much food and drink to the crews, so that they used such despatch that in
one day and one night, by morning they had finished one side of the ship,
very well executed, though with great labor in drawing out the water from
the ship, which leaked very much lying thus on one side. When she was
upright they turned her over on the other side, and did the same work,
much better performed because the ship did not leak so much; and when it
was completed and the ship upright, it was so sound and water-tight that
for two days there was no water in the pump.
Then they loaded it again with its stores, and transshipped to it the
stores of the other ship, upon which they executed the before-mentioned
calking and repairs, so that it became like new. They then fitted them
inside with several knees and ribs and inner planking, and all that was
requisite, with great perfection, and collected the yards, spars, and
all that they had need of belonging to the ship São Miguel; and the
captain-major took Nicolas Coelho on board of his ship, entertaining
him well. They then took away from the ship much wood for their use and
beached the ship, and took away its rudder and undid it, and stowed away
its wood and iron-works, in case of its being wanted for the other ships,
because they had all been built of the same pattern and size, as a
precaution that all might be able to take advantage of any part of them.
Then they burned the ship in order to recover the nails, which were in
great quantity, and a great advantage for other necessities which they
met with later.
After they had thus repaired the ships, the captain-major sent Nicolas
Coelho with twenty men in a boat to go and discover the river; and he,
after ascending it for two leagues, found woods and verdure, and farther
on he found some canoes which were fishing, and the men in them were
dark, but not very black; they were naked, having only their middles
covered with leaves of trees and grass. These men, when they saw the
boat, came to it and entered it in a brutish manner, and were in a
state of amazement. No one knew how to speak to them, and they did not
understand the signs which were made to them. So Nicolas Coelho made them
go back to their canoes, and returned to the ships, but of the canoes
one followed after the boat, and the others returned to take the news to
their villages. These men who came with the boat, at once, without
any fear, entered the ship and sat down to rest, as if they were old
acquaintance; no one knew how to speak to them. Then they gave them
biscuit and cakes and slices of bread with marmalade; this they did not
understand until they saw our people eat, then they ate it, and, as they
liked the taste, they ate in a great hurry, and would not share with one
another. While this was going on they saw many canoes coming, and larger
ones, with many of those people also naked, with tangled hair like
Kaffirs, without any other arms than some sticks like half lances,
hardened in the fire, with sharp points greased over.
The captain-major, seeing the other canoes coming, ordered the first
come to go to their canoe, which they did unwillingly, and went out and
remained to speak with those that were arriving, and went their way. The
others arrived, and all wanted to come on board; as they were more than a
hundred, the captain-major would not allow them, only ten or twelve, who
brought some birds which were something like hens, and some yellow fruit
of the size of walnuts, a very well-tasted thing to eat, which our men
would not touch, and they, seeing that, ate them for our people to see,
who, on tasting them, were much pleased with them; they killed one of the
birds, and found it very tender and savory to eat, and all its bones were
like those of a fowl. The captain-major ordered biscuit and wine to be
given them, which they would not touch till they saw our people drink. He
also ordered a looking-glass to be given them; and when they saw it they
were much amazed, and looked at one another, and again looked at the
mirror, and laughed loudly and made jokes, and spoke to the others who
were in the canoe.
They went away with the looking-glass, highly delighted, and left six
birds and much of the fruit, and all went away; and in the afternoon they
came again, but bringing a quantity of those birds, at which our men
rejoiced very much, and filled hencoops with them, because they gave them
and were satisfied with anything that was given them, especially white
stuffs; so that the seamen cut their shirts in pieces, with which they
bought so many of these birds that they killed and dried them in the sun,
and they kept very well. Here it was observed that in this river there
were no flies, for they never saw any all the time they were there, which
was twenty days; and they went away because the crew began to fall ill.
