TO THE VISCOUNT ASCANIO SFORZA, CARDINAL VICE-CHANCELLOR
You renew to me, Most Illustrious Prince, your desire to know all that
treats of the Spanish discoveries in the New World. You have let me
know that the details I have given you concerning the first voyage
pleased you; listen now to the continuation of events.
Medina del Campo is a town of Ulterior Spain, as it is called in
Italy, or of Old Castile, as it is called here. It is distant about
four hundred miles from Cadiz. While the Court sojourned there the
ninth day of the calends of April, messengers sent to the King and
Queen informed them that twelve ships returning from the islands had
arrived at Cadiz, after a happy voyage. The commander of the squadron
did not wish to say more by the messengers to the King and Queen
except that the Admiral had stopped with five ships and nine hundred
men at Hispaniola, which he wished to explore. He wrote that he would
give further details by word of mouth. The eve of the nones of April,
this commander of the squadron, who was the brother of the nurse of
the eldest royal princes, arrived at Medina, being sent by Columbus. I
questioned him and other trustworthy witnesses, and shall now repeat
what they told me, hoping by so doing to render myself agreeable to
you. What I learned from their mouths you shall now in turn learn from
me.
The third day of the ides of October the Spaniards left the island of
Ferro,[1] which is the most distant of the Canaries from Europe, and
put out upon the high seas in seventeen ships. Twenty-one full days
passed before they saw any land; driven by the north wind they were
carried much farther to the south-west than on the first voyage, and
thus they arrived at the archipelago of the cannibals, or the Caribs,
which we only know from the descriptions given by the islanders. The
first island they discovered was so thickly wooded that there was
not an inch of bare or stony land. As the discovery took place on
a Sunday, the Admiral wished to call the island Domingo.[2] It was
supposed to be deserted, and he did not stop there. He calculated that
they had covered 820 leagues in these twenty-one days. The ships had
always been driven forward by the south-west wind. At some little
distance from Domingo other islands were perceived, covered with
trees, of which the trunks, roots, and leaves exhaled sweet odours.
Those who landed to visit the island found neither men nor animals,
except lizards of extraordinarily great size. This island they called
Galana. From the summit of a promontory, a mountain was visible on
the horizon and thirty miles distant from that mountain a river
of important breadth descended into the plain. This was the first
inhabited land[3] found since leaving the Canaries, but it was
inhabited by those odious cannibals, of whom they had only heard by
report, but have now learned to know, thanks to those interpreters
whom the Admiral had taken to Spain on his first voyage.
[Note 1: The chronology throughout is erroneous. Columbus had sailed
from Cadiz on September 25th, arriving at Gomera on October 5th.]
[Note 2: The first island was discovered on November 3d, and was named
La Deseada, or The Desired; five others, including Domingo and Maria
Galante were discovered on the same date.]
[Note 3: The island of Guadeloupe, called by the natives Caracueira.]
While exploring the island, numerous villages, composed of twenty or
thirty houses each, were discovered; in the centre is a public square,
round which the houses are placed in a circle. And since I am speaking
about these houses, it seems proper that I should describe them to
you. It seems they are built entirely of wood in a circular form. The
construction of the building is begun by planting in the earth very
tall trunks of trees; by means of them, shorter beams are placed in
the interior and support the outer posts. The extremities of the
higher ones are brought together in a point, after the fashion of
a military tent. These frames they then cover with palm and other
leaves, ingeniously interlaced, as a protection against rain. From
the shorter beams in the interior they suspend knotted cords made of
cotton or of certain roots similar to rushes, and on these they lay
coverings.[4]
[Note 4: Hamacs, which are still commonly used in _tierra caliente_
of the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America.]
The island produces cotton such as the Spaniards call _algodon_ and
the Italians _bombasio_. The people sleep on these suspended beds or
on straw spread upon the floor. There is a sort of court surrounded by
houses where they assemble for games. They call their houses _boios_.
The Spaniards noticed two wooden statues, almost shapeless, standing
upon two interlaced serpents, which at first they took to be the gods
of the islanders; but which they later learned were placed there
merely for ornament. We have already remarked above that it is
believed they adore the heavens; nevertheless, they make out of
cotton-fabric certain masks, which resemble imaginary goblins they
think they have seen in the night.
