_A Letter written by Don Christobal Colon, Viceroy and Admiral of the
Indies, to the most Christian and mighty King and Queen of Spain,
our Sovereigns, in which are described the events of his voyage, and
the countries, provinces, cities, rivers and other marvellous
matters therein discovered, as well as the places where gold and
other substances of great richness and value are to be found_
_Most Serene, and very high and mighty Princes, the King and Queen our
Sovereigns_:--
My passage from Cadiz to the Canary occupied four days, and thence to the
Indies sixteen days. From which I wrote, that my intention was to
expedite my voyage as much as possible while I had good vessels, good
crews and stores, and that Jamaica was the place to which I was bound. I
wrote this in Dominica:[389-1]--
Up to the period of my reaching these shores I experienced most excellent
weather, but the night of my arrival came on with a dreadful tempest, and
the same bad weather has continued ever since. On reaching the island of
Espanola[389-2] I despatched a packet of letters, by which I begged as a
favor that a ship should be supplied me at my own cost in lieu of one of
those that I had brought with me, which had become unseaworthy, and could
no longer carry sail. The letters were taken, and your Highnesses will
know if a reply has been given to them. For my part I was forbidden to go
on shore;[390-1] the hearts of my people failed them lest I should take
them further, and they said that if any danger were to befall them, they
should receive no succor, but, on the contrary, in all probability have
some great affront offered them. Moreover every man had it in his power
to tell me that the new Governor would have the superintendence of the
countries that I might acquire.[390-2]
The tempest was terrible throughout the night, all the ships were
separated, and each one driven to the last extremity, without hope of
anything but death; each of them also looked upon the loss of the rest as
a matter of certainty. What man was ever born, not even excepting Job,
who would not have been ready to die of despair at finding himself as I
then was, in anxious fear for my own safety, and that of my son, my
brother[390-3] and my friends, and yet refused permission either to land
or to put into harbor on the shores which by God's mercy I had gained for
Spain sweating blood?
But to return to the ships: although the tempest had so completely
separated them from me as to leave me single, yet the Lord restored them
to me in His own good time. The ship which we had the greatest fear for,
had put out to sea to escape [being blown] toward the island. The
_Gallega_[390-4] lost her boat and a great part of her provisions, which
latter loss indeed all the ships suffered. The vessel in which I was,
though dreadfully buffeted, was saved by our Lord's mercy from any injury
whatever; my brother went in the ship that was unsound, and he under God
was the cause of its being saved. With this tempest I struggled on till
I reached Jamaica, and there the sea became calm, but there was a strong
current which carried me as far as the Queen's Garden[391-1] without
seeing land. Hence as opportunity afforded I pushed on for the mainland,
in spite of the wind and a fearful contrary current, against which I
contended for sixty days, and after all only made seventy leagues. All
this time I was unable to get into harbor, nor was there any cessation of
the tempest, which was one continuation of rain, thunder and lightning;
indeed it seemed as if it were the end of the world. I at length reached
the Cape of Gracias a Dios, and after that the Lord granted me fair wind
and tide; this was on the twelfth of September.[391-2] Eighty-eight days
did this fearful tempest continue, during which I was at sea, and saw
neither sun nor stars; my ships lay exposed, with sails torn, and
anchors, rigging, cables, boats and a great quantity of provisions lost;
my people were very weak and humbled in spirit, many of them promising to
lead a religious life, and all making vows and promising to perform
pilgrimages, while some of them would frequently go to their messmates to
make confession.[392-1] Other tempests have been experienced, but never
of so long a duration or so fearful as this: many whom we looked upon as
brave men, on several occasions showed considerable trepidation; but the
distress of my son who was with me grieved me to the soul, and the more
when I considered his tender age, for he was but thirteen years old, and
he enduring so much toil for so long a time. Our Lord, however, gave him
strength even to enable him to encourage the rest, and he worked as if he
had been eighty years at sea, and all this was a consolation to me. I
myself had fallen sick, and was many times at the point of death, but
from a little cabin that I had caused to be constructed on deck, I
directed our course. My brother was in the ship that was in the worst
condition and the most exposed to danger; and my grief on this account
was the greater that I brought him with me against his will.
