THE COMPANIONS OF COLUMBUS.
BY EDWARD CHANNING, PH.D.,
_Instructor in History in Harvard College._
IN 1498 the news of the discovery of Paria and the pearl fisheries
reached Spain; and during the next year a number of expeditions was
fitted out at private expense for trade and exploration. The first
to set sail was commanded by Alonso de Ojeda, the quondam captor of
Caonabo, who, with Juan de la Cosa—a mariner scarcely inferior in his
own estimation to the Admiral himself—and with Morigo Vespuche, as
Ojeda calls him, left the Bay of Cadiz toward the end of May, 1499.
Ojeda, provided with a copy of the track-chart sent home by Columbus,
easily found his way to the coast of South America, a few degrees north
of the equator. Thence he coasted northward by the mouth of the Rio
Dulce (Essequibo) into the Gulf of Paria, which he left by the Boca del
Drago. He then passed to the Isla Margarita and the northern shores of
Tierra Firme, along which he sailed until he came to a deep gulf into
which opened a large lagoon. The gulf he called the Golfo de Venecia
(Venezuela), from the fancied resemblance of a village on its shores
to the Queen of the Adriatic; while to the lagoon, now known as the
Lake of Maracáibo, he gave the name of S. Bartoloméo. From this gulf
he sailed westward by the land of Coquibacoa to the Cabo de la Vela,
whence he took his departure for home, where, after many adventures, he
arrived in the summer of the following year.
Close in his track sailed Cristóbal Guerra and Pedro Alonso Niño,
who arrived off the coast of Paria a few days after Ojeda had left
it. Still following him, they traded along the coast as far west as
Caucheto, and tarried at the neighboring islands, especially Margarita,
until their little vessel of fifty tons was well loaded; when they
sailed for Spain, where they arrived in April, 1500, “so laden with
pearls that they were in maner with every mariner as common as chaffe.”
About four months before Guerra’s return, Vicente Yañez Pinzon, the
former captain of the “Niña,” sailed from Palos with four vessels; and,
pursuing a southerly course, was the first of Europeans to cross the
equator on the American side of the Atlantic. He sighted the coast of
the New World in eight degrees south latitude, near a cape to which he
gave the name of Santa Maria de la Consolacion (S. Augustin). There
he landed; but met with no vestiges of human beings, except some
footprints of gigantic size. After taking possession of the country
with all proper forms, he reimbarked; and proceeding northward and
westward, discovered and partially explored the delta of an immense
river, which he called the Paricura, and which, after being known
as the Marañon or Orellana, now appears on the maps as the Amazon.
Thence, by the Gulf of Paria, Española (Hispaniola), and the Bahamas,
he returned to Spain, where he arrived in the latter part of September,
1500.[619]
[Illustration: HISPANIOLA.
A reduced fac-simile of the map (1556) in Ramusio, iii. 44, following
that which originally appeared in the Venice edition of Peter Martyr
and Oviedo, 1534.]
Diego de Lepe left Palos not long after Vicente Yañez, and reached the
coast of the New World to the south of the Cabo de S. Augustin, to
which he gave the name of _Rostro hermoso_; and doubling it, he ran
along the coast to the Gulf of Paria, whence he returned to Palos. In
October, 1500, Rodrigo de Bastidas and Juan de la Cosa sailed from the
bay of Cadiz for the Golfo de Venecia (Venezuela), which they entered
and explored. Thence, stopping occasionally to trade with the natives,
they coasted the shores of Tierra Firme, by the Cabo de la Vela, the
province of Santa Marta, the mouths of the Rio Grande de la Magdalena,
the port of Cartagena, the river of Cenú, and the Punta Caribana, to
the Gulf of Urabá (Darien), which they explored with some care. They
were unsuccessful in their search for a strait to the west; and after
sailing along the coast of Veragua to Nombre de Dios, they started on
the return voyage. But the ravages of the _broma_ (teredo) rendering
their ships leaky, they were forced into a harbor of Española, where
the vessels, after the most valuable portions of the cargo had been
removed, went to the bottom. Bastidas was seized by order of Bobadilla,
then governor of Española, for alleged illicit traffic with the
natives, and sent to Spain for trial, where he arrived in September,
1502. He was soon after acquitted on the charges brought against him.
Alonso de Ojeda had reported the presence of Englishmen on the coast
of Tierra Firme; and, partly to forestall any occupation of the
country by them, he had been given permission to explore, settle, and
govern, at his own expense, the province of Coquibacoa. He associated
with him Juan de Vergara and Garcia de Ocampo, who provided the funds
required, and went with the expedition which left Cadiz in January,
1502. They reached, without any serious mishap, the Gulf of Paria,
where they beached and cleaned their vessels, and encountered the
natives. Thence through the Boca del Drago they traded from port to
port, until they came to an irrigated land, which the natives called
Curiana, but to which Ojeda gave the name of Valfermoso. At this place
they seized whatever they could which might be of service in the infant
settlement, and then proceeded westward; while Vergara went to Jamaica
for provisions, with orders to rejoin the fleet at S. Bartoloméo
(Maracáibo), or at the Cabo de la Vela. After visiting the Island of
Curazao (Curaçao) Ojeda arrived at Coquibacoa, and finally decided to
settle at a place which he called Santa Cruz,—probably the Bahia Honda
of the present day. Vergara soon arrived; but the supply of food was
inadequate, and the hostility of the natives made foraging a matter
of great difficulty and danger. To add to their discomfort, quarrels
broke out between the leaders, and Ojeda was seized by his two partners
and carried to Española, where he arrived in September, 1502. He was
eventually set at liberty, while his goods were restored by the King’s
command. The expedition, however, was a complete failure.
[Illustration: CASTILIA DEL ORO, 1597 (_after Wytfliet_).]
This second unprofitable voyage of Ojeda seems to have dampened the
ardor of the navigators and their friends at home; and although
Navarrete regards it as certain that Juan de la Cosa sailed to Urabá
as chief in command in 1504-1506, and that Ojeda made a voyage in the
direction of Tierra Firme in the beginning of 1505, it was not until
after the successful voyage of La Cosa in 1507-1508, that the work
of colonization was again taken up with vigor.[620] Two men offered
themselves as leaders in this enterprise; and, as it was impossible
to decide between them, they were both commissioned to settle and
govern for four years the mainland from the Cabo de la Vela to the Cabo
Gracias á Dios, while the Gulf of Urabá (Darien) was to be the boundary
between their respective governments. To Alonso de Ojeda was given the
eastern province, or Nueva Andaluçia, while Diego de Nicuesa was the
destined governor of the western province, then for the first time
named Castilla del Oro. The fertile Island of Jamaica was intended to
serve as a granary to the two governors; and to them were also granted
many other privileges,—as, for instance, freedom from taxation, and,
more important still, the right for each to take from Española four
hundred settlers and two hundred miners.
Nicuesa and Ojeda met at Santo Domingo, whither they had gone to
complete their preparations, and became involved in a boundary dispute.
Each claimed the province of Darien[621] as within his jurisdiction.
It was finally agreed, however, that the river of Darien should be the
boundary line. With regard to Jamaica, the new admiral, Diego Columbus,
prevented all disputes by sending Juan de Esquivel to hold it for
him. Diego further contributed to the failure of the enterprise by
preventing the governors from taking the colonists from Española, to
which they were entitled by their licenses. At last, however, on Nov.
12, 1509, Ojeda, with Juan de la Cosa and three hundred men, left Santo
Domingo; and five days later entered the harbor of Cartagena, where he
landed, and had a disastrous engagement with the natives. These used
their poisoned arrows to such good purpose that sixty-nine Spaniards,
Juan de la Cosa among them, were killed. Nicuesa arrived in the harbor
soon after; and the two commanders, joining forces, drove the natives
back, and recovered the body of La Cosa, which they found swollen and
disfigured by poison, and suspended from a tree. The two fleets then
separated; Nicuesa standing over to the shore of Castilla del Oro,
while Ojeda coasted the western shore of the Gulf of Urabá, and settled
at a place to which he gave the name of San Sebastian. Here they built
a fort, and ravaged the surrounding country in search of gold, slaves,
and food; but here again the natives, who used poisoned arrows, kept
the Spaniards within their fort, where starvation soon stared them
in the face. Ojeda despatched a ship to Española for provisions and
recruits; and no help coming, went himself in a vessel which had been
brought to San Sebastian by a certain piratical Talavera. Ojeda was
wrecked on Cuba; but after terrible suffering reached Santo Domingo,
only to find that his lieutenant, Enciso, had sailed some time before
with all that was necessary for the relief of the colony. The future
movements of Ojeda are not known. He testified in the trial of Talavera
and his companions, who were hanged in 1511; and in 1513 and 1515
his depositions were taken in the suit brought by the King’s attorney
against the heirs of Columbus. Broken in spirit and ruined in fortune,
he never returned to his colony.
[Illustration: CARTAGENA.
[This view of the town of Cartagena at a somewhat later day is a
fac-simile of a cut in Montanus, and has some of the doubt attached to
all of his pictures.—ED.]]
Martin Fernandez de Enciso, a wealthy lawyer (_bachiller_) of Santo
Domingo, had been appointed by Ojeda _alcalde mayor_ of Nueva
Andaluçia, and had been left behind to follow his chief with stores and
recruits. On his way to San Sebastian he stopped at Cartagena; found
no difficulty in making friends with the natives who had opposed Ojeda
so stoutly; and while awaiting there the completion of some repairs
on a boat, was surprised by the appearance of a brigantine containing
the remnant of the San Sebastian colony. When Ojeda had sailed with
Talavera he had left Pizarro, the future conqueror of Peru, in command,
with orders to hold the place for fifty days, and then, if succor had
not arrived, to make the best of his way to Santo Domingo. Pizarro
had waited more than fifty days, until the colonists had dwindled to
a number not too large for the two little vessels at his disposal. In
these they had then left the place. But soon after clearing the harbor
one of his brigantines, struck by a fish, had gone down with all on
board; and it had been with much difficulty that the other had been
navigated to Cartagena. Enciso, commander now that Ojeda and La Cosa
were gone, determined to return to San Sebastian; but, while rounding
the Punta Caribana, the large vessel laden with the stores went on the
rocks and became a total loss, the crew barely escaping with their
lives. They were now in as bad a plight as before; and decided, at the
suggestion of Vasco Nuñez de Balbóa, to cross the Gulf of Urabá to
a country where the natives did not use poisoned arrows, and where,
therefore, foraging would not be so dangerous as at San Sebastian.[622]
The removal to the other side of the gulf was safely carried out, and
the natives driven from their village. The Spaniards settled themselves
here, and called the place Santa Maria del Antigua del Darien.
