DISCOVERY OF HAYTI OR HISPANIOLA--THE SEARCHFOR GOLD--HOSPITALITY AND INTELLIGENCE OF THENATIVES--CHRISTMAS DAY--A SHIPWRECK--COLONY TO BEFOUNDED--COLUMBUS SAILS EAST AND MEETS MARTINPINZON--THE TWO VESSELS RETURN TO EUROPE --STORM-THE AZORES--PORTUGAL--HOME.
On the sixth of December they crossed from the eastern cape of Cubato the northwestern point of the island, which we call Hayti or SanDomingo. He says he gave it this name because "the plains appeared tohim almost exactly like those of Castile, but yet more beautiful."He coasted eastward along the northern side of the island, hoping thatit might be the continent, and always inquiring for gold when he landed;but the Indians, as before, referred him to yet another land, still furthersouth, which they still called Bohio. It was not surrounded by water, theysaid. The word "caniba," which is the origin of our word "cannibal," andrefers to the fierce Caribs, came often into their talk. The sound of thesyllable can made Columbus more sure that he was now approaching thedominions of the Grand Khan of eastern Asia, of whom Marco Polo hadinformed Europe so fully.
On the twelfth of the month, after a landing in which a cross had beenerected, three sailors went inland, pursuing the Indians. They captured ayoung woman whom they brought to the fleet. She wore a large ring ofgold in her nose. She was able to understand the other Indians whom theyhad on board. Columbus dressed her, gave her some imitation pearls, ringsand other finery, and then put her on shore with three Indians and three ofhis own men.
The men returned the next day without going to the Indian village.
Columbus then sent out nine men, with an Indian, who found a town of athousand huts about four and a half leagues from the ship. They thoughtthe population was three thousand. The village in Cuba is spoken of ashaving twenty people to a house. Here the houses were smaller or thecount of the numbers extravagant. The people approached the explorers carefully, and with tokens of respect. Soon they gained confidence andbrought out food for them: fish, and bread made from roots, "which tastedexactly as if it were made of chestnuts."In the midst of this festival, the woman, who had been sent back fromthe ship so graciously, appeared borne on the shoulders of men who wereled by her husband.
The Spaniards thought these natives of St. Domingo much whiter thanthose of the other islands. Columbus says that two of the women, ifdressed in Castilian costume, would be counted to be Spaniards. He saysthat the heat of the country is intense, and that if these people lived in acooler region they would be of lighter color.
On the fourteenth of December he continued his voyage eastward, andon the fifteenth landed on the little island north of Hayti, which he calledTortuga, or Turtle island. At midnight on the sixteenth he sailed, andlanded on Hispaniola again. Five hundred Indians met him, accompaniedby their king, a fine young man of about twenty years of age. He hadaround him several counselors, one of whom appeared to be his tutor. Tothe steady questions where gold could be found, the reply as steady wasmade that it was in "the Island of Babeque." This island, they said, wasonly two days off, and they pointed out the route. The interview ended inan offer by the king to the Admiral of all that he had. The explorers neverfound this mysterious Babeque, unless, as Bishop Las Casas guessed,Babeque and Jamaica be the same.
The king visited Columbus on his ship in the evening, and Columbusentertained him with European food. With so cordial a beginning ofintimacy, it was natural that the visitors should spend two or three dayswith these people. The king would not believe that any sovereigns ofCastile could be more powerful than the men he saw. He and those aroundhim all believed that they came direct from heaven.
Columbus was always asking for gold. He gave strict orders that itshould always be paid for, when it was taken. To the islanders it wasmerely a matter of ornament, and they gladly exchanged it for the glassbeads, the rings or the bells, which seemed to them more ornamental. Oneof the caciques or chiefs, evidently a man of distinction and authority, had little bits of gold which he exchanged for pieces of glass. It proved that hehad clipped them off from a larger piece, and he went back into his cabin,cut that to pieces, and then exchanged all those in trade for the white man'scommodities. Well pleased with his bargain, he then told the Spaniardsthat he would go and get much more and would come and trade with themagain.