It seems that it was from that fruit, which was very delicious to eat;
and the principal ailment was that their gums swelled and rotted, so that
their teeth fell out, and there was such a foul smell from the mouth that
no one could endure it. The captain-major provided a remedy for this, for
he ordered that each one should wash his mouth with his own water each
time he passed it, by doing which in a few days they obtained health.
The captain-major made a hole with pickaxes in a stone slab at the
entrance of this river, and set up a marble pillar, of which he had
brought many for that purpose, which had two escutcheons, one of the arms
of Portugal, and another, on the other side, of the sphere, and letters
engraved in the stone which said, "Of the Lordship of Portugal, Kingdom
of Christians." The captain-major, seeing how much the seamen and masters
and pilots worked, especially his own, notwithstanding the imprisonment
which he had inflicted upon them, when he was about to quit this River
of Mercy, made them all come to his ship, where he addressed them all,
beseeching them not to suffer weakness to enter their hearts, which would
induce them to wish to commit another such error by harboring thoughts of
treason, which is so hideous before God, and always brings a bad end to
those who engage in it; he said that he well saw that faint-heartedness
was the cause of what had passed, and that he forgave all. And that since
the Lord had been pleased to deliver them from so many dangers as they
had passed up to that time, by his great mercy, therefore they should put
their trust in him, who would conduct them in such manner as to obtain
the result which they were going in search of; by which they would gain
such great honors and favors as the King would grant them on their return
to Portugal; and he would present them to the King, and would relate
their great labors and services, and that they ought to bear in
remembrance these great advantages, which would be such a cause of
rejoicing for all of them. They, with tears of joy, all answered, "Amen,
amen, may the Lord so will it of his great mercy." And they weighed
anchors and went out of the river with a land-breeze.
Sailing with a fair wind, they got sight of land, which the pilots
foretold before they saw it; this was a great mountain which is on the
coast of India, in the kingdom of Cananor, which the people of the
country in their language call the mountain Delielly, and they call it of
the rat, and they call it Mount Dely, because in this mountain there were
so many rats that they never could make a village there. As it was the
custom to give the fees of good news to the pilots when they see the
land, they gave to each of the pilots a robe of red cloth and ten
testoons; and they went on approaching the land until they saw the beach,
and they ran along it and passed within sight of a large town of thatched
houses inside a bay, which the pilots said was named Cananor, where many
skiffs were going about fishing, and several came near to see the ships
and were much surprised and went ashore to relate that these ships had so
much rigging and so many sails and white men; which having been told to
the King he sent some men of his own to see, but the ships had already
gone far, and they did not go.
In this country of India they are much addicted to soothsayers and
diviners, especially on this coast of India, which is named the country
of Malabar, and they call these diviners _canayates_. According to what
was known later, there had been in this country of Cananor a diviner so
diabolical, in whom they believed so much, that they wrote down all that
he said, and preserved it like prophecies which would come to pass. They
held a legend from him in which it was said that the whole of India would
be taken and ruled over by a very distant king, who had white people, who
would do great harm to those who were not their friends; and this was
to happen a long time later, and he left signs of when it would be. In
consequence of the great disturbance caused by the sight of these ships,
the King was very desirous of knowing what they were, and he spoke to his
diviners, asking them to tell him what ships were those and whence they
came. The diviners conversed with their devils, and told him that the
ships belonged to a great king and came from very far; and according to
what they found written, these were the people who were to seize India
by war and peace, as they had already told him many times, because the
period which had been written down was concluded. The King, much moved,
asked them whether his kingdom would receive much injury. They replied
that our people would do no harm except to those who did it to them.