Provisions and gold were found in abundance; but Enciso, declaring it
unlawful for private persons to trade with the natives for gold, was
deposed; for, as Vasco Nuñez said, the new settlement was within the
jurisdiction of Nicuesa, and therefore no obedience whatever was due to
Enciso. A municipal form of government was then instituted, with Vasco
Nuñez and Zamudio as _alcaldes_, and Valdivia as _regidor_. But the
Antigua settlers were no more disposed to obey their chosen magistrates
than they had been to give obedience to him who had been appointed to
rule over them, and they soon became divided into factions. At this
juncture arrived Rodrigo Enriquez de Colmenares, whom Nicuesa had left
at Española to follow him with recruits and provisions. Colmenares
easily persuaded the settlers at Antigua to put themselves under the
government of Nicuesa; and then, accompanied by two agents from Darien,
sailed away in search of his chief. Nicuesa, after aiding Ojeda at
Cartagena, had sailed for Castilla del Oro; but while coasting its
shores had become separated from the rest of his fleet, and had been
wrecked off the mouth of a large river. He had rejoined the rest of his
expedition after the most terrible suffering. Nicuesa had suspected
Lope de Olano, his second in command, of lukewarmness in going to his
relief, and had put him in chains. In this condition he was found by
the agents from Antigua, to one of whom it appears that Olano was
related. This, and the punishment with which Nicuesa threatened those
at Antigua who had traded for gold, impelled the agents to return with
all speed to oppose his reception; and, therefore, when he arrived off
Antigua he was told to go back. Attempting to sustain himself on land,
he was seized, put on a worn-out vessel, and bid to make the best of
his way to Española. He sailed from Antigua in March, 1511, and was
never heard of again.
After his departure the quarrels between the two factions broke out
again, and were appeased only by the sending of Enciso and Zamudio
to Spain to present their respective cases at Court. They sailed for
Española in a vessel commanded by the _regidor_ Valdivia (a firm friend
of Vasco Nuñez), who went well provided with gold to secure the favor
and protection of the new admiral, Diego Columbus, and of Pasamonte,
the King’s treasurer at Santo Domingo, for himself and Vasco Nuñez.
While Valdivia was absent on this mission, Vasco Nuñez explored the
surrounding country and won the good-will of the natives. It was on
one of these expeditions that the son of a chief, seeing the greed
of the Spaniards for gold, told them of the shores of a sea which
lay to the southward of the mountains, where there were kings who
possessed enormous quantities of the highly coveted metal. Valdivia,
who brought a commission from the Admiral to Vasco Nuñez (commonly
called Balbóa) as governor of Antigua, was immediately sent back with
a large sum of money, carrying the news of a sea to be discovered.
Valdivia was wrecked on the southern coast of Yucatan, where, with
all but two of his crew, he was sacrificed and eaten by the natives.
After some time had elapsed with no news from Española, Vasco Nuñez,
fearing that Valdivia had proved a treacherous friend, despatched two
emissaries—Colmenares and Caicedo—to Spain to lay the state of affairs
at Darien before the King.
Not long after their departure a vessel arrived from Española,
commanded by Serrano, with food, recruits, and a commission from
Pasamonte to Vasco Nuñez as governor. But Serrano also brought a letter
from Zamudio, giving an account of his experience in Spain, where he
had found the King more disposed to consider favorably the complaints
of Enciso than the justifications which he himself offered. Indeed,
it seems that Zamudio, who barely escaped arrest, wrote that it was
probable that Vasco Nuñez would be summoned to Spain to give an account
of himself. Upon the receipt of this unpleasant letter, Vasco Nuñez
determined to discover the new sea of which there was report, and thus
to atone for his shortcomings with respect to Enciso and Nicuesa.
[Illustration: BALBÓA.
[Fac-simile of an engraving in Herrera, edition of 1728.—ED.]]
To this end he left Antigua on the 1st of September, 1513; and
proceeding by the way of the country of Careta, on the evening of
September 24 encamped on the side of a mountain from whose topmost
peak his native guide declared the other sea could be discerned.
Early in the morning of the next day, Sept. 25, 1513, the sixty-seven
Spaniards ascended the mountain; and Vasco Nuñez de Balbóa, going
somewhat in advance, found himself—first of civilized men—gazing upon
the new-found sea, which he called _Mar del Sur_ (South Sea), in
distinction to the _Mar del Norte_, or the sea on the northern side
of the isthmus, although it is known to us by the name of Pacific,
which Magellan later gave to it. Of this ocean and all lands bordering
upon it he took possession for his royal master and mistress, and then
descended toward its shores. The sea itself was hard to reach, and it
was not until three days later that a detachment under Alonso Martin
discovered the beach; when Alonso Martin, jumping into a convenient
canoe, pushed forth, while he called upon his comrades to bear witness
that he was the first European to sail upon the southern sea. On the
29th of September Vasco Nuñez reached the water; and marching boldly
into it, again claimed it for the King and Queen of Castile and
Aragon. It was an arm of the ocean which he had found. According to
the Spanish custom, he bestowed upon it the name of the patron saint
of that particular day, and as the Gulf of San Miguel it is still
known to us. After a short voyage in some canoes, in the course of
which Vasco Nuñez came near drowning, he collected an immense amount
of tribute from the neighboring chiefs, and then took up his homeward
march, arriving at Antigua without serious accident in the latter part
of January, 1514. When we consider the small force at his command and
the almost overpowering difficulties of the route,—to say nothing of
hostile natives,—this march of Vasco Nuñez de Balbóa is among the most
wonderful exploits of which we have trustworthy information.
But this achievement did not bring him the indemnity and
honors for which he hoped. A new governor, appointed July 27,
1513,—notwithstanding the news which Colmenares and Caicedo had
carried with them of the existence of a sea,—had sailed before Pedro
de Arbolancha, bearing the news of the discovery, could arrive in
Spain, inasmuch as he did not even leave Antigua until March, 1514.
This new governor was Pedro Arias de Avila, better known as Pedrárias,
though sometimes called by English writers Dávila. Pedrárias, dubbed
_El Galan_ and _El Justador_ in his youth, and _Furor Domini_ in his
later years, has been given a hard character by all historians. This is
perfectly natural, for, like all other Spanish governors, he cruelly
oppressed the natives, and thus won the dislike of Las Casas; while
Oviedo, who usually differs as much as possible from Las Casas, hated
Pedrárias for other reasons. Pedrárias’ treatment of Vasco Nuñez,
in whose career there was that dramatic element so captivating, was
scant at least of favor. But, on the other hand, it must be remembered
that Pedrárias occupied an office from which Nicuesa and Enciso had
been driven, and he ruled a community which had required the utmost
vigilance on the part of Vasco Nuñez to hold in check.
With Pedrárias went a goodly company, among whom may be mentioned
Hernando de Soto, Diego de Almagro, and Benalcazar, who, with Pizarro,
already in Antigua, were to push discovery and conquest along the
shores of the Mar del Sur. There also went in the same company that
Bernal Diaz del Castillo who was to be one of the future conquistadores
of Mexico and the rude but charming relater of that conquest; and
Pascual de Andagoya, who, while inferior to Benalcazar as a ruler and
to Bernal Diaz as a narrator, was yet a very important character.
The lawyer Enciso returned among them to the scene of his former
disappointment as _alguazil mayor_; and, lastly, let us mention
Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés, who accompanied the expedition
as _escriban general_ and _veedor._ Pedrárias sailed from San Lucar on
the 12th of April, 1514, and arrived safely in the harbor of Antigua on
the 29th of June. The survivors of the companies of Ojeda and Nicuesa,
and of the reinforcements brought thither at different times, numbered
in all but four hundred and fifty souls; and they could have offered
little opposition to the fifteen hundred accompanying Pedrárias, if
they had so desired. But no attempt was made to prevent his landing;
and as soon as Pedrárias felt himself fairly installed, an inquiry
was instituted into the previous acts of Vasco Nuñez. This trial, or
_residencia_, was conducted by Espinosa, the new _alcalde mayor_. There
is no doubt but that Enciso tried hard to bring the murder of Nicuesa,
for such it was, home to Vasco Nuñez. The efforts of Quivedo, the
recently appointed bishop of Santa Maria de la Antigua é Castilla del
Oro, and of Isabel del Bobadilla, the new governor’s wife, who had been
won over in some unknown way, secured the acquittal of Vasco Nuñez on
all criminal charges. In the innumerable civil suits, however, which
were brought against him by Enciso and by all others who felt grieved,
he was mulcted in a large amount.
This affair off his hands, Pedrárias set about executing his
supplementary instructions, which were to connect the north and south
seas by a chain of posts. He sent out three expeditions, which, besides
exploration, were to forage for food, since the supply in Antigua was
very small. The stores brought by the fleet had been in a great measure
spoiled on the voyage, and the provisions at Antigua which Vasco Nuñez’
foresight had provided, while ample for his little band, were entirely
inadequate to the support of the augmented colony. The leaders of these
expeditions—with the exception of Enciso, who went to Cenú, whence
he was speedily driven—acted in a most inhuman fashion; and the good
feeling which had subsisted between Vasco Nuñez and the natives was
changed to the most bitter hatred. To use Vasco Nuñez’ own words: “For
where the Indians were like sheep, they have become like fierce lions,
and have acquired so much daring, that formerly they were accustomed
to come out to the paths with presents to the Christians, now they
come out and they kill them; and this has been on account of the bad
things which the captains who went out on the incursions have done to
them.” He especially blamed Ayora and Morales, who commanded two of
the earliest expeditions. Ayora escaped with his ill-gotten wealth to
Spain, where he died before he could be brought to justice.
Morales, following the route of Vasco Nuñez across the isthmus, arrived
on the other side, and sailed to the Pearl Islands, which Vasco Nuñez
had seen in the distance. Here he obtained an immense booty; and
thence, crossing to the southern side of the Gulf of San Miguel, he
endeavored to return to Darien by the way of Birú and the River Atrato.
