ATTEMPTS AT COLONIZATION.
[Æt. 58; 1494]
Guacanagari, in his last interview with Columbus, had advised him
not to plant a new colony at La Navidad. He said that, while he was
extremely anxious to have the Spaniards as neighbors, duty compelled
him to admit that the locality was an unhealthy one, and that
foreigners settling there were sure to contract chills and fever.
Columbus shared the opinion that it was an unhealthy place, but he
thought that colonists would be more apt to contract bloodthirsty
native chiefs than peaceful malarious fever. At any rate, he was clear
that it would be unwise to repeat the experiment of colonization at a
place with such unpleasant associations.
Expeditions were sent along the coast to find a new location, but as
no eligible building spots were found, the fleet set sail for Monte
Christo. About thirty miles east of Monte Christo a fine harbor was
found, and, on landing, the Admiral was so pleased with the place that
he resolved to build a city without further delay. The ships were
unloaded, and the animals were set on shore. A nice city, called the
city of Isabella, was then laid out, with a church, a government-house,
a town-pump, a custom-house, a jail, and everything that could make the
colonists feel comfortable and at home.
This done, the Spaniards, including Columbus, fell sick with great
unanimity. Most of them felt that they could have been sick to more
advantage in Spain, and that, on the whole, they wanted their money
back. If exploration consisted in crossing an inexcusably wide ocean
merely to build houses among unsociable savages, and to contract
marsh-fever, they were confident that they had had quite enough of it.
Columbus knew that he must soon send the fleet back to Spain for fresh
supplies of food, medicine, and clothing; but he disliked to send
home the unsatisfactory report that the first set of colonists were
all dead, and the second all sick. He therefore ordered Ojeda to get
together a few comparatively well men, and to march into the interior
and discover something that could be mentioned to advantage in his
official report.
With a small force Ojeda marched across the mountain range that lay
back of Isabella, and descended into a delightful plain, where every
prospect pleased him, and the natives were less than usually vile. Gold
was found to be really plentiful, and when Ojeda returned Columbus saw
his way clear to writing a brilliant report, and the colonists’ spirits
revived.
Twelve of the ships were immediately got ready for sea and loaded with
specimens of plants for the Agricultural Bureau, gold for the Spanish
monarchs, and Caribs for the church. Columbus, in his report, passed
lightly and skilfully over the unpleasant features of the expedition,
and dwelt eloquently upon the beauty of the island, the healthful
situation of the city, and the enormous wealth of the gold-mines. He
also forcibly pointed out the great need which the cannibal Caribs had
of being promptly converted. He proposed that Spain should send out
ships laden with supplies, which he would pay for with Carib slaves,
and that when the slaves reached Spain they could be converted at
little expense, and made to do a great deal of work. Thus the cause of
missions could be carried on at a profit of at least a hundred per cent
and a joint stock company for the enslavement and conversion of Caribs
would be able to declare large and frequent dividends.
Columbus had always maintained that his chief object in discovering
America was to spread the Gospel, and this proposal to enslave the
Caribs shows that he was sincere. Nevertheless, Queen Isabella said
it would be a shame to make the poor Caribs slaves, and that she
was surprised that Columbus should think of such a thing. Thus the
Admiral’s great missionary scheme proved abortive, but his arguments
were afterward used with great success in defence of the slave-trade
which stocked the Georgian and South Carolinian plantations.
On the 2d of February, 1494, the twelve ships set sail for Spain, and
Columbus felt that unless the officers should prove indiscreet and
tell unpleasant truths, his report would be accepted as a proof of the
success of his second great expedition.
The colonists’ spirits had been raised by the sight of the gold brought
back by Ojeda, but they fell to a very low ebb when the ships departed.
The prospect of remaining behind to die of fever, while their more
fortunate companions could go home and tell magnificent stories with no
one to contradict them, was very depressing. In vain did Father Boyle
celebrate the very highest kind of mass in the church, and in vain did
Columbus put the jail in the best possible order. Nothing could make
the colonists feel contented and happy.
