EXPLORATIONS IN THE WEST INDIES.
[Æt. 57; 1493]
The voyage was smooth and prosperous. The expedition reached the
Canaries on the 1st of October, where Columbus laid in a supply of
chickens, sheep, goats, calves, and pigs. It is interesting to know
that these were the pioneer pigs of America. They were eight in number,
and from them descended most of the pigs that now inhabit the West
India islands. On October 7th the fleet again weighed anchor, and by
order of its Admiral steered in a rather roundabout direction for
the islands which were supposed to lie south of Hispaniola. Columbus
was determined--of course for the noblest and most public-spirited
reasons--that no one but himself should know the true route to the New
World; but his trick of steering first in one direction and then in
another could not have had the desired effect of puzzling any really
intelligent sailor. This time whales, floating bushes, and other signs
of land were not needed to cheer the crews, and consequently they
were not seen--a circumstance that strengthens in the minds of some
persons the belief that Columbus on his first voyage secretly dropped
these signs of land overboard from the bow of his vessel, and then
called his men to look at them. In the latter part of the voyage a
heavy thunder-storm occurred, and while it was in progress lights were
seen at the tops of the masts and elsewhere aloft. These electrical
phenomena, called by the sailors “St. Elmo’s candles,” were received
with much satisfaction as evident tokens that the saint was busily
taking care of the vessels. As he is an able and careful saint, it is
perhaps impertinent to criticise his methods, but it does seem rather
odd that he cannot take care of a ship without running the risk of
setting her on fire by the reckless use of naked and unprotected
lights. This was the only storm of consequence that was met on the
passage, and, thanks to St. Elmo! it does not seem to have done any
harm.
On the 3d of November, which was Sunday, the island of Dominica was
sighted, and the usual hymns were sung and prayers were said. So many
islands soon came in sight that it was difficult to select one on which
to land. In this embarrassment of riches, the Admiral finally landed on
an island which he called Marigalante, after the name of the flag-ship.
It was a fair average sort of island, but after taking formal
possession of it and of all other islands, visible and invisible,
belonging to the same group, Columbus left it and sailed to the island
of Guadalupe, a few miles distant, where he landed on November 4th.
There was a village near the shore, but the inhabitants fled as the
Spaniards landed, leaving behind them only a few useless babies.
Searching the houses, Columbus discovered the stern-post of a European
vessel, which must have drifted across the Atlantic, since it was
much too large to have been sent through the Post Office, even if we
assume--which is grossly improbable--that any native had written to
Europe and ordered a stern-post. From the number of human bones which
were found in the ash-barrels and garbage-boxes at this village, it was
suspected that the people were cannibals, as in fact they were, being
no other than the fierce and cruel Caribs.
Pursuing his voyage along the coast, Columbus again landed and explored
more deserted villages, capturing a woman and a boy who had lingered
a little too long behind the absconding villagers. On returning to
his ship, the Admiral was pained to learn that one of his officers,
Captain Diego Marque, and eight men, who had gone ashore without
orders, had not yet returned, and were probably already undergoing
preparation for a Caribbean dinner. Alonzo de Ojeda, a young nobleman
who afterward became famous as one of the ablest and most cruel of
Spanish explorers, was sent on shore in command of a detachment to
search for the missing men, and to bring back as much of them as
might remain uneaten. Ojeda searched in vain, and returned with the
report that Marque and his comrades could not be found, even in the
unsatisfactory shape of cold victuals. Several women who came on board
the fleet, announcing that they were runaway slaves, told frightful
stories of the atrocities perpetrated by the Caribs, and the missing
men were universally believed to have been killed and eaten. At last,
after several days, Marque and his men appeared on the shore, extremely
ragged and hungry. They had merely lost themselves in the woods, and
had not seen a single cannibal. Of course some indignation was felt at
this trivial end of what had been mistaken for a terrible tragedy, and
Columbus promptly punished the delinquents, ostensibly for being absent
without leave.
On the 14th of November, after sailing hither and thither through
the Caribbean archipelago, the fleet anchored at the island of Santa
Cruz. The natives fled into the interior as usual, but a canoe-load of
Indians made its appearance a little later, and, on being chased by one
of the Spanish boats, shot showers of poisoned arrows at the pursuers.
After a lively battle, in which a Spaniard was fatally wounded and
one of the Indians was killed, the canoe was sunk and the survivors
captured. They were so fierce and ugly in appearance that they were
instantly judged to be cannibals of the deepest dye, and were loaded
with chains and afterward sent to Spain as curiosities.
So many new islands were now sighted that Columbus, whose stock of
names was growing small, called one of them St. Ursula, and the others
her eleven thousand virgins. It is true that there were not eleven
thousand islands; but as St. Ursula never had eleven thousand virgins,
the name was not so extremely inappropriate. The exact number of these
islands was finally ascertained to be fifty.
Discovering Porto Rico, and devoting two days to exploring its
coast-line, Columbus steered for Hispaniola, which he reached on the
22d of November. The natives came off to the fleet in boats, and were
remarkably polite; but Columbus did not land until he reached Samana
Bay. Here he sent one of his converted Indians on shore, dressed in the
best Spanish fashion, with instructions to lecture to the natives on
the grandeur of Spain; but whether the lecturer was tedious and met a
deserved death at the hands of his first audience, or whether he seized
the opportunity to return to the comforts of naked paganism, was never
known. In any case, he never returned, and it is greatly to be feared
that in his case the trouble and expense of conversion were wasted.
On the 25th the expedition anchored in a harbor to which the Admiral
gave the name of Monte Christo, in honor of M. Alexandre Dumas.