But he was speedily driven back; and was so hard pressed by the natives
throughout his homeward march that he and his companions barely escaped
with their treasure and their lives. It was about this time that Vasco
Nuñez went for a second time in search of the golden temple of Dabaibe
and suffered defeat, with the loss of Luis Carillo, his second in
command, and many of his men; while another attempt on Cenú, this time
by Becerra, ended in the death of that commander and of all but one
of his companions. In 1515, however, a force commanded by Gonzalo de
Badajos crossed the isthmus and discovered the rich country lying on
the Gulf of Parita. Badajos accumulated an enormous amount of gold,
which he was obliged to abandon when he sought safety in ignominious
flight.
These repeated disasters in the direction of Cenú nettled old
Pedrárias, and he resolved to go himself in command of an expedition
and chastise the natives. He was speedily defeated; but, instead of
returning immediately to Antigua, he sailed over to Veragua and founded
the town of Acla (Bones of Men), as the northern termination of a road
across the isthmus. He then sent Gaspar Espinosa across the isthmus to
found a town on the other side. Espinosa on his way met the fleeing
Badajos; but being better prepared, and a more able commander, he
recovered the abandoned treasure and founded the old town of Panamá;
while a detachment under Hurtado, which he sent along the coast toward
the west, discovered the Gulf of San Lucar (Nicoya).
As we have seen, Vasco Nuñez’ account of the discovery of the South
Sea reached Spain too late to prevent the sailing of Pedrárias; but
the King nevertheless placed reliance in him, and appointed him
_adelantado_, or lieutenant, to prosecute discoveries along the shores
of the southern sea, and also made him governor of the provinces of
Panamá and Coyba. This commission had reached Antigua before the
departure of Espinosa; but Pedrárias withheld it for reasons of his
own. And before he delivered it there arrived from Cuba a vessel
commanded by a friend of Vasco Nuñez,—a certain Garabito,—who by
making known his arrival to Vasco Nuñez and not to Pedrárias, aroused
the latter’s suspicions. Accordingly, Vasco Nuñez was seized and
placed in confinement. After a while, however, upon his promising
to marry one of Pedrárias’ daughters, who at the time was in Spain,
they became reconciled, and Vasco Nuñez was given his commission,
and immediately began preparation for a voyage on the South Sea. As
it seemed impossible to obtain a sufficient amount of the proper
kind of timber on the other side the isthmus, enough to build a few
small vessels was carried over the mountains. When the men began to
work it, they found it worm-eaten; and a new supply was procured,
which was almost immediately washed away by a sudden rise of the Rio
Balsas, on whose banks they had established their ship-yard. At last,
however, two little vessels were built and navigated to the Islas de
las Perlas, whence Vasco Nuñez made a short and unsuccessful cruise
to the southward. But before he went a second time he sent Garabito
and other emissaries to Acla to discover whether Pedrárias had been
superseded. It seems to have been arranged that when these men arrived
near Acla one of their number should go secretly to the house of Vasco
Nuñez there and obtain the required information. If a new governor
had arrived they were to return to the southern side of the isthmus,
and Vasco Nuñez would put himself and his little fleet out of the new
governor’s reach, trusting in some grand discovery to atone for his
disloyalty. Pedrárias was still governor; but Garabito proved a false
friend, and told Pedrárias that Vasco Nuñez had no idea of marrying his
daughter: on the contrary, he intended to sail away with his native
mistress (with whom Garabito was in love) and found for himself a
government on the shores of the Mar del Sur. Pedrárias was furious, and
enticed Vasco Nuñez to Acla, where this new charge of treason, added
to the former one of the murder of Nicuesa, secured his conviction by
the _alcalde mayor_ Espinosa, and on the very next day he and his four
companions were executed. This was in 1517.
In 1519 Pedrárias removed the seat of government from Antigua to
Panamá, which was made a city in 1521, while Antigua was not long after
abandoned. In 1519 Espinosa coasted northward and westward, in Vasco
Nuñez’ vessels, as far as the Gulf of Culebras; and in 1522 Pascual de
Andagoya penetrated the country of Birú for twenty leagues or more,
when ill health compelled his return to Panamá. He brought wonderful
accounts of an Inca empire which was said to exist somewhere along the
coast to the south.[623]
In 1519 a pilot, Andrés Niño by name, who had been with Vasco Nuñez on
his last cruise, interested Gil Gonzalez de Avila, then _contador_ of
Española, in the subject of exploration along the coast of the South
Sea. Gonzalez agreed to go as commander-in-chief, accompanying Niño
in the vessels which Vasco Nuñez had built. The necessary orders from
the King were easily obtained, and they sailed for Antigua, where they
arrived safely; but Pedrárias refused to deliver the vessels. Gil
Gonzalez, nothing daunted, took in pieces the ships by which he had
come from Spain, transported the most important parts of them across
the isthmus, and built new vessels. These, however, were lost before
reaching Panamá; but the crews arrived there in safety, and Pedrárias,
when brought face to face with the commander, could not refuse to obey
the King’s orders. Thus, after many delays, Gil Gonzalez and Andrés
Niño sailed from the Islas de las Perlas on the 21st of January, 1522.
After they had gone a hundred leagues or more, it was found necessary
to beach and repair the vessels. This was done by Niño, while Gil
Gonzalez, with one hundred men and four horses, pushed along the shore,
and, after many hairbreadth escapes, rejoined the fleet, which under
Niño had been repaired and brought around by water. The meeting was at
a gulf named by them Sanct Viçente; but it proved to be the San Lucar
of Hurtado, and the Nicoya of the present day. After a short time
passed in recuperation, the two detachments again separated. Niño with
the vessels coasted the shore at least as far as the Bay of Fonseca,
and thence returned to the Gulf of Nicoya. Here he was soon rejoined
by the land party; which, after leaving the gulf, had penetrated
inland to the Lake of Nicaragua. They explored the surrounding country
sufficiently to discover the outlet of the lake, which led to the
north, and not to the south, as had been hoped. They had but one severe
fight with the natives, accumulated vast sums of gold, and baptized
many thousand converts. With their treasure they returned in safety to
Panamá on the 25th of June, 1523, after an absence of nearly a year and
a half.
At Panamá Gil Gonzalez found an enemy worse than the natives of
Nicaragua in the person of Pedrárias, whose cupidity was aroused by the
sight of the gold. But crossing the isthmus, he escaped from Nombre de
Dios just as Pedrárias was on the point of arresting him, and steered
for Española, where his actions were approved by the Hieronimite
Fathers, who authorized him to return and explore the country. This he
endeavored to do by the way of the outlet of the Lake of Nicaragua, by
which route he would avoid placing himself in the power of Pedrárias.
He unfortunately reached the Honduras coast too far north, and marched
inland only to be met by a rival party of Spaniards under Hernando
de Soto. It seemed that as soon as possible after Gil Gonzalez’
departure from Nombre de Dios, Pedrárias had despatched a strong force
under Francisco Hernandez de Córdoba to take possession of and hold
the coveted territory for him. Córdoba, hearing from the natives of
Spaniards advancing from the north, had sent De Soto to intercept them.
Gil Gonzalez defeated this detachment; but not being in sufficient
force to meet Córdoba, he retreated to the northern shore, where he
found Cristóbal de Olid, who had been sent by Cortés to occupy Honduras
in his interest. Olid proved a traitor to Cortés, and soon captured not
only Gil Gonzalez, but Francisco de las Casas, who had been sent by
Cortés to seize him. Las Casas, who was a man of daring, assassinated
Olid, with the help of Gil Gonzalez. The latter was then sent to
make what terms he could with Cortés as to a joint occupation of the
country.[624] But Gil Gonzalez fell into the hands of the enemies
of the Conqueror of Mexico, and was sent to Spain to answer, among
other things, for the murder of Olid. He reached Seville in 1526; but,
completely overwhelmed by his repeated disasters, died soon after.
Córdoba, who had thrown off allegiance to Pedrárias, was executed.
Pedrárias himself was turned out of his government of Darien by Pedro
de los Rios, and took refuge in the governorship of Nicaragua, and died
quietly at Leon in 1530, at the advanced age of nearly ninety years.
In 1492 Christopher Columbus had discovered Cuba, which he called
Juana; and two years later he had partially explored the Island of
Jamaica, whither he had been driven on his fourth voyage, and compelled
to stay from June, 1503, to June, 1504. In 1508 this lesser island had
been granted to Ojeda and Nicuesa as a storehouse from which to draw
supplies in case of need. But, as we have seen, the Admiral of the
Indies at that time, Diego Columbus, son of the great Admiral, had sent
Juan de Esquivel with sixty men to seize the island and hold it for him
against all comers. Esquivel founded the town of Sevilla Nueva—later
Sevilla d’Oro—on the shores of the harbor where Columbus had stayed so
long; and thus the island was settled.
Although Cuba had been discovered in 1492, nothing had been done
toward its exploration till 1508, when Ovando, at that time governor
of Española, sent Sebastian de Ocampo to determine whether it was an
island or not. Columbus, it will be remembered, did not, or would
not, believe it insular, though the Indians whom he brought from
Guanahani had told him it was; and it had suited his purpose to make
his companions swear that they believed it a peninsula of Asia. Ocampo
settled the question by circumnavigating it from north to south; and,
after another delay, Diego Columbus in 1511 sent Diego Velasquez, a
wealthy planter of Española, to conquer and settle the island, which
at that time was called Fernandina. Velasquez, assisted by thirty men
under Pamphilo de Narvaez from Jamaica, had no difficulty in doing
this; and his task being accomplished, he threw off his allegiance
to the Admiral. Settlers were attracted to Cuba from all sides. With
the rest came one hundred, Bernal Diaz among them, from Antigua.
But Velasquez had distributed the natives among his followers with
such a lavish hand that these men were unable to get any slaves for
themselves, and in this predicament agreed with Francisco Hernandez de
Córdoba[625] to go on a slave-catching expedition to some neighboring
islands. Velasquez probably contributed a small vessel to the two
vessels which were fitted out by the others. With them went Anton
Alaminos as pilot. Sailing from Havana in February, 1517, they doubled
the Cabo de S. Anton, and steered toward the west and south. Storms and
currents drove them from their course, and it was not until twenty-one
days had passed after leaving S. Anton that they sighted some small
islands. Running toward the coast, they espied inland a city, the size
of which so impressed them that they called it _El gran Cairo_. Soon
after some natives came on board, who, to their inquiries as to what
land it was, answered “Conex Catoche;” and accordingly they named it
the Punta de Catoche. At this place, having landed, they were enticed
into an ambush, and many Spaniards were killed. From this inhospitable
shore they sailed to the west, along the northern coast of Yucatan, and
in two weeks arrived at a village which they named S. Lázaro, but to
which the native name of Campeche has clung.
