THE GOVERNMENTS OF NUEVA ANDALUCÍA AND CASTILLA DEL ORO.
1506-1510.
TIERRA FIRME THROWN OPEN TO COLONIZATION—RIVAL
APPLICATIONS—ALONSO DE OJEDA APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF NUEVA
ANDALUCÍA, AND DIEGO DE NICUESA OF CASTILLA DEL ORO—HOSTILE
ATTITUDES OF THE RIVALS AT SANTO DOMINGO—OJEDA EMBARKS
FOR CARTAGENA—BUILDS THE FORTRESS OF SAN SEBASTIAN—FAILURE
AND DEATH—NICUESA SAILS FOR VERAGUA—PARTS COMPANY WITH HIS
FLEET—HIS VESSEL IS WRECKED—PASSES VERAGUA—CONFINED WITH HIS
STARVING CREW ON AN ISLAND—SUCCOR—FAILURE AT VERAGUA—ATTEMPTS
SETTLEMENT AT NOMBRE DE DIOS—LOSS OF SHIP SENT TO ESPAÑOLA
FOR RELIEF—HORRIBLE SUFFERINGS—BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF LAS
CASAS, OVIEDO, PETER MARTYR, GOMARA, AND HERRERA—CHARACTER OF
THE EARLY CHRONICLERS FOR VERACITY.
The voyages of Bastidas and Columbus completed the discovery of a
continuous coast line from the gulf of Paria to Cape Honduras. In 1506
Juan Diaz de Solis, a native of Lebrija, and Vicente Yañez Pinzon took
up the line of discovery at the island of Guanaja, where the admiral had
first touched, and proceeding in the opposite direction sailed along
the coast of Honduras to the westward, surveyed the gulf of Honduras
and discovered Amatique Bay, but passed by without perceiving the Golfo
Dulce which lies hidden from the sea. The object still was to find the
much-desired passage by water to the westward. Continuing northerly
along Yucatan, and finding the coast trending east rather than west,
they abandoned the undertaking and returned to Spain. Meanwhile Juan
Ponce de Leon was enriching himself by the pacification of Puerto Rico,
preparatory to invading the mainland to the northward in search of the
fountain of youth; in which sapient attempt he lost his money, and
not long afterward his life, unfortunately never finding the liquid
immortality that bubbled somewhere in the jungles of Florida.
And now ten years had elapsed since Cabot and Columbus first saw the
western continent, the former in 1497, the latter in 1498, and although
several attempts had been made, as yet there was no European settlement
on any part of it. It was not that the thirst for western spoils was
by any means assuaged; but Ferdinand was busy, and the experiences
of Ojeda and Columbus on the mainland were not encouraging to the
most chivalrous cupidity. Returned, however, from his Neapolitan wars
in 1507, his disaffected nobles somewhat quieted, and the disputes
attending Isabella's succession allayed, the king began to look about
him. By the queen's testament he inherited one half the revenues of the
Castilian colonies. And the king wanted money. It is a royal weakness.
Then he remembered what Columbus had reported of the rich coast of
Veragua; and although the licenses hitherto granted for private voyages
had not proved very lucrative, and expenditures at Santo Domingo were
too near receipts to be satisfactory, no better way seemed feasible
than to throw open to colonization the mainland, or _tierra firme_, as
the discovered portion of the continent now began to be called.[VI-1]
Further than this, Ferdinand was well aware that if he would retain his
western possessions he must occupy them; for stimulated by the success
of Portugal and Spain, France, England, Holland, and Sweden had all
awakened to oceanic enterprise. He had before this commissioned Ojeda
to watch the inroads of the English at the north, and directed Pinzon
to have an eye on the Portuguese and the pope's partition line at the
south; now he was resolved to break the territory into kingdoms and
provinces, and apportion them for government to such of his subjects as
were able and willing to colonize at their own cost.
[Sidenote: OJEDA AND NICUESA.]
When the intention of the king was known, two dashing cavaliers appeared
and asked for the government of the rich coast of the Tierra Firme. One
was Diego de Nicuesa, a native of Baeza, well-born and an accomplished
courtier, having been reared by Enrique Enriquez, chief steward and
uncle of the king. He came to the Indies first with Ovando. The other
was Alonso de Ojeda, then in Santo Domingo, and already famous in
New World annals, making his first appearance there with Columbus in
his second voyage, and having already achieved two notable voyages to
Paria, or the Pearl Coast, one in 1499 with Juan de la Cosa and Amerigo
Vespucci, and one in 1502, with García de Ocampo and Juan de Vergara.
The last had been made in four ships, and for the purpose of colonizing;
instead of which disputes arose, and the fiery commander was seized and
carried in shackles to Española. There he was tried, and a decision
rendered against him, which however was overruled on appeal to the
Council of the Indies; but he came out of his difficulties stripped of
all his possessions.
The candidates were much alike, each being a fair type of the Spanish
cavalier. Both were small in stature, though none the less men of
prowess. Symmetrical in form, muscular, active, and skilful in the use
of weapons, they delighted in tilting matches, feats of horsemanship,
and in all those pastimes which characterized Spanish chivalry at the
close of the Mahometan wars. The school in which Ojeda had studied
experience, as page to the duke of Medina Celi, who appeared in the
Moorish wars at the head of a brilliant retinue, was in no wise inferior
to that of his rival. Their accomplishments were varied, though not
specially in the direction of colonizing new countries. Not only was
Nicuesa a fine musician, playing well the guitar, and having some
knowledge of ballad literature, but he could make his horse prance in
perfect time to a musical instrument. As for Ojeda, there was little,
in his own opinion, he could not do. The more of recklessness and folly
in the exploit the better he could perform it. Once at Seville, while
Isabella was in the cathedral tower, out from which ran a beam, at a
height so great that from it men on the ground looked like pygmies,
to show the queen of what metal he was made, he mounted this beam,
balanced himself, then tripped lightly as a rope-dancer to the end
of it, wheeled, and lifting one foot poised himself on the other at
this fearfully dizzy height, where almost a breath would dash him to
destruction; then, returning, he stopped at the wall and placing one
foot against it threw an orange to the top of the tower.
With such distinguished ability on either side, it was difficult to
determine between them. Who so suitable to baffle miasma, poisonous
reptiles, and wild beasts while dressing the institutions of Spain
for the wilderness of America, as the graceful and witty Nicuesa!
What a glorious missionary Ojeda would make! So moderate, so wise, so
gentle, so just, both! Nicuesa had money, a necessary commodity to him
who would colonize at his own cost. But then Ojeda had influence; for
Fonseca was his friend, and an inquisitor his cousin. Yet Nicuesa was
not without advocates at court; money alone was a powerful argument.
When, finally, the veteran pilot, Juan de la Cosa, threw his experience
and earnings upon the side of Ojeda, to whom he was devotedly attached,
and offered himself to embark in the adventure, the king concluded to
let them both go; and then it was that he divided Tierra Firme between
them, making the gulf of Urabá[VI-2] the dividing point. The eastern or
South American portion was called Nueva Andalucía, and of this Alonso
de Ojeda was appointed governor; the western division, extending from
the gulf of Urabá, or Darien, to Cape Gracias á Dios, was named by the
king Castilla del Oro,[VI-3] or Golden Castile, and the command given to
Diego de Nicuesa. The island of Jamaica, whence they expected to draw
their supplies, was to be held in common by the two governors. Were it
not so much more delightful to bargain with new suitors who have money,
than to reward old servants who have none, a fine sense of decency might
have prompted the monarch to give Castilla del Oro to the adelantado,
Bartolomé Colon, who had assisted in discovering, and in an attempt
to colonize the country, and who had little to show for his many and
valuable services to Spain. But Diego Colon was determined they should
not have Jamaica, and so sent thither Juan de Esquivel, as we have seen,
to hold it for the governor of Santo Domingo.
