and steady countenance, soothing some with gentle words, stimulating
the pride or the avarice of others, and openly menacing the most
refractory with punishment. New hopes diverted them for a time. On the
25th of September Martin Pinzon mounted on the stern of his vessel and
shouted, "Land! land! Senor, I claim the reward!" There was, indeed,
such an appearance of land in the southwest that Columbus threw
himself upon his knees and returned thanks to God, and all the crews
joined in chanting Gloria in Excelsis. The ships altered their course
and stood all night to the southwest, but the morning light put an end
to all their hopes as to a dream; the fancied land proved to be
nothing but an evening cloud, and had vanished in the night....
He was now at open defiance with his crew, and his situation would
have been desperate, but, fortunately, the manifestations of land on
the following day were such as no longer to admit of doubt. A green
fish, such as keeps about rocks, swam by the ships; and a branch of
thorn, with berries on it, floated by; they picked up, also, a reed, a
small board, and, above all, a staff artificially carved. All gloom
and murmuring was now at an end, and throughout the day each one was
on the watch for the long-sought land. They continued on their course
until two in the morning, when a gun from the Pinto gave the joyful
signal of land. It was first discovered by a mariner named Rodriguez
Bermejo, resident of Triana, a suburb of Seville, but native of Alcala
de la Guadaira; but the reward was afterward adjudged to the admiral,
for having previously perceived the light. The land was now clearly
seen about two leagues distant, whereupon they took in sail, and laid
to, waiting impatiently for the dawn. .
When the day dawned, Columbus saw before him a level and beautiful
island, several leagues in extent, of great freshness and verdure, and
covered with trees like a continual orchard. Tho everything appeared
in the wild luxuriance of untamed nature, yet the island was evidently
populous, for the inhabitants were seen issuing from the woods, and
running from all parts to the shore. They were all perfectly naked,
and, from their attitudes and gestures, appeared lost in astonishment
at the sight of the ships. Columbus made signal to cast anchor, and to
man the boats. He entered his own boat richly attired in scarlet, and
bearing the royal standard. Martin Alonzo Pinzon, and Vicente Yanez,
the brother, likewise put off in their boats, each bearing the banner
of the enterprise, emblazoned with a green cross, having on each side
the letters F and Y, surmounted by crowns, the Spanish initials of the
Castilian monarchs, Fernando and Ysabel.
As they approached the shores they were delighted by the beauty and
grandeur of the forests; the variety of unknown fruits on the trees
which overhung the shores; the purity and suavity of the atmosphere,
and the crystal transparency of the seas which bathe these islands. On
landing, Columbus threw himself upon his knees, kissed the earth, and
returned thanks to God with tears of joy. His example was followed by
his companions, whose breasts, indeed, were full to overflowing.
Columbus, then rising, drew his sword, displayed the royal standard,
and took possession, in the names of the Castilian sovereigns, giving
the island the name of San Salvador. He then called upon all present
to take the oath of obedience to him, as admiral and viceroy, and
representative of the sovereigns.
His followers now burst forth into the most extravagant transports.
They thronged around him, some embracing him, others kissing his
hands. Those who had been most mutinous and turbulent during the
voyage were now most devoted and enthusiastic. Some begged favors of
him, as of a man who had already wealth and honors in his gift. Many
abject spirits, who had outraged him by their insolence, now crouched
at his feet, begging his forgiveness, and offering, for the future,
the blindest obedience to his commands.
[1] From Irving's "Life of Columbus." By permission of the
publishers, G.P. Putnam's Sons.
II
AS DESCRIBED BY COLUMBUS HIMSELF[1]
As I know that it will afford you pleasure that I have brought my
undertaking to a successful result, I have determined to write to you
this letter to inform you of everything that has been done and
discovered in this voyage of mine....
