_Most virtuous Lady_:--
Though my complaint of the world is new, its habit of ill-using is very
ancient. I have had a thousand struggles with it, and have thus far
withstood them all, but now neither arms nor counsels avail me, and it
cruelly keeps me under water. Hope in the Creator of all men sustains me;
His help was always very ready; on another occasion, and not long ago,
when I was still more overwhelmed, he raised me with his right arm,
saying, O man of little faith, arise, it is I; be not afraid.[371-1]
I came with so much cordial affection to serve these Princes, and have
served them with such service, as has never been heard of or seen.
Of the new heaven and earth which our Lord made, when Saint John was
writing the Apocalypse,[371-2] after what was spoken by the mouth of
Isaiah,[371-3] he made me the messenger, and showed me where it lay. In
all men there was disbelief, but to the Queen my Lady He gave the spirit
of understanding, and great courage, and made her heiress of all, as a
dear and much loved daughter. I went to take possession of all this in
her royal name. They sought to make amends to her for the ignorance they
had all shown by passing over their little knowledge, and talking of
obstacles and expenses. Her Highness, on the other hand, approved of it,
and supported it as far as she was able.
Seven years passed in discussion, and nine in execution.[372-1] During
this time very remarkable and noteworthy things occurred whereof no idea
at all had been formed. I have arrived at, and am in such a condition
that there is no person so vile but thinks he may insult me; he shall be
reckoned in the world as valor itself who is courageous enough not to
consent to it.
If I were to steal the Indies or the land which lies towards them,[372-2]
of which I am now speaking, from the altar of Saint Peter, and give them
to the Moors, they could not show greater enmity towards me in Spain. Who
would believe such a thing where there was always so much magnanimity?
I should have much desired to free myself from this affair had it been
honorable towards my Queen to do so. The support of Our Lord and of Her
Highness made me persevere; and to alleviate in some measure the sorrows
which death had caused her,[372-3] I undertook a fresh voyage to the new
heaven and earth which up to that time had remained hidden; and if it is
not held there in esteem like the other voyages to the Indies, that is no
wonder because it came to be looked upon as my work.
The Holy Spirit inflamed Saint Peter and twelve others with him, and they
all fought here below, and their toils and hardships were many, but last
of all they gained the victory.
This voyage to Paria[373-1] I thought would somewhat appease them on
account of the pearls, and of the discovery of gold in Espanola. I
ordered the pearls to be collected and fished for by people with whom an
arrangement was made that I should return for them, and, as I understood,
they were to be measured by the bushel.[373-2] If I did not write about
this to their Highnesses, it was because I wished to have first of all
done the same thing with the gold. The result to me in this has been the
same as in many other things; I should not have lost them nor my honor,
if I had sought my own advantage, and had allowed Espanola to be ruined,
or if my privileges and contracts had been observed. And I say just the
same about the gold which I had then collected, and [for] which with such
great afflictions and toils I have, by divine power, almost perfected
[the arrangements].
When I went from Paria I found almost half the people of Espanola in
revolt,[373-3] and they have waged war against me until now, as against a
Moor; and the Indians on the other side grievously [harassed me]. At this
time Hojeda arrived[373-4] and tried to put the finishing stroke: he said
that their Highnesses had sent him with promises of gifts, franchises and
pay; he gathered together a great band, for in the whole of Espanola
there are very few save vagabonds, and not one with wife and children.
This Hojeda gave me great trouble; he was obliged to depart, and left
word that he would soon return with more ships and people, and that he
had left the royal person of the Queen our Lady at the point of death.
Then Vincent Yanez[373-5] arrived with four caravels; there was
disturbance and mistrust, but no mischief; the Indians talked of many
others at the Canibales [Caribbee Islands] and in Paria; and afterwards
spread the news of six other caravels, which were brought by a brother of
the Alcalde,[374-1] but it was with malicious intent. This occurred at
the very last, when the hope that their Highnesses would ever send any
ships to the Indies was almost abandoned, nor did we expect them; and it
was commonly reported that her Highness was dead.
A certain Adrian about this time endeavored to rise in rebellion again,
as he had done previously, but Our Lord did not permit his evil purpose
to succeed. I had purposed in myself never to touch a hair of anybody's
head, but I lament to say that with this man, owing to his ingratitude,
it was not possible to keep that resolve as I had intended; I should not
have done less to my brother, if he had sought to kill me, and steal the
dominion which my King and Queen had given me in trust.[374-2] This
Adrian, as it appears, had sent Don Ferdinand[374-3] to Xaragua to
collect some of his followers, and there a dispute arose with the Alcalde
from which a deadly contest ensued, but he [Adrian] did not effect his
purpose. The Alcalde seized him and a part of his band, and the fact was
that he would have executed them if I had not prevented it; they were
kept prisoners awaiting a caravel in which they might depart. The news of
Hojeda which I told them, made them lose the hope that he would now come
again.