Such is my fate, that the twenty years of service[393-1] through which I
have passed with so much toil and danger, have profited me nothing, and
at this very day I do not possess a roof in Spain that I can call my own;
if I wish to eat or sleep, I have nowhere to go but to the inn or tavern,
and most times lack wherewith to pay the bill. Another anxiety wrung my
very heartstrings, which was the thought of my son Diego, whom I had left
an orphan in Spain, and dispossessed of my honor and property, although I
had looked upon it as a certainty, that your Majesties, as just and
grateful Princes, would restore it to him in all respects with
increase.[393-2]
I reached the land of Cariay,[393-3] where I stopped to repair my vessels
and take in provisions, as well as to afford relaxation to the men, who
had become very weak. I myself (who, as I said before, had been several
times at the point of death) gained information respecting the gold mines
of which I was in search, in the province of Ciamba;[393-4] and two
Indians conducted me to Carambaru,[393-5] where the people (who go
naked) wear golden mirrors round their necks, which they will neither
sell, give, nor part with for any consideration. They named to me many
places on the sea-coast where there were both gold and mines. The last
that they mentioned was Veragua,[394-1] which was five-and-twenty leagues
distant from the place where we then were. I started with the intention
of visiting all of them, but when I had reached the middle of my journey
I learned that there were other mines at so short a distance that they
might be reached in two days. I determined on sending to see them. It was
on the eve of St. Simon and St. Jude,[394-2] which was the day fixed for
our departure; but that night there arose so violent a storm, that we
were forced to go wherever it drove us, and the Indian who was to conduct
us to the mines was with us all the time. As I had found every thing true
that had been told me in the different places which I had visited, I felt
satisfied it would be the same with respect to Ciguare,[394-3] which
according to their account, is nine days journey across the country
westward: they tell me there is a great quantity of gold there, and that
the inhabitants wear coral ornaments on their heads, and very large coral
bracelets and anklets, with which article also they adorn and inlay their
seats, boxes, and tables. They also said that the women there wore
necklaces hanging down to their shoulders. All the people agree in the
report I now repeat, and their account is so favorable that I should be
content with the tithe of the advantages that their description holds
out. They are all likewise acquainted with the pepper-plant;[395-1]
according to the account of these people, the inhabitants of Ciguare are
accustomed to hold fairs and markets for carrying on their commerce, and
they showed me also the mode and form in which they transact their
various exchanges; others assert that their ships carry cannon, and that
the men go clothed and use bows and arrows, swords and cuirasses, and
that on shore they have horses which they use in battle, and that they
wear rich clothes and have good things.[395-2] They also say that the sea
surrounds Ciguare, and that at ten days' journey from thence is the river
Ganges; these lands appear to hold the same relation to Veragua, as
Tortosa to Fontarabia, or Pisa to Venice.[395-3] When I left Carambaru
and reached the places in its neighborhood, which I have mentioned above
as being spoken of by the Indians, I found the customs of the people
correspond with the accounts that had been given of them, except as
regarded the golden mirrors: any man who had one of them would willingly
part with it for three hawks'-bells,[395-4] although they were equivalent
in weight to ten or fifteen ducats. These people resemble the natives of
Espanola in all their habits. They have various modes of collecting the
gold, none of which will bear comparison with the plans adopted by the
Christians.
All that I have here stated is from hearsay. This, however, I know, that
in the year ninety-four I sailed twenty-four degrees to the westward in
nine hours,[396-1] and there can be no mistake upon the subject, because
there was an eclipse; the sun was in Libra and the moon in Aries.[396-2]
What I had learned by the mouth of these people I already knew in detail
from books. Ptolemy thought that he had satisfactorily corrected[396-3]
Marinus, and yet this latter appears to have come very near to the truth.