Upon this the King became very thoughtful, and talked of this frequently
with his people, who very much contradicted what the diviners said, and
they told him not to believe them, for in this they never hit upon the
truth, because at the time that our ships arrived more than four hundred
years had elapsed since in one year more than eight hundred sail of large
and small ships had come to India from the ports of Malacca and China and
the Lequeos, with people of many nations, and all laden with merchandise
of great value, which they brought for sale; and they had come to
Calicut, and had run along the coast and had gone to Cambay; and they
were so numerous that they had filled the country, and had settled as
dwellers in all the towns of the sea-coast, where they were received and
welcomed like merchants, which they were. When those people arrived thus
on the coast of Malabar everybody considered that they were the people
whom their prophecies mentioned as those who would take India, and they
had inquired of the diviners, who, looking at their records, told them
not to be afraid, since the time when India was to be taken had not yet
arrived.
Thus it was; for those people had gone over all India, trading and
selling their merchandise during many years, in which many of them
married and established their abodes and became naturalized in the
country, and mixed up with the inhabitants of the country. Many others
returned to their own country, and as no more ever arrived, they went on
diminishing in number, until they came to an end; but a numerous progeny
remained from them, and because they were people of large property, and
numerous in the towns where they resided, they had a quarter set apart,
like as in Portugal and Castile in other times there used to be Jewries
and Moorish quarters set apart; and they built houses for their idols,
sumptuous edifices, which are to be seen at this day; and in the space
of a hundred years there did not remain one. All this they had got thus
recorded in their legends, and since at that time so many people did not
take India, how was it to be taken now by people who came from such a
distance, and who would not come in sufficient numbers to be able to
conquer it? and they mocked at what the soothsayers said. But the King,
who put great trust in them, and whose heart divined what was going to
come to pass, spoke to a soothsayer in whom he placed great belief,
and told him to look and see upon what grounds he made his assertions;
because, if it was as he had been saying, he would labor to establish
peace with the Portuguese in such a manner as to make his kingdom secure
forever, and in this he would spend part of his treasure. The soothsayer
answered: "Sire, I am telling you the truth, that these men will not
bring so many people with them to seize upon countries and realms, but
those who come, in whatever number they may be, will be able to prevail
more with their ships than all as many as go upon the sea, on which
account they must be masters of the sea, in which case of necessity
the people of the land must obey them; and when they shall have become
powerful at sea, what will happen to your kingdom if you have not secured
peace with them? I tell you the truth, and you will see it with your
eyes; and now follow what counsel you please."
The King answered, "My heart tells me that you are speaking the truth,
and I will do that which is incumbent upon me." The diviner said to him,
"If before five years you do not see that I have told you the truth,
order my head to be cut off." Upon which the King remained quite
convinced, and determined in his heart to establish with the Portuguese
all the peace and friendship that was possible. And because soon after
news arrived that our people were at the city of Calicut, which is twelve
leagues from Cananor, the King sent men to Calicut who always came to
tell him of what happened there to our men.
The ships continued running along the coast close to land, for the coast
was clear, without banks against which to take precautions; and the
pilots gave orders to cast anchor in a place which made a sort of bay,
because there commenced the city of Calicut. This town is named Capocate,
and on anchoring there a multitude of people flocked to the beach, all
dark and naked, only covered with cloths half way down the thigh, with
which they concealed their nakedness. All were much amazed at seeing what
they had never before seen. When news was taken to the King he also came
to look at the ships, for all the wonder was at seeing so many ropes and
so many sails, and because the ships arrived when the sun was almost set;
and at night they lowered out the boats, and Vasco da Gama went at once
for his brother and Nicolas Coelho, and they remained together conversing
upon the method of dealing with this King, since here was the principal
end which they had come to seek; it seemed to him that it would be best
to comport himself as an ambassador, and to make him his present, always
saying that they had been separated from another fleet which they came
to seek for there, and that the captain-major had come and brought him
letters from the King.
This they agreed upon together, and that Vasco da Gama should go on shore
with that message sent by the captain-major, who carried the standard at
the peak; they also talked of the manner in which these things were to be
spoken of. When all was well decided upon, Nicolas Coelho returned to the
ship, and Vasco da Gama remained with his brother talking with the Moor
Taibo (the broker), who told him not to go on shore without hostages;
that such was the custom of men who newly arrived at the country; and
the Moor said that this King of Calicut was the greatest king of all the
coast of India, and on that account was very vain, and he was very rich
from the great trade he had in this city.
