COLUMBUS AND HIS DISCOVERY.
1492-1500.
EARLY EXPERIENCES—THE COMPACT—EMBARKATION AT PALOS—THE
VOYAGE—DISCOVERY OF LAND—UNFAVORABLE COMPARISON WITH
THE PARADISE OF MARCO POLO—CRUISE AMONG THE ISLANDS—ONE
NATURE EVERYWHERE—DESERTION OF PINZON—WRECK OF THE
SANTA MARÍA—THE FORTRESS OF LA NAVIDAD ERECTED—RETURN
TO SPAIN—RIGHTS OF CIVILIZATION—THE PAPAL BULL
OF PARTITION—FONSECA APPOINTED SUPERINTENDENT OF
THE INDIES—SECOND VOYAGE—NAVIDAD IN RUINS—ISABELA
ESTABLISHED—DISCONTENT OF THE COLONISTS—EXPLORATIONS OF THE
INTERIOR—COASTING CUBA, AND DISCOVERY OF JAMAICA—FAILURE
OF COLUMBUS AS GOVERNOR—INTERCOURSE WITH SPAIN—DESTRUCTION
OF THE INDIANS—GOVERNMENT OF THE INDIES—DIEGO AND
BARTOLOMÉ COLON—CHARGES AGAINST THE ADMIRAL—COMMISSION
OF INQUIRY APPOINTED—SECOND RETURN TO SPAIN—THIRD
VOYAGE—TRINIDAD DISCOVERED—SANTO DOMINGO FOUNDED—THE
ROLDAN REBELLION—FRANCISCO DE BOBADILLA APPOINTED TO
SUPERSEDE COLUMBUS—ARBITRARY AND INIQUITOUS CONDUCT OF
BOBADILLA—COLUMBUS SENT IN CHAINS TO SPAIN.
In the developments of progress the agent, however subordinate to
the event, cannot fail to command our intelligent curiosity. The fact
is less one with us than the factor. The instrument is nearer us in
pulsating humanity than the event, which is the result of inexorable
causations wholly beyond our knowledge. That America could not have
remained much longer hidden from the civilized world does not lessen the
vivid interest which attaches to the man Columbus, as he plods along the
dusty highway toward Huelva, leading by the hand his boy, and bearing
upon his shoulders the more immediate destinies of nations.
Nor are we indifferent to the agencies that evolved the agent. Every
signal success springs from a fortuitous conjunction of talent
and opportunity; from a coalition of taste or training with the
approaching fancy or dominant idea of the times. While assisting his
father wool-combing, the youthful Genoese was toughening his sinews
and acquiring habits of industry; while studying geometry and Latin
at Pavia, while serving as sailor in the Mediterranean, or afterward
cruising the high seas, he was knitting more firmly the tissues of his
mind, and strengthening his courage for the life-conflict which was to
follow. Without such discipline, in vain from the north and south and
west might Progress come whispering him secrets; for inspiration without
action is but impalpable breath, leaving no impression, and genius
unseasoned by application decomposes to corruption all the more rank by
reason of its richness.
His marriage with the daughter of Bartolommeo Perestrello, a
distinguished navigator under Prince Henry; his map-making as means
of support; his residence on the isle of Porto Santo, and his interest
while there in maritime discovery; his conversations and correspondence
with navigators and cosmographers in various quarters; his zealous
study of the writings of Marco Polo, Benjamin of Tudela, and Carpini,
and his eager absorption of the fantastic tale of Antonio Leone, of
Madeira; his ponderings on ocean mysteries, and his struggles with
poverty; his audience of John of Portugal, and the treachery of that
monarch in attempting to anticipate his plans by secretly sending out a
vessel, and the deserved defeat which followed; his sending his brother
Bartolomé with proposals to England; his stealing from Lisbon with his
son Diego, lest he should be arrested for debt; his supposed application
to Genoa; his interviews with the dukes of Medina Sidonia and Medina
Celi, and the letter of the latter to Queen Isabella of Castile; his
visit to the court at Córdova, and the dark days attending it; the
conference of learned men at Salamanca, and their unfavorable verdict;
the weary waitings on the preoccupied sovereigns at Málaga and Seville;
the succor given at La Rábida, and the worthy prior's intercession with
the queen; the humble dignity of the mariner at Granada amidst scenes
of oriental splendor and general rejoicings, which only intensified his
discontent; the lofty constancy in his demands when once a royal hearing
was obtained; the fresh disappointment after such long delay, and the
proud bitterness of spirit with which he turned his back on Spain to
seek in France a patron for his schemes; the final appeal of Santángel,
who afterward assisted in obtaining the money, and the conversion of
Isabella, who now offered, if necessary, to pledge her jewels to meet
the charges of the voyage; the despatching of a royal courier after the
determined fugitive, who returned in joy to receive the tardy aid—these
incidents in the career of Columbus are a household story.
And therein, thus far, we see displayed great persistency of purpose by
one possessed of a conception so stupendous as to overwhelm well-nigh
the strongest; by one not over-careful in money-matters, or morality;
proud and sensitive whenever the pet project is touched, but affable
enough otherwise, and not above begging upon necessity. It was a long
time to wait, eighteen years, when every day was one of alternate hope
and despair; and they were not altogether worthless, those noiseless
voices from another world, which kept alive in him the inspiration that
oft-times now appeared as the broken tracery of a half-remembered dream.
[Sidenote: TERMS OF AGREEMENT.]
