THE LIFE AND VOYAGES
OF
C H R I S T O P H E R COLUMBUS,
TOGETHER WITH
THE VOYAGES OP HIS COMPANIONS.
T H E L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S
OF
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ;
TOGETHER WITH
T H E V O Y A G E S O F H I S C O M P A N I O N S .
B Y W A S H I N G T O N I R V I N G
Venient annis
Sœcula seris, quibus, Oceanus
Vincula, rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat tellus, Typhisque uovoa
Detegat Orbes, nec sit terris
Ultima Thule.
S E N K C A : Medea.
A NEW AND REVISED EDITION.
I N THREE VOLUMES.—VOL. II.
LONDON :
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1 8 4 9 .
LONDON :
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
C O N T E N T S .
BOOK VIII.
PAGE
CHAP. I. — Arrival of the Admiral at Isabella.—Character of Bartholomew
Columbus 9
CHAP. II.—Misconduct of Don Pedro Margarite, and his Departure from
the Island
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. 16
CHAP. III.—Troubles with the Natives.—Alonzo de Ojeda besieged by
Caonabo 22
CHAP. IV.—Measures of Columbus to restore the Quiet of the Island.—
Expedition of Ojeda to surprise Caonabo . . . . . 2 9
CHAP. V.—Arrival of Antonio de Torres with four Ships from Spain.—
His Return with Indian Slaves . . . . . . . 3 8
CHAP. VI.—Expedition of Columbus against the Indians of the Vega.—
Battle . . . . . 43
CHAP. VII.—Subjugation of the Natives.—Imposition of Tribute . . 48
CHAP. VIII.—Intrigues against Columbus in the Court of Spain.—Aguado
sent to investigate the Affairs of Hispaniola . . . . . 5 6
CHAP. IX.—Arrival of Aguado at Isabella.—His arrogant Conduct.—
Tempest in the Harbor . . . . . . . . . 6 3
CHAP. X.—Discovery of the Mines of Hayna 70
BOOK IX.
CHAP. I.—Return of Columbus to Spain with Aguado . . . . 7 5
CHAP. II.—Decline of the Popularity of Columbus in Spain.—His Recep
tion by the Sovereigns at Burgos.—He proposes a Third Voyage 82
vi
C O N T E N T S .
Pue
CHAP. III.—Preparations for a Third Voyage.—Disappointments and
Delays 90
BOOK X.
CHAP. I.—Departure of Columbus from Spain on his Third Voyage.—
Discovery of Trinidad 101
CHAP. II.—Voyage through the Gulf of Paria 109
CHAP. III.—Continuation of the Voyage through the Gulf of Paria.—
Return to Hispaniola . . 1 1 9
CHAP. IV.—Speculations of Columbus concerning the Coast of Paria . 128
BOOK XI.
CHAP. I.—Administration of the Adelantado —Expedition to the Province
of Xaragua . . . .
.
.
. . . . 127
CHAP. II.—Establishment of a Chain of Military Posts.—Insurrection of
Guarionex, the Cacique of the Vega
.
.
.
.
.
. 147
CHAP. III.—The Adelantado repairs to Xaragua to receive Tribute . 155
CHAP. IV.—Conspiracy of Roldan 160
CHAP. V.—The Adelantado repairs to the Vega in relief of Fort Concep-
tion.—His Interview with Roldan . 1 6 7
CHAP. VI.—Second Insurrection of Guarionex, and his Flight to the
Mountains of Ciguay . .
.
.
.
. . , . . 173
CHAP. VII.—Campaign of the Adelantado in the Mountains of Ciguay . 178
BOOK x n .
CHAP. I.—Confusion in the Island.—Proceedings of the Rebels at Xaragua 187
CHAP. II.—Negotiation of the Admiral with the Rebels.—Departure of
Ships for Spain . . 193
CHAP. III.—Arrangement with the Rebels , 200
CHAP. IV.—Another Mutiny of the Rebels ; and Second Arrangement
with them 212
CHAP. V.—Grants made to Roldan and his Followers.—Departure of sev-
eral of the Rebels for Spain . 219
CHAP. VI.—Arrival of Ojeda with a Squadron at the Western part of the
Island.—Roldan sent to meet him . . . . . . . 224
CHAP. VII.—Manœuvres of Roldan and Ojeda . . 230
CONTENTS. vii
BOOK XIII.
Page
CHAP. I.—Representations at Court against Columbus.—Bobadilla empow
ered to examine into his Conduct . . . . . . 2 3 9
CHAP. II.—Arrival of Bobadilla at San Domingo.—His violent Assumption
of the Command 2 4 8
CHAP. III.—Columbus summoned to appear before Bobadilla . . 2 5 5
CHAP. IV.—Columbus and his Brothers arrested and sent to Spain in
Chains . - . . . 2 5 9
BOOK XIV.
CHAP. I.—Sensation in Spain on the Arrival of Columbus in Irons.—His
Appearance at Court
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
2 6 9
CH:.P. II.—Contemporary Voyages of Discovery
.
.
.
.
2 7 5
CHAP. III. —Nicholas de Ovando appointed to supersede Bobadilla .
2 8 1
CHAP. IV.—Proposition of Columbus relative to the Recovery of the Holy
Sepulchre . . .
2 9 2
CHAP. V.—Preparations of Columbus for a Fourth Voyage of Discovery 2 9 8
BOOK XV.
CHAP. I.—Departure of Columbus on his Fourth Voyage.—Refused Admis
sion to the Harbor of San Domingo.—Exposed to a violent Tempest 3 0 5
CHAP. II.—Voyage along the Coast of Honduras
3 1 3
CHAP. III.—Voyage along the Mosquito Coast, and Transactions at Cari-
ari
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
3 2 1
CHAP. IV.—Voyage along Coast Rica.—Speculations concerning the
Isthmus at Veragua .
.
.
.
. . . . . . 3 2 8
CHAP. V.—Discovery of Puerto Bello and El Retrete.—Columbus aban
dons the search after the Strait 3 3 4
CHAP. VI.—Return to Veragua.—The Adelantado explores the Country 3 3 9
CHAP. VII.—Commencement of a Settlement on the river Belen.—Con
spiracy of the Natives.—Expedition of the Adelantado to surprise
Quibian 3 4 8
CHAP. VIII.—Disasters of the Settlement 3 5 7
CHAP. IX.—Distress of the Admiral on board of his Ship.—Ultimate
Relief of the Settlement 3 6 3
CHAP. X.—Departure from the Coast of Veragua.—Arrival at Jamaica.—
Stranding of the Ships 3 7 4
vii
CONTENTS.
BOOK XVI.
PAGE
CHAP. I.—Arrangement of Diego Mendez with the Caciques for Supplies
of Provisions.—Sent to San Domingo by Columbus in quest of Relief 377
CHAP. II.—Mutiny of Porras . . 387
CHAP. III.—Scarcity of Provisions.—Stratagem of Columbus to obtain
Supplies from the Natives . . . . . . . . 396
CHAP. IV.—Mission of Diego de Escobar to the Admiral . . . 401
CHAP. V.—Voyage of Diego Mendez and Bartholomew Fiesco in a Canoe
to Hispaniola . . . 4 0 6
CHAP. VI.—Overtures of Columbus to the Mutineers.—Battle of the Ade
lantado with Porras and his Followers
.
.
.
.
.
. 413
BOOK XVII.
CHAP. I.—Administration of Ovando in Hispaniola.—Oppression of the
Natives .
.
.
.
. . . • 423
CHAP. II.—Massacre at Xaragua.—Fate of Anacaona . 429
CHAP. III.—War with the Natives of Higuey 438
CHAP. IV.—Close of the War with Higuey.—Fate of Cotabanama . 445
BOOK XVIII.
CHAP. I.—Departure of Columbus for San Domingo.—His Return to
Spain
.
.
.
. . . . . 4 5 3
CHAP. II.—Illness of Columbus at Seville.—Application to the Crown
for a Restitution of his Honors.—Death of Isabella . . . 460
CHAP. III.—Columbus arrives at Court.—Fruitless Application to the
King for Redress
.
.
.
.
.
.
. . . 468
CHAP. IV.—Death of Columbus . . . . . . . 4 7 7
CHAP. V.—Observations on the Character of Columbus . . . 484
T H E
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S
O F
C O L U M B U S .
BOOK VIII.
C H A P T E E I .
A R R I V A L O P T H E A D M I R A L A T I S A B E L L A . C H A R A C T E R O F
B A R T H O L O M E W C O L U M B U S .
[ 1 4 9 4 . Sept. 4 . ]
T H E sight of the little squadron of Columbus standing once more
into the harbor, was hailed with joy by such of the inhabitants of
Isabella as remained faithful to him. The long time that had
elapsed since his departure on this adventurous voyage, without
any tidings arriving from him, had given rise to the most serious
apprehensions for his safety ; and it began to be feared that he
had fallen a victim to his enterprising spirit in some remote part
of these unknown seas.
A joyful and heartfelt surprise awaited the admiral on his
arrival, in finding at his bedside his brother Bartholomew, the
companion of his youth, his confidential coadjutor, and in a man
ner his second self, from whom he had been separated for several
VOL. n.
B
10
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
years. It will be recollected, that about the time of the admiral's
departure from Portugal, he had commissioned Bartholomew to
repair to England, and propose his project of discovery to King
Henry VII. Of this application to the English court no precise
particulars are known. Fernando Columbus states that his uncle,
in the course of his voyage, was captured and plundered by a
corsair, and reduced to such poverty, that he had for a long time
to struggle for a mere subsistence by making sea-charts ; so that
some years elapsed before he made his application to the English
monarch. Las Casas thinks that he did not immediately proceed
to England, having found a memorandum in his handwriting, by
which it would appear that he accompanied Bartholomew Diaz in
1486, in his voyage along the coast of Africa, in the service of
the king of Portugal, in the course of which voyage was discov
ered the Cape of Good Hope.*
* The memorandum cited by Las Casas (Hist. Ind. lib. i. cap. 7) is curi
ous, though not conclusive. He says that he found it in an old book belonging
to Christopher Columbus, containing the works of Pedro de Aliaco. It was
written in the margin of a treatise on the form of the globe, in the handwriting
of Bartholomew Columbus, which was well known to Las Casas, as he had
many of his letters in his possession. The memorandum was in a barbarous
mixture of Latin and Spanish, and to the following effect.
In the year 1488, in December, arrived at Lisbon Bartholomew Diaz, cap
tain of three caravels, which the king of Portugal sent to discover Guinea, and
brought accounts that he had discovered six hundred leagues of territory, four
hundred and fifty to the south and one hundred and fifty north, to a cape,
named by him the Cape of Good Hope ; and that by the astrolabe he found
the cape 45 degrees beyond the equinoctial line. This cape was 3100 leagues
distant from Lisbon : the which the said captain says he set down, league by
league, in a chart of navigation presented by him to the king of Portugal ; in
all which, adds the writer, I was present (in quibus omnibus interfui).
C H A P . I ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
11
It is but justice to the memory of Henry VII to say, that
when the proposition was eventually made to him, it met with a
more ready attention than from any other sovereign. An agree
ment was actually made with Bartholomew for the prosecution of
the enterprise, and the latter departed for Spain in search of his
Las Casas expresses a doubt whether Bartholomew wrote this note for
himself, or on the part of his brother, but infers that one, or both, were in this
expedition. The inference may be correct with respect to Bartholomew, but
Christopher, at the time specified, was at the Spanish court.
Las Casas accounts for a difference in date between the foregoing memo
randum and the chronicles of the voyage ; the former making the return of
Diaz in the year '88, the latter '87. This he observes might be because some
begin to count the year after Christmas, others at the first of January : and the
expedition sailed about the end of August '86, and returned in December '87,
after an absence of seventeen months.
NOTE.—Since publishing the first edition of this work, the author being in
Seville, and making researches in the Bibliotheca Columbina, the library given
by Fernando Columbus to the cathedral of that city, he came accidentally upon
the above-mentioned copy of the work of Pedro Aliaco. He ascertained it to
be the same by finding the above-cited memorandum written on the margin,
at the eighth chapter of the tract called “ Imago Mundi.” It is an old volume
in folio, bound in parchment, published soon after the invention of printing,
containing a collection in Latin of astronomical and cosmographical tracts of
Pedro (or Peter) de Aliaco, archbishop of Cambray and cardinal, and of his
disciple, John Gerson. Pedro de Aliaco was born in 1340, and died, accord
ing to some in 1416, according to others in 1425. He was the author of many
works, and one of the most learned and scientific men of his day. Las Casas
is of opinion that his writings had more effect in stimulating Columbus to his
enterprise than those of any other author. “ His work was so familiar to
Columbus, that he had filled its whole margin with Latin notes in his hand
writing ; citing many things which he had read and gathered elsewhere. This
book, which was very old," continues Las Casas, “ I had many times in my
hands ; and I drew some things from it, written in Latin by the said admiral
B 2
19
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
brother. On reaching Paris, he first received the joyful intelli
gence that the discovery was already made ; that his brother had
returned to Spain in triumph ; and was actually at the Spanish
court, honored by the sovereigns, caressed by the nobility, and
idolized by the people. The glory of Columbus already shed its
rays upon his family, and Bartholomew found himself immedi
ately a person of importance. He was noticed by the French
monarch, Charles VIII, who, understanding that he was low in
purse, furnished him with one hundred crowns to defray the
expenses of his journey to Spain. He reached Seville just as
his brother had departed on his second voyage. Bartholomew
immediately repaired to the court, then at Valladolid, taking with
him his two nephews, Diego and Fernando, who were to serve in
Christopher Columbus, to verify certain points appertaining to his history, of
which I before was in doubt." (Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 11.)
It was a great satisfaction to the author, therefore, to discover this identical
volume, this Vade Mecum of Columbus, in a state of good preservation. [It
is in the cathedral library, E — G , Tab. 178, No. 21.] The notes and cita
tions mentioned by Las Casas art in Latin, with many abbreviations, written
in a very small, but neat and distinct hand, and run throughout the volume ;
calling attention to the most striking passages, or to those which bear most
upon the theories of Columbus ; occasionally containing brief comments or
citing the opinions of other authors, ancient and modem, either in support or
contradiction of the text. The memorandum particularly cited by Las Casas,
mentioning the voyage of Bartholomew Diaz to the Cape of Good Hope, is to
disprove an opinion in the text, that the torrid zone was uninhabitable. This
volume is a most curious and interesting document, the only one that remains
of Columbus prior to his discovery. It illustrates his researches and in a man
ner the current of his thoughts, while as yet his great enterprise existed but in
dea, and while he was seeking means to convince the world of its practica
l i t y . It will be found also to contain the grounds of many of his opinions
and speculations on a variety of subjects.
CHAP. I.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
13
quality of pages to Prince Juan.* He was received with distin
guished favor by the sovereigns ; who, finding him to be an able
and accomplished navigator, gave him the command of three
ships freighted with supplies for the colony, and sent him to aid
his brother in his enterprises. He had again arrived too late ;
reaching Isabella just after the departure of the admiral for the
coast of Cuba.
The sight of this brother was an inexpressible relief to Colum
bus, overwhelmed as he was by cares, and surrounded by stran
gers. His chief dependence for sympathy and assistance had
hitherto been on his brother Don Diego ; but his mild and
peaceable disposition rendered him little capable of managing the
concerns of a factious colony. Bartholomew was of a different
and more efficient character. He was prompt, active, decided,
and of a fearless spirit ; whatever he determined, he carried into
instant execution, without regard to difficulty or danger. His per
son corresponded to his mind ; it was tall, muscular, vigorous, and
commanding. He had an air of great authority, but somewhat
stern, wanting that sweetness and benignity which tempered the
authoritative demeanor of the admiral. Indeed, there was a
certain asperity in his temper, and a dryness and abruptness in
his manners, which made him many enemies ; yet notwithstand
ing these external defects, he was of a generous disposition, free
from all arrogance or malevolence, and as placable as he was
brave.
He was a thorough seaman, understanding both the theory
and practice of his profession ; having been formed, in a great
measure, under the eye of the admiral, and being but little infe
rior to him in science. He was superior to him in the exercise
* Hist, del Almirante, cap. 60.
14
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK V I I I .
of the pen, according to Las Casas, who had letters and manu
scripts of both in his possession. He was acquainted with Latin,
but does not appear to have been highly educated ; his knowledge,
like that of his brother, being chiefly derived from a long course
of varied experience and attentive observation. Equally vigorous
and penetrating in intellect with the admiral, but less enthusiastic
in spirit and soaring in imagination, and with less simplicity of
heart, he surpassed him in the subtle and adroit management of
business, was more attentive to his interests, and had more of that
worldly wisdom which is so important in the ordinary concerns
of life. His genius might never have enkindled him to the sub
lime speculation which ended in the discovery of a world, but his
practical sagacity was calculated to turn that discovery to advan
tage. Such is the description of Bartholomew Columbus, as fur
nished by the venerable Las Casas from personal observation ;*
and it will be found to accord with his actions throughout the
remaining history of the admiral, in the events of which he takes
a conspicuous part.
Anxious to relieve himself from the pressure of public busi
ness, which weighed heavily upon him during his present malady,
Columbus immediately invested his brother Bartholomew with the
title and authority of Adelantado, an office equivalent to that of
lieutenant-governor. He considered himself entitled to do so
from the articles of his arrangement with the sovereigns, but it
was looked upon by King Ferdinand as an undue assumption of
power, and gave great offence to that jealous monarch, who was
exceedingly tenacious of the prerogatives of the crown, and con
sidered dignities of this rank and importance as only to be con
ferred by royal mandale.† Columbus, however, was not actuated
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 29. † Ibid, cap. 101.
CHAP. I.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
15
in this appointment by a mere desire to aggrandize his family.
He felt the importance of his brother's assistance in the present
critical state of the colony, but that this co-operation would be
inefficient unless it bore the stamp of high official authority. In
fact, during the few months that he had been absent, the whole
island had become a scene of discord and violence, in conse
quence of the neglect, or rather the flagrant violation, of those
rules which he had prescribed for the maintenance of its tran
quillity. A brief retrospect of the recent affairs of the colony is
here necessary to explain their present confusion. It will exhibit
one of the many instances in which Columbus was doomed to reap
the fruits of the evil seed sown by his adversaries.
16
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK V I I I .
CHAPTEE II.
MISCONDUCT OP DON PEDRO MARGARITE, A N D HIS DEPARTURE
FROM THE ISLAND.
[1494.]
IT will be recollected, that before departing on his voyage, Co
lumbus had given the command of the army to Don Pedro Mar-
garite, with orders to make a military tour of the island, awing
the natives by a display of military force, but conciliating their
good-will by equitable and amicable treatment.
The island was at this time divided into five domains, each
governed by a cacique, of absolute and hereditary power, to whom
a great number of inferior caciques yielded tributary allegiance.
The first or most important domain comprised the middle part of
the royal Vega. It was a rich, lovely country, partly cultivated
after the imperfect manner of the natives, partly covered with
noble forests, studded with Indian towns, and watered by numer
ous rivers, many of which, rolling down from the mountains of
Cibao, on its southern frontier, had gold-dust mingled with their
sands. The name of the cacique was Guarionex, whose ances
tors had long ruled over the province.
The second, called Marien, was under the sway of Guacana-
gari, on whose coast Columbus had been wrecked in his first voy-
CHAP. II.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
17
age. It was a large and fertile territory, extending along the
northern coast from Cape St. Nicholas at the western extremity
of the Island, to the great river Yagui, afterwards called Monte
Christi, and including the northern part of the royal Vega, since
called the plain of Cape François, now Cape Haytien.
The third bore the name of Maguana. It extended along the
southern coast from the river Ozema to the lakes, and comprised
the chief part of the centre of the island lying along the southern
face of the mountains of Cibao, the mineral district of Hayti. It
was under the dominion of the Carib cacique Caonabo, the most
fierce and puissant of the savage chieftains, and the inveterate
enemy of the white men.
The fourth took its name from Xaragua, a large lake, and
was the most populous and extensive of all. It comprised the
whole western coast, including the long promontory of Cape
Tiburon, and extended for a considerable distance along the
southern side of the island. The inhabitants were finely formed,
had a noble air, a more agreeable elocution, and more soft and
graceful manners than the natives of the other parts of the island.
The sovereign was named Behechio ; his sister, Anacaona, cele
brated throughout the island for her beauty, was the favorite wife
of the neighboring cacique Caonabo.
The fifth domain was Higuey, and occupied the whole eastern
part of the island, being bounded on the north by the Bay of Sa-
mana and part of the river Yuna, and on the west by the Ozema.
The inhabitants were the most active and warlike people of the
island, having learnt the use of the bow and arrow from the Ca-
ribs, who made frequent descents upon their coasts ; they were
said also to make use of poisoned weapons. Their bravery, how
ever, was but comparative, and was found eventually of little
18
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
avail against the terror of European arms. They were governed
by a cacique named Cotubanama.*
Such were the five territorial divisions of the island at the
time of its discovery. The amount of its population has never
been clearly ascertained ; some have stated it at a million of
souls, though this is considered an exaggeration. It must, how
ever, have been very numerous, and sufficient, in case of any
general hostility, to endanger the safety of a handful of Euro
peans. Columbus trusted for safety partly to the awe inspired by
the weapons and horses of the Spaniards, and the idea of their
superhuman nature, but chiefly to the measures he had taken to
conciliate the good-will of the Indians by gentle and beneficent
treatment.
Margarite set forth on his expedition with the greater part of
the forces, leaving Alonzo de Ojeda in command of the fortress
of St. Thomas. Instead, however, of commencing by exploring
the rough mountains of Cibao, as he had been commanded, he
descended into the fertile region of the Vega. Here he lingered
among the populous and hospitable Indian villages, forgetful of
the object of his command, and of the instructions left him by the
admiral. A commander who lapses from duty himself, is little
calculated to enforce discipline. The sensual indulgences of Mar
garite were imitated by his followers, and his army soon became
little better than a crew of riotous marauders. The Indians, for
a time, supplied them with provisions with their wonted hospi
tality, but the scanty stores of those abstemious yet improvident
people were soon exhausted by the Spaniards ; one of whom they
declared would consume more in a day than would support an In
dian for a month. If provisions were withheld, or scantily fur-
* Charlevoix, Hist. St. Domingo, lib. i. p. 69.
CHAP. I I . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
nished, they were taken with violence ; nor was any
l9
compensa
tion given to the natives, nor means taken to soothe their irrita
tion. The avidity for gold also led to a thousand acts of injustice
and oppression ; but above all the Spaniards outraged the dearest
feelings of the natives, by their licentious conduct with respect to
the women. In fact, instead of guests, they soon assumed the
tone of imperious masters ; instead of enlightened benefactors, they
became sordid and sensual oppressors.
Tidings of these excesses, and of the disgust and impatience
they were awakening among the natives, soon reached Don Diego
Columbus. With the concurrence of the council, he wrote to
Margarite reprehending his conduct, and requesting him to pro
ceed on the military tour, according to the commands of the ad
miral. The pride of Margarite took fire at this reproof ; he
considered, or rather pretended to consider himself independent
in his command, and above all responsibility to the council for his
conduct. Being of an ancient family, also, and a favorite of the
king, he affected to look down with contempt upon the newly-
coined nobility of Diego Columbus. His letters, in reply to the
orders of the president and council, were couched in a tone either
of haughty contumely or of military defiance. He continued
with his followers quartered in the Vega, persisting in a course
of outrages and oppressions fatal to the tranquillity of the island.
He was supported in his arrogant defiance of authority by the
cavaliers and adventurers of noble birth who were in the colony,
and who had been deeply wounded in the proud punctilio so
jealously guarded by a Spaniard. They could not forget nor for
give the stern equity exercised by the admiral in a time of emer
gency, in making them submit to the privations and share the
labors of the vulgar. Still less could they brook the authority of
90
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
his brother Diego, destitute of his high personal claims to dis
tinction. They formed, therefore, a kind of aristocratical faction
in the colony ; affecting to consider Columbus and his family as
mere mercenary and upstart foreigners, building up their own
fortunes at the expense of the toils and sufferings of the commu
nity, and the degradation of Spanish hidalgos and cavaliers.
In addition to these partisans, Margarite had a powerful ally in
his fellow-countryman, Friar Boyle, the head of the religious fra
ternity, one of the members of the council, and apostolical vicar
of the New World. It is not easy to ascertain the original cause
of the hostility of this holy friar to the admiral, who was never
wanting in respect to the clergy. Various altercations, however,
had taken place between them. Some say that the friar inter
fered in respect to the strict measures deemed necessary by the
admiral for the security of the colony ; others that he resented
the fancied indignity offered to himself and his household, in put
ting them on the same short allowance with the common people.
He appears, however, to have been generally disappointed and dis
gusted with the sphere of action afforded by the colony, and to have
looked back with regret to the Old World. He had none of that
enthusiastic zeal and persevering self-devotion, which induced so
many of the Spanish missionaries to brave all the hardships and
privations of the New World, in the hope of converting its pagan
inhabitants.
Encouraged and fortified by such powerful partisans, Marga
rite really began to consider himself above the temporary autho
rities of the island. Whenever he came to Isabella, he took no
notice of Don Diego Columbus, nor paid any respect to the coun
cil, but acted as if he had paramount command. He formed a
cabal of most of those who were disaffected to Columbus, and
CHAP. I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
21
discontented with their abode in the colony. Among these the
leading agitator was Friar Boyle. It was concerted among them
to take possession of the ships which had brought out Don Bar
tholomew Columbus, and to return in them to Spain. Both Marga
rite and Boyle possessed the favor of the king, and they deemed
it would be an easy matter to justify their abandonment of their
military and religious commands by a pretended zeal for the pub
lic good ; hurrying home to represent the disastrous state of the
country, through the tyranny and oppression of its rulers. Some
have ascribed the abrupt departure of Margarite to his fear of a
severe military investigation of his conduct on the return of the
admiral ; others to his having, in the course of his licentious
amours, contracted a malady at that time new and unknown, and
which he attributed to the climate, and hoped to cure by medical
assistance in Spain. Whatever may have been the cause, his
measures were taken with great precipitancy, without any consul
tation of the proper authorities, or any regard to the consequences
of his departure. Accompanied by a band of malcontents, he
and Friar Boyle took possession of some ships in the harbor, and
set sail for Spain ; the first general and apostle of the New World
thus setting the flagrant example of unauthorized abandonment
of their posts.
H
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK V I I I .
CHAPTER III.
TROUBLES WITH THE N A T I V E S . — ALONZO D E OJEDA B E S I E G E D
B Y CAONABO.
[1494.]
THE departure of Pedro Margarite left the army without a head,
and put an end to what little restraint or discipline remained.
There is no rabble so licentious as soldiery left to their own direc
tion in a defenceless country. They now roved about in bands,
or singly, according to their caprice, scattering themselves among
the Indian villages, and indulging in all kinds of excesses, either
as prompted by avarice or sensuality. The natives, indignant at
having their hospitality thus requited, refused any longer to fur
nish them with food. In a little while the Spaniards began to
experience the pressure of hunger, and seized upon provisions
wherever they could be found, accompanying these seizures with
acts of wanton violence. At length, by a series of flagrant out
rages, the gentle and pacific nature of this people was roused to
resentment, and from confiding and hospitable hosts, they were
converted into vindictive enemies. All the precautions enjoined
by Columbus having been neglected, the evils he had apprehended
came to pass. Though the Indians, naturally timid, dared not
contend with the Spaniards while they kept up any combined and
CHAP. III.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
23
disciplined force, yet they took sanguinary vengeance on them
whenever they met with small parties or scattered individuals,
roving about in quest of food. Encouraged by these petty
triumphs, and the impunity which seemed to attend them, their
hostilities grew more and more alarming. Guatiguana, cacique
of a large town on the banks of the Grand River, in the domin
ions of Guarionex, sovereign of the Vega, put to death ten
Spaniards, who had quartered themselves in his town, and out
raged the inhabitants by their licentiousness. He followed up
this massacre by setting fire to a house in which forty-six Span
iards were lodged.* Flushed by this success, he threatened to
attack a small fortress called Magdalena, which had recently been
built in his neighborhood in the Vega ; so that the commander,
Luis de Arriaga, having but a feeble garrison, was obliged to re
main shut up within its walls until relief should arrive from Isa
bella.
The most formidable enemy of the Spaniards, however, was
Caonabo, the Carib cacique of Maguana. With natural talents
for war, and intelligence superior to the ordinary range of savage
intellect, he had a proud and daring spirit to urge him on, three
valiant brothers to assist him, and a numerous tribe at his com-
m a n d . † He had always felt jealous of the intrusion of the white
men into the island ; but particularly exasperated by the establish
ment of the fortress of St. Thomas, erected in the very centre of
his dominions. As long as the army lay within call in the Vega,
he was deterred from any attack ; but when, on the departure of
Margarite, it became dismembered and dispersed, the time for
striking a signal blow seemed arrived. The fortress remained
isolated, with a garrison of only fifty men. By a sudden and
* Herrera Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. ii. cap. 16. † Ibid.
24
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK V I I I .
secret movement, he might overwhelm it with his forces, and re
peat the horrors which he had wreaked upon La Navidad.
The wily cacique, however, had a different kind of enemy to
deal with in the commander of St. Thomas. Alonzo de Ojeda
had been schooled in Moorish warfare. He was versed in all
kinds of feints, stratagems, lurking ambuscades, and wild assaults.
No man was more fitted, therefore, to cope with Indian warriors.
He had a headlong courage, arising partly from the natural heat
and violence of his disposition, and, in a great measure, from reli
gious superstition. He had been engaged in wars with Moors
and Indians, in public battles and private combats, in fights, feuds,
and encounters of all kinds, to which he had been prompted by
a rash and fiery spirit, and a love of adventure ; yet he had never
been wounded, nor lost a drop of blood. He began to doubt
whether any weapon had power to harm him, and to consider
himself under the special protection of the holy Virgin. As a
kind of religious talisman, he had a small Flemish painting of the
Virgin, given him by his patron, Fonseca, bishop of Badajoz.
This he constantly carried with him, in city, camp, or field, making
it the object of his frequent orisons and invocations. In garrison
or encampment, it was suspended in his chamber or his tent ; in
his rough expeditions in the wilderness, he carried it in his knap
sack, and whenever leisure permitted, would take it out, fix it
against a tree, and address his prayers to this military patroness.*
In a word, he swore by the Virgin, he invoked the Virgin whether
in brawl or battle, and under the favor of the Virgin he was ready
for any enterprise or adventure. Such was this Alonzo de Ojeda ;
bigoted in his devotion, reckless in his life, fearless in his spirit,
* Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. viii. cap. 4. Pizarro Varonese Illustres,
cap. 8.
CHAP. III.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
35
like many of the roving Spanish cavaliers of those days. Though
small in size, he was a prodigy of strength and prowess ; and the
chroniclers of the early discoveries relate marvels of his valor
and exploits.
Having reconnoitred the fortress, Caonabo assembled ten
thousand warriors, armed with war clubs, bows and arrows, and
lances hardened in the fire ; and making his way secretly through
the forests, came suddenly in the neighborhood, expecting to sur
prise the garrison in a state of careless security. He found Ojeda's
forces, however, drawn up warily within his tower, which, being
built upon an almost insulated height, with a river nearly sur
rounding it, and the remaining space traversed by a deep ditch,
set at defiance an attack by naked warriors.
Foiled in his attempt, Caonabo now hoped to reduce it by
famine. For this purpose, he distributed his warriors through
the adjacent forests ; and waylaid every pass, so as to intercept
any supplies brought by the natives, and to cut off any foraging
party from the fortress. This siege, or investment, lasted for
thirty days,* and reduced the garrison to great distress. There
is a traditional anecdote, which Oviedo relates of Pedro Marga
rite, the former commander of this fortress, but which may with
more probability be ascribed to Alonzo de Ojeda, as having occur
red during this siege. At a time when the garrison was sore
pressed by famine, an Indian gained access to the fort, bringing
a couple of wood-pigeons for the table of the commander. The
latter was in an apartment of the tower surrounded by several
of his officers. Seeing them regard the birds with the wistful
eyes of famishing men, “ It is a pity,” said he, “ that here is not
enough to give us all a meal ; I cannot consent to feast while the
* P. Martyr, decad. i. lib. iv.
VOL. II.
c
2 6 LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF [BOOK VIII
rest of you are starving :” so saying, he turned loose the pigeons
from a window of the tower.
During the siege, Ojeda displayed the greatest activity of
spirit and fertility of resource. He baffled all the arts of the
Carib chieftain, concerting stratagems of various kinds to relieve
the garrison and annoy the foe. He sallied forth whenever the
enemy appeared in any force, leading the van with that headlong
valor for which he was noted ; making great slaughter with his
single arm, and, as usual, escaping unhurt from amidst showers
of darts and arrows.
Caonabo saw many of his bravest warriors slain. His forces
were diminishing, for the Indians, unused to any protracted ope
rations of war, grew weary of this siege, and returned daily in
numbers to their homes. He gave up all further attempt, there
fore, on the fortress, and retired, filled with admiration of the
prowess and achievements of Ojeda.*
The restless chieftain was not discouraged by the failure of
this enterprise, but meditated schemes of a bolder and more
extensive nature. Prowling in secret in the vicinity of Isabella,
he noted the enfeebled state of the settlement.† Many of the
inhabitants were suffering under various maladies, and most of
the men capable of bearing arms were distributed about the coun
try. He now conceived the project of a general league among
the caciques, to surprise and overwhelm the settlement, and mas
sacre the Spaniards wherever they could be found. This handful
of intruders once exterminated, he trusted the island would be
delivered from all further molestation of the kind ; little dream
ing of the hopeless nature of the contest, and that where the
* Oviedo, Cronica de las Indias, lib. iii. cap. 1.
† Hist. del Almirante, cap. 6 0 .
CHAP. III.l C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
27
civilized man once plants his foot, the power of the savage is
gone for ever.
Reports of the profligate conduct of the Spaniards had spread
throughout the island, and inspired hatred and hostility even
among tribes who had never beheld them, nor suffered from their
misdeeds. Caonabo found three of the sovereign caciques inclined
to co-operate with him, though impressed with deep awe of the
supernatural power of the Spaniards, and of their terrific arms
and animals. The league, however, met with unexpected oppo
sition in the fifth cacique, Guacanagari, the sovereign of Marien.
His conduct in this time of danger completely manifested the injus
tice of the suspicions which had been entertained of him by the
Spaniards. He refused to join the other caciques with his forces,
or to violate those laws of hospitality by which he had considered
himself bound to protect and aid the white men, ever since they
had been shipwrecked on his coast. He remained quietly in his
dominions, entertaining at his own expense a hundred of the suf
fering soldiery, and supplying all their wants with his accustomed
generosity. This conduct drew upon him the odium and hostility
of his fellow caciques, particularly of the fierce Carib, Caonabo,
and his brother-in-law, Behechio. They made irruptions into his
territories, and inflicted on him various injuries and indignities.
Behechio killed one of his wives, and Caonabo carried another
away captive.* Nothing, however, could shake the devotion of
Guacanagari to the Spaniards ; and as his dominions lay imme
diately adjacent to the settlement, and those of some of the other
caciques were very remote, the want of his co-operation impeded
for some time the hostile designs of his confederates.f
* Hist, del Almirante,cap. 60. t Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. ii. cap. 16.
c 2
2 8
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK V I I I .
Such was the critical state to which the affairs of the colony
had been reduced, and such the bitter hostility engendered among
the people of the island, during the absence of Columbus, and
merely in consequence of violating all his regulations. Margarite
and Friar Boyle had hastened to Spain to make false representa
tions of the miseries of the island. Had they remained faithfully
at their posts, and discharged zealously the trust confided to them,
those miseries might have been easily remedied, if not entirely
prevented.
CHAP. I V . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
29
CHAPTER IV.
MEASURES OF COLUMBUS TO RESTORE THE QUIET OF THE
I S L A N D . — E X P E D I T I O N OF O J E D A TO SURPRISE CAONABO.
[1494.]
IMMEDIATELY after the return of Columbus from Cuba, while he
was yet confined to his bed by indisposition, he was gratified by a
voluntary visit from Guacanagari, who manifested the greatest
concern at his illness, for he appears to have always entertained
an affectionate reverence for the admiral. He again spoke with
tears of the massacre of Fort Nativity, dwelling on the exertions
he had made in defence of the Spaniards. He now informed
Columbus of the secret league forming among the caciques ; of
his opposition to it, and the consequent persecution he had suf
fered; of the murder of one of his wives, and the capture of
another. He urged the admiral to be on his guard against the
designs of Caonabo, and offered to lead his subjects to the field,
to fight by the side of the Spaniards, as well out of friendship for
them, as in revenge of his own injuries.*
Columbus had always retained a deep sense of the ancient
kindness of Guacanagari, and was rejoiced to have all suspicion
of his good faith thus effectually dispelled. Their former amica
ble intercourse was renewed, with this difference, that the man
* Herrera, Hist. Ind , decad. i. lib. ii. cap. 16.
30
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK V I I I .
whom Guacanagari had once relieved and succored as a ship
wrecked stranger, had suddenly become the arbiter of the fate of
himself and all his countrymen.
The manner in which this peaceful island had been exaspe
rated and embroiled by the licentious conduct of the Europeans,
was a matter of deep concern to Columbus. He saw all his plans
of deriving an immediate revenue to the sovereigns completely
impeded. To restore the island to tranquillity required skillful
management. His forces were but small, and the awe in which
the natives had stood of the white men, as supernatural beings,
had been in some degree dispelled. He was too ill to take a per
sonal share in any warlike enterprise : his brother Diego was not
of a military character, and Bartholomew was yet a stranger
among the Spaniards, and regarded by the leading men with
jealousy. Still Columbus considered the threatened combination
of the caciques as but imperfectly formed ; he trusted to their
want of skill and experience in warfare, and conceived that by
prompt measures, by proceeding in detail, punishing some, con
ciliating others, and uniting force, gentleness, and stratagem, he
might succeed in dispelling the threatened storm.
His first care was to send a body of armed men to the relief
of Fort Magdalena, menaced with destruction by Guatiguana, the
eacique of the Grand River, who had massacred the Spaniards
quartered in his town. Having relieved the fortress, the troops
overran the territory of Guatiguana, killing many of his warriors,
and carrying others off captives : the chieftain himself made his
escape.* He was tributary to Guarionex, sovereign cacique of the
Royal Vega. As this Indian prince reigned over a great and
populous extent of country, his friendship was highly important
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. ii. cap. 16.
CHAP. IV.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
31
to the prosperity of the colony, while there was imminent risk
of his hostility, from the unbridled excesses of the Spaniards who
had been quartered in his dominions. Columbus sent for him,
therefore, and explained to him that these excesses had been in
violation of his orders, and contrary to his good intentions towards
the natives, whom it was his wish in every way to please and
benefit. He explained, likewise, that the expedition against
Guatiguana was an act of mere individual punishment, not of hos
tility against the territories of Guarionex. The cacique was of
a quiet and placable disposition, and whatever anger he might
have felt was easily soothed. To link him in some degree to the
Spanish interest, Columbus prevailed on him to give his daughter
in marriage to the Indian interpreter, Diego Colon.* As a
stronger precaution against any hostility on the part of the ca
cique, and to insure tranquillity in the important region of the
Vega, he ordered a fortress to be erected in the midst of his ter
ritories, which he named Fort Conception. The easy cacique
agreed without hesitation to a measure fraught with ruin to him
self, and future slavery to his subjects.
The most formidable enemy remained to be disposed of,—Ca
onabo. His territories lay in the central and mountainous parts
of the island, rendered difficult of access by rugged rocks, entan
gled forests, and frequent rivers. To make war upon this subtle
and ferocious chieftain, in the depths of his wild woodland terri
tory, and among the fastnesses of his mountains, where, at every
* P. Martyr, decad. i. lib. iv. Gio. Battista Spotorno, in his Memoir of
Columbus, has been led into an error by the name of this Indian, and observes
that Columbus had a brother named Diego, of whom he seemed to be ashamed,
and whom he married to the daughter of an Indian chief.
32
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK V I I I .
step, there would be danger of ambush, would be a work of time,
peril, and uncertain issue. In the meanwhile the settlements
would never be secure from his secret and daring enterprises, and
the working of the mines would be subject to frequent interrup
tion. While perplexed on this subject, Columbus was relieved
by an offer of Alonzo de Ojeda, to take the Carib chieftain by
stratagem, and deliver him alive into his hands. The project was
wild, hazardous, and romantic, characteristic of Ojeda, who was
fond of distinguishing himself by extravagant exploits and feats
of desperate bravery.
Choosing ten bold and hardy followers, well armed and well
mounted, and invoking the protection of his patroness the Virgin,
whose image as usual he bore with him as a safeguard, Ojeda
plunged into the forest, and made his way above sixty leagues into
the wild territories of Caonabo, whom he found in one of his most
populous towns, the same now called Maguana, near the town of
San Juan. Approaching the cacique with great deference as a
sovereign prince, he professed to come on a friendly embassy from,
the admiral, who was Guamiquina, or chief of the Spaniards, and
who had sent him an invaluable present.
Caonabo had tried Ojeda in battle ; he had witnessed his fiery
prowess, and had conceived a warrior's admiration of him. He
received him with a degree of chivalrous courtesy, if such a
phrase may apply to the savage state and rude hospitality of a
wild warrior of the forest. The free, fearless deportment, the
great personal strength, and the surprising agility and adroitness
of Ojeda in all manly exercises, and in the use of all kinds of
weapons, were calculated to delight a savage, and he soon became
a great favorite with Caonabo.
Ojeda now used all his influence to prevail upon the cacique
CHAP. IV.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
33
to repair to Isabella, for the purpose of making a treaty with Co
lumbus, and becoming the ally and friend of the Spaniards. It is
said that he offered him, as a lure, the bell of the chapel of Isa
bella. This bell was the wonder of the island. When the In
dians heard it ringing for mass, and beheld the Spaniards hasten
ing toward the chapel, they imagined that it talked, and that the
white men obeyed it. Regarding with superstition all things con
nected with the Spaniards, they looked upon this bell as some
thing supernatural, and in their usual phrase, said it had come
from “Turey,” or the skies. Caonabo had heard the bell at a
distance, in his prowlings about the settlement, and had longed to
see it ; but when it was proffered to him as a present of peace,
he found it impossible to resist the temptation. He agreed,
therefore, to set out for Isabella; but when the time came to de
part, Ojeda beheld with surprise a powerful force of warriors as
sembled and ready to march. He asked the meaning of taking
such an army on a mere friendly visit ; the cacique proudly re
plied that it did not befit a great prince like himself, to go forth
scantily attended. Ojeda was little satisfied with this reply ; he
knew the warlike character of Caonabo, and his deep subtlety ;
he feared some sinister design ; a surprise of the fortress of Isa
bella, or an attempt upon the person of the admiral. He knew
also that it was the wish of Columbus, either to make peace with
the cacique, or to get possession of his person without the alter
native of open warfare. He had recourse to a stratagem, there
fore, which has an air of fable and romance, but which is recorded
by all the contemporary historians with trivial variations, and which,
Las Casas assures us, was in current circulation in the island
when he arrived there, about six years after the event. It ac
cords too with the adventurous and extravagant character of the
34
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
man, and with the wild stratagems and vaunting exploits incident
to Indian warfare.
In the course of their march, having halted near the Little
Yagui, a considerable branch of the Neyba, Ojeda one day pro
duced a set of manacles of polished steel, so highly burnished
that they looked like silver. These he assured Caonabo were
royal ornaments which had come from heaven, or the Turey of
Biscay ;* that they were worn by the monarchs of Castile on so
lemn dances, and other high festivities, and were intended as pre
sents to the cacique. He proposed that Caonabo should go to the
river and bathe, after which he should be decorated with these
ornaments, mounted on the horse of Ojeda, and should return in
the state of a Spanish monarch, to astonish his subjects. The
cacique was dazzled with the glitter of the manacles, and flattered
with the idea of bestriding one of those tremendous animals so
dreaded by his countrymen. He repaired to the river, and
having bathed, was assisted to mount behind Ojeda, and the
shackles were adjusted. Ojeda made several circuits to gain
space, followed by his little band of horsemen, the Indians shrink
ing back from the prancing steeds. At length he made a wide
sweep into the forest, until the trees concealed him from the sight
of the army. His followers then closed round him, and drawing
their swords, threatened Caonabo with instant death if he made
the least noise or resistance. Binding him with cords to Ojeda
to prevent his falling or effecting an escape, they put spurs to
their horses, dashed across the river, and made off through the
woods with their prize.†
* The principal iron manufactories of Spain are established in Biscay, where
the ore is found in abundance.
