FOURTH VOYAGE. THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN FOR THEVOYAGE--HE IS TO GO TO THE MAINLAND OF THE INDIES--ASHORT PASSAGE--OVANDO FORBIDS THE ENTRANCE OFCOLUMBUS INTO HARBOR--BOBADILLA'S SQUADRON ANDITS FATE--COLUMBUS SAILS WESTWARD--DISCOVERSHONDURAS, AND COASTS ALONG ITS SHORES--THE SEARCHFOR GOLD--COLONY ATTEMPTED AND ABANDONED--THEVESSELS BECOME UNSEAWORTHY--REFUGE AT JAMAICA-MUTINY LED BY THE BROTHERS PORRAS--MESSAGES TOSAN DOMINGO--THE ECLIPSE--ARRIVAL OF RELIEF-COLUMBUS RETURNS TO SAN DOMINGO, AND TO SPAIN.
It seems a pity now that, after his third voyage, Columbus did notremain in Spain and enjoy, as an old man could, the honors which he hadearned and the respect which now waited upon him. Had this been so, theworld would have been spared the mortification which attends the thoughtthat the old man to whom it owes so much suffered almost everything inone last effort, failed in that effort, and died with the mortification offailure. But it is to be remembered that Columbus was not a man tocultivate the love of leisure. He had no love of leisure to cultivate. His lifehad been an active one. He had attempted the solution of a certain problemwhich he had not solved, and every day of leisure, even every occasion ofeffort and every word of flattery, must have quickened in him new wishesto take the prize which seemed so near, and to achieve the possibilitywhich had thus far eluded him.
From time to time, therefore, he had addressed new memorials to thesovereigns proposing a new expedition; and at last, by an instructionwhich is dated on the fourteenth of March, in the year 1502, a fourthvoyage was set on foot at the charge of the king and queen,--an instructionnot to stop at Hispaniola, but, for the saving of time, to pass by that island.
This is a graceful way of intimating to him that he is not to mix himself upwith the rights and wrongs of the new settlement.
The letter goes on to say, that the sovereigns have communicated with the King of Portugal, and that they have explained to him that Columbus ispressing his discoveries at the west. and will not interfere with those of thePortuguese in the east. He is instructed to regard the Portuguese explorersas his friends, and to make no quarrel with them. He is instructed to takewith him his sons, Fernando and Diego. This is probably at his request.
The prime object of the instruction is still to strike the mainland of theIndies. All the instructions are, "You will make a direct voyage, if theweather does not prevent you, for discovering the islands and the mainlandof the Indies in that part which belongs to us." He is to take possession ofthese islands and of this mainland, and to inform the sovereigns in regardto his discoveries, and the experience of former voyages has taught themthat great care must be taken to avoid private speculation in "gold, silver,pearls, precious stones, spices and other things of different quality." Forthis purpose special instructions are given.
Of this voyage we have Columbus's own official account.
There were four vessels, three of which were rated as caravels. Thefourth was very small. The chief vessel was commanded by Diego Tristan;the second, the Santiago, by Francisco de Porras; the third, the Viscaina(Biscayan), by Bartholomew de Fiesco; and the little Gallician by Pedrode Torreros. None of these vessels, as the reader will see, was ever toreturn to Spain. From de Porras and his brother, Columbus and theexpedition were to receive disastrous blows.
It must be observed that he is once more in his proper position of adiscoverer. He has no government or other charge of colonies entrusted tohim. His brother Bartholomew and his youngest son Fernando, sail withhim.
The little squadron sailed from the bay of Cadiz on the eleventh ofMay, 1502. They touched at Sicilla,--a little port on the coast of Morocco,-to relieve its people, a Portuguese garrison, who had been besieged by theMoors. But finding them out of danger, Columbus went at once to theGrand Canary island, and had a favorable passage.
From the Grand Canary to the island which he calls "the first island ofthe Indies," and which he named Martinino, his voyage was onlyseventeen days long. This island was either the St. Lucia or the Martinique of today. Hence he passed to Dominica, and thence crossed to SanDomingo, to make repairs, as he said. For, as has been said, he had beenespecially ordered not to interfere in the affairs of the settlement.
He did not disobey his orders. He says distinctly that he intended topass along the southern shore of San Domingo, and thence take adeparture for the continent. But he says, that his principal vessel sailedvery ill--could not carry much canvas, and delayed the rest of the squadron.
This weakness must have increased after the voyage across the ocean. Forthis reason he hoped to exchange it for another ship at San Domingo.
But he did not enter the harbor. He sent a letter to Ovando, now thegovernor, and asked his permission. He added, to the request he made, astatement that a tempest was at hand which he did not like to meet in theoffing. Ovando, however, refused any permission to enter. He was, in fact,just dispatching a fleet to Spain, with Bobadilla, Columbus's old enemy,whom Ovando had replaced in his turn.