[Sidenote: MAINLAND DIVISIONS.]
The mainland governors were each appointed for four years, during which
time supplies were free from duties. Their outfit, with four hundred
settlers and two hundred miners each, might be obtained from Santo
Domingo. They were given the exclusive right to work for ten years
all mines discovered by them on paying into the royal treasury for the
first year one tenth of the proceeds, the second year one ninth, the
third one eighth, the fourth one seventh, the fifth one sixth, and for
the remaining five years one fifth. The king conditioned, moreover,
that each governor should build two forts for the protection of the
colonists, to whom the lands in the vicinity of which were to belong.
It so happened that the doughty little governors met at Santo Domingo,
while making their final preparations. Swelling with new dignities,
active and mettlesome, each desirous of obtaining as many recruits as
possible, it was not long before they came into collision. First they
quarrelled about Jamaica; as a supplement to which Ojeda stoutly swore
that should he there encounter Juan de Esquivel, his head should pay
the penalty. Then their partition line became a bone of contention,
both claiming the Indian province of Darien.[VI-4] The geography of
the coast was at that time but little known; their dominions toward
the south were limitless, and for aught they knew larger than Spain.
Although both the commanders were small corporally, in feeling they were
large, and required much room. The breach thus opened was in no wise
lessened by the superior success of Nicuesa, who with a deeper purse,
and a government famous for its wealth, drew off recruits from his less
fortunate rival. Five large caravels and two brigantines, flying the
flag of Castilla del Oro, rode in the harbor. All were well equipped
and liberally provisioned; and already Nicuesa mustered nearly eight
hundred men and six horses, while Ojeda at his best could muster but
three hundred men in two small ships and two brigantines.[VI-5]
[Sidenote: THE RIVAL GOVERNORS.]
Nettled at every turn he made about the little town, Ojeda, who was a
better swordsman than logician, at length proposed to settle all scores
by single combat. "Agreed," replied Nicuesa, who was equally brave
yet less passionate, "but for what shall we fight? Match me with five
thousand castellanos, and I am your man." Finally old Juan de la Cosa
interfered to prevent bloodshed; the river Darien, or Atrato, was made
the dividing line, and measures were taken to hasten departure before
the fire of hot Ojeda should blaze out again.
But Ojeda was not without his little triumphs. There dwelt at this time
at the capital of the Indies a lawyer, known as the Bachiller[VI-6]
Martin Fernandez de Enciso, who during a successful practice of many
years had accumulated some two thousand castellanos. Tempted by the
offer of being made alcalde mayor[VI-7] of the new government, he was
induced by the impetuous Ojeda to embark his entire fortune in the
adventure. It was arranged that the bachiller should remain at Santo
Domingo for some time after the departure of Ojeda, in order to obtain
further recruits and fit out another ship, and then follow the governor
to Nueva Andalucía.
Of Ojeda's party was Francisco Pizarro; and flitting restlessly from
one heterogeneous group to another, enviously watching preparations in
which circumstances prevented their participating, were other dominant
spirits waiting opportunity, notably Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, tied by debt
to distasteful agriculture, and Hernan Cortés, fortunately forbidden to
embark by illness.
Ojeda was the first to sail, embarking November 10, 1509. Nicuesa
would have weighed anchor at the same time, but was prevented by his
creditors; for his success in securing followers was attended by so
copious a drain of purse that not only his money but his credit was
gone.
Favorable winds wafted Ojeda quickly to Cartagena, where he landed and
proclaimed in loud and vaunting tones his manifesto.[VI-8] A shower of
poisoned darts was the reply; a mark of disrespect from his new subjects
which set the governor's blood boiling. Breathing a short prayer to the
virgin, Ojeda seized a lance, and charging the natives at the head of
his followers scattered them in the forest, and rashly pursued them.
These were no effeminate islanders; the women fought side by side
with the men, who were equal to those of Veragua, with the additional
advantage of envenomed arrow-points, which, with the occasional
shelter their forests afforded, made them more than a match for the
Spaniards.[VI-9] This Ojeda had all to learn, and to pay dearly for
the knowledge. Of seventy of his best and bravest who followed him four
leagues inland but one returned. Even his staunch and veteran friend,
Juan de la Cosa, after vainly attempting to dissuade his self-willed
colleague from his purpose, placed himself by his side and died there.
Ojeda fought like a tiger until his men were scattered and killed, and
he was left wounded and alone in a marshy thicket, where several days
after a fresh party from the ships found him half-dead. When warmed into
life and returned to the harbor he saw entering it Nicuesa's fleet he
hid himself, afraid to meet his rival in that plight. Told of this by
Ojeda's men, as supplemental to their dismal tale, Nicuesa's anger was
aroused at the unjust suspicion. "Tell your commander," he exclaimed,
"that Diego de Nicuesa is a Christian cavalier who makes no war on a
prostrate foe; that not only shall past feuds be buried, but he promises
never to leave this spot until the deaths of Juan de la Cosa and his
comrades are avenged." He was as good as his word. Landing four hundred
men, he surprised an Indian village, put men, women, and children to
the sword, and secured large booty.
[Sidenote: NUEVA ANDALUCÍA.]
After Nicuesa had departed on his way, Ojeda cast off from that
ill-fated shore his ships, and brought them to the gulf of Urabá,
where on its eastern side, near the entrance, he built a fortress, the
beginning of his capital city, and called it San Sebastian[VI-10] in
honor of the arrow-martyred saint, whose protection he craved from the
venomous darts of his subjects. From San Sebastian, Ojeda despatched
to Santo Domingo one of his vessels with the gold and captives he had
taken, at the same time urging Enciso to hasten his departure, and
send supplies. Meanwhile Ojeda's temper, which was as sharp and fiery
as Damascus steel, made little head-way against tangled marshes and
poisoned arrows. Persisting in his high-handed policy, he could do
nothing with the natives, food being as difficult to obtain as gold,
and his ranks rapidly thinned.
While harassed by hunger and watching anxiously the coming of Enciso
and the return of their ships, the colonists descried one day a strange
sail. On reaching San Sebastian it proved to be a Genoese vessel which,
while loading with bacon and cassava bread at Cape Tiburon, had been
piratically seized by one Bernardo de Talavera and a gang of vagabonds
from Santo Domingo, who escaped with their prize and had come to Nueva
Andalucía to seek fortune under the wise and happy rule of Governor
Ojeda. To buy the cargo was the work of a moment, for the pirates were
very ready to sell; and, indeed, had they not been, the governor would
have compelled them. The poison was in his blood, which was now hot
with fever, and he was in no mood for ceremony. But the relief thus
obtained was only temporary. Day by day the food supply diminished. The
colonists were reduced in number from three hundred to three score. And
with bodily ailment came as usual mind-distempers, wranglings, ruin,
and despair. Where now was the valiant Ojeda? Humiliated to the dust,
as well before the savages as before the Spaniards.
[Sidenote: DEATH OF OJEDA.]
Yet he would not yield to fate without another effort, wasted and weak
as he was. Giving Pijano command of the fortress, Ojeda took passage in
the freebooter's ship and sailed for Santo Domingo. But his patroness,
the virgin, had indeed deserted him. Shipwreck met him at Cuba,
whence he crossed to Jamaica. Talavera and his gang, after the most
extraordinary exertions, likewise reached Jamaica, but only to be seized
by order of Diego Colon and hanged. Ojeda said nothing to Esquivel
about striking off his head, but humbly took the kindly extended aid.
Proceeding to Española in a caravel he found Enciso gone, and himself a
bankrupt invalid. Pride, which seldom deserts a Spanish cavalier, gave
way. Reduced to penury, broken-hearted, he died, begging as proof of his
humility to be buried under the monastery portal, that all who entered
should tread upon his grave. Farewell, daring, dashing, irrational
Ojeda!