In these circumstances, they naturally abused the Admiral. They said
he was only an Italian, any way, and had no right to command Spanish
gentlemen. They even went so far as to make personal and disparaging
remarks concerning organ-grinders, and expressed the opinion that an
organ-grinder should stick to his monkey and refrain from meddling with
exploration. There was an alleged scientific person among them--one
Fermin Cedo--who pretended there were no gold-mines on the island. He
said he had analyzed the gold brought back by Ojeda, and it was grossly
adulterated. He admitted that the Indians did have a little real gold,
but maintained that they had inherited it from their ancestors and
could not find any more even if they were to try. The malcontents,
under the leadership of Bernal Diaz, the comptroller, who appears to
have had all the obstinacy and wrong-headedness that pertain to that
office in our own day, resolved to seize the remaining ships and return
to Spain, leaving Columbus to enjoy the fever by himself. Columbus,
however, discovered the plot and immediately recovered his health
sufficiently to arrest Diaz, to punish the least respectable of his
followers, and thus to suppress the mutiny.
In order to divert his men from thoughts of fever and mutiny, the
Admiral now prepared to lead an expedition into the interior. He
appointed his brother Diego Governor of Isabella during his absence,
and with four hundred men--all, in fact, who were well enough to
march--he set out for the gold-bearing mountains of Cibao. Following
the route taken by Ojeda the party crossed the nearest range of
mountains, and entered the fertile plain previously mentioned. The
natives were at first greatly frightened by the horsemen; and when they
discovered that a horse and his rider were not made in one piece, but
could be taken apart, they were more than ever filled with admiration
at the mechanical ingenuity of the Spaniards.
Crossing the plain, Columbus penetrated into the mountainous region of
Cibao, over which the Carib chief Caonabo ruled. Nothing, however, was
seen of him, and the natives were as friendly as those of the plain.
They brought gold-dust and small nuggets to Columbus, and assured him
that at the distance of about a day’s march gold could be found in
nuggets of the size of a piece of chalk.
This originally meritorious story had now become so old that Columbus
paid no attention to it, knowing that if he were to march all the rest
of his life, the richest gold-mines would always be a little farther
off. So he selected a convenient mountain, where he built a fort,
calling it St. Thomas, which he garrisoned with fifty-six men commanded
by Pedro Margarite. There appears not to have been any reason for
building and garrisoning this fort, unless it was a desire on the part
of the Admiral to station Margarite and his men where they could not
take part in any future mutiny in Isabella.
Returning with the rest of the force, Columbus reached Isabella on the
29th of March, stopping by the way to trade with the natives and to
learn their method of living. He found the people whom he had left at
Isabella in a more gloomy state than ever. Their stock of medicines
was nearly exhausted, and their provisions were growing scarce. He
was compelled to put them on half rations, and to build a mill for
grinding corn. The mill was a happy thought; but when it was built, the
colonists unanimously agreed that Spanish gentlemen could not grind
corn without losing their self-respect. Columbus said he rather thought
they could, and he compelled every man to take his turn at grinding,
thereby confirming them in the opinion that no Italian accustomed to
grind out “Annie Laurie” and “Baby Mine” could possibly understand the
feelings of a gentleman.
A messenger soon arrived from Fort St. Thomas, announcing that
Caonabo was about to attack it. Ojeda was therefore put in command
of three hundred and ninety-six men, and ordered to capture Caonabo
and inaugurate the new jail with him. Ojeda promptly started, and on
his way met a Spaniard who had been robbed. Being a just man, Ojeda
thereupon seized the cacique of the province, his son, and nephew, and
sent them to Isabella, where Columbus, filled with horror at the crime
which they had not committed, sentenced them to death--a sentence which
he afterward revoked in order to show his clemency.
As nearly all the able-bodied colonists were now in the interior,
Columbus thought it would be safe to undertake a small exploring
voyage, and so, leaving Don Diego in charge of the city, he took
three of the ships and sailed for Cuba. Had he been a selfish and
heartless man, he might have imagined that during his absence the sick
at Isabella would die, and the Spaniards in the interior would either
starve to death or be killed by Caonabo--thus ridding him of much care
and vexation. As he was not this kind of man, we can only wonder at
his simplicity in dividing his forces in the face of a cruel enemy,
and then calmly sailing away with the most useful of the ships. He
left reams of written instructions to Margarite, Ojeda and Don Diego,
pointing out to them the wickedness of quarrelling, and recommending
them not to allow Caonabo to exterminate them. He also left Father
Boyle behind him, probably because that zealous ecclesiastic’s longing
to burn somebody made him an unsafe person to take to sea, where the
utmost caution in regard to fire is necessary.