But let us return to our narrative. Upon the arrival of the Spaniards,
the islanders, both men and women, abandoned their houses and fled.
About thirty women and children whom they had captured in the
neighbouring islands and kept either as slaves or to be eaten, took
refuge with the Spaniards. In the houses were found pots of all kinds,
jars and large earthen vessels, boxes and tools resembling ours. Birds
were boiling in their pots, also geese mixed with bits of human flesh,
while other parts of human bodies were fixed on spits, ready for
roasting. Upon searching another house the Spaniards found arm and
leg bones, which the cannibals carefully preserve for pointing their
arrows; for they have no iron. All other bones, after the flesh
is eaten, they throw aside. The Spaniards discovered the recently
decapitated head of a young man still wet with blood. Exploring the
interior of the island they discovered seven rivers,[5] without
mentioning a much larger watercourse similar to the Guadalquivir
at Cordoba and larger than our Ticino, of which the banks were
deliciously umbrageous. They gave the name of Guadaloupe to this
island because of the resemblance one of its mountains bore to the
Mount Guadaloupe, celebrated for its miraculous statue of the Virgin
Immaculate. The natives call their island Caracueira, and it is
the principal one inhabited by the Caribs. The Spaniards took from
Guadaloupe seven parrots larger than pheasants, and totally unlike any
other parrots in colour. Their entire breast and back are covered with
purple plumes, and from their shoulders fall long feathers of the same
colour, as I have often remarked in Europe is the case with the capons
peasants raise. The other feathers are of various colours,--green,
bluish, purple, or yellow. Parrots are as numerous in all these
islands as sparrows or other small birds are with us; and just as we
keep magpies, thrushes, and similar birds to fatten them, so do these
islanders also keep birds to eat, though their forests are full of
parrots.
[Note 5: In reality, these so-called rivers were unimportant mountain
torrents.]
The female captives who had taken refuge with our people received by
the Admiral's order some trifling presents, and were begged by signs
to go and hunt for the cannibals, for they knew their place of
concealment. In fact they went back to the men during the night,
and the following morning returned with several cannibals who were
attracted by the hope of receiving presents; but when they saw our
men, these savages, whether because they were afraid or because they
were conscious of their crimes, looked at one another, making a low
murmur, and then, suddenly forming into a wedge-shaped group, they
fled swiftly, like a flock of birds, into the shady valleys.
Having called together his men who had passed some days exploring the
interior of the island, Columbus gave the signal for departure. He
took no cannibal with him, but he ordered their boats, dug out of
single tree-trunks, to be destroyed, and on the eve of the ides of
November he weighed anchor and left Guadaloupe.
Desiring to see the men of his crew whom he had left the preceding
year at Hispaniola to explore that country, Columbus passed daily by
other islands which he discovered to the right and left. Straight
ahead to the north appeared a large island. Those natives who had been
brought to Spain on his first voyage, and those who had been delivered
from captivity, declared that it was called Madanina, and that it was
inhabited exclusively by women.[6] The Spaniards had, in fact, heard
this island spoken of during their first voyage. It appeared that the
cannibals went at certain epochs of the year to visit these women,
as in ancient history the Thracians crossed to the island of Lesbos
inhabited by the Amazons. When their children were weaned, they sent
the boys to their fathers, but kept the girls, precisely as did the
Amazons. It is claimed that these women know of vast caverns where
they conceal themselves if any man tries to visit them at another than
the established time. Should any one attempt to force his way into
these caverns by violence or by trickery, they defend themselves with
arrows, which they shoot with great precision. At least, this is the
story as it is told, and I repeat it to you. The north wind renders
this island unapproachable, and it can only be reached when the wind
is in the south-west.
[Note 6: This is the island of Martinique; the legend of its Amazons
is purely fantastic.]
While still in view of Madanina at a distance of about forty miles,
the Spaniards passed another island, which, according to the accounts
of the natives, was very populous and rich in foodstuffs of all kinds.