Let us now look after Nicuesa. When from the discomfited Ojeda the
gallant governor of Castilla del Oro last parted, he coasted westward
toward Veragua, where he purposed to plant his colony. The better
to survey the seaboard, he took a small caravel, and ordered Lope de
Olano, his lieutenant, to attend him with two brigantines, while the
larger vessels kept farther from the shore. Thus they proceeded until
reaching the Indian province of Cueba, where a port was discovered into
which flowed a small stream called Pito. There they landed and said
mass,[VI-11] and therefore named the place Misas.
Leaving there the largest ships in charge of a relative named Cueto,
who was to receive word when to follow, Nicuesa pressed forward toward
Veragua with a caravel carrying sixty men, Lope de Olano still attending
in a brigantine with thirty men. A storm arising not long after, the
latter took advantage of this and the darkness of the night to separate
from him, impelled partly by a conviction that they were on the wrong
course, partly by ambitious projects. After waiting two days in vain for
his companion Nicuesa continued westward. In the search for Veragua he
attempted to follow a chart drawn by Bartolomé Colon, though his pilots
Diego de Ribero and Diego Martin, both of whom had been with Columbus,
assured him that he had passed the place. The storm increasing, Nicuesa
ran his vessel into the mouth of a large river; but when attempting
to proceed after the storm he found himself caught in a trap, and his
vessel on the bar amidst the breakers, the water having subsided. Unable
to move the ship in either direction, its destruction was inevitable,
and the men set about saving themselves. A rope was stretched to the
shore at the cost of a life; and scarcely had the last person reached
land when the vessel went to pieces.
[Sidenote: CASTILLA DEL ORO.]
Behold, then, the courtly Nicuesa, so lately the proud commander of a
fleet, by this sudden freak of fortune cast upon an inhospitable shore,
his whereabouts unknown to himself or to those in the ships, and his
almost naked followers destitute of food, save one barrel of flour and
a cask of oil flung them by the surly breakers! His mind was moreover
ill at ease concerning Olano, whose reputation was none of the best,
and who Nicuesa thought might have joined him had he been disposed. The
ship's boat fortunately drifted ashore, and in it Nicuesa placed Diego
de Ribero and three seamen, ordering them to keep him company along the
shore, and render assistance in crossing streams and inlets. Already
faint with hunger, they began their march. But whither? Still westward,
but not toward Veragua. Each weary footstep carried them farther and
farther from their destination. It was not a pleasant journey feeling
their way through tropical forests, with such impediments as tangled
jungles, hot malarious mudbeds, craggy hills and treacherous streams
to block their way. Some of the party had no shoes, some no hat; sharp
stones cut their feet, thorny brambles tore their flesh, and their
half-clad bodies were exposed alternately to burning sun and drenching
rain. They were soon glad to get shell-fish and roots to eat with
their leaves. One day an arrow from an overhanging height struck dead
Nicuesa's page, but fortunately the savages retired without pressing
their advantage. Nicuesa's dog, seeing murder in his hungry master's
eye, took to his heels and was never afterward seen. Yet greater
misfortunes awaited the Spaniards. After crossing an inlet in the boat
one evening, they rested for the night, and in attempting to resume
their march next morning found themselves upon an island. Calling for
Ribero, he was missing. Nor was the boat anywhere to be seen. It could
not be possible that he had left them to die on that circumscribed and
barren spot. Loudly they called, searching every inlet, and sweeping
the horizon with terror-lighted eyes. It was true; they were abandoned!
It is curious to witness the effect of despair on different minds,
of the near approach of that hateful means for our final suppression.
Some will fight the monster; others succumb, sinking into drivelling
imbecility; others calmly abandon themselves to the inevitable, even
the ludicrous aspect of the case coming home to some of them, looking
grimly cheerful. As elsewhere, both fools and philosophers were found
among Nicuesa's crew. Some prayed and confessed, with divers degrees
of accompaniment, from low lamentation to frantic raving; some cursed;
some nursed their horror in sullen silence.
I shall not attempt to describe Nicuesa's sufferings while on this
island. Suffice it to say that on a scanty diet of roots and shell-fish
with brackish water many died, while others wished themselves dead; for
the former might rot in peace, but the latter yet living swarmed with
impatient vermin. And there was little satisfaction in effort, when
drinking only increased thirst, and eating but kept alive despondency.
Truly it was a good thing, a grand thing to adventure life to capture
wild lands and rule one's fellows!
Thus weeks passed. Then like a ray shot from the Redeemer's throne a
sail was seen. Men wasted to the last extremity shook off death's grip
and roused themselves, stretching their long lank necks, their bony
chins and glazed eyes toward the approaching vessel, which soon came to
anchor before the island. Ribero was not a villain after all. Satisfied
that Veragua was behind them, but unable to convince Nicuesa, Ribero
won over to his views the three boatmen, left the island during the
night, retraced their course and reached Veragua. There they found the
colonists, with Olano bearing rule, who on the information of Ribero
could scarcely do less than send his governor succor.[VI-12]
* * * * *
Leaving here Nicuesa, let us inquire concerning the other portions of
his scattered colony. Two months having elapsed since the departure of
the governor from the port of Misas, and hearing nothing from any one,
Cueto, in whose charge the fleet was left, became uneasy, and taking
a small vessel, set out in search of his commander. The only tidings
he could gain were from a letter found on an island, wrapped in a leaf
and fastened to a stick, which informed him that Nicuesa was well and
still journeying westward. Returning to Misas, Cueto with the entire
fleet sailed for Veragua; but so badly worm-eaten were the ships that he
was obliged to come to anchor at the mouth of the River Chagre,[VI-13]
which from the ravenous alligators that swarmed there was called by
the Spaniards Lagartos. There portions of the cargoes were landed; and
while attempts were made to repair the ships, one of the pilots, Pedro
de Umbría, was sent in quest of the lost governor. Meanwhile Lope de
Olano arrived.
[Sidenote: WOES OF NICUESA.]
Evidently the lieutenant did not in his heart desire his captain's
return. For although in reciting to his comrades the circumstances of
the storm, and the disappearance of the governor, with such variations
as suited his purpose, with tears which would have done honor to the
crocodiles thereabout, he made no effort to find Nicuesa. He affected
to believe him dead. "And now, gentlemen," he said, "let no more mention
be made of him if you would not kill me."
The fleet now proceeded to Belen, where the usual catalogue of disasters
attends the disembarkation. Four men are drowned. The worm-eaten ships
are dismantled, broken in pieces, and of the fragments huts are made
on the site formerly occupied by Bartolomé Colon. Olano, after some
opposition, is formally proclaimed lieutenant-governor. Raids follow;
but the quibian, grown wise by experience, retires with his people, and
leaves the Spaniards to shift for themselves. There being nothing to
steal, they starve. Disease and disaffection follow; Olano is not happy.
Wrathful, indeed, was Nicuesa on reaching Belen. Against Olano his
indignation was extreme. He charged him with wilful desertion, with
felonious destruction of the ships, and with gross mismanagement. He
had ruined all. Branding him as a traitor he ordered his arrest; and
when some feeble attempts were made by the others to mitigate the
governor's displeasure, he broke forth on them. "It well becomes you,"
he exclaimed, "to ask pardon for him, when you should be begging mercy
for yourselves!"
But of what use were oaths and bickerings? Of his gallant company half
were dead, and the less fortunate remainder lived only to suffer yet
awhile before following. Of all the men who came from Spain, proud
Nicuesa lost the most, having most to lose. Of all New World woes,
Nicuesa's woes were greatest; the half of what thus far has been words
cannot tell, and the worst part is yet to come.
[Sidenote: NOMBRE DE DIOS.]