Ptolemy placed Catigara[396-4] at a distance of twelve lines to the west
of his meridian, which he fixes at two degrees and a third beyond Cape
St. Vincent, in Portugal. Marinus comprised the earth and its limits in
fifteen lines.[396-5] Marinus on Ethiopia gives a description covering
more than twenty-four degrees beyond the equinoctial line, and now that
the Portuguese have sailed there they find it correct.[397-1] Ptolemy
says also that the most southern land is the first boundary, and that it
does not go lower down than fifteen degrees and a third.[397-2] The world
is but small; out of seven divisions of it the dry part occupies six,
and the seventh is entirely covered by water.[398-1] Experience has shown
it, and I have written it with quotations from the Holy Scripture, in
other letters, where I have treated of the situation of the terrestrial
paradise, as approved by the Holy Church;[398-2] and I say that the world
is not so large as vulgar opinion makes it, and that one degree of the
equinoctial line measures fifty-six miles and two-thirds; and this may be
proved to a nicety.[398-3]
But I leave this subject, which it is not my intention now to treat upon,
but simply to give a narrative of my laborious and painful voyage,
although of all my voyages it is the most honorable and advantageous. I
have said that on the eve of St. Simon and St. Jude I ran before the wind
wherever it took me, without power to resist it; at length I found
shelter for ten days from the roughness of the sea and the tempest
overhead, and resolved not to attempt to go back to the mines, which I
regarded as already in our possession.[398-4] When I started in pursuance
of my voyage it was under a heavy rain, and reaching the harbor of
Bastimentos I put in, though much against my will.[399-1] The storm and
a rapid current kept me in for fourteen days, when I again set sail, but
not with favorable weather. After I had made fifteen leagues with great
exertions, the wind and the current drove me back[399-2] again with great
fury, but in again making for the port which I had quitted, I found on
the way another port, which I named Retrete, where I put in for shelter
with as much risk as regret, the ships being in sad condition, and my
crews and myself exceedingly fatigued.[399-3] I remained there fifteen
days, kept in by stress of weather, and when I fancied my troubles were
at an end, I found them only begun. It was then that I changed my
resolution with respect to proceeding to the mines, and proposed doing
something in the interim, until the weather should prove more favorable
for my voyage.[399-4] I had already made four leagues when the storm
recommenced, and wearied me to such a degree that I absolutely knew not
what to do; my wound reopened, and for nine days my life was despaired
of; never was the sea seen so high, so terrific, and so covered with
foam; not only did the wind oppose our proceeding onward, but it also
rendered it highly dangerous to run in for any headland, and kept me in
that sea which seemed to me as a sea of blood, seething like a cauldron
on a mighty fire. Never did the sky look more fearful; during one day and
one night it burned like a furnace, and every instant I looked to see if
my masts and my sails were not destroyed; these flashes came with such
alarming fury that we all thought the ships must have been consumed. All
this time the waters from heaven never ceased, not to say that it rained,
for it was like a repetition of the deluge. The men were at this time so
crushed in spirit that they longed for death as a deliverance from so
many martyrdoms. Twice already had the ships suffered loss in boats,
anchors, and rigging, and were now lying bare without sails.
When it pleased our Lord, I returned to Puerto Gordo,[400-1] where I
recruited my condition as well as I could. I then once more turned
towards Veragua; for my voyage, although I was [ready] for it, the wind
and current were still contrary.[400-2] I arrived at nearly the same spot
as before, and there again the wind and currents still opposed my
progress; and once again I was compelled to put into port, not daring to
await the opposition of Saturn[400-3] with Mars so tossed on an exposed
coast; for it almost always brings on a tempest or severe weather. This
was on Christmas-day, about the hour of mass.
Thus, after all these fatigues, I had once more to return to the spot
from whence I started; and when the new year had set in, I returned again
to my task: but although I had fine weather for my voyage, the ships were
no longer in a sailing condition, and my people were either dying or very
sick. On the day of the Epiphany,[400-4] I reached Veragua in a state of
exhaustion; there, by our Lord's goodness, I found a river and a safe
harbor, although at the entrance there were only ten spans of water. I
succeeded in making an entry, but with great difficulty; and on the
following day the storm recommenced, and had I been still on the outside
at that time, I should have been unable to enter on account of the reef.
It rained without ceasing until the fourteenth of February, so that I
could find no opportunity of penetrating into the interior, nor of
recruiting my condition in any respect whatever; and on the twenty-fourth
of January, when I considered myself in perfect safety, the river
suddenly rose with great violence to a considerable height, breaking my
cables and the breastfasts,[401-1] and nearly carrying away my ships
altogether, which certainly appeared to me to be in greater danger than
ever. Our Lord, however, brought a remedy as He has always done. I do not
know if any one else ever suffered greater trials.
On the sixth of February, while it was still raining, I sent seventy men
on shore to go into the interior, and at five leagues' distance they
found several mines. The Indians who went with them conducted them to a
very lofty mountain, and thence showing them the country all around, as
far as the eye could reach, told them there was gold in every part, and
that, towards the west, the mines extended twenty days' journey; they
also recounted the names of the towns and villages where there was more
or less of it. I afterwards learned that the Quibian,[402-1] who had
lent these Indians, had ordered them to show the distant mines, and which
belonged to an enemy of his; but that in his own territory one man might,
if he would, collect in ten days as much as a child could carry.[402-2] I
bring with me some Indians, his servants, who are witnesses of this fact.