On the eighteenth of December, the wind not serving well, they waitedthe return of the chief whom they had first seen. In the afternoon heappeared, seated in a palanquin, which was carried by four men, andescorted by more than two hundred of his people. He was accompanied bya counselor and preceptor who did not leave him. He came on board theship when Columbus was at table. He would not permit him to leave hisplace, and readily took a seat at his side, when it was offered. Columbusoffered him European food and drink; he tasted of each, and then gavewhat was offered to his attendants. The ceremonious Spaniards found aremarkable dignity in his air and gestures. After the repast, one of hisservants brought a handsome belt, elegantly wrought, which he presentedto Columbus, with two small pieces of gold, also delicately wrought.
Columbus observed that this cacique looked with interest on thehangings of his ship-bed, and made a present of them to him, in return forhis offering, with some amber beads from his own neck, some red shoesand a flask of orange flower water.
On the nineteenth, after these agreeable hospitalities, the squadronsailed again, and on the twentieth arrived at a harbor which Columbuspronounced the finest he had ever seen. The reception he met here and theimpressions he formed of Hispaniola determined him to make a colony onthat island. It may be said that on this determination the course of his afterlife turned. This harbor is now known as the Bay of Azul.
The men, whom he sent on shore, found a large village not far fromthe shore, where they were most cordially received. The natives beggedthe Europeans to stay with them, and as it proved, Columbus accepted theinvitation for a part of his crew. On the first day three different chiefscame to visit him, in a friendly way, with their retinues. The next day morethan a hundred and twenty canoes visited the ship, bringing with them such presents as the people thought would be acceptable. Among thesewere bread from the cassava root, fish, water in earthen jars, and the seedsof spices. These spices they would stir in with water to make a drinkwhich they thought healthful.
On the same day Columbus sent an embassy of six men to a large townin the interior. The chief by giving his hand "to the secretary" pledgedhimself for their safe return.
The twenty-third was Sunday. It was spent as the day before had been,in mutual civilities. The natives would offer their presents, and say "take,take," in their own language. Five chiefs were among the visitors of theday. From their accounts Columbus was satisfied that there was much goldin the island, as indeed, to the misery and destruction of its inhabitants,there proved to be. He thought it was larger than England. But he wasmistaken. In his journal of the next day he mentions Civao, a land to thewest, where they told him that there was gold, and again he thought hewas approaching Cipango, or Japan.
The next day he left these hospitable people, raising anchor in themorning, and with a light land wind continued towards the west. At elevenin the evening Columbus retired to rest. While he slept, on Christmas Day,there occurred an accident which changed all plans for the expedition sofar as any had been formed, and from which there followed theestablishment of the ill-fated first colony. The evening was calm whenColumbus himself retired to sleep, and the master of the vessel followedhis example, entrusting the helm to one of the boys. Every person on theship, excepting this boy, was asleep, and he seems to have been awake tolittle purpose.
The young steersman let the ship drift upon a ridge of rock, although,as Columbus says, indignantly, there were breakers abundant to show thedanger. So soon as she struck, the boy cried out, and Columbus was thefirst to wake. He says, by way of apology for himself, that for thirty-sixhours he had not slept until now. The master of the ship followed him. Butit was too late. The tide, such as there was, was ebbing, and the SantaMaria was hopelessly aground. Columbus ordered the masts cut away, butthis did not relieve her.
He sent out his boat with directions to carry aft an anchor and cable,but its crew escaped to the Nina with their tale of disaster. The Nina'speople would not receive them, reproached them as traitors, and in theirown vessel came to the scene of danger. Columbus was obliged to transferto her the crew of the Santa Maria.
So soon as it was day, their friendly ally, Guacanagari, came on board.
With tears in his eyes, he made the kindest and most judicious offers ofassistance. He saw Columbus's dejection, and tried to relieve him byexpressions of his sympathy. He set aside on shore two large houses toreceive the stores that were on the Santa Maria, and appointed as manylarge canoes as could be used to remove these stores to the land. Heassured Columbus that not a bit of the cargo or stores should be lost, andthis loyal promise was fulfilled to the letter.
The weather continued favorable. The sea was so light that everythingon board the Santa Maria was removed safely. Then it was that Columbus,tempted by the beauty of the place, by the friendship of the natives, and bythe evident wishes of his men, determined to leave a colony, which shouldbe supported by the stores of the Santa Maria, until the rest of the partycould go back to Spain and bring or send reinforcements. The king waswell pleased with this suggestion, and promised all assistance for the plan.
