its militant and chivalrous character, is in
him. Still, he so participates in the primitive and fundamental characteristics of Catholicity, that he reminds us
of a hero of the Gospel, a prophet radiant with holiness, an
august patriarch, rather than of a knight-errant of the Holy
Land. Vainly has profane learning, lately resuscitated by
the invention of printing, with its mythological allusions,
its recollections of metamorphoses, invaded Castile, seduced
some gifted minds in Italy and France, and even attempted
to find an entrance into the Eternal City. Columbus never
enters into any league or compact with error. No expression, no form of thought, betrays, on his part, the least concession to the infatuation of so many of his cotemporaries.
In his relations with the propagators of Greek and of pure
Latinity, the disciple of St. Francis remains what he was
in his childhood in Genoa, and afterwards on sea, -the
pupil of pure Catholicity. This respect for his faith, this
orthodoxy of language, tells better than any commentary
could, to what a point the disciple of the Gospel had profoundly penetrated into the meaning of divine things, and
how abiding the consciousness of his mission was in him.
Never did the disciple of the Crucified compare himself to




CHAP. X.]


CHRISTOPHER COL UMB US.


589


the great geniuses of Greece and Rome, or to the celebrities
of profane antiquity. If he compares his destiny with those
of some others, it is to the great men of the Old and the
New Testament that, in his modesty, he seems to allude.
One time he seems to support the firmness of his faith, the
boldness of his enterprise, by the example of St. Peter.
Twice he compares the graces lavished on him by the Divine Majesty to the favors Moses and David had received.
But it was particularly with the mission of the legislator of
the Hebrews that the Messenger of Salvation compared his
own.
Had he strong reasons for these comparisons, most respectful, and assuredly, in his thoughts, far removed from all
personal vanity?  The want of space prevents us from
examining this question. We simply see some exterior
traits of similitude between Columbus and the Chief of the
Apostolate. In different languages, the one and the other
had received the same family name. St. Peter was son of
the Dove, and Christopher of Columbus, which also means
a Dove. The former received from Christ a name which
signified that he would bear the Church; the latter received
from the Church a name which signified that he would
bear Christ. St. Peter represented the fixity of the basis,
the immutability of the foundation; Christopher Columbus
represented the expansion of the Church, the propagation
of the Faith.
Afterwards, if we consider the most salient points of
comparison between the destiny of Moses and that of Columbus, it will appear that these two extraordinary men
have equally accomplished providential missions: That
of Moses, attested by the Church, is recognized equally
by Jews and by Christians. That of Columbus, attested
by evidence, will one day be recognized by all men of good
faith.
At the time appointed by Providence, fifteen hundred
years before the time of Jesus Christ, Moses organizes or
gives a constitution to the people of God, who had been
5o




590


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


oppressed and enfeebled by bondage, establishes the true
doctrine, the worship of the one only true God, and isolates
his people, in order to preserve them the better from the
contagion of idolatry.
At the time appointed by Providence, fifteen hundred
years after the time of Jesus Christ, Christopher Columbus
enlarges the known surface of the earth, brings nations,
as it were, nearer each other, and expands the domain of
the Catholic Church.
Both of these men bear names that are highly symbolic.
Both of them were forty years old when they commenced
the execution of their respective divine mandates. Moses
had to quit his wife Sephora, in order to attend to his
mission. Columbus keeps far away from Beatrix, in order
to accomplish his.
The sea opens its waters to give a passage to Moses; the
ocean smooths its deep waters to give a passage to the ships
of Columbus.
Moses brought a new Law, the Law of the Covenant, to
the chosen people. Columbus brought the New Law, the
Law of Grace, to the called peoples. The former applied
the temporary law with its severe inflexibility; the latter
the law of grace, of mercy, and of charity.
Moses triumphed by the sign of the Cross over the obstacles raised against him by the carnal-minded. He prefigured this sign with his arms extended and raised on the
mountain, and with the post in the form of the Greek letter
Tau, upon which he exposed the brazen serpent. Columbus triumphed over others and over himself by the sacred
sign he carried in his heart and in his name; and which he
held in his hand in putting his foot on the frontier of the
New World.
These two mandatories from on high, diversely occupied,
received visible marks of divine assistance, and were succored supernaturally with aids proportioned to the difference
of the times and the places.
In recompense for his perils and his excessive fatigues,




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


591


and for the liberty given to his people, Moses had to encounter contentions, menaces, conspiracies, riots, and the
defection of his kinsmen. In return for the increase of terrestrial domain, for the donations given to science, to the
human intellect, and for the riches he bestowed on Spain,
Columbus had to bear with revolts, desertions, destitution,
chains, poverty, and calumny!
Moses desired to see God face to face, as he had the happiness of hearing Him and of speaking to Him. Columbus
desired to see Him in the wonders of His works, and to
know Him by His exterior creation, as he had felt within
him His omnipotence.
Moses aspired to conduct his people to the promised land;
Columbus aspired to open to all the nations of the earth
access to the Holy Sepulchre.
Neither the one nor the other attained the object of his
wishes. The names of both these men will be perpetuated
to the end of the human race.
The wonders operated in favor of Columbus, in the broad
light of history and of printing, render perfectly credible,
even to philosophers of good faith, the miracles that were
wrought in behalf of the people of God, and the accomplishment of His intentions among the idolatrous nations,
at a period when material and decisive signs supplied the
place of the authority of the words of grace and of love,
ever since manifested in the Gospel dispensation.
The gigantic labors of Columbus, the Cyclopean character of his voyages, the astonishing boldness of his investigations, the strange coincidences in his career, and the
prodigious signs of the assistance he received from on high,
in addition to the force of his style, make him ascend to the
heroic ages of primitive times; and he would seem to be an
emblematic figure, the form of a hierophant, if his evangelic tenderness, his ardent Catholicity, did not unite him
with ourselves. The reason is, because in the midst of his
functions, maritime, administrative, and regal, and in the
multiplicity of affairs which too often absorb one's whole




