Altezas para que puedan proseguir esta tan noble empresa, en la cual me
parece que rescibe nuestro Señor mucho servicio, y la España crece de
mucha grandeza, y todos los Cristianos mucha consolacion y placer, porque
aquí se divulgará el nombre de nuestro Señor; y en todas las tierras
adonde los navíos de vuestras Altezas van, y en todo cabo mando plantar
una alta cruz, y á toda la gente que hallo notifico el estado de vuestras
Altezas y como su asiento es en España, y les digo de nuestra santa fe
todo lo que yo puedo, y de la creencia de la Santa Madre Iglesia, la cual
tiene sus miembros en todo el mundo, y les digo la policía y nobleza de
todos los Cristianos, y la fe que en la Santa Trinidad tienen; y plega
á nuestro Señor de tirar de memoria á las personas que han impugnado y
impugnan tan excelente empresa, y impiden y impidieron porque no vaya
adelante, sin considerar cuanta honra y grandeza es del Real Estado da
vuestras Altezas en todo el mundo; no saben que entreponer á maldecir
de esto, salvo que se hace gasto en ello, y porque luego no enviaron
los navíos cargados de oro sin considerar la brevedad del tiempo y
tantos inconvenientes como acá se han habido, y no considerar que en
Castilla en casa de vuestras Altezas salen cada año personas que por
su merecimiento ganaron en ella mas de renta cada uno dellos mas de
lo ques necesario que se gaste en esto; ansimesmo sin considerar que
ningunos Príncipes de España jamas ganaron tierra alguna fuera della,
salvo agora que vuestras Altezas tienen acá otro mundo, de adonde puede
ser tan acrescentada nuestra santa fe, y de donde se podrán sacar tantos
provechos, que bien que no se hayan enviado los navíos cargados de oro,
se han enviado suficientes muestras dello y de otras cosas de valor, por
donde se puede juzgar que en breve tiempo se podrá haber mucho provecho,
y sin mirar el gran corazon de los Príncipes de Portugal que há tanto
tiempo que prosiguen la impresa de Guinea, y prosiguen aquella de Africa,
adonde han gastado la mitad de la gente de su Reino, y agora está el Rey
mas determinado á ello que nunca. Nuestro Señor provea en esto como yo
dije, y les ponga en memoria de considerar de todo esto que va escripto,
que no es de mil partes la una de lo que yo podria escrebir de cosas de
Príncipes que se ocuparon á saber y conquistar y sostener.
Todo esto dije, y no porque crea que la voluntad de vuestras Altezas sea
salvo proseguir en ello en cuanto vivan, y tengo por muy firme lo que me
respondió vuestras Altezas una vez que por palabra le decir desto, no
porque yo hobiese visto mudamiento ninguno en vuestras Altezas salvo por
temor de lo que yo oia destos que yo digo, y tanto da una gotera de agua
en una piedra que le hace un agujero; y vuestras Altezas me respondió
con aquel corazon que se sabe en todo el mundo que tienen, y me dijo
que no curase de nada de eso, porque su voluntad era de proseguir esta
empresa y sostenerla, aunque no fuese sino piedras y peñas, y quel gasto
que en ello se hacia que lo tenia en nada, que en otras cosas no tan
grandes gastaban mucho mas, y que lo tenian todo por muy bien gastado lo
del pasado y lo que se gastase en adelante, porque creian que nuestra
santa fe sería acrecentada y su Real Señorío ensanchado, y que no eran
amigos de su Real Estado aquellos que les maldecian de esta empresa: y
agora entre tanto que vengan á noticia desto destas tierras que agora
nuevamente he descubierto, en que tengo asentado en el ánima que allí es
el Paraiso terrenal, irá el Adelantado con tres navíos bien ataviados
para ello á ver mas adelante, y descubrirán todo lo que pudieren hacia
aquellas partes. Entretanto yo enviaré á vuestras Altezas esta escriptura
y la pintura de la tierra, y acordarán lo que en ello se deba facer, y me
enviarán á mandar, y se cumplirá con ayuda de la Santa Trinidad con toda
diligencia en manera que vuestras Altezas sean servidos y hayan placer.