On the thirty-third day after leaving Cadiz I came into the Indian
Sea, where I discovered many islands inhabited by numerous people. I
took possession of all of them for our most fortunate King by making
public proclamation and unfurling his standard, no one making any
resistance. To the first of them I have given the name of our blest
Savior, trusting in whose aid I had reached this and all the rest; but
the Indians call it Guanahani[2]. To each of the others also I gave a
new name, ordering one to be called Sancta Maria de Concepcion,
another Fernandina, another Hysabella, another Johana; and so with all
the rest.
As soon as we reached the island which I have just said was called
Johana, I sailed along its coast some considerable distance toward the
west, and found it to be so large, without any apparent end, that I
believed it was not an island, but a continent, a province of Cathay.
But I saw neither towns nor cities lying on the seaboard, only some
villages and country farms with whose inhabitants I could not get
speech, because they fled as soon as they beheld us. I continued on,
supposing I should come to city or country houses. At last, finding
that no further discoveries rewarded our progress, and that this
course was leading us toward the north, which I was desirous of
avoiding, as it was now winter in these regions, and it had always
been my intention to proceed southward, and the winds also were
favorable to such desires, I concluded not to attempt any other
adventures, so, turning back, I came again to a certain harbor, which
I had remarked. From there I sent two of our men into the country to
learn whether there was any king or cities in that land. They
journeyed for three days, and found innumerable people and
habitations, but small and having no fixt government, on which account
they returned. Meanwhile I had learned from some Indians whom I had
seized at this place, that this country was really an island.
Consequently, I continued along toward the east, as much as 322 miles,
always hugging the shore, where was the very extremity of the island.
From there I saw another island to the eastwards, distant 54 miles
from this Johana, which I named Hispana, and proceeded to it, and
directed my course for 564 miles east by north as it were, just as I
had done at Johana.
The island called Johana, as well as the others in its neighborhood,
is exceedingly fertile. It has numerous harbors on all sides, very
safe and wide, above comparison with any I have ever seen. Through it
flow many very broad and health-giving rivers; and there are in it
numerous very lofty mountains. All these islands are very beautiful,
and of quite different shapes, easy to be traversed, and full of the
greatest variety of trees reaching to the stars. I think these never
lose their leaves, as I saw them looking as green and lovely as they
are wont to be in the month of May in Spain. Some of them were in
leaf, and some in fruit; each flourishing in the condition its nature
required. The nightingale was singing and various other little birds,
when I was rambling among them in the month of November. There are
also in the island called Johana seven or eight kinds of palms, which
as readily surpass ours in height and beauty as do all the other
trees, herbs, and fruits. There are also wonderful pine-woods, fields,
and extensive meadows, birds of various kinds, and honey, and all the
different metals except iron.
In the island, which I have said before was called Hispana, there are
very lofty and beautiful mountains, great farms, groves and fields,
most fertile both for cultivation and for pasturage, and well adapted
for constructing buildings. The convenience of the harbors in this
island, and the excellence of the rivers, in volume and salubrity,
surpass human belief, unless one should see them. In it the trees,
pasture-lands, and fruits differ much from those of Johana. Besides,
this Hispana abounds in various kinds of spices, gold, and metals.
The inhabitants of both sexes of this and of all the other islands I
have seen, or of which I have any knowledge, always go as naked as
they came into the world, except that some of the women cover parts of
their bodies with leaves or branches, or a veil of cotton, which they
prepare themselves for this purpose. They are all, as I said before,
unprovided with any sort of iron, and they are destitute of arms,
which are entirely unknown to them, and for which they are not
adapted; not on account of any bodily deformity, for they are well
made, but because they are timid and full of terror. They carry,
however, canes dried in the sun in place of weapons, upon whose roots
they fix a wooden shaft, dried and sharpened to a point. But they
never dare to make use of these, for it has often happened, when I
have sent two or three of my men to some of their villages to speak
with the inhabitants, that a crowd of Indians has sallied forth; but,
when they saw our men approaching, they speedily took to flight,
parents abandoning their children, and children their parents.