An agreement was made by the sovereigns and the mariner, that to
Columbus, his heirs and successors forever, should be secured the office
of admiral, and the titles of viceroy and governor-general of all the
lands and seas he should discover, with power to nominate candidates
from whom the sovereigns might choose rulers for the realms discovered;
that one tenth of the net returns of gold, pearls, or other commodities
brought therefrom should be his; that in disputes arising from the new
traffic he, or his lieutenant, should be sole arbitrator within his
domain, the high admiral of Castile being judge within his district;
and that by contributing one eighth of the cost of any enterprise to the
regions found by him he should receive one eighth the profits. To these
dignities and prerogatives was added the right of the discoverer, and
of his heirs, to prefix to their names the title 'Don,' which should
elevate them into respectability beside the grandees of Spain. This
agreement was signed by Ferdinand as well as by Isabella, although the
crown of Castile alone assumed the risk, and alone was to receive the
benefit.
* * * * *
It was not a common spectacle in those days along the southern
seaboard of Spain, that of science urging religion into its service.
Nevertheless, by royal order, reiterated by Peñalosa in person with
pronounced effect, the devil-fearers of Palos were forced to provide
ships and seamen for what they regarded as anything but an orthodox
adventure. This they did with the greatest reluctance.
Even under pressure of that civil and ecclesiastical system so
completely interwoven in Spain that to disobey one was rebellion against
both, even in the face of king and priest, these mechanical sea-farers,
who halted not before tangible danger in any form, shrank from the
awful uncertainty of a plunge into the mysteries of the dim, lowering,
unintelligible west. Then came bravely forward the brothers Pinzon, and
not only assisted in providing two ships, so that Queen Isabella, after
all, might wear her jewels while her deputy was scouring the high seas
for new dominions, but furnished Columbus with money to equip another
vessel and to pay his eighth of the charge which should secure him
one eighth of the profits—a service never sufficiently remembered or
rewarded by either Columbus, his masters, or successors.
[Sidenote: FIRST VOYAGE.]
The expedition comprised one hundred and twenty men, in three small
vessels, the _Santa María_, decked, and carrying the flag of the
admiral, and the _Pinta_ and _Niña_, open caravels, commanded by Martin
Alonso Pinzon and Vicente Yañez Pinzon respectively. Among others were
the inspector-general of the armament, Rodrigo Sanchez; the chief
alguacil, Diego de Arana; the royal notary, Rodrigo de Escobar; and
four pilots, Francisco Martin Pinzon, Sancho Ruiz, Pedro Alonso Niño,
and Bartolomé Roldan. The commander-in-chief with his tall, enduring
form bowed by an idea; his long, thin face, with its large, round eyes,
high forehead, straight, pointed nose; features, in which tenacity
and gloom struggled for the predominance, surrounded by thin locks and
gray beard—was scarcely a personage either to inspire confidence or win
affection. The squadron sailed from the port of Palos August 3, 1492.
But for the fact that it was the first, the voyage was quite
commonplace; the most serious occurrences being the breaking of a
rudder, which obliged the expedition to put in at the Canaries for
repairs, and the variation of the needle, which caused a little fright
among the pilots. The sea was tranquil, toward the last extremely so,
and the wind generally favorable; yet no small trepidation attended this
gradual loosening of hold upon the substantial world, and the drifting
daily farther and farther into the fathomless unknown. Hence it was with
the wildest joy that early in the morning of the 12th of October the cry
of Land! was heard, and that soon afterward the venturesome navigators
felt beneath their feet the indubitable isle to which they gave the name
San Salvador, taking possession for Castile.
Now the sovereigns had promised that he who first saw land should
be recompensed by a pension of ten thousand maravedís, equivalent to
thirty-six dollars. It was at two o'clock in the morning that Rodrigo de
Triana, a mariner on board the _Pinta_, gave the signal, the first that
proved true after several had been mistakenly made; whereupon he claimed
the reward. But previously, during the night, Columbus had fancied he
descried a fitful light that should be on some shore. On the strength
of this surmise he secured to himself the insignificant sum, which,
to say nothing of its justness, was not a very magnanimous proceeding
in so great a discoverer. We are told of Triana, that, burning under
a sense of wrong, after returning to Spain, he passed into Africa and
turned Mahometan. However this may have been, dawn had shown them the
island, which seemed itself but dawn, to be dispelled by the full sun's
rays when the night's dream had passed. Over the trackless waste of
sea, suspended between earth and sky, the good ships had felt their
way, until now, like goddesses, they sat at anchor on the other side of
Ocean.
* * * * *
Though this land was unlike the Zipangu of his dreams, Columbus was not
disposed to complain; but rather, midst tears and praises, to kiss the
earth, be it of whatsoever quality, and smile benignantly upon the naked
natives that crept timidly forward, wondering whether the ships were
monsters of the deep, or bright beings dropped from heaven.
Of a truth, it was a wonderful place, this India of Marco Polo that
the Genoese now sought. Intersected by rivers and canals, spanned by
bridges under which the largest ships might sail, were fertile provinces
fragrant with fruit and spices. Mangi alone boasted twelve thousand
cities with gorgeous palaces, whose pillars and roofs were emblazoned
in gold, and so situated as to be compassed within a few days' travel.
The cities and fortresses of Cathay were counted by tens of thousands,
and their busy population by millions. On every side were gardens and
luxurious groves; pleasure-boats and banqueting-barges floated on the
lakes, and myriads of white sails swept over the bays. The mountains
were veined with silver, the river-beds paved with gold, and pearls
were as common as pebbles. Sheep were as large as oxen, and oxen were
as large as elephants. Birds of brilliant plumage filled the enchanting
air, and strange beasts of beauty and utility roamed the forests. The
inhabitants were arrayed in silks and furs, and fed on luscious viands;
there were living springs that cured all diseases. The army of the great
Khan, the happy ruler of all these glories, was in number as the grains
of the sand which the sea surrounds; and as for vessels of war, and
horses, and elephants, there were a thousand times ten thousand. What a
contrast to such a creation was this low-lying strip of jungle-covered
sand, peopled by copper-hued creatures dwelling in huts, and sustaining
life by the natural products of the unkempt earth! This, however, was
but an outlying island of Cathay; the main-land of Asia could not be far
distant; in any event, here was India, and these people were Indians.