The boats went up to the spot where the dwellings of these people are
situated; and, after four hours, my brother returned with the guides, all
of them bringing back gold which they had collected at that place. The
gold must be abundant, and of good quality, for none of these men had
ever seen mines before; very many of them had never seen pure gold, and
most of them were seamen and lads. Having building materials in
abundance, I established a settlement, and made many presents to the
Quibian, which is the name they gave to the lord of the country. I
plainly saw that harmony would not last long, for the natives are of a
very rough disposition, and the Spaniards very encroaching; and,
moreover, I had taken possession of land belonging to the Quibian. When
he saw what we did, and found the traffic increasing, he resolved upon
burning the houses, and putting us all to death; but his project did not
succeed, for we took him prisoner, together with his wives, his children,
and his servants. His captivity, it is true, lasted but a short time, for
he eluded the custody of a trustworthy man, into whose charge he had been
given, with a guard of men; and his sons escaped from a ship, in which
they had been placed under the special charge of the master.
In the month of January the mouth of the river was entirely closed
up,[403-1] and in April the vessels were so eaten by the shipworm,[403-2]
that they could scarcely be kept above water. At this time the river
forced a channel for itself, by which I managed, with great difficulty,
to extricate three of them after I had unloaded them. The boats were then
sent back into the river for water and salt, but the sea became so high
and furious, that it afforded them no chance of exit; upon which the
Indians collected themselves together in great numbers, and made an
attack upon the boats, and at length massacred the men.[403-3] My
brother, and all the rest of our people, were in a ship which remained
inside; I was alone, outside, upon that dangerous coast, suffering from a
severe fever and worn with fatigue. All hope of escape was gone. I toiled
up to the highest part of the ship, and, with a voice of fear crying, and
very urgently, I called upon your Highnesses' war-captains in every
direction for help, but there was no reply. At length, groaning with
exhaustion, I fell asleep, and heard a compassionate voice address me
thus: "O fool, and slow to believe and to serve thy God, the God of all!
what did He do more for Moses, or for David his servant, than He has done
for thee? From thine infancy He has kept thee under His constant and
watchful care. When He saw thee arrived at an age which suited His
designs respecting thee, He brought wonderful renown to thy name
throughout all the land. He gave thee for thine own the Indies, which
form so rich a portion of the world, and thou hast divided them as it
pleased thee, for He gave thee power to do so. He gave thee also the keys
of those barriers of the ocean sea which were closed with such mighty
chains;[404-1] and thou wast obeyed through many lands, and gained an
honorable fame throughout Christendom. What did he more for the people of
Israel, when he brought them out of Egypt?[404-2] or for David, whom from
a shepherd He made to be king in Judea? Turn to Him, and acknowledge
thine error--His mercy is infinite. Thine old age shall not prevent thee
from accomplishing any great undertaking. He holds under His sway many
very great possessions. Abraham had exceeded a hundred years of age when
he begat Isaac; nor was Sarah young. Thou criest out for uncertain help:
answer, who has afflicted thee so much and so often, God or the world?
The privileges promised by God, He never fails in bestowing; nor does He
ever declare, after a service has been rendered Him, that such was not
agreeable with His intention, or that He had regarded the matter in
another light; nor does he inflict suffering, in order to give effect to
the manifestation of His power. His word goes according to the letter;
and He performs all his promises with interest. This is [his] custom.