[Footnote 1: Translated from the Portuguese by Henry E. J. Stanley.]
[Footnote 2: Herodotus tells us that Phoenicians rounded this cape as
early as B.C. 605.]
COLUMBUS DISCOVERS SOUTH AMERICA
A.D. 1498
CLEMENTS ROBERT MARKHAM
On September 25, 1493, Columbus sailed from Palos and began his second
voyage of discovery. He had seventeen vessels and about fifteen hundred
men. In November he discovered Dominica in the West Indies. Arriving at
La Navidad, Española (Haiti), he found that the colony which he had left
there on returning from his first visit had been killed by the Indians.
At a point farther east he founded Isabella, the first European town in
the New World.
In April, 1594, he, sailed westward and along the south shore of Cuba,
which he mistook for a peninsula of Asia. He next discovered Jamaica, and
in September returned to Isabella. The Indians rose in rebellion
against the Spaniards, who had ill-used them, and Columbus quelled the
insurrection, in a battle on the Vega Real, April 25, 1495. He had before
planned for the enslavement of hostile Indians, an act from which his
reputation has somewhat suffered.
Owing to hardship and discontent, some of the colonists carried
complaints to Spain. Bishop Fonseca, who had charge of colonial affairs,
upheld the complainants, and in 1495 Juan Aguado was sent as royal
commissioner to Española. Aguado prepared a report, fearing the effects
of which, Columbus returned to Spain at the same time (1496) with him. A
brother of Columbus was left in charge of the government at Española. The
Spanish sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, dismissed the charges against
Columbus, and on May 30, 1498, he sailed from San Lucar on his third
voyage to the New World.
The great navigator was no longer the powerful, enduring man of six years
before. Exposure, months of sleepless watching, anxiety, and tropical
fevers had at length done their work. The bright intellect, the vivid
imagination, the great heart, the generous nature, would be the same
until death, but the constitution was shattered. The admiral now suffered
from ophthalmia, gout, and a complication of diseases. The last six years
of his life were destined to be a time of much and cruel suffering,
aggravated by ingratitude, perfidy, and injustice.
In fitting out the third expedition every petty annoyance and obstruction
that the malice of Bishop Fonseca could invent was used to thwart and
delay the admiral. Each subordinate official knew that insolence to the
object of the Bishop's envy and dislike, and neglect of his wishes, were
the surest ways to the favor of his chief. One creature of Fonseca, named
Jimeno de Briviesca, carried his insolence beyond the bounds of the
endurance even of the dignified and long-suffering admiral, who very
properly took him by the scruff of the neck on one occasion and kicked
him off the poop of the flag-ship. The delays of Fonseca and his agents
caused incalculable injury to the public service, as will presently
appear.
The sovereigns had ordered that six million maravedis--about ten
thousand dollars--should be granted for the equipment of the expedition,
and that eight vessels should be provided. The contractor for provisions
was Jonato Berardi, a Florentine merchant settled at Seville; and, owing
to his death, the contracting work fell upon his assistant Amerigo
Vespucci, who was very actively employed on this service from April,
1497, to May, 1498. In 1492 Vespucci came to Spain as a partner of an
Italian trader at Cadiz named Donato Nicolini, and he afterward became
the chief clerk or agent of Berardi. It was thus that Columbus first
became acquainted with Amerigo Vespucci, when the admiral had reached the
ripe age of forty-five. As for his provisions, a good deal of the meat
turned bad on the voyage, and the contract was not very satisfactorily
carried out. It is strange that this beef and biscuit contractor should
have given his name to the New World, but perhaps not more strange than
that a bacon contractor should be the patron saint of England and of
Genoa.