Deo gracias.
FOOTNOTES:
[154] These were Fray Juan Perez de Marchena, a Franciscan, keeper of the
Convent de la Rabida, and Fray Diejo de Deza, a Dominican, afterwards
Archbishop of Seville.
[155] A similar gap in the original.
[156] He did not discover terra firma in the second voyage as he here
says, but imagined the island of Cuba to be terra firma, because
he was unable to explore it fully; nor was it ascertained to be an
island till two years after his death, when, by order of the king, the
Comendador Mayor Nicolas Ovando gave Sebastian de Ocampo a commission to
circumnavigate the island, and he explored the whole coast in the year
1508. (See Herrera, Dec. i, lib. 7, cap. i.) Amongst the number of these
islands, Columbus doubtless included many of those to the south of Cuba,
lying in the part which he called the _Queen’s Gardens_.
[157] Ceylon.
[158] These examples quoted by the admiral from ancient history, are
commented upon very learnedly, and at considerable length, by his
historian, Las Casas, in chapters 128 and 129 of his unpublished history.
(Navarrete.)
[159] Of the year 1498.
[160] Herrera says (Dec. i, lib. 3, cap. 9) that it was a Portuguese
squadron; but Las Casas (cap. 30) distinctly states it to have been
French.
[161] Herrera and Don Ferdinand Columbus say that he reached the island
of Puerto Santo on the seventh of June, from which island he sailed
directly for Madeira, and thence to Gomera, which he reached on the
nineteenth, and put to sea again on the twenty-first.
[162] The commanders of the three ships which the admiral despatched to
Española, were Pedro de Arana, native of Cordova, brother to the mother
of Ferdinand Columbus; Alonzo Sanchez de Carabajal, magistrate of Baeza;
and Juan Antonio Columbus, a relative of the admiral; all of whom were
known to and are spoken of by F. Bartolomé de Las Casas, in chapter 130
of his unpublished history. (Navarrete.)
[163] This was on the twenty-seventh of June. He anchored in the island
of Sal, and on the thirtieth proceeded to the island of Santiago, from
whence he put to sea again on the fourth of July.
[164] The islands took the name from the Cape itself, not from the
verdure which had caused that name to be given to the Cape. The Cape
Verde was discovered by Diniz Dias about 1445: the Cape Verde Islands
were discovered in 1460 by Diogo Gomez, as shown for the first time in my
_Prince Henry the Navigator_, pp. 297-298, and not by Antonio de Nolle in
1457, as incorrectly stated by Cadamosto.
[165] It was first seen by a mariner of Huelva, a servant of the admiral,
named Alonzo Perez. (Navarrete.)
[166] It is now called Cape Galeota, and is the most south-eastern point
of the island of Trinidad.
[167] In all probability deer.
[168] Coast of Paria.
[169] Produced by the confluence of the Oronoco with the sea. See Rapin,
_Hist. Phil._, vol. iv, p. 272.
[170] Point Peña Blanca.
[171] Point Peña.
[172] Serpent’s Mouth.
[173] It is now called Point Alcatraz, or Point Pelican.
[174] The stars composing the constellation of Ursa Minor.
[175] A misspelling, not infrequent in those days, for the sacred city
(not island) of Odjein or Ougein in Malwa, whence the Indians reckoned
their first meridian. The change of the name to Arin in Arabic is thus
explained by M. Reinaud in his _Mémoire sur l’Inde_, p. 373. The dj of
the Indians was sometimes rendered z by the Arabs, and thus the Arab
translators wrote the word Ozein; but as in manuscripts the vowels
were often omitted, the mass of readers to whom the name of Odjein was
indifferent, would pronounce it Azin, and as the copyist would sometimes
forget to insert the point which distinguished a z from an r, Azin would
be read Arin.