Now that the rich Veragua was reached, the Golden Castile of greedy
anticipations, what then? The gold with which to load the ships was
wanting; the ships with which to bear away that gold were almost all
destroyed. The fertile soil was marshy, the spicy air malarious, the
redundant vegetation yielded little food for man. Sallow-faced skeletons
of men clamored their distress. Death was busy enough, so Olano's life
was spared, though his badge of office was exchanged for fetters. Even
foragers perished for want of food; every member of one band died from
eating of a putrescent Indian. The governor grew peevish; his generous
temper was soured by misfortune. The colonists complained of his
harsh treatment and indifference to their sufferings. And they said to
him: "The fates are against us here; let us abandon this place." "Oh,
very well!" snarled Nicuesa. Leaving Alonso Nuñez, with the dignified
title of alcalde mayor, and a few men to harvest some grain planted by
Olano, the colonists embarked in two brigantines and a caravel, built
of fragments of the broken ships, to seek some healthier spot. After
sailing eastward some twenty leagues, a Genoese sailor named Gregorio
addressed the governor: "I well remember, when with the admiral in this
vicinity we entered a fine port where we found food and water." After
some search the place was found, the Portobello of Columbus, and an
anchor dropped there by the admiral was seen protruding from the sand.
Landing for food, the Spaniards were attacked and twenty killed; indeed,
they could scarcely wield their weapons so weak were they. Faint and
disheartened they continued their way about seven leagues farther, when
approaching the shore Nicuesa cried out: "Paremos aquí en el nombre de
Dios!" Here let us stop in God's name! They found anchorage, the place
being the Puerto de Bastimentos of Columbus. The companions of Nicuesa,
however, ready in their distress to seize on any auspice, took up the
cry of their commander and applied the words Nombre de Dios[VI-14] to
the harbor which they then entered, and which name to this day it bears.
Here another attempt was made to locate the government of Castilla del
Oro. Disembarking, Nicuesa took formal possession, erected a fortress,
and began again his necessary though suicidal policy of foraging. The
natives retired. The malarious atmosphere wrapped the strangers in
disease and death. The caravel was sent back to Veragua, and Alonso
Nuñez and the remnant of the colony brought away. The vessel was
then sent to Española for supplies, but neither ship nor crew were
ever afterward heard from. Meanwhile Nicuesa and the remnant of his
luckless company made a brave stand, but all of no avail. Long since
fate had decreed their destruction. It was not possible in their
present condition to live. Reptiles as food became a luxury to them;
the infected sunlight dried up their blood; despair paralyzed heart and
brain; and to so dire extremity were they finally reduced that they were
scarcely able to mount guard or bury their dead.[VI-15]
In my bibliographical notices thus far I have had occasion to make
mention more particularly of original documents referring to individual
episodes. I will now say a few words concerning the early chroniclers,
Las Casas, Oviedo, Peter Martyr, and Gomara, and of the later and more
general writer, Herrera. On these, the corner-stones of early Spanish
American annals, the fabrics of all who follow them must forever rest.
[Sidenote: THE WRITINGS OF LAS CASAS.]
The lives of Las Casas and Oviedo constitute in themselves no small
portions of their respective histories. Both came to the New World,
and each took an active and prominent part in many of the matters of
which he wrote. They were nearly of an age; the former being born at
Seville in 1474, and the latter at Madrid in 1478; but Oviedo did not
come to America until 1514, being with Pedrarias Dávila when he went
to govern Darien, while Las Casas took up his residence under Ovando at
Española in 1502. Las Casas was an ecclesiastic whose life was devoted
to befriending the Indians, and he did not leave America for the last
time until 1547, after half a century of most humane service; Oviedo was
a cavalier who sought to better his broken fortunes by obtaining through
his influence at court the office of _veedor de las fundiciones del
oro de la Tierra Firme_, supervisor of gold-melting for Tierra Firme,
which office he held throughout his connection with the affairs of the
continental Indies, until 1532. Both were influential men at court,
Las Casas being quite intimate with young Charles, while Oviedo had
been _mozo de cámara_, or page to Prince Juan. Both made frequent trips
between Spain and America; Oviedo crossed the Atlantic twelve times,
Las Casas even more.
Las Casas was as able an annalist as he was reformer. His greatest
work, _Historia de las Indias_, was begun in his fifty-third year, and
completed in 1561, five years before his death. It was extensively
copied and used in manuscript, but was not printed until 1875-76.
Though consisting of five volumes, it comprises but three decades, or
books, and brings the history of the New World down only to 1520. It
was the author's original intention to have continued his work through
six decades, which would have brought it down to 1550, and hence have
included his important experiences in Guatemala, Chiapas, and Mexico.
Next to the general history of the Indies stands the _Apologética
Historia_, comprising a description of the country and the customs of
the people, and written to defend the natives against the accusation
that they lacked system in their societies, not having reason to govern
themselves. His first printed work was issued in Mexico in 1546;
it was entitled _Cancionero Spiritual_, and was dedicated to Bishop
Zumárraga. At Seville, in 1552, was published, in one volume 4to, _Breve
relacion de la destruccion de las Indias Occidentales_, and other
tracts of a similar nature; such as his Controversy with Sepúlveda;
his Thirty Propositions; Remedies for the Reformation of Indies; Rules
for Confessors; a treatise proving the sovereign empire and universal
authority which the kings of Castile and Leon have over the Indies, etc.
This collection was put in print in Latin, French, Italian, German,
and Dutch, some of the translations appearing in several editions.
The Controversy with Sepúlveda was issued separately. Juan Antonio
Llorente printed at Paris in 1822 a _Coleccion de las Obras del Obispo
de Chiapa_, 2 vols. 8vo, which was published the same year in French,
under title of _Œuvres de Don Barthélemi de las Casas_. The collection
comprises several of his less important works; the French translation
is remarkably free, the author being at times quite lost sight of,
and several new pieces of doubtful origin are added. As a writer, Las
Casas is honest, earnest, and reliable, except where his enthusiasm
gets the better of him. His learned opponent and arch-enemy, Sepúlveda,
pronounces him most subtle, most vigilant, and most fluent, compared
with whom the Ulysses of Homer was inert and stuttering. He was not only
a thorn in the flesh of evil-doers, but by his persistent and stinging
effrontery he often exasperated mild and benevolent men. But whatever
his enemies may say of him, and they are neither few nor silent, true
it is that of all the men who came to the Indies he almost alone leaves
the furnace with no smell of fire upon him.
[Sidenote: GONZALO FERNANDEZ DE OVIEDO Y VALDÉS.]
Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés was of the noble family of Oviedo
in Asturias. In early childhood, before entering the service of Prince
Juan, he was with the duke of Villa Hermosa. While watching the fall
of Granada he met Columbus, and afterward witnessed his triumph at
Barcelona. After the death of his young master in 1497, who in fact
was of his own age, Oviedo went to Italy, where art and science were
enlivened by war, serving under Frederico of Naples, and sometimes
jewel-keeper to Queen Juana. Married at Madrid, in 1502, to the
beautiful Margarita de Vergara, whom he lost in childbirth ten months
after, he plunged into the excitement of war, serving as secretary
to Córdoba in the French campaign. Marrying again, he hovered about
the court until, in his thirty-sixth year, his dwindling fortunes
sent him with Pedrarias to Darien, in the capacity before mentioned.
His doings there will be told in the text of this history; suffice
it to say here that most of his time there was spent in broils with
the governor, beside which he had to endure the loss of his wife and
child, imprisonment, and the dangerous wound of an assassin's knife.
But, obtaining at last the appointment of Pedro de los Rios in place of
Pedrarias, and for himself the governorship of Cartagena, which office,
however, he never exercised, after three years' further residence in
Tierra Firme, this time in Nicaragua, he returned to Spain in 1530,
spent two years in arranging his notes, resigned his _veeduría_, and
received the appointment of _Cronista general de Indias_. In the autumn
of 1532 he went to Santo Domingo, and although appointed the following
year alcalde of the fortress of Santo Domingo, the remainder of his
life was passed chiefly in literary work. After an eventful life of
seventy-nine years he died at Valladolid in 1557, while engaged in the
preparation for the press of the unpublished portion of his history.