As this island was very mountainous they named it Montserrat. Amongst
other details given by the islanders on board, and as far as could
be ascertained from their signs and their gestures, the cannibals of
Montserrat frequently set out on hunts to take captives for food, and
in so doing go a distance of more than a thousand miles from their
coasts. The next day the Spaniards discovered another island, and as
it was of spherical form, Columbus named it Santa Maria Rotunda. In
less time he passed by another island discovered next day, and which,
without stopping, he dedicated to St. Martin, and the following day
still a third island came into view. The Spaniards estimated its width
from east to west at fifty miles.
It afterwards became known that these islands were of the most
extraordinary beauty and fertility, and to this last one the name of
the Blessed Virgin of Antigua was given. Sailing on past numerous
islands which followed Antigua, Columbus arrived, forty miles farther
on, at an island which surpassed all the others in size, and which the
natives called Agay. The Admiral gave it the name of Santa Cruz. Here
he ordered the anchor to be lowered, in order that he might replenish
his supply of water, and he sent thirty men from his vessel to land
and explore. These men found four dogs on the shore, and the same
number of youths and women approached with hands extended, like
supplicants. It was supposed they were begging for assistance or to be
rescued from the hands of those abominable people. Whatever decision
the Spaniards might take in regard to them, seemed better to them
than their actual condition. The cannibals fled as they had done at
Guadaloupe, and disappeared into the forests.
Two days were passed at Santa Cruz, where thirty of our Spaniards
placed in an ambuscade saw, from the place where they were watching, a
canoe in the distance coming towards them, in which there were eight
men and as many women. At a given signal they fell upon the canoe; as
they approached, the men and women let fly a volley of arrows with
great rapidity and accuracy. Before the Spaniards had time to protect
themselves with their shields, one of our men, a Galician, was killed
by a woman, and another was seriously wounded by an arrow shot by that
same woman. It was discovered that their poisoned arrows contained a
kind of liquid which oozed out when the point broke. There was one
woman amongst these savages whom, as nearly as could be conjectured,
all the others seemed to obey, as though she was their queen. With her
was her son, a fierce, robust young man, with ferocious eyes and a
face like a lion's. Rather than further expose themselves to their
arrows, our men chose to engage them in a hand to hand combat. Rowing
stoutly, they pushed their barque against the canoe of the savages,
which was overturned by the shock; the canoe sank, but the savages,
throwing themselves into the water, continued while swimming to shoot
their arrows with the same rapidity. Climbing upon a rock level with
the water, they still fought with great bravery, though they were
finally captured, after one had been killed and the son of the queen
had received two wounds. When they were brought on board the Admiral's
ship, they no more changed their ferocious and savage mood than do the
lions of Africa, when they find themselves caught in nets. There was
no one who saw them who did not shiver with horror, so infernal and
repugnant was the aspect nature and their own cruel character had
given them. I affirm this after what I have myself seen, and so
likewise do all those who went with me in Madrid to examine them.
I return to my narrative. Each day the Spaniards advanced farther.
They had covered a distance of five hundred miles. Driven first by the
south wind, then by the west wind, and finally by the wind from the
north-west, they found themselves in a sea dotted with innumerable
islands, strangely different one from another; some were covered with
forests and prairies and offered delightful shade, while others, which
were dry and sterile, had very lofty and rocky mountains. The rocks of
these latter were of various colours, some purple, some violet, and
some entirely white. It is thought they contain metals and precious
stones.
The ships did not touch, as the weather was unfavourable, and also
because navigation amongst these islands is dangerous. Postponing
until another time the exploration of these islands which, because of
their confused grouping could not be counted, the Spaniards continued
their voyage. Some lighter ships of the fleet did, however, cruise
amongst them, reconnoitring forty-six of them, while the heavier
ships, fearing the reefs, kept to the high sea. This collection of
islands is called an archipelago. Outside the archipelago and directly
across the course rises the island called by the natives Burichena,
which Columbus placed under the patronage of San Juan.[7] A number of
the captives rescued from the hands of the cannibals declared they
were natives of that island, which they said was populous and well
cultivated; they explained that it had excellent ports, was covered
with forests, and that its inhabitants hated the cannibals and were
constantly at war with them. The inhabitants possessed no boats by
which they could reach the coasts of the cannibals from their island;
but whenever they were lucky in repulsing a cannibal invasion for
the purpose of plundering, they cut their prisoners into small bits,
roasted, and greedily ate them; for in war there is alternative good
and bad fortune.