[Sidenote: THE TWO INDIAS COMPARED.]
There was little enough, now appearing, in the India thus far found
to enrich Spain. In their noses the natives displayed gold, always a
royal monopoly when discovered; and they brought cotton for barter,
on which the admiral immediately laid the same restriction. Being
informed, by signs, that the metal came from the south, after examining
the shore thereabout in boats, the Spaniards set sail on the 14th, took
possession of Santa María de la Concepcion on the 15th, of Fernandina,
now Exuma, the day following, and afterward of Isabela, now Isla Larga,
or Long Island; also of a group to which they gave the name Islas de
Arena. Soils and other substances, atmospheres and sunshines, were all
familiar; plants and animals, though differing in degree and kind, were
similar to those they had always been accustomed to see. One creation
was everywhere apparent; one nature; one rule. It was wonderful,
stupendous! And if these human kind have souls, what a mighty work is
here to fit them for eternity!
Crossing the Bahama Bank, they came on the 28th to Cuba, which Columbus
called Juana, and which, with its dense uprolling green spangled with
parrots, gay woodpeckers, and humming-birds, scarlet flamingoes and
glittering insects; its trees of royal palm, cocoanut, cedar, mahogany,
and shrubs of spicy fragrance; its unknown fruits and foods; its
transparent waters whose finny denizens flashed back the sunlight from
their variegated scales, all under the brightest of skies, all breathed
upon by softest airs, and lapped in serenest seas, was more like his
own Zipangu, if, indeed, it was not Mangi itself.
Coasting eastward, the _Pinta_ sailed away and left the other vessels,
and it was with deep chagrin that Columbus saw no attention paid
his signals to return. Pinzon had heard of gold-fields in advance of
him, and he was going to reap them. The wreck of the _Santa María_
a month afterward, leaving the admiral only the little _Niña_, made
his situation all the more critical, and made him feel more keenly
than ever the desertion. Nor was this the first indication of mutiny
and disruption among his people during the voyage. If the truth
must be told, the character of the man, though inured to the cruel
hardihood of the age, seems here to be undergoing change; else it was
not originally as either he or his friends have estimated. The new
and varied experiences amidst the new and varied phenomena attending
the idea and its consummation make it a matter of no wonder that his
head began to be a little turned. He had pondered painfully on what
Aristotle taught regarding the sphericity of the earth, on what Seneca
said about sailing to the Indies westwardly, and on the terrestrial
paradise placed by Dante at the antipodes of the holy city; and now he
was here among those happy regions of which so long ago philosophers
had spoken and poets sung. Under the inspiration of rare intelligence,
and by wonderful courage and force of will, this Genoese sailor had
brought to his own terms the world's proudest sovereigns. Success,
in his mind the most perfect, the most complete, was by this time
proved beyond peradventure. At the outset he had suspected himself the
special agent of the supernatural; now he was sure of it. It was meet,
therefore, that all men should fear and obey him. Impelled to activity,
he was impelled, if necessary, to severity. During the passage he had
deemed it expedient several times to mislead the sailors, who were
consequently backward about reposing in him the respect and confidence
due a commander. Suspicious of the Spanish sovereigns from the first,
his fears constantly increased as the magnitude of his discovery slowly
unfolded before him, that he should eventually be robbed of it. He was
jealous lest any of those who had shared with him the perils of the
adventure should secure to themselves some part of the honor or profit
attending it. He had quarrelled with the Pinzons, who, having staked
their money and lives on what was generally regarded a mad risk, thought
some consideration from the commander their due. The admiral's temper
was tamed somewhat by the very boldness of Pinzon's act; for when the
_Pinta_ returned from her cruisings, little was then said about it; but
if ever the opportunity should come, her commander must pay dearly for
his disobedience.
[Sidenote: SAILING AMONG THE ISLANDS.]
Cuba failed to display any opulent oriental city, but furnished tobacco
and maize, gifts from savagism to civilization as comforting, perhaps,
as any received in return. The mariners next discovered and coasted
Hayti, or Española, thus occupying the greater part of December. On the
northern side of the island, out of the wrecked _Santa María_ and her
belongings, Columbus built and equipped a fortress, which he called La
Navidad; and leaving there thirty-nine men under command of Diego de
Arana, with Pedro Gutierrez and Rodrigo de Escobedo, lieutenants, on
the 4th of January, 1493, he embarked for Spain. Those left behind were
expected by the ardent-minded admiral, during his absence, to obtain,
in trade, a ton of gold, beside discovering mines and spices.
Violent storms attended the homeward voyage; but on the 15th of March
the expedition reached Palos in safety, after touching at the Azores
and the coast of Portugal. Then followed rejoicings. Over Spain, over
Europe, the tidings flew: A New World to the westward! Bells rang and
choirs pealed hosannas. A New World for Spain; now were their Catholic
Majesties well paid for their losses and trials in connection with
Mahometans and Jews!
With six natives, and divers birds and plants and other specimens from
the Islands, Columbus set out for Barcelona, then the residence of the
Spanish sovereigns. Throughout the journey, the highway and houses were
thronged with spectators eager for a glimpse of the strange spectacle.
Arrived at court, the great mariner was most graciously received,
being permitted even to be seated in the presence of royalty. He
told his tale. It is said that all present wept. Columbus was as much
excited as any. In a delirium of joy he vowed within seven years to
appoint an army of four thousand horse and fifty thousand foot for the
rescue of Jerusalem, and to pay the cost out of his own pocket; but,
unfortunately, he never found himself in funds sufficient to fulfil
his pious promise. The original compact between the sovereigns and the
discoverer was confirmed, and to the latter was granted a family coat
of arms. While Columbus was fêted by the nobles, and all the world
resounded with his praises, Martin Alonso Pinzon lay a-dying; the reward
for his invaluable services, exceeding a hundred-fold all that Isabella
and Ferdinand together had done, being loss of property, loss of health,
the insults of the admiral, the scorn of the queen, all now happily
crowned by speedy death.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: A HAPPY PEOPLE.]