† This romantic exploit of Ojeda is recorded at large by Las Casas ; by his
CHAP. IV.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
35
They had now fifty or sixty leagues of wilderness to traverse
on their way homewards, with here and there large Indian towns.
They had borne off their captive far beyond the pursuit of his
subjects ; but the utmost vigilance was requisite to prevent his es
cape during this long and toilsome journey, and to avoid exciting
the hostilities of any confederate cacique. They had to shun the
populous parts of the country therefore, or to pass through the
Indian towns at full gallop. They suffered greatly from fatigue,
hunger, and watchfulness ; encountering many perils, fording and
swimming the numerous rivers of the plains, toiling through the
deep tangled forests, and clambering over the high and rocky
mountains. They accomplished all in safety, and Ojeda entered
Isabella in triumph from this most daring and characteristic en
terprise, with his wild Indian bound behind.
Columbus could not refrain from expressing his great satisfac
tion when this dangerous foe was delivered into his hands. The
haughty Carib met him with a lofty and unsubdued air, disdaining
to conciliate him by submission, or to deprecate his vengeance for
the blood of white men which he had shed. He never bowed his
spirit to captivity ; on the contrary, though completely at the
mercy of the Spaniards, he displayed that boasting defiance which
is a part of Indian heroism, and which the savage maintains
towards his tormentors, even amidst the agonies of the faggot and
the stake. He vaunted his achievement in surprising and burn
ing the fortress of Nativity, and slaughtering its garrison, and
copyist Herrera (decad. i. lib. ii. cap. 16) ; by Fernando Pizarro, in his
Varones Illustres del Nuevo Mundo ; and by Charlevoix in his History of St.
Domingo. Peter Martyr and others have given it more concisely, alluding to,
but not inserting its romantic details.
36
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
declared that he had secretly reconnoitred Isabella, with an inten
tion of wreaking upon it the same desolation.
Columbus, though struck with the heroism of the chieftain,
considered him a dangerous enemy, whom, for the peace of the
island, it was advisable to send to Spain ; in the meantime he
ordered that he should be treated with kindness and respect, and
lodged him in a part of his own dwelling, where, however, he
kept him a prisoner in chains. This precaution must have been
necessary, from the insecurity of his prison ; for Las Casas
observes, that the admiral's house not being spacious, nor having
many chambers, the passers by in the street could see the captive
chieftain from the portal.*
Caonabo always maintained a haughty deportment towards
Columbus, while he never evinced the least animosity against
Ojeda. He rather admired the latter as a consummate warrior,
for having pounced upon him, and borne him off in this hawk-like
manner, from the very midst of his fighting-men.
When Columbus entered the apartment where Caonabo was
confined, all present rose, according to custom, and paid him
reverence ; the cacique alone neither moved nor took any notice
of him. On the contrary, when Ojeda entered, though small in
person and without external state, Caonabo rose and saluted him
with profound respect. On being asked the reason of this, Co
lumbus being Guamiquina, or great chief over all, and Ojeda but
one of his subjects, the proud Carib replied, that the admiral had
never dared to come personally to his house and seize him ; it
was only through the valor of Ojeda he was his prisoner ; to
Ojeda, therefore, he owed reverence, not to the admiral.†
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 102. † Las Casas, ubi sup., cap. 102.
CHAP. I V . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
37
The captivity of Caonabo was deeply felt by his subjects, for
the natives of this island seem generally to have been extremely
loyal, and strongly attached to their caciques. One of the brothers
of Caonabo, a warrior of great courage and address, and very
popular among the Indians, assembled an army of more than
seven thousand men, and led them secretly to the neighborhood
of St. Thomas, where Ojeda was again in command. His inten
tion was to surprise a number of Spaniards, in hopes of obtaining
his brother in exchange for them. Ojeda, as usual, had notice
of the design, but was not to be again shut up in his fortress.
Having been reinforced by a detachment sent by the Adelantado,
he left a sufficient force in garrison, and with the remainder, and
litle
his
troop of horse, set off boldly to meet the savages. The
brother of Caonabo, when he saw the Spaniards approaching,
showed some military skill, disposing his army in five battalions.
The impetuous attack of Ojeda, however, with his handful of
horsemen, threw the Indian warriors into sudden panic. At the
furious onset of these steel-clad beings, wielding their flashing
weapons, and bestriding what appeared to be ferocious beasts of
prey, they threw down their weapons and took to flight : many
were slain, more were taken prisoners, and among the latter was
the brother of Caonabo, bravely fighting in a righteous yet despe
rate cause.*
* Oviedo, Cronica de los Indias, lib. iii. cap. 1. Charlevoix, Hist. St. Do
mingo, lib. ii. p. 131.
3b
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK V I I I .
CHAPTER V.
ARRIVAL OF ANTONIO D E TORRES W I T H FOUR SHIPS FROM
S P A I N . — H I S RETURN W I T H INDIAN SLAVES.
[1494.]
THE colony was still suffering greatly from want of provisions ;
the European stock was nearly exhausted, and such was the idle
ness and improvidence of the colonists, or the confusion into which
they had been thrown by the hostilities of the natives ; or such
was their exclusive eagerness after the precious metals, that they
seem to have neglected the true wealth of the island, its quick
and productive soil, and to have been in constant danger of
famine, though in the midst of fertility.
At length they were relieved by the arrival of four ships,
commanded by Antonio Torres, which brought an ample supply
of provisions. There were also a physician and an apothecary,
whose aid was greatly needed in the sickly state of the colony ;
but above all, there were mechanics, millers, fishermen, gardeners,
and husbandmen,—the true kind of population for a colony.
Torres brought letters from the sovereigns, (dated August 16,
1494,) of the most gratifying kind, expressing the highest satis
faction at the accounts sent home by the admiral, and acknow
ledging that every thing in the course of his discoveries had
turned out as he had predicted. They evinced the liveliest inte-
CHAP. V.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
38
rest in the affairs of the colony, and a desire of receiving frequent
intelligence as to his situation, proposing that a caravel should
sail each month from Isabella and Spain. They informed him
that all differences with Portugal were amicably adjusted, and
acquainted him with the conventional agreement with that power
relative to a geographical line, separating their newly-discovered
possessions ; requesting him to respect this agreement in the
course of his discoveries. As in adjusting the arrangement with
Portugal, and in drawing the proposed line, it was important to
have the best advice, the sovereigns requested Columbus to return
and be present at the convention ; or, in case that should be incon
venient, to send his brother Bartholomew, or any other person
whom he should consider fully competent, furnished with such
maps, charts, and designs, as might be of service in the nego
tiation.*
There was another letter, addressed generally to the inhabit
ants of the colony, and to all who should proceed on voyages of
discovery, commanding them to obey Columbus as implicitly as
they would the sovereigns themselves, under pain of their high
displeasure, and a fine of ten thousand maravedies, for each
offence.
Such was the well-merited confidence reposed at this moment
by the sovereigns in Columbus, but which was soon to be blighted
by the insidious reports of worthless men. He was already aware
of the complaints and misrepresentations which had been sent
home from the colony, and which would be enforced by Marga
rite and Friar Boyle. He was aware that his standing in Spain
was of that uncertain kind which a stranger always possesses in
the service of a foreign country, where he has no friends nor con-
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. ii. cap. 17.
40
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK V I I I
nections to support him, and where even his very merits increase
the eagerness of envy to cast him down. His efforts to promote
the working of the mines, and to explore the resources of the
island, had been impeded by the misconduct of Margarite and the
disorderly life of the Spaniards in general, yet he apprehended
that the very evils which they had produced would be alleged
against him, and the want of profitable returns be cited to dis
credit and embarrass his expeditions.
To counteract any misrepresentations of the kind, Columbus
hastened the return of the ships, and would have returned with
them, not merely to comply with the wishes of the sovereigns in
being present at the settlement of the geographical line, but to
vindicate himself and his enterprises from the aspersions of his
enemies. The malady, however, which confined him to his bed
prevented his departure ; and his brother Bartholomew was re
quired to aid, with his practical good sense, and his resolute
spirit, in regulating the disordered affairs of the island. It was
determined, therefore, to send home his brother Diego, to attend
to the wishes of the sovereigns, and to take care of his interests
at court. At the same time, he exerted himself to the utmost to
send by the ships satisfactory proofs of the value of his discov
eries. He remitted by them all the gold that he could collect,
with specimens of other metals, and of various fruits and valuable
plants, which he had collected either in Hispaniola or in the
course of his voyage. In his eagerness to produce immediate
profit, and to indemnify the sovereigns for those expenses which
bore hard upon the royal treasury, he sent, likewise, above five
hundred Indian prisoners, who, he suggested, might be sold as
slaves at Seville.
It is painful to find the brilliant renown of Columbus sullied
CHAP. V.]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
41
by so foul a stain. The customs of the times, however, must be
pleaded in his apology. The precedent had been given long
before, by both Spaniards and Portuguese, in their African dis
coveries, wherein the traffic in slaves had formed one of the
greatest sources of profit. In fact, the practice had been sanc
tioned by the church itself, and the most learned theologians had
pronounced all barbarous and infidel nations, who shut their ears
to the truths of Christianity, fair objects of war and rapine, of
captivity and slavery. If Columbus needed any practical illus
tration of this doctrine, he had it in the conduct of Ferdinand
himself, in his late wars with the Moors of Granada, in which he
had always been surrounded by a crowd of ghostly advisers, and
had professed to do every thing for the glory and advancement
of the faith. In this holy war, as it was termed, it was a common
practice to make inroads into the Moorish territories and carry
off cavalgadas, not merely of flocks and herds, but of human
beings, and those not warriors taken with weapons in their hands,
but quiet villagers, laboring peasantry, and helpless women and
children. These were carried to the mart at Seville, or to other
populous towns, and sold into slavery. The capture of Malaga
was a memorable instance, where, as a punishment for an obsti
nate and brave defence, which should have excited admiration
rather than revenge, eleven thousand people of both sexes, and
of all ranks and ages, many of them highly cultivated and deli
cately reared, were suddenly torn from their homes, severed
from each other, and swept into menial slavery, even though
half of their ransoms had been paid. These circumstances
are not advanced to vindicate, but to palliate the conduct of Co
lumbus. He acted but in conformity to the customs of the times,
and was sanctioned by the example of the sovereign under whom
vox. n.
D
42
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
he served. Las, Casas, the zealous and enthusiastic advocate of
the Indians, who suffers no opportunity to escape him of exclaim
ing in vehement terms against their slavery, speaks with indul
gence of Columbus on this head. If those pious and learned
men, he observes, whom the sovereigns took for guides and
instructors, were so ignorant of the injustice of this practice, it is
no wonder that the unlettered admiral should not be conscious of
its impropriety.*
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., torn. i. cap. 122, MS.
CHAP. V I . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
43
CHAPTER VI.
EXPEDITION OF COLUMBUS AGAINST THE I N D I A N S OF THE
V E G A . – B A T T L E .
[1494.]
NOTWITHSTANDING the defeat of the Indians by Ojeda, they still
retained hostile intentions against the Spaniards. The idea of
their cacique being a prisoner, and in chains, enraged the natives
of Maguana ; and the general sympathy manifested by other
tribes of the island shows how widely that intelligent savage had
extended his influence, and how greatly he was admired. He
had still active and powerful relatives remaining, to attempt his
rescue, or revenge his fall. One of his brothers, Manicaotex by
name, a Carib, bold and warlike as himself, succeeded to the sway
over his subjects. His favorite wife also, Anacaona, so famous
for her charms, had great influence over her brother Behechio,
cacique of the populous province of Xaragua. Through these
means a violent and general hostility to the Spaniards was excited
throughout the island, and the formidable league of the caciques,
which Caonabo had in vain attempted to accomplish when at large,
was produced by his captivity. Guacanagari, the cacique of Ma-
rien, alone remained friendly to the Spaniards, giving them timely
information of the gathering storm, and offering to take the field
with them as a faithful ally.
D 2
44
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
The protracted illness of Columbus, the scantiness of his mili
tary force, and the wretched state of the colonists in general, re
duced by sickness and scarcity to great bodily weakness, had
hitherto induced him to try every means of conciliation and strat
agem to avert and dissolve the confederacy. He had at length
recovered his health, and his followers were in some degree re
freshed and invigorated by the supplies brought by the ships. At
this time, he received intelligence that the allied caciques were
actually assembled in great force in the Vega, within two days'
march of Isabella, with an intention of making a general assault
upon the settlement, and overwhelming it by numbers. Columbus
resolved to take the field at once, and to carry the war into the
territories of the enemy, rather than suffer it to be brought to his
own door.
The whole sound and effective force that he could muster, in
the present infirm state of the colony, did not exceed two hundred
infantry and twenty horse. They were armed with cross-bows,
swords, lances, and espingardas, OR heavy arquebuses, which in
those days were used with rests, and sometimes mounted on
wheels. With these formidable weapons, a handful of European
warriors, cased in steel and covered with bucklers, were able to
cope with thousands of naked savages. They had aid of another
kind, however, consisting of twenty blood-hounds, animals scarcely
less terrible to the Indians than the horses, and infinitely more
fatal. They were fearless and ferocious ; nothing daunted them,
nor when they had once seized upon their prey, could any thing
compel them to relinquish their hold. The naked bodies of the
Indians offered no defence against their attacks. They sprang on
them, dragged them to the earth, and tore them to pieces.
The admiral was accompanied in the expedition by his brother
CHAP. V I ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
45
Bartholomew, whose counsel and aid he sought on all occasions,
and who had not merely great personal force and undaunted
courage, but also a decidedly military turn of mind. Guacana
gari also brought his people into the field : neither he nor his
subjects, however, were of a warlike character, nor calculated to
render much assistance. The chief advantage of his co-operation
was, that it completely severed him from the other caciques, and
insured the dependence of himself and his subjects upon the
Spaniards. In the present infant state of the colony its chief
security depended upon jealousies and dissensions sown among
the native powers of the island.
On the 27th of March, 1495, Columbus issued forth from Isa
bella with his little army, and advanced by marches of ten leagues
a day in quest of the enemy. He ascended again to the moun
tain-pass of the Cavaliers, whence he had first looked down upon
the Vega. With what different feelings did he now contemplate
it. The vile passions of the white men had already converted
this smiling, beautiful, and once peaceful and hospitable region,
into a land of wrath and hostility. Wherever the smoke of an
Indian town rose from among the trees, it marked a horde of ex
asperated enemies, and the deep rich forests below him swarmed
with lurking warriors. In the picture which his imagination had
drawn of the peaceful and inoffensive nature of this people, he
had flattered himself with the idea of ruling over them as a
patron and benefactor, but now he found himself compelled to
assume the odious character of a conqueror.
The Indians had notice, by their scouts, of his approach, but
though they had already had some slight experience of the war
fare of the white men, they were confident from the vast superi
ority of their numbers, which, it is said, amounted to one hundred
46
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
thousand men.* This is probably an exaggeration : as Indians
never draw out into the open field in order of battle, but lurk
among the forests, it is difficult to ascertain their force, and their
rapid movements and sudden sallies and retreats from various
parts, together with the wild shouts and yells from opposite quar
ters of the woodlands, are calculated to give an exaggerated idea
of their number. The army must, however, have been great, as
it consisted of the combined forces of several caciques of this
populous island. It was commanded by Manicaotex, the brother
of Caonabo. The Indians, who were little skilled in numeration
and incapable of reckoning beyond ten, had a simple mode of
ascertaining and describing the force of an enemy, by counting out
a grain of maize or Indian corn for every warrior. When, there
fore, the spies, who had watched from rocks and thickets the
march of Columbus, came back with a mere handful of corn as
the amount of his army, the caciques scoffed at the idea of so
scanty a number making head against their countless multitude.†
Columbus drew near to the enemy about the place where the
town of St. Jago has since been built. The Indian army, under
Manicaotex, was posted on a plain interspersed with clusters of
forest-trees, now known as the Savanna of Matanza. Having as
certained the great force of the enemy, Don Bartholomew advised
that their little army should be divided into detachments, and
should attack the Indians at the same moment from several quar
difer
ters : this plan was adopted. The infantry, separating into
ent bodies, advanced suddenly from various directions with great
din of drums and trumpets, and a destructive discharge of fire
arms from the covert of the trees. The Indians were thrown
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 104, MS. † Las Casas, ubi sup.
CHAP. VI.] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
47
into complete confusion. An army seemed pressing upon them
from every quarter, their fellow-warriors to be laid low with thun
der and lightning from the forests. While driven together and
confounded by these attacks, Alonzo de Ojeda charged their main
body impetuously with his troop of cavalry, cutting his way with
lance and sabre. The horses bore down the terrified Indians,
while their riders dealt their blows on all sides unopposed. The
blood-hounds at the same time rushed upon the naked savages,
seizing them by the throat, dragging them to the earth, and tear
ing out their bowels. The Indians, unaccustomed to large and
fierce quadrupeds of any kind, were struck with horror when
assailed by these ferocious animals. They thought the horses
equally fierce and devouring. The contest, if such it might be
called, was of short duration.
The Indians fled in every direction with yells and howlings ;
some clambered to the top of rocks and precipices, whence they
made piteous supplications, and offers of complete submission ;
many were killed, many made prisoners, and the confederacy was
for the time completely broken up and dispersed.
Guacanagari had accompanied the Spaniards into the field ac
cording to his promise, but he was little more than a spectator of
this battle or rather rout. He was not of a martial spirit, and
both he and his subjects must have shrunk with awe at this unu
sual and terrific burst of war, even though on the part of their
allies. His participation in the hostilities of the white men was
never forgiven by the other caciques, and he returned to his
dominions, followed by the hatred and execrations of all the
islanders.
4 8
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK V I I I .
CHAPTER VII.
SUBJUGATION OF THE N A T I V E S . — I M P O S I T I O N OF TRIBUTE.
[1494]
COLUMBUS followed up his victory by making a military tour
through various parts of the island, and reducing them to obe
dience. The natives made occasional attempts at opposition, but
were easily checked. Ojeda's troop of cavalry was of great effi
cacy from the rapidity of its movements, the active intrepidity of
its commander, and the terror inspired by the horses. There was
no service too wild and hazardous for Ojeda. If any appearance
of war arose in a distant part of the country, he would penetrate
with his little squadron of cavalry through the depths of the
forests, and fall like a thunderbolt upon the enemy, disconcerting
all their combinations and enforcing implicit submission.
The Royal Vega was soon brought into subjection. Being an
immense plain, perfectly level, it was easily overrun by the horse
men, whose appearance overawed the most populous villages.
Guarionex, its sovereign cacique, was of a mild and placable cha
racter, and though he had been roused to war by the instigation
of the neighboring chieftains, he readily submitted to the domina
tion of the Spaniards. Manicaotex, the brother of Caonabo, was
also obliged to sue for peace ; and being the prime mover of the
confederacy, the other caciques followed his example. Behechio
CHAP. V I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S . 49
alone, the cacique of Xaragua, and brother-in-law of Caonabo,
made no overtures of submission. His territories lay remote from
Isabella, at the western extremity of the island, around the deep
bay called the Bight of Leogan, and the long peninsula called
Cape Tiburon. They were difficult of access, and had not as yet
been visited by the white men. He retired into his domains,
taking with him his sister, the beautiful Anacaona, wife of Caonabo,
whom he cherished with fraternal affection under her misfortunes,
who soon acquired almost equal sway over his subjects with him
self, and was destined subsequently to make some figure in the
events of the island.
Having been forced to take the field by the confederacy of the
caciques, Columbus now asserted the right of a conqueror, and
considered how he might turn his conquest to most profit. His
constant anxiety was to make wealthy returns to Spain, for the
purpose of indemnifying the sovereigns for their great expenses ;
of meeting the public expectations, so extravagantly excited ; and
above all of silencing the calumnies of those who had gone home
determined to make the most discouraging representations of his
discoveries. He endeavored, therefore, to raise a large and im
mediate revenue, by imposing heavy tributes on the subjected pro
vinces. In those of the Vega, Cibao, and all the region of the
mines, each individual above the age of fourteen years was re
quired to pay, every three months, the measure of a Flemish
hawk's-bell of gold dust.* The caciques had to pay a much
* A hawk's-bell, according to Las Casas (Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 105) con
tains about three castellanos worth of gold dust, equal to five dollars, and in esti
mating the superior value of gold in those days, equivalent to fifteen dollars of our
time. A quantity of gold worth one hundred and fifty castellanos, was equiva
lent to seven hundred and ninety-eight dollars of the present day.
50
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
larger amount for their personal tribute. Manicaotex, the brother
of Caonabo, was obliged individually to render in, every three
months, half a calabash of gold, amounting to one hundred and
fifty pesos. In those districts which were distant from the mines,
and produced no gold, each individual was required to furnish an
arroba (twenty-five pounds) of cotton every three months. Each
Indian, on rendering this tribute, received a copper medal as a cer
tificate of payment, which he was to wear suspended round his
neck ; those who were found without such documents were liable
to arrest and punishment.
The taxes and tributes thus imposed, bore hard upon the spirit
of the natives, accustomed to be but lightly tasked by their
caciques ; and the caciques themselves found the exactions intole
rably grievous. Guarionex, the sovereign of the Royal Vega,
represented to Columbus the difficulty he had in complying with
the terms of his tribute. His richly fertile plain yielded no gold ;
and though the mountains on his borders contained mines, and
their brooks and torrents washed down gold dust into the sands
of the rivers, yet his subjects were not skilled in the art of col
lecting it. He proffered, therefore, instead of the tribute required,
to cultivate with grain a band of country stretching across the
island from sea to sea, enough, says Las Casas, to have furnished
all Castile with bread for ten years.*
His offer was rejected. Columbus knew that gold alone would
satisfy the avaricious dreams excited in Spain, and insure the
popularity and success of his enterprises. Seeing, however, the
difficulty that many of the Indians had in furnishing the amount
of gold dust required, he lowered the demand to the measure of
one half of a hawk's-bell.
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 105.
CHAP. VII.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
51
To enforce the payment of these tributes, and to maintain the
subjection of the island, Columbus put the fortress already built
in a strong state of defence, and erected others. Beside those of
Isabella, and of St. Thomas, in the mountains of Cibao, there
were now the fortress of Magdalena, in the Royal Vega, near the
site of the old town of Santiago, on the river Jalaqua, two leagues
from the place where the new town was afterwards built ; another
called Santa Catalina, the site of which is near the Estencia
Yaqui ; another called Esperanza, on the banks of the river
Yaqui, facing the outlet of the mountain pass La Puerta de los
Hidalgos, now the pass of Marney ; but the most important of
those recently erected, was Fort Conception, in one of the most
fruitful and beautiful parts of the Vega, about fifteen leagues to
the east of Esperanza, controlling the extensive and populous
domains of Guarionex.*
In this way was the yoke of servitude fixed upon the island,
and its thraldom effectually insured. Deep despair now fell upon
the natives when they found a perpetual task inflicted upon them,
enforced at stated and frequently recurring periods. Weak and
indolent by nature, unused to labor of any kind, and brought up
in the untasked idleness of their soft climate and their fruitful
groves, death itself seemed preferable to a life of toil and anxiety.
They saw no end to this harassing evil, which had so suddenly
fallen upon them ; no escape from its all-pervading influence ; no
prospect of return to that roving independence and ample leisure,
so dear to the wild inhabitants of the forest. The pleasant life
of the island was at an end : the dream in the shade by day ; the
slumber during the sultry noontide heat by the fountain or the
stream, or under the spreading palm-tree ; and the song, the
* Las Casas, ubi sap., cap. 110.
52
LIFE AND VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
dance, and the game in the mellow evening, when summoned to
their simple amusements by the rude Indian drum. They were
now obliged to grope day by day, with bending body and anxious
eye, along the borders of their rivers, sifting the sands for the
grains of gold which every day grew more scanty ; or to labor in
their fields beneath the fervor of a tropical sun, to raise food for
their taskmasters, or to produce the vegetable tribute imposed
upon them. They sank to sleep weary and exhausted at night,
with the certainty that the next day was but to be a repetition of
the same toil and suffering. Or if they occasionally indulged in
their national dances, the ballads to which they kept time were
of a melancholy and plaintive character. They spoke of the
times that were past before the white men had introduced sorrow,
and slavery, and weary labor among them ; and they rehearsed
pretended prophecies, handed down from their ancestors, foretell
ing the invasion of the Spaniards ; that strangers should come
into their island, clothed in apparel, with swords capable of cleav
ing a man asunder at a blow, under whose yoke their posterity
should be subdued. These ballads, or areytos, they sang with
mournful tunes and doleful voices, bewailing the loss of their
liberty, and their painful servitude.*
They had flattered themselves, for a time, that the visit of the
strangers would be but temporary, and that, spreading their ample
sails, their ships would once more bear them back to their home
in the sky. In their simplicity, they had repeatedly inquired
when they intended to return to Turey, or the heavens. They
now beheld them taking root, as it were, in the island. They
beheld their vessels lying idle and rotting in the harbor, while the
crews, scattered about the country, were building habitations and
* Peter Martyr, decad. iii. lib. ix.
CHAP. VII]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
53
fortresses, the solid construction of which, unlike their own slight
cabins, gave evidence of permanent abode.*
Finding how vain was all attempt to deliver themselves by
warlike means from these invincible intruders, they now concerted
a forlorn and desperate mode of annoyance. They perceived
that the settlement suffered greatly from shortness of provisions,
and depended, in a considerable degree, upon the supplies fur-
nished by the natives. The fortresses in the interior, also, and
the Spaniards quartered in the villages, looked almost entirely to
them for subsistence. They agreed among themselves, therefore,
not to cultivate the fruits, the roots and maize, their chief articles
of food, and to destroy those already growing ; hoping, by pro-
ducing a famine, to starve the strangers from the island. They
little knew, observes Las Casas, one of the characteristics of the
Spaniards, who the more hungry they are, the more inflexible
they become, and the more hardened to endure suffering.† They
carried their plan generally into effect, abandoning their habita-
tions, laying waste their fields and groves, and retiring to the
mountains, where there were roots and herbs and abundance of
utias for their subsistence.
This measure did indeed produce much distress among the
Spaniards, but they had foreign resources, and were enabled to
endure it by husbanding the partial supplies brought by their
ships ; the most disastrous effects fell upon the natives themselves.
The Spaniards stationed in the various fortresses, finding that
there was not only no hope of tribute, but a danger of famine
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 106.
† No conociendo la propriedad de los Españoles, los cuales cuanto mas
hambrientos, tanto mayor teson tienen y mas duros son de sufrir y para sufrir.
Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 106.
54
LIFE AND VOYAGES OF [BOOK VIII.
from this wanton waste and sudden desertion, pursued the natives
to their retreats, to compel them to return to labor. The Indians
took refuge in the most steril and dreary heights ; flying from one
wild retreat to another, the women with their children in their
arms or at their backs, and all worn out with fatigue and hunger,
and harassed by perpetual alarms. In every noise of the forest
or the mountain they fancied they heard the sound of their pur
suers ; they hid themselves in damp and dismal caverns, or in the
rocky banks and margins of the torrents, and not daring to hunt,
or fish, or even to venture forth in quest of nourishing roots
and vegetables, they had to satisfy their raging hunger with un
wholesome food. In this way, many thousands of them perished
miserably, through famine, fatigue, terror, and various contagious
maladies engendered by their sufferings. All spirit of opposition
was at length completely quelled. The surviving Indians re
turned in despair to their habitations, and submitted humbly to
the yoke. So deep an awe did they conceive of their conquerors,
that it is said a Spaniard might go singly and securely all over
the island, and the natives would even transport him from place
to place on their shoulders.*
Before passing on to other events, it may be proper here
to notice the fate of Guacanagari, as he makes no further appear
ance in the course of this history. His friendship for the Span
iards had severed him from his countrymen, but did not exone
rate him from the general woes of the island. His territories, like
those of the other caciques, were subjected to a tribute, which his
people, with the common repugnance to labor, found it difficult to
pay. Columbus, who knew his worth, and could have protected
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. c. 106. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 60.
CHAP. V I I ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
55
him, was long absent either in the interior of the island, or de
tained in Europe by his own wrongs. In the interval, the Span
iards forgot the hospitality and services of Guacanagari, and his
tribute was harshly exacted. He found himself overwhelmed
with opprobrium from his countrymen at large, and assailed by
the clamors and lamentations of his suffering subjects. The
strangers whom he had succored in distress, and taken as it were
to the bosom of his native island, had become its tyrants and
oppressors. Care, and toil, and poverty, and strong-handed vio
lence, had spread their curses over the land, and he felt as if he
had invoked them on his race. Unable to bear the hostilities of
his fellow caciques, the woes of his subjects, and the extortions
of his ungrateful allies, he took refuge at last in the mountains,
where he died obscurely and in misery.*
An attempt has been made by Oviedo to defame the charac
ter of this Indian prince : it is not for Spaniards, however, to
excuse their own ingratitude by casting a stigma on his name.
He appears to have always manifested towards them that true
friendship which shines brightest in the dark days of adversity.
He might have played a nobler part, in making a stand, with his
brother caciques, to drive these intruders from his native soil ;
but he appears to have been fascinated by his admiration of the
strangers, and his personal attachment to Columbus. He was
bountiful, hospitable, affectionate, and kind-hearted ; competent
to rule a gentle and unwarlike people in the happier days of the
island, but unfitted, through the softness of his nature, for the
stern turmoil which followed the arrival of the white men.
* Charlevoix, Hist, de St. Domingo, lib. ii.
56
LIFE AND VOYAGES OF [BOOK VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
INTRIGUES AGAINST COLUMBUS IN THE COURT OF SPAIN.—
A G U A D O SENT TO INVESTIGATE T H E AFFAIRS OF H I S P A
NIOLA.
[1495.]
WHILE Columbus was endeavoring to remedy the evils produced
by the misconduct of Margarite, that recreant commander and
his political coadjutor, Friar Boyle, were busily undermining his
reputation in the court of Castile. They accused him of deceiv
ing the sovereigns and the public by extravagant descriptions of
the countries he had discovered ; they pronounced the island of
Hispaniola a source of expense rather than profit, and they drew
a dismal picture of the sufferings of the colony, occasioned, as
they said, by the oppressions of Columbus and his brothers.
They charged them with tasking the community with excessive
labor during a time of general sickness and debility ; with stop
ping the rations of individuals on the most trifling pretext, to the
great detriment of their health ; with wantonly inflicting severe
corporal punishments on the common people, and with heaping
indignities on Spanish gentlemen of rank. They said nothing,
however, of the exigencies which had called for unusual labor ;
nor of the idleness and profligacy which required coercion and
chastisement ; nor of the seditious cabals of the Spanish cavaliers,
CHAP. V I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
57
who had been treated with indulgence rather than severity. In
addition to these complaints, they represented the state of confu
sion of the island, in consequence of the absence of the admiral,
and the uncertainty which prevailed concerning his fate, inti
mating the probability of his having perished in his foolhardy
attempts to explore unknown seas, and discover unprofitable
lands.
These prejudiced and exaggerated representations derived
much weight from the official situations of Margarite and Friar
Boyle. They were supported by the testimony of many discon
tented and factious idlers, who had returned with them to Spain.
Some of these persons had connexions of rank, who were ready
to resent, with Spanish haughtiness, what they considered the
arrogant assumptions of an ignoble foreigner. Thus the popu
larity of Columbus received a vital blow, and immediately began
to decline. The confidence of the sovereigns also was impaired,
and precautions were adopted which savor strongly of the cau
tious and suspicious policy of Ferdinand.
It was determined to send some person of trust and confidence,
who should take upon himself the government of the island in
case of the continued absence of the admiral, and who, even in
the event of his return, should inquire into the alleged evils and
abuses, and remedy such as should appear really in existence.
The person proposed for this difficult office was Diego Carillo, a
commander of a military order ; but as he was not immediately
prepared to sail with the fleet of caravels about to depart with
supplies, the sovereigns wrote to Fonseca, the superintendent of
India affairs, to send some trusty person with the vessels, to take
charge of the provisions with which they were freighted. These
he was to distribute among the colonists, under the supervision of
VOL. II.
•
58
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK VIII.
the admiral, or, in case of his absence, in presence of those in
authority. He was also to collect information concerning the
manner in which the island had been governed, the conduct of
persons in office, the causes and authors of existing grievances,
and the measures by which they were to be remedied. Having
collected such information, he was to return and make report to
the sovereigns ; but in case he should find the admiral at the island,
every thing was to remain subject to his control.
There was another measure adopted by the sovereigns about
this time, which likewise shows the declining favor of Columbus.
On the 10th of April, 1495, a proclamation was issued, giving
general permission to native-born subjects to settle in the island
of Hispaniola, and to go on private voyages of discovery and
traffic to the New World. This was granted, subject to certain
conditions.
All vessels were to sail exclusively from the port of Cadiz,
and under the inspection of officers appointed by the crown.
Those who embarked for Hispaniola without pay, and at their
own expense, were to have lands assigned to them, and to be pro
visioned for one year, with a right to retain such lands, and all
houses they might erect upon them. Of all gold which they
might collect, they were to retain one-third for themselves, and
pay two-thirds to the crown. Of all other articles of merchan
dise, the produce of the island, they were to pay merely one-
tenth to the crown. Their purchases were to be made in the
presence of officers appointed by the sovereigns, and the royal
duties paid into the hands of the king's receiver.
Each ship sailing on private enterprise, was to take one or
two persons named by the royal officers at Cadiz. One-tenth of
the tonnage of the ship was to be at the service of the crown,
CHAP. V I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
59
free of charge. One-tenth of whatever such ships should pro
cure in the newly-discovered countries, was to be paid to the
crown on their return. These regulations included private ships
trading to Hispaniola with provisions.
For every vessel thus fitted out on private adventure, Colum
bus, in consideration of his privilege of an eighth of tonnage, was
to have the right to freight one on his own account.
This general license for voyages of discovery was made in
consequence of the earnest applications of Vincent Yanes Pinzon,
and other able and intrepid navigators, most of whom had sailed
with Columbus. They offered to make voyages at their own cost
and hazard. The offer was tempting and well-timed. The
government was poor, the expeditions of Columbus were expen
sive, yet their object was too important to be neglected. Here
was an opportunity of attaining all the ends proposed, not merely
without expense, but with a certainty of gain. The permission,
therefore, was granted, without consulting the opinion or the
wishes of the admiral. It was loudly complained of by him, as
an infringement of his privileges, and as disturbing the career of
regular and well-organized discovery, by the licentious and some
times predatory enterprises of reckless adventurers. Doubtless,
much of the odium that has attached itself to the Spanish dis
coveries in the New World, has arisen from the grasping avidity
of private individuals.
Just at this juncture, in the early part of April, while the
interests of Columbus were in such a critical situation, the ships
commanded by Torres arrived in Spain. They brought intelli
gence of the safe return of the admiral to Hispaniola, from his
voyage along the southern coast of Cuba, with the evidence which
he had collected to prove that it was the extremity of the Asiatic
E 2
6 0
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK V I I I .
continent, and that he had penetrated to the borders of the wealth
iest countries of the East. Specimens were likewise brought of
the gold, and the various animal and vegetable curiosities, which
he had procured in the course of his voyage. No arrival could
have been more timely. It at once removed all doubts respecting
his safety, and obviated the necessity of part of the precautionary
measures then on the point of being taken. The supposed dis
covery of the rich coast of Asia, also, threw a temporary splendor
about his expedition, and again awakened the gratitude of the
sovereigns. The effect was immediately apparent in their mea
sures. Instead of leaving it to the discretion of Juan Rodriguez
de Fonseca to appoint whom he pleased to the commission of
inquiry about to be sent out, they retracted that power, and nomi
nated Juan Aguado.
He was chosen, because, on returning from Hispaniola, he
had been strongly recommended to royal favor by Columbus. It
was intended, therefore, as a mark of consideration to the latter,
to appoint as commissioner a person of whom he had expressed
so high an opinion, and who, it was to be presumed, entertained
for him a grateful regard.
Fonseca, in virtue of his official station as superintendent of
the affairs of the Indies, and probably to gratify his growing ani
mosity for Columbus, had detained a quantity of gold which Don
Diego, brother to the admiral, had brought on his own private
account. The sovereigns wrote to him repeatedly, ordering him
not to demand the gold, or if he had seized it, to return it imme
diately, with satisfactory explanations, and to write to Columbus
in terms calculated to soothe any angry feelings which he might
have excited. He was ordered, also, to consult the persons
recently arrived from Hispaniola, in what manner he could yield
CHAP. V I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
61
satisfaction to the admiral, and to act accordingly. Fonseca thus
suffered one of the severest humiliations of an arrogant spirit,
that of being obliged to make atonement for its arrogance. It
quickened, however, the malice which he had conceived against
the admiral and his family. Unfortunately his official situation,
and the royal confidence which he enjoyed, gave him opportuni
ties of gratifying it subsequently in a thousand insidious ways.
While the sovereigns thus endeavored to avoid any act which
might give umbrage to Columbus, they took certain measures to
provide for the tranquillity of the colony. In a letter to the
admiral, they directed that the number of persons in the settle
ment should be limited to five hundred, a greater number being
considered unnecessary for the service of the island, and a bur
densome expense to the crown. To prevent further discontents
about provisions, they ordered that the rations of individuals
should be dealt out in portions every fifteen days ; and that all
punishment by short allowance, or the stoppage of rations, should
be discontinued, as tending to injure the health of the colonists,
who required every assistance of nourishing diet, to fortify them
against the maladies incident to a strange climate.
An able and experienced metallurgist, named Pablo Belvis,
was sent out in place of the wrong-headed Firmin Cedo. He
was furnished with all the necessary engines and implements for
mining, assaying, and purifying the precious metals, and with
liberal pay and privileges. Ecclesiastics were also sent to supply
the place of Friar Boyle, and of certain of his brethren, who
desired to leave the island. The instruction and conversion of
the natives awakened more and more the solicitude of the queen.
In the ships of Torres a large number of Indians arrived, who
had been captured in the recent wars with the caciques. Royal
6 3
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK V I I I .
orders had been issued, that they should be sold as slaves in the
markets of Andalusia, as had been the custom with respect to
negroes taken on the coast of Africa, and to Moorish prisoners
captured in the war with Granada. Isabella, however, had been
deeply interested by the accounts given of the gentle and hospi
table character of these islanders, and of their great docility.
The discovery had been made under her immediate auspices ;
she looked upon these people as under her peculiar care, and she
anticipated, with pious enthusiasm, the glory of leading them from
darkness into the paths of light. Her compassionate spirit
revolted at the idea of treating them as slaves, even though sanc
tioned by the customs of the time. Within five days after the
royal order for the sale, a letter was written by the sovereigns to
Bishop Fonseca, suspending that order, until they could inquire
into the cause for which the Indians had been made prisoners,
and consult learned and pious theologians, whether their sale
would be justifiable in the eyes of God.* Much difference of
opinion took place among divines, on this important question ;
the queen eventually decided it according to the dictates of her
own pure conscience and charitable heart. She ordered that the
Indians should be sent back to their native country, and enjoined
that the islanders should be conciliated by the gentlest means,
instead of being treated with severity. Unfortunately her orders
came too late to Hispaniola, to have the desired effect. The
scenes of warfare and violence, produced by the bad passions of
the colonists and the vengeance of the natives, were not to be for
gotten, and mutual distrust and rankling animosity had grown up
between them, which no after exertions could eradicate.
* Letter of the Sovereigns to Fonseca. Navarrete, Colleccion de los Viages,
i. 11, Doc. 92.
CHAP. I X . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S . 6 3
CHAPTER IX.
ARRIVAL OF AGUADO AT ISABELLA.—HIS ARROGANT CON
DUCT.—TEMPEST IN THE HARBOR.
[1495.]
JUAN AGUADO set sail from Spain towards the end of August,
with four caravels, well freighted with supplies of all kinds. Don
Diego Columbus returned in this squadron to Hispaniola, and
arrived at Isabella in the month of October, while the admiral
was absent, occupied in re-establishing the tranquillity of the inte
rior. Aguado, as has already been shown, was under obligations
to Columbus, who had distinguished him from among his com
panions, and had recommended him to the favor of the sovereigns.
He was, however, one of those weak men, whose heads are turned
by the least elevation. Puffed up by a little temporary power,
he lost sight, not merely of the respect and gratitude due to
Columbus, but of the nature and extent of his own commission.
Instead of acting as an agent employed to collect information, ho
assumed a tone of authority, as though the reins of government
had been transferred into his hands. He interfered in public
affairs ; ordered various persons to be arrested ; called to account
the officers employed by the admiral ; and paid no respect to Don
Bartholomew Columbus, who remained in command during the
absence of his brother. The Adelantado, astonished at this pre-
64
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK V I I I .
sumption, demanded a sight of the commission under which he
acted ; but Aguado treated him with great haughtiness, replying
that he would show it only to the admiral. On second thoughts,
however, lest there should be doubts in the public mind of his
right to interfere in the affairs of the colony, he ordered his letter
of credence from the sovereigns to be pompously proclaimed by
sound of trumpet. It was brief but comprehensive, to the fol
lowing purport :—“ Cavaliers, Esquires, and other persons, who
by our orders are in the Indies, we send to you Juan Aguado, our
groom of the chambers, who will speak to you on our part. "We
command you to give him faith and credit."
The report now circulated, that the downfall of Columbus and
his family was at hand, and that an auditor had arrived, empow
ered to hear and to redress the grievances of the public. This
rumor originated with Aguado himself, who threw out menaces
of rigid investigations and signal punishments. It was a time of
jubilee for offenders. Every culprit started up into an accuser ;
every one who by negligence or crime had incurred the whole
some penalties of the laws, was loud in his clamors against the
oppression of Columbus. There were ills enough in the colony,
some incident to its situation, others produced by the misdeeds of
the colonists, but all were ascribed to the mal-administration of
the admiral. He was made responsible alike for the evils pro
duced by others, and for his own stern remedies. All the old
complaints were reiterated against him and his brothers, and the
usual and illiberal cause given for their oppressions, that they
were foreigners, who sought merely their own interest and aggran
dizement, at the expense of the sufferings and the indignities of
Spaniards.
Destitute of discrimination to perceive what was true and
CHAP. I X . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
65
what false in these complaints, and anxious only to condemn,
Aguado saw in every thing conclusive testimony of the culpability
of Columbus. He intimated, and perhaps thought, that the admi
ral was keeping at a distance from Isabella, through fear of en
countering his investigations. In the fullness of his presumption,
he even set out with a body of horse to go in quest of him. A
vain and weak man in power is prone to employ satellites of his
own description. The arrogant and boasting followers of Aguado,
wherever they went, spread rumors among the natives of the
might and importance of their chief, and of the punishment he
intended to inflict upon Columbus. In a little while the report
circulated through the island, that a new admiral had arrived to
administer the government, and that the former one was to be put
to death.
The news of the arrival and of the insolent conduct of Aguado
reached Columbus in the interior of the island ; he immediately
hastened to Isabella to give him a meeting. Aguado, hearing of
his approach, also returned there. As every one knew the lofty
spirit of Columbus, his high sense of his services, and his jealous
maintenance of his official dignity, a violent explosion was antici
pated at the impending interview. Aguado also expected some
thing of the kind, but, secure in his royal letter of credence, he
looked forward with the ignorant audacity of a little mind to the
result. The sequel showed how difficult it is for petty spirits to
anticipate the conduct of a man like Columbus in an extraordinary
situation. His natural heat and impetuosity had been subdued by
a life of trials ; he had learned to bring his passions into subjec
tion to his judgment ; he had too true an estimate of his own dig
nity to enter into a contest with a shallow boaster like Aguado ;
above all, he had a profound respect for the authority of his sov-
66
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK V I I I .
ereigns ; for in his enthusiastic spirit, prone to deep feelings of reve
rence, his loyalty was inferior only to his religion. He received
Aguado, therefore, with grave and punctilious courtesy ; and re
torted upon him his own ostentatious ceremonial, ordering that the
letter of credence should be again proclaimed by sound of trum
pet in presence of the populace. He listened to it with solemn
deference, and assured Aguado of his readiness to acquiesce in
whatever might be the pleasure of his sovereigns.
This unexpected moderation, while it astonished the beholders,
foiled and disappointed Aguado. He had come prepared for a
scene of altercation, and had hoped that Columbus, in the heat
and impatience of the moment, would have said or done some
thing that might be construed into disrespect for the authority of
the sovereigns. He endeavored, in fact, some months afterwards,
to procure from the public notaries present, a prejudicial state
ment of the interview ; but the deference of the admiral for the
royal letter of credence had been too marked to be disputed ; and
all the testimonials were highly in his favor.*
Aguado continued to intermeddle in public affairs, and the
respect and forbearance with which he was uniformly treated by
Columbus, and the mildness of the latter in all his measures to
appease the discontents of the colony, were regarded as proofs
of his loss of moral courage. He was looked upon as a declining
man, and Aguado hailed as the lord of the ascendant. Every
dastard spirit who had any lurking ill-will, any real or imaginary
cause of complaint, now hastened to give it utterance ; perceiving
that, in gratifying his malice, he was promoting his interest, and
that in vilifying the admiral he was gaining the friendship of
Aguado.
* Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. ii. cap. 18.
CHAP. I X . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
67
The poor Indians, too, harassed by the domination of the
white men, rejoiced in the prospect of a change of rulers ; vainly
hoping that it might produce a mitigation of their sufferings.
Many of the caciques who had promised allegiance to the admiral
after their defeat in the Vega, now assembled at the house of
Manicaotex, the brother of Caonabo, near the river Yagui, where
they joined in a formal complaint against Columbus, whom they
considered the cause of all the evils which had sprung from the
disobedience and the vices of his followers.
Aguado now considered the great object of his mission ful
filled. He had collected information sufficient, as he thought, to
insure the ruin of the admiral and his brothers, and he prepared to
return to Spain. Columbus resolved to do the same. He felt
that it was time to appear at court, and dispel the cloud of calumny
gathering against him. He had active enemies, of standing and
influence, who were seeking every occasion to throw discredit upon
himself and his enterprises ; and, stranger and foreigner as he was,
he had no active friends at court to oppose their machinations.
He feared that they might eventually produce an effect upon the
royal mind, fatal to the progress of discovery : he was anxious to
return, therefore, and explain the real causes of the repeated dis
appointments with respect to profits anticipated from his enter
prises. It is not one of the least singular traits in this history, that
after having been so many years in persuading mankind that
there was a new world to be discovered, he had almost equal
trouble in proving to them the advantage of its discovery.
When the ships were ready to depart, a terrible storm swept
the island. It was one of those awful whirlwinds which occa
sionally rage within the tropics, and were called by the Indians
“ furicanes,” or “ uricans,” a name they still retain with trifling
6 8
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK V I I I .
variation. About mid-day a furious wind sprang up from the
east, driving before it dense volumes of cloud and vapor. En
countering another tempest of wind from the west, it appeared
as if a violent conflict ensued. The clouds were rent by incessant
flashes, or rather streams of lightning. At one time they were
piled up high in the sky, at another they swept to the earth,
filling the air with a baleful darkness more dismal than the obscu
rity of midnight. Wherever the whirlwind passed, whole tracts
of forests were shivered and stripped of their leaves and branches :
those of gigantic size, which resisted the blast, were torn up by
the roots, and hurled to a great distance. Groves were rent from
the mountain precipices, with vast masses of earth and rock,
tumbling into the valleys with terrific noise, and choking the course
of rivers. The fearful sounds in the air and on the earth, the
pealing thunder, the vivid lightning, the howling of the wind, the
crash of falling trees and rocks, filled every one with affright ; and
many thought that the end of the world was at hand. Some fled
to caverns for safety, for their frail houses were blown down, and
the air was filled with the trunks and branches of trees, and even
with fragments of rocks, carried along by the fury of the tempest.
When the hurricane reached the harbor, it whirled the ships round
as they lay at anchor, snapped their cables, and sank three of them
with all who were on board. Others were driven about, dashed
against each other, and tossed mere wrecks upon the shore by the
swelling surges of the sea, which in some places rolled for three
or four miles upon the land. The tempest lasted for three hours.
When it had passed away, and the sun again appeared, the
Indians regarded each other in mute astonishment and dismay.
Never in their memory, nor in the traditions of their ancestors,
had their island been visited by such a storm. They believed
CHAP. IX.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
6 9
that the Deity had sent this fearful ruin to punish the cruelties
and crimes of the white men ; and declared that this people had
moved the very air, the water, and the earth, to disturb their
tranquil life, and to desolate their island.*
* Ramusio, torn. iii. p. 7. Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. iv.
TO
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK V I I I .
CHAPTER X.
DISCOVERY OF THE MINES OF HAYNA.
[1496.]
IN the recent hurricane, the four caravels of Aguado had been
destroyed, together with two others which were in the harbor.
The only vessel which survived was the Nina, and that in a very
shattered condition. Columbus gave orders to have her immedi
ately repaired, and another caravel constructed out of the wreck
of those which had been destroyed. While waiting until they
should be ready for sea, he was cheered by tidings of rich mines
in the interior of the island, the discovery of which is attributed
to an incident of a somewhat romantic nature.* A young Arra-
gonian, named Miguel Diaz, in the service of the Adelantado,
having a quarrel with another Spaniard, fought with him, and
wounded him dangerously. Fearful of the consequences, he fled
from the settlement, accompanied by five or six comrades, who
had either been engaged in the affray, or were personally attached
to him. Wandering about the island, they came to an Indian
village on the southern coast, near the mouth of the river Ozema,
where the city of San Domingo is at present situated. They
were received with kindness by the natives, and resided for some
* Oviedo, Cronica de los Indias, lib. ii. cap. 13.
CHAP. X . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
71
time among them. The village was governed by a female ca
cique, who soon conceived a strong attachment for the young
Arragonian. Diaz was not insensible to her tenderness, a con
nexion was formed between them, and they lived for some time
very happily together.
The recollection of his country and his friends began at length
to steal upon the thoughts of the young Spaniard. It was a
melancholy lot to be exiled from civilized life, and an outcast from
among his countrymen. He longed to return to the settlement,
but dreaded the punishment that awaited him, from the austere
justice of the Adelantado. His Indian bride, observing him fre
quently melancholy and lost in thought, penetrated the cause, with
the quick intelligence of female affection. Fearful that he would
abandon her, and return to his countrymen, she endeavored to
devise some means of drawing the Spaniards to that part of the
island. Knowing that gold was their sovereign attraction, she
informed Diaz of certain rich mines in the neighborhood, and
urged him to persuade his countrymen to abandon the compara
tively steril and unhealthy vicinity of Isabella, and settle upon
the fertile banks of the Ozema ; promising they should be re
ceived with the utmost kindness and hospitality by her nation.
Struck with the suggestion, Diaz made particular inquiries
about the mines, and was convinced that they abounded in gold.
He noticed the superior fruitfulness and beauty of the country,
the excellence of the river, and the security of the harbor at its
entrance. He flattered himself that the communication of such
valuable intelligence would make his peace at Isabella, and obtain
his pardon from the Adelantado. Full of these hopes, he pro
cured guides from among the natives, and taking a temporary
leave of his Indian bride, set out with his comrades through the
72
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK V I I I .
wilderness for the settlement, which was about fifty leagues dis
tant. Arriving there secretly, he learnt to his great joy, that the
man whom he had wounded had recovered. He now presented
himself boldly before the Adelantado, relying that his tidings
would earn his forgiveness. He was not mistaken. No news
could have come more opportunely. The admiral had been anx
ious to remove the settlement to a more healthy and advantageous
situation. He was desirous also of carrying home some conclu
sive proof of the riches of the island, as the most effectual means
of silencing the cavils of his enemies. If the representations of
Miguel Diaz were correct, here was a means of effecting both
these purposes. Measures were immediately taken to ascertain
the truth. The Adelantado set forth in person to visit the river
Ozema, accompanied by Miguel Diaz, Francisco de Garay, and
the Indian guides, and attended by a number of men well armed.
They proceeded from Isabella to Magdalena, and thence across
the Royal Vega to the fortress of Conception. Continuing on to
the south, they came to a range of mountains, which they tra
versed by a defile two leagues in length, and descended into-
another beautiful plain, which was called Bonao. Proceeding
hence for some distance, they came to a great river called Hayna,
running through a fertile country, all the streams of which
abounded in gold. On the western bank of this river, and about
eight leagues from its mouth, they found gold in greater quantities
and in larger particles than had yet been met with in any part
of the island, not even excepting the province of Cibao. They
made experiments in various places within the compass of six
miles, and always with success. The soil seemed to be generally
impregnated with that metal, so that a common laborer, with little
trouble, might find the amount of three drachms in the course of
CHAP. X . ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
73
a day.* In several places they observed deep excavations in the
form of pits, which looked as if the mines had been worked in
ancient times ; a circumstance which caused much speculation
among the Spaniards, the natives having no idea of mining, but
contenting themselves with the particles found on the surface of
the soil, or in the beds of the rivers.
The Indians of the neighborhood received the white men with
their promised friendship, and in every respect the representa
tions of Miguel Diaz were fully justified. He was not only par
doned, but received into great favor, and was subsequently em
ployed in various capacities in the island, in all which he acquitted
himself with great fidelity. He kept his faith with his Indian
bride, by whom, according to Oviedo, he had two children. Char
levoix supposes that they were regularly married, as the female
cacique appears to have been baptized, being always mentioned
by the Christian name of Catalina.f
When the Adelantado returned with this favorable report, and
with specimens of ore, the anxious heart of the admiral was
greatly elated. He gave orders that a fortress should be imme
diately erected on the banks of the Hayna, in the vicinity of the
mines, and that they should be diligently worked. The fancied
traces of ancient excavations gave rise to one of his usual veins
of golden conjectures. He had already surmised that Hispaniola
might be the ancient Ophir. He now flattered himself that he
had discovered the identical mines, whence King Solomon had
procured his gold for the building of the temple of Jerusalem.
He supposed that his ships must have sailed by the gulf of Per-
* Herrera,Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. ii. cap. 18. Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. iv.
t Oviedo, Cronica de los Ind. lib ii. cap. 13. Charlevoix, Hist. St. Do
mingo, lib. ii. p. 146.
VOL. II.
F
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L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S , E T C .
[BOOK V I I I .
sia, and round Trapoban to this island,* which, according to his
idea, lay opposite to the extreme end of Asia, for such he firmly
believed the island of Cuba.
It is probable that Columbus gave free license to his imagina
tion in these conjectures, which tended to throw a splendor about
his enterprises, and to revive the languishing interest of the public.
Granting, however, the correctness of his opinion, that he was in
the vicinity of Asia, an error by no means surprising in the im
perfect state of geographical knowledge, all his consequent sup
positions were far from extravagant. The ancient Ophir was
believed to lie somewhere in the East, but its situation was a
matter of controversy among the learned, and remains one of
those conjectural questions about which too much has been written
for it ever to be satisfactorily decided.
* Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. iv.
BOOK IX.
C H A P T E R I .
RETURN OF COLUMBUS TO SPAIN WITH AGUADO.
[1496]
THE new caravel, the Santa Cruz, being finished, and the Nina
repaired, Columbus made every arrangement for immediate
departure, anxious to be freed from the growing arrogance of
Aguado, and to relieve the colony from a crew of factious and
discontented men. He appointed his brother, Don Bartholomew,
to the command of the island, with the title, which he had already
given him, of Adelantado : in case of his death, he was to be suc
ceeded by his brother Don Diego.
On the 10th of March the two caravels set sail for Spain, in
one of which Columbus embarked, and in the other Aguado. In
consequence of the orders of the sovereigns, all those who could
be spared from the island, and some who had wives and relatives
in Spain whom they wished to visit, returned in these caravels,
which were crowded with two hundred and twenty-five passen
gers, the sick, the idle, the profligate, and the factious. Never
did a more miserable and disappointed crew return from a land
of promise.
F 2
7 6
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK I X .
There were thirty Indians also on board of the caravels,
among whom were the once redoubtable cacique Caonabo, one of
his brothers, and a nephew. The curate of Los Palacios observes
that Columbus had promised the cacique and his brother to
restore them to their country and their power, after he had taken
them to visit the King and Queen of Castile.* It is probable
that by kind treatment and by a display of the wonders of Spain
and the grandeur and might of its sovereigns, he hoped to conquer
their enmity to the Spaniards, and convert them into important
instruments towards obtaining a secure and peaceable dominion
over the island. Caonabo, however, was of that proud nature,
of wild but vigorous growth, which can never be tamed. * He
remained a moody and dejected captive. He had too much intel
ligence not to perceive that his power was for ever blasted, but he
retained his haughtiness, even in the midst of his despair.
Being, as yet, but little experienced in the navigation of these
seas, Columbus, instead of working up to the northward, so as to
fall in with the tract of westerly winds, took an easterly course on
leaving the island. The consequence was, that almost the whole
of his voyage was a toilsome and tedious struggle against the
trade-winds and calms which prevail between the tropics. On
the 6th of April he found himself still in the vicinity of the Ca-
ribbee islands, with his crews fatigued and sickly, and his provi
sions rapidly diminishing. He bore away to the southward,
therefore, to touch at the most important of those islands, in
search of supplies.
On Saturday the 9th, he anchored at Marigalante, whence, on
the following day, he made sail for Guadaloupe. It was contrary
to the custom of Columbus to weigh anchor on Sunday when in
* Cura de los Palacios, cap. 131.
CHAP. I.]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
77
port, but the people murmured, and observed, that when in quest
of food, it was no time to stand on scruples as to holy days.*
Anchoring off the island of Guadaloupe, the boat was sent on
shore well armed. Before it could reach the land, a large num
ber of females issued from the woods, armed with bows and
arrows, and decorated with tufts of feathers, preparing to oppose
any descent upon their shores. As the sea was somewhat rough,
and a surf broke upon the beach, the boats remained at a distance,
and two of the Indians from Hispaniola swam to shore. Having
explained to these Amazons that the Spaniards only sought pro
visions, in exchange for which they would give articles of great
value, the women referred them to their husbands, who were at
the northern end of the island. As the boats proceeded thither,
numbers of the natives were seen on the beach, who manifested
great ferocity, shouting, and yelling, and discharging flights of
arrows, which, however, fell far short in the water. Seeing the
boats approach the land, they hid themselves in the adjacent
forest, and rushed forth with hideous cries as the Spaniards were
landing. A discharge of firearms drove them to the woods and
mountains, and the boats met with no further opposition. Enter-
ing the deserted habitations, the Spaniards began to plunder and
destroy, contrary to the invariable injunctions of the admiral.
Among other articles found in these houses, were honey and wax,
which Herrera supposes had been brought from Terra Firma, as
these roving people collected the productions of distant regions in
the course of their expeditions. Fernando Columbus mentions
likewise that there were hatchets of iron in their houses : these,
however, must have been made of a species of hard and heavy
stone, already mentioned, which resembled iron ; or they must
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 62.
7 8
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK I X .
have been procured from places which the Spaniards had previ
ously visited, as it is fully admitted that no iron was in use
among the natives prior to the discovery. The sailors also
reported that in one of the houses they found the arm of a man
roasting on a spit before a fire ; but these facts, so repugnant to
humanity, require more solid authority to be credited : the sailors
had committed wanton devastations in these dwellings, and may
have sought a pretext with which to justify their maraudings to
the admiral.
While some of the people were getting wood and water, and
making cassava bread, Columbus dispatched forty men, well
armed, to explore the interior of the island. They returned on
the following day with ten women and three boys. The women
were of large and powerful form, yet of great agility. They
were naked, and wore their long hair flowing loose upon their
shoulders ; some decorated their heads with plumes of various
colors. Among them was the wife of a cacique, a woman of great
strength and proud spirit. On the approach of the Spaniards,
she had fled with an agility which soon left all her pursuers far
behind, excepting a native of the Canary islands remarkable for
swiftness of foot. She would have escaped even from him, but,
perceiving that he was alone, and far from his companions, she
turned suddenly upon him, seized him with astonishing force, and
would have strangled him, had not the Spaniards arrived and
taken her entangled like a hawk with her prey. The warlike
spirit of these Carib women, and the circumstance of finding them
in armed bands, defending their shores, during the absence of
their husbands, led Columbus repeatedly into the erroneous idea,
that certain of these islands were inhabited entirely by women ;
for which error, as has already been observed, he was prepared
CHAP. I.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
7!)
by the stories of Marco Polo concerning an island of Amazons
near the coast of Asia.
Having remained several days at the island, and prepared
three weeks' supply of bread, Columbus prepared to make sail.
As Guadaloupe was the most important of the Caribbee Islands,
and in a manner the portal or entrance to all the rest, he wished
to secure the friendship of the inhabitants. He dismissed, there
fore, all the prisoners, with many presents, to compensate for the
spoil and injury which had been done. The female cacique, how
ever, declined going on shore, preferring to remain and accom
pany the natives of Hispaniola who were on board, keeping with
her also a young daughter. She had conceived a passion for
Caonabo, having found out that he was a native of the Caribbee
Islands. His character and story, gathered from the other In
dians, had won the sympathy and admiration of this intrepid
woman.*
Leaving Guadaloupe on the 20th of April, and keeping in
about the twenty-second degree of latitude, the caravels again
worked their way against the whole current of the trade-winds,
insomuch, that, on the 20th of May, after a month of great fatigue
and toil, they had yet a great part of their voyage to make. The
provisions were already so reduced, that Columbus had to put
every one on a daily allowance of six ounces of bread and a pint
and a half of water : as they advanced, the scarcity grew more
and more severe, and was rendered more appalling from the un
certainty which prevailed on board the vessels as to their situation.
There were several pilots in the caravels ; but being chiefly ac
customed to the navigation of the Mediterranean, or the Atlantic
coasts, they were utterly confounded, and lost all reckoning when
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 63.
80
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK I X .
traversing the broad ocean. Every one had a separate opinion,
and none heeded that of the admiral. By the beginning of June
there was an absolute famine on board of the ships. In the ex
tremity of their sufferings, while death stared them in the face, it
was proposed by some of the Spaniards, as a desperate alterna
tive, that they should kill and eat their Indian prisoners ; others
suggested that they should throw them into the sea, as so many
expensive and useless mouths. Nothing but the absolute autho
rity of Columbus prevented this last counsel from being adopted.
He represented that the Indians were their fellow-beings, some
of them Christians like themselves, and all entitled to similar
treatment. He exhorted them to a little patience, assuring them
that they would soon make land, for that, according to his reckon
ing, they were not far from Cape St. Vincent. At this all scoffed,
for they believed themselves yet far from their desired haven ;
some affirming that they were in the English channel, others that
they were approaching Gallicia ; when Columbus, therefore, con
fident in his opinion, ordered that sail should be taken in at night,
lest they should come upon the land in the dark, there was a general
murmur ; the men exclaiming that it was better to be cast on
shore, than to starve at sea. The next morning, however, to their
great joy, they came in sight of the very land which Columbus
had predicted. From this time, he was regarded by the seamen
as deeply versed in the mysteries of the ocean, and almost oracu
lar in matters of navigation.*
On the 11th of June, the vessels anchored in the bay of Cadiz,
after a weary voyage of about three months. In the course of
this voyage, the unfortunate Caonabo expired. It is by the mere
casual mention of contemporay writers, that we have any notice
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 63.
CHAP. I ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
81
of this circumstance, which appears to have been passed over as
a matter of but little moment. He maintained his haughty
nature to the last, for his death is principally ascribed to the
morbid melancholy of a proud but broken spirit.* He was an
extraordinary character in savage life. From being a simple
Carib warrior, he had risen, by his enterprise and courage, to be
the most powerful cacique, and the dominant spirit of the popu
lous island of Hayti. He was the only chieftain that appeared to
have had sagacity sufficient to foresee the fatal effects of Spanish
ascendency, or military talent to combine any resistance to its in
roads. Had his warriors been of his own intrepid nature, the
war which he raised would have been formidable in the extreme.
His fate furnishes, on a narrow scale, a lesson to human greatness.
When the Spaniards first arrived on the coast of Hayti, their
imaginations were inflamed with rumors of a magnificent prince
in the interior, the lord of the Golden House, the sovereign of
the mines of Cibao, who reigned in splendid state among the
mountains ; but a short time had elapsed, and this fancied poten
tate of the East, stripped of every illusion, was a naked and de
jected prisoner on the deck of one of their caravels, with none
but one of his own wild native heroines to sympathize in his mis
fortunes. All his importance vanished with his freedom ; scarce
any mention is made of him during his captivity, and with innate
qualities of a high and heroic nature, he perished with the ob
scurity of one of the vulgar.
* Cura de los Palacios, cap. 131. Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. iv. Some
have affirmed that Caonabo perished in one of the caravels which foundered in
the harbor of Isabella during the hurricane, but the united testimony of the
curate of Los Palacios, Peter Martyr, and Fernando Columbus, proves that he
sailed with the admiral in his return voyage.
8 9
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK I X .
CHAPTER II.
DECLINE OP THE POPULARITY OF COLUMBUS IN SPAIN.—HIS
RECEPTION BY THE SOVEREIGNS AT BURGOS.—HE PRO
POSES A THIRD VOYAGE.
ENVY and malice had been but too successful in undermining the
popularity of Columbus. It is impossible to keep up a state of
excitement for any length of time, even by miracles. The world,
at first, is prompt and lavish in its admiration, but soon grows
cool, distrusts its late enthusiasm, and fancies it has been de
frauded of what it bestowed with such prodigality. It is then
that the caviler who had been silenced by the general applause,
puts in his insidious suggestion, detracts from the merit of the
declining favorite, and succeeds in rendering him an object of
doubt and censure, if not of absolute aversion. In three short
years, the public had become familiar with the stupendous wonder
of a newly-discovered world, and was now open to every insinua
tion derogatory to the fame of the discoverer and the importance
of his enterprises.
The circumstances which attended the present arrival of Co
lumbus were little calculated to diminish the growing prejudices
of the populace. When the motley crowd of mariners and adven
turers who had embarked with such sanguine expectations lande 1
from the vessels in the port of Cadiz, instead of a joyous crew,
CHAP. I I . ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
83
bounding on shore, flushed with success, and laden with the
spoils of the golden Indies, a feeble train of wretched men crawled
forth, emaciated by the diseases of the colony and the hardships
of the voyage, who carried in their yellow countenances, says an
old writer, a mockery of that gold which had been the object of
their search, and who had nothing to relate of the New World,
but tales of sickness, poverty, and disappointment.
Columbus endeavored, as much as possible, to counteract these
unfavorable appearances, and to revive the languishing enthusi-
asm of the public. He dwelt upon the importance of his recent
discoveries along the coast of Cuba, where, as he supposed, he
had arrived nearly to the Aurea Chersonesus of the ancients,
bordering on some of the richest provinces of Asia. Above all,
he boasted of his discovery of the abundant mines on the south
side of Hispaniola, which he persuaded himself were those of the
ancient Ophir. The public listened to these accounts with sneer-
ing incredulity ; or if for a moment a little excitement was occa-
sioned, it was quickly destroyed by gloomy pictures drawn by
disappointed adventurers.
In the harbor of Cadiz Columbus found three caravels,
commanded by Pedro Alonzo Nino, on the point of sailing with
supplies for the colony. Nearly a year had elapsed without any
relief of the kind; four caravels which had sailed in the preceding
January having been lost on the coast of the Peninsula.* Having
read the royal letters and dispatches of which Nino was the
bearer, and being informed of the wishes of the sovereigns, as
well as of the state of the public mind, Columbus wrote by this
opportunity, urging the Adelantado to endeavor, by every means,
to bring the island into a peaceful and productive state, appeasing
* Muños, Hist. N . Mundo, lib. vi
84
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK I X .
all discontents and commotions, and seizing and sending to Spain
all caciques, or their subjects, who should be concerned in the
deaths of any of the colonists. He recommended the most unre
mitting diligence in exploring and working the mines recently
discovered on the river Hayna, and that a place should be chosen
in the neighborhood, and a sea-port founded. Pedro Alonzo
Nino set sail with the three caravels on the 17th of June.
Tidings of the arrival of Columbus having reached the sove
reigns, he received a gracious letter from them, dated at Almazen,
12th July, 1496; congratulating him on his safe return, and
inviting him to court when he should have recovered from the
fatigues of his voyage. The kind terms in which this letter was
couched were calculated to reassure the heart of Columbus, who,
ever since the mission of the arrogant Aguado, had considered
himself out of favor with the sovereigns, and fallen into disgrace.
As a proof of the dejection of his spirits, we are told that when
he made his appearance this time in Spain, he was clad in a
humble garb, resembling in form and color the habit of a Fran
ciscan monk, simply girded with a cord, and that he had suffered
his beard to grow like the brethren of that order.* This was
probably in fulfillment of some penitential vow made in a mo
ment of danger or despondency,—a custom prevalent in those
days, and frequently observed by Columbus. It betokened,
however, much humility and depression of spirit, and afforded a
striking contrast to his appearance on his former triumphant
return. He was doomed, in fact, to yield repeated examples of
the reverses to which those are subject who have once launched
from the safe shores of obscurity on the fluctuating waves of
popular opinion.
* Cura de los Palacios, cap. 131. Oviedo, lib. ii. cap. 13.
CHAP. I I . ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
8 5
However indifferent Columbus might be to his own personal
appearance, he was anxious to keep alive the interest in his
discoveries, fearing continually that the indifference awakening
towards him might impede their accomplishment. On his way to
Burgos, therefore, where the sovereigns were expected, he made
a studious display of the curiosities and treasures which he had
brought from the New World. Among these were collars, brace
lets, anklets, and coronets of gold, the spoils of various caciques,
and which were considered as trophies won from barbaric princes
of the rich coasts of Asia, or the islands of the Indian seas. It is
a proof of the petty standard by which the sublime discovery of
Columbus was already estimated, that he had to resort to this
management to dazzle the gross perceptions of the multitude by
the mere glare of gold.
He carried with him several Indians also, decorated after their
savage fashion, and glittering with golden ornaments ; among
whom were the brother and nephew of Caonabo, the former about
thirty years of age, the latter only ten. They were brought
merely to visit the king and queen, that they might be impressed
with an idea of the grandeur and power of the Spanish sove
reigns, after which they were to be restored in safety to their
country. Whenever they passed through any principal place,
Columbus put a massive collar and chain of gold upon the brother
of Caonabo, as being cacique of the golden country of Cibao.
The curate of Los Palacios, who entertained the discoverer and
his Indian captives for several days in his house, says that he had
this chain of gold in his hands, and that it weighed six hundred
castellanos.* The worthy curate likewise makes mention of va-
* Equivalent to the value of three thousand one hundred and ninety-five
dollars of the present time.
8 6
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK IX.
rious Indian masks and images of wood or cotton, wrought with
fantastic faces of animals, all of which he supposed were repre
sentations of the devil, who he concludes must be the object of
adoration of these islanders.*
The reception of Columbus by the sovereigns was different
from what he had anticipated ; for he was treated with distin
guished favor, nor was any mention made either of the complaints
of Margarite and Boyle, or the judicial inquiries conducted by
Aguado. However these may have had a transient effect on the
minds of the sovereigns, they were too conscious of the great
deserts of Columbus, and the extraordinary difficulties of his situ
ation, not to tolerate what they may have considered errors on
his part.
Encouraged by the favorable countenance he experienced, and
by the interest with which the sovereigns listened to his account
of his recent voyage along the coast of Cuba, and the discovery
of the mines of Hayna, which he failed not to represent as the
Ophir of the ancients ; Columbus now proposed a further enter
prise, by which he promised to make yet more extensive disco
veries, and to annex Terra Firma to their dominions. For this
purpose he asked eight ships ; two to be dispatched to the island
of Hispaniola with supplies, the remaining six to be put under
his command for a voyage of discovery. The sovereigns readily
promised to comply with his request, and were probably sincere
in their intentions to do so, but in the performance of their promise
Columbus was doomed to meet with intolerable delay ; partly in
consequence of the operation of public events, partly in conse
quence of the intrigues of men of office, the two great influences
which are continually diverting and defeating the designs of princes.
* Cura de los Palacios, cap. 131.
CHAP. I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
8 7
The resources of Spain were, at this moment, tasked to the
utmost by the ambition of Ferdinand, who lavished all his reve
nues in warlike expenses and in subsidies. "While maintaining a
contest of deep and artful policy with France, with the ultimate
aim of grasping the sceptre of Naples, he was laying the founda
tion of a wide and powerful connexion by the marriages of the
royal children, who were now maturing in years. At this time
arose that family alliance, which afterwards consolidated such an
immense empire under his grandson and successor, Charles V.
While a large army was maintained in Italy, under Gonsalvo
of Cordova, to assist the king of Naples in recovering his throne,
of which he had been suddenly dispossessed by Charles VIII of
France, other armies were required on the frontiers of Spain,
which were menaced with a French invasion. Squadrons also
had to be employed for the safeguard of the Mediterranean and
Atlantic coasts of the Peninsula, while a magnificent armada of
upwards of a hundred ships, having on board twenty thousand
persons, many of them of the first nobility, was dispatched to
convoy the Princess Juana to Flanders, to be married to Philip,
Archduke of Austria, and to bring back his sister Margarita, the
destined bride of Prince Juan.
These widely-extended operations, both of war and amity, put
all the land and naval forces into requisition. They drained the
royal treasury, and engrossed the thoughts of the sovereigns,
obliging them also to journey from place to place in their domin
ions. With such cares of an immediate and homefelt nature
pressing upon their minds, the distant enterprises of Columbus
were easily neglected or postponed. They had hitherto been
sources of expense instead of profit ; and there were artful coun
selors ever ready to whisper in the royal ear, that they were.
88
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK I X .
likely to continue so. What, in the ambitious eyes of Ferdinand,
was the acquisition of a number of wild, uncultivated, and distant
islands, to that of the brilliant domain of Naples ; or the inter
course with naked and barbaric princes, to that of an alliance with
the most potent sovereigns of Christendom? Columbus had the
mortification, therefore, to see armies levied and squadrons em
ployed in idle contests about a little point of territory in Europe,
and a vast armada of upwards of a hundred sail destined to the
ostentatious service of convoying a royal bride ; while he vainly
solicited a few caravels to prosecute his discovery of a world.
At length, in the autumn, six millions of maravedies were
ordered to be advanced to Columbus for the equipment of his pro
mised squadron.* Just as the sum was about to be delivered, a
letter was received from Pedro Alonzo Nino, who had arrived at
Cadiz with his three caravels, on his return from the island of
Hispaniola. Instead of proceeding to court in person, or forward
ing the dispatches of the Adelantado, he had gone to visit his
family at Huelva, taking the dispatches with him, and merely
writing in a vaunting style, that he had a great amount of gold on
board of his ships.†
This was triumphant intelligence to Columbus, who immediately
concluded that the new mines were in operation, and the treasures
of Ophir about to be realized. The letter of Nino, however, was
fated to have a most injurious effect on his concerns.
The king at that moment was in immediate want of money, to
repair the fortress of Salza, in Eoussillon, which had been sacked
by the French ; the six millions of maravedies about to be ad
vanced to Columbus, were forthwith appropriated to patch up the
* Equivalent to 86,956 dollars of the present day.
† Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 123, MS.
CHAP. I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
8 9
shattered castle, and an order was given for the amount to be paid
out of the gold brought by Niño. It was not until the end of
December, when Nino arrived at court, and delivered the dis-
patches of the Adelantado, that his boast of gold was discovered
to be a mere figure of speech, and that his caravels were, in fact,
freighted with Indian prisoners, from the sale of whom the
vaunted gold was to arise.
It is difficult to describe the vexatious effects of this absurd
hyperbole. The hopes of Columbus, of great and immediate
profit from the mines, were suddenly cast down ; the zeal of his
few advocates was cooled ; an air of empty exaggeration was
given to his enterprises ; and his enemies pointed with scorn and
ridicule to the wretched cargoes of the caravels, as the boasted
treasures of the New World. The report brought by Nino and
his crew, represented the colony as in a disastrous condition, and
the dispatches of the Adelantado pointed out the importance of
immediate supplies ; but in proportion as the necessity of the
case was urgent, the measure of relief was tardy. All the un-
favorable representations hitherto made seemed corroborated,
and the invidious cry of “ great cost and little gain ” was revived
by those politicians of petty sagacity and microscopic eye, who,
in all great undertakings, can discern the immediate expense,
without having scope of vision to embrace the future profit.
VOL. II.
9
90
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK I X .
CHAPTER III.
PREPARATIONS FOR A THIRD VOYAGE.—DISAPPOINTMENTS
AND DELAYS.
[1497.]
IT was not until the following spring of 1497, that the concerns
of Columbus and of the New "World began to receive serious
attention from the sovereigns. The fleet had returned from Flan
ders with the Princess Margarita of Austria. Her nuptials with
Prince Juan, the heir-apparent, had been celebrated at Burgos,
the capital of Old Castile, with extraordinary splendor. All the
grandees, the dignitaries, and chivalry of Spain, together with
ambassadors from the principal potentates of Christendom, were
assembled on the occasion. Burgos was for some time a scene
of chivalrous pageant and courtly revel, and the whole kingdom
celebrated with great rejoicings this powerful alliance, which
seemed to insure to the Spanish sovereigns a continuance of their
extraordinary prosperity.
In the midst of these festivities, Isabella, whose maternal
heart had recently been engrossed by the marriages of her chil
dren, now that she was relieved from these concerns of a tender
and domestic nature, entered into the affairs of the New World
with a spirit that showed she was determined to place them upon
CHAP. I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
91
a substantial foundation, as well as clearly to define the powers,
and reward the services of Columbus. To her protecting zeal
all the provisions in favor of Columbus must be attributed ; for
the king began to look coldly on him, and the royal counselors,
who had most influence in the affairs of the Indies, were his ene
mies.
Various royal ordinances dated about this time manifest the
generous and considerate disposition of the queen. The rights,
privileges, and dignities granted to Columbus at Santa Fé, were
again confirmed ; a tract of land in Hispaniola, fifty leagues in
length, and twenty-five in breadth, was offered to him with the
title of duke or marquess. This, however, Columbus had the
forbearance to decline ; he observed that it would only increase
the envy which was already so virulent against him, and would
cause new misrepresentations ; as he should be accused of paying
more attention to the settlement and improvement of his own
possessions, than of any other part of the island.*
As the expenses of the expeditions had hitherto far exceeded
the returns, Columbus had incurred debt rather than reaped profit
from the share he had been permitted to take in them ; he was
relieved, therefore, from his obligation to bear an eighth part of
the cost of the past enterprises, excepting the sum which he had
advanced towards the first voyage ; at the same time, however,
he was not to claim any share of what had hitherto been brought
from the island. For three ensuing years he was to be allowed
an eighth of the gross proceeds of every voyage, and an additional
tenth after the costs had been deducted. After the expiration
of the three years, the original terms of agreement were to be
resumed.
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 123.
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LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK I X .
To gratify his honorable ambition also, and to perpetuate in
his family the distinction gained by his illustrious deeds, he was
allowed the right of establishing a mayorazgo, or perpetual entail
of his estates, so that they might always descend with his titles
of nobility. This he shortly after exercised in a solemn testa
ment executed at Seville in the early part of 1498, by which he
devised his estates to his own male descendants, and on their fail
ure to the male descendants of his brothers, and in default of male
heirs to the females of his lineage.
The heir was always to bear the arms of the admiral, to seal
with them, to sign with his signature, and in signing, never to use
any other title than simply “ The Admiral,” whatever other titles
might be given him by the king, and used by him on other occa
sions. Such was the noble pride with which he valued this title
of his real greatness.
In this testament he made ample provision for his brother,
the Adelantado, his son Fernando, and his brother Don Diego,
the last of whom, he intimates, had a desire to enter into ecclesi
astical life. He ordered that a tenth part of the revenues arising
from the mayorazgo should be devoted to pious and charitable
purposes, and in relieving all poor persons of his lineage. He
made provisions for the giving of marriage-portions to the poor
females of his family. He ordered that a married person of his
kindred who had been born in his native city of Genoa, should be
maintained there in competence and respectability, by way of
keeping a domicil for the family there ; and he commanded
whoever should inherit the mayorazgo, always to do every thing
in his power for the honor, prosperity, and increase of the city
of Genoa, provided it should not be contrary to the service of the
church, and the interests of the Spanish crown. Among various
CHAp. I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
93
other provisions in this will, he solemnly provides for his favorite
scheme, the recovery of the holy sepulchre. He orders his son
Diego, or whoever else may inherit his estate, to invest from time
to time as much money as he can spare, in stock in the bank of
St. George at Genoa, to form a permanent fund, with which he
is to stand ready at any time to follow and serve the king in the
conquest of Jerusalem. Or should the king not undertake such
enterprise, then, when the funds have accumulated to sufficient
amount, to set on foot a crusade at his own charge and risk, in
hopes that, seeing his determination, the sovereigns may be
induced either to adopt the undertaking, or to authorize him to
pursue it in their name.
Beside this special undertaking for the Catholic faith, he
charges his heir in case there should arise any schism in the
church, or any violence menacing its prosperity, to throw himself
at the feet of the pope, and devote his person and property to
defend the church from all insult and spoliation. Next to the ser
vice of God, he enjoins loyalty to the throne ; commanding him
at all times to serve the sovereigns and their heirs, faithfully and
zealously, even to the loss of life and estate. To insure the
constant remembrance of this testament, he orders his heir that,
before he confesses, he shall give it to his father confessor to
read, who is to examine him upon his faithful fulfillment of its
conditions.*
As Columbus had felt aggrieved by the general license
granted in April, 1495, to make discoveries in the New World,
considering it as interfering with his prerogatives, a royal edict
was issued on the 2d of June, 1497, retracting whatever might
be prejudicial to his interests, or to the previous grants made him
* This testament is inserted at large in the Appendix.
94
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK I X .
by the crown. “ It never was our intention," said the sovereigns
in their edict, “ in any way to affect the rights of the said Don
Christopher Columbus, nor to allow the conventions, privileges,
and favors which we have granted him to be encroached upon or
violated ; but on the contrary, in consequence of the services
which he has rendered us, we intend to confer still further favors
on him." Such, there is every reason to believe, was the sincere
intention of the magnanimous Isabella ; but the stream of her
royal bounty was poisoned or diverted by the base channels
through which it flowed.
The favor shown to Columbus was extended likewise to his
family. The titles and prerogatives of Adelantado with which he
had invested his brother Don Bartholomew, had at first awakened
the displeasure of the king, who jealously reserved all high dig
nities of the kind to be granted exclusively by the crown. By a
royal letter, the office was now conferred upon Don Bartholomew,
as if through spontaneous favor of the sovereigns, no allusion
being made to his having previously enjoyed it.
While all these measures were taken for the immediate
gratification of Columbus, others were adopted for the interests
of the colony. Permission was granted him to take out three
hundred and thirty persons in royal pay, of whom forty were to
be escuderos or servants, one hundred foot-soldiers, thirty sailors,
thirty ship-boys, twenty miners, fifty husbandmen, ten gardeners,
twenty mechanics of various kinds, and thirty females. He was
suhsequently permitted to increase the number, if he thought
proper, to five hundred ; but the additional individuals were to be
paid out of the produce and merchandise of the colony. He was
likewise authorized to grant lands to all such as were disposed to
cultivate vineyards, orchards, sugar plantations, or to form any
CHAP. I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
95
other rural establishments, on condition that they should reside
as householders on the island for four years after such grant ;
and that all the brazil-wood and precious metals, found on their
lands, should be reserved to the crown.
Nor were the interests of the unhappy natives forgotten by
the compassionate heart of Isabella. Notwithstanding the soph
isms by which their subjection and servitude were made matters
of civil and divine right, and sanctioned by the political prelates
of the day, Isabella always consented with the greatest reluctance
to the slavery even of those who were taken in open warfare ; while
her utmost solicitude was exerted to protect the unoffending part
of this helpless and devoted race. She ordered that the greatest
care should be taken of their religious instruction, and the great
est leniency shown in collecting the tributes imposed upon them,
with all possible indulgence to defalcators. In fact, the injunc
tions given with respect to the treatment both of Indians and
Spaniards, are the only indications, in the royal edicts, of any
impression having been made by the complaints against Colum
bus of severity in his government. It was generally recommended
by the sovereigns, that, whenever the public safety did not re
quire stern measures, there should be manifested a disposition to
lenity and easy rule.
When every intention was thus shown on the part of the
crown to dispatch the expedition to the colony, unexpected diffi
culties arose on the part of the public. The charm was dispelled
which in the preceding voyage had made every adventurer crowd
into the service of Columbus. An odium had been industriously
thrown upon his enterprises ; and his new-found world, instead
of a region of wealth and delight, was considered a land of
poverty and disaster. There was a difficulty in procuring either
96
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK IX.
ships or men for the voyage. To remedy the first of these defi-
ciencies, one of those arbitrary orders was issued, so opposite to
our present ideas of commercial policy, empowering the officers
of the crown to press into the service whatever ships they might
judge suitable for the purposed expedition, together with their
masters and pilots ; and to fix such price for their remuneration,
as the officers should deem just and reasonable. To supply the
want of voluntary recruits, a measure was adopted at the sugges-
tion of Columbus,* which shows the desperate alternatives to
which he was reduced by the great reaction of public sentiment.
This was, to commute the sentences of criminals condemned to
banishment, to the galleys, or to the mines, into transportation to
the new settlements, where they were to labor in the public ser-
vice without pay. Those whose sentence was banishment for life,
to be transported for ten years ; those banished for a specific term,
to be transported for half that time. A general pardon was
published for all malefactors at large, who within a certain time
should surrender themselves to the admiral, and embark for the
colonies ; those who had committed offences meriting death, to
serve for two years, those whose misdeeds were of a lighter
nature, to serve for one y e a r . † Those only were excepted from
this indulgence who had committed heresy, treason, coining, mur-
der, and certain other specific crimes. This pernicious measure,
calculated to poison the population of an infant community at its
very source, was a fruitful cause of trouble to Columbus, and of
misery and detriment to the colony. It has been frequently
adopted by various nations, whose superior experience should have
taught them better, and has proved the bane of many a rising
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 112, MS. † Muños, lib. vi. § 19.
CHAP. III.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
9 7
settlement. It is assuredly as unnatural for a metropolis to cast
forth its crimes and vices upon its colonies, as it would be for a
parent willfully to ingraft disease upon his children. In both
instances the obligation of nature is vitiated ; nor should it be
matter of surprise, if the seeds of evil thus sown should bring
forth bitter retribution.
Notwithstanding all these violent expedients, there was still a
ruinous delay in fitting out the expedition. This is partly ac
counted for by changes which took place in the persons appointed
to superintend the affairs of the Indies. These concerns had for
a time been consigned to Antonio de Torres, in whose name, con
jointly with that of Columbus, many of the official documents
had been made out. In consequence of high and unreasonable
demands on the part of Torres, he was removed from office, and
Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, Bishop of Badajos, reinstated. The
papers had, therefore, to be made out anew, and fresh contracts
formed. While these concerns were tardily attended to, the
queen was suddenly overwhelmed with affliction by the death of
her only son Prince Juan, whose nuptials had been celebrated
with such splendor in the spring. It was the first of a series of
domestic calamities which assailed her affectionate heart, and
overwhelmed her with affliction for the remainder of her days.
In the midst of her distress, however, she still thought of Colum
bus. In consequence of his urgent representations of the misery
to which the colony must be reduced, two ships were dispatched
in the beginning of 1498, under the command of Pedro Fernan
dez Coronel, freighted with supplies. The necessary funds were
advanced by the queen herself, out of the moneys intended to form
the endowment of her daughter Isabella, then betrothed to Ema
nuel, King of Portugal. An instance of her kind feeling toward
98
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK IX.
Columbus was also evinced in the time of her affliction : his two
sons, Diego and Fernando, had been pages to the deceased prince ;
the queen now took them, in the same capacity, into her own service.
With all this zealous disposition on the part of the queen,
Columbus still met with the most injurious and discouraging de
lays in preparing the six remaining vessels for his voyage. His
cold-blooded enemy Fonseca, having the superintendence of In
dian affairs, was enabled to impede and retard all his plans. The
various petty officers and agents employed in the concerns of the
armament, were many of them minions of the bishop, and knew
that they were gratifying him in annoying Columbus. They
looked upon the latter as a man declining in popularity, who
might be offended with impunity ; they scrupled not, therefore, to
throw all kinds of difficulties in his path, and to treat him occa
sionally with that arrogance which petty and ignoble men in place
are prone to exercise.
It seems almost incredible at the present day that such im
portant and glorious enterprises should have been subject to such
despicable molestations. Columbus bore them all with silent
indignation. He was a stranger in the land he was benefiting ;
he felt that the popular tide was setting against him, and that it
was necessary to tolerate many present grievances for the sake
of effecting his great purposes. So wearied and disheartened,
however, did he become by the impediments artfully thrown in
his way, and so disgusted by the prejudices of the fickle public,
that he at one time thought of abandoning his discoveries alto
gether. He was chiefly induced to persevere by his grateful
attachment to the queen, and his desire to achieve something that
might cheer and animate her under her afflictions.*
* Letter of Columbus to the nurse of Prince Juan.
