The Life of Christopher Columbus from his own Letters and Journals

E >> Edward Everett Hale >> The Life of Christopher Columbus from his own Letters and Journals


He made many inquiries for gold, but was told he must go farther on, but
he was advised not to go there, because his men would be in danger
of being eaten. At first, Columbus supposed that this meant that
the inhabitants of the gold-bearing countries were cannibals, but he
satisfied himself afterwards that the natives meant that they would be
eaten by beasts. With regard to pearls, also, he got some information
that he should find them when he had gone farther west and farther
north.

After these agreeable courtesies, the little fleet raised its anchors
and sailed west. Columbus sent one caravel to investigate the river.
Finding that he should not succeed in that direction, and that he had no
available way either north or south, he leaves by the same entrance
by which he had entered. The water is still very fresh, and he is
satisfied, correctly as we know, that these currents were caused by the
entrance of the great river of water.

On the thirteenth of August he leaves the island by what he calls the
northern mouth of the river (Boca Grande), and begins to strike salt
water again.

At this part of Columbus's letter there is a very curious discussion of
temperature, which shows that this careful observer, even at that time,
made out the difference between what are called isothermal curves and
the curves of latitude. He observes that he cannot make any estimate
of what his temperature will be on the American coast from what he has
observed on the coast of Africa.

He begins now to doubt whether the world is spherical, and is disposed
to believe that it is shaped like a pear, and he tries to make a theory
of the difference of temperature from this suggestion. We hardly need to
follow this now. We know he was entirely wrong in his conjecture. "Pliny
and others," he says, "thought the world spherical, because on their
part of it it was a hemisphere." They were ignorant of the section over
which he was sailing, which he considers to be that of a pear cut in
the wrong way. His demonstration is, that in similar latitudes to the
eastward it is very hot and the people are black, while at Trinidad or
on the mainland it is comfortable and the people are a fine race of men,
whiter than any others whom he has seen in the Indies. The sun in the
constellation of the Virgin is over their heads, and all this comes from
their being higher up, nearer the air than they would have been had they
been on the African coast.

With this curious speculation he unites some inferences from Scripture,
and goes back to the account in the Book of Genesis and concludes that
the earthly Paradise was in the distant east. He says, however, that
if he could go on, on the equinoctial line, the air would grow more
temperate, with greater changes in the stars and in the water. He does
not think it possible that anyone can go to the extreme height of the
mountain where the earthly Paradise is to be found, for no one is to be
permitted to enter there but by the will of God, but he believes that in
this voyage he is approaching it.

Any reader who is interested in this curious speculation of Columbus
should refer to the "Divina Comedia" of Dante, where Dante himself held
a somewhat similar view, and describes his entrance into the terrestrial
paradise under the guidance of Beatrice. It is a rather curious fact,
which discoverers of the last three centuries have established, that the
point, on this world, which is opposite the city of Jerusalem, where all
these enthusiasts supposed the terrestrial Paradise would be found, is
in truth in the Pacific Ocean not far from Pitcairn's Island, in the
very region where so many voyagers have thought that they found the
climate and soil which to the terrestrial Paradise belong.

Columbus expresses his dissent from the recent theory, which was that
of Dante, supposing that the earthly Paradise was at the top of a
sharp mountain. On the other hand, he supposes that this mountain rises
gently, but yet that no person can go to the top.

This is his curious "excursion," made, perhaps, because Columbus had the
time to write it.

The journal now recurs to more earthly affairs. Passing out from the
mouth of the "Dragon," he found the sea running westward and the wind
gentle. He notices that the waters are swept westward as the trade winds
are. In this way he accounts for there being so many islands in that
part of the earth, the mainland having been eaten away by the constant
flow of the waves. He thinks their very shape indicates this, they being
narrow from north to south and longer from east to west. Although some
of the islands differ in this, special reasons maybe given for the
difference. He brings in many of the old authorities to show, what we
now know to be entirely false, that there is much more land than water
on the surface of the globe.