For six months I had been prepared to return to their Highnesses with the
good news of the gold, and to escape from governing a dissolute people,
who fear neither God, nor their King and Queen, being full of vices and
wickedness. I could have paid the people in full with six hundred
thousand,[374-4] and for this purpose I had four millions of tenths and
somewhat more, besides the third of the gold. Before my departure I many
times begged their Highnesses to send there, at my expense, some one to
take charge of the administration of justice; and after finding the
Alcalde in arms I renewed my supplications to have either some troops or
at least some servant of theirs with letters patent; for my reputation is
such that even if I build churches and hospitals, they will always be
called dens of thieves. They did indeed make provision at last, but it
was the very contrary of what the matter demanded: may it be successful,
since it was according to their good pleasure.
I was there for two years without being able to gain a decree of favor
for myself or for those who went there, yet this man[375-1] brought a
coffer full; whether they will all redound to their [Highnesses']
service, God knows. Indeed, to begin with, there are exemptions for
twenty years, which is a man's lifetime; and gold is collected to such an
extent that there was one person who became worth five marks[375-2] in
four hours; whereof I will speak more fully later on.
If it would please their Highnesses to remove the grounds of a common
saying of those who know my labors, that the calumny of the people has
done me more harm than much service and the maintenance of their
[Highnesses'] property and dominion has done me good, it would be a
charity, and I should be re-established in my honor, and it would be
talked about all over the world; for the undertaking is of such a nature
that it must daily become more famous and in higher esteem.
When the commander Bobadilla came to Santo Domingo,[375-3] I was at La
Vega, and the Adelantado[375-4] at Xaragua, where that Adrian had made a
stand, but then all was quiet, and the land rich and all men at peace.
On the second day after his arrival he created himself Governor, and
appointed officers and made executions, and proclaimed immunities of gold
and tenths and in general of everything else for twenty years, which is a
man's lifetime, and that he came to pay everybody in full up to that day,
even though they had not rendered service; and he publicly notified that,
as for me, he had charge to send me in irons, and my brothers likewise,
as he has done, and that I should nevermore return thither, nor any other
of my family; alleging a thousand disgraceful and discourteous things
about me. All this took place on the second day after his arrival, as I
have said, and while I was absent at a distance, without my knowing
either of him or of his arrival.
Some letters of their Highnesses signed in blank, of which he brought a
number, he filled up and sent to the Alcalde and to his company, with
favors and commendations; to me he never sent either letter or messenger,
nor has he done so to this day. Imagine what any one holding my office
would think when one who endeavored to rob their Highnesses, and who has
done so much evil and mischief, is honored and favored, while he who
maintained it at such risks is degraded.
When I heard this, I thought that this affair would be like that of
Hojeda or one of the others, but I restrained myself when I learnt for
certain from the friars that their Highnesses had sent him. I wrote to
him that his arrival was welcome, and that I was prepared to go to the
Court and had sold all I possessed by auction; and that with respect to
the immunities he should not be hasty, for both that matter and the
government I would hand over to him immediately as smooth as my palm. And
I wrote to the same effect to the friars, but neither he nor they gave me
any answer. On the contrary, he put himself in a warlike attitude, and
compelled all who went there to take an oath to him as Governor; and they
told me that it was for twenty years.
Directly I knew of those immunities, I thought that I would repair such a
great error and that he would be pleased, for he gave them without the
need or occasion necessary in so vast a matter; and he gave to vagabond
people what would have been excessive for a man who had brought wife and
children. So I announced by word and letters that he could not use his
patents because mine were those in force; and I showed them the
immunities which Juan Aguado[377-1] brought. All this was done by me in
order to gain time, so that their Highnesses might be informed of the
condition of the country, and that they might have an opportunity of
issuing fresh commands as to what would best promote their service in
that respect.
It is useless to publish such immunities in the Indies; to the settlers
who have taken up residence it is a pure gain, for the best lands are
given to them, and at a low valuation they will be worth two hundred
thousand at the end of the four years when the period of residence is
ended, without their digging a spadeful in them. I would not speak thus
if the settlers were married, but there are not six among them all who
are not on the lookout to gather what they can and depart speedily. It
would be a good thing if people should go from Castile, and also if it
were known who and what they are, and if the country could be settled
with honest people.