Throughout the whole of his career Oviedo seems to have devoted every
spare moment to writing. Even before he was appointed royal chronicler
he was an indefatigable collector of material. He was well acquainted
with the prominent persons of his time, and few expeditions were made
without adding to his store. Want of discrimination in the use of
authorities is more prominent in his writings than want of authorities.
Of twelve literary efforts but one, beside those relating to America,
found its way into print. He formed the plan of writing about the New
World long before he first crossed the ocean, and actually began his
history, according to José Amador de los Rios, before 1519, keeping open
the general divisions for additions to the day of his death. After his
return from the second voyage to Darien he wrote at the request of the
king, and chiefly from memory, as his notes were at Santo Domingo, _De
la Natural Hystoria de las Indias_, printed at Toledo in 1526. This work
was republished by Barcia, _Historiadores Primitivos_, i., translated
into Italian by Ramusio, _Viaggi_, iii., and garbled by Purchas in _His
Pilgrimes_, iv. 5. This, it must be borne in mind, is totally distinct
from the _Historia General y Natural de las Indias, Islas y Tierra-Firme
del Mar Océano, por el Capitan Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés,
primer cronista del Nuevo Mundo_, and which alone admits the author
to the first rank as a historian. The General History was originally
divided into three parts, containing in all fifty books. The first
part, comprising nineteen books, with the preface and ten chapters of
the fiftieth book—not 20, 21, or 22 books as different bibliographers
state—was published during the author's life at Seville in 1535, under
the title _Historia General_, etc., and republished at Salamanca in
1547 as _Hystoria General_. This rare issue contains in several places
a few columns of additional matter which have not escaped my attention.
An Italian version of the same parts was published by Ramusio in his
_Viaggi_, iii.; the first ten books were translated into French and
published as _Histoire Naturelle_, etc., Paris, 1556; the twentieth
book, or the first of the second part, was published separately at
Valladolid in 1557 as _Libro XX._, etc. Thirteen chapters of Book XLII.,
relating to Nicaragua, were published in French by Ternaux-Compans,
_Histoire du Nicaragua_, in his second series of Voyages, iii.,
Paris, 1840. Finally, the fifty books complete were beautifully and
accurately printed at Madrid in four folio volumes, with plates, by
the Real Academia de la Historia in 1851-55. The editor, José Amador
de los Rios, gives in an introduction the best notice of the life and
writings of the author extant. Oviedo was not a learned man like Peter
Martyr, and it is doubtful if a further insight into the books of the
day would have made him any wiser; yet a man who could dictate the
natural history of a new country without his notes cannot be called
illiterate. He knew Latin and the modern languages; but his familiarity
with Latin was not sufficient to prevent an unpleasant parade of it.
Nor did he possess the genius or practical sagacity of Las Casas; yet
his extraordinary opportunities were not wholly wasted, nor did life
at court, political quarrels, or gold-gathering at any time wholly
stifle his ambition to achieve the useful in letters. Oviedo was a fair
example of the higher type of Spaniard of that day; he was intelligent,
energetic, brave; but cold, unscrupulous, and cruel. And this is true,
without going full length with Las Casas in his fiery fanaticism when
he says:—"Oviedo should regret what he has written of the Indians;
he has borne false witness against them; and has calumniated them in
every way.... He should have inscribed on his title-page, 'This book
was written by a conqueror, robber, and murderer of the Indians, whole
populations of whom he consigned to the mines, where they perished'....
His work is as full of lies as of pages." To which sentiment I by
no means subscribe. Probably no kind of work, however thoroughly and
conscientiously done, is more open to criticism, is more certain to
be criticised on every side, than contemporaneous history from facts
for the first time gathered, and from many and conflicting witnesses.
Ternaux-Compans says well:—"Oviedo n'est pas exempt des préjugés de son
temps contre les Indiens, mais après tout, ce qu'il dit se rapproche
plus de la vérité que les peintures fantastiques de l'évêque de Chiapa,
qui veut retrouver l'âge d'or même chez les nations les plus féroces."
Both of these authors, Las Casas and Oviedo, wrote in the heat of the
engagement of the abnormal and ill-understood scenes passing under
their immediate notice. What they wrote was certainly true to them;
it is our business to analyze and sift, and make their records true
to us. In the showy criticisms of these and a kindred class of authors
we see generally something brought in about style and arrangement. The
latter is always bad, and the index worse than none; but critics should
find something better to do than find fault with the words and their
arrangement of these old fighting chroniclers. Of course their style
is bad, abominable; but who cares for style in them? One wants only the
facts. Their books are not made to be read, but to be used. Rios seems
to entertain a proper appreciation of the matter when he writes:—"Mas
ya fuera porque procurase dar á su lectura aquella diversidad, tantas
veces por él apetecida, ya porque la misma fatiga é irregularidad
con que recibia los datos, le impidiese someterlos á un plan maduro
é inalterable; es lo cierto que la crítica de nuestros dias, al par
que aprecia y agradece tan interesantes inquisiciones, echa de menos
cierta cohesion y armonia en la exposicion de las costumbres de los
indios, no hallando mayor enlace en la narracion de los descubrimientos
y conquistas, que ni se refieren siempre en órden cronológico, ni
guardan entre sí la conveniente relacion para que pueda comprenderse
sin dificultad su influencia recíproca."
[Sidenote: PETER MARTYR'S WORKS.]
While the Protector of the Indians and the First Chronicler of the New
World were thus gathering and recording historical data in the several
parts of America, one of the most learned men of Europe, Pietro Martire
d'Anghiera, or latinized Anglerius, commonly called Peter Martyr,
was collecting similar facts in Spain, and recording them, copiously
diluted with the philosophy of the day, in the form of ten-year epochs,
constituting in the end a series of decades. The duchy of Milan was
the early home of this chronicler, and 1457 the year of his birth. His
family was of noble descent, and originally of Anghiera. Going to Rome
in 1477 to finish his education, he became so conspicuous for learning
and eloquence that ten years later the Spanish ambassador invited him to
try his fortune at the court of the Spanish sovereigns. By them he was
graciously received, especially by Isabella, who wished to occupy him
in the instruction of the young nobles of Castile. The ardent Italian
must have a taste of war, however, before settling into permanent
sagedom; so he fought before Baza, and laid not down the sword till
the city of the Alhambra fell. Then he became a priest, and turned
toward pursuits more in keeping with his natural bent and erudition.
He opened various schools of learning, which youth of quality made it
the fashion to attend. Having risen into high consideration at court,
in 1501 he was sent by the crown on missions to Venice and Cairo, in
which he acquitted himself creditably, and wrote on his return the _De
Legatione Babylonicâ_, an account of Lower Egypt in three books. On
Ferdinand's death he was appointed by Jimenez ambassador to the Sultan
Selim, but refused the honor on account of his age; and afterward he
did not find Charles less inclined to acknowledge his merits. During
the three years following his return from Egypt he was appointed prior
of the cathedral of Granada, and by the pope apostolic prothonotary,
and in 1518 he took his seat in the Council of the Indies. His life
was one of rare industry, in which he gathered and disseminated much
knowledge, and which gained him the respect of princes; his death
occurred in 1526, in the 69th year of his age, and he was buried in his
cathedral at Granada. Peter Martyr is the author of at least two great
works, viewed historically. They are written in Latin, of anything but
Ciceronian ring, for patristic is to the patrician Latin as the 'Frenche
of Stratford atte Bowe' is to the French of Paris. Of these his two
notable works the chief is _De Orbe Novo_, an account of the New World
and its wonders, in eight decades, or books. The first, and the first
three, of these decades were published at different times during the
author's life, but the eight decades complete did not appear before
1530, when they were printed at Alcalá under the title _De Orbe Novo
Petri Martyris ab Angleria Mediolanensis Protonotarii Cæsaris senatoris
decades_. Three of the decades translated into English by R. Eden were
printed in 1555, and reprinted in 1577, with another decade added by
R. Willes. The best complete edition of the eight decades, in their
original Latin, next appeared in Paris, published by R. Hakluyt, 1587.