592


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


life, and leave the soul no time for reflecting on eternal
things, Columbus (lid not cease fiom acting as if in the
presence of God. It was, therefore, that his virtue surpassed
the bounds of human force, and was able to elevate itself to
that constant height in which divine grace alone sustains the
feebleness of the mortal being. In thoroughly analyzing
this character, in submitting to a minute criticism the actions and the intentions of this Herald of the Cross, one
necessarily comes to recognize in him a virtue so constant,
so thorough, that it appears to form his very being; one
scarcely dares to call it by the commonplace and too often
hackneyed name of virtue, and he is on the point of calling
it sanctity.
All the saints have not got to heaven by the same paths.
In the same way that there are many mansions in the
Kingdom of the Celestial Father, there are many ways for
attaining to sanctity.
Amid the engagements of secular life, Columbus could
not limit himself to prayer, to the offices of choir, to mortifications, or to interior perfectionment, like cloistered religious, but he strove with all his might to carry their
spirit of self-denial, their zeal for the service of God and
the salvation of their neighbor, into the exercise of his
public duties. His authority was more than once compromised, and his life exposed on account of the evangelical
gentleness from which he would not depart even in the midst
of the gravest dangers. In truth, as chief of a maritime
expedition, Columbus never shed a single drop of blood.
Now, until his time, all exploring expeditions had been
marked by the effusion of blood. Before commanding or
governing others, he strove to govern himself; his empire
over the natural violence of his character, proves with
what perseverance he had combated against himself.
Columbus was gentle, and humble of heart. Far from
attributing to himself any merit on his return from his first
voyage, he showed himself astonished at having accomplished it in so easy a manner. It is to the sole bounty of




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


593


God that he renders homage for his success. Such was
constantly his humility, that he never consented to have his
name given to any land, to any island, or to any ship, while
his mates were very anxious to give their names at least to
some caravels. His modesty and his evangelical gentleness
are seen in the manner in which he received the lowly,
according to the world, the inferior employes, the sailors,
and even down to the cabin-boys. It is known that the
cabin-boys were not afraid to talk to him, and that he used
to converse kindly with them, in imitation of the Divine
Master, who desired that little children should come near
him.
Columbus was remarkable particularly for his affectionate regard for the sick. The forgiveness of injuries
done him was not simply natural to his generosity of character; he carried it so far, and rendered so truly evangelical
his pardon of his enemies, that he pleaded for them, suffered
for them, and paid out of his pocket for them.
His unswerving attachment to the Catholic faith, his
provident solicitude for the Papacy, could not have been
surpassed by any member of the Holy Roman Church. In
his carelessness about personal glory, while he neglected to
write and print the history of his discoveries, in order to
transmit it to posterity, he prepared expressly for the Sovereign Pontiff a lengthy account of his Christian expeditions.
This pious regard which he showed for the Holy Father,
he did not show for temporal sovereigns. This simple fact
proves once more how little he was governed by human
considerations. The firm and ardent desire Columbus had
of delivering the Holy Sepulchre, of making the tomb
of the Saviour honored by all the nations of the earth, in
order thus to serve for the piety of the faithful as Imtich as
his discoveries had served for the interests of Christianity
and civilization, - are not these the part of a true Hero
of the Gospel?
His noble projects of discovery, his conquests in the
regions of the unknown, of scientific truths, altered in noth50*




594


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV,


ing his child-like devotion to the Blessed Virgin, whose
honor he tenderly loved, nor his filial piety toward St.
Francis, the glorious founder of the Order, which had given
him the first shelter and the first assistance. If the testimonies of his fervor and moral purity were not clearly
evident from all the facts of his life, his familiar relations
with the most learned and pious religious of his time would
sufficiently show the state of perfection he arrived at, and
in which he implored of God the grace to serve Him.
This ensemble of aspirations, of disinterested calculations,
of Christian enterprises and of pious acts, form such a concert, that we cannot find engaged in the world another
Christian as great by faith, by constancy in trials, and by
resignation to the divine will, as he was.
What shows beyond a doubt that the Revealer of the
Globe was not only chosen for the Discovery, but that following the Lord he walked in the narrow way with a firm.step, is this: that his work being accomplished, the succors
of God did not desert him. On the contrary, the favors he
receives are multiplied with his labors and needs. The
more he advances in age, the more he advances in Christian
perfection, and the more sensible he is of the miraculous
assistance he receives. The co6perative action of Providence is not only sensible to Columbus, but it becomes
manifest to all those who observe him with eyes that will
look at the light. But in proportion as, fortified by trials
and invisible succors, he becomes capable of bearing much
sufflering, his tribulations increase with a grievous profusion, and are multiplied and proportioned to his greatness.
And still no complaint for his afflictions escapes from the
Herald of the Cross. His capability of suffering becomes
immense, like his love. His serenity of spirit to his last
hour, his angelic calm in his last agony, his conversation
commenced in heaven before his mortal spirit quitted the
earth, his wonderful begiinnig and his edifying end, - do
not all these show that Columbus was one of the predestinate!




CJIHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


595


Columbus possessed, visibly, the three Theological Virtues. He practised, constantly, the four Cardinal Virtues.
The Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost appeared descended on
him, and we have found God admirable in him, as He is
always in His saints.
After a serious examination of the facts, it is difficult to
conceive that this adorer in spirit and in truth, this contemplator of the Word, this man of mercy, who pardoned his
enemies, even his tormentors, who remained poor in the
midst of riches which he could easily have acquired, if he
had not been sparing of pains and tears to others, - that
this precursor of the Good News, this herald of the Cross,
so much favored by God, should not be among the number
of His elect in heaven, after having been manifestly so on
earth.
SECTION X.
To what order do the facts we have been mentioning
belong? Do they appertain to the world, or to sanctity?
If one had not read all that precedes, in simply seeing this
chapter, would he not think we were treating of one of the
blessed, or transcribing some pages from the life of a saint?
As for our own part, our opinion in this regard has been
fixed for a long time. At first sufficiently expressed in
I843, in our book entitled "'THE CROSS IN THE Two
WORLDS," it has since been corroborated by a special study
of the epoch of the Discovery, and of the life and character
of Columbus. Our first presentiments have been confirmed;.
and, considering the Revealer of the Globe as worthy of
the respect of the whole human race (for, without the
authorization of the Church, we dare not say its veneration), we attach a pious love to his memory.
This is not enough. We will disclose the profound
conviction of our mind.  We declare before God, who
knows' it, and before men, who do not know it, that
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS WAS A SAINT.




596


IHISTOR Y OF


[BOOK IV.


We use this word SAINT as far as it is permitted the
submissiveness of a Catholic to employ it, as a figure of
speech, for want of a more exact term to apply to a man
whom the Church has not yet canonized; for, in our eyes,
nobody until then is a Saint, in the true acceptation of the
word. And when we declare, with full conviction, that
Christopher Columbus was a Saint, we mean to say that
the Messenger of the Cross is found, as regards history, in
the position of a hero of the Gospel, and of a great servant of the Church, upon the merits of whom the Church
has not yet pronounced.  Some great bishops, martyrs,
founders of religious Orders, who are now illustrious
canonized saints, have remained, temporarily, in an equal
situation, awaiting the day of their canonization.
Doubtless more than one reader will be surprised, or
perhaps scandalized, at the boldness of this assertion; but
we can assure them neither the august Chief of Christianity,
nor the princes of the Church, will be at all astonished at
our words. When lately, in Rome, we rendered homage
to the moral and religious purity of Columbus, and declared
his grandeur, our voice received, in the places of the pontificate, only friendliness and encouragement. The immortal Pius IX., the first pope who traversed the ocean, and
dwelt in the land discovered by Columbus, knows his great
piety, his providential mission, and the earnest desire of the
Holy See for his glory. The Sacred College honored the
great Cross-bearer of Catholicity. The honor of his name
is preserved in the Eternal City. It is not there forgotten
that the Revealer of the Globe had the honor of being in
epistolary correspondence with three popes successively;
that, after his death, three other popes, — namely, Leo X.,
Gregory XIV., and Innocent IX.,-accepted the dedications of works in which were mentioned the divine spirit
that filled and animated Columbus. It is there also remembered, that, in imitation of the Papacy, the cardinalate also
protected and fostered his glory; and that at divers times
the cardinals inspired and encouraged the poems which