I had agreed with those settlers that they should pay the third of the
gold, and the tenths, and this at their own request; and they received it
as a great favor from their Highnesses. I reproved them when I heard that
they ceased to do this, and hoped that the Commander would do likewise,
but he did the contrary. He incensed them against me by saying that I
wanted to deprive them of what their Highnesses had given them; and he
endeavored to set them at variance with me, and did so; and he induced
them to write to their Highnesses that they should never again send me
back to the government, and I likewise make the same supplication to them
for myself and for my whole family, as long as there are not different
inhabitants. And he together with them ordered inquisitions concerning me
for wickednesses the like whereof were never known in hell. Our Lord,
who rescued Daniel and the three children,[378-1] is present with the
same wisdom and power as he had then, and with the same means, if it
should please him and be in accordance with his will.
I should know how to remedy all this, and the rest of what has been said
and has taken place since I have been in the Indies, if my disposition
would allow me to seek my own advantage, and if it seemed honorable to me
to do so, but the maintenance of justice and the extension of the
dominion of Her Highness has hitherto kept me down. Now that so much gold
is found, a dispute arises as to which brings more profit, whether to go
about robbing or to go to the mines. A hundred castellanos[378-2] are as
easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general, and
there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from
nine to ten are now in demand, and for all ages a good price must be
paid.
I assert that the violence of the calumny of turbulent persons has
injured me more than my services have profited me; which is a bad example
for the present and for the future. I take my oath that a number of men
have gone to the Indies who did not deserve water in the sight of God and
of the world; and now they are returning thither, and leave is granted
them.[378-3]
I assert that when I declared that the Commander[378-4] could not grant
immunities, I did what he desired, although I told him that it was to
cause delay until their Highnesses should receive information from the
country, and should command anew what might be for their service. He
excited their enmity against me, and he seems, from what took place and
from his behavior, to have come as my enemy and as a very vehement one;
or else the report is true that he has spent much to obtain this
employment. I do not know more about it than what I hear. I never heard
of an inquisitor gathering rebels together and accepting them, and others
devoid of credit and unworthy of it, as witnesses against their governor.
If their Highnesses were to make a general inquisition there, I assure
you that they would look upon it as a great wonder that the island does
not founder.
I think your Ladyship will remember that when, after losing my sails, I
was driven into Lisbon by a tempest, I was falsely accused of having gone
there to the King in order to give him the Indies. Their Highnesses
afterwards learned the contrary, and that it was entirely malicious.
Although I may know but little, I do not think anyone considers me so
stupid as not to know that even if the Indies were mine I could not
uphold myself without the help of some prince. If this be so, where could
I find better support and security than in the King and Queen our Lords,
who have raised me from nothing to such great honor, and are the most
exalted princes of the world on sea and on land, and who consider that I
have rendered them service, and preserve to me my privileges and rewards;
and if anyone infringes them, their Highnesses increase them still more,
as was seen in the case of Juan Aguado; and they order great honor to be
conferred upon me, and, as I have already said, their Highnesses have
received service from me, and keep my sons in their household;[379-1] all
which could by no means happen with another prince, for where there is no
affection, everything else fails.
I have now spoken thus in reply to a malicious slander, but against my
will, as it is a thing which should not recur to memory even in dreams;
for the Commander Bobadilla maliciously seeks in this way to set his own
conduct and actions in a brighter light; but I shall easily show him that
his small knowledge and great cowardice, together with his inordinate
cupidity, have caused him to fail therein.
I have already said that I wrote to him and to the friars, and
immediately set out, as I told him, almost alone, because all the people
were with the Adelantado, and likewise in order to prevent suspicion on
his part. When he heard this, he seized Don Diego[380-1] and sent him on
board a caravel loaded with irons, and did the same to me upon my
arrival, and afterwards to the Adelantado when he came; nor did I speak
to him any more, nor to this day has he allowed anyone to speak to me;
and I take my oath that I cannot understand why I am made a prisoner. He
made it his first business to seize the gold, which he did without
measuring or weighing it, and in my absence; he said that he wanted it to
pay the people, and according to what I hear he assigned the chief part
to himself and sent fresh exchangers for the exchanges. Of this gold I
had put aside certain specimens, very big lumps, like the eggs of geese,
hens, and pullets, and of many other shapes, which some persons had
collected in a short space of time, in order that their Highnesses might
be gladdened, and might comprehend the business upon seeing a quantity of
large stones full of gold. This collection was the first to be given
away, with malicious intent, so that their Highnesses should not hold the
matter in any account until he has feathered his nest, which he is in
great haste to do. Gold which is for melting diminishes at the fire; some
chains which would weigh about twenty marks have never been seen again. I
have been more distressed about this matter of the gold than even about
the pearls, because I have not brought it to Her Highness.