Never had nature made, within historic times, a paradise more perfect
than this Cuba and this Hayti that the Genoese had found. Never was a
sylvan race more gentle, more hospitable than that which peopled this
primeval garden. Naked, because they needed not clothing; dwelling
under palm-leaves, such being sufficient protection; their sustenance
the spontaneous gifts of the ever generous land and sea; undisturbed
by artificial curbings and corrections, and tormented by no ambitions,
their life was a summer day, as blissful as mortals can know. It was as
Eden; without work they might enjoy all that earth could give. Disease
and pain they scarcely knew; only death was terrible. In their social
intercourse they were sympathizing, loving, and decorous, practising
the sublimest religious precepts without knowing it, and obeying Christ
more perfectly than many who profess to serve him. With strangers
the men were frank, cordial, honest; the women artless and compliant.
Knowing no guile, they suspected none. Possessing all things, they gave
freely of that which cost them nothing. Having no laws, they broke none;
circumscribed by no conventional moralities, they were not immoral.
If charity be the highest virtue, and purity and peace the greatest
good, then were these savages far better and happier beings than any
civilization could boast. That they possessed any rights, any natural or
inherent privileges in regard to their lands or their lives; that these
innocent and inoffensive people were not fit subjects for coercion,
treachery, robbery, enslavement, and slaughter, was a matter which
seems never to have been questioned at that time by either discoverer,
adventurer, or ruler. However invalid in any of the Spanish courts might
have been the argument of a house-breaker, that in the room he entered
he discovered a purse of gold, and took it, Spaniards never thought of
applying such logic to themselves in regard to the possessions of the
natives in the new lands their Genoese had found.
What Spain required now was a title such as the neighboring nations of
Europe should recognize as valid. So far as the doctrine was concerned,
of appropriating to themselves the possessions of others, they were
all equally sound in it. Europe with her steel and saltpetre and
magnetic needle was stronger than naked barbarians, whose possessions
were thereupon seized as fast as found. The right to such robbery has
been held sacred since the earliest records of the human race; and it
was by this time legalized by the civilized nations. Savagism had no
rights which civilization was bound to respect. The world belonged not
to Christian or Mahometan, but to whatever idea, principle, or power
could take it. In none of their pretended principles, in none of their
codes of honor or ethics, was there any other ultimate appeal than brute
force; their deity they made to fit the occasion, whatever that might
be. This they did not know, however. They thought themselves patterns
of justice and fair morality; and all that troubled them was in what
attitude they would stand toward each other with regard to their several
discoveries and conquests. But while such was the recognized condition
of affairs at the beginning of the sixteenth century among the reckless
adventurers of Spain, such were not the teachings of the Church, nor
the views of the intelligent and right thinking men of the time. True,
the army of fortune-seekers who first rushed to the new world in search
of gold came for lust and plunder, but with them, and inspired with
very different motives, came the missionaries of the cross, pointing
the savages to civilization and a purer religion than their own. But
civilization and religion, it must be confessed, had little to recommend
them in the examples of unprincipled men who were ever present to give
the lie to the teachings of the priests.
[Sidenote: THE WORLD PARTITIONED BY THE POPE.]
Thus it was that the Spanish sovereigns, being Christian, applied
for a confirmation of title to Alexander VI., then sovereign pontiff
of Christendom, at the same time insinuating, in a somewhat worldly
fashion, that learned men regarded the rights of their Catholic
Majesties secure enough even without such confirmation. No valid
objections before the holy tribunal could be raised against Christian
princes powerful enough to sustain their pretensions to ownership while
propagating the true faith in heathen lands; but Pope Eugene IV. and
his successors had already granted Portugal all lands discovered by
Portuguese from Cape Bojador to the Indies. In order, therefore, to
avoid conflict, the bull issued the 2d of May, 1493, ceding Spain the
same rights respecting discoveries already granted Portugal, was on the
day following defined to this effect:—An imaginary line of demarcation
should be drawn from pole to pole, one hundred leagues west of the
Azores and Cape Verde Islands; all lands discovered east of that line
should be Portugal's, while west of that line all should belong to
Spain. Thus by a very mortal breath and the flourish of a pen, the
unknown world, with all its multitudes of interests and inhabitants,
was divided between these two sovereignties, occupying the peninsula of
south-western Europe; though in their wisdom they forgot that if the
world was round, Portugal in going east and Spain in going west must
somewhere meet, and might yet quarrel on the other side. Subsequently,
that is to say on the 7th of June, 1494, by treaty between Spain and
Portugal the papal line of partition was removed, making it three
hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, Portugal
having complained of want of sea-room for southern enterprise. This
removal ultimately gave the Portuguese Brazil. And ecclesiastics claim
that care was ever exercised by the Spanish crown to comply with the
obligations thus laid upon it by this holy sanction.
Appointed to take charge of the affairs of the New World was Juan
Rodriguez de Fonseca, arch-deacon of Seville, and afterward patriarch
of the Indies. Although high in ecclesiastical preferment, he was a
bustling man of business, and ably filled the office during a period
of some thirty years. Of unflinching devotion to his sovereign, sedate,
stern in the accomplishment of his duty, and obliged as he was, in the
interests of the crown, to exercise occasional restraint on the rashness
or presumption of the conquerors, he incurred their enmity and was
reviled by their biographers. That he was retained so long in office by
such able monarchs as Ferdinand and Charles goes far to prove invalid
the charges of misrule and villainy so liberally made against him.