CHAP. III.] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
99
At length, after all kinds of irritating delays, the six vessels
were fitted for sea, though it was impossible to conquer the popu
lar repugnance to the service, sufficiently to enlist the allotted num
ber of men. In addition to the persons in employ already enu
merated, a physician, surgeon, and apothecary were sent out for
the relief of the colony, and several priests to replace Friar
Boyle and certain of his discontented brethren ; while a number
of musicians were embarked by the admiral, to cheer and enliven
the colonists.
The insolence which Columbus had suffered from the minions
of Fonseca throughout this long protracted time of preparation,
harassed him to the last moment of his sojourn in Spain, and fol
lowed him to the very water's edge. Among the worthless hire
lings who had annoyed him, the most noisy and presuming was
one Ximeno Breviesca, treasurer or accountant of Fonseca. He
was not an old Christian, observes the venerable Las Casas ; by
which it is to be understood that he was either a Jew or a Moor
converted to the Catholic faith. He had an impudent front and
an unbridled tongue, and, echoing the sentiments of his patron the
bishop, had been loud in his abuse of the admiral and his enter
prises. The very day when the squadron was on the point of
weighing anchor, Columbus was assailed by the insolence of this
Ximeno, either on the shore when about to embark, or on board
of his ship where he had just entered. In the hurry of the mo
ment, he forgot his usual self-command ; his indignation, hitherto
repressed, suddenly burst forth ; he struck the despicable minion
to the ground, and kicked him repeatedly, venting in this unguarded
paroxysm the accumulated griefs and vexations which had long
rankled in his mind.*
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 126, MS.
100
LIFE A N D VOYAGES, ETC.
[BOOK I X .
Nothing could demonstrate more strongly what Columbus had
previously suffered from the machinations of unworthy men, than
this transport of passion, so unusual in his well-governed temper.
He deeply regretted it, and in a letter written some time after
wards to the sovereigns, he endeavored to obviate the injury it
might do him in their opinion, through the exaggeration and false
coloring of his enemies. His apprehensions were not ill-founded,
for Las Casas attributes the humiliating measures shortly after
adopted by the sovereigns toward Columbus, to the unfavorable
impression produced by this affair. It had happened near at
home, as it were, under the very eye of the sovereigns ; it spoke,
therefore, more quickly to their feelings than more important alle
gations from a distance. The personal castigation of a public
officer was represented as a flagrant instance of the vindictive
temper of Columbus, and a corroboration of the charges of cruelty
and oppression sent from the colony. As Ximeno was a creature
of the invidious Fonseca, the affair was represented to the sove
reigns in the most odious point of view. Thus the generous in
tentions of princes, and the exalted services of their subjects, are
apt to be defeated by the intervention of cold and crafty men in
place. By his implacable hostility to Columbus, and the secret
obstructions which he threw in the way of the most illustrious of
human enterprises Fonseca has insured perpetuity to his name,
coupled with the contempt of every generous mind.
BOOK X.
C H A P T E R I.
DEPARTURE OF COLUMBUS FROM SPAIN ON HIS THIRD VOY
AGE.—DISCOVERY OF TRINIDAD.
[1498.]
ON the 30th of May, 1498, Columbus set sail from the port of
San Lucar de Barrameda, with his squadron of six vessels, on
his third voyage of discovery. The route he proposed to take was
different from that pursued in his former voyages. He intended
to depart from the Cape de Verde Islands, sailing to the south
west until he should come under the equinoctial line, then to
steer directly westward with the favor of the trade-winds, un
til he should arrive at land, or find himself in the longitude of
Hispaniola. Various considerations induced him to adopt this
course. In his preceding voyage, when he coasted the southern
side of Cuba, under the belief that it was the continent of Asia,
he had observed that it swept off toward the south. From this
circumstance, and from information gathered among the natives
of the Caribbee Islands, he was induced to believe that a great
tract of the main land lay to the south of the countries he had
already discovered. King John II of Portugal, appears to have
l02 LIFE AND VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X.
entertained a similar idea; as Herrera records an opinion ex
pressed by that monarch, that there was a continent in the south
ern ocean.* If this were the case, it was supposed by Columbus,
that, in proportion as he approached the equator, and extended
his discoveries to climates more and more under the torrid influ
ence of the sun, he should find the productions of nature subli
mated by its rays to more perfect and precious qualities. He
was strengthened in this belief by a letter written to him at the
command of the queen, by one Jayme Ferrer, an eminent and
learned lapidary, who, in the course of his trading for precious
stones and metals, had been in the Levant and in various parts
of the East ; had conversed with the merchants of the remote
parts of Asia and Africa, and the natives of India, Arabia, and
Ethiopia, and was considered deeply versed in geography gene
rally, but especially in the natural histories of those countries
whence the valuable merchandise in which he dealt was procured.
In this letter Ferrer assured Columbus, that, according to his ex
perience, the rarest objects of commerce, such as gold, precious
stones, drugs and spices, were chiefly to be found in the regions
about the equinoctial line, where the inhabitants were black, or
darkly colored ; and that until the admiral should arrive among
people of such complexions, he did not think he would find those
articles in great abundance.†
Columbus expected to find such people more to the south.
He recollected that the natives of Hispaniola had spoken of black
men who had once come to their island from the south and south
east, the heads of whose javelins were of a sort of metal which
they called Guanin. They had given the admiral specimens of
* Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 9.
† Navarrete, Colec, tom. ii. doc. 68.
CHAP. I.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
103
this metal, which on being assayed in Spain, proved to be a mix
ture of eighteen parts gold, six silver, and eight copper, a proof
of valuable mines in the country whence they came. Charlevoix
conjectures that these black people may have come from the
Canaries, or the western coast of Africa, and been driven by
tempest to the shores of Hispaniola.* It is probable, however,
that Columbus had been misinformed as to their color, or had
misunderstood his informants. It is difficult to believe that the
natives of Africa, or the Canaries, could have performed a voyage
of such magnitude, in the frail and scantily provided barks they
were accustomed to use.
It was to ascertain the truth of all these suppositions, and, if
correct, to arrive at the favored and opulent countries about the
equator, inhabited by people of similar complexions with those
of the Africans under the line, that Columbus in his present
voyage to the New World, took a course much farther to the
south than that which he had hitherto pursued.
Having heard that a French squadron was cruising off Cape
St. Vincent, he stood to the southwest after leaving St. Lucar,
touching at the islands of Porto Santo and Madeira, where he
remained a few days taking in wood and water and other supplies,
and then continued his course to the Canary Islands. On the
19th of June, he arrived at Gomara, where there lay at anchor a
French cruiser with two Spanish prizes. On seeing the squadron
of Columbus standing into the harbor, the captain of the privateer
put to sea in all haste, followed by his prizes ; one of which, in
the hurry of the moment, left part of her crew on shore, making
sail with only four of her armament, and six Spanish prisoners.
The admiral at first mistook them for merchant ships alarmed by
* Charlevoix, Hist. St. Domingo, lib. iii. p. 162.
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LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
his warlike appearance ; when informed of the truth, however,
he sent three of his vessels in pursuit, but they were too distant
to be overtaken. The six Spaniards, however, on board of one
of the prizes, seeing assistance at hand, rose on their captors,
and the admiral's vessel coming up, the prize was retaken, and
brought back in triumph to the port. The admiral relinquished
the ship to the captain, and gave up the prisoners to the governor
of the island, to be exchanged for six Spaniards carried off by
the cruiser.*
Leaving Gomara on the 21st of June, Columbus divided his
squadron off the island of Ferro : three of his ships he dispatched
direct for Hispaniola, to carry supplies to the colony. One of
these ships was commanded by Alonzo Sanchez de Caravajal,
native of Baeza, a man of much worth and integrity ; the second
by Pedro de Arana of Cordova, brother of Doña Beatrix Hen-
riquez, the mother of the admiral's second son Fernando. He
was cousin also of the unfortunate officer who commanded the
fortress of La Navidad at the time of the massacre. The third
was commanded by Juan Antonio Columbus (or Colombo), a
Genoese, related to the admiral, and a man of much judgment
and capacity. These captains were alternately to have the com-
mand, and bear the signal light a week at a time. The admiral
carefully pointed out their course. When they came in sight of
Hispaniola, they were to steer for the south side, for the new port
and town, which he supposed to be by this time established in the
mouth of the Ozema, according to royal orders sent out by Coro-
nel. With the three remaining vessels, the admiral prosecuted
his voyage towards the Cape de Verde Islands. The ship in
which he sailed was decked, the other two were merchant cara-
* Hist, del Almirante, cap. 65.
CHAP. I.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
105
vels.* As he advanced within the tropics, the change of climate,
and the close and sultry weather, brought on a severe attack of
the gout, followed by a violent fever. Notwithstanding his pain
ful illness, he enjoyed the full possession of his faculties, and con
tinued to keep his reckoning, and make his observations, with his
usual vigilance and minuteness.
On the 27th of June, he arrived among the Cape de Verde
Islands, which, instead of the freshness and verdure which their
name would betoken, presented an aspect of the most cheerless
sterility. He remained among these islands but a very few days,
being disappointed in his expectation of obtaining goats' flesh for
ships' provisions, and cattle for stock for the island of Hispaniola.
To procure them would require some delay ; in the meantime the
health of himself and of his people suffered under the influence
of the weather. The atmosphere was loaded with clouds and
vapors ; neither sun nor star was to be seen ; a sultry, depressing
temperature prevailed ; and the livid looks of the inhabitants
bore witness to the insalubrity of the climate†
Leaving the island of Buena Vista on the 5th of July, Colum
bus stood to the southwest, intending to continue on until he
found himself under the equinoctial line. The currents, however,
which ran to the north and northwest among these islands
impeded his progress, and kept him for two days in sight of the
Island del Fuego. The volcanic summit of this island, which,
seen at a distance, resembled a church with a lofty steeple, and
which was said at times to emit smoke and flames, was the last
point discerned of the Old World.
Continuing to the southwest, about one hundred and twenty
* P. Martyr, decad. i. lib. vi.
† Hist. del Almirante, cap. 65.
vol.. II.
H
106
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X.
leagues, he found himself, on the 13th of July, according to his
observations, in the fifth degree of north latitude. He had
entered that region which extends for eight or ten degrees on
each side of the line, and is known among seamen by the name
of the calm latitudes. The trade-winds, from the southeast and
northeast, meeting in the neighborhood of the equator, neutralize
each other, and a steady calmness of the elements is produced.
The whole sea is like a mirror, and vessels remain almost motion
less, with flapping sails ; the crews panting under the heat of a
vertical sun, unmitigated by any refreshing breeze. "Weeks are
sometimes employed in crossing this torpid tract of the ocean.
The weather for some time past had been cloudy and oppres
sive ; but on the 13th there was a bright and burning sun. The
wind suddenly fell, and a dead sultry calm commenced, which
lasted for eight days. The air was like a furnace ; the tar melted,
the seams of the ship yawned ; the salt meat became putrid ; the
wheat was parched as if with fire ; the hoops shrank from the
wine and water-casks, some of which leaked, and others burst ;
while the heat in the holds of the vessels was so suffocating, that
no one could remain below a sufficient time to prevent the dam
age that was taking place. The mariners lost all strength and
spirits, and sank under the oppressive heat. It seemed as if the
old fable of the torrid zone was about to be realized ; and that
they were approaching a fiery region, where it would be impossi
ble to exist. It is true the heavens were, for a great part of the
time, overcast, and there were drizzling showers ; but the atmos
phere was close and stifling, and there was that combination of
heat and moisture which relaxes all the energies of the human
frame.
During this time, the admiral suffered extremely from the
CHAP. I.]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
107
gout, but, as usual, the activity of his mind, heightened by his
anxiety, allowed him no indulgence nor repose. He was in an
unknown part of the ocean, where every thing depended upon his
vigilance and sagacity ; and was continually watching the pheno
mena of the elements, and looking out for signs of land. Finding
the heat so intolerable, he altered his course, and steered to the
southwest, hoping to find a milder temperature farther on, even
under the same parallel. He had observed, in his previous voy
ages, that after sailing westward a hundred leagues from the
Azores, a wonderful change took place in the sea and sky, both
becoming serene and bland, and the air temperate and refreshing.
He imagined that a peculiar mildness and suavity prevailed over
a great tract of ocean extending from north to south, into which
the navigator, sailing from east to west, would suddenly enter, as
if crossing a line. The event seemed to justify his theory, for
after making their way slowly for some time to the westward,
through an ordeal of heats and calms, with a murky, stifling atmos
phere, the ships all at once emerged into a genial region, a pleas
ant cooling breeze played over the surface of the sea, and gently
filled their sails, the close and drizzling clouds broke away, the
sky became serene and clear, and the sun shone forth with all its
splendor, but no longer with a burning heat.
Columbus had intended, on reaching this temperate tract, to
have stood once more to the south and then westward ; but the
late parching weather had opened the seams of his ships, and
caused them to leak excessively, so that it was necessary to seek
a harbor as soon as possible, where they might be refitted. Much
of the provisions also was spoiled, and the water nearly exhausted.
He kept on therefore directly to the west, trusting, from the flights
of birds and other favorable indications, he should soon arrive at
H 2
108
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
land. Day after day passed away without his expectations being
realized. The distresses of his men became continually more
urgent ; wherefore, supposing himself in the longitude of the
Caribbee Islands, he bore away towards the northward in search
of them.*
On the 31st of July, there was not above one cask of water
remaining in each ship, when, about mid-day, a mariner at the
mast-head beheld the summits of three mountains rising above
the horizon, and gave the joyful cry of land. As the ships drew
nearer, it was seen that these mountains were united at the base.
Columbus had determined to give the first land he should behold
the name of the Trinity. The appearance of these three moun
tains united into one struck him as a singular coincidence ; and,
with a solemn feeling of devotion, he gave the island the name
of La Trinidad, which it bears at the present day.†
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 67. † Ibid., ubi sup.
CHAP. II.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
109
CHAPTER II.
VOYAGE THROUGH THE GULP OF PARIA.
[1498.J
SHAPING his course for the island, Columbus approached its
eastern extremity, to which he gave the name of Punta de
la Galera, from a rock in the sea, which resembled a galley
under sail. He was obliged to coast for five leagues along the
southern shore, before he could find safe anchorage. On the
following day, (August 1,) he continued coasting westward, in
search of water and a convenient harbor where the vessels might
be careened. He was surprised at the verdure and fertility of
the country, having expected to find it more parched and sterile
as he approached the equator ; whereas he beheld groves of palm-
trees, and luxuriant forests, sweeping down to the sea-side, with
fountains and running streams. The shores were low and unin
habited, but the country rose in the interior, was cultivated in
many places, and enlivened by hamlets and scattered habitations.
In a word, the softness and purity of the climate, and the verdure,
freshness, and sweetness of the country, appeared to him to equal
the delights of early spring in the beautiful province of Valencia.*
Anchoring at a point to which he gave the name of Punta de
la Playa, he sent the boats on shore for water. They found an
* Letter of Columbus to the Sovereigns from Hispaniola, Navarrete Colec.
tom i.
110
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
abundant and limpid brook, at which they filled their casks, but
there was no safe harbor for the vessels, nor could they meet with
any of the islanders, though they found prints of footsteps, and
various fishing implements, left behind in the hurry of flight.
There were tracks also of animals, which they supposed to be
goats, but which must have been deer, with which, as it was after
wards ascertained, the island abounded.
While coasting the island, Columbus beheld land to the south,
stretching to the distance of more than twenty leagues. It was
that low tract of coast intersected by the numerous branches of
the Oronoco, but the admiral, supposing it to be an island, gave
it the name of La Isla Santa ; little imagining that he now, for
the first time, beheld that continent, that Terra Firma, which had
been the object of his earnest search.
On the 2d of August he continued on to the southwest point
of Trinidad, which he called Point Arenal. It stretched towards
a corresponding point of Terra Firma, making a narrow pass, with
a high rock in the centre, to which he gave the name of El Gallo.
Near this pass the ships cast anchor. As they were approaching
this place, a large canoe, with five-and-twenty Indians, put off
from the shore, but paused on coming within bow-shot, and hailed
the ships in a language which no one on board understood. Co
lumbus tried to allure the savages on board, by friendly signs, by
the display of looking-glasses, basins of polished metal, and vari
ous glittering trinkets, but all in vain. They remained gazing in
mute wonder for above two hours, with their paddles in their
hands, ready to take to flight on the least attempt to approach
them. They were all young men, well formed, and naked, ex
cepting bands and fillets of cotton about their heads, and colored
cloths of the same about their loins. They were armed with
CHAP. I I . ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
I l l
bows and arrows, the latter feathered and tipped with bone, and
they had bucklers, an article of armor seen for the first time
among the inhabitants of the New World.
Finding all other means to attract them ineffectual, Columbus
now tried the power of music. He knew the fondness of the
Indians for dances performed to the sound of their rude drums,
and the chant of their traditional ballads. He ordered something
similar to be executed on the deck of his ship, where, while one
man sang to the beat of the tabor, and the sound of other musical
instruments, the ship-boys danced, after the popular Spanish fash
ion. No sooner, however, did this symphony strike up, than the
Indians, mistaking it for a signal of hostilities, put their bucklers
on their arms, seized their bows, and let fly a shower of arrows.
This rude salutation was immediately answered by the discharge
of a couple of cross-bows, which put the auditors to flight, and
concluded this singular entertainment.
Though thus shy of the admiral's vessel, they approached one
of the caravels without hesitation, and, running under the stern,
had a parley with the pilot, who gave a cap and a mantle to the
one who appeared to be the chieftain. He received the presents
with great delight, inviting the pilot by signs to come to land,
where he should be well entertained, and receive great presents
in return. On his appearing to consent, they went to shore to
wait for him. The pilot put off in the boat of the caravel to ask
permission of the admiral ; but the Indians, seeing him go on board
of the hostile ship, suspected some treachery, and springing into
their canoe, darted away, nor was any thing more seen of them.*
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 88. P. Martyr, decad. i. lib. vi. Las Casas,
Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 138. MS. Letter of Columbus to the Castilian Sove
reigns, Navarrete Colec, tom. i.
112
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
The complexion and other physical characteristics of these
savages caused much surprise and speculation in the mind of Co
lumbus. Supposing himself in the seventh degree of latitude,
though actually in the tenth, he expected to find the inhabitants
similar to the natives of Africa under the same parallel, who were
black and ill-shaped, with crisped hair, or rather wool ; whereas
these were well formed, had long hair, and were even fairer than
those more distant from the equator. The climate, also, instead
of being hotter as he approached the equinoctial, appeared more
temperate. He was now in the dog-days, yet the nights and
mornings were so cool that it was necessary to use covering as in
winter. This is the case in many parts of the torrid zone, espe
cially in calm weather, when there is no wind, for nature, by
heavy dews, in the long nights of those latitudes, cools and re
freshes the earth after the great heats of the day. Columbus was
at first greatly perplexed by these contradictions to the course of
nature, as observed in the Old World ; they were in opposition
also to the expectations he had founded on the theory of Ferrer
the lapidary, but they gradually contributed to the formation of a
theory which was springing up in his active imagination, and
which will be presently shown.
After anchoring at Point Arenal, the crews were permitted
to land and refresh themselves. There were no runs of water,
but by sinking pits in the sand they soon obtained sufficient to fill
the casks. The anchorage at this place, however, was extremely
insecure. A rapid current set from the eastward through the
strait formed by the main-land and the island of Trinidad, flow
ing, as Columbus observed, night and day, with as much fury as
the Guadalquiver, when swollen by floods. In the pass between
Point Arenal and its correspondent point, the confined current
CHAP. I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
113
boiled and raged to such a degree, that he thought it was crossed
by a reef of rocks and shoals, preventing all entrance, with others
extending beyond, over which the waters roared like breakers on
a rocky shore. To this pass, from its angry and dangerous ap
pearance, he gave the name of Boca del Sierpe (the Mouth of
the Serpent). He thus found himself placed between two diffi
culties. The continual current from the east seemed to prevent
all return, while the rocks which appeared to beset the pass
threatened destruction if he should proceed. Being on board of
his ship, late at night, kept awake by painful illness and an anx
ious and watchful spirit, he heard a terrible roaring from the
south, and beheld the sea heaped up, as it were, into a great ridge
or hill, the height of the ship, covered with foam, and rolling
towards him with a tremendous uproar. As this furious surge
approached, rendered more terrible in appearance by the obscu
rity of night, he trembled for the safety of his vessels. His own
ship was suddenly lifted up to such a height that he dreaded lest
it should be overturned or cast upon the rocks, while another of
the ships was torn violently from her anchorage. The crews
were for a time in great consternation, fearing they should be
swallowed up ; but the mountainous surge passed on, and gradu
ally subsided, after a violent contest with the counter-current of
the strait.* This sudden rush of water, it is supposed, was caused
by the swelling of one of the rivers which flow into the Gulf of
Paria, and which were as yet unknown to Columbus.
Anxious to extricate himself from this dangerous neighbor
hood, he sent the boats on the following morning to sound the
depth of water at the Boca del Sierpe, and to ascertain whether
* Letter of Columbus to the Castilian Sovereigns, Navarrete Colec., tom. i.
Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 10. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 69.
114
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
it was possible for ships to pass through to the northward. To
his great joy, they returned with a report that there were several
fathoms of water, and currents and eddies setting both ways,
either to enter or return. A favorable breeze prevailing, he
immediately made sail, and passing through the formidable strait
in safety, found himself in a tranquil expanse beyond.
He was now on the inner side of Trinidad. To his left spread
the broad gulf since known by the name of Paria, which he
supposed to be the open sea, but was surprised, on tasting it, to
find the water fresh. He continued northward, towards a moun
tain at the northwest point of the island, about fourteen leagues
from Point Arenal. Here he beheld two lofty capes opposite
each other, one on the island of Trinidad, the other to the west,
on the long promontory of Paria, which stretches from the main
land and forms the northern side of the gulf, but which Columbus
mistook for an island, and named Isla de Gracia.
Between these capes there was another pass, which appeared
even more dangerous than the Boca del Sierpe, being beset with
rocks, among which the current forced its way with roaring
turbulence. To this pass Columbus gave the name of Boca del
Dragon. Not choosing to encounter its apparent dangers, he
turned northward, on Sunday, the 5th of August, and steered along
the inner side of the supposed island of Gracia, intending to keep
on until he came to the end of it, and then to strike northward
into the free and open ocean, and shape his course for Hispaniola.
It was a fair and beautiful coast, indented with fine harbors
lying close to each other ; the country cultivated in many places,
in others covered with fruit trees and stately forests, and watered
by frequent streams. What greatly astonished Columbus, was
still to find the water fresh, and that it grew more and more so
CHAP. I I . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
115
the farther he proceeded ; it being that season of the year when
the various rivers which empty themselves into this gulf are
swollen by rains, and pour forth such quantities of fresh water as
to conquer the saltness of the ocean. He was also surprised at
the placidity of the sea, which appeared as tranquil and safe as
one vast harbor, so that there was no need of seeking a port to
anchor in.
As yet he had not been able to hold any communication with
the people of this part of the New "World. The shores which he
had visited, though occasionally cultivated, were silent and de
serted, and, excepting the fugitive party in the canoe at Point
Arenal, he had seen nothing of the natives. After sailing several
leagues along the coast, he anchored on Monday, the 6th of
August, at a place where there appeared signs of cultivation, and
sent the boats on shore. They found recent traces of people, but
not an individual was to be seen. The coast was hilly, covered
with beautiful and fruitful groves, and abounding with monkeys.
Continuing further westward, to where the country was more
level, Columbus anchored in a river.
Immediately a canoe, with three or four Indians, came off to
the caravel nearest to the shore, the captain of which, pretending
a desire to accompany them to land, sprang into their canoe,
overturned it, and, with the assistance of his seamen, secured the
Indians as they were swimming. "When brought to the admiral,
he gave them beads, hawks'-bells, and sugar, and sent them
highly gratified on shore, where many of their countrymen were
assembled. This kind treatment had the usual effect. Such
of the natives as had canoes, came off to the ships with the
fullest confidence. They were tall of stature, finely formed, and
free and graceful in their movements. Their hair was long and
116
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
straight ; some wore it cut short, but none of them braided it, as
was the custom among the natives of Hispaniola. They were
armed with bows, arrows, and targets ; the men wore cotton
cloths about their heads and loins, beautifully wrought with vari
ous colors, so as at a distance to look like silk ; but the women
were entirely naked. They brought bread, maize, and other
eatables, with different kinds of beverage, some white, made from
maize, and resembling beer, and others green, of a vinous flavor,
and expressed from various fruits. They appeared to judge of
every thing by the sense of smell, as others examine objects by
the sight or touch. When they approached a boat, they smelt to
it, and then to the people. In like manner every thing that was
given them was tried. They set but little value upon beads, but
were extravagantly delighted with hawks'-bells. Brass was also
held in high estimation ; they appeared to find something ex
tremely grateful in the smell of it, and called it Turey, signifying
that it was from the skies.*
From these Indians Columbus understood that the name of
their country was Paria, and that farther to the west he would
find it more populous. Taking several of them to serve as guides
and mediators, he proceeded eight leagues westward to a point
which he called Aguja, or the Needle. Here he arrived at three
o'clock in the morning. When the day dawned he was delighted
with the beauty of the country. It was cultivated in many places,
highly populous, and adorned with magnificent vegetation ; habi
tations were interspered among groves laden with fruits and flow
ers ; grape-vines entwined themselves among the trees, and birds
of brilliant plumage fluttered from branch to branch. The air
was temperate and bland, and sweetened by the fragrance of flow-
* Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. II.
CHAP. II.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
117
ers and blossoms; and numerous fountains and limpid streams
kept up a universal verdure and freshness. Columbus was so
much charmed with the beauty and amenity of this part of the
coast, that he gave it the name of The Gardens.
The natives came off in great numbers, in canoes, of superior
construction to those hitherto seen, being very large and light,
with a cabin in the centre for the accommodation of the owner
and his family. They invited Columbus, in the name of their
king, to come to land. Many of them had collars and burnished
plates about their necks, of that inferior kind of gold called by
the Indians Guanin. They said that it came from a high land,
which they pointed out, at no great distance, to the west, but inti
mated that it was dangerous to go there, either because the inha
bitants were cannibals, or the place infested by venomous ani
mals.* But what aroused the attention and awakened the
cupidity of the Spaniards, was the sight of strings of pearls
round the arms of some of the natives. These, they informed Co
lumbus, were procured on the sea-coast, on the northern side of
Paria, which he still supposed to be an island ; and they showed
the mother-of-pearl shells whence they had been taken. Anxious
for further information, and to procure specimens of these pearls
to send to Spain, he dispatched the boats to shore. A multitude
of the natives came to the beach to receive them, headed by the
chief cacique and his son. They treated the Spaniards with pro
found reverence, as beings descended from heaven, and conducted
them to a spacious house, the residence of the cacique, where they
were regaled with bread and various fruits of excellent flavor,
and the different kinds of beverage already mentioned. While
* Letter of Columbus to the Castilian Sovereigns, Navarrete Colec., tom. i.
p. 252.
118
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
they were in the house, the men remained together at one end of
it, and the women at the other. After they had finished their
collation at the house of the cacique, they were taken to that of
his son, where a like repast was set before them. These people
were remarkably affable, though, at the same time, they possessed
a more intrepid and martial air and spirit than the natives of
Cuba and Hispaniola. They were fairer, Columbus observes,
than any he had yet seen, though so near to the equinoctial line,
where he had expected to find them of the color of Ethiopians.
Many ornaments of gold were seen among them, but all of an in
ferior quality : one Indian had a piece of the size of an apple.
They had various kinds of domesticated parrots, one of a light-
green color, with a yellow neck, and the tips of the wings of a
bright red ; others of the size of domestic fowls, and of a vivid
scarlet, excepting some azure feathers in the wings. These they
readily gave to the Spaniards ; but what the latter most coveted
were the pearls, of which they saw many necklaces and bracelets
among the Indian women. The latter gladly gave them in exchange
for hawks'-bells or any article of brass, and several specimens of
fine pearls were procured for the admiral to send to the sovereigns.*
The kindness and amity of this people were heightened by an
intelligent demeanor and a martial frankness. They seemed
worthy of the beautiful country they inhabited. It was a cause
of great concern both to them and the Spaniards, that they could
not understand each other's language. They conversed, however,
by signs ; mutual good-will made their intercourse easy and plea
sant ; and at the hour of vespers the Spaniards returned on board
of their ships, highly gratified with their entertainment.
* Letter of Columbus. Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 11.
Hist, del Almirante, cap. 70.
CHAP. I I I . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
119
CHAPTER III.
CONTINUATION OF THE VOYAGE THROUGH THE GULF OF
PARIA.—RETURN TO HISPANIOLA.
[1498.]
THE quantity of fine pearls found among the natives of Paria
was sufficient to arouse the sanguine anticipations of Columbus.
It appeared to corroborate the theory of Ferrer, the learned
jeweler, that, as he approached the equator, he would find the
most rare and precious productions of nature. His active imagi
nation, with its intuitive rapidity, seized upon every circumstance
in unison with his wishes, and, combining them, drew thence the
most brilliant inferences. He had read in Pliny that pearls are
generated from drops of dew which fall into the mouths of oysters :
if so, what place could be more propitious to their growth and
multiplication than the coast of Paria ? The dew in those parts
was heavy and abundant, and the oysters were so plentiful that
they clustered about the roots and pendant branches of the man
grove trees, which grew within the margin of the tranquil sea.
When a branch which had drooped for a time in the water was
drawn forth, it was found covered with oysters. Las Casas,
noticing this sanguine conclusion of Columbus, observes, that the
shell-fish here spoken of are not of the kind which produce pearl,
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LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X.
for that those by a natural instinct, as if conscious of their precious
charge, hide themselves in the deepest water.*
Still imagining the coast of Paria to be an island, and anxious
to circumnavigate it, and arrive at the place where these pearls
were said by the Indians to abound, Columbus left the Gardens
on the 10th of August, and continued coasting westward within
the gulf, in search of an outlet to the north. He observed por
tions of Terra Firma appearing towards the bottom of the gulf,
which he supposed to be islands, and called them Isabeta and
Tramontana, and fancied that the desired outlet to the sea must
lie between them. As he advanced, however, he found the water
continually growing shallower and fresher, until he did not dare
to venture any farther with his ship, which, he observed, was
of too great a size for expeditions of this kind, being of an hun
dred tons burden, and requiring three fathoms of water. He
came to anchor, therefore, and sent a light caravel called the
Correo, to ascertain whether there was an outlet to the ocean
between the supposed islands. The caravel returned on the
following day, reporting that at the western end of the gulf there
was an opening of two leagues, which led into an inner and circu
lar gulf, surrounded by four openings, apparently smaller gulfs,
or rather mouths of rivers, from which flowed the great quantity
of fresh water that sweetened the neighboring sea. In fact, from
one of these mouths issued the great river the Cuparipari, or, as
it is now called, the Paria. To this inner and circular gulf Co
lumbus gave the name of the Gulf of Pearls, through a mistaken
idea that they abounded in its waters, though none, in fact, are
found there. He still imagined that the four openings of which
the mariners spoke, might be intervals between islands, though
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., cap. 136.
CHAP. III. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
121
they affirmed that all the land he saw was connected.* As it
was impossible to proceed further westward with his ships, he had
no alternative but to retrace his course, and seek an exit to the
north by the Boca del Dragon. He would gladly have continued
for some time to explore this coast, for he considered himself in
one of those opulent regions described as the most favored upon
earth, and which increase in riches towards the equator. Impe
rious considerations, however, compelled him to shorten his voy
age, and hasten to San Domingo. The sea-stores of his ships
were almost exhausted, and the various supplies for the colony,
with which they were freighted, were in danger of spoiling. He
was suffering, also, extremely in his health. Besides the gout,
which had rendered him a cripple for the greater part of the voy
age, he was afflicted by a complaint in his eyes, caused by fatigue
and over-watching, which almost deprived him of sight, Even
the voyage along the coast of Cuba, he observes, in which he was
three and thirty days almost without sleep, had not so injured his
eyes and disordered his frame, or caused him so much painful
suffering, as the present.†
On the 11th of August, therefore, he set sail eastward for the
Boca del Dragon, and was borne along with great velocity by the
currents, which, however, prevented him from landing again at
his favorite spot, the Gardens. On Sunday the 13th, he anchored
near to the Boca, in a fine harbor, to which he gave the name of
Puerto de Gatos, from a species of monkey called gato paulo,
with which the neighborhood abounded. On the margin of the
sea he perceived many trees which, as he thought, produced the
mirabolane, a fruit only found in the countries of the East.
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 78.
† Letter of Columbus to the Sovereigns, Navarrete, tom. i. p. 252.
VOL. I I .
I
122
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
There were great numbers also of mangroves growing within the
water, with oysters clinging to their branches, their mouths open,
as he supposed, to receive the dew, which was afterwards to be
transformed to pearls.*
On the following morning, the 14th of August, towards noon,
the ships approached the Boca del Dragon, and prepared to ven
ture through that formidable pass. The distance from Cape Boto
at the end of Paria, and Cape Lapa the extremity of Trinidad,
is about five leagues ; but in the interval there were two islands,
which Columbus named Caracol and Delphin. The impetuous
body of fresh water which flows through the gulf, particularly in
the rainy months of July and August, is confined at the narrow
outlets between these islands, where it causes a turbulent sea,
foaming and roaring as if breaking over rocks, and rendering the
entrance and exit of the gulf extremely dangerous. The horrors
and perils of such places are always tenfold to discoverers, who
have no chart, nor pilot, nor advice of previous voyager, to guide
them. Columbus, at first, apprehended sunken rocks and shoals ;
but on attentively considering the commotion of the strait, he
attributed it to the conflict between the prodigious body of fresh
water setting through the gulf and struggling for an outlet, and
the tide of salt water struggling to enter. The ships had scarcely
ventured into the fearful channel when the wind died away, and
they were in danger every moment of being thrown upon the
rocks or sands. The current of fresh water, however, gained the
victory, and carried them safely through. The admiral, when
once more safe in the open sea, congratulated himself upon his
escape from this perilous strait, which, he observes, might well be
called the Mouth of the Dragon.†
* Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 10. † Ibid., cap. 11.
C H A P . I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
123
He now stood to the westward, running along the outer coast
of Paria, still supposing it an island, and intending to visit the
Gulf of Pearls, which he imagined to be at the end of it, opening
to the sea. He wished to ascertain whether this great body of
fresh water proceeded from rivers, as the crew of the caravel
Correo had affirmed ; for it appeared to him impossible that the
streams of mere islands, as he supposed the surrounding lands,
could furnish such a prodigious volume of water.
On leaving the Boca del Dragon, he saw to the northeast,
many leagues distant, two islands, which he called Assumption
and Conception ; probably those now known as Tobago and Gra
nada. In his course along the northern coast of Paria he saw
several other small islands, and many fine harbors, to some of
which he gave names, but they have ceased to be known by them.
On the 15th he discovered the islands of Margarita and Cubagua,
afterwards famous for their pearl fishery. The island of Marga
rita, about fifteen leagues in length, and six in breadth, was well
peopled. The little island of Cubagua, lying between it and the
main-land, and only about four leagues from the latter, was dry
and sterile, without either wood or fresh water, but possessing a
good harbor. On approaching this island, the admiral beheld a
number of Indians fishing for pearls, who made for the land. A
boat being sent to communicate with them, one of the sailors
noticed many strings of pearls round the neck of a female. Hav
ing a plate of Valencia ware, a kind of porcelain painted and
varnished with gaudy colors, he broke it, and presented the pieces
to the Indian woman, who gave him in exchange a considerable
number of her pearls. These he carried to the admiral, who
immediately sent persons on shore, well provided with Valencian
plates and hawks'-bells, for which in a little time he procured
12
124
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X.
about three pounds' weight of pearls, some of which were of a
very large size, and were sent by him afterwards to the sove
reigns as specimens.*
There was great temptation to visit other spots, which the
Indians mentioned as abounding in pearls. The coast of Paria
also continued extending to the westward as far as the eye could
reach, rising into a range of mountains, and provoking examina
tion to ascertain whether, as he began to think, it was a part of
the Asiatic continent. Columbus was compelled, however, though
with the greatest reluctance, to forego this most interesting inves
tigation.
The malady of his eyes had now grown so virulent, that he
could no longer take observations or keep a look-out, but had
to trust to the reports of the pilots and mariners. He bore away,
therefore, for Hispaniola, intending to repose there from the toils
of his voyage, and to recruit his health, while he should send his
brother, the Adelantado, to complete the discovery of this impor
tant country. After sailing for five days to the northwest, he
made the island of Hispaniola on the 19th of August, fifty leagues
to the westward of the river Ozema, the place of his destination ;
and anchored on the following morning under the little island of
Beata.
He was astonished to find himself so mistaken in his calcula
tions, and so far below his destined port ; but he attributed it
correctly to the force of the current setting out of the Boca del
Dragon, which, while he had lain to at nights, to avoid running
on rocks and shoals, had borne his ship insensibly to the west.
This current, which sets across the Caribbean sea, and the con
tinuation of which now bears the name of the Gulf Stream, was
* Charlevoix, Hist. St. Domingo, lib. iii. p. 169.
CHAP. III.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
195
so rapid, that on the 15 th, though the wind was but moderate, the
ships had made seventy-five leagues in four-and-twenty hours.
Columbus attributed to the violence of this current the formation
of that pass called the Boca del Dragon, where he supposed it
had forced its way through a narrow isthmus that formerly con
nected Trinidad with the extremity of Paria. He imagined, also,
that its constant operation had worn away and inundated the bor
ders of the main-land, gradually producing that fringe of islands
which stretches from Trinidad to the Lucayos or Bahamas,
and which, according to his idea, had originally been part of
the solid continent. In corroboration of this opinion, he notices
the form of those islands : narrow from north to south, and
extending in length from east to west, in the direction of the
current.*
The island of Beata, where he had anchored, is about thirty
leagues to the west of the river Ozema, where he expected to find
the new sea-port which his brother had been instructed to estab
lish. The strong and steady current from the east, however, and
the prevalence of winds from that quarter, might detain him for a
long time at the island, and render the remainder of his voyage
slow and precarious. He sent a boat on shore, therefore, to pro
cure an Indian messenger to take a letter to his brother, the Ade
lantado. Six of the natives came off to the ships, one of whom
was armed with a Spanish cross-bow. The admiral was alarmed
at seeing a weapon of the kind in the possession of an Indian.
It was not an article of traffic, and he feared could only have
fallen into his hands by the death of some Spaniard.† He ap-
* Letter to the King and Queen, Navarrete Colec., tom. i.
† Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 148.
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LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
prehended that further evils had befallen the settlement during
his long absence, and that there had again been troubles with the
natives.
Having dispatched his messenger, he made sail, and arrived
off the mouth of the river on the 30th of August. He was met
on the way by a caravel, on board of which was the Adelantado,
who, having received his letter, had hastened forth with affection
ate ardor to welcome his arrival. The meeting of the brothers
was a cause of mutual joy ; they were strongly attached to each
other, each had had his trials and sufferings during their long
separation, and each looked with confidence to the other for com
fort and relief. Don Bartholomew appears to have always had
great deference for the brilliant genius, the enlarged mind, and
the commanding reputation of his brother ; while the latter placed
great reliance, in times of difficulty, on the worldly knowledge,
the indefatigable activity, and the lion-hearted courage of the
Adelantado.
Columbus arrived almost the wreck of himself. His voyages
were always of a nature to wear out the human frame, having to
navigate amidst unknown dangers, and to keep anxious watch, at
all hours, and in all weathers. As age and infirmity increased
upon him, these trials became the more severe. His constitution
must originally have been wonderfully vigorous ; but constitutions
of this powerful kind, if exposed to severe hardships at an ad
vanced period of life, when the frame has become somewhat rigid
and unaccommodating, are apt to be suddenly broken up, and to
be a prey to violent aches and maladies. In this last voyage Co
lumbus had been parched and consumed by fever, racked by gout,
and his whole system disordered by incessant watchfulness ; he
C H A P . I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
127
came into port haggard, emaciated, and almost blind. His spirit,
however, was, as usual, superior to all bodily affliction or decay,
and he looked forward with magnificent anticipations to the result
of his recent discoveries, which he intended should be immedi
ately prosecuted by his hardy and enterprising brother.
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[BOOK X .
CHAPTER IV.
SPECULATIONS OF COLUMBUS CONCERNING THE COAST OF
PARIA.
[1498.]
THE natural phenomena of a great and striking nature presented
to the ardent mind of Columbus in the course of this voyage, led
to certain sound deductions and imaginative speculations. The
immense body of fresh water flowing into the Gulf of Paria, and
thence rushing into the ocean, was too vast to be produced by an
island or by islands. It must be the congregated streams of a
great extent of country pouring forth in one mighty river, and
the land necessary to furnish such a river must be a continent.
He now supposed that most of the tracts of land which he had
seen about the Gulf were connected : that the coast of Paria ex
tended westward far beyond a chain of mountains which he had
beheld afar off from Margarita ; and that the land opposite to
Trinidad, instead of being an island, continued to the south, far
beyond the equator, into that hemisphere hitherto unknown to
civilized man. He considered all this an extension of the Asiatic
continent ; thus presuming that the greater part of the surface of
the globe was firm land. In this last opinion he found himself
supported by authors of the highest name, both ancient and mo-
C H A P . I V . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
129
dern ; among whom he cites Aristotle and Seneca, St. Augustine
and Cardinal Pedro de Alliaco. He lays particular stress also
on the assertion of the apocryphal Esdras, that of seven parts
of the world, six are dry land, and one part only is covered with
water.
The land, therefore, surrounding the Gulf of Paria, was but
the border of an almost boundless continent, stretching far to the
west and to the south, including the most precious regions of the
earth, lying under the most auspicious stars and benignant skies,
but as yet unknown and uncivilized, free to be discovered and ap
propriated by any Christian nation. “ May it please our Lord,"
he exclaims in his letter to the sovereigns, “ to give long life and
health to your highnesses, that you may prosecute this noble enter
prise, in which, methinks, God will receive great service, Spain
vast increase of grandeur, and all Christians much consolation
and delight, since the name of our Saviour will be divulged
throughout these lands."
Thus far the deductions of Columbus, though sanguine, admit
of little cavil ; but he carried them still farther, until they ended
in what may appear to some mere chimerical reveries. In his
letter to the sovereigns, he stated that, on his former voyages,
when he steered westward from the Azores, he had observed,
after sailing about a hundred leagues, a sudden and great change
in the sky and the stars, the temperature of the air, and the calm
ness of the ocean. It seemed as if a line ran from north to south,
beyond which every thing became different. The needle which
had previously inclined toward the northeast, now varied a whole
point to the northwest. The sea, hitherto clear, was covered with
weeds, so dense, that in his first voyage he had expected to run
aground upon shoals. A universal tranquillity reigned through-
130
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
out the elements, and the climate was mild and genial whether in
summer or winter. On taking his astronomical observations at
night, after crossing that imaginary line, the north star appeared
to him to describe a diurnal circle in the heavens, of five degrees
in diameter.
On his present voyage he had varied his route, and had run
southward from the Cape de Verde Islands for the equinoctial
line. Before reaching it, however, the heat had become insup
portable, and, a wind springing up from the east, he had been
induced to strike westward, when in the parallel of Sierra Leone
in Guinea. For several days he had been almost consumed by
scorching and stifling heat under a sultry yet clouded sky, and in
a drizzling atmosphere, until he arrived at the ideal line already
mentioned, extending from north to south. Here suddenly, to
his great relief, he had emerged into serene weather, with a clear
blue sky and a sweet and temperate atmosphere. The farther
he had proceeded west, the more pure and genial he had found
the climate ; the sea tranquil, the breezes soft and balmy. All
these phenomena coincided with those he had remarked at the
same line, though farther north, in his former voyages ; excepting
that here there was no herbage in the sea, and the movements of
stars were different. The polar star appeared to him here to
describe a diurnal circle of ten degrees instead of five ; an aug
mentation which struck him with astonishment, but which he
says he ascertained by observations taken in different nights,
with his quadrant. Its greatest altitude at the former place, in
the parallel of the Azores, he had found to be ten degrees, and in
the present place fifteen.