The Commander at once set to work upon anything which he thought would
injure me. I have already said that with six hundred thousand I could pay
everyone without defrauding anybody, and that I had more than four
millions of tenths and constabulary [dues], without touching the gold. He
made some free gifts which are ridiculous, though I believe that he began
by assigning the chief part to himself. Their Highnesses will find it out
when they order an account to be obtained from him, especially if I
should be present thereat. He does nothing but reiterate that a large
sum is owing, and it is what I have said, and even less. I have been much
distressed that there should be sent concerning me an inquisitor who is
aware that if the inquisition which he returns is very grave he will
remain in possession of the government.
Would that it had pleased our Lord that their Highnesses had sent him or
some one else two years ago, for I know that I should now be free from
scandal and infamy, and that my honor would not be taken from me, nor
should I lose it. God is just, and will make known the why and the
wherefore.
They judge me over there as they would a governor who had gone to Sicily,
or to a city or town placed under regular government, and where the laws
can be observed in their entirety without fear of ruining everything; and
I am greatly injured thereby. I ought to be judged as a captain who went
from Spain to the Indies to conquer a numerous and warlike people, whose
customs and religion are very contrary to ours; who live in rocks and
mountains, without fixed settlements, and not like ourselves; and where,
by the divine will, I have placed under the dominion of the King and
Queen, our sovereigns, another world,[381-1] through which Spain, which
was reckoned a poor country, has become the richest. I ought to be judged
as a captain who for such a long time up to this day has borne arms
without laying them aside for an hour, and by gentlemen adventurers and
by customs and not by letters,[381-2] unless they were Greeks or Romans,
or others of modern times of whom there are so many and such noble
examples in Spain;[381-3] or otherwise I receive great injury, because in
the Indies there is neither town nor settlement.
The gate to the gold and pearls is now open, and plenty of
everything--precious stones, spices, and a thousand other things--may be
surely expected, and never could a worse misfortune befall me; for by the
name of our Lord the first voyage would yield them just as much as would
the traffic of Arabia Felix as far as Mecca, as I wrote to their
Highnesses by Antonio de Torres in my reply respecting the repartition of
the sea and land with the Portuguese; and afterwards it would equal that
of Calicut, as I told them and put in writing at the monastery of
Mejorada.
The news of the gold that I said I would give is, that on the day of the
Nativity, while I was much tormented, being harassed by wicked Christians
and by Indians, and when I was on the point of giving up everything and,
if possible, escaping from life, our Lord miraculously comforted me and
said, "Fear not violence, I will provide for all things; the seven years
of the term of the gold have not elapsed, and in that and in everything
else I will afford thee a remedy." On that day I learned that there were
eighty leagues of land with mines at every point thereof. The opinion now
is that it is all one. Some have collected a hundred and twenty
castellanos in one day, and others ninety, and even the number of two
hundred and fifty has been reached. From fifty to seventy, and in many
more cases from fifteen to fifty, is considered a good day's work, and
many carry it on. The usual quantity is from six to twelve, and any one
obtaining less than this is not satisfied. It seems too that these mines
are like others, and do not yield equally every day. The mines are new,
and so are the workers: it is the opinion of everybody that even if all
Castile were to go there, every individual, however inexpert he might be,
would not obtain less than one or two castellanos daily, and now it is
only commencing. It is true that they keep Indians, but the business is
in the hands of the Christians. Behold what discernment Bobadilla had,
when he gave up everything for nothing, and four millions of tenths,
without any reason or even being requested, and without first notifying
it to their Highnesses. And this is not the only loss.
I know that my errors have not been committed with the intention of doing
evil, and I believe that their Highnesses regard the matter just as I
state it; and I know and see that they deal mercifully even with those
who maliciously act to their disservice. I believe and consider it very
certain that their clemency will be both greater and more abundant
towards me, for I fell therein through ignorance and the force of
circumstances, as they will know fully hereafter; and I indeed am their
creature, and they will look upon my services, and will acknowledge day
by day that they are much profited. They will place everything in the
balance, even as Holy Scripture tells us good and evil will be at the day
of judgment. If, however, they command that another person do judge me,
which I cannot believe, and that it be by inquisition in the Indies, I
very humbly beseech them to send thither two conscientious and honorable
persons at my expense, who I believe will easily, now that gold is
discovered, find five marks in four hours. In either case it is needful
for them to provide for this matter.
The Commander on his arrival at Santo Domingo took up his abode in my
house, and just as he found it so he appropriated everything to himself.
Well and good; perhaps he was in want of it. A pirate never acted thus
towards a merchant. About my papers I have a greater grievance, for he
has so completely deprived me of them that I have never been able to
obtain a single one from him; and those that would have been most useful
in my exculpation are precisely those which he has kept most concealed.
Behold the just and honest inquisitor! Whatever he may have done, they
tell me that there has been an end to justice, except in an arbitrary
form. God our Lord is present with his strength and wisdom, as of old,
and always punishes in the end, especially ingratitude and injuries.