Associated with Fonseca was Francisco Pinelo, as treasurer, and Juan de
Soria as _contador_, or auditor. Their chief office was at Seville, with
a custom-house at Cádiz belonging to the same department. This was the
germ of the famous _Casa de Contratacion de las Indias_, or India House
of Trade, so long dominant in the government of the New World.
[Sidenote: THE SECOND VOYAGE.]
Thus all went swimmingly. Columbus found no difficulty in fitting out
a fleet for a second venture, a royal order being issued that all
captains, with their ships and crews, in all the Andalusian ports,
should hold themselves in readiness for that purpose. Seventeen vessels
sailed from Cádiz the 25th of September, 1493, having on board twelve
hundred persons,—miners, mechanics, agriculturists, and gentlemen,—with
horses, cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, and fowls; the seeds of vegetables,
of orchard fruits, of oranges, lemons, and grain for planting;
together with provisions, medicines, implements, goods for trade, arms,
ammunition, and all the requirements for founding a colony. Among the
passengers were Diego Colon, the admiral's brother, Bernal Diaz de Pisa,
contador, Fermin Cedo, assayer, and Alonso de Ojeda and Juan de la Cosa,
subsequently famous in New World discoveries; also twelve priests,
chief among whom was Bernardo Buil, a Benedictine monk, sent by the
pope as his apostolic vicar, with all the ornaments and vestments for
full service, which always had a wonderful effect upon the natives. The
work of conversion had already been begun by baptizing in solemn state
the six savages brought over by Columbus, Ferdinand and Isabella with
Prince Juan standing sponsors. The 3d of November the expedition reached
Dominica, so named from the day of arrival, Sunday. Next was discovered
an island to which Columbus gave the name of his ship, _Marigalante_;
then Guadalupe, where were tamed geese, and pine-apples, also human
bones, significant of the presence of the horror-breeding Caribs,
or cannibals. Thus cruising among these Caribbee Islands, and naming
them one after another, Columbus continued his way and finally came to
Navidad, only to find the fortress in ruins, its former occupants having
fallen victims to their own follies.
Choosing a site a little to the east of Navidad, still on the north
side of Hayti, the Spaniards landed their effects, and laid out a city,
which they called Isabela, surrounding it with ramparts. As soon as the
vessels could be laden with gold, they were to be sent back to Spain;
but the death of the Spaniards left at Navidad had somewhat marred
original plans.
While Columbus lay ill, directing affairs as best he might, early in
January, 1494, two parties under Ojeda and Gorvalan reconnoitred the
island, each in a different direction, and returning, reported gold.
As it was inconvenient to their anchorage, and as many of the colonists
were prostrate with disease, it was deemed best to let the ships go back
empty rather than detain them longer; hence, on the 2d of February,
twelve of the largest craft put to sea under command of Antonio de
Torres, having on board further specimens of the people and products
of the country. By this departure was sent a request for immediate
supplies.
Murmurs now arose against Columbus, the sick and disappointed ones
complaining most loudly that he had deceived them, had lured them
thither with false hopes to die. And they begged Diaz de Pisa, already
at the head of a faction, and Cedo, who said there was not gold in those
isles in paying quantities, to seize the remaining ships and sail with
them for Spain. But the admiral hearing of it, arrested Diaz, and held
him in irons on board one of the vessels to await trial in Spain.
Recovered from illness, Columbus left his brother Diego in command at
Isabela, and set out, at the head of four hundred men, for the golden
mountains of Cibao, in the interior of the island, intending there to
build a fortress, and to work the mines on an extensive scale. Arrived
at a favorable locality, where gold seemed plentiful in the brooks, the
Spaniards threw up a strong wooden fort, which they called Santo Tomás,
a piece of pleasantry aimed at the doubting assayer, Cedo. Leaving
in command Pedro Margarite, Columbus returned to Isabela. Afterward a
smaller post was built, called Magdalena, and the command was given to
Luis de Arriaga.
The natives could not welcome so large an invasion, which they now
clearly saw would bring upon them serious results. Thereupon they
withdrew from the vicinity of Santo Tomás, refusing all intercourse with
its inmates; and as a Spanish hidalgo could by no means work, even at
gold-gathering, success in that direction was not marked. Provisions
and medicine then began to fail, and fresh discontent arose, even Father
Buil arraying himself in opposition to the admiral.
As much to keep his people occupied as through any expectation of
profit, Columbus sent another expedition into the interior of Hayti, and
himself crossed to the south side of Cuba in three caravels, intending
thence to reach Cathay. Soon he discovered to the southward a lofty
isle, which he called at first Santa Gloria, then Santiago, but which
finally retained its native name, Jamaica, that is to say, Island of
Springs. After reaching nearly the western end of Cuba, thinking it
still the continent of Asia, and that possibly he might by that way
reach Spain, in which event he could then see what was beyond, he
coasted the south sides of Jamaica and Hayti, and returned to Isabela,
where he arrived insensible from excitement and fatigue. When he awoke
to bodily suffering, which for a time had been drowned in delirious
energy, there, to his great joy, he found his brother Bartolomé, who
had come from Spain with three well-laden ships to his assistance.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: COLONIZATION A FAILURE.]
Great events generally choose great men for their accomplishment, though
not unfrequently we see no small dust raised by an insignificant agent.
As a mariner and discoverer, Columbus had no superior; as colonist and
governor, he had by this time proved himself a failure. There are some
things great men cannot do as well as their inferiors. It was one thing
to rule at sea, and quite another to rule on shore. In bringing to his
India these unruly Spaniards, he had sown for himself the whirlwind.
Had he been more judicious in the selection of his followers, his
later days would have been more successful as well as more peaceful.