A vault was dug and built, in which the stores could be placed, and on thisa house was built for the home of the colonists, so far as they cared to livewithin doors.
The chief sent a canoe in search of Martin Pinzon and the Pinta, to tellthem of the disaster. But the messengers returned without finding them. Atthe camp, which was to be a city, all was industriously pressed, with theassistance of the friendly natives. Columbus, having no vessel but the littleNina left, determined to return to Europe with the news of his discovery,and to leave nearly forty men ashore.
It would appear that the men, themselves, were eager to stay. Theluxury of the climate and the friendly overtures of the people delightedthem, They had no need to build substantial houses. So far as houses wereneeded, those of the natives were sufficient. All the preparations whichColumbus thought necessary were made in the week between the twenty sixth of December and the second of January. On that day he expected tosail eastward, but unfavorable winds prevented.
He landed his men again, and by the exhibition of a pretended battlewith European arms, he showed the natives the military force of their newneighbors. He fired a shot from an arquebuse against the wreck of theSanta Maria, so that the Indians might see the power of his artillery. TheIndian chief expressed his regret at the approaching departure, and theSpaniards thought that one of his courtiers said that the chief had orderedhim to make a statue of pure gold as large as the Admiral.
Columbus explained to the friendly chief that with such arms as thesovereigns of Castile commanded they could readily destroy the dreadedCaribs. And he thought he had made such an impression that the islanderswould be the firm friends of the colonists.
"I have bidden them build a solid tower and defense, over a vault. Notthat I think this necessary against the natives, for I am satisfied that with ahandful of people I could conquer the whole island, were it necessary,although it is, as far as I can judge, larger than Portugal, and twice asthickly peopled." In this cheerful estimate of the people Columbus waswholly wrong, as the sad events proved before the year had gone by.
He left thirty-nine men to be the garrison of this fort; and the colonywhich was to discover the mine of gold. In command he placed Diego daArana, Pedro Gutierres and Rodrigo de Segovia. To us, who have moreexperience of colonies and colonists than he had had, it does not seem topromise well that Rodrigo was "the king's chamberlain and an officer ofthe first lord of the household." Of these three, Diego da Arana was to bethe governor, and the other two his lieutenants. The rest were all sailors,but among them there were Columbus's secretary, an alguazil, or personcommissioned in the civil service at home, an "arquebusier," who was alsoa good engineer, a tailor, a ship carpenter, a cooper and a physician. So thelittle colony had its share of artificers and men of practical skill. They allstaid willingly, delighted with the prospects of their new home.
On the third of January Columbus sailed for Europe in the little Nina.
With her own crew and the addition she received from the Santa Maria,she must have been badly crowded. Fortunately for all parties, on Sunday, the third day of the voyage, while they were still in sight of land, the Pintacame in sight. Martin Pinzon came on board the Nina and offered excusesfor his absence. Columbus was not really satisfied with them, but heaffected to be, as this was no moment for a quarrel. He believed thatPinzon had left him, that, in the Pinta, he might be alone when hediscovered the rich gold-bearing island of Babeque or Baneque. Althoughthe determination was made to return, another week was spent in slowcoasting, or in waiting for wind. It brought frequent opportunities formeeting the natives, in one of which they showed a desire to take some oftheir visitors captive. This would only have been a return for a capturemade by Pinzon of several of their number, whom Columbus, on hismeeting Pinzon, had freed. In this encounter two of the Indians werewounded, one by a sword, one by an arrow. It would seem that he did notshow them the power of firearms.
This was in the Bay of Samana, which Columbus called "The Bay ofArrows," from the skirmish or quarrel which took place there. They thensailed sixty-four miles cast, a quarter northeast, and thought they saw theland of the Caribs, which he was seeking. But here, at length, his authorityover his crew failed. The men were eager to go home;--did not, perhaps,like the idea of fight with the man-eating Caribs. There was a goodwestern wind, and on the evening of the sixteenth of January Columbusgave way and they bore away for home.
Columbus had satisfied himself in this week that there were manyislands east of him which he had not hit upon, and that to the easternmostof these, from the Canaries, the distance would prove not more than fourhundred leagues. In this supposition he was wholly wrong, though a chainof islands does extend to the southeast.