Indeed, beside the edition of 1530, this is the only complete original
edition of the _De Orbe Novo_. In 1612 appeared the work entire in
English, the result of the 'Industrie and painefull Trauaile of M. Lok
Gent.' This has been included in a supplement to _Hakluyt's Voyages_,
London, 1812. Beside these important editions, partial translations,
extracts, and compilations have appeared at various times and in various
languages. In 1534, at Venice, in Italian, were published, in three
several parts, summaries of the history of the Indies taken from Peter
Martyr, Oviedo, and others. The other of the two works alluded to is a
collection of Peter Martyr's letters, in Latin, which brim with notices
of contemporary events, and run from 1488 to his death. Two editions of
these collected letters were published, the first at Alcalá in 1530,
the second at Amsterdam, by the Elzevirs, in 1670. The title runs
thus—_Opus Epistolarum Petri Martyris Anglerii Mediolanensis_, etc.;
a translation of the letters has never been published. So confused,
misdated, and interposed are the epistles that Hallam expressed his
disbelief in any connection whatever between actual and ostensible dates
and service. But the _De Orbe Novo_ may be regarded equal in authority
to the relations of the eye-witnesses Las Casas and Oviedo. Peter Martyr
was the first of the chroniclers to write and to publish on the New
World, his decades beginning to appear about the time Oviedo first went
to the Indies. Immediately Columbus set foot on shore, on his return
from the first voyage, the eloquent and philosophic scholar began to
question him and those who came with him, and to write, and he never
ceased writing until death stopped him. There was so much for a man
of his mind to think and talk about. For a time after this marvellous
discovery the learned and intelligently curious lived in a ferment
concerning it. It was to some extent the revolutionizing of science and
philosophy. The lines of tradition were snapped; the cosmos had lost its
continuity. Peter Martyr, a grave man of broad and deep capabilities;
well situated for procuring information, meeting daily, many of them
at his own table, those who had returned from the Indies—discoverers,
conquerors, explorers, sailors, priests, and cavaliers—having access to
the official letters, diaries, charts, and relations of these men, his
account, I say, should be as reliable and as valuable as that of one who
had actually mingled in the scenes described. In some respects it should
be more so, able as he was to see with a hundred eyes instead of two,
and to determine disputes more coolly and equitably. It is true his,
records are marred by the haste with which they were written, and by the
admitted lack of correction or revision by the author; order and method
are nowhere present; mistakes and contradictions are frequent. But we
have the raw material, which is far better than any elaboration. Las
Casas was the first of the chroniclers to visit the Indies, and the last
of the three thus far named to begin to write and publish history, which
was in 1552. Oviedo began to write at about the date the history of Las
Casas terminates. It was four years after the death of Peter Martyr that
Oviedo was appointed official chronicler of the New World. The general
relations of the three historians were antagonistic; from which their
writings may all the better be brought to harmonize with truth. Of the
hundreds who have made their criticisms on the writings of Peter Martyr
I will mention but two. Says Las Casas, _Hist. Ind._, i. 32: "De los
cuales cerca destas primeras cosas á ninguno se debe dar más fe que á
Pedro Martir;" and Muñoz remarks, _Hist. Nuevo Mundo_, xiii.: "Merece
indulgencia por el candor con que lo confiesa todo, por su ningun afan
en publicar sus borrones, y principalmente porque tal qual es la obra
de las décadas contiene muchísimas especies que no se hallan en otra
parte alguna, y estas escritas con la conveniente libertad por un autor
coetáneo, grave, culto, bien instruido de los hechos, y de probidad
conocida."
[Sidenote: GOMARA AND HERRERA.]
Of much less importance than the preceding are the writings of Francisco
Lopez Gomara, particularly his history of the Indies, which is an
imitation rather than a genuine original, and of which too much has
been made, notwithstanding Muñoz pronounces it the first history worthy
the name. Although Icazbalceta, a high authority on the subject, gives
the name Gómara, or Gómora, with the accent on the first syllable as
the Peninsular pronunciation, with the remark that it is commonly
called Gomára in Mexico, I have not thought best to depart from an
almost universal usage. Bustamante goes out of his way to signify an
accent where it would naturally fall, writing Gomára. Born in Seville
in 1510, of an illustrious family—it seems exceptional to find any man
of note in Spain whose family was not illustrious—and educated at the
university of Alcalá, he became a doctor of both civil and canonical
law, and filled for a time the chair of rhetoric. From the military
life designed for him by his parents he was driven by literary tastes
into the priesthood; and in 1540, upon the return of Cortés from his
last visit to Mexico, he became chaplain and secretary to the marquis.
From this some have inferred and erroneously stated that he spent four
years in America prior to publishing his history. At Saragossa in 1552-3
appeared his _La Historia General de las Indias_, in two folio parts,
the first general, and dealing chiefly with Peru, the other devoted to
Mexico. The book was popular; and in 1553 from Medina del Campo issued
another folio edition; and another from Saragossa the year following,
with this difference as to the last, however, that its second part was
treated as a separate work and entitled _Cronica de la nueua España con
la conquista de Mexico, y otras cosas notables: hechas por el Valoroso
Hernando Cortes_, while the first part appropriated the original title
of _Historia General_, etc. Then appeared an edition at Antwerp, 1554,
and one in which the date, 1552, is evidently spurious. The author
seems to have handled government affairs too roughly; for in 1553 we
find the book suppressed by royal decree, which, however, was not fully
enforced, and was revoked in 1729. Barcia printed a mutilation of the
two works in his _Hist. Prim._, ii., in 1749, and the two were again
published, in a correct form, in _Biblioteca de Autores Españoles_,
xxii., Madrid, 1852. A somewhat singular case occurred in Mexico in
1826, when was issued, in 2 volumes 8vo, _Historia de las Conquistas
de Hernando Cortés, escrita en Español por Francisco Lopez de Gomára,
traducida al Mexicano y aprobada por verdadera por D. Juan Bautista
de San Anton Muñon Chimalpain Quauhtlehuanitzin, Indio Mexicano.