[Note 7: Porto Rico.]
All this was recounted through the native interpreters who had been
taken back to Spain on the first voyage. Not to lose time, the
Spaniards passed by Burichena; nevertheless some sailors, who landed
on the extreme western point of the island to take a supply of fresh
water, found there a handsome house built in the fashion of the
country, and surrounded by a dozen or more ordinary structures, all of
which were abandoned by their owners. Whether the inhabitants betake
themselves at that period of the year to the mountains to escape the
heat, and then return to the lowlands when the temperature is fresher,
or whether they had fled out of fear of the cannibals, is not
precisely known. There is but one king for the whole of the island,
and he is reverently obeyed. The south coast of this island, which the
Spaniards followed, is two hundred miles long.
During the night two women and a young man, who had been rescued from
the cannibals, sprang into the sea and swam to their native island.
A few days later the Spaniards finally arrived at the much-desired
Hispaniola, which is five hundred leagues from the nearest of the
cannibal islands. Cruel fate had decreed the death of all those
Spaniards who had been left there.
There is a coast region of Hispaniola which the natives call Xarama,
and it was from Xarama that Columbus had set sail on his first
voyage, when he was about to return to Spain, taking with him the ten
interpreters of whom I spoke above, of whom only three survived; the
others having succumbed to the change of climate, country, and food.
Hardly were the ships in sight of the coast of Xarama, which Columbus
called Santa Reina,[8] than the Admiral ordered one of these
interpreters to be set at liberty, and two others managed to jump into
the sea and swim to the shore. As Columbus did not yet know the sad
fate of the thirty-eight men whom he had left on the island the
preceding year, he was not concerned at this flight. When the
Spaniards were near to the coast a long canoe with several rowers came
out to meet them. In it was the brother of Guaccanarillo, that king
with whom the Admiral had signed a treaty when he left Hispaniola,
and to whose care he had urgently commended the sailors he had left
behind. The brother brought to the Admiral, in the king's name, a
present of two golden statues; he also spoke in his own language--as
was later understood,--of the death of our compatriots; but as there
was no interpreter, nobody at the time understood his words.
[Note 8: Xarama is also spelled in the Latin editions _Xamana_, and
Santa Reina, _Sancteremus_.]
Upon arriving, however, at the blockhouse and the houses, which were
surrounded by an entrenchment, they were all found reduced to ashes,
while over the place a profound silence reigned. The Admiral and his
companions were deeply moved by this discovery. Thinking and hoping
that some of the men might still be alive, he ordered cannon and guns
to be fired, that the noise of these formidable detonations echoing
amongst the mountains and along the coasts might serve as a signal of
his arrival to any of our men who might be hidden among the islanders
or among wild beasts. It was in vain; for they were all dead.
The Admiral afterwards sent messengers to Guaccanarillo, who, as far
as they could understand, related as follows: there are on the island,
which is very large, a number of kings, who are more powerful than he;
two of these, disturbed by the news of the arrival of the Spaniards,
assembled considerable forces, attacked and killed our men and burned
their entrenchments, houses, and possessions; Guaccanarillo had
striven to save our men, and in the struggle had been wounded with an
arrow, his leg being still bandaged with cotton; and for this reason
he had not, despite his keen desire, been able to go to meet the
Admiral.
There do exist several sovereigns on the island, some more powerful
than the others; just as we read that the fabulous Æneas found Latium
divided amongst several kings, Latinus, Mezentius, Turnus, and
Tarchon, all near neighbours who fought over the territory. The
islanders of Hispaniola, in my opinion, may be esteemed more fortunate
than were the Latins, above all should they become converted to the
true religion. They go naked, they know neither weights nor measures,
nor that source of all misfortunes, money; living in a golden age,
without laws, without lying judges, without books, satisfied with
their life, and in no wise solicitous for the future. Nevertheless
ambition and the desire to rule trouble even them, and they fight
amongst themselves, so that even in the golden age there is never a
moment without war; the maxim _Cede, non cedam_, has always prevailed
amongst mortal men.