This happened not because any loss or injury had been inflicted upon
any of them. On the contrary, I gave whatever I had, cloth and many
other things, to whomsoever I approached, or with whom I could get
speech, without any return being made to me; but they are by nature
fearful and timid. But, when they see that they are safe, and all fear
is banished, they are very guileless and honest, and very liberal of
all they have. No one refuses the asker anything that he possesses; on
the contrary, they themselves invite us to ask for it. They manifest
the greatest affection toward all of us, exchanging valuable things
for trifles, content with the very least thing or nothing at all. But
I forbade giving them a very trifling thing and of no value, such as
bits of plates, dishes, or glass, also nails and straps; altho it
seemed to them, if they could get such, that they had acquired the
most beautiful jewels in the world.
For it chanced that a sailor received for a single strap as much
weight of gold as three gold solidi; and so others for other things of
less price, especially for new blancas, and for some gold coins, for
which they gave whatever the seller asked; for instance, an ounce and
a half or two ounces of gold, or thirty or forty pounds of cotton,
with which they were already familiar. So, too, for pieces of hoops,
jugs, jars, and pots they bartered cotton and gold like beasts. This I
forbade, because it was plainly unjust; and I gave them many beautiful
and pleasing things, which I had brought with me, for no return
whatever, in order to win their affection, and that they might become
Christians and inclined to love our king and queen and princes and all
the people of Spain, and that they might be eager to search for and
gather and give to us what they abound in and we greatly need.
They do not practise idolatry; on the contrary, they believe that all
strength, all power, in short, all blessings, are from heaven, and
that I have come down from there with these ships and sailors; and in
this spirit was I received everywhere, after they had got over their
fear They are neither lazy nor awkward, but, on the contrary, are of
an excellent and acute understanding. Those who have sailed these seas
give excellent accounts of everything; but they have never seen men
wearing clothes, or ships like ours....
As soon as I had come into this sea, I took by force some Indians from
the first island, in order that they might learn from us, and at the
same time tell us what they knew about affairs in these regions. This
succeeded admirably; for in a short time we understood them and they
us, both by gesture and signs and words, and they were of great
service to us. They are coming now with me, and have always believed
that I have come from heaven, notwithstanding the long time they have
been, and still remain, with us. They were the first who told this
wherever we went, one calling to another, with a loud voice, "Come,
come, you will see men from heaven." Whereupon both women and men,
children and adults, young and old, laying aside the fear they had
felt a little before, flocked eagerly to see us, a great crowd
thronging about our steps, some bringing food, and others drink, with
greatest love and incredible good will....
I have told already how I sailed in a straight course along the island
of Johana from west to east 322 miles. From this voyage and the extent
of my journeyings I can say that this Johana is larger than England
and Scotland together. For beyond the aforesaid 322 miles, in that
portion which looks toward the west, there are two more provinces,
which I did not visit. One of them the Indians called Anan, and its
inhabitants are born with tails. These provinces extend 180 miles, as
I learned from the Indians, whom I am bringing with me, and who are
well acquainted with all these islands....
Altho these matters are very wonderful and unheard of, they would have
been much more so if the ships to a reasonable amount had been
furnished me. But what has been accomplished is great and wonderful,
and not at all proportionate to my deserts, but to the sacred
Christian faith, and to the piety and religion of our sovereigns. For
what the mind of man could not compass, the spirit of God has granted
to mortals. For God is wont to listen to his servants who love his
precepts, even in impossibilities, as has happened to me in the
present instance, who have accomplished what human strength has
hitherto never attained. For, if any one has written or told anything
about these islands, all have done so either obscurely or by
guesswork, so that it has almost seemed to be fabulous.
Therefore let king and queen and princes, and their most fortunate
realms, and all other Christian provinces, let us all return thanks to
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who has bestowed so great a victory
and reward upon us; let there be processions and solemn sacrifices
prepared; let the churches be decked with festal boughs; let Christ
rejoice upon earth as he rejoices in heaven, as He foresees that so
many souls of so many people heretofore lost are to be saved; and let
us be glad not only for the exaltation of our faith, but also for the
increase of temporal prosperity, in which not only Spain, but all
Christendom is about to share.