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


597


Italy published in praise of this Christian, then almost
unknown to the world.
The Franciscans of Rome have given an asylum to the
imperishable memory of this man.   The friendship of
Father Juan Perez de Marchena for Columbus has been
transmitted in the Seraphic Order. The Franciscans of
the Conventual Minors, the religious of the Observance,
the Capuchins, remain the faithful hosts of his memory.
And, on their side, the Dominicans have not forgotten
him. There still can be found among them, to this day,
more than one Diego de Deza to defend his worth and
his glory; foremost among whom is their admirable General, the Rev. Father Jandel, of whom France justly feels
proud.*
We repeat it, then: the Herald of the King of Glory is,
in the presence of the Church, in the expecting position of
one of the Blessed before his beatification.
And why should we not say it, inasmuch as we have the
presentiment of it? The day will undoubtedly come when
the superior virtue which God caused to shine in the Messenger of Salvation will be solemnly declared by the Vicar
of Jesus Christ, exercising the spiritual authority of the
world; and the Church herself will add a title to the
names so wonderfully significative, which the elect of
Providence already bore.  The sanctity of Christopher
Columbus being declared, nothing will thenceforth be
wanting in the rehabilitation of this hero.  It is to the
Papacy that it appertains, at a seasonable time, to decide,
in its wisdom, on that aureola which would be the only
worthy crowning of such a glory.
But perhaps it will be said: a saint works miracles;
miracles are preeminently the signs of sanctity. Now,
Columbus has not wrought miracles.
* In this connection it may not be irrelevant to mention, that the
translator, or rather compiler, of this work, is, notwithstanding his
unworthiness to be so, a Tertiary, or member of the Third Order of
the Dominicans. - B.




598


HIS TOR OF


[BOOK IV.


Who will prove this?
On what grounds could one deny these miracles?  Who
has shown that the Herald of the Cross never worked
miracles?  We, for our part, adduce proof that, after the
prodigies effected during his life, he has, since his death,
wrought miracles.
God has willed that the sign of Redemption, the Cross,
which was so lovingly borne by Columbus to the New
World, should render testimony to the virtue and sanctity
of His messenger, and that some particular graces should
be manifested to the admiration and veneration of Christians, by a cross erected in Hispaniola by Christopher
Columbus, as a mark of his tender piety to the Saviour
of men.
This merits particular mention.
SECTION X.
In the beginning of April, I495, Columbus visited, for
the second time, the Vega Real (the Royal Plain), in
Hispaniola, where, the preceding year, he had halted,
seized with admiration, blessing God publicly, at the head
of his troops, and thanking Him for having shown him
such beauties.  After the submission of Guarionex, the
sovereign of the country, the Admiral obtained from him
authorization to erect a fortress at the pass, or entrance, to
this beautiful country. Desiring to honor the sign of Salvation in this charming place, he gave orders to Alonzo
de Valencia, a mate of a caravel, to take twenty men with
him, and cut down a superb tree he had chosen, to form a
cross fiom it. The trunk, perfectly squared, formed the
shaft of the cross; and the largest limb, put across, represented the arms. This large cross, of remarkable height,
was elevated by Columbus on a hill at the foot of the mountains, whence the sight embraced, with an immense horizon, the most magnificent view of this magnificent plain.
Columbus, applying his innate talent as an engineer to




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


599


the construction of the fortress, of which he had drawn the
plan, sojourned for some time in this place, to which he
had given the name of Immaculate Conception.     The
fortress, and the adjoining country, were called by the
same name, or simply Conception. During the execution
of the works, having no priest or no church near him, he
every day said his prayers before this cross. He collected
the workmen and the soldiers there, for the like purpose,
every morning and evening. It was near this sacred sign
that he regularly recited his office. The Revealer of the
Globe had a particular affection for this cross. Like the
Psalmist, seeking the Lord and praising His works in the
middle of the night,* often he came there in the obscure
glimmering of the stars.  At the foot of this cross, the
symbol of eternal life, he used to become absorbed in ineffable contemplations. The sight of the stars, gravitating
harmoniously in ether, would act in a heavenly manner on
his soul, as if he heard, at that distance, the melody of the
celestial choirs. Undoubtedly his intuition of mystic things
became enlarged under the tuition of this sign which he
had erected with a sincere piety, and with which God
appeared to be pleased. We see in the history of a Spaniard, the celebrated St. Ignatius Loyola, that one day, while
he prayed near a cross, on the road from Manreza to Barcelona, all that he had before known of religion was " put
before his eyes in so clear a light, that the truths of faith
seemed to him to have nothing obscure about them." t It appears that interior illuminations enlightened also Christopher
Columbus in this place; for he sojourned there by predilection, although he was camped there as if engaged in war.
Conception was, of all the places in Hispaniola, that in
which he remained the longest time. He had there neither
family, nor society, nor conveniences for intellectual pur* "Media nocte surgebam ad confitendum tibi, super judicia justificationes tuae." —Psalm cxvIII., v. 62.
t F. Bouhours. - Life of St. Ignatius, Book I.




6oo


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


suits; but sublime compensations were given to his state of
isolation. So he returned again with eagerness to Conception on his return from  his third voyage, after his
discovery of Trinidad and the new continent. After he
had appeased the troubles excited by Roldan, leaving his
brother Diego Governor of San Domingo, and the Adelantado overseeing the province of Xaragua, he returned to
the splendid solitude of Conception. He sojourned there
for several consecutive months, and was there still when
Bobadilla landed in the island and dispossessed him of its
government. This constancy and this attachment cannot
otherwise be explained than by spiritual consolations and
favors. It was there that he had especially invoked the
Blessed Trinity: he says so himself. So he desired to
consecrate this place by the erection of a church, in which
three masses were to be daily celebrated: the first, in honor
of the Blessed Trinity; the second, in honor of the Immaculate Conception; and the third, for the faithful departed.*
When the Revealer of the Globe, in recompense for his
discoveries, was deprived of his government and sent to
Spain in chains, the Castilians, accustomed by his example
to pray at the foot of this Cross, continued to come there.
One day, the aid of this Cross being invoked wnith a sincere
faith, it wrought a miracle. Those who had fevers were
cured by touching it. This prodigy attracted other patients,
other suffering Christians, who recommended themselves
earnestly to God.. A great many of thenm were cured.
Hence it came that this Cross was called THE TRUE
CRoss; for it was distinguished from  other crosses by
miracles.
The name and the prodigies of THE TRUE CROSS spread
to a distance. The Indians, oppressed by the Spaniards
since the new government of Bobadilla, noticing the veneration of their new masters for this sign, resolved to destroy
*Testamento y Codicilio del Almirante Don Cristobal Colon
otorgado en Valladolid a I9 Mayo del ano I506.