Thus I have told thee what thy Creator has done for thee, and what He
does for all men. Just now He gave me a specimen of the reward of so many
toils and dangers incurred by thee in the service of others."[404-2]
I heard all this, as it were, in a trance; but I had no answer to give in
definite words, and could but weep for my errors. He who spoke to me,
whoever it was, concluded by saying,--"Fear not, but trust; all these
tribulations are recorded on marble, and not without cause." I arose as
soon as I could; and at the end of nine days there came fine weather, but
not sufficiently so to allow of drawing the vessels out of the river. I
collected the men who were on land, and, in fact, all of them that I
could, because there were not enough to admit of one party remaining on
shore while another stayed on board to work the vessels. I myself should
have remained with my men to defend the settlement, had your Highnesses
known of it; but the fear that ships might never reach the spot where we
were, as well as the thought, that when provision is to be made for
bringing help, everything will be provided,[405-1] made me decide upon
leaving. I departed, in the name of the Holy Trinity, on Easter
night,[405-2] with the ships rotten, worm-eaten and full of holes. One of
them I left at Belen, with a supply of necessaries; I did the same at
Belpuerto. I then had only two left, and they in the same state as the
others. I was without boats or provisions, and in this condition I had to
cross seven thousand miles of sea; or, as an alternative, to die on the
passage with my son, my brother, and so many of my people. Let those who
are accustomed to finding fault and censuring ask, while they sit in
security at home, "Why did you not do so and so under such
circumstances?" I wish they now had this voyage to make. I verily believe
that another journey of another kind awaits them, or our faith is
nothing.
On the thirteenth of May I reached the province of Mago [Mango],[405-3]
which borders on Cathay, and thence I started for the island of
Espanola. I sailed two days with a good wind, after which it became
contrary. The route that I followed called forth all my care to avoid the
numerous islands, that I might not be stranded on the shoals that lie in
their neighborhood. The sea was very tempestuous, and I was driven
backward under bare poles. I anchored at an island, where I lost, at one
stroke, three anchors; and, at midnight, when the weather was such that
the world appeared to be coming to an end, the cables of the other ship
broke, and it came down upon my vessel with such force that it was a
wonder we were not dashed to pieces; the single anchor that remained to
me was, next to the Lord, our only preservation. After six days, when the
weather became calm, I resumed my journey, having already lost all my
tackle; my ships were pierced by borers more than a honey-comb and the
crew entirely paralyzed with fear and in despair. I reached the island a
little beyond the point at which I first arrived at it, and there I
turned in to recover myself after the storm;[406-1] but I afterwards put
into a much safer port in the same island. After eight days I put to sea
again, and reached Jamaica by the end of June;[406-2] but always beating
against contrary winds, and with the ships in the worst possible
condition. With three pumps, and the use of pots and kettles, we could
scarcely clear the water that came into the ship, there being no remedy
but this for the mischief done by the ship-worm. I steered in such a
manner as to come as near as possible to Espanola, from which we were
twenty-eight leagues distant, but I afterwards wished I had not done so,
for the other ship which was half under water was obliged to run in for a
port. I determined on keeping the sea in spite of the weather, and my
vessel was on the very point of sinking when our Lord miraculously
brought us upon land. Who will believe what I now write? I assert that in
this letter I have not related one hundredth part of the wonderful events
that occurred in this voyage; those who were with the Admiral can bear
witness to it. If your Highnesses would be graciously pleased to send to
my help a ship of above sixty-four tons, with two hundred quintals of
biscuits and other provisions, there would then be sufficient to carry me
and my crew from Espanola to Spain. I have already said that there are
not twenty-eight leagues between Jamaica and Espanola; and I should not
have gone there, even if the ships had been in a fit condition for so
doing, because your Highnesses ordered me not to land there. God knows if
this command has proved of any service. I send this letter by means of
and by the hands of Indians; it will be a miracle if it reaches its
destination.
This is the account I have to give of my voyage. The men who accompanied
me were a hundred and fifty in number, among whom were many calculated
for pilots and good sailors, but none of them can explain whither I went
nor whence I came;[407-1] the reason is very simple: I started from a
point above the port of Brazil[407-2] in Espanola. The storm prevented me
from following my intended route, for I was obliged to go wherever the
wind drove me; at the same time I fell very sick, and there was no one
who had navigated in these parts before. However, after some days, the
wind and sea became tranquil, and the storm was succeeded by a calm, but
accompanied with rapid currents. I put into harbor at an island called
Isla de las Pozas, and then steered for mainland;[408-1] but it is
impossible to give a correct account of all our movements, because I was
carried away by the current so many days without seeing land. I
ascertained, however, by the compass and by observation, that I moved
parallel with the coast of the mainland. No one could tell under what
part of the heavens we were, and when I set out from there to come to the
island of Espanola, the pilots thought we had come to the island of St.
John, whereas it was the land of Mango, four hundred leagues to the
westward of where they said.[408-2] Let them answer and say if they know
where Veragua is situated. I assert that they can give no other account
than that they went to lands, where there was an abundance of gold, and
this they can certify surely enough; but they do not know the way to
return thither for such a purpose; they would be obliged to go on a
voyage of discovery as much as if they had never been there before.