From these and other circumstances, he was inclined to doubt
the received theory with respect to the form of the earth. Phi-
CHAP. I V . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
131
losophers had described it as spherical ; but they knew nothing
of the part of the world which he had discovered. The ancient
part, known to them, he had no doubt was spherical, but he now
supposed the real form of the earth to be that of a pear, one part
much more elevated than the rest, and tapering upward toward
the skies. This part he supposed to be in the interior of this
newly found continent, and immediately under the equator. All
the phenomena which he had previously noticed, appeared to
corroborate this theory. The variations which he had observed
in passing the imaginary line running from north to south, he
concluded to be caused by the ships having arrived at this sup
posed swelling of the earth, where they began gently to mount
towards the skies into a purer and more celestial atmosphere.*
The variation of the needle he ascribed to the same cause, being
affected by the coolness and mildness of the climate ; varying to
the northwest in proportion as the ships continued onward in their
a s c e n t . † So also the altitude of the north star, and the circle it
described in the heavens, appeared to be greater, in consequence
of being regarded from a greater elevation, less obliquely, and
through a purer medium of atmosphere ; and these phenomena
* Peter Martyr mentions that the admiral told him, that, from the climate
of great heat and unwholesome air, he had ascended the back of the sea, as it
were ascending a high mountain towards heaven. Decad. i. lib. vi.
† Columbus, in his attempts to account for the variation of the needle, sup
posed that the north star possessed the quality of the four cardinal points, as
did likewise the loadstone. That if the needle were touched with one part
of the loadstone, it would point east, with another west, and so on. Where
fore, he adds, those who prepare or magnetize the needles, cover the loadstone
with a cloth, so that the north part only remains out ; that is to say, the part
which possesses the virtue of causing the needle to point to the north. Hist.
del Almirante, cap. 66.
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LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
would be found to increase the more the navigator approached
the equator, from the still increasing eminence of this part of the
earth.
He noticed, also, the difference of climate, vegetation, and
people, of this part of the New World, from those under the same
parallel in Africa. There the heat was insupportable, the land
parched and sterile, the inhabitants were black, with crisped
wool, ill-shapen in their forms, and dull and brutal in their natures.
Here, on the contrary, although the sun was in Leo, he found the
noontide heat moderate, the mornings and evenings fresh and cool,
the country green and fruitful, and covered with beautiful forests,
the people fairer even than those in the lands he had discovered
farther north, having long hair, with well-proportioned and grace
ful forms, lively minds, and courageous dispositions. All this, in
a latitude so near to the equator, he attributed to the superior alti
tude of this part of the world, by which it was raised into a more
celestial region of the air. On turning northward, through the
Gulf of Paria, he had found the circle described by the north
star again to diminish. The current of the sea also increased in
velocity, wearing away, as has already been remarked, the borders
of the continent, and producing by its incessant operation the
adjacent islands. This was a further confirmation of the idea that
he ascended in going southward, and descended in returning north
ward.
Aristotle had imagined that the highest part of the earth, and
nearest to the skies, was under the antarctic pole. Other sages
had maintained that it was under the arctic. Hence it was appa
rent that both conceived one part of the earth to be more elevated,
and noble, and nearer to the heavens than the rest. They did
not think of this eminence being under the equinoctial line,
CHAP. I V . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S
133
observed Columbus, because they had no certain knowledge of
this hemisphere, but only spoke of it theoretically and from con
jecture.
As usual, he assisted his theory by Holy Writ. “ The sun,
when God created it," he observes, “ was in the first point of the
Orient, or the first light was there." That place, according to his
idea, must be here, in the remotest part of the East, where the
ocean and the extreme part of India meet under the equinoctial
line, and where the highest point of the earth is situated.
He supposed this apex of the world, though of immense
height, to be neither rugged nor precipitous, but that the land
rose to it by gentle and imperceptible degrees. The beautiful
and fertile shores of Paria were situated on its remote borders,
abounding of course with those precious articles which are conge
nial with the most favored and excellent climates. As one pene
trated the interior and gradually ascended, the land would be
found to increase in beauty and luxuriance, and in the exquisite
nature of its productions, until one arrived at the summit under
the equator. This he imagined to be the noblest and most per
fect place on earth, enjoying, from its position, an equality of
nights and days, and a uniformity of seasons ; and being elevated
into a serene and heavenly temperature, above the heats and
colds, the clouds and vapors, the storms and tempests which
deform and disturb the lower regions. In a word, here he sup
posed to be situated the original abode of our first parents, the
primitive seat of human innocence and bliss, the Garden of Eden,
or terrestrial paradise !
He imagined this place, according to the opinion of the most
eminent fathers of the church, to be still flourishing, possessed of
all its blissful delights, but inaccessible to mortal feet, excepting
134
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X .
by divine permission. From this height he presumed, though of
course from a great distance, proceeded the mighty stream of
fresh water which filled the Gulf of Paria, and sweetened the salt
ocean in its vicinity, being supplied by the fountain mentioned
in Genesis, as springing from the tree of life in the Garden of
Eden.
Such was the singular speculation of Columbus, which he
details at full length in a letter to the Castilian sovereigns,*
citing various authorities for his opinions, among which were St.
Augustine, St. Isidor, and St. Ambrosius, and fortifying his theory
with much of that curious and speculative erudition in which he
was deeply v e r s e d . † It shows how his ardent mind was heated
by the magnificence of his discoveries. Shrewd men, in the cool
ness and quietude of ordinary life, and in these modern days of
cautious and sober fact, may smile at such a revery, but it was
countenanced by the speculations of the most sage and learned of
those times ; and if this had not been the case, could we wonder
at any sally of the imagination in a man placed in the situation
of Columbus ? He beheld a vast world, rising, as it were, into
existence before him, its nature and extent unknown and unde
fined, as yet a mere region for conjecture. Every day displayed
* Navarrete, Colec. de Viages, tom. i. p. 242.
† See Illustrations, article “ Situation of the Terrestrial Paradise."
N O T E . — A great part of these speculations appear to have been founded on
the treatise of the Cardinal Pedro de Aliaco, in which Columbus found a
compendium of the opinions of various eminent authors on the subject ; though
it is very probable he consulted many of their works likewise. In the volume
of Pedro de Aliaco, existing in the library of the Cathedral at Seville, I have
traced the germs of these ideas in various passages of the text, opposite to
which marginal notes have been made in the handwriting of Columbus.
CHAP. I V . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
135
some new feature of beauty and sublimity ; island after island,
where the rocks, he was told, were veined with gold, the groves
teemed with spices, or the shores abounded with pearls. Inter
minable ranges of coast, promontory beyond promontory, stretch
ing as far as the eye could reach ; luxuriant valleys sweeping
away into a vast interior, whose distant mountains, he was told,
concealed still happier lands, and realms of greater opulence.
When he looked upon all this region of golden promise, it was
with the glorious conviction that his genius had called it into
existence ; he regarded it with the triumphant eye of a discoverer.
Had not Columbus been capable of these enthusiastic soarings of
the imagination, he might, with other sages, have reasoned calmly
and coldly in his closet about the probability of a continent exist
ing in the west ; but he would never have had the daring enter
prise to adventure in search of it into the unknown realms of
ocean.
Still, in the midst of his fanciful speculations, we find that
sagacity which formed the basis of his character. The conclusion
which he drew from the great flow of the Oronoco, that it must be
the outpouring of a continent, was acute and striking. A learned
Spanish historian has also ingeniously excused other parts of his
theory. “ He suspected,” observes he, “ a certain elevation of
the globe at one part of the equator ; philosophers have since
determined the world to be a spheroid, slightly elevated in its
equatorial circumference. He suspected that the diversity of
temperatures influenced the needle, not being able to penetrate
the cause of its inconstant variations ; the successive series of
voyages and experiments have made this inconstancy more mani
fest, and have shown that extreme cold sometimes divests the
needle of all its virtue. Perhaps new observations may justify
136
LIFE A N D V O Y A G E S , BTC.
[BOOK X .
the surmise of Columbus. Even his error concerning the circle
described by the polar star, which he thought augmented by an
optical illusion in proportion as the observer approached the equi-
nox, manifests him a philosopher superior to the time in which he
lived.”*
* Muñoz, Hist. N . Mundo, lib. vi. § 32.
BOOK XL
C H A P T E R I .
A D M I N I S T R A T I O N O P T H E A D E L A N T A D O . E X P E D I T I O N T O T H E
P R O V I N C E O P X A R A G U A .
[1498.]
C O L U M B U S had anticipated repose from his toils on arriving at
Hispaniola, but a new scene of trouble and anxiety opened upon
him, destined to impede the prosecution of his enterprises, and to
affect all his future fortunes. To explain this, it is necessary to
relate the occurrences of the island during his long detention in
Spain.
"When he sailed for Europe in March, 1496, his brother, Don
Bartholomew, who remained as Adelantado, took the earliest
measures to execute his directions with respect to the mines re
cently discovered by Miguel Diaz on the south side of the island.
Leaving Don Diego Columbus in command at Isabella, he re
paired with a large force to the neighborhood of the mines, and,
choosing a favorable situation in a place most abounding in ore,
built a fortress, to which he gave the name of San Christoval.
The workmen, however, finding grains of gold among the earth
and stone employed in its construction, gave it the name of the
Golden Tower.*
* Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. iv.
VOL. II.
K
138
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I .
The Adelantado remained here three months, superintending
the building of the fortress, and making the necessary prepara
tions for working the mines and purifying the ore. The progress
of the work, however, was greatly impeded by scarcity of pro
visions, having frequently to detach a part of the men about the
country in quest of supplies. The former hospitality of the
island was at an end. The Indians no longer gave their pro
visions freely ; they had learnt from the white men to profit by
the necessities of the stranger, and to exact a price for bread.
Their scanty stores, also, were soon exhausted, for their frugal
habits, and their natural indolence and improvidence, seldom per
mitted them to have more provisions on hand than was requisite
for present support.* The Adelantado found it difficult, therefore,
to maintain so large a force in the neighborhood, until they should
have time to cultivate the earth, and raise live-stock, or should
receive supplies from Spain. Leaving ten men to guard the for
tress, with a dog to assist them in catching utias, he marched
with the rest of his men, about four hundred in number, to Fort
Conception, in the abundant country of the Vega. He passed
the whole month of June collecting the quarterly tribute, being
supplied with food by Guarionex and his subordinate caciques.
In the following month (July, 1496,) the three caravels com
manded by Nino arrived from Spain, bringing a reinforcement
of men, and, what was still more needed, a supply of provisions.
The latter was quickly distributed among the hungry colonists,
but unfortunately a great part had been injured during the voy
age. This was a serious misfortune in a community where the
least scarcity produced murmur and sedition.
By these ships the Adelantado received letters from his
* Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. v.
CHAP. 1.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
139
brother, directing him to found a town and sea-port at the mouth
of the Ozema, near to the new mine3. He requested him, also,
to send prisoners to Spain such of the caciques and their subjects
as had been concerned in the death of any of the colonists ; that
being considered as sufficient ground, by many of the ablest
jurists and theologians of Spain, for selling them as slaves. On
the return of the caravels, the Adelantado dispatched three hun
dred Indian prisoners, and three caciques. These formed the ill-
starred cargoes about which Nino had made such absurd vaunt
ing, as though the ships were laden with treasure ; and which
had caused such mortification, disappointment, and delay to Co
lumbus.
Having obtained by this arrival a supply of provisions, the
Adelantado returned to the fortress of San Christoval, and thence
proceeded to the Ozema, to choose a site for the proposed sea
port. After a careful examination, he chose the eastern bank of
a natural haven at the mouth of the river. It was easy of ac
cess, of sufficient depth, and good anchorage. The river ran
through a beautiful and fertile country ; its waters were pure and
salubrious, and well stocked with fish ; its banks were covered
with trees bearing the fine fruits of the island, so that in sailing
along, the fruits and flowers might be plucked with the hand from
the branches which overhung the stream.* This delightful
vicinity was the dwelling-place of the female cacique who had
conceived an affection for the young Spaniard Miguel Diaz, and
had induced him to entice his countrymen to that part of the
island. The promise she had given of a friendly reception on
the part of her tribe was faithfully performed.
On a commanding bank of the harbor, Don Bartholomew
* Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib v.
K 2
140
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I .
erected a fortress, which at first was called Isabella, but afterwards
San Domingo, and was the origin of the city which still bears
that name. The Adelantado was of an active and indefatigable
spirit. No sooner was the fortress completed, than he left in it a
garrison of twenty men, and with the rest of his forces set out to
visit the dominions of Behechio, one of the principal chieftains
of the island. This cacique, as has already been mentioned,
reigned over Xaragua, a province comprising almost the whole
coast at the west end of the island, including Cape Tiburon, and
extending along the south side as far as Point Aguida, or the
small island of Beata. It was one of the most populous and fer
tile districts, with a delightful climate ; and its inhabitants were
softer and more graceful in their manners than the rest of the
islanders. Being so remote from all the fortresses, the cacique,
although he had taken a part in the combination of the chieftains,
had hitherto remained free from the incursions and exactions of
the white men.
With this cacique resided Anacaona, widow of the late formida
ble Caonabo. She was sister to Behechio, and had taken refuge
with her brother after the capture of her husband. She was one
of the most beautiful females of the island ; her name in the In
dian language, signified “ The Golden Flower." She possessed
a genius superior to the generality of her race, and was said to
excel in composing those little legendary ballads, or areytos, which
the natives chanted as they performed their national dances. All
the Spanish writers agree in describing her as possessing a natural
dignity and grace hardly to be credited in her ignorant and savage
condition. Notwithstanding the ruin with which her husband had
been overwhelmed by the hostility of the white men, she appears
to have entertained no vindictive feeling towards them, knowing
C H A P . I . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
141
that he had provoked their vengeance by his own voluntary war-
fare. She regarded the Spaniards with admiration as almost
superhuman beings, and her intelligent mind perceived the futility
and impolicy of any attempt to resist their superiority in arts
and arms. Having great influence over her brother Behechio,
she counseled him to take warning by the fate of her husband,
and to conciliate the friendship of the Spaniards ; and it is sup-
posed that a knowledge of the friendly sentiments and powerful
influence of this princess, in a great measure prompted the Ade-
lantado to his present expedition.*
In passing through those parts of the island which had hitherto
been unvisited by Europeans, the Adelantado adopted the same
imposing measures which the admiral had used on a former occa-
sion ; he put his cavalry in the advance, and entered all the In-
dian towns in martial array, with standards displayed, and the
sound of drum and trumpet.
After proceeding about thirty leagues, he came to the river
Neyva, which, issuing from the mountains of Cibao, divides the
southern side of the island. Crossing this stream, he dispatched
two parties of ten men each along the sea-coast in search of brazil-
wood. They found great quantities, and felled many trees, which
they stored in the Indian cabins, until they could be taken away
by sea.
Inclining with his main force to the right, the Adelantado
met, not far from the river, the cacique Behechio, with a great
army of his subjects, armed with bows and arrows, and lances.
If he had come forth with the intention of opposing the inroad
into his forest domains, he was probably daunted by the formida-
* Charlevoix, Hist. St. Domingo, lib. ii. p. 147. Muñoz, Hist. N . Mundo,
lib. vi. § 6.
142
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I .
ble appearance of the Spaniards. Laying aside his weapons, he
advanced and accosted the Adelantado very amicably, professing
that he was thus in arms for the purpose of subjecting certain
villages along the river, and inquiring, at the same time, the ob
ject of this incursion of the Spaniards. The Adelantado assured
him that he came on a peaceful visit to pass a little time in friendly
intercourse at Xaragua. He succeeded so well in allaying the
apprehensions of the cacique, that the latter dismissed his army,
and sent swift messengers to order preparations for the suitable
reception of so distinguished a guest. As the Spaniards advanced
into the territories of the chieftain, and passed through the dis
tricts of his inferior caciques, the latter brought forth cassava
bread, hemp, cotton, and various other productions of the land.
At length they drew near to the residence of Behechio, which was
a large town situated in a beautiful part of the country near the
coast, at the bottom of that deep bay, called at present the Bight
of Leogan.
The Spaniards had heard many accounts of the soft and de
lightful region of Xaragua, in one part of which Indian traditions
placed their Elysian fields. They had heard much, also, of the
beauty and urbanity of the inhabitants : the mode of their recep
tion was calculated to confirm their favorable prepossessions.
As they approached the place, thirty females of the cacique's
household came forth to meet them, singing their areytos, or tra
ditionary ballads, and dancing and waving palm branches. The
married females wore aprons of embroidered cotton, reaching half
way to the knee ; the young women were entirely naked, with
merely a fillet round the forehead, their hair falling upon their
shoulders. They were beautifully proportioned; their skin
smooth and delicate, and their complexion of a clear agreeable
CHAP. I.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
143
brown. According to old Peter Martyr, the Spaniards when they
beheld them issuing forth from their green woods, almost ima
gined they beheld the fabled dryads, or native nymphs and fairies
of the fountains, sung by the ancient poets.* When they came
before Don Bartholomew, they knelt and gracefully presented
him the green branches. After these came the female cacique
Anacaona, reclining on a kind of light litter borne by six Indians.
Like the other females, she had no other covering than an apron
of various-colored cotton. She wore round her head a fragrant
garland of red and white flowers, and wreaths of the same round
her neck and arms. She received the Adelantado and his follow
ers with that natural grace and courtesy for which she was cele
brated; manifesting no hostility towards them for the fate her
husband had experienced at their hands.
The Adelantado and his officers were conducted to the house
of Behechio, where a banquet was served up of utias, a great
variety of sea and river fish, with roots and fruits of excellent
quality. Here first the Spaniards conquered their repugnance to
the guana, the favorite delicacy of the Indians, but which the
former had regarded with disgust, as a species of serpent. The
Adelantado, willing to accustom himself to the usages of the
country, was the first to taste this animal, being kindly pressed
thereto by Anacaona. His followers imitated his example ; they
found it to be highly palatable and delicate ; and from that time
forward, the guana was held in repute among Spanish epicures.†
* Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. v.
† “ These serpentes are lyke unto crocodiles, saving in bygness ; they call
them guanas. Unto that day none of owre men durste adventure to taste of
them, by reason of theyre horrible deformitie and lothsomnes. Yet the Ade
lantado being entysed by the pleasantnes of the king's sister, Anacaona, deter-
144
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
The banquet being over, Don Bartholomew with six of his
principal cavaliers were lodged in the dwelling of Behechio ; the
rest were distributed in the houses of the inferior caciques, where
they slept in hammocks of matted cotton, the usual beds of the
natives.
For two days they remained with the hospitable Behechio,
entertained with various Indian game3 and festivities, among
which the most remarkable was the representation of a battle.
Two squadrons of naked Indians, armed with bows and arrows,
sallied suddenly into the public square and began to skirmish in
a manner similar to the Moorish play of canes, or tilting reeds.
By degrees they became excited, and fought with such earnest
ness, that four were slain, and many wounded, which seemed to
increase the interest and pleasure of the spectators. The contest
would have continued longer, and might have been still more
bloody, had not the Adelantado and the other cavaliers interfered
and begged that the game might cease.*
When the festivities were over, and familiar intercourse had
promoted mutual confidence, the Adelantado addressed the
cacique and Anacaona on the real object of his visit. He
informed him that his brother, the admiral, had been sent to this
island by the sovereigns of Castile, who were great and mighty
potentates, with many kingdoms under their sway. That the
rained to taste the serpentes. But when he felte the flesh thereof to be so
delycate to his tongue, he fel to amayne without al feare. The which thyng
his companions perceiving, were not behynde hym in greedynesse : insomuche
that they had now none other talke than of the sweetnesse of these serpentes,
which they affirm to be of more pleasant taste, than eyther our phesantes or
partriches.” Peter Martyr, decad. i. book v. Eden's Eng. Trans.
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., tom. i. cap. 113.
CHAP. I ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
145
admiral had returned to apprise his sovereigns how many tribu
tary caciques there were in the island, leaving him in command,
and that he had come to receive Behechio under the protection
of these mighty sovereigns, and to arrange a tribute to be paid
by him, in such manner as should be most convenient and satis
factory to himself.*
The cacique was greatly embarrassed by this demand, know
ing the sufferings inflicted on the other parts of the island by the
avidity of the Spaniards for gold. He replied that he had been
apprised that gold was the great object for which the white men
had come to their island, and that a tribute was paid in it by
some of his fellow-caciques ; but that in no part of his territories
was gold to be found ; and his subjects hardly knew what it was.
To this the Adelantado replied with great adroitness, that nothing
was farther from the intention or wish of his sovereigns than to
require a tribute in things not produced in his dominions, but that
it might be paid in cotton, hemp, and cassava bread, with which
the surrounding country appeared to abound. The countenance
of the cacique brightened at this intimation ; he promised cheer
ful compliance, and instantly sent orders to all his subordinate
caciques to sow abundance of cotton for the first payment of the
stipulated tribute. Having made all the requisite arrangements,
the Adelantado took a most friendly leave of Behechio and his
sister, and set out for Isabella.
Thus, by amicable and sagacious management, one of the
most extensive provinces of the island was brought into cheerful
subjection, and had not the wise policy of the Adelantado been
defeated by the excesses of worthless and turbulent men, a large
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 114.
146
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
revenue might have been collected, without any recourse to vio
lence or oppression. In all instances, these simple people appear
to have been extremely tractable, and meekly and even cheerfully
to have resigned their rights to the white men, when treated with
gentleness and humanity.
CHAP. I l ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
147
CHAPTER II.
ESTABLISHMENT OF A CHAIN OF MILITARY POSTS. — INSUR
RECTION OF GUARIONEX, THE CACIQUE OF THE VEGA.
[1496.]
ON arriving at Isabella, Don Bartholomew found it, as usual, a
scene of misery and repining. Many had died during his
absence ; most were ill. Those who were healthy complained
of the scarcity of food, and those who were ill, of the want of
medicines. The provisions distributed among them, from the
supply brought out a few months before by Pedro Alonzo Nino,
had been consumed. Partly from sickness, and partly from a
repugnance to labor, they had neglected to cultivate the surround
ing country, and the Indians, on whom they chiefly depended,
outraged by their oppressions, had abandoned the vicinity, and
fled to the mountains ; choosing rather to subsist on roots and
herbs, in their rugged retreats, than remain in the luxuriant
plains, subject to the wrongs and cruelties of the white men.
The history of this island presents continual pictures of the mise
ries, the actual want and poverty produced by the grasping
avidity of gold. It had rendered the Spaniards heedless of all
the less obvious, but more certain and salubrious sources of
wealth. All labor seemed lost that was to produce profit by a
148
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I .
circuitous process. Instead of cultivating the luxuriant soil
around them, and deriving real treasures from its surface, they
wasted their time in seeking for mines and golden streams, and
were starving in the midst of fertility.
No sooner were the provisions exhausted which had been
brought out by Nino, than the colonists began to break forth in
their accustomed murmurs. They represented themselves as
neglected by Columbus, who, amidst the blandishments and de
lights of a court, thought little of their sufferings. They consid
ered themselves equally forgotten by government ; while, having
no vessel in the harbor, they were destitute of all means of send
ing home intelligence of their disastrous situation, and imploring
relief.
To remove this last cause of discontent, and furnish some
object for their hopes and thoughts to rally round, the Adelantado
ordered that two caravels should be built at Isabella, for the use
of the island. To relieve the settlement, also, from all useless
and repining individuals, during this time of scarcity, he distrib
uted such as were too ill to labor, or to bear arms, into the interior,
where they would have the benefit of a better climate, and more
abundant supply of Indian provisions. He at the same time
completed and garrisoned the chain of military posts established
by his brother in the preceding year, consisting of five fortified
houses, each surrounded by its dependent hamlet. The first of
these was about nine leagues from Isabella, and was called la
Esperanza. Six leagues beyond was Santa Catalina. Four
leagues and a half further was Magdalena, where the first town
of Santiago was afterwards founded ; and five leagues farther
Fort Conception—which was fortified with great care, being in
the vast and populous Vega, and within half a league from the'
C H A P . II.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
149
residence of its cacique, Guarionex.* Having thus relieved
Isabella of all its useless population, and left none but such as
were too ill to be removed, or were required for the service and
protection of the place, and the construction of the caravels, the
Adelantado returned, with a large body of the most effective
men, to the fortress of San Domingo.
The military posts, thus established, succeeded for a time in
overawing the natives ; but fresh hostilities were soon manifested,
excited by a different cause from the preceding. Among the
missionaries who had accompanied Friar Boyle to the island,
were two of far greater zeal than their superior. When he
returned to Spain, they remained, earnestly bent upon the fulfill-
ment of their mission. One was called Roman Pane, a poor
hermit, as he styled himself, of the order of St. Geronimo ; the
other was Juan Borgoñon, a Franciscan. They resided for some
time among the Indians of the Vega, strenuously endeavoring to
make converts, and had succeeded with one family, of sixteen
persons, the chief of which, on being baptized, took the name of
Juan Mateo. The conversion of the cacique Guarionex, however,
was their main object. The extent of his possessions made his
conversion of great importance to the interests of the colony, and
was considered by the zealous fathers a means of bringing his
numerous subjects under the dominion of the church. For some
time he lent a willing ear ; he learnt the Pater Noster, the Ave
Maria, and the Creed, and made his whole family repeat them
daily. The other caciques of the Vega and of the provinces of
Cibao, however, scoffed at him for meanly conforming to the laws
* P. Martyr, decad. i. lib. v. Of the residence of Guarionex, which must
have been a considerable town, not the least vestige can be discovered at
present.
150
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
and customs of strangers, usurpers of his domains, and oppressors
of his nation. The friars complained that, in consequence of
these evil communications, their convert suddenly relapsed into
infidelity ; but another and more grievous cause is assigned for
his recantation. His favorite wife was seduced or treated with
outrage by a Spaniard of authority ; and the cacique renounced
all faith in a religion, which, as he supposed, admitted of such
atrocities. Losing all hope of effecting his conversion, the mis
sionaries removed to the territories of another cacique, taking
with them Juan Mateo, their Indian convert. Before their
departure, they erected a small chapel, and furnished it with
an altar, crucifix, and images, for the use of the family of
Mateo.
Scarcely had they departed, when several Indians entered the
chapel, broke the images in pieces, trampled them under foot, and
buried them in a neighboring field. This, it was said, was done
by order of Guarionex, in contempt of the religion from which he
had apostatized. A complaint of this enormity was carried to the
Adelantado, who ordered a suit to be immediately instituted, and
those who were found culpable, to be punished according to law.
It was a period of great rigor in ecclesiastical law, especially
among the Spaniards. In Spain, all heresies in religion, all re
cantations from the faith, and all acts of sacrilege, either by Moor
or Jew, were punished with fire and fagot. Such was the fate
of the poor ignorant Indians, convicted of this outrage on the
church. It is questionable whether Guarionex had any hand in
this offence, and it is probable that the whole affair was exagge
rated. A proof of the credit due to the evidence brought for
ward, may be judged by one of the facts recorded by Roman
Pane, “ the poor hermit.” The field in which the holy images
CHAP. I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
151
were buried, was planted, he says, with certain roots shaped like
a turnip, or radish, several of which coming up in the neighbor
hood of the images, were found to have grown most miraculously
in the form of a cross.*
The cruel punishment inflicted on these Indians, instead of
daunting their countrymen, filled them with horror and indigna
tion. Unaccustomed to such stern rule and vindictive justice,
and having no clear ideas nor powerful sentiments with respect to
religion of any kind, they could not comprehend the nature nor
extent of the crime committed. Even Guarionex, a man natu
rally moderate and pacific, was highly incensed with the assump
tion of power within his territories, and the inhuman death
inflicted on his subjects. The other caciques perceived his irrita
tion, and endeavored to induce him to unite in a sudden insurrec
tion, that by one vigorous and general effort, they might break
the yoke of their oppressors. Guarionex wavered for some time.
He knew the martial skill and prowess of the Spaniards ; he stood
in awe of their cavalry, and he had before him the disastrous fate
of Caonabo ; but he was rendered bold by despair, and he beheld
in the domination of these strangers the assured ruin of his race.
The early writers speak of a tradition current among the inhab
itants of the island, respecting this Guarionex. He was of an
ancient line of hereditary caciques. His father, in times long
preceding the discovery, having fasted for five days, according to
their superstitious observances, applied to his zemi, or household
deity, for information of things to come. He received for answer,
that within a few years there should come to the island a nation
covered with clothing, which should destroy all their customs and
ceremonies, and slay their children or reduce them to painful ser-
* Escritura de Fr. Roman, Hist, del Almirante.
152
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
vitude.* The tradition was probably invented by the Butios, or
priests, after the Spaniards had begun to exercise their severities.
Whether their prediction had an effect in disposing the mind of
Guarionex to hostilities is uncertain. Some have asserted that
he was compelled to take up arms by his subjects, who threatened,
in case of his refusal, to choose some other chieftain ; others have
alleged the outrage committed upon his favorite wife, as the prin
cipal cause of his irritation.† It was probably these things com
bined, which at length induced him to enter into the conspiracy.
A secret consultation was held among the caciques, wherein it
was concerted, that on the day of payment of their quarterly
tribute, when a great number could assemble without causing sus
picion, they should suddenly rise upon the Spaniards and mas
sacre them. ‡
By some means the garrison at Fort Conception received inti
mation of this conspiracy. Being but a handful of men, and
surrounded by hostile tribes, they wrote a letter to the Adelan
tado, at San Domingo, imploring immediate aid. As this letter
might be taken from their Indian messenger, the natives having
discovered that these letters had a wonderful power of communi
cating intelligence, and fancying they could talk, it was inclosed
in a reed, to be used as a staff. The messenger was, in fact,
intercepted ; but, affecting to be dumb and lame, and intimating
by signs that he was returning home, was permitted to limp for
ward on his journey. When out of sight he resumed his speed,
and bore the letter safely and expeditiously to San Domingo.§
The Adelantado, with his characteristic promptness and ac-
* Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. ix. † Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 121.
‡ Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 65. Peter Martyr, decad. vi. lib. v.
§ Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 7.
CHAP. II.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
153
tivity, set out immediately with a body of troops for the fortress ;
and though his men were much enfeebled by scanty fare, hard
service, and long marches, hurried them rapidly forward. Never
did aid arrive more opportunely. The Indians were assembled
on the plain, to the amount of many thousands, armed after their
manner, and waiting for the appointed time to strike the blow.
After consulting with the commander of the fortress and his offi
cers, the Adelantado concerted a mode of proceeding. Ascer
taining the places in which the various caciques had distributed
their forces, he appointed an officer with a body of men to each
cacique, with orders, at an appointed hour of the night, to rush
into the villages, surprise them asleep and unarmed, bind the
caciques, and bring them off prisoners. As Guarionex was the
most important personage, and his capture would probably be at
tended with most difficulty and danger, the Adelantado took the
charge of it upon himself, at the head of one hundred men.
This stratagem, founded upon a knowledge of the attachment
of the Indians to their chieftains, and calculated to spare a great
effusion of blood, was completely successful. The villages having
no walls nor other defences, were quietly entered at midnight ;
and the Spaniards, rushing suddenly into the houses where the
caciques were quartered, seized and bound them, to the number
of fourteen, and hurried them off to the fortress, before any effort
could be made for their defence or rescue. The Indians, struck
with terror, made no resistance, nor any show of hostility ; sur
rounding the fortress in great multitudes, but without weapons,
they filled the air with doleful howlings and lamentations, im
ploring the release of their chieftains. The Adelantado com
pleted his enterprise with the spirit, sagacity, and moderation with
which he had hitherto conducted it. He obtained information of
VOL. II.
154
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
the causes of this conspiracy, and the individuals most culpable.
Two caciques, the principal movers of the insurrection, and who
had most wrought upon the easy nature of Guarionex, were put
to death. As to that unfortunate cacique, the Adelantado consi
dering the deep wrongs he had suffered, and the slowness with
which he had been provoked to revenge, magnanimously pardoned
him ; nay, according to Las Casas, he proceeded with stern justice
against the Spaniard whose outrage on his wife had sunk so deeply
in his heart. He extended his lenity also to the remaining chieftains
of the conspiracy ; promising great favors and rewards, if they
should continue firm in their loyalty ; but terrible punishments
should they again be found in rebellion. The heart of Guarionex
was subdued by this unexpected clemency. He made a speech to
his people, setting forth the irresistible might and valor of the
Spaniards ; their great lenity to offenders, and their generosity to
such as were faithful ; and he earnestly exhorted them henceforth
to cultivate their friendship. The Indians listened to him with at
tention ; his praises of the white men were confirmed by their
treatment of himself; when he had concluded, they took him up
on their shoulders, bore him to his habitation with songs and
shouts of joy, and for some time the tranquillity of the Vega was
restored.*
* Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. v. Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 6.
CHAP. III.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
155
CHAPTER III.
T H E A D E L A N T A D O R E P A I R S T O X A R A G U A T O R E C E I V E
T R I B U T E .
[1497.]
W I T H all his energy and discretion, the Adelantado found it
difficult to manage the proud and turbulent spirit of the colonists.
They could ill brook the sway of a foreigner, who, when they
were restive, curbed them with an iron hand. Don Bartholomew
had not the same legitimate authority in their eyes as his brother.
The admiral was the discoverer of the country, and the authorized
representative of the sovereigns ; yet even him they with diffi
culty brought themselves to obey. The Adelantado, on the con
trary, was regarded by many as a mere intruder, assuming high
command without authority from the crown, and shouldering
himself into power on the merits and services of his brother.
They spoke with impatience and indignation, also, of the long
absence of the admiral, and his fancied inattention to their wants ;
little aware of the incessant anxieties he was suffering on their
account, during his detention in Spain. The sagacious measure
of the Adelantado in building the caravels, for some time diverted
their attention. They watched their progress with solicitude,
looking upon them as a means either of obtaining relief, or of
abandoning the island. Aware that repining and discontented
i. 2
156
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
men should never be left in idleness, Don Bartholomew kept
them continually in movement; and indeed a state of constant
activity was congenial to his own vigorous spirit. About this
time messengers arrived from Behechio, cacique of Xaragua,
informing him that he had large quantities of cotton, and other
articles, in which his tribute was to be paid, ready for delivery.
The Adelantado immediately set forth with a numerous train, to
revisit this fruitful and happy region. He was again received
with songs and dances, and all the national demonstrations of
respect and amity by Behechio and his sister Anacaona. The
latter appeared to be highly popular among the natives, and to
have almost as much sway in Xaragua as her brother. Her
natural ease, and the graceful dignity of her manners, more and
more won the admiration of the Spaniards.
The Adelantado found thirty-two inferior caciques assembled
in the house of Behechio, awaiting his arrival with their respec
tive tributes. The cotton they had brought was enough to fill
one of their houses. Having delivered this, they gratuitously
offered the Adelantado as much cassava bread as he desired.
The offer was most acceptable in the present necessitous state of
the colony ; and Don Bartholomew sent to Isabella for one of
the caravels, which was nearly finished, to be dispatched as soon
as possible to Xaragua, to be freighted with bread and cotton.
In the meantime, the natives brought from all quarters large
supplies of provisions, and entertained their guests with continual
festivity and banqueting. The early Spanish writers, whose
imaginations, heated by the accounts of the voyagers, could not
form an idea of the simplicity of savage life, especially in these
newly discovered countries, which were supposed to border upon
Asia, often speak in terms of oriental magnificence of the enter-
CHAP. I I I ] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
157
tainments of the natives, the palaces of the caciques, and the
lords and ladies of their courts, as if they were describing the
abodes of Asiatic potentates. The accounts given of Xaragua,
however, have a different character ; and give a picture of sav
age life, in its perfection of idle and ignorant enjoyment. The
troubles which distracted the other parts of devoted Hayti, had
not reached the inhabitants of this pleasant region. Living
among beautiful and fruitful groves, on the borders of a sea,
apparently for ever tranquil and unvexed by storms ; having few
wants, and those readily supplied, they appeared emancipated
from the common lot of labor, and to pass their lives in one unin
terrupted holiday. When the Spaniards regarded the fertility
and sweetness of this country, the gentleness of its people, and
the beauty of its women, they pronounced it a perfect paradise.
At length the caravel arrived which was to be freighted with
the articles of tribute. It anchored about six miles from the resi
dence of Behechio, and Anacaona proposed to her brother that
they should go together to behold what she called the great canoe
of the white men. On their way to the coast, the Adelantado
was lodged one night in a village, in a house where Anacaona
treasured up those articles which she esteemed most rare and
precious. They consisted of various manufactures of cotton,
ingeniously wrought ; of vessels of clay, moulded into different
forms ; of chairs, tables, and like articles of furniture, formed
of ebony and other kinds of wood, and carved with various devi
ces,—all evincing great skill and ingenuity, in a people who had
no iron tools to work with. Such were the simple treasures of
this Indian princess, of which she made numerous presents to her
guest.
Nothing could exceed the wonder and delight of this intelli-
158
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
gent woman, when she first beheld the ship. Her brother, who
treated her with a fraternal fondness and respectful attention,
worthy of civilized life, had prepared two canoes, gayly painted
and decorated ; one to convey her and her attendants, and the
other for himself and his chieftains. Anacaona, however, pre
ferred to embark, with her attendants, in the ship's boat with the
Adelantado. As they approached the caravel, a salute was fired.
At the report of the cannon, and the sight of the smoke, Anaca
ona, overcome with dismay, fell into the arms of the Adelantado,
and her attendants would have leaped overboard, but the laughter
and the cheerful words of Don Bartholomew speedily reassured
them. As they drew nearer to the vessel, several instruments of
martial music struck up, with which they were greatly delighted.
Their admiration increased on entering on board. Accustomed
only to their simple and slight canoes, every thing here appeared
wonderfully vast and complicated. But when the anchor was
weighed, the sails were spread, and, aided by a gentle breeze,
they beheld this vast mass, moving apparently by its own volition,
veering from side to side, and playing like a huge monster in the
deep, the brother and sister remained gazing at each other in
mute astonishment.* Nothing seems to have filled the mind of
the most stoical savage with more wonder, than that sublime
and beautiful triumph of genius, a ship under sail.
Having freighted and dispatched the caravel, the Adelantado
made many presents to Behechio, his sister, and their attendants,
and took leave of them, to return by land with his troops to Isa
bella. Anacaona showed great affliction at their parting, entreat
ing him to remain some time longer with them, and appearing
* Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. v. Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 6.
CHAP. I I I ] CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
159
fearful that they had failed in their humble attempt to please him.
She even offered to follow him to the settlement, nor would she
be consoled until he had promised to return again to Xaragua.*
We cannot but remark the ability shown by the Adelan
tado in the course of his transient government of the island.
Wonderfully alert and active, he made repeated marches
of great extent, from one remote province to another, and was
always at the post of danger at the critical moment. By skillful
management, with a handful of men, he defeated a formidable
insurrection without any effusion of blood. He conciliated the
most inveterate enemies among the natives by great moderation,
while he deterred all wanton hostilities by the infliction of signal
punishments. He had made firm friends of the most important
chieftains, brought their dominions under cheerful tribute, opened
new sources of supplies for the colony, and procured relief from
its immediate wants. Had his judicious measures been seconded
by those under his command, the whole country would have been
a scene of tranquil prosperity, and would have produced great
revenues to the crown, without cruelty to the natives ; but, like
his brother the admiral, his good intentions and judicious arrange
ments were constantly thwarted by the vile passions and perverse
conduct of others. While he was absent from Isabella, new mis
chiefs had been fomented there, which were soon to throw the
whole island into confusion.
* Ramusio, vol. iii. p. 9.
160
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
CHAPTER IV.
CONSPIRACY OF ROLDAN.
[1497]
THE prime mover of the present mischief was one Francisco
Roldan, a man under the deepest obligations to the admiral.
Raised by him from poverty and obscurity, he had been employed
at first in menial capacities ; but, showing strong natural talents,
and great assiduity, he had been made ordinary alcalde, equiva
lent to justice of the peace. The able manner in which he
acquitted himself in this situation, and the persuasion of his great
fidelity and gratitude, induced Columbus, on departing for Spain,
to appoint him alcalde mayor, or chief judge of the island. It is
true he was an uneducated man, but, as there were as yet no
intricacies of law in the colony, the office required little else than
shrewd good sense and upright principles for its discharge.*
Roldan was one of those base spirits which grow venomous
in the sunshine of prosperity. His benefactor had returned to
Spain apparently under a cloud of disgrace ; a long interval had
elapsed without tidings from him; he considered him a fallen
man, and began to devise how he might profit by his downfall.
He was intrusted with an office inferior only to that of the Ade-
* Herrera, decad. i lib. iii. cap. 1.
CHAP. I V ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
161
lantado ; the brothers of Columbus were highly unpopular ; he
imagined it possible to ruin them, both with the colonists and with
the government at home, and by dextrous cunning and bustling
activity, to work his way into the command of the colony. The
vigorous and somewhat austere character of the Adelantado for
some time kept him in awe ; but when he was absent from the
settlement, Roldan was able to carry on his machinations with
confidence. Don Diego, who then commanded at Isabella, was
an upright and worthy man, but deficient in energy. Roldan felt
himself his superior in talent and spirit, and his self-conceit was
wounded at being inferior to him in authority. He soon made a
party among the daring and dissolute of the community, and se
cretly loosened the ties of order and good government, by listen
ing to and encouraging the discontents of the common people, and
directing them against the character and conduct of Columbus
and his brothers. He had heretofore been employed as superin
tendent of various public works ; this brought him into familiar
communication with workmen, sailors, and others of the lower
order. His originally vulgar character enabled him to adapt
himself to their intellects and manners, while his present station
gave him consequence in their eyes. Finding them full of mur
murs about hard treatment, severe toil, and the long absence of
the admiral, he affected to be moved by their distresses. He
threw out suggestions that the admiral might never return, being
disgraced and ruined in consequence of the representations of
Aguado. He sympathized with the hard treatment they experi
enced from the Adelantado and his brother Don Diego, who,
being foreigners, could take no interest in their welfare, nor feel
a proper respect for the pride of a Spaniard ; but who used them
merely as slaves, to build houses and fortresses for them, or to
162
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
swell their state and secure their power, as they marched about the
island enriching themselves with the spoils of the caciques. By
these suggestions he exasperated their feelings to such a height, that
they had at one time formed a conspiracy to take away the life
of the Adelantado, as the only means of delivering themselves
from an odious tyrant. The time and place for the perpetration
of the act were concerted. The Adelantado had condemned to
death a Spaniard of the name of Berahona, a friend of Roldan,
and of several of the conspirators. What was his offence is not
positively stated, but from a passage in Las Casas,* there is rea
son to believe that he was the very Spaniard who had violated
the favorite wife of Guarionex, the cacique of the Vega. The
Adelantado would be present at the execution. It was arranged,
therefore, that when the populace had assembled, a tumult should
be made as if by accident, and in the confusion of the moment,
Don Bartholomew should be dispatched with a poniard. Fortu
nately for the Adelantado, he pardoned the criminal, the assem
blage did not take place, and the plan of the conspirators was
disconcerted.†
When Don Bartholomew was absent collecting the tribute in
Xaragua, Roldan thought it was a favorable time to bring affairs
to a crisis. He had sounded the feelings of the colonists, and
ascertained that there was a large party disposed for open sedi
tion. His plan was to create a popular tumult, to interpose in
his official character of alcalde mayor, to throw the blame upon
the oppression and injustice of Don Diego and his brother, and,
while he usurped the reins of authority, to appear as if actuated
only by zeal for the peace and prosperity of the island, and the
interests of the sovereigns.
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 118. † Hist, del Almirante, cap 73.
C H A P . I V ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
163
A pretext soon presented itself for the proposed tumult.
When the caravel returned from Xaragua laden with the Indian
tributes, and the cargo was discharged, Don Diego had the vessel
drawn up on the land, to protect it from accidents, or from any-
sinister designs of the disaffected colonists. Roldan immediately
pointed this circumstance out to his partisans. He secretly
inveighed against the hardship of having this vessel drawn on
shore, instead of being left afloat for the benefit of the colony, or
sent to Spain to make known their distresses. He hinted that
the true reason was the fear of the Adelantado and his brother,
lest accounts should be carried to Spain of their misconduct, and
he affirmed that they wished to remain undisturbed masters of the
island, and keep the Spaniards there as subjects, or rather as slaves.
The people took fire at these suggestions. They had long looked
forward to the completion of the caravels as their only chance for re
lief ; they now insisted that the vessel should be launched and sent
to Spain for supplies. Don Diego endeavored to convince them of
the folly of their demand, the vessel not being rigged and equipped
for such a voyage ; but the more he attempted to pacify them, the
more unreasonable and turbulent they became. Roldan, also,
became more bold and explicit in his instigations. He advised
them to launch and take possession of the caravel, as the only
mode of regaining their independence. They might then throw
off the tyranny of these upstart strangers, enemies in their hearts
to Spaniards, and might lead a life of ease and pleasure ; sharing
equally all that they might gain by barter in the island, employ
ing the Indians as slaves to work for them, and enjoying unre
strained indulgence with respect to the Indian women.*
Don Diego received information of what was fermenting
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 73.