The admiral was most anxious to despatch supplies and re-enforcements to
his brother, and he succeeded in sending off two caravels in advance,
under the command of Hernandez Coronel, who had been appointed chief
magistrate of Espafiola. The other vessels consisted of two naos, or
ships of a hundred tons, and four caravels. After months of harassing and
unnecessary delay, they dropped down the Guadalquiver from Seville and
the admiral sailed. He touched at Porto Santo and Madeira, and reached
Gomera on May 19th. Columbus had become aware, through information
collected from the natives of the islands, that there was extensive land,
probably a continent, to the southward. He had also received a letter
from a skilled and learned jeweller named Jaime Ferrer, dated August 5,
1495, in which it was laid down that the most valuable things came from
very hot countries, where the natives are black or tawny. These and other
considerations led him to determine to cross the Atlantic on a lower
parallel than he had ever done before; and he invoked the Holy Trinity
for protection, intending to name the first land that was sighted in
their honor. But he was impressed with the importance of sending help to
the colony without delay.
He therefore detached one ship and two caravels from Gomera to make the
voyage direct. The ship was commanded by Alonzo Sanchez de Carbajal of
Baeza. One caravel was intrusted to Pedro de Arana, brother of Beatriz
Enriquez and brother-in-law of the admiral. The other had for her captain
a Genoese cousin, Juan Antonio Colombo. It will be remembered that
Antonio, the brother of Domenico Colombo and uncle of the admiral,
lived at the little coast village of Quinto, near Genoa, and had three
sons--Juan Antonio, Mateo, and Amighetto. When these cousins heard of the
greatness and renown of Christopher, they thought at least one of them
might get some benefit from his prosperity. So the younger ones gave all
the little money they could scrape together to enable the eldest to go to
Spain. His illustrious kinsman welcomed him with affection, and as he
was a sailor he received charge of a caravel, in which trust he proved
himself, as Las Casas tells us, to be careful, efficient, and fit for
command. The three vessels sailed from Gomera direct for Española on June
21st. Columbus continued his voyage of discovery with one vessel and two
caravels. Pero Alonzo Niño, the pilot of the Niña in the first voyage,
was with him. Herman Perez Matteos was another pilot, and there were a
few other old shipmates in the squadron. The admiral touched at Buena
Vista, one of the Cape de Verd Islands, remaining at anchor for a few
days, and on July 5th he sailed away into the unknown ocean, for many
days on a south-west course. His intention was to go south as far as the
latitude of Sierra Leone, 8° 30' N., and then to steer west until he
reached land.
After ten days the vessels were in regions of calms, and the people began
to suffer from the intense heat. The sun melted the tar of the rigging,
and the seams of the decks began to open. For days and days the scorching
heat continued, but at length there were some refreshing showers, and
light breezes sprang up from the west. But their progress was very slow,
and their stock of water nearly exhausted. So the admiral ordered the
course to be altered to northwest, in hopes of reaching Dominica. It was
July 31st, the people were parched with thirst, and yet no land had been
seen. In the afternoon of that day the admiral's servant, Alonzo Perez
of Huelva, went to the masthead, and reported land in the shape of three
separate peaks. Columbus had declared his intention of naming the first
land sighted after the Holy Trinity, and the coincidence of its appearing
in the form of three peaks made a deep impression on his mind. The island
of Trinidad retains its name to this day. The admiral gave heartfelt
thanks to God, and all the crews chanted the _Salve Regina_ and other
hymns of prayer and praise. Meanwhile the little squadron glided through
the water, approaching the newly discovered land, and Columbus named the
most eastern point "Cabo de la Galera," by reason of a great rock off it,
which at a distance looked like a galley under sail. All along the coast
the trees were seen to come down to the sea, the most lovely sight that
eyes could rest on; and at last, on August 1st, an anchorage was found,
and they were able to fill up with water from delicious streams and
fountains. The main continent of South America was seen to the south,
appearing like a long island, and it received the name of "Isla Santa."
The point near the watering-place was called "Punta de la Playa."