Columbus, in an eager wish to be of use, by a returning messengerbegged Ovando to delay this fleet till the gale had passed. But the seamenridiculed him and his gale, and begged Ovando to send the fleet home.
He did so. Bobadilla and his fleet put to sea. In ten days a West Indiahurricane struck them. The ship on which Columbus's enemies, Bobadillaand Roldan, sailed, was sunk with them and the gold accumulated foryears. Of the whole fleet, only one vessel, called the weakest of all,reached Spain. This ship carried four thousand pieces of gold, which werethe property of the Admiral. Columbus's own little squadron, meanwhile-thanks probably to the seamanship of himself and his brother--weatheredthe storm, and he found refuge in the harbor which he had himself named"the beautiful," El Hermoso, in the western part of San Domingo.
Another storm delayed him at a port which he called Port Brasil. Theword Brasil was the name which the Spaniards gave to the red log-wood,so valuable in dyeing, and various places received that name, where thiswood was found. The name is derived from "Brasas,"--coals,--in allusion,probably, to the bright red color of the dye.
Sailing from this place, on Saturday, the sixteenth of June, they madesight of the island of Jamaica, but he pressed on without making any examination of the country, for four days sailing west and south-west. Hethen changed his course, and sailed for two days to the northwest andagain two days to the north.
On Sunday, the twenty fourth of July, they saw land. This was the keynow known as Cuyago, and they were at last close upon the mainland.
After exploring this island they sailed again on Wednesday, the twenty-seventh, southwest and quarter southwest about ninety miles, and againthey saw land, which is supposed to be the island of Guanaja or Bonacca,near the coast of Honduras.
The Indians on this island had some gold and some pearls. They hadseen whites before. Columbus calls them men of good stature. Sailingfrom this island, he struck the mainland near Truxillo, about ten leaguesfrom the island of Guanaja. He soon found the harbor, which we still knowas the harbor of Truxillo, and from this point Columbus began a carefulinvestigation of the coast.
He observed, what all navigators have since observed, the lack ofharbors. He passed along as far as the river now known as the Tinto, wherehe took possession in the name of the sovereigns, calling this river theRiver of Possession. He found the natives savage, and the country of littleaccount for his purposes. Still passing southward, he passed what we callthe Mosquito Coast, to which he found the natives gave the name ofCariay.
These people were well disposed and willing to treat with them. Theyhad some cotton, they had some gold. They wore very little clothing, andthey painted their bodies, as most of the natives of the islands had done.
He saw what he thought to be pigs and large mountain cats.
Still passing southward, running into such bays or other harbors asthey found, he entered the "Admiral's Bay," in a country which had thename of Cerabaro, or Zerabora. Here an Indian brought a plate of gold andsome other pieces of gold, and Columbus was, encouraged in his hopes offinding more.
The natives told him that if he would keep on he would find anotherbay which they called Arburarno, which is supposed to be the LagunaChiriqui. They said the people, of that country, lived in the mountains.
Here Columbus noticed the fact,--one which has given to philologists oneof their central difficulties for four hundred years since,--that as he passedfrom one point to another of the American shores, the Indians did notunderstand each other's language. "Every ten or twenty leagues they didnot understand each other." In entering the river Veragua, the Indiansappeared armed with lances and arrows, some of them having gold also.
Here, also, the people did not live upon the shore, but two or three leaguesback in the interior, and they only came to the sea by their canoes upon therivers.
The next province was then called Cobraba, but Columbus made nolanding for want of a proper harbor. All his courses since he struck thecontinent had been in a southeasterly direction. That an expedition forwestward discovery should be sailing eastward, seemed in itself acontradiction. What irritated the crews still more was, that the windseemed always against them.
From the second to the ninth of November, 1502, the little fleet lay atanchor in the spacious harbor, which he called Puerto Bello, "the beautifulharbor." It is still known by that name. A considerable Spanish city grewup there, which became well known to the world in the last century by theattack upon it by the English in the years 1739 and 1742.
The formation of the coast compelled them to pass eastward as theywent on. But the currents of the Gulf flow in the opposite direction. Herethere were steady winds from the east and the northeast. The ships werepierced by the teredo, which eats through thick timbers, and is sodestructive that the seamen of later times have learned to sheath the hullsof their vessels with copper.
The seamen thought that they were under the malign influence of someadverse spell. And after a month Columbus gave way to theirremonstrances, and abandoned his search for a channel to India. He wasthe more ready to do this because he was satisfied that the land by whichhe lay was connected with the coast which other Spaniards had alreadydiscovered. He therefore sailed westward again, retracing his course toexplore the gold mines of Veragua.
But the winds could change as quickly as his purposes, and now for nearly a fortnight they had to fight a tropical tempest. At one moment theymet with a water-spout, which seemed to advance to them directly. Thesailors, despairing of human help, shouted passages from St. John, and totheir efficacy ascribed their escape. It was not until the seventeenth thatthey found themselves safely in harbor. He gave to the whole coast thename of "the coast of contrasts," to preserve the memory of hisdisappointments.