[Illustration: HAVANA.
[This cut of the chief Cuban seaport represents it at a somewhat later
day, and is a fac-simile from the cut in Montanus.—ED.]]
There the natives were hostile. So they sailed on for six days more,
when they arrived off a village called Pontonchan, now known, however,
as Champoton. As they were short of water they landed at this place,
and in a fight which followed, fifty-seven Spaniards were killed and
five were drowned. Nevertheless the survivors continued their voyage
for three days longer, when they came to a river with three mouths,
one of which, the Estero de los Lagartos, they entered. There they
burned one of their vessels; and, having obtained a supply of water,
sailed for Cuba. The reports which they gave of the riches of the newly
discovered country so excited the greed of Velasquez that he fitted out
a fleet of four vessels, the command of which he gave to his nephew,
Juan de Grijalva. Anton Alaminos again went as pilot, and Pedro de
Alvarado was captain of one of the ships. They left the Cabo de S.
Anton on the 1st of May, 1518, and three days later sighted the Island
of Cozumel, which they called Santa Cruz. From this island they sailed
along the southern coast of Yucatan, which they thought an island,
and which they named Santa Maria de los Remedios. They came finally
to a shallow bay, still known by the name which they gave it, Bahia
de la Ascension. But the prospect not looking very promising in this
direction, they doubled on their track, and in due season arrived at
S. Lázaro (Campeche), or, more probably, perhaps, at Champoton, where
they had their first hostile encounter with the natives. But, being
better provided with artillery and cotton armor than was Francisco
Hernandez, Grijalva and his men maintained their ground and secured a
much-needed supply of water. Thence following the shore, they soon came
to an anchorage, which they at first called Puerto Deseado. On further
investigation the pilot Alaminos declared that it was not a harbor, but
the mouth of a strait between the island of Santa Maria de los Remedios
(Yucatan) and another island, which they called Nueva España, but which
afterward proved to be the mainland of Mexico. They named this strait
the Boca de Términos. After recuperating there, they coasted toward the
north by the mouths of many rivers, among others the Rio de Grijalva
(Tabasco), until they came to an island on which they found a temple,
where the native priests were wont to sacrifice human beings. To this
island they gave the name of Isla de los Sacrificios; while another, a
little to the north, they called S. Juan de Ulúa. The sheet of water
between this island and the mainland afforded good anchorage, and
to-day is known as the harbor of Vera Cruz. There Grijalva stayed some
time, trading with the inhabitants, not of the islands merely, but of
the mainland. To this he was beckoned by the waving of white flags,
and he found himself much honored when he landed. After sending Pedro
de Alvarado, with what gold had been obtained, to Cuba in a caravel
which needed repairs, Grijalva proceeded on his voyage; but when he had
arrived at some point between the Bahia de Tanguijo and the Rio Panuco,
the pilot Alaminos declared it madness to go farther. So the fleet
turned back, and, after more trading along the coast, they arrived
safely at Matanzas in October of the same year. Velasquez, when he saw
the spoil gathered on this expedition, was much vexed that Grijalva had
not broken his instructions and founded a settlement. A new expedition
was immediately prepared, the command of which was given to Hernan
Cortés.[626] As for Grijalva, he took service under Pedrárias, and
perished with Hurtado in Nicaragua.
CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
THE best account of the voyages and expeditions of the companions of
Columbus, with the exception of those relating immediately to the
settlement of Darien and the exploration of the western coast of the
isthmus, is Navarrete’s _Viages menores_.[627] This historian[628] had
extraordinary opportunities in this field; and a nautical education
contributed to his power of weighing evidence with regard to maritime
affairs. No part of Navarrete has been translated into English, unless
the first portion of Washington Irving’s _Companions of Columbus_
may be so regarded. The best account of these voyages in English,
however, is Sir Arthur Helps’s _Spanish Conquest in America_,[629]
which, although defective in form, is readable, and, so far as it goes,
trustworthy. This work deals not merely with the _Viages menores_, but
also with the settlement of Darien; as, too, does Irving’s _Companions_.
The first voyage of Ojeda rests mainly on the answers to the questions
propounded by the _fiscal real_ in the suit brought against Diego,
the son of Columbus, in which the endeavor was made to show that
Ojeda, and not Columbus, discovered the pearl coasts. But this claim
on the part of the King’s attorney was unsuccessful; for Ojeda
himself expressly stated in his deposition, taken in Santo Domingo
in 1513, that he was the first man who went to Tierra-Firme _after_
the Admiral, and that he knew that the Admiral had been there because
he saw the chart[630] which the Admiral had sent home. This lawsuit
is so important in relation to these minor voyages that Navarrete
printed much of the testimony then taken, with some notes of his own,
at the end of his third volume.[631] Among the witnesses were Ojeda,
Bastidas, Vicente Yañez Pinzon, Garcia Hernandez a “_fisico_,” who had
accompanied Vicente Yañez on his first voyage, the pilots Ledesma,
Andrés de Morales, Juan Rodriguez, and many other mariners who had
sailed with the different commanders. Their testimony was taken with
regard to the third voyage of Columbus (second question); the voyage
of Guerra and Niño (third and fourth questions); Ojeda’s first voyage
(fifth question); Bastidas (sixth question); Vicente Yañez (seventh
question); Lepe (eighth question); etc. Taken altogether, this evidence
is the best authority for what was done or was not done on these early
voyages.[632]
The only things worth noting in the voyage of Guerra and Niño are the
smallness of the vessel (fifty tons),[633] and the enormous pecuniary
return. One of the voyagers,[634] very possibly Niño himself,[635]
wrote an account of the voyage, which was translated into Italian, and
published as chapters cx. and cxi. of the _Paesi novamente retrovati_.
It was then translated into Latin, and inserted by Grynæus in the
_Novus orbis_.[636]
A contemporary account of the voyage of Vicente Yañez Pinzon was
printed in the _Paesi novamente_,[637] by whom written is not known.
Varnhagen has attempted to show that the cape near which Vicente
Yañez landed was not the Cabo de S. Augustin, but some point much
farther north.[638] For a time the point was raised that Vicente Yañez
arrived on the coast after Cabral; but that was plainly impossible,
as he undoubtedly sighted the American coast before Cabral left
Portugal.[639] As to the landfall itself, both Navarrete and Humboldt
place it in about eight degrees south latitude; and they base their
argument on the answers to the seventh question of the _fiscal real_ in
the celebrated lawsuit, in which Vicente Yañez said that it was true
that he discovered from “El cabo de Consolacion que es en la parte de
Portugal é agora se llama cabo de S. Augustin.”[640] In this he was
corroborated by the other witnesses.[641] The voyage was unsuccessful
in a pecuniary point of view. Two vessels were lost at the Bahamas,
whither Vicente Yañez had gone in quest of slaves. After his return to
Spain it was only through the interposition of the King that he was
able to save a small portion of his property from the clutches of the
merchants who had fitted out the fleet.[642]
The voyage of Diego de Lepe rests entirely on the evidence given in
the Columbus lawsuit,[643] from which it also appears that he drew a
map for Fonseca on which the coast of the New World was delineated
trending toward the south and west from Rostro Hermoso (Cabo de S.