There is a mode of reckoning derived from astronomy which is sure and
safe, and a sufficient guide to any one who understands it. This
resembles a prophetic vision.[408-3] The Indies ships[408-4] do not sail
except with the wind abaft, but this is not because they are badly built
or clumsy, but because the strong currents in those parts, together with
the wind, render it impossible to sail with the bowline,[408-5] for in
one day they would lose as much way as they might have made in seven; for
the same reason I could make no use of caravels, even though they were
Portuguese lateens.[409-1] This is the cause that they do not sail unless
with a regular breeze, and they will sometimes stay in harbor waiting for
this seven or eight months at a time; nor is this anything wonderful, for
the same very often occurs in Spain.
The nation of which Pope Pius II. describes the situation and
characteristics has now been found,[409-2] excepting the horses with the
saddles and poitrels and bridles of gold; but this is not to be wondered
at, for the lands on the sea-coast are only inhabited by fishermen, and
moreover I made no stay there, because I was in haste to proceed on my
voyage. In Cariay[409-3] and the neighboring country there are great
enchanters of a very fearful character. They would have given the world
to prevent my remaining there an hour. When I arrived they sent me
immediately two girls very showily dressed; the eldest could not be more
than eleven years of age and the other seven, and both exhibited so much
immodesty, that more could not be expected from public women; they
carried concealed about them a magic powder; when they came I gave them
some articles to dress themselves out with, and directly sent them back
to the shore.[409-4] I saw here, built on a mountain, a sepulchre as
large as a house, and elaborately sculptured; the body lay uncovered and
embalmed in it. They also spoke to me of other very excellent works of
art.[410-1] There are many species of animals both small and large, and
very different from those of our country. I had a present of two pigs,
and an Irish dog was afraid to face them. A cross-bowman had wounded an
animal like a monkey,[410-2] except that it was larger, and had a face
like a man's; the arrow had pierced it from the neck to the tail, and
since it was fierce he was obliged to cut off an arm and a leg; the pig
bristled up on seeing it and tried to get away. I, when I saw this,
ordered the _begare_[410-3] as it is called to be thrown to the pig where
he was, and though the animal was nearly dead, and the arrow had passed
quite through his body, yet he threw his tail round the snout of the
boar, and then holding him firmly, seized him by the nape of the neck
with his remaining hand, as if he were engaged with an enemy. This action
was so novel and so extraordinary, that I have thought it worth while to
describe it here. There is a great variety of animals here, but they all
die of _barra_.[410-4] I saw some very large fowls (the feathers of which
resemble wool),[410-5] lions, stags, fallow-deer and birds.
When we were so harassed with our troubles at sea, some of our men
imagined that we were under the influence of sorcery, and even to this
day entertain the same notion. Some of the people whom I discovered eat
men, as was evidenced by the brutality of their countenances. They say
that there are great mines of copper in the country, of which they make
hatchets[411-1] and other elaborate articles both cast and soldered; they
also make of it forges, with all the apparatus of the goldsmith, and
crucibles. The inhabitants go clothed; and in that province I saw some
large sheets of cotton very elaborately and cleverly worked, and others
very delicately painted in colors.[411-2] They tell me that more inland
towards Cathay they have them interwoven with gold. For want of an
interpreter we were able to learn but very little respecting these
countries, or what they contain. Although the country is very thickly
peopled, yet each nation has a very different language; indeed so much
so, that they can no more understand each other than we understand the
Arabs. I think, however, that this applies to the barbarians on the
sea-coast, and not to the people who live more inland. When I discovered
the Indies, I said that they composed the richest lordship in the world;
I spoke of gold and pearls and precious stones, of spices and the traffic
that might be carried on in them; and because all these things were not
forthcoming at once I was abused. This punishment causes me to refrain
from relating anything but what the natives tell me. One thing I can
venture upon stating, because there are so many witnesses of it, viz.,
that in this land of Veragua I saw more signs of gold in the first two
days than I saw in Espanola during fours years,[TN-10] and that there is