Discovery was his infatuation; he was never for a moment unattended by
a consuming curiosity to find a western way to civilized India. Had he
been possessed of sound practical judgment in the matter, of the same
knowledge of himself and of political affairs that he had of navigation,
he would have seen that he could not, at the same time, gratify his
passion for discovery and successfully govern colonies. In his fatal
desire to assume rulership, and upon the ill-understood reports of
simple savages, with no knowledge of the resources or capabilities of
the country, without definite purpose or mature plans, he had brought
upon himself an avalanche of woes. Beside his incapacity for such a
task, his position was rendered all the more trying by the fact that he
was a foreigner, whose arbitrary acts galled his impatient subordinates,
and finally wrought them to the pitch of open rebellion. The Spaniards
were quick enough to perceive that this Genoese sailor was in no wise
fitted to lay the foundation of a prosperous Spanish colony; and when
during his absence he left in command his brother, to whom attached no
prestige of high achievement to make up for his misfortune in not being
born in Spain, complications grew daily worse. Even the ecclesiastics
were against the admiral; for with a foresight born of a deep study of
human nature they saw that between the fires of the real and the unreal
this man was becoming mad. They saw the religious hypochondria, which
had already inflamed his intellect, now aggravated by the anxieties
incident to the government of a turbulent element under circumstances
unprecedented, undermining his health, and bringing rapidly upon him
those mental and physical distempers which rendered the remainder of
his life prolonged misery. Thus we may plainly see how Columbus brought
upon himself the series of calamities which are commonly found charged
to unscrupulous sovereigns and villainous rivals.
And thickly enough misfortunes were laid upon him on his return to
Isabela. Margarite, who had been ordered to explore the island, leaving
Ojeda in command at Santo Tomás, had abandoned himself to licentious
idleness, followed by outrages upon the natives, which notwithstanding
their pacific disposition had driven them to retaliation.
[Sidenote: TREATMENT OF THE NATIVES.]
And here was the beginning of these four centuries of such rank
injustice, such horrible atrocities inflicted by the hand of the
stronger upon the weaker, of the civilized upon the savage, that should
make a man blush to own kinship to a race so defiled before its maker
in whose image it was created.
It is the self-same story, old and new, from Española to Darien and
Mexico, from Brazil to Labrador, and from Patagonia to Alaska, by sailor
and cavalier, Spaniard and Englishman, by gold-hunter and fur-hunter—the
unenlightened red man welcoming with wonder his destroyer, upon whom
he is soon forced to turn to save himself, his wife, his children, but
only at last to fall by the merciless arm of development beneath the
pitiable destiny of man primeval.
Throwing off all pretence of allegiance to Columbus, when satiated
with his excesses, Margarite, with a mutinous crew at his heels and
accompanied by Father Buil, had taken such ships as best suited them
and had departed for Spain. Two _caciques_, or native chieftains,
Guatiguana, and Caonabo the Carib, with their followers had arisen in
arms, had killed some of the Spaniards, had besieged Magdalena and Santo
Tomás, and had even cast an ominous eye on Isabela. Such were the chief
occurrences at the settlement during the absence of the admiral.
First of all, Columbus made his brother Bartolomé _adelantado_, that is
to say, leader of an enterprise, or governor of a frontier province.
Then he sent relief to the fortress of Magdalena, and established
another military post near where was subsequently Santiago, which he
called Concepcion. Later the chain was continued by building other
posts; one near the Rio Yaquí, called Santa Catalina, and one on the
river Yaquí, called Esperanza. Meanwhile Ojeda offered to take the
redoubtable Carib, Caonabo, by stratagem; which was accomplished,
while he was surrounded by a multitude of warriors, by first winning
the admiration and confidence of the cacique, and then on the plea of
personal ornamentation and display obtaining his consent to wear some
beautiful bright manacles, and sit bound behind Ojeda on his steed; in
which plight he was safely brought by the dashing cavalier at the head
of his horsemen into Isabela.
About this time Antonio de Torres arrived with four ships from Spain,
and was sent back with the gold which had been collected, and five
hundred Indians to be sold as slaves. By this departure went Diego Colon
to refute the charges of incompetency and maladministration now being
preferred against his brother at court.
Though suffering from a fresh attack of fever, on the 27th of March,
1495, accompanied by the adelantado and all his available forces,
Columbus set out from Isabela to subjugate the caciques of the island,
who had combined to extirpate the Spaniards. Charging the naked red
men amidst the noise of drum, trumpet, and halloo, with horse and
bloodhound, lance, sabre, and firelock, a peace was soon conquered.
Multitudes of the inhabitants were butchered, and upon the rest
was imposed such cruel tribute that they gradually sank beneath the
servitude. But when the white men thus had the domain to themselves,
they did not know what to do with it. It was not for them to till the
soil, or labor in the mines; hence famine threatened, and they were
finally reduced to the last extremity.
There is little wonder, under the circumstances, that orders were issued
in Spain to depose Columbus, first by the appointment of a commission
of inquiry, and finally by removal.
[Sidenote: GOVERNMENT OF THE INDIES.]
Thus far the government of the Indies, as the New World began to be
called, had been administered solely by the admiral, according to
agreement, with Fonseca as superintendent in Spain. None but they were
permitted to freight or despatch any vessel to the New World. Columbus
was authorized to appoint two subordinate officers subject to royal
sanction; and yet the sovereigns took offense when he named Bartolomé
adelantado, which office was not that of lieutenant-governor, as many
writers aver, but nearer that of territorial governor, with political
as well as military powers, usually appointed by and subject only to
the king. Assuming a certain degree of state, the admiral appeared at
Isabela richly dressed, with ten _escuderos de á pié_, or squires of
foot, and twenty _familiares_, composing his civil and military family.