Augustin). Little is known of the further movements of Diego de Lepe,
who, according to Morales, died in Portugal before 1515.[644] Navarrete
printed nothing relating to him of a later date than November,
1500;[645] but in the _Documentos inéditos_ are documents which would
seem to show that he was preparing for a voyage in the beginning of
1502.[646]
Juan de la Cosa returned with Ojeda in the middle of June, 1500, and he
sailed with Bastidas in the following October. The intervening time he
probably spent in working on the map which bears the legend “Juan de
la Cosa la fizo en Puerto de Sta. Maria en año de 1500.” This is the
earliest existing chart made by one of the navigators of the fifteenth
century, the track-chart sent home by Columbus in 1498,[647] and the
Lepe map, being lost. Humboldt was especially qualified to appreciate
the clearness and accuracy of this La Cosa map by the knowledge of the
geography of Spanish America which he gained during a long sojourn in
that part of the world;[648] and this same knowledge gives especial
value to whatever he says in the _Examen critique_[649] concerning
the voyages herein described. Of Juan de la Cosa’s knowledge of the
geography of the northern coast of South America there can be little
doubt, especially when it is borne in mind that he made no less than
six voyages to that part of the world,[650] only two of which, however,
preceded the date which he gives to his map. A comparison of La Cosa’s
map with the chart of 1527 usually, but probably erroneously, ascribed
to Ferdinand Columbus, and with that of 1529 by Ribero, gives a clearer
idea than the chronicles themselves do, of the discoveries of the early
navigators.[651]
* * * * *
Like all these early minor voyages, that of Rodrigo Bastidas rests
mainly on the testimony given in the lawsuit already referred to.[652]
Navarrete in his _Viages menores_ stated that Ojeda procured a license
from Bishop Fonseca, who had been empowered to give such licenses. No
document, however, of the kind has been produced with regard to Ojeda
or any of these commanders before the time of Bastidas, whose _Asiento
que hizo con SS. MM. Católicas_ of June 5, 1500, has been printed.[653]
As already related, the ravages of the teredo drove Bastidas into a
harbor of Española, where he was forced to abandon his vessels and
march to Santo Domingo. He divided his men into three bands, who saved
themselves from starvation by exchanging for food some of the ornaments
which they had procured on the coast of Tierra-Firme. This innocent
traffic was declared illegal by Bobadilla, who sent Bastidas to Spain
for trial. But two years later, on Jan. 29, 1504, their Majesties
ordered his goods to be restored to him, and commanded that all further
proceedings should be abandoned.[654] They also granted him a pension
of fifty thousand maravedis, to be paid from the revenues “de los
Golfos de Huraba e Barú;”[655] while Juan de la Cosa was not only
pensioned in a similar fashion, but also made _alguacil mayor_ of the
Gulf of Urabá.[656] With the exception of a slave-catching voyage to
Urabá in 1504, Bastidas lived quietly as a farmer in Española until
1520, when he led an expedition to settle the province of Santa Marta,
and was there killed by his lieutenant. After his death his family,
seeking to receive compensation for his services and losses, drew up an
_Informacion de los servicios del adelantado Rodrigo de Bastidas_;[657]
and eight years later presented another.[658] From this material it is
possible to construct a clear and connected account of this voyage,
especially when supplemented by Oviedo and Las Casas.[659]
This was the first voyage which really came within the scope of Hubert
H. Bancroft’s _Central America_; and therefore he has described it
at some length.[660] This book is a vast and invaluable mine of
information, to be extracted only after much labor and trouble,
owing to a faulty table of contents, and the absence of side-notes
or dates to the pages; and there is at present no index. The text
is illustrated with a mass of descriptive and bibliographical notes
which are really the feature of the work, and give it its encyclopedic
value. Considering its range and character, the book has surprisingly
few errors of any kind; and indeed the only thing which prevents our
placing implicit reliance on it is Mr. Bancroft’s assertion[661] that
“very little of the manuscript as it comes to me, whether in the form
of rough material or more finished chapters, is the work of one person
alone;” while we are not given the means of attaching responsibility
where it belongs, as regards both the character of the investigation
and the literary form which is presented. As to the ultimate authorship
of the text itself, we are only assured[662] that “at least one half of
the manuscript has been written by my own hand.”[663]
* * * * *
The second voyage of Alonso de Ojeda rests entirely on some documents
which Navarrete printed in the third volume of his _Coleccion_, and
upon which he founded his account of the voyage.[664] The first, in
point of time, is a _cédula_ of June 8, 1501, continuing a license of
July, 1500, to explore and govern the Isla de Coquivacoa.[665] Two
days later, on June 10, 1501, a formal commission as governor was
given to Ojeda,[666] and the articles of association were executed by
him and his partners, Vergara and Ocampo, on the 5th of July.[667]
An _escribano_, Juan de Guevara by name, was appointed in the
beginning of September of the same year. The fleet was a long time in
fitting out, and it was not till the next spring that Ojeda issued
his orders and instructions to the commanders of the other vessels
and to the pilots.[668] These are of great importance, as giving the
names of the places which he had visited on his first voyage. The
attempt at colonization ended disastrously, and Ojeda found himself
at Santo Domingo as the defendant in a suit brought against him by
his associates. Navarrete used the evidence given in this suit in his
account; but he printed only the _ejecutoria_, in which the King and
Queen ordered that Ojeda should be set at liberty, and that his goods
should be restored to him.[669] The position of the irrigated land[670]
which he called Valfermoso is difficult to determine; but it certainly
was not the Curiana of the present day, which is identical with the
Curiana of Guerra and Niño.[671]
Martin Fernandez de Enciso—the _bachiller Enciso_—“first came to the
Indies with Bastidas,” says Bancroft,[672] and practised law to such
good purpose that he accumulated two thousand castellanos,—equivalent
to ten thousand in our day.[673] This he contributed toward the
expenses of the Nueva Andalucia colony, of which he was made _alcalde
mayor_. But he was unfortunate in that office, as we have seen, and
was sent to Spain, whence he returned in 1513 with Pedrárias as
_alguacil mayor_. In 1514 he led an expedition to Cenú, to which Irving
erroneously gives an earlier date.[674] From 1514 to 1519 nothing is
known of Enciso’s movements; but in the latter year he published the
_Suma de geografía que trata de todas las partidas y provincias del
mundo, en especial de las Indias_, which contains much bearing on this
period. What became of the author is not known.
The trading voyages to Tierra-Firme between Ojeda’s two attempts at
colonization have no geographical importance; and, indeed, their very
existence depends on a few documents which were unearthed from the
Archives of the Indies by the indefatigable labors of Muñoz, Navarrete,
and the editors of the _Coleccion de documentos inéditos relativos al
descubrimiento, conquista y organizacion de las antiguas posesiones
Españolas de América y Oceania_.[675] Of these trading voyages first
comes the cruise of Juan de la Cosa, or Juan Vizcaino, as he was
sometimes called, whose intention to embark upon it is inferred from
a letter from the Queen to the royal officers,[676] and an _asiento_
bearing date Feb. 14, 1504.[677] Nothing is known of the voyage itself,
except that Navarrete, on the authority of a _cédula_ which he did not
print, gives the amount of money received by the Crown as its share of
the profits.[678]
The voyage which Ojeda is supposed to have made in 1505 rests on a
still weaker foundation, as there is nothing with regard to it except
a _cédula_, bearing date Sept. 21, 1505,[679] concerning certain
valuables which may have been procured on this voyage or on the
first ill-fated attempt at colonization. That it was contemplated is
ascertained from a _Cédula para que Alfonso Doxeda sea Gobernador de
la Costa de Ququebacóa e Huraba_,[680] etc. The document, dated Sept.
21, 1504, is followed by two of the same date referring to Ojeda’s
financial troubles. Is it not possible that the above-mentioned
document of Sept. 21, 1505, belongs with them? The agreement
(_asiento_) of Sept. 30, 1504, confirmed in March of the next year, is
in the same volume, while an order to the Governor of Española not to
interfere with the luckless Ojeda was printed by Navarrete (iii. 111),
who has said all that can be said concerning the expedition in his
_Noticia biográfica_.[681]
The voyage of Juan de la Cosa with Martin de los Reyes and Juan Correa
rests entirely on the assertion of Navarrete that they returned in
1508, because it was stated (where, he does not say) that the proceeds
of the voyage were so many hundred thousand maravedis.[682] Concerning
the discovery of Yucatan by Vicente Yañez Pinzon, there is no original
material;[683] but here again evidence of preparation for a voyage
can be found in an _asiento y capytulacion_ of April 24, 1505, in the
_Documentos inéditos_ (xxxi. 309).
After this time the history of Tierra-Firme is much better known; for
it is with the colonies sent out under Ojeda and Nicuesa in 1509 that
the _Historia general_ of Oviedo becomes a standard authority. Gonzalo
Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés was born in Madrid in 1478, and in 1490
he entered the household of the Duke of Villahermoso. Later he served
under Prince Juan and the King Of Naples until 1507, when he entered
the service of the King and Queen of Spain. In 1513 he was appointed
_escribano_, and later (upon the death of Caicedo, who, it will be
remembered, was one of the agents Vasco Nuñez had sent to Spain to
announce the existence of an unknown sea) _veedor de las fundaciones
d’oro_ to the expedition which under Pedrárias was sent to Tierra-Firme
in that year. Oviedo did not approve of the course pursued by that
worthy, and returned to Spain in 1515 to inform the new King, Charles
I. (Emperor Charles V.) of the true condition of affairs in the Indies.
He brought about many important reforms, secured for himself the office
of perpetual _regidor_ of Antigua,—_escribano general_ of the province,
receiver of the fines of the _cámara_,[684]—and cargoes and goods
forfeited for smuggling were also bestowed upon him. His _veeduría_
was extended so as to include all Tierra-Firme; and when the news of
the execution of Vasco Nuñez arrived at Court, he was ordered to take
charge of his goods and those of his associates. Oviedo, provided with
so many offices and with an order commanding all governors to furnish
him with a true account of their doings, returned to Antigua soon
after the new governor, Lope de Sosa, who had been appointed, upon
his representations, to succeed Pedrárias. But unfortunately for him
Lope de Sosa died in the harbor of Antigua (1520), and Oviedo was left
face to face with Pedrárias. It was not long before they quarrelled
as to the policy of removing the seat of government of the province
from Antigua to Panamá, which Oviedo did not approve. Pedrárias
craftily made him his lieutenant at Antigua, in which office Oviedo
conducted himself so honestly that he incurred the hatred of all the
evil-disposed colonists of that town, and was forced to resign. He also
complained of Pedrárias before the new _alcalde mayor_, and was glad
to go to Spain as the representative of Antigua. On his way he stopped
at Cuba and Santo Domingo, where he saw Velasquez and Diego Columbus;
with the latter he sailed for home. There he used his opportunities so
well that he procured, in 1523, the appointment of Pedro de los Rios as
Pedrárias’ successor, and for himself the governorship of Cartagena;
and after publishing his _Sumario_ he returned to Castilla del Oro,
where he remained until 1530, when he returned to Spain, resigned his
_veeduría_, and some time after received the appointment of _Cronista
general de Indias_. In 1532 he was again in Santo Domingo, and in 1533
he was appointed _alcaid_ of the fortress there. But the remainder of
his life was passed in literary pursuits, and he died in Valladolid
in 1557 at the age of seventy-nine. From this account it can easily be
seen that whatever he wrote with regard to the affairs of Tierra-Firme
must be received with caution, as he was far from being an impartial
observer.[685]
* * * * *
The first document with regard to the final and successful settlement
of Tierra-Firme is the _cédula_ of June 9, 1508, in which Diego de
Nicuesa and Alonso de Ojeda were commissioned governors of Veragua and
Urabá for four years.[686] Juan de la Cosa was confirmed in his office
of _alguacil mayor de Urabá_ on the seventeenth of the same month;[687]
and the Governor of Española was directed to give him a house for his
wife and children, together with a sufficient number of Indians.[688]
As we have seen, the two governors were prevented by Diego Columbus
from taking the well-to-do class of colonists from Española upon which
they had counted. This statement is made on the authority of Nicuesa’s
lieutenant, Rodrigo de Colmenares, who afterward deserted Nicuesa at
Antigua, and went to Spain in 1512 in company with Caicedo to report
the existence of a new sea. While there, either on this or a later
visit, he presented a memorial to the King _sobre el desgraciado suceso
de Diego de Nicuesa_.[689] The allegations of Colmenares are borne out
by two _cédulas_ of Feb. 28, 1510;[690] while a _cédula_ of June 15,
1510, declared that the Gulf of Urabá belonged to the province which
had been assigned to Ojeda.[691] Nicuesa was informed of this decision
in a _cédula_ of the same date.[692] There are four more _cédulas_
of July 25, 1511, in two of which the Admiral Diego Columbus and the
treasurer Pasamonte are ordered to assist the unhappy governors, while
the other two were written to inform those governors that such orders
had been sent.[693] The fate of neither of them, however, is certain.