The following day the Admiral sent to Guaccanarillo a Sevillan called
Melchior, who had once been sent by the King and the Queen to the
sovereign Pontiff when they captured Malaga. Melchior found him
in bed, feigning illness, and surrounded by the beds of his seven
concubines. Upon removing the bandage [from his leg] Melchior
discovered no trace of any wound, and this caused him to suspect that
Guaccanarillo was the murderer of our compatriots. He concealed his
suspicions, however, and obtained the king's assurance that he would
come the following day to see the Admiral on board his ship, which he
did. As soon as he came on board, and after saluting the Spaniards and
distributing some gold among the officers, he turned to the women whom
we had rescued from the cannibals and, glancing with half-opened eyes
at one of them whom we called Catherine, he spoke to her very softly;
after which, with the Admiral's permission, which he asked with great
politeness and urbanity, he inspected the horses and other things he
had never before seen, and then left.
Some persons advised Columbus to hold Guaccanarillo prisoner, to
make him expiate in case it was proven that our compatriots had been
assassinated by his orders; but the Admiral, deeming it inopportune to
irritate the islanders, allowed him to depart.
The day after the morrow, the brother of the king, acting in his own
name or in that of Guaccanarillo, came on board and won over the
women, for the following night Catherine, in order to recover her own
liberty and that of all her companions, yielded to the solicitation of
Guaccanarillo or his brother, and accomplished a feat more heroic than
that of the Roman Clelia, when she liberated the other virgins who had
served with her as hostages, swam the Tiber and thus escaped from the
power of Lars Porsena. Clelia crossed the river on a horse, while
Catherine and several other women trusted only to their arms and swam
for a distance of three miles in a sea by no means calm; for that,
according to every one's opinion, was the distance between the ships
and the coast. The sailors pursued them in light boats, guided by the
same light from the shore which served for the women, of whom they
captured three. It is believed that Catherine and four others escaped
to Guaccanarillo, for at daybreak, men sent out by the Admiral
announced that he and the women had fled together, taking all their
goods with them; and this fact confirmed the suspicion that he had
consented to the assassination of our men.
Melchior, whom I have mentioned, was then despatched with three
hundred men to search for him. In the course of his march he came upon
a winding gorge, overlooked by five lofty hills in such wise as to
suggest the estuary of a large river. There was found a large harbour,
safe and spacious, which they named Port Royal. The entrance of this
harbour is crescent-shaped, and is so regularly formed that it is
difficult to detect whether ships have entered from the right or the
left; this can only be ascertained when they return to the entrance.
Three large ships can enter abreast. The surrounding hills form the
coasts, and afford shelter from the winds. In the middle of the
harbour there rises a promontory covered with forests, which are full
of parrots and many other birds which there build their nests and fill
the air with sweet melodies. Two considerable rivers empty into this
harbour.
In the course of their explorations of this country the Spaniards
perceived in the distance a large house, which they approached,
persuaded that it was the retreat of Guaccanarillo. They were met by a
man with a wrinkled forehead and frowning brows, who was escorted by
about a hundred warriors armed with bows and arrows, pointed lances
and clubs. He advanced menacingly towards them. "_Tainos_," the
natives cried, that is to say, good men and not cannibals. In response
to our amicable signs, they dropped their arms and modified their
ferocious attitude. To each one was presented a hawk's bell, and they
became so friendly that they fearlessly went on board the ships,
sliding down the steep banks of the river, and overwhelmed our
compatriots with gifts. Upon measuring the large house which was of
spherical form, it was found to have a diameter of thirty-five long
paces; surrounding it were thirty other ordinary houses. The ceilings
were decked with branches of various colours most artfully plaited
together. In reply to our inquiries about Guaccanarillo, the natives
responded,--as far as could be understood,--that they were not
subjects of his, but of a chief who was there present; they likewise
declared they understood that Guaccanarillo had left the coast to take
refuge in the mountains. After concluding a treaty of friendship with
that cacique, such being the name given to their kings, the Spaniards
returned to report what they had learned to the Admiral.
Columbus had meanwhile sent some officers with an escort of men to
effect a reconnaissance farther in the interior; two of the most
conspicuous of these were Hojeda and Corvalano, both young and
courageous noblemen. One of them discovered three rivers, the other
four, all of which had their sources in these same mountains. In the
sands of these rivers gold was found, which the Indians, who acted as
their escort, proceeded in their presence to collect in the following
manner: they dug a hole in the sand about the depth of an arm, merely
scooping the sand out of this trough with the right and left hands.