The natives proved friendly, as he had found them before; but they toldhim that he would find no more gold upon the coast; that the mines werein the country of the Veragua. It was, on the tenth day of January that, aftersome delay, Columbus entered again the river of that name.
The people told him where he should find the mines, and were allready to send guides with his own people to point them out. He gave tothis river, the name of the River of Belen, and to the port in which heanchored he gave the name of Santa Maria de Belen, or Bethlehem.
His men discovered the mines, so called, at a distance of eight leaguesfrom the port. The country between was difficult, being mountainous andcrossed by many streams. They were obliged to pass the river of Veraguathirty-nine times. The Indians themselves were dexterous in taking outgold. Columbus added to their number seventy-five men.
In one day's work, they obtained "two or three castellianos" withoutmuch difficulty. A castelliano was a gold coin of the time, and the meaningof the text is probably that each man obtained this amount. It was one ofthe "placers," such as have since proved so productive in different parts ofthe world.
Columbus satisfied himself that there was a much larger populationinland. He learned from the Indians that the cacique, as he always calls thechief of these tribes, was a most important monarch in that region. Hishouses were larger than others, built handsomely of wood, covered withpalm leaves.
The product of all the gold collected thus far is stated precisely in theofficial register. There were two hundred and twenty pieces of gold, largeand small. Altogether they weighed seventy-two ounces, seven-eighths ofan ounce and one grain. Besides these were twelve pieces, great and small, of an inferior grade of gold, which weighed fourteen ounces, three-eighthsof an ounce, and six tomienes, a tomiene weighing one-third part of ourdrachm. In round numbers then, we will say that the result in gold of thiscruising would be now worth $1,500.
Columbus collected gold in this way, to make his expedition popular athome, and he had, indeed, mortgaged the voyage, so to speak, by pledgingthe pecuniary results, as a fund to bear the expense of a new crusade. But,for himself, the prime desire was always discovery.
Eventually the Spaniards spent two months in that region, pressingtheir explorations in search of gold. And so promising did the tokens seemto him, that he determined to leave his brother, to secure the country andwork the mines, while he should return to Spain, with the gold he hadcollected, and obtain reinforcements and supplies. But all these fond hopes.
were disappointed.
The natives, under a leader named Quibian, rallied in large numbers,probably intending to drive the colonists away. It was only by the boldestmeasures that their plans were met. When Columbus supposed that he hadsuppressed their enterprise, he took leave of his brother, as he hadintended, leaving him but one of the four vessels.
Fortunately, as it proved, the wind did not serve. He sent back a boat tocommunicate with the settlement, but it fell into the hands of the savages.
Doubtful as to the issue, a seaman, named Ledesma, volunteered to swimthrough the surf, and communicate with the settlement. The brave fellowsucceeded. By passing through the surf again, he brought back the newsthat the little colony was closely besieged by the savages.
It seemed clear that the settlement must be abandoned, thatColumbus's brother and his people must be taken back to Spain. Thiscourse was adopted. With infinite difficulty, the guns and stores which hadbeen left with the colony were embarked on the vessels of the Admiral.
The caravel which had been left for the colony could not be taken from theriver. She was completely dismantled, and was left as the only memorialof this unfortunate colony.
At Puerto Bello he was obliged to leave another vessel, for she hadbeen riddled by the teredo. The two which he had were in wretched condition. "They were as full of holes as a honey-comb." On the southerncoast of Cuba, Columbus was obliged to supply them with cassava bread.
The leaks increased. The ships' pumps were insufficient, and the menbailed out the water with buckets and kettles. On the twentieth of June,they were thankful to put into a harbor, called Puerto Bueno, on the coastof Jamaica, where, as it proved, they eventually left their worthless vessels,and where they were in exile from the world of civilization for twelvemonths.
Nothing in history is more pathetic than the memory that such a wasteof a year, in the closing life of such a man as Columbus, should have beenpermitted by the jealousy, the cruelty, or the selfish ambition of inferiormen.
He was not far from the colony at San Domingo. As the reader will see,he was able to send a message to his countrymen there. But thosecountrymen left him to take his chances against a strong tribe of savages.
Indeed, they would not have been sorry to know that he was dead.
At first, however, he and his men welcomed the refuge of the harbor. Itwas the port which he had called Santa Gloria, on his first visit there. Hewas at once surrounded by Indians, ready to barter with them and bringthem provisions. The poor Spaniards were hungry enough to be glad ofthis relief.
Mendez, a spirited sailor, had the oversight of this trade, and in onenegotiation, at some distance from the vessels, he bought a good canoe ofa friendly chief. For this he gave a brass basin, one of his two shirts, and ashort jacket. On this canoe turned their after fortunes. Columbus refitted............