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


6oI


it. They came to it in large force, and, attaching strong
ropes * to the shaft of the Cross, tried with all their might
to pull it down; but their numbers, no more than their
efforts, could do anything with it. The Cross remained
immovable, defying their strength.   Mortified at their
failure, they tried to destroy it by fire. Having collected a
large lot of dry brush-wood, they came at night, and, surrounding the Cross with the inflammable fagots to a considerable height, set fire to them. The fire burned with great
force. The Cross soon disappeared in the flames and smoke.
The idolaters, with their priests, the Bohutis, went away
satisfied; but the next morning they perceived the Cross
subsisting entire, and perfectly preserved amid the smoking
cinders. Its natural color even was not altered, "except
that at the foot there appeared a little dark spot, as if one
had approached it with a lighted candle." t
Amazed and frightened at this miraculous power, they
ran away trembling with terror, fearing they had incurred
its-wrath, persuaded that it came from Heaven. Still, the
violent spite of their Bohutis made them return to the charge,
to try to cut it down with their hatchets. They found in
the wood an unusual resistance; they saw that as soon
as they cut out a chip the void became filled again, + and
that they had to recommence the work. The desperation
of their obstinacy yielded before this new prodigy. Remembering that their numbers were powerless not only to
pull down the Cross, but even to move it, and seeing that
the Christians testified a veneration for this sign, they also
thenceforth used to prostrate themselves at the sight of it.~
To these prodigies there was another one, permanent
and visible to all, whose evidence increased with each
year: that of its perfect preservation from decay, without
* Oviedo y Valdez. La Historia Natural y General de las
Indias, lib. III., cap. v.
t F. Charlevoix. Histoire de Saint Domingue, tom. I., liv. vI.
$ Oviedo y Valdez. Hist. Nat. y Gen. de las Indias, lib. III., c. v.
~ Ibid.
5I




60o


HISTORr OF


[BOOK IV.


being.covered with tar or any chemical coating that could
have resisted the action of the humidity and extreme heat
of that climate, which so promptly produces rottenness.
This Cross became neither split nor warped, nor attacked
with insects or worms. One would have said that it was
just newly raised. Fifty-eight years after its erection, the
TRUE CROSS was as undamaged as it was on the first day.
Another marvel which struck especially the inhabitants of
that country was to see standing, respected by the hurricanes
and the water-spouts,* this Cross, while the adjacent trees
and the houses in the neighborhood had been uprooted and
overthrown.
The recital of these prodigies, and the sight of the miraculous cures effected by it, drew to the TRUE CROSS a large
concourse of the colonists. They used to invoke the aid of
the TRUE CROSS, and make pilgrimages to it. Many, verifying the prodigy of the renewing of the wood, with their
knives cut off portions of it, which they carried away with
them; every day new cuts were made in it. Yet it was
piety, rather than curiosity, that inspired these religious
larcenies. Small portions of the TRUE CROSS were placed
in reliquaries and carried to other parts of Hispaniola, to
other colonies of the New World, and even to Castile.
" God ordered matters so as to warrant and show that He
was pleased with the piety of the faithful, in venerating
what He had done to confound the sacrilege attempted by the
Indians." t
This standing miracle, together with the numberless cures
effected, and the resort to Conception, gave to the renown
of the TRUE CROSS an unbounded notoriety. As human
infirmity shows itself everywhere where there are men, it
appears that certain clergymen, taking advantage of the
piety of the faithful, received numerous offerings destined
for the TRUE CROSS, but did not apply them according to


* Oviedo y Valdez. Hist. Nat. y Gen de las Indias, lib. III., c. v.
t F. Charlevoix. Hiist. de Saint Domilngae, tom. I., liv. vi.




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


603


the intentions of the pilgrims and the sick. The Emperor
Charles V., having been informed of this abuse, ordered
the treasurer of the Bishop of Conception to be tareful to
employ the sums given to honor the VERY HOLY CROSS for
the intentions or purposes of the donors, because he knew
they were not so applied. In the year 1525, Charles V., to
honor also in his turn the VERY HOLY CROSS, ordered the
previous deduction, for four years, of the sum of twenty
thousand maravedis from the fines coming to the Crown, to
contribute personally to the embellishment of the site and
environs of the Very Holy Cross, " LA SANTISSIMA CRUZ,"
and for rendering them more appropriate for the respect
and veneration due to it." *
The miracles operated by the TRUE CROSS multiplying,
and rendering it more and more celebrated, Spain became
moved at the number and splendor of prodigies so well
authenticated. The Emperor wrote about the matter to the
Holy Father, praying him to be pleased to authorize the
devotion of the faithful to this Cross, and to grant indulgences to those who would make pilgrimages to it and
bring offerings for his intentions.t'
But, as the Herald of the Cross was not named in the
imperial missive, and that it spoke only of a Cross which
they erected near Conception, the Sovereign Pontiff, in his
prudence, was not in a hurry to accede to the wishes of the
Emperor. The Holy See and theologians in general do
not accord much confidence to prodigies due to they. This
power, which is so commonly asserted and invoked by German philosophers, -this they, which was in such high
credit with writers of the eighteenth century,- has not yet
become an authority for Rome.   The Church does not
recognise the merits of they, and believes but little in miracles operated by the plural.
In fact, in the history of the Old Testament we do not
* Herrera. Hist. Gen. de las Indias Occid., Decad. iii., lib. VIII.,
cap. x.
t Ibid.