All this curious speculation as to the make-up of the world encourages
him to beg their Highnesses to go on with the noble work which they have
begun. He explains to them that he plants the cross on every cape
and proclaims the sovereignty of their Majesties and of the Christian
religion. He prays that this may continue. The only objection to it is
the expense, but Columbus begs their Highnesses to remember how much
more money is spent for the mere formalities of the elegancies of
the court. He begs them to consider the credit attaching to plans of
discovery and quickens their ambition by reference to the efforts of the
princes of Portugal.

This letter closes by the expression of his determination to go on with
his three ships for further discoveries.

This letter was written from San Domingo on the eighth of October. He
had already made the great discovery of the mainland of South America,
though he did not yet know that he had touched the continent. He had
intentionally gone farther south than before, and had therefore struck
the island of Trinidad, to which, as he had promised, he gave the name
which it still bears. A sailor first saw the summits of three mountains,
and gave the cry of land. As the ships approached, it was seen that
these three mountains were united at the base. Columbus was delighted by
the omen, as he regarded it, which thus connected his discovery with the
vow which he had made on Trinity Sunday.

As the reader has seen, he first passed between this great island and
the mainland. The open gulf there described is now known as the Gulf of
Paria. The observation which he made as to the freshness of the water
caused by the flow of the Orinoco, has been made by all navigators
since. It may be said that he was then really in the mouth of the
Orinoco.

Young readers, at least, will be specially interested to remember that
it was in this region that Robinson Crusoe's island was placed by Defoe;
and if they will carefully read his life they will find discussions
there of the flow of the "great River Orinoco." Crossing this gulf,
Columbus had touched upon the coast of Paria, and thus became the first
discoverer of South America. It is determined, by careful geographers,
that the discovery of the continent of North America, had been made
before this time by the Cabots, sailing under the orders of England.

Columbus was greatly encouraged by the discovery of fine pearls among
the natives of Paria. Here he found one more proof that he was on the
eastern coast of Asia, from which coast pearls had been brought by
the caravans on which, till now, Europe had depended for its Asiatic
supplies. He gave the name "Gulf of Pearls" to the estuary which makes
the mouth of the River Paria.

He would gladly have spent more time in exploring this region; but
the sea-stores of his vessel were exhausted, he was suffering from a
difficulty with his eyes, caused by overwatching, and was also a cripple
from gout. He resisted the temptation, therefore, to make further
explorations on the coast of Paria, and passed westward and
northwestward. He made many discoveries of islands in the Caribbean Sea
as he went northwest, and he arrived at the colony of San Domingo,
on the thirtieth of August. He had hoped for rest after his difficult
voyage; but he found the island in confusion which seemed hopeless.

His brother Bartholomew, from all the accounts we have, would seem to
have administered its affairs with justice and decision; but the problem
he had in hand was one which could not be solved so as to satisfy all
the critics. Close around him he had a body of adventurers, almost
all of whom were nothing but adventurers. With the help of these
adventurers, he had to repress Indian hostilities, and to keep in order
the natives who had been insulted and injured in every conceivable way
by the settlers.

He was expected to send home gold to Spain with every vessel; he knew
perfectly well that Spain was clamoring with indignation because he did
not succeed in doing so. But on the island itself he had to meet, from
day to day, conspiracies of Spaniards and what are called insurrections
of natives. These insurrections consisted simply in their assertion of
such rights as they had to the beautiful land which the Spaniards were
taking away from them.

At the moment when Columbus landed, there was an instant of tranquility.
But the natives, whom he remembered only six years ago as so happy and
cheerful and hospitable, had fled as far as they could. They showed
in every way their distrust of those who were trying to become their
masters. On the other hand, soldiers and emigrants were eager to leave
the island if they could. They were near starvation, or if they did
not starve they were using food to which they were not accustomed. The
eagerness with which, in 1493, men had wished to rush to this land of
promise, was succeeded by an equal eagerness, in 1498, to go home from
it.

As soon as he arrived, Columbus issued a proclamation, approving of the
measures of his brother in his absence, and denouncing the rebels with
whom Bartholomew had been contending. He found the difficulties which
surrounded him were of the most serious character. He had not force
enough to take up arms against the rebels of different names. He offered
pardon to them in the name of the sovereigns, and that they refused.