They extracted the grains of gold, which they afterwards presented to
the Spaniards. Some declared they saw grains as big as peas. I have
seen with my own eyes a shapeless ingot similar to a round river
stone, which was found by Hojeda, and was afterwards brought to Spain;
it weighed nine ounces. Satisfied with this first examination they
returned to report to the Admiral.
Columbus, as I have been told, had forbidden them to do more than
examine and reconnoitre the country. The news spread that the king
of the mountain country, where all these rivers rise, was called the
Cacique Caunaboa, that is to say, the Lord of the Golden House; for in
their language _boa_ is the word for a house, _cauna_ for gold, and
_cacique_ for king, as I have above written. Nowhere are better
fresh-water fish to be found, nor more beautiful nor better in taste,
and less dangerous. The waters of all these rivers are likewise very
wholesome.
Melchior has told me that amongst the cannibals the days of the month
of December are equal to the nights, but knowledge contradicts this
observation. I well know that in this self-same month of December,
some birds made their nests and others already hatched out their
little ones; the heat was also considerable. When I inquired
particularly concerning the elevation of the north star above the
horizon, he answered me that in the land of the cannibals the Great
Bear entirely disappeared beneath the arctic pole. There is nobody who
came back from this second voyage whose testimony one may more safely
accept than his; but had he possessed knowledge of astronomy he would
have limited himself to saying that the day is about as long as the
night. For in no place in the world does the night during the solstice
precisely equal the day; and it is certain that on this voyage the
Spaniards never reached the equator, for they constantly beheld on the
horizon the polar star, which served them as guide. As for Melchior's
companions, they were without knowledge or experience, therefore I
offer you few particulars, and those only casually, as I have been
able to collect them. I hope to narrate to you what I may be able to
learn from others. Moreover Columbus, whose particular friend I am,
has written me that he would recount me fully all that he has been
fortunate enough to discover.[9]
[Note 9: The letter of Columbus here mentioned is not known to exist.]
The Admiral selected an elevation near the port as the site for a
town[10]; and, within a few days, some houses and a church were built,
as well as could be done in so short a time. And there, on the feast
of the Three Kings (for when treating of this country one must speak
of a new world, so distant is it and so devoid of civilisation and
religion) the Holy Sacrifice was celebrated by thirteen priests.[11]
[Note 10: The first Spanish settlement was named Isabella, as was
likewise the cape on which it stood. Long after it was abandoned and
had fallen into ruin, the site was reputed to be haunted. See Las
Casas, _Historia de las Indias_, vol. i., p. 72.]
[Note 11: There were certainly not as many as thirteen priests
with Columbus. The text reads ...._divina nostro ritu sacra sunt
decantata tredecim sacerdotibus ministrantibus_. The number doubtless
includes all laymen who took any part, as acolytes, etc., in the
ceremonies.]
As the time when he had promised to send news to the King and Queen
approached, and as the season was moreover favourable [for sailing],
Columbus decided not to prolong his stay. He therefore ordered the
twelve caravels, whose arrival we have announced, to sail, though he
was much afflicted by the assassination of his comrades; because, but
for their death, we should possess much fuller information concerning
the climate and the products of Hispaniola.
That you may inform your apothecaries, druggists, and perfumers
concerning the products of this country and its high temperature, I
send you some seeds of all kinds, as well as the bark and the pith of
those trees which are believed to be cinnamon trees. If you wish to
taste either the seeds or the pith or the bark, be careful, Most
Illustrious Prince, only to do so with caution; not that they are
harmful, but they are very peppery, and if you leave them a long time
in your mouth, they will sting the tongue. In case you should burn
your tongue a little in tasting them, take some water, and the burning
sensation will be allayed. My messenger will also deliver to Your
Eminence some of those black and white seeds out of which they make
bread. If you cut bits of the wood called aloes, which he brings, you
will scent the delicate perfumes it exhales.
Fare you well.
From the Court of Spain, the third day of the calends of May, 1494.