604


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


see a single miracle mentioned without the name of its
author: also, in the primitive history of the Apostolate,
there is no trace of a miracle without the name of the
worker of it; and even, when for causes reserved in the
secrets of Providence, the miracle is operated by a plurality
of persons, the names, the quality of these chosen persons,
is never a secret. Their plurality can always be reduced to
distinct singular numbers. They are the sons of Aaron,
the priests, or the prophets; or the apostles, or the disciples, and afterwards saints or religious corporations inheriting their spirit, -but it is never the public, the crowd, the
they, that operate the miracle.  When God, according
graces to gatherings of the faithful, vouchsafes to hear the
petitions of those who pray unitedly, He does not for this
reason confer miraculous power on numbers - on the anonymous. He works miracles for them, but not by them:
such is ordinarily the case.
Certainly miracles have been seen wrought in this or
that chapel, at such or such an altar, without any one being
able to point out the cause, that is to say, the personal
reason or instrumentality, and without knowing to whose
merits the favor was due. Nevertheless, generally speaking it is by an individual the miracle is obtained, which is
for the advantage of several, and then they can have no
pretensions to it.
However the case may be, Rome, in her prudence, waited
for ampler information. Perhaps, also, she desired that
time should come to the proof of these prodigies. But the
new discoveries in the New World, the conquest of Mexico,
that of Peru, the rapid progress of the Portuguese in South
America and in the East Indies, caused Spain to neglect
her first colony. In the following years, some cause which
is completely unknown to us occasioned the cessation of
the prodigy of the renewing of the wood of the TRUE
CRoss of Conception. Yet the touching of it still operated
miracles; and as the pious avidity of pilgrims continued to
take portions of it away, it diminished from day to day.




CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


605


To guard it against this religious avidity, the Bishop of
Conception had it carried processionally to the cathedral,
where it was placed in a chapel. The TRUE CROSS was
still there in I535, at the time that Oviedo, then governor
of the citadel of San Domingo, wrote the third book of his
Natural History of the Indies.
But twenty-nine years after, in 1553, a terrible earthquake destroyed almost entirely the city of Conception. All
the stone edifices were overturned, with the exception of
one. The cathedral, built of cut stone, fell down from the
violence of the succussions. One chapel alone remained
unhurt: it was that in which the TRUE CROSS was preserved. It was also remarked that none of the inhabitants
who had in their habitations, or about them, portions of the
TRUE CROSS, though for a while buried under the ruins of
their dwellings, received the least injury.*  A remarkable
circumstance: the first friends of Columbus, -of him who
had erected this miraculous sign, - the Franciscans, were
in their church at the moment when the earthquake manifested itself. Thrown down and covered with the materials
of the building overturned on them, they still arose protected by an invisible power. None of them received the
least hurt. A thing equally remarkable was, that the only
house that remained standing after this terrible scourge was
the convent of St. Francis, the religious of which possessed
a fiagment of the TRUE CROSS of Conception. While
Father John Baptist Le Pers took on the spot notes for
Father Charlevoix, to serve him in writing his History of
San Domingo, the spared monastery was still seen standing
alone amid the ruins of the city.t
After this disaster, the portion of the population who
* F. Charlevoix. Hist. de Saint Domingue, t. I., liv. vi.
t The reader will compare the discriminations made by the earthquake here, with those made by the tempest predicted by Columbus,
and mentioned in the second and third Sections of Book IV., and
then ask himself if the finger of God was not visible in both these
prodigies, or, as we consider them, miracles! - B.
51*




606


HISTOR OF


[BOOK IV.


survived it dispersed far and wide. The inhabitants who
held most to the soil, went and built the town of La Vega,
two leagues south-east of Conception.
What became of the TRUE CROSS after this emigration?
We cannot tell. This terrible overthrow changed the
conditions and relations of the country. The episcopal see
of Conception was suppressed, and reunited with that of
San Domingo. The extension of the colonies of Darien
and of Castile d'Or, the discovery of the mines of Mexico
and of Peru, by their importance, received the exclusive
attention of the Royal Council of the Indies, and Hispaniola was almost abandoned to herself. The English,
availing themselves of this negligence, came and attacked
and ruined San Domingo. The French, on their side, had
made settlements in some parts of the island, without
having asked for permission. The connections between
Spain and this unhappy colony had diminished to that point
that she sent a ship there only every three years! The
abuses of power, and the avidity of the local authorities,
were pushed to that extent, that the Governor, with the
other principal functionaries, used to buy the whole cargo
of this ship before it came to anchor, in order to resell it at
exorbitant prices.
Amid the disorder and uneasiness of such a situation,
and threatened with invasions from English, French, and
Dutch adventurers, the communications of the colonists
with the interior of the island became less and less frequent,
and then ceased. It is not strange that in a country ruined
and terrified it was not known what became of the TRUE
CRoss, miraculously preserved and preservative, when, at
San Domingo, the exact burial-place of Columbus himself
was forgotten.
We do not find it surprising that the relations existing
between the mission of Columbus and the Cross he erected,
should have remained unnoticed by men who even lost
sight of the relations existing between Columbus and the
Discovery, and who, in very good faith, spoke of his Dis



CHAP. X.]


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


607


covery in the plural, as they did of his miraculous Cross.
Who would have dared, under the government of Ovando,
to recall the name of Christopher Columbus in co nnection
with the miracles of this Cross? Afterwards, the modesty
of his son and successor, Don Diego, the embarrassments
caused to the latter by the hereditary hatreds with which he
had to contend, and the fear of lending color to the calumnies of his vigilant denouncers, prevented him from
mixing his name with the prodigies attributed to the Cross
that was erected by his father.
The reality of the miracles of the TRUE CROSS of Conception cannot for a moment be questioned; it is carried
to the highest degree of historic certitude, and attains
palpable evidence. Not only do the official historiographers mention the facts, but they corroborate them by
cotemporary evidences and authentic documents. The consequences of the miracles operated by virtue of this Cross,
become the object of administrative correspondence with
the authorities of Hispaniola, and of a communication of
the Emperor to the Chief of the Church. The notoriety of
these prodigies passes the ocean, penetrates into Spain, and
is especially spread throughout the New World. And as
the name of TRUE CROSS is replete with authority, and as
it imposes respect for and reanimates faith, by the miracles
it attests, it is first seen implanted in the New Continent.
The name of the city of Vera Cruz has no other origin
than the remembrance of the TRUE CROSS honored at Conception. The pretended explanation of the name of Vera
Cruz given by some historians, will not bear a close examination. They say that Fernando Cortez named Villa Rica
Vera Cruz, because he landed there on Good Friday. If
he had wished to have consecrated the remembrance of the
day of his landing, he would have called the place AVE
CRUX, or rather VEXILLA REGIS, and would not have given
it the special name of VERA CRUZ, — TRUE CROSS, - spontaneously bestowed by the populations of Hispaniola on
the only Cross in the island that wrought prodigies.




6o8


HlISTORY2 OF


[BOOK IV.