[176] Japan and China.
[177] Arguin, off the west coast of Africa.
[178] The innermost gulf within the Gulf of Paria.
[179] A similar gap in the original. In all probability “first meridian”
or some such words, are omitted.
[180] A similar gap in the original, which would seem to want the words
“Asiatic Turkey.”
[181] Walafried Strabus, Abbé of Reichenau in Baden.
[182] Petrus Comestor, who wrote the “Historica Scholastica.”
[183] The feast of the Assumption.
[184] Probably six A.M.
[185] Nine P.M.
[186] Averrhóes, an Arabian philosopher of the twelfth century.
[187] This expression is described by the ancient copyist of the letter
as being “badly written”; probably miscopied for “El beato”, “The
blessed.”
[188] A Scotist of the fourteenth century, surnamed “Doctor illuminatus
et acutus.”
LETTER
_Of the Admiral to the (quondam) nurse[189] of the Prince John, written
near the end of the year 1500._
Most virtuous lady: Although it is a novelty for me to complain of
the ill-usage of the world, it is, nevertheless, no novelty for the
world to practise ill-usage. Innumerable are the contests which I have
had with it, and I have resisted all its attacks until now, when I
find, that neither strength nor prudence is of any avail to me: it has
cruelly reduced me to the lowest ebb. Hope in Him who created us all
is my support: His assistance I have always found near at hand. On one
occasion, not long since, when I was extremely depressed, He raised me
with His Divine arm, saying: “O man of little faith, arise, it is I,
be not afraid.”[190] I offered myself with such earnest devotion to the
service of these princes, and I have served them with a fidelity hitherto
unequalled and unheard of. God made me the messenger of the new heaven
and the new earth, of which He spoke in the Apocalypse by St. John, after
having spoken of it by the mouth of Isaiah; and He showed me the spot
where to find it. All proved incredulous; except the Queen my mistress,
to whom the Lord gave the spirit of intelligence and great courage,
and made her the heiress of all, as a dear and well beloved daughter.
I went to take possession of it in her royal name. All sought to cover
the ignorance in which they were sunk, by dwelling on the inconveniences
and expense of the proposed enterprise. Her Highness held the contrary
opinion, and supported it with all her power. Seven years passed away in
deliberations, and nine have been spent in accomplishing things truly
memorable, and worthy of being preserved in the history of man. Never had
such a thing been conceived.
I have now reached that point, that there is no man so vile but thinks
it his right to insult me. The day will come when the world will reckon
it a virtue to him who has not given his consent to their abuse. If I
had plundered the Indies, even to the country where is the fabled altar
of St. Peter’s, and had given them all to the Moors, they could not have
shown towards me more bitter enmity than they have done in Spain. Who
would believe such things of a country where there has always been so
much nobility? I should much like to clear myself of this affair, if only
it were consistent with etiquette to do so, face to face with my queen.
The support which I have found in our Lord, and in her Highness, made
me persevere, and, in order to relieve somewhat the griefs which death
had occasioned her,[191] I undertook another voyage to the new heavens
and new earth, which had been hitherto concealed; and if these are not
appreciated in Spain, like the other parts of the Indies, it is not at
all wonderful, since it is to my labours that they are indebted for them.
The Holy Spirit encompassed St. Peter, and the rest of the twelve, who
all had conflicts here below; they wrought many works, they suffered
great fatigues, but at last they obtained the victory. I believed that
this voyage to Paria would produce a certain amount of contentment,
because of the pearls and the discovery of gold in the island of
Española. I left orders for the people to fish for pearls, and collect
them together, and made an agreement with them that I should return for
them; and I was given to understand that the supply would be abundant.