Columbus was obliged, in order to maintain any show of authority, to
propose to the sovereigns that they should arbitrate between his brother
and Roldan, who was the chief of the rebel party. He called to the minds
of Ferdinand and Isabella his own eager desire to return to San Domingo
sooner, and ascribed the difficulties which had arisen, in large
measure, to his long delay. He said he should send home the more
worthless men by every ship.

He asked that preachers might be sent out to convert the Indians and to
reform the dissolute Spaniards. He asked for officers of revenue, and
for a learned judge. He begged at the same time that, for two years
longer, the colony might be permitted to employ the Indians as slaves,
but he promised they would only use such as they captured in war and
insurrections.

By the same vessel the rebels sent out letters charging Columbus and his
brother with the grossest oppression and injustice. All these letters
came to court by one messenger. Columbus was then left to manage as
best he could, in the months which must pass, before he could receive an
answer.

He was not wholly without success. That is to say, no actual battles
took place between the parties before the answer returned. But when it
returned, it proved to be written by his worst enemy, Fonseca. It was
a genuine Spanish answer to a letter which required immediate decision.
That is to say, Columbus was simply told that the whole matter must be
left in suspense till the sovereigns could make such an investigation
as they wished. The hope, therefore, of some help from home was wholly
disappointed.

Roldan, the chief of the rebels, was encouraged by this news to take
higher ground than even he had ventured on before. He now proposed that
he should send fifteen of his company to Spain, also that those who
remained should not only be pardoned, but should have lands granted
them; third, that a public proclamation should be made that all charges
against him had been false; and fourth, that he should hold the office
of chief judge, which he had held before the rebellion.

Columbus was obliged to accede to terms as insolent as these, and the
rebels even added a stipulation, that if he should fail in fulfilling
either of these articles, they might compel him to comply, by force or
any other means. Thus was he hampered in the very position where, by the
king's orders, and indeed, one would say, by the right of discovery, he
was the supreme master.

For himself, he determined to return with Bartholomew to Spain, and he
made some preparations to do so. But at this time he learned, from the
western part of the island, that four strange ships had arrived there.
He could not feel that it was safe to leave the colony in such a
condition of latent rebellion as he knew it to be in; he wrote again to
the sovereigns, and said directly that his capitulation with the rebels
had been extorted by force, and that he did not consider that the
sovereigns, or that he himself, were bound by it. He pressed some of the
requests which he had made before, and asked that his son Diego, who was
no longer a boy, might be sent out to him.

It proved that the ships which had arrived at the west of the island
were under the command of Ojeda, who will be remembered as a bold
cavalier in the adventures of the second voyage. Acting under a general
permission which had been given for private adventurers, Ojeda had
brought out this squadron, and, when Columbus communicated with him, was
engaged in cutting dye-woods and shipping slaves.

Columbus sent Roldan, who had been the head of the rebels, to inquire
on what ground he was there. Ojeda produced a license signed by Fonseca,
authorizing him to sail on a voyage of discovery. It proved that
Columbus's letters describing the pearls of Paria had awakened curiosity
and enthusiasm, and, while the crown had passed them by so coldly, Ojeda
and a body of adventurers had obtained a license and had fitted out four
ships for adventure. The special interest of this voyage for us, is that
it is supposed that Vespucci, a Florentine merchant, made at this time
his first expedition to America.

Vespucci was not a professional seaman, but he was interested in
geography, and had made many voyages before this time. So soon as it
was announced that Ojeda was on the coast, the rebels of San Domingo
selected him as a new leader. He announced to Columbus, rather coolly,
that he could probably redress the grievances which these men had.
He undoubtedly knew that he had the protection of Fonseca at home.
Fortunately for Columbus, Roldan did not mean to give up his place
as "leader of the opposition;" and it may be said that the difficulty
between the two was a certain advantage to Columbus in maintaining his
authority.