Fernando Cortez was the ablest and most fortunate, and,
at the same time, the most humane and most religious of
the Conquistadores. It must not be forgotten that he was
at San Domingo when Columbus landed there, returning
from his last voyage; and that, as kinsman to Ovando,
young Cortez, probably remaining in his house, had, notwithstanding his youth, noticed the piety of the Admiral.
The precocious genius of Cortez neglected no occasion of
observation. By many tokens it was seen that he sought
success in his imitation of great men, and that he desired
to take Columbus for his model. Like him, he elevated the
Cross in his ships, and, like him, he also erected crosses and
proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ in new countries. It
is beyond a doubt that he heard of the miracles of the TRUE
CRoss. We know that portions of this Cross were carried
in relics to Europe and to the East Indies. In all prcbability Fernando Cortez had one of these venerated portions
inserted in the large Cross he erected in the place which,
for this reason, he named THE TRUE CROSS, -LA VERA
CRUZ.
If the miracles operated by the TRUE CROSS cannot be
denied, it is no less certain that this Cross was erected by
Columbus, for his enemy Oviedo acknowledges it was.
He wrote his details of the miracles near the places where
they were operated; so he speaks of them with the greatest
respect. lie calls it TIIE HOLY CROSS of Conception.*
He specifies the time when Christopher Columbus erected
this Cross. He names the mate who, by order of the Admiral, took command of the squad who were charged with
executing the erection of it. This officer, Alonzo de Valencia, was still alive, and residing at San Domingo.
One of the writers living nearest this period, the Abbe
Lopez de Gomara, says very plainly that many sick persons
were cured by the Cross which Christopher Columbus
erected at the time of his second visit to La Vega, and that


* La Santa Vera Cruz de la cuidad de la Conce.cion.




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


609


for this reason it received the name of TRUE CROSS. Portions of it were taken away under the form of relics.* He
recalls the fact, that notwithstanding their numbers, the
Indians were not able to pull it down. Another witness
very important on the subject of this Cross, is Columbus
himself.  In his Will he designates, in order to have a
chapel built there, this place, where he in a special manner
invoked the Blessed Trinity; and this place is so familiarly known to his family and fiiends, that he does not
distinguish it by its particular name. He limits himself to
recommending that this chapel, dedicated to the Trinity,
should be built as near as possible to the very place where
he had invoked the Triune God in the plain called Conception.t The notoriety of the place, the modesty of the
Admiral, and the remembrance of the interior consolations
he had received there, cause him to omit the particulars
of it.
The church projected by Columbus could not be built.
The obstacles brought by the Court to the execution of its
conventions, and the non-payment of the revenues due to
him, prevented his heir from fulfilling any of these pious
intentions.
The man who had discovered such vast countries, mines
of gold, of silver, of copper, beds of pearls, and innumerable other riches; the Christian who burned with the desire
of delivering the Holy Sepulchre, and of defending the
Papacy; who assigned the tenth of his revenues for the
poor, who projected an hospital for the sick, a faculty of
theology for the foreign missions, a church in honor of the
Immaculate Conception, and a chapel in honor of EverAdorable Trinity, - found himself completely deprived of
his legitimate opulence. Notwithstanding the ardor of his
* Francisco Lopez de Gomara. Hist. de las Indias, cap. xxxiv.
t This chapel in honor of the Trinity ought not to be confounded
with the church in honor of the Immaculate Conception, under the
invocation of Holy Mary of the Conception, which Columbus had
provided for in his Institution of Mayorazgo.




ZIISTORY 2 OF


-3 001 IV,


desire, the perpetual Governor-General, the Viceroy of the
Indies, could offer to God only this wooden Cross; and
God graciously accepted this offering, and was pleased to
bless this sole monument which the piety of Columbus
could offer in this islandcl, of vwhich lie was the discoverer
and the donor. The MNost High poured down His ogace
oil this Cross, the emblem of the name and of the heart of
Colulnbus. He endowed it with miraculous power, as IHe
hlad formerly clone to the rod of Moses and to the staff of
Eliseus. This Cross operated prodigies, cured the diseased,
and consoled the afflicted. Its supernatural virtue was
manifested even ill the parts or portions of it that were
taken to a distance. And still nobody, perhaps, amnong
those who were cured, attributed to the Apostle of the Cross
the least part of this fiavor froml oil High.
This thouglhtlessness will not surprise those wNhlo will
rememlber that of the tenl lepers who were cured, onll5 one
returned to the Divine Redeemer to thank I —Iim. It was
precisely the character so miraculous of the TRUE Cnoss
which prevented Columbus fiom being thought of. IHow
could the public have thought that a man carried awavy
firom the island in chains, an ex-governor remaining in disfavor, and afterwards dying in indigence and obscurity,
could have counted for anything in the marvellous virtues
of this wooden Cross?  The people profited by tle iniraculous benefits of this Cross without thinking of Columbllus,
in the same way that the Indies were enjoyed without the
least spark of goratitude to hin. The Revealer of the Globe
julged with such aIccuracy the prejudices that were conceived and circulated against him, that hle wrote a fews years
previously,  I!have received so Silgllar a reputation, tiatt
if I were to build churche-s or hlospitals it would bCe saiid
they were caverins for rolbbers.
Nevertheless, and tills deserves to be borne il mind, the
first whom  the touching of this Cross restored to healtl
were precisely those who, following the example of Columbus, lhonored the Cross, at the foot of' which lie was




CHAP. x.]  CHRISTOPHER COL UMBUS.


6Ir


accustomed to meditate on heavenly things. Without their
knowing it, their remembrance of him counted for something in their veneration of this symbol. But such, in fact,
was the reputation given to Columbus, - and we have seen
how this reputation was brought about, - that among even
those whose miraculous cures were due to him, none could
have dared to declare loudly that he had recommended
himself to him near the Cross which his piety had erected.
However the case may be, no fact is more certain, or
better established, than the miracles wrought by this Cross.
Nobody can suspect here either fraud or deceit. It is not a
doubtful relic, a mysterious object concealed behind some
altar, to which access is prevented by a balustrade; it is a
simple wooden Cross set up in the open air on a rising
ground. For obtaining favors from it, there is no occasion
for an intermediary.  By the impenetrable means of an
invisible power, this wood, conformably to the will of
Providence, acts according to the deserts of the supplicant;
it operates sometimes on the very spot where faith invokes
it, sometimes at great distances, by means of portions of it
that have been detached by a pious daring. The subsequent disappearance of this Cross ought not in any degree
to impair the historic reality of its effects, or the authenticity of its prodigies. How many glorious relics, objects
of the most authorized veneration, have not in like manner,
in the vicissitudes of ages, been lost or destroyed!
The renown of Columbus at lengtlh commences to arise
from the tomb of forgetfulness. We firmly hope that one
day the sanctity of the Herald of the Cross to the New
World will be vindicated from the aspersions and negligences of so-called history, and that, under the protection
of the Papacy, he will receive solemnly the veneration and
the homage which the Church awards to the saints of the
Lord.




6r2


HISTORT OF


[BOOK IV.