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L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I .
among the people, yet feared to come to an open rupture with
Roldan in the present mutinous state of the colony. He suddenly
detached him, therefore, with forty men, to the Vega, under pre
text of overawing certain of the natives who had refused to pay
their tribute, and had shown a disposition to revolt. Roldan made
use of this opportunity to strengthen his faction. He made friends
and partisans among the discontented caciques, secretly justifying
them in their resistance to the imposition of tribute, and promis
ing them redress. He secured the devotion of his own soldiers
by great acts of indulgence, disarming and dismissing such as
refused full participation in his plans, and returned with his little
band to Isabella, where he felt secure of a strong party among
the common people.
The Adelantado had by this time returned from Xaragua ; but
Roldan, feeling himself at the head of a strong faction, and arro
gating to himself great authority from his official station, now
openly demanded that the caravel should be launched, or permis
sion given to himself and his followers to launch it. The Ade
lantado peremptorily refused, observing that neither he nor his
companions were mariners, nor was the caravel furnished and
equipped for sea, and that neither the safety of the vessel, nor of
the people, should be endangered by their attempt to navigate her.
Roldan perceived that his motives were suspected, and felt
that the Adelantado was too formidable an adversary to contend
with in any open sedition at Isabella. He determined, therefore,
to carry his plans into operation in some more favorable part of
the island, always trusting to excuse any open rebellion against
the authority of Don Bartholomew, by representing it as a patriotic
opposition to his tyranny over Spaniards. He had seventy well-
armed and determined men under his command, and he trusted,
C H A P . I V . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
165
on erecting his standard, to be joined by all the dissaffected
throughout the island. He set off suddenly, therefore, for the
Vega, intending to surprise the fortress of Conception, and by
getting command of that post and the rich country adjacent, to
set the Adelantado at defiance.
He stopped, on his way, at various Indian villages in which
the Spaniards were distributed, endeavoring to enlist the latter in
his party, by holding out promises of great gain and free living.
He attempted also to seduce the natives from their allegiance, by
promising them freedom from all tribute. Those caciques with
whom he had maintained a previous understanding, received him
with open arms ; particularly one who had taken the name of
Diego Marque, whose village he made his head-quarters, being
about two leagues from Fort Conception. He was disappointed
in his hopes of surprising the fortress. Its commander, Miguel
Ballester, was an old and stanch soldier, both resolute and wary.
He drew himself into his strong-hold on the approach of Roldan,
and closed his gates. His garrison was small, but the fortification,
situated on the side of a hill, with a river running at its foot, was
proof against any assault. Roldan had still some hopes that Bal
lester might be disaffected to government, and might be gra
dually brought into his plans, or that the garrison would be dis
posed to desert, tempted by the licentious life which he permitted
among his followers. In the neighborhood was the town inhabited
by Guarionex. Here were quartered thirty soldiers, under the
command of Captain Garcia de Barrantes. Roldan repaired
thither with his armed force, hoping to enlist Barrantes and his
party ; but the captain shut himself up with his men in a fortified
house, refusing to permit them to hold any communication with
Roldan. The latter threatened to set fire to the house ; but after
166
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
a little consideration, contented himself with seizing their store
of provisions, and then marched towards Fort Conception, which
was not quite half a league distant.*
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 7. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 74.
Extract of a letter from T. S. Heneken, Esq.—1847. Fort Conception
is situated at the foot of a hill now called Santo Cerro. It is constructed of
bricks, and is almost as entire at the present day as when just finished. It stands
in the gloom of an exuberant forest which has invaded the scene of former
bustle and activity ; a spot once considered of great importance and surrounded
by swarms of intelligent beings.
What has become of the countless multitudes this fortress was intended to
awe 1 Not a trace of them remains excepting in the records of history. The
silence of the tomb prevails where their habitations responded to their songs
and dances. A few indigent Spaniards, living in miserable hovels, scattered
widely apart in the bosom of the forest, are now the sole occupants of this
once fruitful and beautiful region.
A Spanish town gradually grew up round the fortress ; the ruins of which
extend to a considerable distance. It was destroyed by an earthquake, at nine
o'clock of the morning of Saturday, 20th April, 1564, during the celebration of
mass. Part of the massive walls of a handsome church still remain, as well as
those of a very large convent or hospital, supposed to have been constructed in
pursuance of the testamentary dispositions of Columbus. The inhabitants who
survived the catastrophe retired to a small chapel, on the banks of a river, about
a league distant, where the new town of La Vega was afterwards built.
CHAP. V . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
167
CHAPTER V.
THE ADELANTADO REPAIRS TO THE VEGA IN RELIEF OF FORT
CONCEPTION.—HIS INTERVIEW WITH ROLDAN.
[1497.]
THE Adelantado had received intelligence of the flagitious pro
ceedings of Roldan, yet hesitated for a time to set out in pursuit
of him. He had lost all confidence in the loyalty of the people
around him, and knew not how far the conspiracy extended, nor
on whom he could rely. Diego de Escobar, alcayde of the fortress
of La Madalena, together with Adrian de Moxica and Pedro de
Valdivieso, all principal men, were in league with Roldan. He
feared that the commander of Fort Conception might likewise be
in the plot, and the whole island in arms against him. He was
reassured, however, by tidings from Miguel Ballaster. That loyal
veteran wrote to him pressing letters for succor ; representing the
weakness of his garrison, and the increasing forces of the rebels.
Don Bartholomew hastened to his assistance with his accus
tomed promptness, and threw himself with a reinforcement into
the fortress. Being ignorant of the force of the rebels, and
doubtful of the loyalty of his own followers, he determined to
adopt mild measures. Understanding that Roldan was quartered
at a village but half a league distant, he sent a message to him,
168
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
remonstrating on the flagrant irregularity of his conduct, the
injury it was calculated to produce in the island, and the certain
ruin it must bring upon himself, and summoning him to appear
at the fortress, pledging his word for his personal safety. Roldan
repaired accordingly to Fort Conception, where the Adelantado
held a parley with him from a window, demanding the reason of
his appearing in arms, in opposition to royal authority. Roldan
replied boldly, that he was in the service of his sovereigns,
defending their subjects from the oppression of men who sought
their destruction. The Adelantado ordered him to surrender his
staff of office, as alcalde mayor, and to submit peaceably to supe
rior authority. Roldan refused to resign his office, or to put him
self in the power of Don Bartholomew, whom he charged with
seeking his life. He refused also to submit to any trial, unless
commanded by the king. Pretending, however, to make no
resistance to the peaceable exercise of authority, he offered
to go with his followers, and reside at any place the Adelantado
might appoint. The latter immediately designated the village of
the cacique Diego Colon, the same native of the Lucayos Islands
who had been baptized in Spain, and had since married a daugh
ter of Guarionex. Roldan objected, pretending there were not
sufficient provisions to be had there for the subsistence of his
men, and departed, declaring that he would seek a more eligible
residence elsewhere.*
He now proposed to his followers to take possession of the
remote province of Xaragua. The Spaniards who had returned
thence gave enticing accounts of the life they had led there ;
of the fertility of the soil, the sweetness of the climate, the hospi-
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 7. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 74.
CHAP. V . ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
169
tality and gentleness of the people, their feasts, dances, and vari
ous amusements, and, above all, the beauty of the women ; for
they had been captivated by the naked charms of the dancing
nymphs of Xaragua. In this delightful region, emancipated from
the iron rule of the Adelantado, and relieved from the necessity
of irksome labor, they might lead a life of perfect freedom and
indulgence, and have a world of beauty at their command. In
short, Roldan drew a picture of loose sensual enjoyment, such as
he knew to be irresistible with men of idle and dissolute habits.
His followers acceded with joy to his proposition. Some prepa
rations, however, were necessary to carry it into effect. Taking
advantage of the absence of the Adelantado, he suddenly marched
with his band to Isabella, and entering it in a manner by sur
prise, endeavored to launch the caravel, with which they might
sail to Xaragua. Don Diego Columbus hearing the tumult, issued
forth with several cavaliers ; but such was the force of the muti
neers and their menacing conduct, that he was obliged to with
draw, with his adherents, into the fortress. Roldan held several
parleys with him, and offered to submit to his command, provided
he would set himself up in opposition to his brother the Adelan
tado. His proposition was treated with scorn. The fortress was
too strong to be assailed with success ; he found it impossible to
launch the caravel, and feared the Adelantado might return, and
he be inclosed between two forces. He proceeded, therefore, in all
haste to make provisions for the proposed expedition to Xaragua.
Still pretending to act in his official capacity, and to do every
thing from loyal motives, for the protection and support of the
oppressed subjects of the crown, he broke open the royal ware
house, with shouts of “ Long live the king !" supplied his follow
ers with arms, ammunition, clothing, and whatever they desired
VOL. II.
M
170
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I .
from the public stores ; proceeded to the inclosure where the
cattle and other European animals were kept to breed, took such
as he thought necessary for his intended establishment, and per
mitted his followers to kill such of the remainder as they might
want for present supply. Having committed this wasteful ravage,
he marched in triumph out of Isabella.* Reflecting, however,
on the prompt and vigorous character of the Adelantado, he felt
that his situation would be but little secure with such an active
enemy behind him ; who, on extricating himself from present
perplexities, would not fail to pursue him to his proposed paradise
of Xaragua. He determined, therefore, to march again to the
Vega, and endeavor either to get possession of the person of the
Adelantado, or to strike some blow, in his present crippled
state, that should disable him from offering further molestation.
Returning, therefore, to the vicinity of Fort Conception, he
endeavored in every way, by the means of subtle emissaries, to
seduce the garrison to desertion, or to excite it to revolt.
The Adelantado dared not take the field with his forces, hav
ing no confidence in their fidelity. He knew that they listened
wistfully to the emissaries of Roldan, and contrasted the meagre
fare and stern discipline of the garrison, with the abundant cheer
and easy misrule that prevailed among the rebels. To counteract
these seductions, he relaxed from his usual strictness, treating his
men with great indulgence, and promising them large rewards.
By these means he was enabled to maintain some degree of
loyalty amongst his forces, his service having the advantage over
that of Roldan, of being on the side of government and law.
Finding his attempts to corrupt the garrison unsuccessful, and
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 74. Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 7.
CHAP. V.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
171
fearing some sudden sally from the vigorous Adelantado, Roldan
drew off to a distance, and sought by insidious means to strengthen
his own power, and weaken that of the government. He asserted
equal right to manage the affairs of the island with the Adelan
tado, and pretended to have separated from him on account of his
being passionate and vindictive in the exercise of his authority.
He represented him as the tyrant of the Spaniards, the oppressor
of the Indians. For himself, he assumed the character of a
redresser of grievances and champion of the injured. He pre
tended to feel a patriotic indignation at the affronts heaped upon
Spaniards by a family of obscure and arrogant foreigners ; and
professed to free the natives from tributes wrung from them by
these rapacious men for their own enrichment, and contrary to
the beneficent intentions of the Spanish monarchs. He connected
himself closely with the Carib cacique Manicaotex, brother of the
late Caonabo, whose son and nephew were in his possession as
hostages for payment of tributes. This warlike chieftain he con
ciliated by presents and caresses, bestowing on him the appella
tion of brother.* The unhappy natives, deceived by his pro
fessions, and overjoyed at the idea of having a protector in arms
for their defence, submitted cheerfully to a thousand impositions,
supplying his followers with provisions in abundance, and bring
ing to Roldan all the gold they could collect ; voluntarily yielding
him heavier tributes than those from which he pretended to free
them.
The affairs of the island were now in a lamentable situation.
The Indians, perceiving the dissensions among the white men,
and encouraged by the protection of Roldan, began to throw off
all allegiance to the government. The caciques at a distance
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 118.
M 2
1 7 S
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I .
ceased to send in their tributes, and those who were in the vicinity
were excused by the Adelantado, that by indulgence he might
retain their friendship in this time of danger. Roldan's faction
daily gained strength ; they ranged insolently and at large in the
open country, and were supported by the misguided natives ;
while the Spaniards who remained loyal, fearing conspiracies
among the natives, had to keep under shelter of the fort, or in
the strong houses which they had erected in the villages. The
commanders were obliged to palliate all kinds of slights and indig
nities, both from their soldiers and from the Indians, fearful of
driving them to sedition by any severity. The clothing and mu
nitions of all kinds, either for maintenance or defence, were rap
idly wasting away, and the want of all supplies or tidings from
Spain was sinking the spirits of the well-affected into despondency.
The Adelantado was shut up in Fort Conception, in daily expec
tation of being openly besieged by Roldan, and was secretly
informed that means were taken to destroy him, should he issue
from the walls of the fortress.*
Such was the desperate state to which the colony was reduced,
in consequence of the long detention of Columbus in Spain, and
the impediments thrown in the way of all his measures for the
benefit of the island by the delays of cabinets and the chicanery
of Fonseca and his satellites. At this critical juncture, when
faction reigned triumphant, and the colony was on the brink of
ruin, tidings were brought to the Vega that Pedro Fernandez
Coronal had arrived at the port of San Domingo, with two ships,
bringing supplies of all kinds, and a strong reinforcement of
troops.†
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 1 1 9 .
† Las Casas. Herrera. Hist. del Almirante.
CHAP. V I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
173
CHAPTER VI.
SECOND INSURRECTION OF GUARIONEX, AND HIS FLIGHT TO
THE MOUNTAINS OF CIGUAY.
[1498.]
THE arrival of Coronal, which took place on the third of Feb
ruary, was the salvation of the colony. The reinforcements of
troops, and of supplies of all kinds, strengthened the hands of
Don Bartholomew. The royal confirmation of his title and au
thority as Adelantado at once dispelled all doubts as to the legiti
macy of his power ; and the tidings that the admiral was in high
favor at court, and would soon arrive with a powerful squadron,
struck consternation into those who had entered into the rebellion
on the presumption of his having fallen into disgrace.
The Adelantado no longer remained mewed up in his fortress,
but set out immediately for San Domingo with a part of his
troops, although a much superior rebel force was at the village of
the cacique Guarionex, at a very short distance. Roldan followed
slowly and gloomily with his party, anxious to ascertain the truth
of these tidings, to make partisans, if possible, among those who
had newly arrived, and to take advantage of every circumstance
that might befriend his rash and hazardous projects. The Ade
lantado left strong guards on the passes of the roads to prevent
his near approach to San Domingo, but Roldan paused within a
few leagues of the place.
174
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I .
When the Adelantado found himself secure in San Domingo
with this augmentation of force, and the prospect of a still greater
reinforcement at hand, his magnanimity prevailed over his indig
nation, and he sought by gentle means to allay the popular sedi
tions, that the island might be restored to tranquillity before his
brother's arrival. He considered that the colonists had suffered
greatly from the want of supplies ; that their discontents had been
heightened by the severities he had been compelled to inflict ; and
that many had been led to rebellion by doubts of the legitimacy
of his authority. While, therefore, he proclaimed the royal act
sanctioning his title and powers, he promised amnesty for all past
offences, on condition of immediate return to allegiance. Hearing
that Roldan was within five leagues of San Domingo with his band,
he sent Pedro Fernandez Coronal, who had been appointed by
the sovereigns alguazil mayor of the island, to exhort him to obe
dience, promising him oblivion of the past. He trusted that the
representations of a discreet and honorable man like Coronal,
who had been witness of the favor in which his brother stood in
Spain, would convince the rebels of the hopelessness of their course.
Roldan, however, conscious of his guilt, and doubtful of the
clemency of Don Bartholomew, feared to venture within his
power ; he determined, also, to prevent his followers from com
municating with Coronal, lest they should be seduced from him
by the promise of pardon. When that emissary, therefore, ap
proached the encampment of the rebels, he was opposed in a nar
row pass by a body of archers, with their cross-bows leveled.
“ Halt there ! traitor !" cried Roldan, “ had you arrived eight
days later, we should all have been united as one man.”*
In vain Coronal endeavored by fair reasoning and earnest en-
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 8 .
C H A P . V I . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
175
treaty to win this perverse and turbulent man from his career.
Roldan answered with hardihood and defiance, professing to op
pose only the tyranny and misrule of the Adelantado, but to be
ready to submit to the admiral on his arrival. He, and several of
his principal confederates, wrote letters to the same effect to their
friends in San Domingo, urging them to plead their cause with
the admiral when he should arrive, and to assure him of their dis
position to acknowledge his authority.
When Coronal returned with accounts of Roldan's contumacy,
the Adelantado proclaimed him and his followers traitors. That
shrewd rebel, however, did not suffer his men to remain within
either the seduction of promise or the terror of menace ; he im
mediately set out on his march for his promised land of Xaragua,
trusting to impair every honest principle and virtuous tie of his
misguided followers by a life of indolence and libertinage.
In the meantime the mischievous effects of his intrigues
among the caciques became more and more apparent. No sooner
had the Adelantado left Fort Conception, than a conspiracy was
formed among the natives to surprise it. Guarionex was at the
head of this conspiracy, moved by the instigations of Roldan, who
had promised him protection and assistance, and led on by the
forlorn hope, in this distracted state of the Spanish forces, of re
lieving his paternal domains from the intolerable domination of
usurping strangers. Holding secret communications with his tri
butary caciques, it was concerted that they should all rise simul
taneously and massacre the soldiery, quartered in small parties in
their villages ; while he, with a chosen force, should surprise the
fortress of Conception. The night of the full moon was fixed
upon for the insurrection.
One of the principal caciques, however, not being a correct
176
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I .
observer of the heavenly bodies, took up arms before the appointed
night, and was repulsed by the soldiers quartered in his village.
The alarm was given, and the Spaniards were all put on the alert.
The cacique fled to Guarionex for protection, but the chieftain,
enraged at his fatal blunder, put him to death upon the spot.
No sooner did the Adelantado hear of this fresh conspiracy,
than he put himself on the march for the Vega with a strong body
of men. Guarionex did not await his coming. He saw that every
attempt was fruitless to shake off these strangers, who had settled
like a curse upon his territories. He had found their very friend
ship withering and destructive, and he now dreaded their ven
geance. Abandoning, therefore, his rightful domain, the once
happy Vega, he fled with his family and a small band of faithful
followers to the mountains of Ciguay. This is a lofty chain, ex
tending along the north side of the island, between the Vega and
the sea. The inhabitants were the most robust and hardy tribe
of the island, and far more formidable than the mild inhabitants
of the plains. It was a part of this tribe which displayed hos
tility to the Spaniards in the course of the first voyage of Colum
bus, and in a skirmish with them in the Gulf of Semana the first
drop of native blood had been shed in the New World. The
reader may remember the frank and confiding conduct of these
people the day after the skirmish, and the intrepid faith with
which their cacique trusted himself on board of the caravel of
the admiral, and in the power of the Spaniards. It was to this
same cacique, named Mayobanex, that the fugitive chieftain of
the Vega now applied for refuge. He came to his residence at an
Indian town near Cape Cabron, about forty leagues east of Isa
bella, and implored shelter for his wife and children, and his
handful of loyal followers. The noble-minded cacique of the
CHAP. V I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S . 1 7 7
mountains received him with open arms. He not only gave an
asylum to his family, but engaged to stand by him in his distress,
to defend his cause, and share his desperate fortunes.* Men in
civilized life learn magnanimity from precept, but their most gene
rous actions are often rivaled by the deeds of untutored savages,
who act only from natural impulse.
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., cap. 121, MS. Peter Martyr, decad. i. cap. 5.
178 L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I .
CHAPTER VII.
CAMPAIGN OF THE ADELANTADO IN THE MOUNTAINS OF
CIGUAY.
[1498]
AIDED by his mountain ally, and by bands of hardy Ciguayans,
Guarionex made several descents into the plain, cutting off strag
gling parties of the Spaniards, laying waste the villages of the
natives which continued in allegiance to them, and destroying the
fruits of the earth. The Adelantado put a speedy stop to these mo
lestations ; but he determined to root out so formidable an adversary
from the neighborhood. Shrinking from no danger nor fatigue,
and leaving nothing to be done by others, which he could do him
self, he set forth in the spring with a band of ninety men, a few
cavalry, and a body of Indians, to penetrate the Ciguay moun
tains.
After passing a steep defile, rendered almost impracticable for
troops by rugged rocks and exuberant vegetation, he descended
into a beautiful valley or plain, extending along the coast, and
embraced by arms of the mountains which approached the sea.
His advance into the country was watched by the keen eyes of
Indian scouts, who lurked among rocks and thickets. As the
Spaniards were seeking the ford of a river at the entrance of
the plain, two of these spie3 darted from among the bushes on its
CHAP. V I I ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
179
bank. One flung himself headlong into the water, and swimming
across the mouth of the river escaped ; the other being taken,
gave information that six thousand Indians lay in ambush on the
opposite shore, waiting to attack them as they crossed.
The Adelantado advanced with caution, and finding a shallow
place, entered the river with his troops. They were scarcely
midway in the stream when the savages, hideously painted, and
looking more like fiends than men, burst from their concealment.
The forest rang with their yells and howlings. They discharged
a shower of arrows and lances, by which, notwithstanding the pro
tection of their targets, many of the Spaniards were wounded.
The Adelantado, however, forced his way across the river, and
the Indians took to flight. Some were killed, but their swiftness
of foot, their knowledge of the forest, and their dexterity in wind
ing through the most tangled thickets, enabled the greater number
to elude the pursuit of the Spaniards, who were encumbered with
armor, targets, cross-bows, and lances.
By the advice of one of his Indian guides, the Adelantado
pressed forward along the valley to reach the residence of May-
obanex, at Cabron. In the way he had several skirmishes with
the natives, who would suddenly rush forth with furious war-cries
from ambuscades among the bushes, discharge their weapons,
and take refuge again in the fastnesses of their rocks and forests,
inaccessible to the Spaniards.
Having taken several prisoners, the Adelantado sent one
accompanied by an Indian of a friendly tribe, as a messenger to
Mayobanex, demanding the surrender of Guarionex ; promising
friendship and protection in case of compliance, but threatening,
in case of refusal, to lay waste his territory with fire and sword.
The cacique listened attentively to the messenger : “ Tell the
1 8 0 L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK XI.
Spaniards," said he in reply, “ that they are bad men, cruel and
tyrannical ; usurpers of the territories of others, and shedders of
innocent blood. I desire not the friendship of such men ; Guari
onex is a good man, he is my friend, he is my guest, he has fled
to me for refuge, I have promised to protect him, and I will keep
my word."
This magnanimous reply, or rather defiance, convinced the
Adelantado that nothing was to be gained by friendly overtures.
When severity was required, he could be a stern soldier. He
immediately ordered the village in which he had been quartered,
and several others in the neighborhood, to be set on fire. He
then sent further messengers to Mayobanex, warning him that,
unless he deliverd up the fugitive cacique, his whole dominions
should be laid waste in like manner ; and he would see nothing
in every direction but the smoke and flames of burning villages.
Alarmed at this impending destruction, the Ciguayans surrounded
their chieftain with clamorous lamentations, cursing the day
that Guarionex had taken refuge among them, and urging
that he should be given up for the salvation of the country.
The generous cacique was inflexible. He reminded them of
the many virtues of Guarionex, and the sacred claims he had
on their hospitality, and declared he would abide all evils,
rather than it should ever be said Mayobanex had betrayed his
guest.
The people retired with sorrowful hearts, and the chieftain,
summoning Guarionex into his presence, again pledged his word
to protect him, though it should cost him his dominions. He sent
no reply to the Adelantado, and lest further messages might tempt
the fidelity of his subjects, he placed men in ambush, with orders
to slay any messenger who might approach. They had not lain
CHAP. V I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
181
in wait long, before they beheld two men advancing through the
forest, one of whom was a captive Ciguayan, and the other an
Indian ally of the Spaniards. They were both instantly slain.
The Adelantado was following at no great distance, with only ten
foot soldiers and four horsemen. When he found his messengers
lying dead in the forest path, transfixed with arrows, he was
greatly exasperated, and resolved to deal rigorously with this
obstinate tribe. He advanced, therefore, with all his force to
Cabron, where Mayobanex and his army were quartered. At
his approach the inferior caciques and their adherents fled, over
come by terror of the Spaniards. Finding himself thus deserted,
Mayobanex took refuge with his family in a secret part of the
mountains. Several of the Ciguayans sought for Guarionex, to
kill him or deliver him up as a propitiatory offering, but he fled
to the heights, where he wandered about alone, in the most savage
and desolate places.
The density of the forests and the ruggedness of the moun
tains rendered this expedition excessively painful and laborious,
and protracted it far beyond the time that the Adelantado had
contemplated. His men suffered, not merely from fatigue, but
hunger. The natives had all fled to the mountains ; their villages
remained empty and desolate ; all the provisions of the Spaniards
consisted of cassava bread, and such roots and herbs as their
Indian allies could gather for them, with now and then a few
utias taken with the assistance of their dogs. They slept almost
always on the ground, in the open air, under the trees, exposed
to the heavy dew which falls in this climate. For three months
they were thus ranging the mountains, until almost worn out with
toil and hard fare. Many of them had farms in the neighbor
hood of Fort Conception, which required their attention ; they,
182
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I .
therefore, entreated permission, since the Indians were terrified
and dispersed, to return to their abodes in the Vega.
The Adelantado granted many of them passports and an
allowance out of the scanty stock of bread which remained. Re
taining only thirty men, he resolved with these to search every
den and cavern of the mountains until he should find the two
caciques. It was difficult, however, to trace them in such a wil
derness. There was no one to give a clue to their retreat, for
the whole country was abandoned. There were the habitations
of men, but not a human being to be seen ; or if, by chance, they
caught some wretched Indian stealing forth from the mountains
in quest of food, he always professed utter ignorance of the
hiding-place of the caciques.
It happened, one day, however, that several Spaniards, while
hunting utias, captured two of the followers of Mayobanex, who
were on their way to a distant village in search of bread. They
were taken to the Adelantado, who compelled them to betray the
place of concealment of their chieftain, and to act as guides.
Twelve Spaniards volunteered to go in quest of him. Stripping
themselves naked, staining and painting their bodies so as to look
like Indians, and covering their swords with palm-leaves, they
were conducted by the guides to the retreat of the unfortunate
Mayobanex. They came secretly upon Mm, and found him sur
rounded by his wife and children and a few of his household,
totally unsuspicious of danger. Drawing their swords, the Span
iards rushed upon them and made them all prisoners. When
they were brought to the Adelantado, he gave up all further
search after Guarionex, and returned to Fort Conception.
Among the prisoners thus taken was the sister of Mayobanex.
She was the wife of another cacique of the mountains, whose ter-
CHAP. V I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
183
ritories had never yet been visited by the Spaniards ; and she was
reputed to be one of the most beautiful women of the island.
Tenderly attached to her brother, she had abandoned the security
of her own dominions, and had followed him among rocks and
precipices, participating in all his hardships, and comforting him
with a woman's sympathy and kindness. When her husband
heard of her captivity, he hastened to the Adelantado and offered
to submit himself and all his possessions to his sway, if his wife
might be restored to him. The Adelantado accepted his offer of
allegiance, and released his wife and several of his subjects who
had been captured. The cacique, faithful to his word, became a
firm and valuable ally of the Spaniards, cultivating large tracts
of land, and supplying them with great quantities of bread and
other provisions.
Kindness appears never to have been lost upon the people of
this island. When this act of clemency reached the Ciguayans,
they came in multitudes to the fortress, bringing presents of va
rious kinds, promising allegiance, and imploring the release of
Mayobanex and his family. The Adelantado granted their pray
ers in part, releasing the wife and household of the cacique, but
still detaining him prisoner to insure the fidelity of his subjects.
In the meantime the unfortunate Guarionex, who had been
hiding in the wildest parts of the mountains, was driven by hun
ger to venture down occasionally into the plain in quest of food.
The Ciguayans looking upon him as the cause of their misfor
tunes, and perhaps hoping by his sacrifice to procure the release of
their chieftain, betrayed his haunts to the Adelantado. A party was
dispatched to secure him. They lay in wait in the path by which
he usually returned to the mountains. As the unhappy cacique,
after one of his famished excursions, was returning to his den
184
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK I X .
among the cliffs, he was surprised by the lurking Spaniards, and
brought in chains to Fort Conception. After his repeated insur
rections, and the extraordinary zeal and perseverance displayed
in his pursuit, Guarionex expected nothing less than death from
the vengeance of the Adelantado. Don Bartholomew, however,
though stern in his policy, was neither vindictive nor cruel in his
nature. He considered the tranquillity of the Vega sufficiently
secured by the captivity of the cacique ; and ordered him to be
detained a prisoner and hostage in the fortress. The Indian
hostilities in this important part of the island being thus brought
to a conclusion, and precautions taken to prevent their recurrence,
Don Bartholomew returned to the city of San Domingo, where,
shortly after his arrival, he had the happiness of receiving his
brother, the admiral, after nearly two years and six months' ab
sence.*
Such was the active, intrepid, and sagacious, but turbulent
and disastrous administration of the Adelantado, in which we find
evidences of the great capacity, the mental and bodily vigor of
this self-formed and almost self-taught man. He united, in a sin
gular degree, the sailor, the soldier, and the legislator. Like his
brother, the admiral, his mind and manners rose immediately to
the level of his situation, showing no arrogance nor ostentation,
and exercising the sway of sudden and extraordinary power, with
the sobriety and moderation of one who had been bom to rule.
He has been accused of severity in his government, but no
instance appears of a cruel or wanton abuse of authority. If he
was stern towards the factious Spaniards, he was just ; the disas-
* The particulars of this chapter are chiefly from P. Martyr, decad. i. lib.
vi. ; the manuscript history of Las Casas, lib. i. cap. 121 ; and Herrera, Hist.
Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 8, 9.
CHAP. V I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S . 1 8 5
ters of his administration were not produced by his own rigor,
but by the perverse passions of others, which called for its exer
cise ; and the admiral, who had more suavity of manner and be
nevolence of heart, was not more fortunate in conciliating the
good will, and insuring the obedience of the colonists. The merits
of Don Bartholomew do not appear to have been sufficiently ap
preciated by the world. His portrait has been suffered to remain
too much in the shade ; it is worthy of being brought into the
light, as a companion to that of his illustrious brother. Less
amiable and engaging, perhaps, in its lineaments, and less charac
terized by magnanimity, its traits are nevertheless bold, generous,
and heroic, and stamped with iron firmness.
VOL. II.
N
BOOK XII.
C H A P T E R I .
CONFUSION IN THE ISLAND.—PROCEEDINGS OF THE REBELS
AT XARAGUA.
[August 30, 1498.]
COLUMBUS arrived at San Domingo, wearied by a long and ardu
ous voyage and worn down by infirmities ; both mind and body
craved repose, but from the time he first entered into public life,
he had been doomed never again to taste the sweets of tranquillity.
The island of Hispaniola, the favorite child as it were of his
hopes, was destined to involve him in perpetual troubles, to fetter
his fortunes, impede his enterprises, and imbitter the conclusion
of his life. What a scene of poverty and suffering had this
opulent and lovely island been rendered by the bad passions of a
few despicable men ! The wars with the natives and the seditions
among the colonists had put a stop to the labors of the mines, and
all hopes of wealth were at an end. The horrors of famine had
succeeded to those of war. The cultivation of the earth had
been generally neglected ; several of the provinces had been des
olated during the late troubles ; a great part of the Indians had
fled to the mountains, and those who remained had lost all heart
N 2
188
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I .
to labor, seeing the produce of their toils liable to be wrested
from them by ruthless strangers. It is true, the Vega was once
more tranquil, but it was a desolate tranquillity. That beautiful
region, which the Spaniards but four years before had found so
populous and happy, seeming to inclose in its luxuriant bosom all
the sweets of nature, and to exclude all the cares and sorrows of
the world, was now a scene of wretchedness and repining. Many
of those Indian towns, where the Spaniards had been detained by
genial hospitality, and almost worshiped as beneficent deities,
were now silent and deserted. Some of their late inhabitants
were lurking among rocks and caverns ; some were reduced to
slavery ; many had perished with hunger, and many had fallen
by the sword. It seems almost incredible, that so small a number
of men, restrained too by well-meaning governors, could in so
short a space of time have produced such wide-spreading mise
ries. But the principles of evil have a fatal activity. "With
every exertion, the best of men can do but a moderate amount
of good ; but it seems in the power of the most contemptible indi
vidual to do incalculable mischief.
The evil passions of the white men, which had inflicted such
calamities upon this innocent people, had insured likewise a
merited return of suffering to themselves. In no part was this
more truly exemplified than among the inhabitants of Isabella,
the most idle, factious, and dissolute of the island. The public
works were unfinished ; the gardens and fields they had begun to
cultivate lay neglected : they had driven the natives from their
vicinity by extortion and cruelty, and had rendered the country
around them a solitary wilderness. Too idle to labor, and desti
tute of any resources with which to occupy their indolence, they
quarreled among themselves, mutinied against their rulers, and
CHAP. I.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
189
wasted their time in alternate riot and despondency. Many of
the soldiery quartered about the island, had suffered from ill
health during the late troubles, being shut up in Indian villages
where they could take no exercise, and obliged to subsist on food
to which they could not accustom themselves. Those actively
employed, had been worn down by hard service, long marches,
and scanty food. Many of them were broken in constitution,
and many had perished by disease. There was a universal desire
to leave the island, and escape from miseries created by them
selves. Yet this was the favored and fruitful land to which the
eyes of philosophers and poets in Europe were fondly turned, as
realizing the pictures of the golden age. So true it is, that the
fairest Elysium fancy ever devised, would be turned into a pur
gatory by the passions of bad men !
One of the first measures of Columbus on his arrival, was to
issue a proclamation approving of all the measures of the Ade
lantado, and denouncing Roldan and his associates. That turbu
lent man had taken possession of Xaragua, and been kindly
received by the natives. He had permitted his followers to lead
an idle and licentious life among its beautiful scenes, making the
surrounding country and its inhabitants subservient to their plea
sures and their passions. An event happened previous to their
knowledge of the arrival of Columbus, which threw supplies into
their hands, and strengthened their power. As they were one
day loitering on the sea-shore, they beheld three caravels at a
distance, the sight of which, in this unfrequented part of the
ocean, filled them with wonder and alarm. The ships approached
the land, and came to anchor. The rebels apprehended at first
they were vessels dispatched in pursuit of them. Roldan, how
ever, who was sagacious as he was bold, surmised them to be
190
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I .
ships which had wandered from their course, and been borne to
the westward by the currents, and that they must be ignorant of
the recent occurrences of the island. Enjoining secrecy on his
men, he went on board, pretending to be stationed in that neigh
borhood for the purpose of keeping the natives in obedience, and
collecting tribute. His conjectures as to the vessels were correct.
They were, in fact, the three caravels detached by Columbus from
his squadron at the Canary Islands, to bring supplies to the colonies.
The captains, ignorant of the strength of the currents, which set
through the Caribbean Sea, had been carried west far beyond
their reckoning, until they had wandered to the coast of Xaragua.
Roldan kept his secret closely for three days. Being consi
dered a man in important trust and authority, the captains did
not hesitate to grant all his requests for supplies. He procured
swords, lances, cross-bows, and various military stores ; while his
men, dispersed through the three vessels, were busy among the
crews, secretly making partisans, representing the hard life of the
colonists at San Domingo, and the ease and revelry in which they
passed their time at Xaragua. Many of the crews had been ship
ped in compliance with the admiral's ill-judged proposition, to
commute criminal punishments into transportation to the colony.
They were vagabonds, the refuse of Spanish towns, and culprits
from Spanish dungeons ; the very men, therefore, to be wrought
upon by such representations, and they promised to desert on the
first opportunity and join the rebels.
It was not until the third day, that Alonzo Sanchez de Carva-
jal, the most intelligent of the three captains, discovered the real
character of the guests he had admitted so freely on board of his
vessels. It was then too late ; the mischief was effected. He
and his fellow captains had many earnest conversations with Rol-
CHAP. I.]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
191
dan, endeavoring to persuade him from his dangerous opposition
to the regular authority. The certainty that Columbus was ac
tually on his way to the island, with additional forces, and aug
mented authority, had operated strongly on his mind. He had, as
has already been intimated, prepared his friends at San Domingo
to plead his cause with the admiral, assuring him that he had only
acted in opposition to the injustice and oppression of the Adelan
tado, but was ready to submit to Columbus on his arrival. Carva-
jal perceived that the resolution of Roldan and of several of
his principal confederates was shaken, and flattered himself, that,
if he were to remain some little time among the rebels, he might
succeed in drawing them back to their duty. Contrary winds ren
dered it impossible for the ships to work up against the currents
to San Domingo. It was arranged among the captains, therefore,
that a large number of the people on board, artificers and others
most important to the service of the colony, should proceed to the
settlement by land. They were to be conducted by Juan Antonio
Colombo, captain of one of the caravels, a relative of the admiral,
and zealously devoted to his interests. Arana was to proceed with
the ships, when the wind would permit, and Carvajal volunteered to
remain on shore, to endeavor to bring the rebels to their allegiance.
On the following morning, Juan Antonio Colombo landed with
forty men well armed with cross-bows, swords and lances, but was
astonished to find himself suddenly deserted by all his party ex
cepting eight. The deserters went off to the rebels, who received
with exultation this important reinforcement of kindred spirits.
Juan Antonio endeavored in vain by remonstrances and threats to
bring them back to their duty. They were most of them con
victed culprits, accustomed to detest order, and to set law at de
fiance. It was equally in vain that he appealed to Roldan, and
192
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I I .
reminded him of his professions of loyalty to the government.
The latter replied that he had no means of enforcing obedience ;
his was a mere “ Monastery of Observation," where every one
was at liberty to adopt the habit of the order. Such was the first
of a long train of evils, which sprang from this most ill-judged
expedient of peopling a colony with criminals, and thus mingling
vice and villany with the fountain-head of its population.
Juan Antonio, grieved and disconcerted, returned on board
with the few who remained faithful. Fearing further desertions,
the two captains immediately put to sea, leaving Carvajal on
shore, to prosecute his attempt at reforming the rebels. It was
not without great difficulty and delay that the vessels reached San
Domingo ; the ship of Carvajal having struck on a sand-bank,
and sustained great injury. By the time of their arrival, the
greater part of the provisions with which they had been freighted
was either exhausted or damaged. Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal
arrived shortly afterwards by land, having been escorted to within
six leagues of the place by several of the insurgents, to protect
him from the Indians. He failed in his attempt to persuade the
band to immediate submission ; but Roldan had promised that the
moment he heard of the arrival of Columbus, he would repair to
the neighborhood of San Domingo, to be at hand to state his
grievances, and the reasons of his past conduct, and to enter into
a negotiation for the adjustment of all differences. Carvajal brought
a letter from him to the admiral to the same purport ; and ex
pressed a confident opinion, from all that he observed of the rebels,
that they might easily be brought back to their allegiance by an
assurance of amnesty.*
* Las Casas, lib. i. cap. 149, 150. Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 12. Hist.
del Almirante, cap. 77.
CHAP. I I . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
193
CHAPTER II.
NEGOTIATION OF THE ADMIRAL WITH THE REBELS.—DEPAR
TURE OF SHIPS FOR SPAIN.
[1498.]
NOTWITHSTANDING the favorable representations of Carvajal,
Columbus was greatly troubled by the late event at Xaragua.
He saw that the insolence of the rebels, and their confidence in
their strength, must be greatly increased by the accession of such
a large number of well-armed and desperate confederates. The
proposition of Roldan to approach to the neighborhood of San
Domingo, startled him. He doubted the sincerity of his profes
sions, and apprehended great evils and dangers from so artful,
daring, and turbulent a leader, with a rash and devoted crew at
his command. The example of this lawless horde, roving at large
about the island, and living in loose revel and open profligacy,
could not but have a dangerous effect upon the colonists newly
arrived ; and when they were close at hand, to carry on secret
intrigues, and to hold out a camp of refuge to all malcontents, the
loyalty of the whole colony might be sapped and undermined.
Some measures were immediately necessary to fortify the
fidelity of the people against such seductions. He was aware of
a vehement desire among many to return to Spain ; and of an
assertion industriously propagated by the seditious, that he and
1 9 4 L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I .
his brothers wished to detain the colonists on the island through
motives of self-interest. On the 12th of September, therefore,
he issued a proclamation, offering free passage and provisions for
the voyage to all who wished to return to Spain, in five vessels
nearly ready to put to sea. He hoped by this means to relieve
the colony from the idle and disaffected ; to weaken the party of
Roldan, and to retain none about him but such as were sound-
hearted and well-disposed.
He wrote at the same time to Miguel Ballester, the stanch
and well-tried veteran who commanded the fortress of Conception,
advising him to be upon his guard, as the rebels were coming
into his neighborhood. He empowered him also to have an in
terview with Roldan ; to offer him pardon and oblivion of the
past, on condition of his immediate return to duty ; and to invite
him to repair to San Domingo to have an interview with the
admiral, under a solemn, and, if required, a written assurance
from the latter, of personal safety. Columbus was sincere in
his intentions. He was of a benevolent and placable dispo
sition, and singularly free from all vindictive feeling towards
the many worthless and wicked men who heaped sorrow on his
head.
Ballester had scarcely received this letter, when the rebels
began to arrive at the village of Bonao. This was situated in a
beautiful valley, or Vega, bearing the same name; about ten
leagues from Fort Conception, and about twenty from San Do
mingo, in a well-peopled and abundant country. Here Pedro
Requelme, one of the ringleaders of the sedition, had large pos
sessions, and his residence became the head-quarters of the rebels.
Adrian de Moxica, a man of turbulent and mischievous character,
brought his detachment of dissolute ruffians to this place of ren-
CHAP. II.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
195
dezvous. Roldan and others of the conspirators drew together
there by different routes.
No sooner did the veteran Miguel Ballester hear of the arri
val of Roldan, than he set forth to meet him. Ballester was a
venerable man, gray-headed, and of a soldier-like demeanor.
Loyal, frank, and virtuous, of a serious disposition, and great
simplicity of heart, he was well chosen as a mediator with rash
and profligate men ; being calculated to calm their passions by
his sobriety ; to disarm their petulance by his age ; to win their
confidence by his artless probity ; and to awe their licentiousness
by his spotless virtue.*
Ballester found Roldan in company with Pedro Riquelme,
Pedro de Gamez, and Adrian de Moxica, three of his principal
confederates. Flushed with a confidence of his present strength,
Roldan treated the proffered pardon with contempt, declaring that
he did not come there to treat of peace, but to demand the release
of certain Indians captured unjustifiably, and about to be shipped
to Spain as slaves, notwithstanding that he, in his capacity of
alcalde mayor, had pledged his word for their protection. He
declared that, until these Indians were given up, he would listen
to no terms of compact ; throwing out an insolent intimation at
the same time, that he held the admiral and his fortunes in his
hand, to make and mar them as he pleased.
The Indians here alluded to, were certain subjects of Guario
nex, who had been incited by Roldan to resist the exaction of
tribute, and who, under the sanction of his supposed authority,
had engaged in the insurrections of the Vega. Roldan knew that
the enslavement of the Indians was an unpopular feature in the
government of the island, especially with the queen ; and the art-
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 153.
196
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK XII.
ful character of this man is evinced in his giving his opposition to
Columbus the appearance of a vindication of the rights of the
suffering islanders. Other demands were made of a highly inso
lent nature, and the rebels declared that, in all further negotia
tions, they would treat with no other intermediate agent than Car
vajal, having had proofs of his fairness and impartiality in the
course of their late communications with him at Xaragua.
This arrogant reply to his proffer of pardon was totally differ
ent from what the admiral had been led to expect, and placed him
in an embarrassing situation. He seemed surrounded by treachery
and falsehood. He knew that Roldan had friends and secret par
tisans even among those who professed to remain faithful ; and he
knew not how far the ramifications of the conspiracy might ex
tend. A circumstance soon occurred to show the justice of his
apprehensions. He ordered the men of San Domingo to appear
under arms that he might ascertain the force with which he could
take the field in case of necessity. A report was immediately cir
culated that they were to be led to Bonao against the rebels. Not
above seventy men appeared under arms, and of these not forty
were to be relied upon. One affected to be lame, another ill ;
some had relations, and others had friends among the followers of
Roldan : almost all were disaffected to the service.*
Columbus saw that a resort to arms would betray his own
weakness and the power of the rebels, and completely prostrate
the dignity and authority of government. It was necessary to
temporize, therefore, however humiliating such conduct might be
deemed. He had detained the five ships for eighteen days in
port, hoping in some way to have put an end to this rebellion, so
as to send home favorable accounts of the island to the sovereigns.
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 78.
CHAP. II.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
197
The provisions of the ships, however, were wasting. The Indian
prisoners on board were suffering and perishing ; several of them
threw themselves overboard, or were suffocated with heat in the
holds of the vessels. He was anxious, also, that as many of the
discontented colonists as possible should make sail for Spain
before any commotion should take place.