As these things have been accomplished, so have they been briefly
narrated. Farewell.
[1] The first letter of Columbus, descriptive of his first
voyage, was written in February, 1498, when he was off the
Azores, on his return home. It was addrest to Louis de Santangel,
the treasurer of King Ferdinand of Spain. Altho addrest to the
treasurer, it was intended for the eyes of the King himself, and
for those of his queen, Isabella. The letter was first printed in
Barcelona, soon after the arrival of Columbus. Another account,
substantially the same, was written by Columbus in Lisbon in
March of the same year, an--at once translated into Latin and
published in Rome in several editions, one being that of Stephen
Plannck, of which five copies only are now known to be extant. Of
this Plannck edition a translation from the Latin into English
made by Henry W. Haynes has been published by the New York Public
Library. From this translation the passage here given is taken.
[2] The identity of the island on which Columbus made his first
landing was formerly much in controversy. The best opinion now
inclines to accept the conclusions reached by Captain Beecher of
the British Navy some fifty years ago, that the landing was made
on what is known as Watling's Island, one of the Bahamas. This
island is about thirteen miles long, north and south, and six
wide, and is made up of coral, shell and other marine debris. A
monument was erected on it by a Chicago newspaper in 1892, with
this inscription: "On this spot Christopher Columbus first set
foot on the soil of the New World." The monument is said already
to be in a state of decay, having been poorly constructed.
Watling's Island lies about 200 miles southeast of Nassau, and is
nearly on a parallel with Havana, but lies 400 miles east of it.
Its inhabitants number about 700, who are dispersed among fifteen
hamlets. The horses on the island scarcely number 50. There are a
few cows and several flocks of sheep. The people are all poor.
Little is grown on the island, droughts occur, and starvation has
in some years been prevented only by help from outside.
THE BULL OF POPE ALEXANDER VI. PARTITIONING AMERICA[1]
(1493)
The copy of the bull, or donation, by the authority whereof Pope
Alexander, the sixth of that name, gave and granted to the kings of
Castile and their successors the regions and lands found in the west
ocean sea by the navigations of the Spanish.
Alexander, bishop, the servant of the servants of God: To our most
dearly beloved son in Christ, King Ferdinand, and to our dearly
beloved daughter in Christ, Elizabeth, Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon,
Sicily, and Granada, most noble princes, greeting and apostolic
benediction.
Among other works acceptable to the divine majesty and according to
our hearts' desire, this certainly is the chief, that the Catholic
faith and Christian religion, especially in this our time, may in all
places be exalted, amplified, and enlarged, whereby the health of
souls may be procured and the barbarous nations subdued and brought to
the faith. And therefore, whereas by the favor of God's clemency
(altho not without equal deserts), we are called to this holy seat of
Peter, and understanding you to be true Catholic Princes as we have
ever known you, and as your noble and worthy acts have declared in
manner to the whole world, in that, with all your study, diligence,
and industry, you have spared no travels, charges or perils,
adventuring even the shedding of your own blood, with applying your
whole minds and endeavors hereunto, as your noble expeditions achieved
in recovering the kingdom of Granada from the tyranny of the Saracens
in these our days, do plainly declare your acts with so great glory of
the divine name. For the which, as we think you worthy, so ought we of
our own free will favorably to grant you all things whereby you may
daily, with more fervent minds to the honor of God and enlarging the
Christian empire, prosecute your devout and laudable purpose most
acceptable to the immortal God.
We are credibly informed that, whereas of late you were determined to
seek and find certain islands and firm lands far remote and unknown
(and not heretofore found by any other), to the intent to bring the
inhabitants of the same to honor our Redeemer and to profess the
Catholic faith, you have hitherto been much occupied in the
expugnation and recovery of the kingdom of Granada, by reason whereof
you could not bring your said laudable purpose to the end desired.