On landing, the Spaniards were shocked to find four bodies, one of
which was recognized by its beard as the body of a Spaniard. The
circumstances in which these bodies were found showed that they had
been the victims of violence, and it was at once feared that the colony
of La Navidad had met with a disaster. The natives said they knew
nothing about the bodies, and were so innocent in their demeanor that
no one cared to suspect them of murder. The Admiral, in an anxious
frame of mind, made haste to arrive at La Navidad, which he reached on
the 27th, but at too late an hour to venture to land. Guns were fired
and Coston night-signals burned on board the fleet, but there was no
sign of life from the fort. That night a suspicion dawned upon the
minds of some of the fifteen hundred adventurers that the New World was
not worth finding, and that colonization was a delusion and a snare.
Before morning a canoe containing a cousin of Guacanagari came out
to the fleet in search of Columbus, bringing for him some valuable
presents. The visitors reported that Caribs had invaded the island,
and that Guacanagari had been wounded in battle with them, and was at
a distant village under the care of a doctor,--whose certificate to
that effect, however, he failed to produce. As to the colony of La
Navidad, he did not seem to know very much about it. He said it was his
impression that the colonists had been sick; he believed some of them
had moved away; and he had a vague idea that they had fought a little
among themselves. Having thus cheered up the Admiral, the friendly
native returned to the shore, and the Spaniards waited anxiously for
daylight.
When the day finally dawned, and the Spaniards prepared to land, they
were surprised to find that not a native was visible. On landing,
they were still more surprised to find that the colonists had totally
disappeared, that the fort was in ruins, and that Guacanagari’s village
was a heap of ashes. From the appearance of the fort, it was evident
that it had been captured and sacked. Further search resulted in the
discovery of the buried bodies of eleven Spaniards, while in the native
houses farther in the interior, from which the inhabitants hastily
fled, were found articles which had formerly been the property of the
missing colonists.
Gradually the natives overcame their fears, and came to meet Columbus.
They told a story which was intrinsically probable, and doubtless true.
The colonists had conducted themselves as sailors left to themselves in
a tropical climate, among gentle savages, might have been expected to.
They refused to work, they adopted polygamy as their chief occupation,
and, not content with quarrelling among themselves, they insulted and
outraged the natives until the latter began to feel seriously provoked.
After a time the two lieutenants of Don Diego de Arana, the Governor,
headed a rebellion against him, but, being defeated, marched off
with nine men and a large supply of wives to search for gold in the
interior. Reaching the dominions of the cacique Caonabo, a powerful
chief of Carib birth, they were pleasantly welcomed and cheerfully put
to death. Being of the opinion that there were still more Spaniards on
the island than were really needed, Caonabo formed an alliance with
another chief of like views, and, falling upon the fort at night,
captured it and massacred every colonist with the exception of a few
who saved themselves by rushing into the sea and drowning in privacy.
The friendly natives further said that they fought under the leadership
of Guacanagari on the side of the Spaniards, and were badly beaten.
A coasting expedition having discovered the village where Guacanagari
was residing, Columbus went to see him. He found the cacique lying
in bed, surrounded by seven wives and suffering greatly. Guacanagari
repeated the story of the capture of the fort, and put in evidence his
wounded leg, marked “Exhibit A,” as proof of the truth of his story.
Unfortunately, no wound was visible, and although the cacique insisted
that his leg had been utterly ruined by a heavy stone which had struck
it, the Spanish surgeon was of opinion that nothing was the matter.
Father Boyle, who was a most zealous ecclesiastic, held that this was
an excellent opportunity for showing the islanders the merits of the
Christian religion, and recommended that Guacanagari should be promptly
burned at the stake. But the Admiral, although he admitted that it was
difficult to explain the cacique’s leg in a satisfactory way, argued
that he would be much more useful raw than he would if roasted, and to
prove this assertion exchanged a large quantity of glass beads with the
cacique for merely their weight in gold. This demonstration satisfied
the Spaniards temporarily, with the exception of Father Boyle, who was
pained to find Columbus apparently subordinating Christian duty to a
love of gain.
[Æt. 57; 1494]
Guacanagari went on board the flag-ship with the Admiral, where he was
much pleased with the horses, which he saw for the first time, and
pronounced to be very able and ingenious animals. He was also observed
to take altogether too much interest in ten women whom Columbus had
carried off from the Caribbean islands. The conversation between
Guacanagari and the Spaniards is said to have been constrained and
awkward, as indeed it doubtless was, for no one could converse easily
and pleasantly with a cacique who was constantly gazing in admiration
at ten different women. Columbus, as a token of good-will, hung an
image of the Virgin around Guacanagari’s neck, who, when he learned
that the Christians worshipped it, said he would rather not wear
it, lest he should become a Christian and covet his neighbor’s wife
and break his neighbor’s skull, like the late Christian colonists.
Father Boyle was more anxious to burn him than ever after hearing
this blasphemous remark; but Columbus very properly said it was
inhospitable and unjustifiable to burn visitors, except in the case
of a surprise-party, and that the cacique should go on shore safely,
which he shortly did.
The next day Guacanagari did not return to the ship, but in his place
sent his brother, who paid a great deal of attention to the Carib
women, talking with them--as he said--on scientific matters. That
night the ten Carib women jumped overboard and swam ashore, and when
the Spaniards landed in the morning to search for them, no trace could
be found either of the women or of Guacanagari. It was too evident
that the cacique had fallen in love ten deep, and had eloped with his
ten heart’s idols. The Spaniards, who of course took no interest in
the women, were shocked at the painful example of immorality set by
Guacanagari, and agreed that they were now convinced that he and his
hypocritical savages had either betrayed the colonists to Caonabo, or
had slaughtered them and then invented Caonabo and laid the blame upon
him.