not a more fertile or better cultivated country in all the world, nor
one whose inhabitants are more timid; added to which there is a good
harbor, a beautiful river, and the whole place is capable of being
easily put into a state of defence. All this tends to the security of
the Christians and the permanency of their sovereignty, while it
affords the hope of great increase and honor to the Christian religion;
moreover the road hither will be as short as that to Espanola, because
there is a certainty of a fair wind for the passage. Your Highnesses are
as much lords of this country as of Xerez or Toledo; your ships if they
should go there, go to your own house. From there they will take gold;
in other lands to have what there is in them, they will have to take it
by force or retire empty-handed, and on the land they will have to trust
their persons in the hands of a savage.[412-1]
Of the other [matter] that I refrain from saying, I have already said why
I kept silent. I do not speak so, neither [do I say] that I make a
threefold affirmation in all that I have ever said or written nor that I
am at the source.[412-2] The Genoese, Venetians and all other nations
that possess pearls, precious stones, and other articles of value, take
them to the ends of the world to exchange them for gold. Gold is most
excellent; gold is treasure, and he who possesses it does all he wishes
to in this world, and succeeds in helping souls into paradise. They say
that when one of the lords of the country of Veragua dies, they bury all
the gold he possessed with his body. There were brought to Solomon at one
journey[412-3] six hundred and sixty-six quintals of gold, besides what
the merchants and sailors brought, and that which was paid in Arabia. Of
this gold he made two hundred lances[412-4] and three hundred shields,
and the flooring[412-5] which was to be above them was also of gold, and
ornamented with precious stones; many other things he made likewise of
gold, and a great number of vessels of great size, which he enriched with
precious stones. This is related by Josephus in his Chronicle _De
Antiquitatibus_; mention is also made of it in the Chronicles and in the
Book of Kings.[413-1] Josephus thinks that this gold was found in the
Aurea;[413-2] if it were so, I contend that these mines of the Aurea are
identical with those of Veragua, which, as I have said before, extends
westward twenty days' journey, and they are at an equal distance from the
Pole and the Line.[413-3] Solomon bought all of it,--gold, precious
stones, and silver,--but your Majesties need only send to seek them to
have them at your pleasure. David, in his will, left three thousand
quintals of Indian gold to Solomon, to assist in building the Temple;
and, according to Josephus, it came from these lands.[413-4] Jerusalem
and Mount Sion are to be rebuilt by the hands of Christians, who it is to
be God told by the mouth of His prophet in the fourteenth Psalm.[413-5]
The Abbot Joaquim said that he who should do this was to come from
Spain;[414-1] Saint Jerome showed the holy woman the way to accomplish
it;[414-2] and the emperor of Cathay, a long time ago, sent for wise men
to instruct him in the faith of Christ.[414-3] Who will offer himself for
this work?[414-4] Should any one do so, I pledge myself, in the name of
God, to convey him safely thither, provided the Lord permits me to return
to Spain.
The people who have sailed with me have passed through incredible toil
and danger, and I beseech your Highnesses, since they are poor, to pay
them promptly, and to be gracious to each of them according to their
respective merits; for I can safely assert, that to my belief they are
the bearers of the best news that ever was carried to Spain. With respect
to the gold which belongs to the Quibian of Veragua, and other chiefs in
the neighboring country, although it appears by the accounts we have
received of it to be very abundant, I do not think it would be well or
desirable, on the part of your Highnesses, to take possession of it in
the way of plunder; by fair dealing, scandal and disrepute will be
avoided, and all the gold will thus reach your Highnesses' treasury
without the loss of a grain.
With one month of fair weather I shall complete my voyage. As I was
deficient in ships, I did not persist in delaying my course; but in
everything that concerns your Highnesses' service, I trust in Him who
made me, and I hope also that my health will be re-established. I think
your Highnesses will remember that I had intended to build some ships in
a new manner, but the shortness of the time did not permit it. I had
certainly foreseen how things would be. I think more of this opening for
commerce, and of the lordship over such extensive mines, than of all that
has been done in the Indies.[415-1] This is not a child to be left to the
care of a stepmother.