On the 18th of October, therefore, the ships put to sea.*
Columbus wrote to the sovereigns an account of the rebellion, and
of his proffered pardon being refused. As Roldan pretended that
it was a mere quarrel between him and the Adelantado, of which
the admiral was not an impartial judge, the latter entreated that
Roldan might be summoned to Spain, where the sovereigns might
be his judges ; or that an investigation might take place in pre
sence of Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal, who was friendly to Roldan,
and of Miguel Ballester, as witness on the part of the Adelantado.
He attributed, in a great measure, the troubles of this island to
his own long detention in Spain, and the delays thrown in his way
by those appointed to assist him, who had retarded the departure
of the ships with supplies, until the colony had been reduced to
the greatest scarcity. Hence had arisen discontent, murmuring,
and finally rebellion. He entreated the sovereigns, in the most
pressing manner, that the affairs of the colony might not be ne
glected, and those at Seville, who had charge of its concerns,
might be instructed at least not to devise impediments instead of
assistance. He alluded to his chastisement of the contemptible
Ximeno Breviesca, the insolent minion of Fonseca, and entreated
that neither that nor any other circumstance might be allowed to
* In one of these ships sailed the father of the venerable historian Las
Casas, from whom he derived many of the facts of his history. Las Casas,
lib. i. cap. 153.
198
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I I .
prejudice him in the royal favor, through the misrepresentations
of designing men. He assured them that the natural resources
of the island required nothing but good management to supply all
the wants of the colonists ; but that the latter were indolent and
profligate. He proposed to send home, by every ship, as in the
present instance, a number of the discontented and worthless, to
be replaced by sober and industrious men. He begged also that
ecclesiastics might be sent out for the instruction and conversion
of the Indians ; and, what was equally necessary, for the reforma
tion of the dissolute Spaniards. He required also a man learned
in the law, to officiate as judge over the island, together with
several officers of the royal revenue. Nothing could surpass the
soundness and policy of these suggestions ; but unfortunately one
clause marred the moral beauty of this excellent letter. He re
quested that for two years longer the Spaniards might be permit
ted to employ the Indians as slaves ; only making use of such,
however, as were captured in wars and insurrections. Columbus
had the usage of the age in excuse for this suggestion ; but it is
at variance with his usual benignity of feeling, and his paternal
conduct towards these unfortunate people.
At the same time he wrote another letter, giving an account
of his recent voyage, accompanied by a chart, and by specimens
of the gold, and particularly of the pearls found in the gulf of
Paria. He called especial attention to the latter as being the
first specimens of pearls found in the New World. It was in
this letter that he described the newly discovered continent in
such enthusiastic terms, as the most favored part of the east, the
source of inexhaustible treasures, the supposed seat of the terres
trial Paradise ; and he promised to prosecute the discovery of its
CHAP. I I ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
199
glorious realms with the three remaining ships, as soon as the
affairs of the island should permit.
By this opportunity, Roldan and his friends likewise sent
letters to Spain, endeavoring to justify their rebellion by charging
Columbus and his brothers with oppression and injustice, and
painting their whole conduct in the blackest colors. It would
naturally be supposed that the representations of such men would
have little weight in the balance against the tried merits and
exalted services of Columbus : but they had numerous friends
and relatives in Spain ; they had the popular prejudice on their
side, and there were designing persons in the confidence of the
sovereigns ready to advocate their cause. Columbus, to use his
own simple but affecting words, was “ absent, envied, and a
stranger.”*
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 157.
200
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I .
CHAPTER III.
NEGOTIATIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS WITH THE REBELS.
[1498.J
THE ships being dispatched, Columbus resumed his negotiation
with the rebels ; determined at any sacrifice to put an end to a
sedition which distracted the island and interrupted all his plans
of discovery. His three remaining ships lay idle in the harbor,
though a region of apparently boundless wealth was to be
explored. He had intended to send his brother on the discovery,
but the active and military spirit of the Adelantado rendered his
presence indispensable, in case the rebels should come to violence.
Such were the difficulties encountered at every step of his gener
ous and magnanimous enterprises ; impeded at one time by the
insidious intrigues of crafty men in place, and checked at another
by the insolent turbulence of a handful of ruffians.
In his consultations with the most important persons about
him, Columbus found that much of the popular discontent was
attributed to the strict rule of his brother, who was accused of
dealing out justice with a rigorous hand. Las Casas, however,
who saw the whole of the testimony collected from various sources
with respect to the conduct of the Adelantado, acquits him of all
charges of the kind, and affirms that, with respect to Roldan in
C H A P . I I I . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
201
particular, he had exerted great forbearance. Be this as it may,
Columbus now, by the advice of his counselors, resolved to try
the alternative of extreme lenity. He wrote a letter to Roldan,
dated the 20th of October, couched in the most conciliating terms,
calling to mind past kindnesses, and expressing deep concern for
the feud existing between him and the Adelantado. He entreated
him, for the common good, and for the sake of his own reputation,
which stood well with the sovereigns, not to persist in his present
insubordination, and repeated the assurance, that he and his com
panions might come to him, under the faith of his word for the
inviolability of their persons.
There was a difficulty as to who should be the bearer of this
letter. The rebels had declared that they would receive no one
as mediator but Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal. Strong doubts,
however, existed in the minds of those about Columbus as to the
integrity of that officer. They observed that he had suffered
Roldan to remain two days on board of his caravel at Xaragua ;
had furnished him with weapons and stores ; had neglected to
detain him on board, when he knew him to be a rebel ; had not
exerted himself to retake the deserters ; had been escorted on his
way to San Domingo by the rebels, and had sent refreshments to
them at Bonao. It was alleged, moreover, that he had given
himself out as a colleague of Columbus, appointed by government
to have a watch and control over his conduct. It was suggested,
that, in advising the rebels to approach San Domingo, he had
intended, in case the admiral did not arrive, to unite his pretended
authority as colleague, to that of Roldan, as chief judge, and to
seize upon the reins of government. Finally, the desire of the
rebels to have him sent to them as an agent, was cited as proof
that he was to join them as a leader, and that the standard of
VOL. I I .
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202 L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I .
rebellion was to be hoisted at Bonao.* These circumstances, for
some time, perplexed Columbus : but he reflected that Carvajal,
as far as he had observed his conduct, had behaved like a man of
integrity ; most of the circumstances alleged against him admitted
of a construction in his favor ; the rest were mere rumors, and
he had unfortunately experienced, in his own case, how easily the
fairest actions, and the fairest characters, may be falsified by
rumor. He discarded, therefore, all suspicion, and determined to
confide implicitly in Carvajal ; nor had he ever any reason to
repent of his confidence.
The admiral had scarcely dispatched this letter, when he re
ceived one from the leaders of the rebels, written several days
previously. In this they not merely vindicated themselves from
the charge of rebellion, but claimed great merit, as having dis
suaded their followers from a resolution to kill the Adelantado, in
revenge of his oppressions, prevailing upon them to await pa
tiently for redress from the admiral. A month had elapsed since
his arrival, during which they had waited anxiously for his or
ders, but he had manifested nothing but irritation against them.
Considerations of honor and safety, therefore, obliged them to
withdraw from his service, and they accordingly demanded their
discharge. This letter was dated from Bonao, the 17th of Octo
ber, and signed by Francisco Roldan, Adrian de Moxica, Pedro
de Gamez, and Diego de Escobar. †
In the meantime, Carvajal arrived at Bonao, accompanied by
Miguel Ballester. They found the rebels full of arrogance and
presumption. The conciliating letter of the admiral, however,
enforced by the earnest persuasions of Carvajal, and the admoni-
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 78.
† Hist. del Almirante, cap. 79. Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 13.
CHAP. I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
203
tions of the veteran Ballester, had a favorable effect on several
of the leaders, who had more intellect than their brutal followers.
Roldan, Gamez, Escobar, and two or three others, actually
mounted their horses to repair to the admiral, but were detained
by the clamorous opposition of their men ; too infatuated with
their idle, licentious mode of life, to relish the idea of a return to
labor and discipline. These insisted that it was a matter which
concerned them all; whatever arrangement was to be made,
therefore, should be made in public, in writing, and subject to
their approbation or dissent. A day or two elapsed before this
clamor could be appeased. Roldan then wrote to the admiral,
that his followers objected to his coming, unless a written assu
rance, or passport, were sent, protecting the persons of himself
and such as should accompany him. Miguel Ballester wrote, at
the same time, to the admiral, urging him to agree to whatever
terms the rebels might demand. He represented their forces as
continually augmenting, the soldiers of his garrison daily desert
ing to them ; unless, therefore, some compromise were speedily
effected, and the rebels shipped off to Spain, he feared that, not
merely the authority, but even the person of the admiral would
be in danger ; for though the Hidalgos and the officers and ser
vants immediately about him would, doubtless, die in his service,
the common people were but little to be depended upon.*
Columbus felt the increasing urgency of the case, and sent
the required passport. Roldan came to San Domingo ; but, from
his conduct, it appeared as if his object was to make partisans,
and gain deserters, rather than to effect a reconciliation. He had
several conversations with the admiral, and several letters passed
between them. He made many complaints, and numerous de-
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 153.
204
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I I .
mands ; Columbus made large concessions, but some of the pre
tensions were too arrogant to be admitted.* Nothing definite was
arranged. Roldan departed under the pretext of conferring with
his people, promising to send his terms in writing. The admiral
sent his Mayordomo, Diego de Salamanca, to treat in his behalf.†
On the 6th of November, Roldan wrote a letter from Bonao,
containing his terms, and requesting that a reply might be sent to
him to Conception, as scarcity of provisions obliged him to leave
Bonao. He added that he should wait for a reply until the fol
lowing Monday (the 11th). There was an insolent menace im
plied in this note, accompanied as it was by insolent demands.
The admiral found it impossible to comply with the latter ; but
to manifest his lenient disposition, and to take from the rebels all
plea of rigor, he had a proclamation affixed for thirty days at the
gate of the fortress, promising full indulgence and complete ob
livion of the past to Roldan and his followers, on condition of
their presenting themselves before him and returning to their alle
giance to the crown within a month ; together with free convey
ance for all such as wished to return to Spain ; but threatening to
execute rigorous justice upon those who should not appear within
the limited time. A copy of this paper he sent to Roldan by
Carvajal, with a letter, stating the impossibility of compliance
with his terms, but offering to agree to any compact drawn up
with the approbation of Carvajal and Salamanca.
When Carvajal arrived, he found the veteran Ballester actu
ally besieged in his fortress of Conception by Roldan, under pre
text of claiming, in his official character of alcalde mayor, a
culprit who had taken refuge there from justice. He had cut off
the supply of water from the fort, by way of distressing it into a
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. i. 158. † Hist. del Almirante, cap. 79.
C H A P . I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
205
surrender. When Carvajal posted up the proclamation of the
admiral on the gate of the fortress, the rebels scoffed at the prof
fered amnesty, saying that, in a little while, they would oblige the
admiral to ask the same at their hands. The earnest interces
sions of Carvajal, however, brought the leaders at length to re
flection, and through his mediation articles of capitulation were
drawn up. By these it was agreed that Roldan and his followers
should embark for Spain from the port of Xaragua in two ships,
to be fitted out and victualed within fifty days. That they should
each receive from the admiral a certificate of good conduct, and
an order for the amount of their pay, up to the actual date. That
slaves should be given to them, as had been given to others, in
consideration of services performed ; and as several of their com
pany had wives, natives of the island, who were pregnant, or had
lately been delivered, they might take them with them, if willing
to go, in place of the slaves. That satisfaction should be made
for property of some of the company which had been sequestrated,
and for live stock which had belonged to Francisco Roldan.
There were other conditions, providing for the security of their
persons : and it was stipulated that, if no reply were received to
these terms within eight days, the whole should be void.*
This agreement was signed by Roldan and his companions at
Fort Conception on the 16th of November, and by the admiral
at San Domingo on the 21st. At the same time, he proclaimed
a further act of grace, permitting such as chose to remain in the
island either to come to San Domingo, and enter into the royal
service, or to hold lands in any part of the island. They pre
ferred, however, to follow the fortunes of Roldan, who departed
with his band for Xaragua, to await the arrival of the ships, ac-
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 80.
206
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I .
companied by Miguel Ballester, sent by the admiral to superin
tend the preparations for their embarkation.
Columbus was deeply grieved to have his projected enterprise
to Terra Firma impeded by such contemptible obstacles, and the
ships which should have borne his brother to explore that newly-
found continent, devoted to the use of this turbulent and worthless
rabble. He consoled himself, however, with the reflection, that
all the mischief which had so long been lurking in the island,
would thus be at once shipped off, and thenceforth every thing
restored to order and tranquillity. He ordered every exertion to
be made, therefore, to get the ships in readiness to be sent round
to Xaragua ; but the scarcity of sea-stores, and the difficulty of
completing the arrangements for such a voyage in the disordered
state of the colony, delayed their departure far beyond the stipulated
time. Feeling that he had been compelled to a kind of deception
towards the sovereigns, in the certificate of good conduct given to
Roldan and his followers, he wrote a letter to them, stating
the circumstances under which that certificate had been in a man
ner wrung from him to save the island from utter confusion and
ruin. He represented the real character and conduct of those
men ; how they had rebelled against his authority ; prevented the
Indians from paying tribute ; pillaged the island ; possessed them
selves of large quantities of gold, and carried off the daughters
of several of the caciques. He advised, therefore, that they
should be seized, and their slaves and treasure taken from them,
until their conduct could be properly investigated. This letter he
intrusted to a confidential person, who was to go in one of the
ships.*
The rebels having left the neighborhood, and the affairs of
* HERRERA, Hist. IND., DECAD. i. lib. iii. CAP. 1 6 .
C H A P . I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
207
San Domingo being in a state of security, Columbus put his
brother Don Diego in temporary command, and departed with the
Adelantado on a tour of several months to visit the various sta
tions, and restore the island to order.
The two caravels destined for the use of the rebels sailed from
San Domingo for Xaragua about the end of February ; but, en
countering a violent storm, were obliged to put into one of the
harbors of the island, where they were detained until the end of
March. One was so disabled as to be compelled to return to San
Domingo. Another vessel was dispatched to supply its place, in
which the indefatigable Carvajal set sail, to expedite the embarka
tion of the rebels. He was eleven days in making the voyage,
and found the other caravel at Xaragua.
The followers of Roldan had in the meantime changed their
minds, and now refused to embark ; as usual, they threw all the
blame on Columbus, affirming that he had purposely delayed the
ships far beyond the stipulated time ; that he had sent them in a
state not sea-worthy, and short of provisions, with many other
charges, artfully founded on circumstances over which they knew
he could have no control. Carvajal made a formal protest before
a notary who had accompanied him, and finding that the ships
were suffering great injury from the teredo or worm, and their
provisions failing, he sent them back to San Domingo, and set out
on his return by land. Roldan accompanied him a little distance
on horseback, evidently disturbed in mind. He feared to return
to Spain, yet was shrewd enough to know the insecurity of his
present situation at the head of a band of dissolute men, acting
in defiance of authority. What tie had he upon their fidelity
stronger than the sacred obligations which they had violated ?
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L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I
After riding thoughtfully for some distance, he paused, and re
quested some private conversation with Carvajal before they
parted. They alighted under the shade of a tree. Here Roldan
made further professions of the loyalty of his intentions, and
finally declared, that if the admiral would once more send him a
written security for his person, with the guarantee also of the
principal persons about him, he would come to treat with him,
and trusted that the whole matter would be arranged on terms
satisfactory to both parties. This offer, however, he added, must
be kept secret from his followers.
Carvajal, overjoyed at this prospect of a final arrangement,
lost no time in conveying the proposition of Roldan to the admi
ral. The latter immediately forwarded the required passport or
security, sealed with the royal seal, accompanied by a letter writ
ten in amicable terms, exhorting his quiet obedience to the au
thority of the sovereigns. Several of the principal persons also,
who were with the admiral, wrote, at his request, a letter of se
curity to Roldan, pledging themselves for the safety of himself
and his followers during the negotiation, provided they did nothing
hostile to the royal authority or its representative.
While Columbus was thus, with unwearied assiduity and loyal
zeal, endeavoring to bring the island back to its obedience, he re
ceived a reply from Spain, to the earnest representations made
by him, in the preceding autumn, of the distracted state of the
colony and the outrages of these lawless men, and his prayers for
royal countenance and support. The letter was written by his
invidious enemy, the Bishop Fonseca, superintendent of Indian
affairs. It acknowledged the receipt of his statement of the
alleged insurrection of Roldan, but observed that this matter
CHAP. III]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
203
must be suffered to remain in suspense, as the sovereigns would
investigate and remedy it presently.*
This cold reply had a disheartening effect upon Columbus.
He saw that his complaints had little weight with the government ;
he feared that his enemies were prejudicing him with the sove
reigns ; and he anticipated redoubled insolence on the part of
the rebels, when they should discover how little influence he pos
sessed in Spain. Full of zeal, however, for the success of his
undertaking, and of fidelity to the interests of the sovereigns, he
resolved to spare no personal sacrifice of comfort or dignity in
appeasing the troubles of the island. Eager to expedite the ne
gotiation with Roldan, therefore, he sailed in the latter part of
August with two caravels to the port of Azua, west of San Do
mingo, and much nearer to Xaragua. He was accompanied by
several of the most important personages of the colony. Roldan
repaired thither likewise, with the turbulent Adrian de Moxica
and a number of his band. The concessions already obtained
had increased his presumption ; and he had, doubtless, received
intelligence of the cold manner in which the complaints of the
admiral had been received in Spain. He conducted himself more
like a conqueror, exacting triumphant terms, than a delinquent
seeking to procure pardon by atonement. He came on board of
the caravel, and with his usual effrontery, propounded the pre
liminaries upon which he and his companions were disposed to
negotiate.
First, that he should be permitted to send several of his com
pany, to the number of fifteen, to Spain, in the vessels which were
at San Domingo. Secondly, that those who remained should have
lands granted them, in place of royal pay. Thirdly, that it should
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.
210
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I I .
be proclaimed, that every thing charged against him and his party
had been grounded upon false testimony, and the machinations of
persons disaffected to the royal service. Fourthly, that he should
be reinstated in his office of alcalde mayor, or chief judge.*
These were hard and insolent conditions to commence with,
but they were granted. Roldan then went on shore, and commu-
nicated them to his companions. At the end of two days the insur
gents sent their capitulations, drawn up in form, and couched in
arrogant language, including all the stipulations granted at Fort
Conception, with those recently demanded by Roldan, and con
cluding with one, more insolent than all the rest, namely, that if
the admiral should fail in the fulfillment of any of these articles,
they should have a right to assemble together, and compel his
performance of them by force, or by any other means they might
think proper. † The conspirators thus sought not merely excul
pation of the past, but a pretext for future rebellion.
The mind grows wearied and impatient with recording, and
the heart of the generous reader must burn with indignation at
perusing, this protracted and ineffectual struggle of a man of the
exalted merits and matchless services of Columbus, in the toils
of such miscreants. Surrounded by doubt and danger ; a for
eigner among a jealous people ; an unpopular commander in a
mutinous island ; distrusted and slighted by the government he
was seeking to serve ; and creating suspicion by his very services ;
he knew not where to look for faithful advice, efficient aid, or can
did judgment. The very ground on which he stood seemed giv
ing way under him, for he was told of seditious symptoms among
his own people. Seeing the impunity with which the rebels
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.
† Idem. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 38.
CHAP. I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
211
rioted in the possession of one of the finest parts of the island,
they began to talk among themselves of following their example,
of abandoning the standard of the admiral, and seizing upon the
province of Higuey, at the eastern extremity of the island, which
was said to contain valuable mines of gold.
Thus critically situated, disregarding every consideration of
personal pride and dignity, and determined, at any individual
sacrifice, to secure the interests of an ungrateful sovereign, Co
lumbus forced himself to sign this most humiliating capitulation.
He trusted that afterwards, when he could gain quiet access to
the royal ear, he should be able to convince the king and queen
that it had been compulsory, and forced from him by the extraor
dinary difficulties in which he had been placed, and the imminent
perils of the colony. Before signing it, however, he inserted a
stipulation, that the commands of the sovereigns, of himself, and
of the justices appointed by him, should be punctually obeyed.*
* Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.
212
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I .
CHAPTER IV.
GRANTS MADE TO ROLDAN AND HIS FOLLOWERS.—DEPARTURE
OF SEVERAL OF THE REBELS FOR SPAIN.
[1499.]
WHEN Roldan resumed his office of alcalde mayor, or chief judge,
he displayed all the arrogance to be expected from one who had
intruded himself into power by profligate means. At the city of
San Domingo, he was always surrounded by his faction ; com
muned only with the dissolute and disaffected ; and, having all
the turbulent and desperate men of the community at his beck,
was enabled to intimidate the quiet and loyal by his frowns. He
bore an impudent front against the authority even of Columbus
himself, discharging from office one Rodrigo Perez, a lieutenant
of the admiral, declaring that none but such as he appointed
should bear a staff of office in the island.* Columbus had a diffi
cult and painful task in bearing with the insolence of this man,
and of the shameless rabble which had returned, under his auspi
ces, to the settlements. He tacitly permitted many abuses ;
endeavoring by mildness and indulgence to allay the jealousies
and prejudices awakened against him, and by various concessions
to lure the factious to the performance of their duty. To such
* Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 1C.
CHAP. I V . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
213
of the colonists generally as preferred to remain in the island, he
offered a choice of either royal pay or portions of lands, with a
number of Indians, some free, others as slaves, to assist in the
cultivation. The latter was generally preferred ; and grants
were made out, in which he endeavored, as much as possible, to
combine the benefit of the individual with the interests of the
colony.
Roldan presented a memorial signed by upwards of one hun
dred of his late followers, demanding grants of lands and licenses
to settle, and choosing Xaragua for their place of abode. The
admirai feared to trust such a numerous body of factious parti
sans in so remote a province ; he contrived, therefore, to distribute
them in various parts of the island ; some at Bonao, where their
settlement gave origin to the town of that name ; others on the
bank of the Rio Verde, or Green River, in the Vega ; others
about six leagues thence, at St. Jago. He assigned to them liberal
portions of land, and numerous Indian slaves, taken in the wars.
He made an arrangement, also, by which the caciques in their
vicinity, instead of paying tribute, should furnish parties of their
subjects, free Indians, to assist the colonists in the cultivation of
their lands : a kind of feudal service, which was the origin of the
repartimientos, or distributions of free Indians among the colo
nists, afterwards generally adopted, and shamefully abused,
throughout the Spanish colonies ; a source of intolerable hard
ships and oppressions to the unhappy natives, and which greatly
contributed to exterminate them from the island of Hispaniola.*
Columbus considered the island in the light of a conquered coun
try, and arrogated to himself all the rights of a conqueror, in
the name of the sovereigns for whom he fought. Of course all
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.
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L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I .
his companions in the enterprise were entitled to take part in the
acquired territory, and to establish themselves there as feudal
lords, reducing the natives to the condition of villains or vassals.*
This was an arrangement widely different from his original inten-
tion of treating the natives with kindness, as peaceful subjects of
the crown. But all his plans had been subverted, and his present
measures forced upon him by the exigency of the times, and the
violence of lawless men. He appointed a captain with an armed
band, as a kind of police, with orders to range the provinces ;
oblige the Indians to pay their tributes ; watch over the conduct
of the colonists ; and check the least appearance of mutiny or
insurrection.†
Having sought and obtained such ample provisions for his
followers, Roldan was not more modest in making demands for
himself. He claimed certain lands in the vicinity of Isabella, as
having belonged to him before his rebellion ; also a royal farm,
called La Esperanza, situated on the Vega, and devoted to the
rearing of poultry. These the admiral granted him, with permis-
sion to employ, in the cultivation of the farm, the subjects of the
cacique whose ears had been cut off by Alonzo de Ojeda in his
first military expedition into the Vega. Roldan received also
grants of land in Xaragua, and a variety of live stock from the
cattle and other animals belonging to the crown. These grants
were made to him provisionally, until the pleasure of the sove-
reigns should be known ; for Columbus yet trusted, that when
they should understand the manner in which these conces-
sions had been extorted from him, the ringleaders of the rebels
* Muñoz, Hist. N . Mundo, lib. vi. § 50. † Hist. del Almirante, cap. 84.
‡ Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.
CHAP. I V . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
215
would not merely be stripped of their ill-gotten possessions, but
receive well merited punishment.
Roldan having now enriched himself beyond his hopes, re
quested permission of Columbus to visit his lands. This was
granted with great reluctance. He immediately departed for the
Vega, and stopping at Bonao, his late head-quarters, made Pedro
Requelme, one of his most active confederates, alcalde, or judge
of the place, with the power of arresting all delinquents, and
sending them prisoners to the fortress of Conception, where he
reserved to himself the right of sentencing them. This was an
assumption of powers not vested in his office, and gave great
offence to Columbus. Other circumstances created apprehensions
of further troubles from the late insurgents. Pedro Requelme,
under pretext of erecting farming buildings for his cattle, began
to construct a strong edifice on a hill, capable of being converted
into a formidable fortress. This, it was whispered, was done in
concert with Roldan, by way of securing a strong-hold in case of
need. Being in the neighborhood of the Vega, where so many
of their late partisans were settled, it would form a dangerous
rallying place for any new sedition. The designs of Requelme
were suspected and his proceedings opposed by Pedro de Arana,
a loyal and honorable man, who was on the spot. Representa
tions were made by both parties to the admiral, who prohibited
Requelme from proceeding with the construction of his edifice.*
Columbus had prepared to return, with his brother Don Bar
tholomew, to Spain, where he felt that his presence was of the
utmost importance to place the late events of the island in a
proper light ; having found that his letters of explanation were
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 83, 84.
216
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I .
liable to be counteracted by the misrepresentations of malevolent
enemies. The island, however, was still in a feverish state. He
was not well assured of the fidelity of the late rebels, though so
dearly purchased ; there was a rumor of a threatened descent into
the Vega, by the mountain tribes of Ciguay, to attempt the rescue
of their captive cacique Mayobanex, still detained a prisoner in
the fortress of Conception. Tidings were brought about the same
time from the western parts of the island, that four strange ships
had arrived at the coast, under suspicious appearances. These
circumstances obliged him to postpone his departure, and held him
involved in the affairs of this favorite but fatal island.
The two caravels were dispatched for Spain in the beginning
of October, taking such of the colonists as chose to return, and
among them a number of Roldan's partisans. Some of these took
with them slaves, others carried away the daughters of caciques
whom they had beguiled from their families and homes. At these
iniquities, no less than at many others which equally grieved his
spirit, the admiral was obliged to connive. He was conscious, at
the same time, that he was sending home a reinforcement of ene
mies and false witnesses, to defame his character and traduce his
conduct, but he had no alternative. To counteract, as much as
possible, their misrepresentations, he sent by the same caravel, the
loyal and upright veteran Miguel Ballester, together with Garcia
de Barrantés, empowered to attend to his affairs at court, and fur
nished with the depositions taken relative to the conduct of Roldan
and his accomplices.
In his letters to the sovereigns, he entreated them to inquire
into the truth of the late transactions. He stated his opinion that
his capitulations with the rebels were null and void, for various
reasons, viz.—they had been extorted from him by violence, and
CHAP. I V . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
217
at sea, where he did not exercise the office of viceroy—there had
been two trials relative to the insurrection, and the insurgents
having been condemned as traitors, it was not in the power of the
admiral to absolve them from their criminality—the capitulations
treated of matters touching the royal revenue, over which he had
no control, without the intervention of the proper officers ;—lastly,
Francisco Roldan and his companions, on leaving Spain, had
taken an oath to be faithful to the sovereigns, and to the admiral
in their name, which oath they had violated. For these and sim
ilar reasons, some just, others rather sophistical, he urged the
sovereigns not to consider themselves bound to ratify the compul
sory terms ceded to these profligate men, but to inquire into their
offences, and treat them accordingly.*
He repeated the request made in a former letter, that a learned
judge might be sent out to administer the laws in the island, since
he himself had been charged with rigor, although conscious of
having always observed a guarded clemency. He requested also
that discreet persons should be sent out to form a council, and
others for certain fiscal employments, entreating, however, that
their powers should be so limited and defined, as not to interfere
with his dignity and privileges. He bore strongly on this point ;
as his prerogatives on former occasions had been grievously in
vaded. It appeared to him, he said, that princes ought to show
much confidence in their governors ; for without the royal favor
to give them strength and consequence, every thing went to ruin
under their command ; a sound maxim, forced from the admiral
by his recent experience, in which much of his own perplexities,
and the triumph of the rebels, had been caused by the distrust of
the crown, and its inattention to his remonstrances.
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.
VOL. II.
218
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I .
Finding age and infirmity creeping upon him, and his health
much impaired by his last voyage, he began to think of his son
Diego, as an active coadjutor ; who, being destined as his succes
sor, might gain experience under his eye, for the future discharge
of his high duties. Diego, though still serving as a page at the
court, was grown to man's estate, and capable of entering into the
important concerns of life. Columbus entreated, therefore, that
he might be sent out to assist him, as he felt himself infirm in
health and broken in constitution, and less capable of exertion
than formerly.*
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.
CHAP. V . j
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S . 21!)
CHAPTER V.
A R R I V A L O F O J E D A W I T H A S Q U A D R O N A T T H E W E S T E R N
P A R T O F T H E I S L A N D . R O L D A N S E N T T O M E E T H I M .
[1499]
A M O N G the causes which induced Columbus to postpone his de
parture for Spain, has been mentioned the arrival of four ships
at the western part of the island. These had anchored on the
5th of September in a harbor a little below Jacquemel, apparently
with the design of cutting dye-woods, which abound in that neigh
borhood, and of carrying off the natives for slaves. Further
reports informed him that they were commanded by Alonzo de
Ojeda, the same hot-headed and bold-hearted cavalier who had
distinguished himself on various occasions in the previous voyages
of discovery, and particularly in the capture of the cacique Ca
onabo. Knowing the daring and adventurous spirit of this man,
Columbus felt much disturbed at his visiting the island in this
clandestine manner, on what appeared to be little better than a
freebooting expedition. To call him to account, and oppose his
aggressions, required an agent of spirit and address. No one
seemed better fitted for the purpose than Roldan. He was as
daring as Ojeda, and of a more crafty character. An expedition
of the kind would occupy the attention of himself and his partisans.
p 2
220
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I .
and divert them from any schemes of mischief. The large con
cessions recently made to them would, he trusted, secure their
present fidelity, rendering it more profitable for them to be loyal
than rebellious.
Roldan readily undertook the enterprise. He had nothing
further to gain by sedition, and was anxious to secure his ill-
gotten possessions and atone for past offences by public services.
He was vain as well as active, and took a pride in acquitting
himself well in an expedition which called for both courage and
shrewdness. Departing from San Domingo with two caravels, he
arrived on the 29th of September within two leagues of the har
bor where the ships of Ojeda were anchored. Here he landed
with five-and-twenty resolute followers, well armed, and accus
tomed to range the forests. He sent five scouts to reconnoitre.
They brought word that Ojeda was several leagues distant from his
ships, with only fifteen men, employed in making cassava bread
in an Indian village. Roldan threw himself between them and
the ships, thinking to take them by surprise. They were ap
prised, however, of his approach by the Indians, with whom the
very name of Roldan inspired terror, from his late excesses in
Xaragua. Ojeda saw his danger ; he supposed Roldan had been
sent in pursuit of him, and he found himself cut off from his
ships. With his usual intrepidity he immediately presented him
self before Roldan, attended merely by half a dozen followers.
The latter craftily began by conversing on general topics. He
then inquired into his motives for landing on the island, particu
larly on that remote and lonely part, without first reporting his
arrival to the admiral. Ojeda replied, that he had been on a
voyage of discovery, and had put in there in distress, to repair his
ships and procure provisions. Roldan then demanded, in the
CHAP. V.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
221
name of the government, a sight of the license under which he
sailed. Ojeda, who knew the resolute character of the man he
had to deal with, restrained his natural impetuosity, and replied
that his papers were on board of his ship. He declared his inten
tion, on departing thence, to go to San Domingo, and pay his
homage to the admiral, having many things to tell him which
were for his private ear alone. He intimated to Roldan that the
admiral was in complete disgrace at court ; that there wa3 a talk
of taking from him his command, and that the queen, his patro
ness, was ill beyond all hopes of recovery. This intimation, it is
presumed, was referred to by Roldan in his dispatches to the
admiral, wherein he mentioned that certain things had been com
municated to him by Ojeda, which he did not think it safe to
confide to a letter.
Roldan now repaired to the ships. He found several persons
on board with whom he was acquainted, and who had already
been in Hispaniola. They confirmed the truth of what Ojeda
had said, and showed a license signed by the Bishop of Fonseca,
as superintendent of the affairs of the Indias, authorizing him to
sail on a voyage of discovery.*
It appeared, from the report of Ojeda and his followers, that
the glowing accounts sent home by Columbus of bis late discov
eries on the coast of Paria, his magnificent speculations with
respect to the riches of the newly-found country, and the speci
men of pearls transmitted to the sovereigns, had inflamed the
cupidity of various adventurers. Ojeda happened to be at that
time in Spain. He was a favorite of the Bishop of Fonseca, and
obtained a sight of the letter written by the admiral to the sov
ereigns, and the charts and maps of his route by which it was
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 3.
222
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I .
accompanied. Ojeda knew Columbus to be embarrassed by the
seditions of Hispaniola ; he found, by his conversations with Fon
seca and other of the admiral's enemies, that strong doubts and
jealousies existed in the mind of the king with respect to his con
duct, and that his approaching downfall was confidently predicted.
The idea of taking advantage of these circumstances struck Oje
da, and, by a private enterprise, he hoped to be the first in gath
ering the wealth of these newly-discovered regions. He communi
cated his project to his patron, Fonseca. The latter was but too
ready for any thing that might defeat the plans and obscure the
glory of Columbus ; and it may be added that he always showed
himself more disposed to patronize mercenary adventurers than
upright and high-minded men. He granted Ojeda every facility ;
furnishing him with copies of the papers and charts of Columbus,
by which to direct himself in his course, and a letter of license
signed with his own name, though not with that of the sovereigns.
In this, it was stipulated that he should not touch at any land
belonging to the King of Portugal, nor any that had been dis
covered by Columbus prior to 1495. The last provision shows
the perfidious artifice of Fonseca, as it left Paria and the Pearl
Islands free to the visits of Ojeda, they having been discovered
by Columbus subsequent to the designated year. The ships were
to be fitted out at the charges of the adventurers, and a certain
proportion of the products of the voyage were to be rendered to
the crown.
Under this license Ojeda fitted out four ships at Seville, as
sisted by many eager and wealthy speculators. Among the num
ber was the celebrated Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine merchant,
well acquainted with geography and navigation. The principal
pilot of the expedition was Juan de la Cosa, a mariner of great
C H A P . V ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
223
repute, a disciple of the admiral, whom he had accompanied in his
first voyage of discovery, and in that along the southern coast of
Cuba, and round the island of Jamaica. There were several also
of the mariners, and Bartholomew Roldan, a distinguished pilot,
who had been with Columbus in his voyage to Paria.* Such
was the expedition which, by a singular train of circumstances,
eventually gave the name of this Florentine merchant, Amerigo
Vespucci, to the whole of the New "World.
This expedition had sailed in May, 1499. The adventurers
had arrived on the southern continent, and ranged along its coast,
from two hundred leagues east of the Oronoco, to the Gulf of
Paria. Guided by the charts of Columbus, they had passed
through this gulf, and through the Boca del Dragon, and had kept
along westward to Cape de la Vela, visiting the island of Marga-
rita and the adjacent continent, and discovering the Gulf of Vene-
zuela. They had subsequently touched at the Caribbee Islands,
where they had fought with the fierce natives, and made many
captives, with the intention of selling them in the slave-markets
of Spain. Thence, being in need of supplies, they had sailed to
Hispaniola, having performed the most extensive voyage hitherto
made along the shores of the New World. †
Having collected all the information that he could obtain con-
cerning these voyagers, their adventures and designs, and trusting
to the declaration of Ojeda, that he should proceed forthwith to
present himself to the admiral, Roldan returned to San Domingo
to render a report of his mission.
* Las Casas.
† Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 4 . Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo
part in MS. unpublished.
2 2 4
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[ B O O K X I I .
CHAPTER VI.
MANŒUVRES OP ROLDAN AND OJEDA.
[1500.]
WHEN intelligence was brought to Columbus of the nature of
the expedition of Ojeda, and the license under which he sailed,
he considered himself deeply aggrieved, it being a direct in-
fraction of his most important prerogatives, and sanctioned by
authority which ought to have held them sacred. He awaited
patiently, however, the promised visit of Alonzo de Ojeda to ob-
tain fuller explanations. Nothing was further from the intention
of that roving commander than to keep such promise : he had
made it merely to elude the vigilance of Roldan. As soon ashe
had refitted his vessels and obtained a supply of provisions, he
sailed round to the coast of Xaragua, where he arrived in February.
Here he was well received by the Spaniards resident in that pro-
vince, who supplied all his wants. Among them were many of
the late comrades of Roldan ; loose, random characters, impatient
of order and restraint, and burning with animosity against the
admiral, for having again brought them under the wholesome
authority of the laws.
Knowing the rash and fearless character of Ojeda, and finding
that there were jealousies between him and the admiral, they
CHAP. V I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
225
hailed him as a new leader, come to redress their fancied griev
ances, in place of Roldan, whom they considered as having de
serted them. They made clamorous complaints to Ojeda of the
injustice of the admiral, whom they charged with withholding
from them the arrears of their pay.
Ojeda was a hot-headed man, with somewhat of a vaunting
spirit, and immediately set himself up for a redresser of griev
ances. It is said also, that he gave himself out as authorized by
government, in conjunction with Carvajal, to act as counselors, or
rather supervisors of the admiral ; and that one of the first
measures they were to take, was to enforce the payment of all
salaries due to the servants of the crown.* It is questionable,
however, whether Ojeda made any pretension of the kind, which
could so readily be disproved, and would have tended to disgrace
him with the government. It is probable that he was encouraged
in his intermeddling, chiefly by his knowledge of the tottering
state of the admiral's favor at court, and of his own security in
the powerful protection of Fonseca. He may have imbibed also
the opinion, diligently fostered by those with whom he had chiefly
communicated in Spain, just before his departure, that these peo
ple had been driven to extremities by the oppression of the admi
ral and his brothers. Some feeling of generosity, therefore, may
have mingled with his usual love of action and enterprise, when
he proposed to redress all their wrongs, put himself at their head,
march at once to San Domingo, and oblige the admiral to pay
them on the spot, or expel him from the island.
The proposition of Ojeda was received with acclamations of
transport by some of the rebels ; others made objections. Quar
rels arose : a ruffianly scene of violence and brawl ensued, in
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 84.
2 2 6
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK XII.
which several were killed and wounded on both sides ; but the
party for the expedition to San Domingo remained triumphant.
Fortunately for the peace and safety of the admiral, Roldan
arrived in the neighborhood, just at this critical juncture, attended
by a crew of resolute fellows. He had been dispatched by
Columbus to watch the movements of Ojeda, on hearing of his
arrival on the coast of Xaragua. Apprised of the violent scenes
which were taking place, Roldan, when on the way, sent to his
old confederate Diego de Escobar, to follow him with all the
trusty force he could collect. They reached Xaragua within a
day of each other. An instance of the bad faith usual between
bad men was now evinced. The former partisans of Roldan,
finding him earnest in his intention of serving the government,
and that there was no hope of engaging him in their new sedition,
sought to waylay and destroy him on his march, but his vigilance
and celerity prevented them.*
Ojeda, when he heard of the approach of Roldan and Escobar,
retired on board of his ships. Though of a daring spirit, he had
no inclination, in the present instance, to come to blows, where
there was a certainty of desperate fighting, and no gain ; and
where he must raise his arm against government. Roldan now
issued such remonstrances as had often been ineffectually addressed
to himself. He wrote to Ojeda, reasoning with him on his con
duct, and the confusion he was producing in the island, and
inviting him on shore to an amicable arrangement of all alleged
grievances. Ojeda, knowing the crafty, violent character of Rol
dan, disregarded his repeated messages, and refused to venture
within his power. He even seized one of his messengers, Diego
de Truxillo, and landing suddenly at Xaragua, carried off another
* Hist. del Almirante, ubi sup.
C H A P . V I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
227
of "his followers, named Toribio de Lenares ; both of whom he
detained in irons, on board of his vessel, as hostages for a certain
Juan Pintor, a one-armed sailor, who had deserted, threatening
to hang them if the deserter was not given up.*
Various manœuvres took place between these two well-
matched opponents ; each wary of the address and prowess of the
other. Ojeda made sail, and stood twelve leagues to the north-
ward, to the province of Cahay, one of the most beautiful and
fertile parts of the country, and inhabited by a kind and gentle
people. Here he landed with forty men, seizing upon whatever
he could find of the provisions of the natives. Roldan and Esco-
bar followed along shore, and were soon at his heels. Roldan
then dispatched Escobar in a light canoe, paddled swiftly by
Indians, who approaching within hail of the ship, informed
Ojeda that, since he would not trust himself on shore, Roldan
would come and confer with him on board, if he would send a
boat for him.
Ojeda now thought himself secure of his enemy ; he imme-
diately dispatched a boat within a short distance of the shore,
where the crew lay on their oars, requiring Roldan to come to
them. “ How many may accompany me ?” demanded the latter :
“ Only five or six," was the reply. Upon this Diego de Escobar
and four others waded to the boat. The crew refused to admit
more. Roldan then ordered one man to carry him to the barge,
and another to walk by his side, and assist him. By this strata-
gem, his party was eight strong. The instant he entered the
boat, he ordered the oarsmen to row to shore. On their refusing,
he and his companions attacked them sword in hand, wounded
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 169, MS.
228
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I I .
several, and made all prisoners, excepting an Indian archer, who,
plunging under the water, escaped by swimming.
This was an important triumph for Roldan. Ojeda, anxious
for the recovery of his boat, which was indispensable for the ser
vice of the ship, now made overtures of peace. He approached
the shore in his remaining boat of small size, taking with him his
principal pilot, an arquebusier, and four oarsmen. Roldan entered
the boat he had just captured, with seven rowers and fifteen fight
ing men, causing fifteen others to be ready on shore to embark in
a large canoe, in case of need. A characteristic interview took
place between these doughty antagonists, each keeping warily on
his guard. Their conference was carried on at a distance. Ojeda
justified his hostile movements by alleging that Roldan had come
with an armed force to seize him. This the latter positively
denied, promising him the most amicable reception from the
admiral, in case he would repair to San Domingo. An arrange
ment was at length effected ; the boat was restored, and mutual
restitution of the men took place, with the exception of Juan
Pintor, the one-armed deserter, who had absconded ; and on the
following day, Ojeda, according to agreement, set sail to leave the
island, threatening however to return at a future time with more
ships and men.*
Roldan waited in the neighborhood, doubting the truth of his
departure. In the course of a few days, word was brought that
Ojeda had landed on a distant part of the coast. He immedi
ately pursued him with eighty men, in canoes, sending scouts by
land. Before he arrived at the place, Ojeda had again made sail,
and Roldan saw and heard no more of him. Las Casas asserts,
* Letter of Columbus to the Nurse of Prince Juan.
C H A P . V I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
229
however, that Ojeda departed either to some remote district of
Hispaniola, or to the island of Porto Rico, where he made up
what he called his Cavalgada, or drove of slaves ; carrying off
numbers of the unhappy natives, whom he sold in the slave-mar
ket of Cadiz.*
* Las Casas, ib. i. cap. 169.
230
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I .
CHAPTER VII.
CONSPIRACY OF GUEVARA AND MOXICA.
[1500.]
WHEN men have been accustomed to act falsely, they take great
merit to themselves for an exertion of common honesty. The
followers of Roldan were loud in trumpeting forth their unwonted
loyalty, and the great services they had rendered to government
in driving Ojeda from the island. Like all reformed knaves, they
expected that their good conduct would be amply rewarded.
Looking upon their leader as having every thing in his gift, and
being well pleased with the delightful province of Cahay, they
requested him to share the land among them, that they might settle
there. Roldan would have had no hesitation in granting their
request, had it been made during his freebooting career ; but he
was now anxious to establish a character for adherence to the
laws. He declined, therefore, acceding to their wishes, until sanc
tioned by the admiral. Knowing, however, that he had fostered
a spirit among these men which it was dangerous to contradict,
and that their rapacity, by long indulgence, did not admit of delay,
he shared among them certain lands of his own, in the territory
of his ancient host Behechio, cacique of Xaragua. He then
wrote to the admiral for permission to return to San Domingo,
and received a letter in reply, giving him many thanks and com-
CHAP. V I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
231
mendations for the diligence and address which he had manifested,
but requesting him to remain for a time in Xaragua, lest Ojeda
should be yet hovering about the coast, and disposed to make
another descent in that province.