Nevertheless, as it hath pleased Almighty God, the aforesaid kingdom
being recovered, willing to accomplish your said desire, you have, not
without great labor, perils, and charges, appointed our well-beloved
son Christopher Columbus (a man very well commended as most worthy and
apt for so great a matter), well furnished with men and ships and
other necessaries, to seek (by the sea where hitherto no man bath
sailed), such firm lands and islands far remote and hitherto unknown.
Who (by God's help), making diligent search in the ocean sea, have
found certain remote islands and firm lands which were not heretofore
found by any other. In the which (as is said), many nations inhabit,
living peacefully and going naked, not accustomed to eat flesh. And as
far as your messengers can conjecture, the nations inhabiting the
aforesaid lands and islands believe that there is one God creature in
heaven: and seem apt to be brought to the embracing of the Catholic
faith and to be imbued with good manners: by reason whereof, we may
hope that, if they be well instructed, they may easily be induced to
receive the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We are further
advertised that the aforenamed Christopher hath now builded and
erected a fortress with good ammunition in one of the aforesaid
principal islands, in the which he hath placed a garrison of certain
of the Christian men that went thither with him: as well to the intent
to defend the same, as also to search other islands and firm lands far
remote and yet unknown. We also understand, that in these lands and
islands lately found, is great plenty of gold and spices, with divers
and many other precious things of sundry kinds and qualities.
Therefore all things diligently considered (especially the amplifying
and enlarging of the Catholic faith, as it behooveth Catholic Princes
following the examples of your noble progenitors of famous memory),
whereas you are determined by the favor of Almighty God, to subdue and
bring to the Catholic faith the inhabitants of the aforesaid lands and
islands, we greatly commending this, your godly and laudable purpose
in our Lord, and desirous to have the same brought to a due end, and
the name of our Saviour to be known in those parts, do exhort you in
our Lord and by the receiving of your holy baptism whereby you are
bound to the Apostolic obedience, and earnestly require you by the
bowels of mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, when you intend for
the zeal of the Catholic faith to prosecute the said expedition to
reduce the people of the aforesaid lands and islands to the Christian
religion, you shall spare no labors at any time, or be deterred with
any perils conceiving from hope and confidence that the omnipotent God
will give good success to your godly attempts.
And that being authorized by the privilege of the Apostolic grace, you
may the more freely and boldly take upon you the enterprise of so
great a matter, we of our own motion, and not either at your request
nor at the instant petition of any other person, but of our own mere
liberality and certain science, and by the fulness of Apostolic power,
do give, grant, and assign to you, your heirs and successors, all the
firm lands and islands found or to be found, discovered or to be
discovered toward the west and south, drawing a line from the pole
Arctic to the pole Antarctic (that is) from the north to the south:
containing in this donation, whatsoever firm lands or islands are
found or to be found toward India or toward any other part whatsoever
it be, being distant from, or without the aforesaid line drawn a
hundred leagues toward the west and south from any of the islands
which are commonly called De Los Azores and Cabo Verde. All the
islands, therefore, and firm lands, found and to be found, discovered
and to be discovered, from the said line toward the west and south,
such as have not actually been heretofore possest by any other
Christian king or prince until the day of the nativity of our Lord
Jesus Christ last passed, from the which beginneth this present year.
We, by the authority of almighty God granted unto us in Saint Peter,
and by the office which we bear on the earth in the stead of Jesus
Christ, do forever, by the tenure of these presents, give, grant,
assign, unto you, your heirs, and successors (the kings of Castile and
Leon), all those lands and islands, with their dominions, territories,
cities, castles, towers, places, and villages, with all the right and
jurisdictions thereunto pertaining: constituting, assigning, and
deputing, you, your heirs, and successors the lords thereof, with full
and free power, authority, and jurisdiction. Decreeing nevertheless by
this, our donation, grant, and assignation, that from no Christian
Prince which actually hath possest the aforesaid islands and firm
lands unto the day of the nativity of our Lord beforesaid, their right
obtained to be understood hereby to be taken away, or that it ought to
be taken away.