The judges of appeal in Española were ordered to inquire into the
crimes, _délits_, and excesses of Ojeda, Talavera, and companions.[694]
Talavera and his associates were hanged in Jamaica in 1511, and Ojeda’s
deposition was taken in 1513, and again in 1515 in Santo Domingo, in
the celebrated lawsuit; but beyond this his further movements are not
accurately known.[695] As for Nicuesa, he too underwent shipwreck and
starvation; and when at last fortune seemed about to smile upon him, he
was cruelly cast out by the mutinous settlers at Darien; and although a
story was current that he had been wrecked on Cuba and had there left
inscribed on a tree, “Here died the unfortunate Nicuesa,” yet the best
opinion is that he and his seventeen faithful followers perished at
sea.[696]
* * * * *
The only complete biography of Vasco Nuñez de Balbóa is that of Don
Manuel José Quintana,[697] who had access to the then unpublished
portion of Oviedo, and to documents many of which are possibly not
yet published. His _Vida_,[698] therefore, is very useful in filling
gaps in the account of the expeditions from Antigua both before and
after the coming of Pedrárias. There is no account by an eye-witness
of the expeditions undertaken by Vasco Nuñez before 1514; and the only
approach to such a document is the letter which Vasco Nuñez wrote to
the King on Jan. 20, 1513.[699] The writer of this letter came to the
Indies with Bastidas in 1500; and after the unhappy ending of that
voyage settled in Española. But he was not suited to the placid life of
a planter, and becoming involved in debt, was glad to escape from his
creditors in Enciso’s ship. It was by his advice that the San Sebastian
colony was transferred to the other side of the Gulf of Urabá; and when
there his shrewdness had discovered a way of getting rid of Enciso.
The exact part he played in the murder of Nicuesa is not clear; but
it is certain, as Bancroft points out, that his connection with that
nefarious act was the lever by which his enemies finally accomplished
his overthrow. It can be thus easily understood that the censures which
he passes on Enciso and Nicuesa must be received with caution. Still,
we should not forget that Vasco Nuñez succeeded where they failed. He
was a man of little or no education, and portions of this letter are
almost untranslatable. Nevertheless, Clements R. Markham has given an
English rendering in the Introduction to his translation of Andagoya’s
_Relacion_.[700] Among the other accounts,[701] that of Herrera is very
full, and, so far as it can be compared with accessible documents,
sufficiently accurate.
There is no real discrepancy in the various narratives, except with
regard to the date of the discovery of the Pacific, which Peter
Martyr says took place on the 26th of September, while all the other
authorities have the 25th; Oviedo going so far as to give the very hour
when the new waters first dawned on Balbóa’s sight.[702]
There is no lack of original material concerning the government
of Pedrárias. First come his commission[703] (July 27, 1513) and
instructions[704] (Aug. 2, 1513), which Navarrete has printed, together
with the letter written by the King on receipt of the reports of Vasco
Nuñez’ grand discovery.[705] The date of this paper is not given; but
there has recently been printed[706] a letter from the King to Vasco
Nuñez of Aug. 19, 1514. In this note the monarch states that he has
heard of the discovery of the new sea through Pasamonte, although he
had not then seen Arbolancha. Pasamonte had probably written in Vasco
Nuñez’ favor; for the King adds that he has written to Pedrárias that
he (Vasco Nuñez) should be well treated. It is possible that this is
the letter above mentioned, a portion only of which is printed in
Navarrete.
The date of the expedition to Dabaibe, in which so many men were lost,
is not certain; but Vasco Nuñez saw the necessity of putting forward a
defence, which he did in a letter to the King on the 16th of October,
1515.[707] In this letter, besides describing the really insuperable
obstacles in the way of a successful expedition in that direction,—in
which the lack of food, owing to the ravages of the locusts, bears a
prominent part,—he attacks Pedrárias and his government very severely.
The doings of Arbolancha in Spain are not known. There is a letter of
the King to Pedrárias, dated Sept. 27, 1514, appointing Vasco Nuñez
_adelantado_ of the coast region which he had discovered.[708] We have
several letters of the King to Pedrárias, to the new _adelantado_, and
to other officers, on November 23 and 27.[709]
The next document of importance is the narrative of Espinosa’s
expedition, written by himself. It is printed in the _Documentos
inéditos_ (vol. ii. pp. 467-522), with some corrections by the editors;
but it may be found in the original spelling, and without such
corrections, in another volume of that series,[710] where the date of
1514 is most erroneously assigned to it.
The _licenciate_ Gaspar de Espinosa came to Tierra-Firme with Pedrárias
as _alcalde mayor_. Soon after his arrival at Antigua he held the
_residencia_ of Vasco Nuñez, and then is not heard of again until he
is found in command of this expedition. He founded Panamá (for the
first time) and returned to Antigua, whence he followed Pedrárias to
Acla to try Vasco Nuñez for treason. He unwillingly convicted him, but
recommended mercy. After the great explorer’s death he cruised in his
vessels to the coast of Nicaragua; and later he played an important
part in the conquest of Peru, and died at Cuzco while endeavoring to
accommodate the differences between Pizarro and Almagro. The only other
document of his which I have found is a _Relacion e proceso_ concerning
the voyage of 1519.[711]
There are a few other documents bearing on the history of
Tierra-Firme;[712] but the best and most complete contemporary
account of this period[713] was written by Pascual de Andagoya, who
came to Antigua with Pedrárias. Andagoya was with Vasco Nuñez on his
last voyage, accompanied Espinosa on both his expeditions, and led
a force into Birú in 1522. After his return from that expedition he
lived in Panamá until 1529, when Pedro de los Rios banished him from
the isthmus. After a few years spent in Santo Domingo he returned to
Panamá as lieutenant to the new governor, Barrionuevo, and acted as
agent to Pizarro and the other conquerors of Peru until 1536, when
his _residencia_ was held with much rigor by the _licenciate_ Pedro
Vasquez, and he was sent to Spain. In 1539 he returned as _adelantado_
and governor of Castilla Nueva, as the province bordering on the
_Mar del Sur_ from the Gulf of San Miguel to the San Juan River was
then called. But the remainder of his life was one succession of
disappointments, and he died some time after 1545.[714]
From this brief biography it will be seen that Andagoya’s earlier
career was successful, and that he was on friendly terms with
Pedrárias, Espinosa, and Vasco Nuñez. He was therefore, so far as we
are concerned, an impartial witness of the events which he describes;
and his testimony is therefore more to be relied on than that of
Oviedo, who was absent from Tierra-Firme a great part of the time, and
who was besides inimical to Pedrárias. Otherwise Oviedo’s account is
the better; for the sequence of events is difficult, if not impossible,
to unravel from Andagoya.
The second chronicler of the Indies, Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas,
who published the first two volumes of his _Historia general_ in
1601,[715] drew upon himself the wrath of a descendant of Pedrárias,
Don Francisco Arias Dávila, Conde de Puñonrostro, who petitioned for
redress. _Memorials_, _relaciones_, and _refutaciones_ were given on
both sides until September, 1603, when the matter was referred to “Xil
Ramirez de Arellano, del Consexo de Su Maxestad e Su Fiscal.” This
umpire decided in effect[716] that Herrera had gone too far, and that
the acrimony of some of the passages objected to should be mitigated.
The papers which passed in this discussion, after remaining for a
long time buried in the Archives of the Indies, have been printed
in the thirty-seventh volume of _Documentos inéditos_,[717] and are
without doubt one of the most valuable sets among the papers in that
collection. Among them are many letters from the King to the royal
officials which throw much light on the history of that time. There
is nothing in them, however, to remove the unfavorable opinion of
Pedrárias which the execution of Vasco Nuñez aroused; for although
there can be little doubt that Vasco Nuñez meditated technical treason,
yet conviction for treason by the _alcalde mayor_ would not have
justified execution without appeal, especially when the fair-minded
judge, Gaspar Espinosa, recommended mercy. This is perfectly clear;
but the mind of Pedrárias, who presented the facts from his point of
view, in the _Testimónio de mandamiénto de Pedrárias Dávila mandando
proscesar a Vasco Nuñez de Balbóa_,[718] had been poisoned by the
jealous Garabito.
The convicted traitors were executed without delay or appeal of any
kind being given them. The general opinion is that this execution took
place in 1517, and that date has been adopted in this chapter; but
in the second volume of _Documentos inéditos_ (p. 556), there is a
_Peticion presentada por Hernando de Arguello, á nombre de Vasco Nuñez
de Balbóa, sobre que se le prorrogue el término que se le habia dado
para la construccion de unos navíos_, etc., which was granted, for
eight months, on the 13th day of January, 1518 (_en treze de Enero de
quiniéntos é diez é ocho años_). This document is signed by Pedrárias
Dávila, Alonso de la Puente, and Diego Marquez; and it is properly
attested by Martin Salte, _escribáno_. Argüello was the principal
financial supporter of Vasco Nuñez in the South Sea enterprise,
and was executed in the evening of the same day on which his chief
suffered.[719]
The first fifty-seven pages of the fourteenth volume of the _Documentos
inéditos_ are taken up with the affairs of Gil Gonzalez Dávila.
The first is an _asiénto_ with the pilot Niño, by which he was
given permission to discover and explore for one thousand leagues
to the westward from Panamá. Gil Gonzalez was to go in command of
the fleet,[720] composed of the vessels built by Vasco Nuñez, which
Pedrárias was ordered to deliver to the new adventurers, but which he
refused to do until Gil Gonzalez made the demand in person.[721]
A full statement of the equipments and cost of fitting out the fleet
in Spain is given in _Documentos inéditos_ (vol. xiv. pp. 8-20), and
is exceedingly interesting as showing what the Spaniards thought
essential to the outfit of an exploring expedition. What was actually
accomplished in the way of sailing, marching, and baptizing is fully
set forth in _Relacion de las leguas que el capitan Gil Gonzalez Dávila
anduvo á pié por tierra por la costa de la mar del Sur, y de los
caciques y indios que descubrió y se babtizaron, y del oro que dieron
para Sus Magestades_ (1522).[722]
The latter part of the career of Gil Gonzalez is described in the
_Informacion sobre la llegada de Gil Gonzalez Dávila y Cristóbal
de Olid á las Higueras_ (Oct. 8, 1524)[723] and in the succeeding
documents, especially a _Traslado testimoniado de una cédula del
Emperador Carlos V.... entre los capitanes Gil Gonzalez Dávila y
Cristóbal Dolid_ (Nov. 20, 1525).[724] The _Relacion_ of Andagoya[725]
contains a narrative of the expedition from a different point of
view. Besides these papers, Bancroft found a document in the Squier
Collection,[726] which he cites as _Carta de Gil Gonzalez Dávila el
Rey_ (March, 1524). This letter contains a great deal of detailed
information, of which Bancroft has made good use in his account of that
adventurer.[727]
* * * * *
There is no documentary evidence with regard to the settlement of
Jamaica by Juan de Esquivel, or of the circumnavigation of Cuba by
Sebastian de Ocampo; and there are but slight allusions to them in
the “chroniclers.”[728] There is not much to be found concerning the
settlement of Cuba, except the accounts given by the early chroniclers.