Meanwhile, all wishes on his part to continue his discoveries were
futile, while he was engaged in the almost hopeless duty of reconciling
various adventurers and conciliating people who had no interests but
their own. In Spain, his enemies were doing everything in their power to
undermine his reputation. His statements were read more and more coldly,
and at last, on the twenty-first and twenty-sixth of May, 1499, letters
were written to him instructing him to deliver into the hands of
Bobadilla, a new commandant, all the fortresses any ships, houses and
other royal property which he held, and to give faith and obedience to
any instructions given by Bobadilla. That is to say, Bobadilla was sent
out as a commander who was to take precedence of every one on the spot.
He was an officer of the royal household, probably a favorite at court,
and was selected for the difficult task of reconciling all difficulties,
and bringing the new colony into loyal allegiance to the crown. He
sailed for San Domingo in the middle of July, 1500, and arrived on the
twenty-third of August.

On his arrival, he found that Columbus and his brother Bartholomew were
both absent from the city, being in fact engaged in efforts to set
what may be called the provinces in order. The young Diego Columbus
was commander in their absence. The morning after he arrived, Bobadilla
attended mass, and then, with the people assembled around the door of
the church, he directed that his commission should be read. He was to
investigate the rebellion, he was to seize the persons of delinquents
and punish them with rigor, and he was to command the Admiral to assist
him in these duties.

He then bade Diego surrender to him certain prisoners, and ordered that
their accusers should appear before him. To this Diego replied that his
brother held superior powers to any which Bobadilla could possess; he
asked for a copy of the commission, which was declined, until Columbus
himself should arrive. Bobadilla then took the oath of office, and
produced, for the first time, the order which has been described above,
ordering Columbus to deliver up all the royal property. He won the
popular favor by reading an order which directed him to pay all arrears
of wages due to all persons in the royal service.

But when he came before the fortress, he found that the commander
declined to surrender it. He said he held the fortress for the king by
the command of the Admiral, and would not deliver it until he should
arrive. Bobadilla, however, "assailed the portal;" that is to say, he
broke open the gate. No one offered any opposition, and the commander
and his first-lieutenant were taken prisoners. He went farther, taking
up his residence in Columbus's house, and seizing his papers. So soon
as Columbus received account of Bobadilla's arrival, he wrote to him
in careful terms, welcoming him to the island. He cautioned him against
precipitate measures, told him that he himself was on the point of going
to Spain, and that he would soon leave him in command, with everything
explained. Bobadilla gave no answer to these letters; and when Columbus
received from the sovereigns the letter of the twenty-sixth of May, he
made no longer any hesitation, but reported in person at the city of San
Domingo.

He traveled without guards or retinue, but Bobadilla had made hostile
preparations, as if Columbus meant to come with military force. Columbus
preferred to show his own loyalty to the crown and to remove suspicion.
But no sooner did he arrive in the city than Bobadilla gave orders
that he should be put in irons and confined in the fortress. Up to
this moment, Bobadilla had been sustained by the popular favor of those
around him; but the indignity, of placing chains upon Columbus, seems to
have made a change in the fickle impressions of the little town.

Columbus, himself, behaved with magnanimity, and made no complaint.
Bobadilla asked him to bid his brother return to San Domingo, and
he complied. He begged his brother to submit to the authority of the
sovereigns, and Bartholomew immediately did so. On his arrival in San
Domingo he was also put in irons, as his brother Diego had been, and was
confined on board a caravel. As soon as a set of charges could be made
up to send to Spain with Columbus, the vessels, with the prisoners, set
sail.

The master of the caravel, Martin, was profoundly grieved by the severe
treatment to which the great navigator was subjected. He would gladly
have taken off his irons, but Columbus would not consent. "I was
commanded by the king and queen," he said, "to submit to whatever
Bobadilla should order in their name. He has put these chains on me by
their authority. I will wear them until the king and queen bid me take
them off. I will preserve them afterwards as relics and memorials of the
reward of my services." His son, Fernando, who tells this story, says
that he did so, that they were always hanging in his cabinet, and that
he asked that they might be buried with him when he died.

From this expression of Fernando Columbus, there has arisen, what Mr.
Harrisse calls, a "pure legend," that the chains were placed in the
coffin of Columbus. Mr. Harrisse shows good reason for thinking that
this was not so. "Although disposed to believe that, in a moment of
just indignation, Columbus expressed the wish that these tokens of the
ingratitude of which he had been the victim should be buried, with him,
I do not believe that they were ever placed in his coffin."