He had been directed before leaving Spain to appoint in each of the
several settlements or colonies which should be planted an _alcalde_,
or justice, exercising the combined duties of mayor and judge, with
jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases, appeal being to the admiral;
also an _alguacil mayor_, or high sheriff; and, if necessary, an
_ayuntamiento_, or town council. All edicts, orders, and commissions
must be issued in the name of the sovereigns, countersigned by the
notary, with the royal seal affixed. The admiral had been further
directed to build a warehouse where the royal stores should be kept,
and all traffic should be subject to his direction. When he sailed upon
his Cuban expedition he left for the direction of the colony a junta,
of which his brother Diego was president, and Alonso Sanchez Carvajal,
Juan de Luxan, Pedro Fernandez Coronel, and Father Buil, councillors.
Diego Colon was a well-meaning man, gentle and discreet, approaching in
visage and dress nearer the priest than the cavalier; he was neither
shrewd nor energetic. Bartolomé was quite the opposite, and in many
respects was the ablest of the brothers. Powerful in mind and body,
authoritative and determinate in demeanor, generous in disposition,
fearless in spirit, a thorough seaman, a man of no narrow worldly
experience, fairly educated, and talented with the pen, he was neither
the amiable, inefficient Diego, nor the dreamy, enthusiastic admiral.
Quick to notice in their deputy any indication of misrule, or undue
assumption of authority, their Majesties did not fail to lend an
attentive ear to the charges preferred against him. Yet the record
does not show from first to last that either Isabella or Ferdinand
ever really desired or intended to do Columbus injustice or injury.
When Torres returned from Spain, after the first accusation had
been made, the sovereigns, besides a letter expressing the warmest
confidence in the discoverer, and high consideration for the affairs
of the colony, sent a special _real provision_ ordering all to obey
the admiral as themselves, under penalty of ten thousand maravedís for
every offence. When further accusations came, instead of divesting him
of his authority, they sent as commissioner of inquiry Juan Aguado,
a warm friend of the admiral. Often they checked Fonseca's too harsh
measures with regard to Columbus and his brothers, and interposed their
royal protection from such officers as acted too severely under the
exasperating folly of the admiral. To satisfy the discoverer would have
been impossible for any patron, so wild were his desires, so chimerical
his plans, so injudicious his acts.
* * * * *
Aguado arrived at Isabela in October. He brought four caravels laden
with supplies, and Diego Colon, passenger. Soon it was noised abroad
that the conduct of the admiral was to be questioned, whereat both white
men and red rejoiced. Aguado could but see the pitiable state of things
upon the island, idleness, poverty, excesses, and disobedience among the
colonists, folly and mismanagement among the rulers, and seeing, could
but report accordingly; for which, and for no other reasons that I am
able to discover, the biographers of Columbus heap upon the commissioner
opprobrious epithets.
When Aguado returned to Spain, Columbus accompanied him to make such
excuses before the sovereigns as best he might. They embarked from
Isabela March 10, 1496, leaving the adelantado in command, and carrying
with them two hundred and twenty-five disaffected colonists, and a
number of Indian captives, among whom was the proud and once powerful
chieftain, Caonabo, so treacherously taken by Ojeda. Contrary winds and
starvation attended them, Caonabo dying during the voyage. Arrived at
Cádiz in June, the admiral found Pedro Alonso Niño about to sail with
three caravels for Hayti. Niño carried out more priests, and brought
back more slaves.
Columbus appeared in Spain in a Franciscan garb and with dejected
demeanor. To all the world, except to himself, it was by this time
evident that his gorgeous India was a myth, and settlement on the
supposition of its existence a mistake. He seemed now dazed by reverses,
as formerly he had been dazed by successes. Nevertheless, he continued
to make as much as possible of his discoveries, parading a brother of
Caonabo in a broad gold collar with a massive gold chain attached.
Still the sovereigns were gracious. They scarcely alluded to the
complaints and ever-increasing charges against the admiral, but
confirmed anew his dignities, enlarged his perquisites, and showed
him every kindness. The title of adelantado was formally vested by
them in Bartolomé. When asked for more ships and money, they readily
granted both; moreover, they offered the admiral a tract of land in
Hayti, twenty-five by fifty leagues, which, however, he declined; they
offered him sixty sailors, a hundred and forty soldiers, one hundred
miners, mechanics, and farmers, and thirty women, the services of all
to be paid by the crown. But because there was some delay, occasioned
by the operations in Italy and the armada for Flanders, the biographers
of the admiral again break out in abuse of the sovereigns and their
servants. The truth is, Ferdinand and Isabella stood by the Genoese
much longer than did their subjects. For example, when certain millions
of maravedís, equivalent to over a hundred thousand dollars to-day,
had been appropriated, and eight vessels equipped, so unpopular had
the admiral and his enterprises become, that it was found necessary to
press sailors into the service, and empty the prisons for colonists.
And it was only when their admiral, viceroy, and governor of the Indies
so far forgot himself, when on the point of sailing, as publicly, and
with his own hand and foot, to strike down and kick Jimeno de Berviesca,
an official under Fonseca, that the sovereigns began to realize the
unfitness of Columbus for the management of colonies. It was a serious
offense to attack a public servant; and when this was done under the
very eyes of royalty, and by the man they had so delighted to honor, the
truth came home to them, and they never afterward regarded the Genoese
with the same degree of favor. Yet for his great merits, his genius,
enthusiasm, and perseverance, and for the glory unparalleled conferred
by him on Spain, they would ever be to him just and generous. He could
never become again the pauper pilot, as he had been called at Granada
while begging help for his first voyage.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: THIRD VOYAGE.]
Two vessels were despatched to the colony under Pedro Fernandez Coronel
early in 1498. On the 30th of May Columbus embarked from San Lúcar
with six vessels, arrived at the northern seaboard of South America,
and discovered there the isle of Trinidad the 31st of July, sailed
through the gulf of Paria, where gold and pearls were seen in profusion,
discovered the Margarita Islands, and came to Hayti, arriving off the
river Ozema, on the southern side of the island, the 30th of August.