If I have not written respecting this to their Highnesses, it is because
I wished first to render an equally favourable account of the gold; but
it has happened with this as with many other things; I should not have
lost them, and with them my honour, if I had been only occupied about my
own private interests, and had suffered Española to be lost, or even if
they had respected my privileges and the treaties. I say the same with
regard to the gold which I had then collected, and which I have brought
in safety, by Divine grace, after so much loss of life and such excessive
fatigues.
In the voyage which I made by way of Paria, I found nearly half the
colonists of Española in a state of revolt, and they have made war upon
me until now as if I had been a Moor;[192] while on the other side, I
had to contend with the no less cruel Indians. Then arrived Hojeda,[193]
and he attempted to put the seal to all these disorders; he said that
their Highnesses had sent him, with promises of presents, of immunities,
and treaties; he collected a numerous band, for in the whole island of
Española, there were few men who were not vagabonds, and there were
none who had either wife or children. This Hojeda troubled me much, but
he was obliged to retreat, and at his departure he said, that he would
return with more ships and men, and reported also, that he had left the
queen at the point of death.[194] In the meanwhile, Vincent Yañez came
with four caravels; and there were some tumults and suspicions, but no
further evil. The Indians reported many other caravels to the cannibals,
and in Paria; and afterwards spread the news of the arrival of six other
caravels, commanded by a brother of the alcalde; but this was from pure
malice, and at a time when at length there remained but little hope
that their Highnesses would send any more ships to the Indies, and we
no longer expected them, and when it was said openly that her Highness
(the queen) was dead. At this time, one Adrian attempted a new revolt,
as he had done before;[195] but our Lord did not permit his evil designs
to succeed. I had determined not to inflict punishment on any person,
but his ingratitude obliged me, however regretfully, to abandon this
resolution, I should not have acted otherwise with my own brother, if
he had sought to assassinate me, and to rob me of the lordship which my
sovereigns had given to my keeping. This Adrian, as is now evident, had
sent Don Ferdinand to Xaragua, to assemble some of his partisans, and
had some discussions with the alcalde, which ended in violence, but all
without any good. The alcalde seized him and a part of his band; and in
fact, executed justice without my having ordered it. While they were in
prison, they were expecting a caravel, in which they hoped to embark; but
the news which I told them of what had happened to Hojeda, deprived them
of the hope that he would arrive in this ship. It is now six months that
I have been ready to leave, to bring to their Highnesses the good news of
the gold, and to give up the government of these dissolute people, who
fear neither God nor their king nor queen, but are full of imbecility
and malice. I should have been able to pay every one with six hundred
thousand maravedis, and for this purpose there were four millions and
more of the tithes, without reckoning the third part of the gold.
Before my departure (from Spain) I have often entreated their Highnesses
to send to these parts, at my expense, some one charged to administer
justice; and since, when I found the alcalde in a state of revolt, I
have besought them afresh to send at least one of their servants with
letters, because I myself have had so strange a character given to me,
that if I were to build churches or hospitals, they would call them
caves for robbers. Their Highnesses provided for this at last, but in
a manner quite unequal to the urgency of the circumstances; however,
let that point rest, since such is their good pleasure. I remained two
years in Spain without being able to obtain anything for myself, or
those who came with me,[196] but this man has gained for himself a full
purse: God knows if all will be employed for his service. Already, to
begin with, there is a revenue for twenty years, which is, according to
man’s calculation, an age; and they gather gold in such abundance, that
there are people who, in four hours, have found the equivalent of five
marks; but I will speak on this subject more fully hereafter. If their
Highnesses would condescend to silence the popular rumours, which have
gained credence among those who know what fatigues I have sustained, it
would be a real charity; for calumny has done me more injury than the
services which I have rendered to their Highnesses, and the care with
which I have preserved their property and their government, have done me
good. By their so doing, I should be re-established in reputation, and
spoken of throughout the universe: for the matter is of a kind which must
every day be more talked of and appreciated.