I never think of Espanola, and Paria, and the other countries, without
shedding tears. I thought that what had occurred there would have been an
example for others; on the contrary, these settlements are now in a
languid state, although not dead, and the malady is incurable, or at
least very extensive. Let him who brought the evil come now and cure it,
if he knows the remedy, or how to apply it; but when a disturbance is on
foot, every one is ready to take the lead. It used to be the custom to
give thanks and promotion to him who placed his person in jeopardy; but
there is no justice in allowing the man who opposed this undertaking, to
enjoy the fruits of it with his children. Those who left the Indies,
avoiding the toils consequent upon the enterprise, and speaking evil of
it and me, have since returned with official appointments,--such is the
case now in Veragua: it is an evil example, and profitless both as
regards the business in which we are embarked, and as respects the
general maintenance of justice. The fear of this, with other sufficient
considerations, which I clearly foresaw, caused me to beg your
Highnesses, previously to my coming to discover these islands and
mainland, to grant me permission to govern in your royal name. Your
Highnesses granted my request; and it was a privilege and treaty granted
under the royal seal and oath, by which I was nominated viceroy, and
admiral, and governor-general of all: and your Highnesses limited the
extent of my government to a hundred leagues beyond the Azores and Cape
Verde islands, by a line passing from one pole to the other, and gave me
ample power over all that I might discover beyond this line; all which is
more fully described in the official document.[416-1]
But the most important affair of all, and that which cries most loudly
for redress, remains inexplicable to this moment. For seven years was I
at your royal court, where every one to whom the enterprise was mentioned
treated it as ridiculous; but now there is not a man, down to the very
tailors, who does not beg to be allowed to become a discoverer. There is
reason to believe, that they make the voyage only for plunder, and that
they are permitted to do so, to the great disparagement of my honor, and
the detriment of the undertaking itself.[416-2] It is right to give God
His own,--and to Caesar[416-3] that which belongs to him.[416-4] This is
a just sentiment, and proceeds from just feelings. The lands in this part
of the world, which are now under your Highnesses' sway, are richer and
more extensive than those of any other Christian power, and yet, after
that I had, by the Divine will, placed them under your high and royal
sovereignty, and was on the point of bringing your majesties into the
receipt of a very great and unexpected revenue; and while I was waiting
for ships, to convey me in safety, and with a heart full of joy, to your
royal presence, victoriously to announce the news of the gold that I had
discovered, I was arrested and thrown, with my two brothers, loaded with
irons, into a ship, stripped, and very ill-treated, without being allowed
any appeal to justice.[417-1]
Who could believe, that a poor foreigner would have risen against your
Highnesses, in such a place, without any motive or argument on his side;
without even the assistance of any other prince upon which to rely; but
on the contrary, amongst your own vassals and natural subjects, and with
my sons staying at your royal court? I was twenty-eight years old when I
came into your Highnesses' service,[417-2] and now I have not a hair upon
me that is not gray; my body is infirm, and all that was left to me, as
well as to my brothers, has been taken away and sold, even to the frock
that I wore, to my great dishonor. I cannot but believe that this was
done without your royal permission. The restitution of my honor, the
reparation of my losses, and the punishment of those who have inflicted
them, will redound to the honor of your royal character; a similar
punishment also is due to those who plundered me of my pearls, and who
have brought a disparagement upon the privileges of my admiralty. Great
and unexampled will be the glory and fame of your Highnesses, if you do
this; and the memory of your Highnesses, as just and grateful sovereigns,
will survive as a bright example to Spain in future ages. The honest
devotedness I have always shown to your Majesties' service, and the so
unmerited outrage with which it has been repaid, will not allow my soul
to keep silence, however much I may wish it: I implore your Highnesses to
forgive my complaints. I am indeed in as ruined a condition as I have
related; hitherto I have wept over others;--may Heaven now have mercy
upon me, and may the earth weep for me. With regard to temporal things, I
have not even a blanca,[418-1] for an offering; and in spiritual things,
I have ceased here in the Indies from observing the prescribed forms of
religion. Solitary in my trouble, sick, and in daily expectation of
death, surrounded by a million of hostile savages full of cruelty, and
thus separated from the blessed sacraments of our holy Church, how will
my soul be forgotten if it be separated from the body in this foreign
land? Weep for me, whoever has charity, truth, and justice! I did not
come out on this voyage to gain to myself honor or wealth; this is a
certain fact, for at that time all hope of such a thing was dead. I do
not lie when I say, that I went to your Highnesses with honest purpose of
heart, and sincere zeal in your cause. I humbly beseech your Highnesses,
that if it please God to rescue me from this place, you will graciously
sanction my pilgrimage to Rome and other holy places. May the Holy
Trinity protect your Highnesses' lives, and add to the prosperity of your
exalted position.
Done in the Indies, in the island of Jamaica, on the seventh of July, in
the year one thousand five hundred and three.