I should place Oviedo (vol. i. p. 494) first, although he got his
knowledge second hand from the account given by Las Casas; while the
story of this actual observer is necessarily tinged by the peculiar
views—peculiar for the nation and epoch—which he held in later life
with regard to the enslavement of the natives.[729]
With the voyage of Córdoba to Yucatan, Navarrete[730] again becomes
useful, although he printed no new evidence. The voyage, therefore,
rests upon the accounts given in the standard books,[731] upon
the _Historia verdadera_ of Bernal Diaz, the _Vida de Cortés_ in
Icazbalceta (i. 338), and a few documents recently dragged from the
recesses of the Indian Archives.
Bernal Diaz del Castillo came to Tierra-Firme with Pedrárias; but,
discouraged with the outlook there, he and about one hundred companions
found their way to Cuba, attracted thither by the inducements held
out by Velasquez. But there again he was doomed to disappointment,
and served under Córdoba, Grijalva, and Cortés. After the conquest of
Mexico he settled in Guatemala. Whatever may be the exaggerations in
the latter part of his _Historia verdadera_,[732] there is no reason
why Bernal Diaz should not have wished to tell the truth as to the
voyages of Córdoba and Grijalva, with one or two exceptions, to be
hereafter noted.
Prescott, in his _Conquest of Mexico_ (vol. i. p. 222), says that
Córdoba sailed for one of the neighboring Bahamas, but that storms
drove him far out of his course, etc. Bancroft[733] has effectually
disposed of this error. But is it not a curious fact that Bernal Diaz
and Oviedo should give the length of the voyage from Cape St. Anton
to the sighting of the islands off Yucatan as from six to twenty-one
days? Oviedo was probably nearer the mark, as it is very likely that
the old soldier had forgotten the exact circumstances of the voyage;
for it must be borne in mind that he did not write his book until
long after the events which it chronicles. As to the object of the
expedition, it was undoubtedly undertaken for the purpose of procuring
slaves, and very possibly Velasquez contributed a small vessel to the
two fitted out by the other adventurers;[734] but the claim set forth
by the descendants of Velasquez, that he sent four fleets _at his own
cost_—_La una con un F. H. de Córdoba_[735]—is preposterous.
The voyage of Juan de Grijalva was much better chronicled; for
with regard to it there are in existence three accounts written by
eye-witnesses. The first is that of Bernal Diaz,[736] which is minute,
and generally accurate; but it is not unlikely that in his envy at
the praise accorded to Cortés, he may have exaggerated the virtues of
Grijalva. The latter also wrote an account of the expedition, which
is embodied in Oviedo,[737] together with corrections suggested by
Velasquez, whom Oviedo saw in 1523.
But before these I should place the _Itinerario_ of Juan Diaz, a priest
who accompanied the expedition.[738] The original is lost; but an
Italian version is known, which was printed with the _Itinerario de
Varthema_ at Venice, in 1520.[739] This edition was apparently unknown
to Navarrete, who gives 1522 as the date of its appearance in Italian,
in which he is followed by Ternaux-Compans and Prescott.
Notwithstanding this mass of original material, it is not easy to
construct a connected narrative of this voyage, for Oviedo sometimes
contradicts himself; Bernal Diaz had undoubtedly forgotten the exact
dates, which he nevertheless attempts to give in too many cases; Juan
Diaz, owing partly to the numerous translations and changes incidental
thereto, is sometimes unintelligible; and Las Casas,[740] who had good
facilities for getting at the exact truth, is often very vague and
difficult to follow.
[Illustration: JUAN DE GRIJALVA.
Fac-simile of an engraving in Herrera, i. 312. Cf. also the Mexican
edition of Prescott, and Carbajal Espinosa’s _Historia de México_. i.
64.]
In addition to this material, the _Décadas abreviadas de los
descubrimientos, conquistas, fundaciones y otras cosas notables,
acaecidas en las Indias occidentales desde 1492 á 1640_, has been of
considerable service. This paper was found in manuscript form, without
date or signature, in the Biblioteca Nacional by the editors of the
_Documentos inéditos_, and printed by them in their eighth volume (pp.
5-52). It is not accurate throughout; but it gives the dates and order
of events in many cases so clearly, that it is a document of some
importance.
[Illustration: Edward Channing.]
THE EARLY CARTOGRAPHY OF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND ADJACENT PARTS.
BY THE EDITOR.
IN a previous section on the early maps of the Spanish and Portuguese
discoveries the Editor has traced the development of the geography of
the Gulf of Mexico with the group of the Antilles and the neighboring
coasts, beginning with the delineation of La Cosa in 1500. He has
indicated in the same section the influence of the explorations of
Columbus and his companions in shaping the geographical ideas of the
early years of the sixteenth century. Balbóa’s discovery in 1513 was
followed by the failure to find any passage to the west in the latitude
of the Antilles; but the disappointment was not sufficient to remove
the idea of such a passage from the minds of certain geographers for
some years to come. The less visionary among them hesitated to embrace
the notion, however, and we observe a willingness to be confined by
something like definite knowledge in the maker of a map of the Pacific
which is preserved in the Military Library at Weimar. This map shows
Cordova’s discoveries about Yucatan (1517), but has no indication
of the islands which Magellan discovered (1520) in the Pacific;
accordingly, Kohl places it in 1518. Balbóa’s discovery is noted in the
sea which was seen by the Castilians.[741]
[Illustration: THE PACIFIC, 1518.]
[Illustration: GULF OF MEXICO, 1520.
This map is also given in Weise’s _Discoveries of America_, p. 278.]
[Illustration: LORENZ FRIESS, 1522.]
A sketch of a map found by Navarrete in the Spanish archives, and given
by him in his _Coleccion_, vol. iii., as “Las Costas de Tierra-Firme
y las tierras nuevas,” probably embodies the results of Pineda’s
expedition to the northern shores of the Gulf in 1519. This was the map
sent to Spain by Garay, the governor of Jamaica. What seems to be the
mouth of the Mississippi will be noted as the “Rio del Espiritu Santo.”
The surprisingly accurate draft of the shores of the Gulf which Cortés
sent to Europe was published in 1524, and is given to the reader on
another page.[742]
[Illustration: MAIOLLO, 1527.
Sketch of the map in the Ambrosian Library, of which the part north
of Florida is given on a larger scale, after Desimoni’s sketch, with
coast names, in the present _History_, Vol. IV. pp. 28, 39. The present
sketch follows a fac-simile given in Weise’s _Discoveries of America_.]
There is a sketch of the northern shore of South America and the
“Insule Canibalorum sive Antiglie” which was made by Lorenz Friess
(Laurentius Frisius) in 1522. The outline, which is given herewith,
represents one of the sheets of twelve woodcut maps which were
not published till 1530—under the title _Carta marina navigatoria
Portugalensium_. Friess does not mention whence he got his material,
which seems to be of an earlier date than the time of using it; and
Kohl suspects it came from Waldseemüller. South America is marked “Das
nüw Erfunde land.”
In the Maiollo map of 1527 we find two distinct features,—the strait,
connecting with the Pacific, which Cortés had been so anxious to find;
and the insular Yucatan pushed farther than usual into the Gulf.
The notion that Yucatan was an island is said to have arisen from a
misconception of the meaning of the designation which the Indians
applied to the country.[743] The Portuguese Portulano of 1514-1518[744]
had made Yucatan a peninsula; but four years later Grijalva had been
instructed to sail round it, and Cortés in his map of 1520 had left
an intervening channel.[745] We see the uncertainty which prevailed
among cartographers regarding this question in the peninsular character
which Yucatan has in the map of 1520,[746] as resulting from Pineda’s
search; in the seeming hesitancy of the Toreno map,[747] and in the
unmistakable insularity of the Friess,[748] Verrazano,[749] and
Ribero[750] charts. The decision of the latter royal hydrographer
governed a school of map-makers for some years, and a similar strait
of greater or less width separates it from the main in the Finæus
map of 1531,[751] the Lenox woodcut of 1534,[752] the Ulpius globe
of 1542,[753] not to name others; though the peninsular notion still
prevailed with some of the cartographers.[754]
[Illustration: THE WEIMAR MAP OF 1527.]
A map which shows the extent of the explorations on the Pacific from
Balbóa’s time till Gonzales and others reached the country about the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, is that of 1527, which was formerly ascribed
to Ferdinand Columbus, but has been shown (?) by Harrisse to be
more likely the work of Nuño Garcia de Toreno. The map, which is of
the world, and of which but a small section is given herewith, is
called _Carta universal en que se contiene todo lo que del mundo se a
descubierto hasta aora; hizola un cosmographo de su magestad anno M.
D. XXVII en Sevilla_. Its outline of the two Americas is shown in a
sketch given on an earlier page.[755] The original is preserved in the
Grand-Ducal Library at Weimar.
[Illustration: RIBERO, 1529.]