SECTION XII.
Such is the destination of this biography, and its intrinsic
value, that even in depriving Columbus of his mandate,
and in obstinately refusing to recognize his providential
office, his life will not be wanting in presenting to thoughtful minds a high teaching as regards the philosophy of
history.
Reduced to himself, the Revealer of the Globe remains
still inexplicable, mysterious, and grand, like everything
that is not of earth. His life presents a practical lesson of
human wisdom and of admirable resignation. How much
instruction worthy of imitation does not his example offer!
The man who, next to saving one's soul, accomplished
the greatest work of humanity, was also the person who
experienced the greatest ingratitude. Unknown and disdained before his Discovery, for a little while admired after
his first success, then hated, dispossessed of his government,
imprisoned and put in chains for no reason, though restored
to liberty, he remains marked with the stroke of regal disfavor. It is in vain that he adds new discoveries and new
empires to the lands already given to Spain; no prodigies
of munificence or of glory raise him in public opinion.
He sees himself abandoned by almost all, because such is
the will of the ungrateful King; and he who made Castile
the richest nation in the universe, languishes, obscurely, a
prey to pecuniary embarrassments, to sufferings of body and
of heart, uneasy about his daily bread, and he dies almost
unregarded. The accumulation of his reverses exceeds
human proportions. His misfortunes almost surpass his
glory. Still this man does not murmur: he accuses, he
curses nobody; and does not regret that he was born. The
people of ancient times would never have conceived this
type of a hero. Christianity alone, whose creation he was,
can comprehend him.
His example shows us that even in governing one's
passions, in fulfilling with love each of his duties, and in




CHAP. X.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


6I3


putting in the service of the noblest intentions the most unremitting prudence, nobody is exempt from the ordinary
tribulations of life. Genius, glory, sublimity, do not preserve one from the envenomed shafts of calumny; virtue, the
gifts of God, do not deliver man from the conditions of his
state of life. Notwithstanding the counsels of the most
consummate prudence, it is not in one's power to escape
oppression or to flee from injustice. Inexorable time bows
us down and breaks us down in its march to eternity. The
course of events frustrates our purposes, and turns aside, or
uses our forces to our detriment.
The example of Columbus shows that nobody can completely obtain here below the object of his desires. The
man who doubled the known space of the earth was not
able to attain his object; he proposed to himself much more
than he realized.
Columbus fostered in his thoughts three noble objects of
ambition: the discovery of the New World; the circumnavigation of the Globe; the deliverance of the Holy
Sepulchre.
Of these aspirations of his heart one only was realized,
and that scarcely; for if he discovered the New Continent,
he did not have the legitimate satisfaction of giving it his
name. A man who had done nothing but collect his conversations, seized on and appropriated to himself this part
of his glory, and this unjust possession has not been troubled
by succeeding ages! public indifference has sanctioned this
spoliation of heroism! The Catholic intentions of the Messenger of the Cross were almost wholly ignored by Spain.
He was no more recognized as a great Christian than as
a great navigator. The injustice of his cotemporaries was
transmitted to their descendants, and is perpetuated to our
own generation. The obstinacy of error is as stubborn as
hell, which, however, will not prevail in the end.
The accumulation of difficulties which Columbus had to
surmount in order to accomplish his work, seems renewed,
in our days, to prevent rendering him justice. As easy as it
52




614


HIS TOrT OF


[BOOK IV.


was to bury his glory under the weight of prejudices, and
to abandon to a stranger the preeminence of his genius, so
much the more difficult is it now to bring minds back to
the truth, to remove old prejudices, and to obtain for Columbus his terrestrial rehabilitation.
In the first place, important documents have disappeared
from the archives of Spain, since the printing of the Decades of Herrera. The rough sketch of the Book of the
Prophecies has been mutilated. The French occupation
under Napoleon I. served as an occasion or pretext for larcenies that are to be much regretted. Some manuscript
writings which would have enabled us to show the spiritual
grandeurs of Columbus, have disappeared. The learned
canon of Plaisance, Pietro Maria Campi, died at the time
he was going to consign to writing the edifying end of
Christopher Columbus, and the precious papers he had
collected were destroyed by the ignorance or the carelessness of his heirs. There is nought even to the very terrestrial rehabilitation of Columbus, or of his very portrait, that
does not encounter obstacles of various kinds. Some fantastic figures and ignoble images of him, of a shocking
uillikeliness, placed in historic galleries and museums in
Europe, are accredited to esteemed names. Every large
city in Italy shows us its particular portrait of the Genoese
hero.
If the work of Columbus profits the human race collectively, the history of his life is not less useful to every man
in particular.
To superficial and worldly minds it shows, to demonstration, the transientness, the nothingness of human things,
and the necessity of another life, expounding our present
existence, and rewarding or punishing its works. One sees
there that the terrestrial stimulants of riches and of renown
could not cope with the imminence of the dangers, and the
infinity of obstacles over which a firm resolution, like truth,
prevailed; and that there is also mingled with the great
acts of the role of Columbus something superior and mys



CHAP. X.]  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.


6I5


terious, -as much outside of his genius as it is above his
will. This force, which infidelity, and the so-called philosophy of history, call by all kinds of names, save the true
one, is called Grace, in the language of Catholicity.
As regards sincere Christians, in recognizing the manifest influence of Grace on the prodigies of the Revealer of
the Globe, they will, at the same time, see the highest possible individual glorification of Catholicity.  Assuredly,
since the commencement of history, no mortal accomplished a work comparable in importance to that of Columbus. The human mind will not be able to conceive,
until the end of the world, how another man could execute
so prodigious a work. It is also no less evident that the
Church alone,- that is to say, the clergy of all degrees
of her hierarchy, in the complete representation of her
powers and her dignities, - concurred in making the Discovery an accomplished fact. It was the clergy alone that
believed in Columbus, when, with all its weight, science
harassed him with its objections and its disdains.
By an instinctive consequence of the relations which
united to the destinies of Catholicity the sacerdotal heart
and the apostolic genius of Columbus, the clergy, who had
been the fosterers of his ideas, were the consolers of his
afflictions, and remained the defenders of his glory. One
would say that, outstripping'the science of that period, the
clergy felt that the cause of this laic was their own, and
tlat in justifying him they honored themselves. In truth,
the life of Columbus places, irrefragably, in the clearest
light, the superiority of Catholicity; for one finds in it the
contact of the supernatural with man. In honest truth, the
Discovery cannot be explained without the admission of
supernatural aid, or Grace, as it is agreed, on all hands,
that he possessed no science superior to that of his age, or
no nautical means that were not known to other mariners
before him.
Moreover, his life justifies, in advance, the Papacy from
the accusations brought against it by encyclopaedists, on the




6I6


HISTORY OF


[BOOK IV.