Publílcala para instruccion de la juventud nacional, con varias notas y
adiciones, Carlos María de Bustamante_, which being interpreted, at best
is confused. It says that the work, written in Spanish by Gomara, was
translated into the Mexican language, and there leaves it. On turning
over the leaves we find the book printed in Spanish, and not in Nahuatl,
as we were led to suppose. Nor does a lengthy preface by Bustamante
make the matter clear in every respect. Turning to other sources, and by
comparing all information, we finally learn that Bustamante and others
once believed in the existence, somewhere, of a history of Mexico,
by the learned and noble native Chimalpain. Probably it lay hidden in
some one of the libraries or government offices about Mexico. Boturini
spoke of various historical manuscripts written by Domingo de San
Anton Muñon Chimalpain, some in Castilian, and some in Nahuatl. Note,
in passing, the difference in the name, here Domingo, and in the title
Juan Bautista. Clavigero, Leon Pinelo, Beristain, and Antonio de Leon y
Gama also vaguely mentioned some work or works by Chimalpain. Bustamante
claimed, at first, to have found the Mexican history of Chimalpain in
manuscript, and obtained contributions of money from various sources
to enable him to print a translation of it, with notes. But before the
translation was fairly issued in Spanish, the editor was obliged to
confess himself mistaken as to its being an original work; it was only
Gomara rendered into Mexican by the learned Indian, and now translated
back again into Spanish by Bustamante, the text much marred by the
double transformation, but enriched by notes from both editors. There
are men so uncharitable as to say that Don Carlos María Bustamante never
found Chimalpain's translation, because Chimalpain never made one. I
do not know. Any one of three or four ways was possible. Bustamante may
have found the alleged translation of Chimalpain, and while translating
into Spanish what he believed an original work, may have discovered
it to be Gomara; it may have been then in type or printed, or too far
advanced to stop; or it may be Bustamante, having received the money,
felt bound to go on with the work, and concluded to trust to his own
and Chimalpain's notes to satisfy those concerned and the public; or
Bustamante may have perpetrated a deliberate fraud. This last, although
he is openly accused of it by his countrymen high in authority, I can
scarcely believe to be the true solution of the mystery, and rather lean
to the first possibility; but I must say that Bustamante committed a
serious mistake in not admitting this frankly, if true. Gomara's history
was translated into Italian, and published at Rome, one edition, 4to,
in 1555, and one in 1556; and at Venice, one in 8vo, 1565, one in 4to,
1566, and in 8vo again, in 1576. In French, at Paris, six editions in
8vo, 1569, 1578, 1580, 1584, 1587, and 1597, the last five reprints
of the first, except slight augmentations in the last three. London
furnished an English translation by Henry Bynneman, in 4to, in 1578. The
prologue warns all persons against translating the book into Latin, as
he was engaged thereat himself; but his Latin version never appeared.
Gomara wrote well. His style is better than that of any predecessor;
but while his opportunities were great, for he had culture, leisure, and
access to the knowledge and material of Cortés, it is painfully apparent
that his desire was greater to please the master than to present a plain
unvarnished tale.
And now, after a century of writing and discussions, comes Antonio de
Herrera y Tordesillas as royal historiographer to gather, arrange, and
embody in one general history all knowledge available at that time. It
was a work needing attention; for if it were further postponed much
information then obtainable would be lost. He was born in Cuéllar in
1549, and although the father bore the name of Tordesillas and the
mother of Herrera, for the sake of euphony, distinction, or other
unknown vagary, the son took the name of his mother, a thing not unusual
then or now in Spain. At an early age we find him in Italy holding the
position of secretary to Vespasiano Gonzaga, viceroy of Naples, upon
whose death Herrera was so well recommended to Philip II. that, in
1596, he was made chief historiographer for the Indies. Honored also
with the title of historiographer of Castile and Leon, he fulfilled
the duties of both offices through portions of the reigns of the three
Philips, II., III., and IV. He was likewise nominated for the first
vacant place among the secretaries of state, but died before that
vacancy occurred, in the 76th year of his age. As an historian Herrera
has made a respectable place for himself, but his reputation rests
principally, though not wholly, for he wrote much, on his _Historia
General de los Hechos de los Castellanos en las Islas i Tierra Firme
del Mar oceano ecrita por Antonio de Herrera coronista mayor de sv
M:d d las Indias y sv coronista de Castilla_, 4 vols. folio, Madrid,
1601-15. On the elaborately engraved title-page of the first volume
is added, _En quatro Decadas desde el Año de 1492 hasta el de 1531_,
which refers only to the first two volumes, as the whole four volumes
consist of 8 decades, comprising general events to 1554. The first two
volumes were printed in 1601, and reprinted at Valladolid in 1606; the
second two volumes appeared in 1615. The work was freely translated;
the first decade appearing in French, at Paris, in 1659, and with the
second decade the year following, the remaining decades in 1671. A most
vile translation into English was made by John Stevens and published
in London, in 6 volumes, the first two in 1725 and the last four in
1726, new editions of which appeared in 1740 and 1743. There were two
reprints in Spanish; one in Antwerp, in 1728, by Verdussen, without
maps and otherwise faulty; and one in Madrid, 1728-30, with notes,
corrections, and index by Barcia, and therefore better than the first
edition, in fact the best extant. At the end of the second volume of
the first edition, and as a prefix to the first volume of the Barcia
edition, should appear the _Description de las Indias Occidentales_,
with maps, translations of which were made in Latin, Dutch, and French.
An attempt was made to carry on Herrera's history, and it was continued
for three decades, from 1555 to 1584, by Pedro Fernandez del Pulgar,
the chronicler who succeeded Solis, but it was not deemed of sufficient
importance to print. The original manuscript is in the Royal Library at
Madrid. Herrera was quite a voluminous writer, being author of a general
history during the reign of Philip II.; of a history of Scotland and
England during the life of Mary Stuart; of Portugal, and the conquest
of the Azores; of France from 1585 to 1594, and of moral and political
tracts, and historical, political, and ecclesiastical translations.
But though all his works were highly prized for their erudition, none
attained the celebrity of his History of the Indies. Even to-day he may
be called chief among historians of Spanish-American affairs; not for
his style, bald, and accurately prolix; nor for his method, slavishly
chronological, and miserably failing in the attempt to do several things
at once; but because of his massed material. His position as state
historiographer gave him, of course, access to everything, and he made
use of his opportunity to an extent then exceptional. At a later period
in the art of history-writing his work must have been regarded as crude
even for early times. But from one who lived when piety and patriotism
were ranked as the highest virtues, higher than truth, integrity, or
humanity, the more searching philosophy cannot be expected. Beside
the faults of style and arrangement there are evidences everywhere of
inexperience and incompetent assistance. Now that we have before us
many of the sources of Herrera's material we can see that his notes were
badly extracted, and compiled in a bungling manner; so much so that in
addition to the ordinary errors, from which to some extent the most
carefully executed work cannot be expected to be wholly free, there
are many and serious discrepancies and contradictions for which there
is no excuse, the cause being simply carelessness. Yet, for all that,
Herrera's is not only the most complete, but one of the most reliable of
the New World chronicles, and for this the writer merits the gratitude
not alone of his countrymen but of the world.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: COMMENTARY ON THE EARLY CHRONICLERS.]
Before closing this note, I will give clearly my opinion regarding the
credibility of the early chroniclers, including in that category for the
present purpose all the early writers, conquerors as well as historians,
such as Columbus and Cortés, Bernal Diaz, Solis, Torquemada, Boturini,
and the Anonymous Conqueror; for I have been assailed by those who, to
gain cheap notoriety in refuting them, have attributed to me doctrines
which I have nowhere expressed or held. They who cannot build for
themselves seem to think it gravely incumbent on them to demolish any
structure another may rear, and with one scurrile sweep they would wipe
out the work of twenty years. They are correct enough to this extent,
that, if ever a building is found so frail as to fall under their
attacks, it does not deserve to stand. Hence we find it the fashion
in certain quarters, under cover of criticism, to repudiate the early
writings, in so far at least as they interfere with cherished theory or
dogmatic opinion. Spain had lately emerged from the Moorish wars with
great glory, they say, and Spaniards in the New World, so long as it
remained with them to tell the story, would not be in the least behind
their brethren at home in this new field of fiery exploits. Hence,
for their accounts, naked barbarians were gorgeously apparelled, and
surrounded by stately pageantry; art, science, and literature wholly
mythical were given them, and cities equal, at least, to the average
of civilization were built. Instance the Tenochtitlan, the Tezcuco,
the Tlacopan of Cortés and his contemporaries, which must have been
pure fictions. Else where are the vestiges of the walls and gardens
and palaces? There are no ruins of splendid cities, they continue with
the effrontery of ignorance, no remains of aqueducts, stone carvings,
and tumuli. There are some fine ruins in Central America and Yucatan,
they admit, displaying no mean advancement in architectural art; but
they must have been the work of Egyptians, or Phœnicians, or some
other foreigners, because they resemble the ruins standing among those
nations, and because no aboriginal people capable of such performance
exist in America to-day. There was no human sacrifice in Mexico, because
bigoted ecclesiastics in those days were apt to invest with religious
significance every hieroglyph, statue, and consecrated stone. One, more
virulent than the rest, himself of Indian origin and apparently jealous
lest other aboriginals should outshine his Cherokee ancestry, and
knowing little either of the Mexicans or their conquerors, denies the
existence of a Nahua or Maya civilization and denounces every one who
differs in opinion with him, on the ground that all American societies
of which he knew aught were formed on one skeleton, a most earthy,
red, and ignoble one, and that the conquerors, not understanding this
social structure, could not correctly describe it, and therefore their
statements are not to be relied on.