A map of similar character, dated two years later, is one which is
the work of Diego Ribero, a Portuguese in the service of Spain, who
had been the royal cosmographer since 1523,—an office which he was to
hold till his death, ten years later, in 1533. There are two early
copies of this map, of which a small section is herewith given; both
are on parchment, and are preserved respectively at Weimar and Rome,
though Thomassy[756] says there is a third copy. The Roman copy is in
the Archivio del Collegio di Propaganda, and is said to have belonged
to Cardinal Borgia. The North American sections of the map have been
several times reproduced in connection with discussions of the voyages
of Gomez and Verrazano.[757] The entire American continent was first
engraved by M. C. Sprengel in 1795, after a copy then in Büttner’s
library at Jena, when it was appended to a German translation of Muñoz,
with a memoir upon it which was also printed separately as _Ueber
Ribero’s älteste Weltkarte_. The map is entitled _Carta universal en
que se contiene todo lo que del mundo se ha descubierto fasta agora:
Hizola Diego Ribero cosmographo de su magestad: año de 1529. La Qual
se divide en dos partes conforme á la capitulaçion que hizieron los
catholicos Reyes de España, y el Rey don Juan de portugal en la Villa
[citta] de Tordesillas: Año de 1494_,—thus recording the Spanish
understanding, as the map of 1527 did, of the line of demarcation. The
Propaganda copy has “en Sevilla” after the date. The most serviceable
of the modern reproductions of the American parts is that given by
Kohl in his _Die beiden ältesten General-Karten von Amerika_, though
other drafts of parts are open to the student in Santarem’s _Atlas_
(pl. xxv.), Lelewel’s _Moyen-âge_ (pl. xli.), Ruge’s _Geschichte des
Zeitalters der Entdeckungen_, and Bancroft’s _Central America_ (i.
146).[758]
These two maps of 1527 and 1529 established a type of the American
coasts which prevailed for some time. One such map is that of which a
fac-simile is given in the _Cartas de Indias_, called “Carta de las
Antillas, seno Mejicano y costas de tierra-firme, y de la America
setentrional,” which seems, however, to have been made later than
1541.[759] Another is preserved in the Ducal Library at Wolfenbüttel,
of which Harrisse makes mention in his _Cabots_, p. 185. A significant
map of this type, commonly cited as the _Atlas de Philippe II., dédié
à Charles Quint_, is more correctly defined in the title given to a
photographic reproduction,[760] _Portulano de Charles Quint donné
à Philippe II., accompagné d’une notice par MM. F. Spitzer et Ch.
Wiener_, Paris, 1875. The map is not dated; but the development of the
coasts of Florida, California, Peru, and of Magellan’s Straits, with
the absence of the coast-line of Chili, which had been tracked in 1536,
has led to the belief that it represents investigations of a period not
long before 1540. The original draft first attracted attention when
exhibited in 1875 at the Geographical Congress in Paris, and shortly
after it was the subject of several printed papers.[761] Major is
inclined to think it the work of Baptista Agnese, and Wieser is of the
same opinion; while for the American parts it is contended that the
Italian geographer—for the language of the map is Italian—followed the
maps of 1527 and 1529.
What would seem to be the earliest engraved map of this type exists,
so far as is known, in but a single copy, now in the Lenox Library.
It is a woodcut, measuring 21 × 17 inches, and is entitled _La carta
uniuersale della terra firma & Isole delle Indie occidētali, cio è del
mondo nuouo fatta per dichiaratione delli libri delle Indie, cauata
da due carte da nauicare fatte in Sibilia da li piloti della Maiesta
Cesarea_,—the maps referred to being those of 1527 and 1529, as is
supposed. Harrisse, however, claims that this Venice cut preceded the
map of 1527, and was probably the work of the same chartmaker. Stevens
holds that it followed both of these maps, and should be dated 1534;
while Harrisse would place it before Peter Martyr’s death in September,
1526. According to Brevoort and Harrisse,[762] the map was issued to
accompany the conglomerate work of Martyr and Oviedo, _Summario de la
generale historia de l’Indie occidentali_, which was printed in three
parts at Venice in 1534.[763] Murphy, in his _Verrazzano_ (p. 125),
quotes the colophon of the Oviedo part of the book as evidence of the
origin of the map, which translated stands thus: “Printed at Venice in
the month of December, 1534.”
[Illustration]
For the explanation of these books there has been made a universal map
of the countries of all the West Indies, together with a special map
[Hispaniola] taken from two marine charts of the Spaniards, one of
which belonged to Don Pietro Martire, councillor of the Royal Council
of said Indies, and was made by the pilot and master of marine charts,
Niño Garzia de Loreno [_sic_] in Seville; the other was made also by a
pilot of his Majesty, the Emperor, in Seville. Quaritch[764] says that
an advertisement at the end of the _secundo libro_ of Xeres, _Conquista
del Peru_ (Venice, 1534), shows that the map in the first edition of
Peter Martyr’s _Decades_ was made by Nuño Garcia de Toreno in Seville;
but the statement is questionable. Harrisse refers to a map of Toreno
preserved in the Royal Library at Turin, dated 1522, in which he is
called “piloto y maestro de cartas de nauegar de su Magestad.” The
American part of this last chart is unfortunately missing.[765]
Harrisse calls this Lenox woodcut the earliest known chart of Spanish
origin which is crossed by lines of latitude and longitude, and thinks
it marks a type adopted by the Spanish cosmographers a little after
the return of Del Cano from his voyage of circumnavigation and the
coming of Andagoya from Panama in 1522, with additions based on the
tidings which Gomez brought to Seville in December, 1525, from his
voyage farther north.
[Illustration: AN EARLY FRENCH MAP.]
It is not worth while to reproduce here various maps of this time, all
showing more or less resemblance to the common type of this central
portion of the New World. Such are the maps of Verrazano[766] and of
Thorne,[767] the draft of the Sloane manuscript,[768] the cordiform map
of Orontius Finæus,[769] one given by Kunstmann,[770] and the whole
series of the Agnese type.[771]
[Illustration: GULF OF MEXICO, 1536.]
There is a French map, which was found by Jomard in the possession of
a noble family in France, which Kohl supposes to be drawn in part from
Ribero. A sketch is annexed as of “An Early French Map.” The absence of
the Gulf of California and of all traces of De Soto’s expedition leads
Kohl to date it before 1533. Jomard placed the date later; but as the
map has no record of the expeditions of Ribault and Laudonnière, it
would appear to be earlier than 1554.[772]
There is a large manuscript map in the British Museum which seems to
have been made by a Frenchman from Spanish sources, judging from the
mixture and corruption of the languages used in it. In one inscription
there is mention of “the disembarkation of the Governor;” and this,
together with the details of the harbors on the west coast of Florida,
where Narvaez went, leads Kohl to suppose the map to have been drawn
from that commander’s reports. The sketch, which is annexed and marked
“Gulf of Mexico, 1536,” follows Kohl’s delineation in his Washington
collection.[773]
[Illustration: ROTZ, 1542.]
We can further trace the geographical history of the Antilles in the
Münster map of 1540,[774] in the Mercator gores of 1541,[775] and in
the Ulpius globe of 1542.[776] In this last year (1542) we find in
the Rotz _Idrography_, preserved in the British Museum, a map which
records the latitudes about three degrees too high for the larger
islands, and about two degrees too low for the more southern ones,
making the distance between Florida and Trinidad too great by five
degrees. The map is marked “The Indis of Occident quhas the Spaniards
doeth occupy.” The sketch here given follows Kohl’s copy.[777] Rotz
seems to have worked from antecedent Portuguese charts; and in the
well-known Cabot map of 1544, of which a section is annexed, as well as
in the Medina map of 1545,[778] we doubtless have the results reached
by the Spanish hydrographers. The “Carta marina” of the Italian Ptolemy
of 1548,[779] as well as the manuscript atlas of Nicholas Vallard
(1547), now in the Sir Thomas Phillipps Collection, may be traced
ultimately to the same source; and the story goes respecting the latter
that a Spanish bishop, Don Miguel de Silva, brought out of Spain and
into France the originals upon which it was founded. These originals,
it would appear, also served Homem in 1558 in the elaborate manuscript
map, now preserved in the British Museum, of which a sketch (in part)
is annexed (p. 229).
[Illustration: CABOT, 1544.
Sketch of a section of the so-called Sebastian Cabot Mappemonde in
the National Library at Paris, following a photographic reproduction
belonging to Harvard College Library. There is a rude draft of the
Antilles by Allfonsce of this same year.]
The maps of the middle of the century which did most to fix popularly
the geography of the New World were probably the Bellero map of
1554,[780] which was so current in Antwerp publications of about that
time, and the hemisphere of Ramusio (1556) which accompanied the third
volume of his _Viaggi_, and of which a fac-simile is annexed. There is
a variety of delineations to be traced out for the Antilles through the
sequence of the better-known maps of the next following years, which
the curious student may find in the maps of the Riccardi Palace,[781]
the Nancy globe,[782] the Martines map of 155-,[783] that of Forlani in
1560,[784] the map of Ruscelli in the Ptolemy of 1561, besides those
by Zalterius (1566),[785] Des Liens (1566),[786] Diegus (1568),[787]
Mercator (1569),[788] Ortelius (1570),[789] and Porcacchi (1572).[790]
[Illustration: RAMUSIO, 1556.
H. H. Bancroft, _Northwest Coast_, i. 49, sketches this map, but errs
in saying the shape of the California peninsula was not copied in
later maps. Cf. map in Best’s _Frobisher_ 1578.]
[Illustration: HOMEM, 1558.]
[Illustration: MARTINES, 1578.]
Of the map of Martines, in 1578, which is in a manuscript atlas
preserved in the British Museum, Kohl says its parallels of latitude
are more nearly correct than on any earlier map, while its meridians of
longitude are expanded far too much.[791]
[Illustration: CUBA (_after Wytfliet_, 1597).
The earliest map of Cuba is that in the La Cosa Chart, which is
reproduced, among other places, in Ramon de la Sagra’s _Histoire
physique et politique de l’ile de Cuba_, 1842-1843, which contains
also the chart of Guillaure Testu. There are other early maps of
Cuba—besides those in maps of the Antilles already mentioned in the
present section—in Porcacchi, 1572 (pp. 81, 88), in the Ortelius of
1592, and in the Mercator atlases. The bibliography of Cuba is given
in Bachiler’s _Apuntes para la historia de la isla de Cuba_, Havana,
1861. For the cartography, cf. the _Mapoteca Columbiana_ of Uricoechea,
London, 1860, p. 53. Of the several maps of the Antilles toward the end
of the century, it may be sufficient to name the detailed map of the
West Indies in the Ortelius of 1584, the Hakluyt-Martyr map of 1587,
the map of Thomas Hood in Kunstmann, the De Bry map of 1596, as well as
the maps of the first distinctively American atlas,—that of Wytfliet in
1597.]