It will thus be seen that the third voyage added to the knowledge of
the civilized world the information which Columbus had gained regarding
Paria and the island of Trinidad. For other purposes of discovery, it
was fruitless.



CHAPTER XI. -- SPAIN, 1500, 1501.

A CORDIAL RECEPTION IN SPAIN--COLUMBUS FAVORABLY RECEIVED AT COURT--NEW
INTEREST IN GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY--HIS PLANS FOR THE REDEMPTION OF THE
HOLY SEPULCHRE--PREPARATIONS FOR A FOURTH EXPEDITION.

Columbus was right in insisting on wearing his chains. They became
rather an ornament than a disgrace. So soon as it was announced in Spain
that the great discoverer had been so treated by Bobadilla, a wave of
popular indignation swept through the people and reached the court.
Ferdinand and Isabella, themselves, had never intended to give such
powers to their favorite, that he should disgrace a man so much his
superior.

They instantly sent orders to Cadiz that Columbus should be received
with all honor. So soon as he arrived he had been able to send, to Dona
Juana de la Torre, a lady high in favor at court, a private letter,
in which he made a proud defense of himself. This letter is still
preserved, and it is of the first interest, as showing his own
character, and as showing what were the real hardships which he had
undergone.

The Lady Juana read this letter to Isabella. Her own indignation, which
probably had been kindled by the general news that Columbus had been
chained, rose to the highest. She received him, therefore, when he
arrived at court, with all the more cordiality. Ferdinand was either
obliged to pretend to join with her in her indignation, or he had really
felt distressed by the behavior of his subordinate.

They did not wait for any documents from Bobadilla. As has been said,
they wrote cordially to Columbus; they also ordered that two thousand
ducats should be paid him for his expenses, and they bade him appear at
Grenada at court. He did appear there on the seventeenth of December,
attended by an honorable retinue, and in the proper costume of a
gentleman in favor with the king and queen.

When the queen met him she was moved to tears, and Columbus, finding
himself so kindly received, threw himself upon his knees. For some time
he could not express himself except by tears and sobs. His sovereigns
raised him from the ground and encouraged him by gracious words.

So soon as he recovered his self-possession he made such an address
as he had occasion to make more than once in his life, and showed the
eloquence which is possible to a man of affairs. He could well boast of
his loyalty to the Spanish crown; and he might well say that, whether
he were or were not experienced in government, he had been surrounded by
such difficulties in administration as hardly any other man had had to
go through. But really, it was hardly necessary that he should vindicate
himself.

The stupidity of his enemies, had injured their cause more than any
carelessness of Columbus could have done. The sovereigns expressed their
indignation at Bobadilla's proceedings, and, indeed, declared at once
that he should be dismissed from command. They never took any public
notice of the charges which he had sent home; on the other hand, they
received Columbus with dignity and favor, and assured him that he should
be reinstated in all his privileges.

The time at which he arrived was, in a certain sense, favorable for
his future plans, so far as he had formed any. On the other hand, the
condition of affairs was wholly changed from what it was when he began
his great discoveries, and the changes were in some degree unfavorable.
Vasco da Gama had succeeded in the great enterprise by which he had
doubled the Cape of Good Hope, had arrived at the Indies by the route of
the Indian ocean, and his squadron had successfully returned.

This great adventure, with the commercial and other results which
would certainly follow it, had quickened the mind of all Europe, as the
discovery by Columbus had quickened it eight years before. So far, any
plan for the discoveries over which Columbus was always brooding, would
be favorably received. But, on the other hand, in eight years since the
first voyage, a large body of skillful adventurers had entered upon the
career which then no one chose to share with him. The Pinzon brothers
were among these; Ojeda, already known to the reader, was another; and
Vespucci, as the reader knows, an intelligent and wise student, had
engaged himself in such discoveries.

The rumors of the voyages of the Cabots, much farther north than those
made by Columbus, had gone through all Europe. In a word, Columbus was
now only one of several skilful pilots and voyagers, and his plans
were to be considered side by side with those which were coming forward
almost every day, for new discoveries, either by the eastern route,
of which Vasco da Gama had shown the practicability, or by the western
route, which Columbus himself had first essayed.