The troubles of the island were not yet at an end, but were
destined again to break forth, and from somewhat of a romantic
cause. There arrived about this time, at Xaragua, a young cava
lier of noble family, named Don Hernando de Guevara. He
possessed an agreeable person and winning manners, but was
headstrong in his passions and dissolute in his principles. He
was cousin to Adrian de Moxica, one of the most active ring
leaders in the late rebellion of Roldan, and had conducted him
self with such licentiousness at San Domingo, that Columbus had
banished him from the island. There being no other opportunity
of embarking, he had been sent to Xaragua, to return to Spain
in one of the ships of Ojeda, but arrived after their departure.
Roldan received him favorably, on account of his old comrade,
Adrian de Moxica, and permitted him to choose some place of
residence until further orders concerning him should arrive from
the admiral. He chose the province of Cahay, at the place
where Roldan had captured the boat of Ojeda. It was a delight
ful part of that beautiful coast ; but the reason why Guevara
chose it, was the vicinity to Xaragua. While at the latter place,
in consequence of the indulgence of Roldan, he was favorably
received at the house of Anacaona, the widow of Caonabo, and
sister of the cacique Behechio. That remarkable woman still
retained her partiality to the Spaniards, notwithstanding the dis
graceful scenes which had passed before her eyes ; and the native
dignity of her character had commanded the respect even of the
dissolute rabble which infested her province. By her late hus-
232
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I .
band, the cacique Caonabo, she had a daughter named Higuena-
mota, just grown up, and greatly admired for her beauty. Gue
vara, being often in company with her, a mutual attachment
ensued. It was to be near her that he chose Cahay as a resi
dence, at a place where his cousin Adrian de Moxica kept a
number of dogs and hawks, to be employed in the chase. Gue
vara delayed his departure. Roldan discovered the reason, and
warned him to desist from his pretensions and leave the province.
Las Casas intimates that Roldan was himself attached to the
young Indian beauty, and jealous of her preference of his rival.
Anacaona, the mother, pleased with the gallant appearance and
ingratiating manners of the youthful cavalier, favored his attach
ment ; especially as he sought her daughter in marriage. Not
withstanding the orders of Roldan, Guevara still lingered in
Xaragua, in the house of Anacaona ; and sending for a priest,
desired him to baptize his intended bride.
Hearing of this, Roldan sent for Guevara, and rebuked him
sharply for remaining at Xaragua, and attempting to deceive a
person of the importance of Anacaona, by ensnaring the affec
tions of her daughter. Guevara avowed the strength of his
passion, and his correct intentions, and entreated permission to
remain. Roldan was inflexible. He alleged that some evil con
struction might be put on his conduct by the admiral ; but it is
probable his true motive was a desire to send away a rival, who
interfered with his own amorous designs. Guevara obeyed ; but
had scarce been three days at Cahay, when unable to remain
longer absent from the object of his passion, he returned to Xara
gua, accompanied by four or five friends, and concealed himself
in the dwelling of Anacaona. Roldan, who was at that time con
fined by a malady in his eyes, being apprised of his return, sent
CHAP. V I I ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
233
orders for him to depart instantly to Cahay. The young cavalier
assumed a tone of defiance. He warned Roldan not to make foes
when he had such great need of friends ; for, to his certain know
ledge, the admiral intended to behead him. Upon this, Roldan
commanded him to quit that part of the island, and repair to San
Domingo, to present himself before the admiral. The thoughts
of being banished entirely from the vicinity of his Indian beauty,
checked the vehemence of the youth. He changed his tone of
haughty defiance into one of humble supplication ; and Roldan,
appeased by this submission, permitted him to remain for the
present in the neighborhood.
Roldan had instilled willfulness and violence into the hearts
of his late followers, and now was doomed to experience the
effects. Guevara, incensed at his opposition to his passion, medi
tated revenge. He soon made a party among the old comrades
of Roldan, who detested, as a magistrate, the man they had idol
ized as a leader. It was concerted to rise suddenly upon him,
and either to kill him or put out his eyes. Roldan was apprised
of the plot, and proceeded with his usual promptness. Guevara
was seized in the dwelling of Anacaona, in the presence of his
intended bride ; seven of his accomplices were likewise arrested.
Roldan immediately sent an account of the affair to the admiral,
professing, at present, to do nothing without his authority, and
declaring himself not competent to judge impartially in the case.
Columbus, who was at that time at Fort Conception, in the Vega,
ordered the prisoner to be conducted to the fortress of San Do
mingo.
The vigorous measures of Roldan against his old comrades,
produced commotions in the island. When Adrian de Moxica
heard that his cousin Guevara was a prisoner, and that, too, by
VOL. II.
234
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I .
command of his former confederate, he was highly exasperated,
and resolved on vengeance. Hastening to Bonao, the old haunt
of rebellion, he obtained the co-operation of Pedro Requelme, the
recently appointed alcalde. They went round among their late
companions in rebellion, who had received lands and settled in
various parts of the Vega, working upon their ready passions,
and enlisting their feelings in the cause of an old comrade.
These men seem to have had an irresistible propensity to sedition.
Guevara was a favorite with them all ; the charms of the Indian
beauty had probably their influence ; and the conduct of Roldan
was pronounced a tyrannical interference, to prevent a marriage
agreeable to all parties, and beneficial to the colony. There is no
being so odious to his former associates as a reformed robber, or
a rebel, enlisted in the service of justice. The old scenes of fac
tion were renewed ; the weapons which had scarce been hung up
from the recent rebellions, were again snatched down from the
walls, and rash preparations were made for action. Moxica soon
saw a body of daring and reckless men ready, with horse and
weapon, to follow him on any desperate enterprise. Blinded by
the impunity which had attended their former outrages, he now
threatened acts of greater atrocity, meditating, not merely the
rescue of his cousin, but the death of Roldan and the admiral.
Columbus was at Fort Conception, with an inconsiderable
force, when this dangerous plot was concerted in his very neigh
borhood. Not dreaming of any further hostilities from men on
whom he had lavished favors, he would doubtless have fallen into
their power, had not intelligence been brought him of the plot by
a deserter from the conspirators. He saw at a glance the perils
by which he was surrounded, and the storm about to burst upon
the island. It was no longer a time for lenient measures ; he
CHAP. V I L ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
235
determined to strike a blow which should crush the very head of
rebellion.
Taking with him but six or seven trusty servants, and three
esquires, all well armed, he set out in the night for the place
where the ringleaders were quartered. Confiding probably in
the secrecy of their plot, and the late passiveness of the admiral,
they appear to have been perfectly unguarded. Columbus came
upon them by surprise, seized Moxica and several of his principal
confederates, and bore them off to Fort Conception. The moment
was critical ; the Vega was ripe for a revolt ; he had the fomenter
of the conspiracy in his power, and an example was called for,
that should strike terror into the factious. He ordered Moxica to
be hanged on the top of the fortress. The latter entreated to be
allowed to confess himself previous to execution. A priest was
summoned. The miserable Moxica, who had been so arrogant
in rebellion, lost all courage at the near approach of death. He
delayed to confess, beginning and pausing, and recommencing,
and again hesitating, as if he hoped, by whiling away time, to
give a chance for rescue. Instead of confessing his own sins, he
accused others of criminality, who were known to be innocent ;
until Columbus, incensed at this falsehood and treachery, and
losing all patience, in his mingled indignation and scorn, ordered
the dastard wretch to be swung off from the battlements.*
This sudden act of severity was promptly followed up. Sev
eral of the accomplices of Moxica were condemned to death and
thrown in irons to await their fate. Before the conspirators had
time to recover from their astonishment, Pedro Eequelme was
taken, with several of his compeers, in his ruffian den at Bonao,
and conveyed to the fortress of San Domingo ; where was also
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 5.
Q 2
236
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F
[BOOK X I I .
confined the original mover of this second rebellion, Hernando de
Guevara, the lover of the young Indian princess. These unex
pected acts of rigor, proceeding from a quarter which had been
long so lenient, had the desired effect. The conspirators fled for
the most part to Xaragua, their old and favorite retreat. They
were not suffered to congregate their again, and concert new sedi
tions. The Adelantado, seconded by Roldan, pursued them with
his characteristic rapidity of movement and vigor of arm. It has
been said that he carried a priest with him, in order that, as he
arrested delinquents, they might be confessed and hanged upon
the spot ; but the more probable account is that he transmitted
them prisoners to San Domingo. He had seventeen of them at
one time confined in one common dungeon, awaiting their trial,
while he continued in indefatigable pursuit of the remainder.*
These were prompt and severe measures ; but when we con
sider how long Columbus had borne with these men ; how much
he had ceded and sacrificed to them ; how he had been interrupted
in all his great undertakings, and the welfare of the colony de
stroyed by their contemptible and seditious brawls ; how they had
abused his lenity, defied his authority, and at length attempted his
life,—we cannot wonder that he should at last let fall the sword
of justice, which he had hitherto held suspended.
The power of faction was now completely subdued ; and the
good effects of the various measures taken by Columbus, since
his last arrival, for the benefit of the island, began to appear.
The Indians, seeing the inefficacy of resistance, submitted to the
yoke. Many gave signs of civilization, having, in some instances,
adopted clothing and embraced Christianity. Assisted by their
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 170, M S . Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv.
cap. 7.
CHAP. V I L ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
237
labors the Spaniards now cultivated their lands diligently, and
there was every appearance of settled and regular prosperity.
Columbus considered all this happy change as brought about
by the especial intervention of heaven. In a letter to Dona Juana
de la Torre, a lady of distinction, aya or nurse of Prince Juan, he
gives an instance of those visionary fancies to which he was sub
ject in times of illness and anxiety. In the preceding winter, he
says, about the festival of Christmas, when menaced by In
dian war and domestic rebellion, when distrustful of those around
him and apprehensive of disgrace at court, he sank for a time
into complete despondency. In this hour of gloom, when aban
doned to despair, he heard in the night a voice addressing him in
words of comfort, “ Oh man of little faith ! why art thou cast
down ? Fear nothing, I will provide for thee. The seven years
of the term of gold are not expired ; in that, and in all other
things, I will take care of thee."
The seven years term of gold here mentioned, alludes to a
vow made by Columbus on discovering the New World, and re
corded by him in a letter to the sovereigns, that within seven
years he would furnish, from the profits of his discoveries, fifty
thousand foot and five thousand horse, for the deliverance of the
holy sepulchre, and an additional force of like amount, within five
years afterwards.
The comforting assurance given him by the voice was cor
roborated, he says, that very day, by intelligence received of the
discovery of a large tract of country rich in mines.* This im
aginary promise of divine aid thus mysteriously given, appeared
to him at present in still greater progress of fulfillment. The
* Letter of Columbus to the nurse of Prince Juan. Hist. del Almirante,
cap. 84.
2 3 8
LIFE A N D VOYAGES, ETC.
[BOOK X I I .
troubles and dangers of the island had been succeeded by tran
quillity. He now anticipated the prosperous prosecution of his
favorite enterprise, so long interrupted,—the exploring of the
regions of Paria, and the establishment of a fishery in the Gulf
of Pearls. How illusive were his hopes ! At this moment
events were maturing which were to overwhelm him with distress,
strip him of his honors, and render him comparatively a wreck
for the remainder of his days !
BOOK XIII.
C H A P T E R I .
REPRESENTATIONS AT COURT AGAINST COLUMBUS.—BOBA
DILLA EMPOWERED TO EXAMINE INTO HIS CONDUCT.
[ 1 5 0 0 ]
WHILE Columbus was involved in a series of difficulties in the
factious island of Hispaniola, his enemies were but too successful
in undermining his reputation in the court of Spain. The report
brought by Ojeda of his anticipated disgrace was not entirely un
founded ; the event was considered near at hand, and every per
fidious exertion was made to accelerate it. Every vessel from
the New World came freighted with complaints, representing Co
lumbus and his brothers as new men, unaccustomed to command,
inflated by their sudden rise from obscurity ; arrogant and insult
ing towards men of birth and lofty spirit ; oppressive of the com
mon people, and cruel in their treatment of the natives. The
insidious and illiberal insinuation was continually urged, that they
were foreigners, who could have no interest in the glory of Spain,
or the prosperity of Spaniards ; and contemptible as this plea
may seem, it had a powerful effect. Columbus was even accused
of a design to cast off all allegiance to Spain, and either make
240
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I I .
himself sovereign of the countries he had discovered, or yield
them into the hands of some other power : a slander which, how
ever extravagant, was calculated to startle the jealous mind of
Ferdinand.
It is true, that by every ship Columbus likewise sent home
statements, written with the frankness and energy of truth, setting
forth the real cause and nature of the distractions of the island,
and pointing out and imploring remedies, which, if properly ap
plied, might have been efficacious. His letters, however, arriving
at distant intervals, made but single and transient impressions on the
royal mind, which were speedily effaced by the influence of daily
and active misrepresentation. His enemies at court, having con
tinual access to the sovereigns, were enabled to place every thing
urged against him in the strongest point of view, while they se
cretly neutralized the force of his vindications. They used a
plausible logic to prove either bad management or bad faith on
his part. There was an incessant drain upon the mother country
for the support of the colony. Was this compatible with the ex
travagant pictures he had drawn of the wealth of the island, and
its golden mountains, in which he had pretended to find the Ophir
of ancient days, the source of all the riches of Solomon ? They
inferred that he had either deceived the sovereigns by designing
exaggerations, or grossly wronged them by malpractices, or wa3
totally incapable of the duties of government.
The disappointment of Ferdinand, in finding his newly-dis
covered possessions a source of expense instead of profit, was
known to press sorely on his mind. The wars, dictated by his
ambition, had straitened his resources, and involved him in per
plexities. He had looked with confidence to the New World for
relief, and for ample means to pursue his triumphs ; and grew
CHAP. I.]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
241
impatient at the repeated demands which it occasioned on his scanty-
treasury. For the purpose of irritating his feelings and height
ening his resentment, every disappointed and repining man who
returned from the colony was encouraged, by the hostile faction,
to put in claims for pay withheld by Columbus, or losses sustained
in his service. This was especially the case with the disorderly
ruffians shipped off to free the island from sedition. Finding
their way to the court at Granada, they followed the king when
he rode out, filling the air with their complaints, and clamoring
for their pay. At one time, about fifty of these vagabonds found
their way into the inner court of the Alhambra, under the royal
apartments ; holding up bunches of grapes, as the meagre diet
left them by their poverty, and railing aloud at the deceits of Co
lumbus, and the cruel neglect of government. The two sons of
Columbus, who were pages to the queen, happening to pass by,
they followed them with imprecations, exclaiming, “ There go the
sons of the admiral, the whelps of him who discovered the land
of vanity and delusion, the grave of Spanish hidalgos.”*
The incessant repetition of falsehood will gradually wear its
way into the most candid mind. Isabella herself began to enter
tain doubts respecting the conduct of Columbus. "Where there
was such universal and incessant complaint, it seemed reasonable
to conclude that there must exist some fault. If Columbus and his
brothers were upright, they might be injudicious ; and, in govern
ment, mischief is oftener produced through error of judgment,
than iniquity of design. The letters written by Columbus him
self presented a lamentable picture of the confusion of the island.
Might not this arise from the weakness and incapacity of the
rulers ? Even granting that the prevalent abuses arose in a great
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 85.
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L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I I .
measure from the enmity of the people to the admiral and his
brothers, and their prejudices against them as foreigners, was it
safe to intrust so important and distant a command to persons so
unpopular with the community ?
These considerations had much weight in the candid mind of
Isabella, but they were all-powerful with the cautious and jealous
Ferdinand. He had never regarded Columbus with real cor-
diality ; and ever since he had ascertained the importance of his
discoveries, had regretted the extensive powers vested in his hands.
The excessive clamors which had arisen during the brief admin-
istration of the Adelantado, and the breaking out of the faction
of Roldan, at length determined the king to send out some person
of consequence and ability, to investigate the affairs of the colony,
and, if necessary for its safety, to take upon himself the command.
This important and critical measure it appears had been decided
upon, and the papers and powers actually drawn out, in the spring
of 1499. It was not carried into effect, however, until the follow-
ing year. Various reasons have been assigned for this delay.
The important services rendered by Columbus in the discovery
of Paria and the Pearl Islands, may have had some effect on the
royal mind. The necessity of fitting out an armament just at that
moment, to co-operate with the Venetians against the Turks ; the
menacing movements of the new king of France, Louis XII ; the
rebellion of the Moors of the Alpuxarra mountains in the lately
conquered kingdom of Granada ; all these have been alleged as
reasons for postponing a measure which called for much considera-
tion, and might have important effects upon the newly-discovered
possessions.* The most probable reason, however, was the strong
disinclination of Isabella to take so harsh a step against a man for
* Muños, Hist. N . Mundo, part unpublished.
CHAP. I.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
243
whom she entertained such ardent gratitude and high admira
tion.
At length the arrival of the ships with the late followers of
Roldan, according to their capitulation, brought matters to a crisis.
It is true, that Ballester and Barrantes came in these ships, to
place the affairs of the island in a proper light ; but they brought
out a host of witnesses in favor of Roldan, and letters written by
himself and his confederates, attributing all their late conduct to the
tyranny of Columbus and his brothers. Unfortunately, the testimony
of the rebels had the greatest weight with Ferdinand ; and there
was a circumstance in the case which suspended for a time the
friendship of Isabella, hitherto the greatest dependence of Columbus.
Having a maternal interest in the welfare of the natives, the
queen had been repeatedly offended by what appeared to her per
tinacity on the part of Columbus, in continuing to make slaves of
those taken in warfare, in contradiction to her known wishes.
The same ships which brought home the companions of Roldan,
brought likewise a great number of slaves. Some, Columbus had
been obliged to grant to these men by the articles of capitulation ;
others they had brought away clandestinely. Among them were
several daughters of caciques, seduced away from their families
and their native island by these profligates. Some of these were
in a state of pregnancy, others had new-born infants. The gifts
and transfers of these unhappy beings were all ascribed to the
will of Columbus, and represented to Isabella in the darkest
colors. Her sensibility as a woman, and her dignity as a queen,
were instantly in arms. “ What power,” exclaimed she indig
nantly, “ has the admiral to give away my vassals ?”* Determined,
by one decided and peremptory act, to show her abhorrence of
* Las Casas, lib. i.
244
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I I .
these outrages upon humanity, she ordered all the Indians to be
restored to their country and friends. Nay more, her measure
was retrospective. She commanded that those formerly sent to
Spain by the admiral, should be sought out, and sent back to His
paniola. Unfortunately for Columbus, at this very juncture, in
one of his letters, he advised the continuance of Indian slavery
for some time longer, as a measure important for the welfare of
the colony. This contributed to heighten the indignation of Isa
bella, and induced her no longer to oppose the sending out of a
commission to investigate his conduct, and, if necessary, to super
sede him in command.
Ferdinand was exceedingly embarrassed in appointing this
commission, between his sense of what was due to the character
and services of Columbus, and his anxiety to retract with delicacy
the powers vested in him. A pretext at length was furnished by
the recent request of the admiral that a person of talents and
probity, learned in the law, might be sent out to act as chief
judge ; and that an impartial umpire might be appointed, to
decide in the affair between himself and Roldan. Ferdinand
proposed to consult his wishes, but to unite those two officers in
one ; and as the person he appointed would have to decide in
matters touching the highest functions of the admiral and his
brothers, he was empowered, should he find them culpable, to
supersede them in the government ; a singular mode of insuring
partiality !
The person chosen for this momentous and delicate office was
Don Francisco de Bobadilla, an officer of the royal household,
and a commander of the military and religious order of Calatrava.
Oviedo pronounces him a very honest and religious man ;* but
* Oviedo, Cronica, lib. iii. cap. G.
CHAP I.]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
245
he is represented by others, and his actions corroborate the
description, as needy, passionate, and ambitious ; three powerful
objections to his exercising the rights of judicature in a case
requiring the utmost patience, candor, and circumspection, and
where the judge was to derive wealth and power from the con
viction of one of the parties.
The authority vested in Bobadilla is defined in letters from
the sovereigns still extant, and which deserve to be noticed chro
nologically ; for the royal intentions appear to have varied with
times and circumstances. The first was dated on the 21st of
March, 1499, and mentions the complaint of the admiral, that an
alcalde, and certain other persons, had risen in rebellion against
him. “ Wherefore,” adds the letter, “ we order you to inform
yourself of the truth of the foregoing ; to ascertain who and what
persons they were who rose against the said admiral and our
magistracy, and for what cause ; and what robberies and other
injuries they have committed ; and furthermore, to extend your
inquiries to all other matters relating to the premises ; and the
information obtained, and the truth known, whomsoever you find
culpable, arrest their persons, and sequestrate their effects ; and
thus taken, proceed against them and the absent, both civilly and
criminally, and impose and inflict such fines and punishments as
you may think fit." To carry this into effect, Bobadilla was
authorized, in case of necessity, to call in the assistance of the
admiral, and of all other persons in authority.
The powers here given are manifestly directed merely against
the rebels, and in consequence of the complaints of Columbus.
Another letter, dated on the 21st of May, two months subse
quently, is of quite different purport. It makes no mention of
Columbus, but is addressed to the various functionaries and men
246
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I I .
of property of the islands and Terra Firma, informing them of
the appointment of Bobadilla to the government, with full civil
and criminal jurisdiction. Among the powers specified, is the
following :—“ It is our will, that if the said commander, Francisco
de Bobadilla, should think it necessary for our service, and the
purposes of justice, that any cavaliers, or other persons who are
at present in those islands, or may arrive there, should leave
them, and not return and reside in them, and that they should
come and present themselves before us, he may command it in
our name, and oblige them to depart ; and whomsoever he thus
commands, we hereby order, that immediately, without waiting to
inquire or consult us, or to receive from us any other letter or
command, and without interposing appeal or supplication, they
obey whatever he shall say and order, under the penalties which
he shall impose on our part,” &c. &c.
Another letter, dated likewise on the 21st of May, in which
Columbus is styled simply “admiral of the ocean sea," orders
him and his brothers to surrender the fortress, ships, houses, arms,
ammunition, cattle, and all other royal property, into the hands
of Bobadilla, as governor, under penalty of incurring the punish
ments to which those subject themselves who refuse to surrender
fortresses and other trusts, when commanded by their sovereigns.
A fourth letter, dated on the 26th of May, and addressed to
Columbus, simply by the title of admiral, is a mere letter of cre
dence, ordering him to give faith and obedience to whatever
Bobadilla should impart.
The second and third of these letters were evidently provi
sional, and only to be produced, if, on examination, there should
appear such delinquency on the part of Columbus and his brothers
as to warrant their being divested of command.
CHAP. I ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
2 4 7
This heavy blow, as has been shown, remained suspended for
a year ; yet, that it was whispered about, and triumphantly antici
pated by the enemies of Columbus, is evident from the assertions
of Ojeda, who sailed from Spain about the time of the signature
of those letters, and had intimate communications with Bishop
Fonseca, who was considered instrumental in producing this
measure. The very license granted by the bishop to Ojeda to
sail on a voyage of discovery in contravention of the prerogatives
of the admiral, has the air of being given on a presumption of
his speedy downfall ; and the same presumption, as has already
been observed, must have encouraged Ojeda in his turbulent con
duct at Xaragua.
At length the long-projected measure was carried into effect.
Bobadilla set sail for San Domingo about the middle of July, 1500,
with two caravels, in which were twenty-five men, enlisted for a
year, to serve as a kind of guard. There were six friars likewise,
who had charge of a number of Indians sent back to their country.
Besides the letters patent, Bobadilla was authorized, by royal
order, to ascertain and discharge all arrears of pay due to persons
in the service of the crown ; and to oblige the admiral to pay
what was due on his part, “ so that those people might receive
what was owing to them, and there might be no more complaints."
In addition to all these powers, Bobadilla was furnished with
many blank letters signed by the sovereigns, to be filled up by
him in such manner, and directed to such persons, as he might
think advisable, in relation to the mission with which he was
intrusted.*
* Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 7.
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L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I I
CHAPTER II.
ARRIVAL OF BOBADILLA AT SAN DOMINGO.—HIS VIOLENT
ASSUMPTION OF THE COMMAND.
[1500.]
COLUMBUS was still at Fort Conception, regulating the affairs of
the Vega, after the catastrophe of the sedition of Moxica ; his
brother, the Adelantado, accompanied by Roldan, was pursuing
and arresting the fugitive rebels in Xaragua ; and Don Diego
Columbus remained in temporary command at San Domingo.
Faction had worn itself out ; the insurgents had brought down
ruin upon themselves ; and the island appeared delivered from
the domination of violent and lawless men.
Such was the state of public affairs, when, on the morning of
the 23d of August, two caravels were descried off the harbor of
San Domingo, about a league at sea. They were standing off
and on, waiting until the sea breeze, which generally prevails
about ten o'clock, should carry them into port. Don Diego Co
lumbus supposed them to be ships sent from Spain with supplies,
and hoped to find on board his nephew Diego, whom the admiral
had requested might be sent out to assist him in his various con
cerns. A canoe was immediately dispatched to obtain informa
tion ; which, approaching the caravels, inquired what news they
brought, and whether Diego, the son of the admiral, was on board.
CHAP. I I . ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
249
Bobadilla himself replied from the principal vessel, announcing
himself as a commissioner sent out to investigate the late rebel
lion. The master of the caravel then inquired about the news
of the island, and was informed of the recent transactions. Seven
of the rebels, he was told, had been hanged that week, and five
more were in the fortress of San Domingo, condemned to suffer
the same fate. Among these were Pedro Requelme and Fernan
do de Guevara, the young cavalier whose passion for the daughter
of Anacaona had been the original cause of the rebellion. Fur
ther conversation passed, in the course of which Bobadilla ascer
tained that the admiral and the Adelantado were absent, and Don
Diego Columbus in command.
When the canoe returned to the city, with the news that a
commissioner had arrived to make inquisition into the late troubles,
there was a great stir and agitation throughout the community.
Knots of whisperers gathered at every corner ; those who were
conscious of malpractices were filled with consternation ; while
those who had grievances, real or imaginary, to complain of, es
pecially those whose pay was in arrear, appeared with joyful
countenances.*
As the vessels entered the river, Bobadilla beheld on either
oank a gibbet with the body of a Spaniard hanging on it, appa
rently but lately executed. He considered these as conclusive
proofs of the alleged cruelty of Columbus. Many boats came
off to the ship, every one being anxious to pay early court to this
public censor. Bobadilla remained on board all day, in the course
of which he collected much of the rumors of the place ; and as
those who sought to secure his favor, were those who had most to
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind lib. i. cap. 169. Herrera, Hist. Ind. decad. i. lib.
v. cap. 8.
vol.. II.
R
250
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I I .
fear from his investigations, it is evident that the nature of the
rumors must generally have been unfavorable to Columbus. In
fact, before Bobadilla landed, if not before he arrived, the culpa
bility of the admiral was decided in his mind.
The next morning he landed with all his followers, and went
to the church to attend mass, where he found Don Diego Colum
bus, Rodrigo Perez, the lieutenant of the admiral, and other
persons of note. Mass being ended, and those persons, with a
multitude of the populace, being assembled at the door of the
church, Bobadilla ordered his letters patent to be read, authoriz
ing him to investigate the rebellion, seize the persons, and seques
trate the property of delinquents, and proceed against them with
the utmost rigor of the law ; commanding also the admiral, and
all others in authority, to assist him in the discharge of his duties.
The letter being read, he demanded of Don Diego and the alcaldes,
to surrender to him the persons of Fernando Guevara, Pedro
Requelme, and the other prisoners, with the depositions taken
concerning them ; and ordered that the parties by whom they
were accused, and those by whose command they had been taken,
should appear before him.
Don Diego replied, that the proceedings had emanated from
the orders of the admiral, who held superior powers to any Boba
dilla could possess, and without whose authority he could do noth
ing. He requested, at the same time, a copy of the letter patent,
that he might send it to his brother, to whom alone the matter
appertained. This Bobadilla refused, observing that, if Don
Diego had power to do nothing, it was useless to give him a copy.
He added, that since the office and authority he had proclaimed
appeared to have no weight, he would try what power and conse
quence there was in the name of governor ; and would show them
CHAP. I I . ]
C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
251
that he had command, not merely over them, but over the admiral
himself.
The little community remained in breathless suspense, await
ing the portentous movements of Bobadilla. The next morning
he appeared at mass, resolved on assuming those powers which
were only to have been produced after full investigation, and
ample proof of the mal-conduct of Columbus. When mass was
over, and the eager populace had gathered round the door of the
church, Bobadilla, in presence of Don Diego and Rodrigo Perez,
ordered his other royal patent to be read, investing him with the
government of the islands, and of Terra Firma.
The patent being read, Bobadilla took the customary oath, and
then claimed the obedience of Don Diego, Rodrigo Perez, and all
present, to this royal instrument ; on the authority of which he
again demanded the prisoners confined in the fortress. In reply,
they professed the utmost deference to the letter of the sovereigns,
but again observed that they held the prisoners in obedience to
the admiral, to whom the sovereigns had granted letters of a
higher nature.
The self-importance of Bobadilla was incensed at this non
compliance, especially as he saw it had some effect upon the popu
lace, who appeared to doubt his authority. He now produced the
third mandate of the crown, ordering Columbus and his brothers
to deliver up all fortresses, ships, and other royal property. To
win the public completely to his side, he read also the additional
mandate issued on the 30th of May, of the same year, ordering
him to pay the arrears of wages due to all persons in the royal
service, and to compel the admiral to pay the arrears of those to
whom he was accountable.
This last document was received with shouts by the multitude,
R 2
252
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I I .
many having long arrears due to them in consequence of the
poverty of the treasury. Flushed with his growing importance,
Bobadilla again demanded the prisoners ; threatening, if refused,
to take them by force. Meeting with the same reply, he repaired
to the fortress to execute his threats. This post was commanded
by Miguel Diaz, the same Arragonian cavalier who had once
taken refuge among the Indians on the banks of the Ozema, won
the affections of the female cacique Catalina, received from her
information of the neighboring gold mines, and induced his coun
trymen to remove to those parts.
"When Bobadilla came before the fortress, he found the gates
closed, and the alcayde, Miguel Diaz, upon the battlements. He
ordered his letters patent to be read with a loud voice, the signa
tures and seals to be held up to view, and then demanded the sur
render of the prisoners. Diaz requested a copy of the letters ; but
this Bobadilla refused, alleging that there was no time for delay,
the prisoners being under sentence of death, and liable at any
moment to be executed. He threatened at the same time, that if
they were not given up, he would proceed to extremities, and Diaz
should be answerable for the consequences. The wary alcayde
again required time to reply, and a copy of the letters ; saying
that he held the fortress for the king, by the command of the ad
miral, his lord, who had gained these territories and islands, and
that when the latter arrived, he should obey his orders.*
The whole spirit of Bobadilla was roused within him, at the
refusal of the alcayde. Assembling all the people he had brought
from Spain, together with the sailors of the ships, and the rabble
of the place, he exhorted them to aid him in getting possession
of the prisoners, but to harm no one unless in case of resistance.
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 179.
CHAP. I I . ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
353
The mob shouted assent, for Bobadilla was already the idol of
the multitude. About the hour of vespers, he set out at the
head of this motley army, to storm a fortress destitute of a garri
son, and formidable only in name, being calculated to withstand
only a naked and slightly-armed people. The accounts of this
transaction have something in them bordering on the ludicrous,
and give it the air of absurd rhodomontade. Bobadilla assailed
the portal with great impetuosity, the frail bolts and locks of
which gave way at the first shock, and allowed him easy admis
sion. In the meantime, however, his zealous myrmidons applied
ladders to the walls, as if about to carry the place by assault, and
to experience a desperate defence. The alcayde, Miguel Diaz,
and Don Diego de Alvarado, alone appeared on the battlements ;
they had drawn swords, but offered no resistance. Bobadilla en
tered the fortress in triumph, and without molestation. The pris
oners were found in a chamber in irons. He ordered that they
should be brought up to him to the top of the fortress, where,
having put a few questions to them, as a matter of form, he gave
them in charge to an alguazil named Juan de Espinosa.*
Such was the arrogant and precipitate entrance into office of
Francisco de Bobadilla. He had reversed the order of his writ
ten instructions ; having seized upon the government before he
had investigated the conduct of Columbus. He continued his
career in the same spirit ; acting as if the case had been pre
judged in Spain, and he had been sent out merely to degrade the ad
miral from his employments, not to ascertain the manner in which
he had fulfilled them. He took up his residence in the house of
Columbus, seized upon his arms, gold, plate, jewels, horses, to
gether with his letters, and various manuscripts, both public and
* Las Casas, ubi sup. Herrera, ubi sup.
254
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I I I .
private, even to his most secret papers. He gave no account of
the property thus seized ; and which he no doubt considered
already confiscated to the crown, excepting that he paid out of it
the wages of those to whom the admiral was in arrears.* To
increase his favor with the people, he proclaimed, on the second
day of his assumption of power, a general license for the term of
twenty years, to seek for gold, paying merely one eleventh to
government, instead of a third as heretofore. At the same time,
he spoke in the most disrespectful and unqualified terms of Co
lumbus, saying that he was empowered to send him home in
chains, and that neither he nor any of his lineage would ever
again be permitted to govern in the island. †
* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 85. Las Casas. Herrera, ubi sup.
† Letter of Columbus to the nurse of Prince Juan.
CHAP. I I I . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
255
CHAPTER III.
COLUMBUS SUMMONED TO APPEAR BEFORE BOBADILLA.
[1500.]
WHEN the tidings reached Columbus at Fort Conception of the
high-handed proceedings of Bobadilla, he considered them the
unauthorized acts of some rash adventurer like Ojeda. Since
government had apparently thrown open the door to private en
terprise, he might expect to have his path continually crossed, and
his jurisdiction infringed by bold intermeddlers, feigning or fan
cying themselves authorized to interfere in the affairs of the
colony. Since the departure of Ojeda another squadron had
touched upon the coast, and produced a transient alarm, being an
expedition under one of the Pinzons, licensed by the sovereigns
to make discoveries. There had also been a rumor of another
squadron hovering about the island, which proved, however, to be
unfounded.*
The conduct of Bobadilla bore all the appearance of a law
less usurpation of some intruder of the kind. He had possessed
himself forcibly of the fortress, and consequently of the town.
He had issued extravagant licenses injurious to the government,
and apparently intended only to make partisans among the peo-
* Letter of Columbus to the Nurse of Prince Juan.
256
L I F E A N D VOYAGES OF
[BOOK X I I I .
ple ; and had threatened to throw Columbus himself in irons.
That this man could really be sanctioned by government, in such
intemperate measures, was repugnant to belief. The admiral's
consciousness of his own services, the repeated assurances he had
received of high consideration on the part of the sovereigns, and
the perpetual prerogatives granted to him under their hand and
seal, with all the solemnity that a compact could possess, all for
bade him to consider the transactions at San Domingo otherwise
than as outrages on his authority by some daring or misguided
individual.
To be nearer to San Domingo, and obtain more correct infor
mation, he proceeded to Bonao, which was now beginning to as
sume the appearance of a settlement, several Spaniards having
erected houses there, and cultivated the adjacent country. He
had scarcely reached the place, when an alcalde, bearing a staff
of office, arrived there from San Domingo, proclaiming the ap
pointment of Bobadilla to the government, and bearing copies of
his letters patent. There was no especial letter or message sent
to the admiral, nor were any of the common forms of courtesy
and ceremony observed in superseding him in the command ; all
the proceedings of Bobadilla towards him were abrupt and
insulting.
Columbus was exceedingly embarrassed how to act. It was
evident that Bobadilla was intrusted with extensive powers by
the sovereigns, but that they could have exercised such a sudden,
unmerited, and apparently capricious act of severity, as that of
divesting him of all his commands, he could not believe. He
endeavored to persuade himself that Bobadilla was some person
sent out to exercise the functions of chief judge, according to the
request he had written home to the sovereigns, and that they had
CHAP. I I I . ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
257
intrusted him likewise with provisional powers to make an inquest
into the late troubles of the island. All beyond these powers he
tried to believe were mere assumptions and exaggerations of
authority, as in the case of Aguado. At all events, he was deter
mined to act upon such presumption, and to endeavor to gain
time. If the monarchs had really taken any harsh measures
with respect to him, it must have been in consequence of mis
representations. The least delay might give them an opportu
nity of ascertaining their error, and making the necessary
amends.
He wrote to Bobadilla, therefore, in guarded terms, welcom
ing him to the island ; cautioning him against precipitate mea
sures, especially in granting licenses to collect gold ; informing
him that he was on the point of going to Spain, and in a little
time would leave him in command, with every thing fully and
clearly explained. He wrote at the same time to the like purport
to certain monks who had come out with Bobadilla, though he
observes that these letters were only written to gain time.* He
received no replies : but while an insulting silence was observed
towards him, Bobadilla filled up several of the blank letters, of
which he had a number signed by the sovereigns, and sent them
to Roldan, and other of the admiral's enemies, the very men
whom he had been sent out to judge. These letters were full of
civilities and promises of favor.†
To prevent any mischief which might arise from the licenses
and indulgences so prodigally granted by Bobadilla, Columbus
published by word and letter, that the powers assumed by him
* Letter of Columbus to the Nurse of Prince Juan.
† Idem. Herrera, decad. i. lib.
258
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I I .
could not be valid, nor his licenses availing, as he himself held
superior powers granted to him in perpetuity by the crown, which
could no more be superseded in this instance, than they had been
in that of Aguado.
For some time Columbus remained in this anxious and per
plexed state of mind, uncertain what line of conduct to pursue in
so singular and unlooked-for a conjuncture. He was soon brought
to a decision. Francisco Velasquez, deputy treasurer, and Juan
de Trasierra, a Franciscan friar, arrived at Bonao, and delivered
to him the royal letter of credence, signed by the sovereigns on
the 26th of May, 1499, commanding him to give implicit faith
and obedience to Bobadilla ; and they delivered, at the same
time, a summons from the latter to appear immediately before
him.
This laconic letter from the sovereigns struck at once at the
root of all his dignity and power. He no longer made hesitation
or demur, but complying with the peremptory summons of Boba
dilla, departed almost alone and unattended, for San Domingo.*
* Herrera, decad. i. lib iv. cap. 9. Letter to the Nurse of Prince Juan.
CHAP. I V . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
259
CHAPTER IV.
COLUMBUS AND HIS BROTHERS ARRESTED AND SENT TO SPAIN
IN CHAINS.
[1500.]
THE tidings that a new governor had arrived, and that Columbus
was in disgrace, and to be sent home in chains, circulated rapidly
through the Vega, and the colonists hastened from all parts to San
Domingo to make interest with Bobadilla. It was soon perceived
that there was no surer way than that of vilifying his predecessor.
Bobadilla felt that he had taken a rash step in seizing upon the
government, and that his own safety required the conviction of
Columbus. He listened eagerly, therefore, to all accusations,
public or private ; and welcome was he who could bring any
charge, however extravagant, against the admiral and his brothers.
Hearing that the admiral was on his way to the city, he made
a bustle of preparation, and armed the troops, affecting to believe
a rumor, that Columbus had called upon the caciques of the
Vega to aid him with their subjects in a resistance to the com
mands of government. No grounds appear for this absurd report,
which was probably invented to give a coloring of precaution to
subsequent measures of violence and insult. The admiral's
brother, Don Diego, was seized, thrown in irons, and confined on
260
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S O F [BOOK X I I I .
board of a caravel, without any reason being assigned for his im
prisonment.
In the meantime Columbus pursued his journey to San Do
mingo, traveling in a lonely manner, without guards, or retinue.
Most of his people were with the Adelantado, and he had declined
being attended by the remainder. He had heard of the rumors
of the hostile intentions of Bobadilla ; and although he knew that
violence was threatened to his person, he came in this unpretend
ing manner, to manifest his pacific feelings, and to remove all sus
picion.*
No sooner did Bobadilla hear of his arrival, than he gave
orders to put him in irons, and confine him in the fortress. This
outrage to a person of such dignified and venerable appearance,
and such eminent merit, seemed, for the time, to shock even his
enemies. When the irons were brought, every one present shrank
from the task of putting them on him, either from a sentiment of
compassion at so great a reverse of fortune, or out of habitual
reverence for his person. To fill the measure of ingratitude
meted out to him, it was one of his own domestics, “ a graceless
and shameless cook," says Las Casas, “ who, with unwashed
front, riveted the fetters with as much readiness and alacrity, as
though he were serving him with choice and savory viands. I
knew the fellow," adds the venerable historian, “ and I think his
name was Espinosa.Ӡ
Columbus conducted himself with characteristic magnanimity
under the injuries heaped upon him. There is a noble scorn
which swells and supports the heart, and silences the tongue of the
truly great, when enduring the insults of the unworthy. Colum-
* Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 180. † Idem, lib. i. cap. 180.
CHAP. I V ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
261
bus could not stoop to deprecate the arrogance of a weak and vio
lent man like Bobadilla. He looked beyond this shallow agent,
and all his petty tyranny, to the sovereigns who had employed
him. Their injustice or ingratitude alone could wound his spirit ;
and he felt assured that when the truth came to be known, they
would blush to find how greatly they had wronged him. With
this proud assurance, he bore all present indignities in silence.
Bobadilla, although he had the admiral and Don Diego in his
power, and had secured the venal populace, felt anxious and ill
at ease. The Adelantado, with an armed force under his com
mand, was still in the distant province of Xaragua, in pursuit of
the rebels. Knowing his soldier-like and determined spirit, he
feared he might take some violent measure when he should hear
of the ignominious treatment and imprisonment of his brothers.
He doubted whether any order from himself would have any ef
fect, except to exasperate the stern Don Bartholomew. He sent
a demand, therefore, to Columbus, to write to his brother, request
ing him to repair peaceably to San Domingo, and forbidding him
to execute the persons he held in confinement : Columbus readily
complied. He exhorted his brother to submit quietly to the
authority of his sovereigns, and to endure all present wrongs and
indignities, under the confidence that when they arrived at Cas
tile, every thing would be explained and redressed.*
* Peter Martyr mentions a vulgar rumor of the day, that the admiral, not
knowing what might happen, wrote a letter in cipher to the Adelantado, urging
him to come with arms in his hands to prevent any violence that might be con
trived against him ; that the Adelantado advanced, in effect, with his armed
force, but having the imprudence to proceed some distance ahead of it, was
surprised by the governor, before his men could come to his succor, and that
the letter in cipher had been sent to Spain. This must have been one of the
2 6 2
LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF [BOOK XIII.
On receiving this letter, Don Bartholomew immediately com
plied. Relinquishing his command, he hastened peacefully to
San Domingo, and on arriving experienced the same treatment
with his brothers, being put in irons and confined on board of a
caravel. They were kept separate from each other, and no com
munication permitted between them. Bobadilla did not see them
himself, nor did he allow others to visit them ; but kept them in
ignorance of the cause of their imprisonment, the crimes with which
they were charged, and the process that was going on against them.*
It has been questioned whether Bobadilla really had authority
for the arrest and imprisonment of the admiral and his brothers ;†
and whether such violence and indignity was in any case contem
plated by the sovereigns. He may have fancied himself empow-
groundless rumors of the day, circulated to prejudice the public mind. Nothing
of the kind appears among the charges in the inquest made by Bobadilla, and
which was seen, and extracts made from it, by Las Casas, for his history. It
is, in fact, in total contradiction to the statements of Las Casas, Herrera, and
Fernando Columbus.
* Charlevoix, in his History of San Domingo (lib. iii. p. 199) states, that
the suit against Columbus was conducted in writing ; that written charges
were sent to him, to which he replied in the same way. This is contrary to
the statements of Las Casas, Herrera, and Fernando Columbus. The admiral
himself, in his letter to the Nurse of Prince Juan, after relating the manner in
which he and his brothers had been thrown into irons, and confined separately,
without being visited by Bobadilla, or permitted to see any other persons,
expressly adds, “ I make oath that I do not know for what I am imprisoned."
Again, in a letter written some time afterwards from Jamaica, he says, “ I
was taken and thrown with two of my brothers in a ship, loaded with irons,
with little clothing and much ill-treatment, without being summoned or con
victed by justice."
† Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 10. Oviedo, Cronica, lib. iii. cap. 6
CHAP. I V . ] C H R I S T O P H E R C O L U M B U S .
263
ered by the clause in the letter of instructions, dated March 21st,
1499, in which, speaking of the rebellion of Roldan, “ he is au
thorized to seize the persons, and sequestrate the prop