subject of its aversion to the lights of science, and of the
pretended persecution of Galileo. The rotation of the earth
on its axis was no more embarrassing for orthodoxy than
the sphericity of the globe, admitted in principle and in
fact by Pope Alexander VI.   The theory of sphericity
must necessarily lead to that of terrestrial rotation.
From the height of its infallibility, the Papacy had, since
the fourth of May, I493, recognized, implicitly, the spheroidal form of the globe, in tracing the line of demarkation,
for the partition of unknown countries, between the Crowns
of Castile and of Portugal. Then, in the sixteenth century,
in accepting of the dedication of the work " De Revolutionibus Orbium Ccelestium," the Sovereign Pontiff, Paul III.,
sanctioned the basis of the ideas of Copernicus. How,
then, in the seventeenth century, after the notable progress
of astronomy, due to the invention of the telescope, could
the Holy See have persecuted, in Galileo, his doctrine of
terrestrial rotation or movement?  Evidently the measures
of surety which were considered proper to be taken, in
regard to the learned astronomer, were entirely of a personal character. His theory, it is true, may have furnished
the occasion for it, but evidently it was not the sole or the
direct cause.  The confidence accorded to Columbus by
the Roman Pontificate refuted, in advance, accusations
subsequently brought against it in relation to Galileo.
The latter only rendered more tangible the demonstration
already so peremptory of the sphericity of the globe.
The infallible wisdom of the Church is not less visible in
its decisions, than the operation of Grace in the very work
of the Discovery. The history of Columbus contains the
glorification of the Catholic Church; it shows the spirit of
light which always guides the Papacy in the government
of intelligences; it presents an occasion for admiring the
fearless confidence which the Holy See generously accorded
to the genius of a layman, in whom its infallible wisdom
divined a providential mission, at a time when the cautious prudence of politicians distrusted his views and his
calculations.




CHAP. X. ]


CHRISTOPHER COL UMB US.


The life of Columbus conveys to us grave teachings, excites salutarv thoughts, and inspires us with serious and
profitable considerations and reflections about ourselves.
The drama of the existence of this man, which has so direct
an influence on future ages, acts in a threefold manner on
the imagination, the heart, and the soul. If the aspect of his
reverses saddens us, the sight of his indefectible constancy
elevates us, and brings us nearer to God. When one sees
this sublime donor of a new world, oppressed by ingratitude, maintain a silence full of grandeur towards his enemies, preserve his primitive candor, lose nothing of his
serenity, or of his inexhaustible affection, he recognizes,
in looking at this new prodigy, that, amid the most terrible
trials, God did not deprive His servant of the cincture of
valiantness with which he had girded his loins as a navigator. He preserved to him hope, because he had kept
the Faith; and poetry did not desert the soul of Columbus
when the world abandoned it, after having oppressed it
with its injustices. For his interior recompense, God was
pleased to grant him that he should keep his primal freshness of sentiment; that time should produce no wrinkle in
his beautiful soul, no obduracy in his reason; and that he
should feel no callousness of heart.  The excess of the
injustices he experienced did not give him that morose
tinge of character, that disposition to misanthropy, or that
distrustful disposition so natural to all those who have had
for a long time to complain of their fellow-men. This great
contemplator of the Creation, come to the zenith of human
experience, and of the divine knowledge of the Word,
sought to become a little child by the simplicity of his
faith, and the trustfulness of his hope, in order to be able
to enter the kingdom of heaven.
When we come to consider the totality of this life of a
navigator, of an apostle, of a martyr; when we see this
powerful intelligence, penetrated with the presence of God
to the point of always suffering without a murmur, so much
is he assured of the immortal retribution of his works here




6iS HISTORY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMtBUS.


below, we feel prompted to bow to him with respect and
veneration, and feel inclined to believe with docility, and
to love without reserve. One experiences a sudden pity
for human grandeurs, and detaches himself, at least for a
while, fiom the perishable things of earth, to aspire to and
fix his thoughts on the eternal things of heaven. At the
sole contemplation of such a life, one feels that he arises
above terrestrial imperfections and virtues; and, to use the
proper words, that he touches on the domain of sanctity.
It is impossible for a Catholic soul to study the life of
Columbus without feeling affected, and, at the same time,
strengthened in his faith. This deep-felt emotion, which
derives from a secret emotion as much as from a presentiment natural to faith, is, perhaps, an important corollary
still further attesting the sanctity of this great servant of
God.
The study of this biography, profitable to all minds, will,
especially to Christians, be a subject of edification.  In
reading the summary -entirely too brief - of his life,
written by his son Fernando, thirty years after his death,
one notices that Fernando, touched with a religious emotion, on account of what he perceives in the notes of his
father, and Iwhich, unfortunately, his excessive modesty
prevents him from mentionirng-writes his recital with a
sentiment of profound piety, and terminates it with an elevation of his heart to God, inscribing, as the only conclusion
of his book, these two words, which contain the whole substance and meaning of it: " LAUS DEO!" (God be praised.)




ADDENDUM.
IF any more reasons than those we have adduced be
needed to prove the marriage of Columbus with Doina
Beatrix Enriquez, an unanswerable and conclusive one is
found in the Admiral's testamentary Will. Now it is seen
in this document that while Columbus expressly makes
illegitimacy a disqualification for the inheritance of the
Mayorazgo, or entailed estate, he makes Don Fernando,
whom he had by Doia Beatrix, heir, in case of Don Diego,
his eldest son, dying without children. Would he have
made such a blunder had Fernando been illegitimate? To
say nothing of the effects of such an oversight or blunder in
law and equity, was it reserved for Christopher Columbus,
who was a model of consistency in everything else during
his eventful life, to become inconsistent with himself at his
approaching death, or rather for the four years that preceded that event, when he wrote the Act of Mayorazgo?
In proving the legitimacy of the son, we at the same
time, as a matter of course, prove that his parents were
lawfully married.
For the convenience of such of our readers as may not
have the Will to refer to, we will quote from Irving's version of it:" In the first place, I am to be succeeded by Don Diego,
my son, who in case of dtath without children is to be
succeeded by my other son, Ferdinand..... And should it
please the Lord that the estate, after having continued some
time in the line of any of the above successors, should stand
in need of an immediate and lawful male heir, the succes(619)




620                  ADDENDUM.
sion shall then devolve to the nearest relation, being a man
of legitimate birth..... This entailed estate shall in
nowise be inherited by a woman, except in case that no
male is to be found, either in this or any other quarter of
the world, of my real lineage, whose name, as well as that
of his ancestors, shall have always been that of Columbus.
In such an event (which may God forfend), then the female
of legitimate birth, most nearly related to the preceding
possessor of the estate, shall succeed to it......" *
What now becomes of the assertion of Irving, that the
connection of Columbus with Beatrix Enriquez was not
sanctioned by matrimony? - B.
* See the Will in extenso in Irving's Life of Columbus, and in T.
D. McGee's Catholic History of America, published by Donahoe, of
Boston.