Prior to the last departure of the admiral for Spain, gold had been
discovered in this vicinity, and during his absence a military post,
called San Cristóbal, had been planted there, and at the adjacent
harbor a fort built, which was named Santo Domingo, and which was from
this time the capital of the Indies. At intervals during the past two
years, the adelantado at the head of his marauders had scoured the
island, collecting the quarterly tribute, and making observation on such
measures as he thought might increase the same. Insurrections had been
occasionally organized by the caciques, but were usually stifled by the
prompt and politic action of the adelantado. Many of the colonists had
gradually relaxed in their loyalty to Columbus, until finally, at the
instigation of Francisco Roldan, they declared their independence of the
adelantado, though still acknowledging fealty to Spain. After creating
no small disturbance about Concepcion and Isabela, Roldan had retired
with his band to the province of Jaraguá.
[Sidenote: AFFAIRS AT SANTO DOMINGO.]
On landing at Santo Domingo, the admiral first proclaimed his approval
of the adelantado's measures, and then set about to pacify the
colonists. With the common people, many officers of trust had joined the
revolt of Roldan. Columbus offered amnesty to all, which was at first
refused, and letters from both sides were sent to Spain. But at length
there was reconciliation; Roldan became a partisan of Columbus, and
assisted in subduing other hostile factions, which resulted in flinging
Adrian de Moxica off the battlements of Fort Concepcion.
The distracted state of the colony, the continued charges against
Columbus, and the inadequate returns from large outlays, impelled
the sovereigns to send out another commission with power to punish
offenders, civil and criminal, and, if necessary, to supersede the
admiral in the government. The commissioner chosen for this purpose was
Francisco de Bobadilla, an arrogant, shallow-minded man, who delighted
rather in degrading merit than in exercising justice. He was authorized
by letters patent to acquaint himself concerning the truth of the
rebellion against the admiral; what robberies, cruelties, or other
overt acts had been committed; he was directed to seize the person and
sequestrate the property of any offender, or punish in any way he might
deem best. A provisional letter was addressed by the sovereigns to the
admiral of the ocean sea, ordering him to surrender to the commissioner
all forts, arms, ships, houses, cattle, or other public property, which
letter was to be used only if necessary. Bobadilla, accompanied by a
body-guard of twenty-five men, sailed with two caravels in July, 1500,
and arrived at Santo Domingo on the 23d of August. By this opportunity
some of the Indians sent over by Columbus as slaves were returned in
charge of six friars. It is doubtful whether the enslavement of the red
man could ever have been made profitable, but whether it could or not,
the Catholic Church is entitled to much credit for thus promptly setting
its foot upon the diabolical traffic which had already received the
approval of some of the first jurists of the day. Indeed the doctrine
that the Indians were not endowed with souls was rapidly spreading,
and had found many believers, and had not the pope fortunately at this
juncture decided against the proposition, the subject of Indian slavery
would not have been so easily or so quickly settled.
[Sidenote: UNWARRANTED CONDUCT OF BOBADILLA.]
Among the first objects to meet the eye of Bobadilla, on landing, were
the bodies of two Spaniards swinging from gibbets, which argued not very
favorably for the quietude of the island. Columbus was absent at Fort
Concepcion; the adelantado and Roldan were pursuing rebels in Jaraguá;
Diego Colon, who was in charge at Santo Domingo, was peremptorily
commanded to surrender certain prisoners, which he refused to do until
the admiral, whose commission was higher than that of Bobadilla, and
under whom he served, should order it.
Thereupon Bobadilla broke open the jail, and the prisoners were finally
set at liberty. He not only assumed the custody of the crown property,
but he entered the house of Columbus, took possession of his effects,
and made his residence there. He sided with the late insurgents, giving
ear only to them. Next he ordered to appear before him the admiral,
who came with all quietness, and was immediately ironed and cast into
prison. The brothers of Columbus met the same fate. It was a most
villainous proceeding on the part of Bobadilla, wholly unauthorized,
wholly unnecessary. Columbus was condemned before he was tried. While in
the act of coming forward of his own accord, not with hostile front, but
unattended, he was seized, manacled, and incarcerated. It was not until
afterward that he was charged with inflicting on the colonists, even on
hidalgos, oppressive labor, abuse, and cruel punishments; with failing
to provide them sufficient food; with opposing royal authority; with
secreting gold and pearls; and with unjust treatment of the natives,
making unnecessary war upon them, levying iniquitous tribute, preventing
their conversion, and sending them as slaves to Spain. Some went so far
as to hint at an intended transfer of allegiance to some other power.
But were all the calumnies true, twice told, which vile, revengeful men
had heaped upon him, he would not have merited the treatment that he now
received at the hand of their Majesties' agent. Ever loyal, high-minded,
and sincere, ever performing his duties to the best of his ability,
the worst that can be truthfully said of him is that he was unfitted
by temperament and training, unfitted by his genius, by those very
qualities which made him so superior to other men in other directions,
for organizing in a tropical wilderness that social thrift upon which
might be built a staid community out of the ignorant, presumptuous, and
desperate element fresh from conflicts with Jews and Moors.
After having been subjected to much insult and indignity, the three
brothers were placed on shipboard and sent to Spain. Andrés Martin,
master of the caravel, offered to remove the manacles, but the admiral
said no. It was by the king's agent the irons were put on; it must be
by the king's order if ever they are taken off. "And I will always keep
these chains," he added with proud bitterness, "as memorials of reward
for faithful services."
Both Ferdinand and Isabella and all the people were shocked to see the
illustrious discoverer in such a plight. Immediately the sovereigns
heard of it the chains were stricken off, and the prisoners released.
From the odious abasement into which he had been unjustly thrust by an
infamous agent, Columbus was once more lifted high into favor by the
sovereigns, whose moist eyes testified their hearts' sincerity.