I can only say that I have studied these chronicles some score of
years, that I have studied the monumental and literary remains of the
nations conquered, that, apart from the modern writings of both those
who believe and those who disbelieve, I have instituted comparisons
and weighed evidence with no more desire to reach one conclusion than
another, except always to arrive at the right one; and that in my own
mind I am well enough satisfied as to about the measure of truth that
should be accorded the respective writers of early New World annals.
Others, my assistants and friends, equally earnest and unbiassed,
equally desirous of reaching only the truth, and for whose convictions
I entertain the highest respect, have devoted many years to the same
research and with similar results. It is not my purpose, nor has it ever
been, to appear as the champion of the sixteenth-century chroniclers.
It is not my province to champion anything. It is a matter of profound
indifference to me what these or those are proven to be, whether angels
of light or devils of darkness; it is a matter of lively apprehension
with me that I should estimate men and nations at their value, and
deduce only truth from statements fair or false. While I entertain a
distinct conception of the status of the Aztecs and Quichés relatively
to other nations of the globe, I have no theory concerning the origin of
the Americans, or the origin of their civilization—except that it seems
to me indigenous rather than exotic; nor should I deem it wise in me to
husband a doctrine on this or any other palpably unprovable proposition.
I am not prepared by any means to accept as truth all that has been
said by priest and soldier. No one is readier than I to admit their
frequent attempted deceptions. Navigators the world over have been
notoriously untrue in regard to their discoveries, giving strange lands
strange sights, stocking barren shores with boundless wealth in pearls,
and gems, and precious metals, peopling the ocean with monsters, and
placing islands, straits, continents, and seas wherever the gaping
savans at home would have them. Many of these stories are false on
their very face, being contrary to nature and to reason. Some of them
are unintentional falsehoods, the off-float from imaginations warped
by education, and now morbidly excited under new conditions. By bodily
suffering and perils the mind was now and then reduced to the border of
insanity; at which times the miracles, the visions, and the supernatural
interpositions they record were real to them. But the best of the early
writers wilfully lied in some things, and held it serving God to do so.
[Sidenote: WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE.]
Although the temptation and tendency was to exaggerate, to make the
New World conquest equal or superior to any Old World achievement;
although assertions were at the first not open to contradiction, and
the sailors and soldiers of those times, returned from foreign parts,
were no more celebrated for telling the truth than those of our own day,
yet in the main and as a whole the writings of the Spaniards earliest
in America are unquestionably true. Most of the several phases of error
and misstatement are easily enough detected, the events described being
either impossible or opposed to preponderant and superior evidence.
For example, when Las Casas, who was conscientious and in the main
correct, asserts that Manicaotex opposed Columbus at the head of
100,000 warriors in Española, we may safely put it down as exaggeration
simply from our general knowledge, gained from other sources, of the
aboriginal population of these islands and the adjoining continent.
Here was a multitude of witnesses, European and American, whose verbal
or written statements were usually subordinate to substantial facts,
unknown to each other, and giving their evidence at widely different
times and places. Often the conquerors fell out and fought each other
to the death, writing to Spain lengthy epistles of vindication and
vilification, many of which have been preserved; so that where one
extolled himself and his achievements, there were a dozen to pull him
down. Thus from a mass of contradictory statements, on either side
of which the less penetrating are apt to linger, to the patient and
laborious investigator unfold the clearest truths. He who habitually
practises deceit is sure somewhere to expose himself; and the taking of
evidence does not proceed far before the examiner can tell the witness
more than he himself knows or remembers of the scenes through which he
has passed. The native witnesses, living at the time of the Conquest
and subsequently, were likewise naturally inclined unduly to magnify
the glories of their ancestors and of their nation; yet to verify their
statements they point to the monuments and material remains then and now
existing, to manuscripts, huge piles of which it was the infamous boast
of the fanatical conquerors to have burned, but of which enough have
been preserved to authenticate all the more important parts of their
stories; they also refer to tradition, which is worth as much, and no
more, than that of other nations.
Blank assertions similar to those advanced against the New World
chroniclers might with equal reason and effect be brought forward to
overthrow the early records of any nation. Christ and Confucius may
be denied, Homer and Shakespeare, but that does not prove they never
lived. That Columbus made his seamen swear that no doubt Cuba was
Zipangu, does not prove that there was in those days no Japan. Because
Drake's chaplain chose to tell the most monstrous and wilful falsehoods
respecting the climate, metals, and inhabitants of California; because
Cook, Meares, and Vancouver sailed by the mouth of the Columbia,
superciliously scourging those who had spoken of it, this does not prove
the non-existence of Marin County, or of the River of the West. In such
ways as these neither the truth of the one statement nor the falsity of
the other is established. But, as I have observed, before us is abundant
evidence, palpable and incontestable, that the early writings on America
are for the most part true; and if, in the following pages, it does
not clearly appear which are true and which false, then has the author
signally failed in his effort. I do not in the least fear the overthrow
of the general veracity of these writers until there come against them
enemies more powerful with more powerful weapons than any that have
yet appeared. How senselessly speculative their reasonings! Because the
natives of the present day cannot tell who or whence were the authors
of the carvings, or the builders of the structures upon whose ruins
they have gazed since childhood, these works must forsooth have been
done by foreign visitors. Europeans now and then may have found their
way to America, but I find no evidence of such visits before the time
of Columbus except by the Northmen; no one knows of such, nor can know
until more light appears. The material relics, I fancy, will always
prove a stumbling-block to those who would reject American aboriginal
civilization.
That different conquerors, teachers, and travellers of various creeds
and nationalities, in various pursuits, in different lands and at
various times, together with native testimony, hieroglyphic writings,
and traditions, to say nothing of carvings in stone and other monumental
remains, should all combine, with satanic inspiration, to perpetrate
upon the world one grand and overwhelming fraud is so preposterously
ridiculous that the marvel is how there could be found, outside the
walls of a lunatic asylum, a single individual with cool impudence
enough to ask men to believe it. And yet there are several such,
and they find believers. So charmed by the sound of their own voice
are these captious cavillers, that they apparently do not deem it
possible for such things to exist in this enlightened age as pedantic
ignorance and literary fanaticism, of which they are bright examples.
They do not seem to know that the petty and puerile theories which
they would pass upon the simple as startling conceptions, original
with themselves, are as old as the knowledge of the continent. They
do not consider that before taking the first step toward proving
origin, migration, or kinship by analogy, they must first dispose of
the universal relationship of man, the oneness of human nature, human
needs, and human aspirations, and then show how men first came upon this
earth, and which was land and which water then and since. But those
who thus array themselves against American aboriginal civilization
and the early Spanish writers on the New World do not pretend to
offer counter evidence, or to refute with reason; they rely chiefly
on flat contradiction. I have yet to find among them all any approach
to reasonable propositions or logical argument. They have nothing
on which to base argument, neither fact nor plausible supposition.
Their hypotheses are as chimerical as their deductions are false.
They would have the world exercise a far more irrational credulity in
accepting their hollow negations, than in believing every word of the
most mendacious chronicler. And when they come to deny the presence
of a native civilization upon the Mexican table-land, they betray
lamentable ignorance both of the facts of history and of the nature of
civilization.