He seems to have observed the singular regularity by which the tradewinds bore him steadily westward as he came over. He had no wish tovisit the Canary Islands again, and with more wisdom than could havebeen expected, from his slight knowledge of the Atlantic winds, he borenorth. Until the fourteenth of February the voyage was prosperous anduneventful. One day the captive Indians amused the sailors by swimming.
There is frequent mention of the green growth of the Sargasso sea. But on the fourteenth all this changed. The simple journal thus describes theterrible tempest which endangered the two vessels, and seemed, at themoment, to cut off the hope of their return to Europe.
"Monday, February 14.--This night the wind increased still more; thewaves were terrible. Coming from two opposite directions, they crossedeach other, and stopped the progress of the vessel, which could neitherproceed nor get out from among them; and as they began continually tobreak over the ship, the Admiral caused the main-sail to be lowered. Sheproceeded thus during three hours, and made twenty miles. The seabecame heavier and heavier, and the wind more and more violent. Seeingthe danger imminent, he allowed himself to drift in whatever direction thewind took him, because he could do nothing else. Then the Pinta, of whichMartin Alonzo Pinzon was the commander, began to drift also; but shedisappeared very soon, although all through the night the Admiral madesignals with lights to her, and she answered as long as she could, till shewas prevented, probably by the force of the tempest, and by her deviationfrom the course which the Admiral followed." Columbus did not see thePinta again until she arrived at Palos. He was himself driven fifty-fourmiles towards the northeast.
The journal continues. "After sunrise the strength of the windincreased, and the sea became still more terrible. The Admiral all this timekept his mainsail lowered, so that the vessel might rise from among thewaves which washed over it, and which threatened to sink it. The Admiralfollowed, at first, the direction of east-northeast, and afterwards duenortheast. He sailed about six hours in this direction, and thus made sevenleagues and a half. He gave orders that every sailor should draw lots as towho should make a pilgrimage to Santa Maria of Guadeloupe, to carry hera five-pound wax candle. And each one took a vow that he to whom the lotfell should make the pilgrimage.
"For this purpose, he gave orders to take as many dry peas as therewere persons in the ship, and to cut, with a knife, a cross upon one of them,and to put them all into a cap, and to shake them up well. The first whoput his hand in was the Admiral. He drew out the dry pea marked with thecross; so it was upon him that the lot fell, and he regarded himself, after that, as a pilgrim, obliged to carry into effect the vow which he had thustaken. They drew lots a second time, to select a person to go as pilgrim toOur Lady of Lorette, which is within the boundaries of Ancona, making apart of the States of the Church: it is a place where the Holy Virgin hasworked and continues to work many and great miracles. The lot havingfallen this time upon a sailor of the harbor of Santa Maria, named Pedro deVilla, the Admiral promised to give him all the money necessary for theexpenses. He decided that a third pilgrim should be sent to watch onenight at Santa Clara of Moguer, and to have a mass said there. For thispurpose, they again shook up the dry peas, not forgetting that one whichwas marked with the cross, and the lot fell once again to the Admiralhimself. He then took, as did all his crew, the vow that, on the first shorewhich they might reach, they would go in their shirts, in a procession, tomake a prayer in some church in invocation of Our Lady.""Besides the general vows, or those taken by all in common, each manmade his own special vow, because nobody expected to escape. The stormwhich they experienced was so terrible, that all regarded themselves aslost; what increased the danger was the circumstance that the vessel lackedballast, because the consumption of food, water and wine had greatlydiminished her load. The hope of the continuance of weather as fine asthat which they had experienced in all the islands, was the reason why theAdmiral had not provided his vessel with the proper amount of ballast.
Moreover, his plan had been to ballast it in the Women's Island, whither hehad from the first determined to go. The remedy which the Admiralemployed was to fill with sea water, as soon as possible, all the emptybarrels which had previously held either wine or fresh water. In this waythe difficulty was remedied.
"The Admiral tells here the reasons for fearing that our Saviour wouldallow him to become the victim of this tempest, and other reasons whichmade him hope that God would come to his assistance, and cause him toarrive safe and sound, so that intelligence such as that which he wasconveying to the king and queen would not perish with him. The strongdesire which he had to be the bearer of intelligence so important, and toprove the truth of all which he had said, and that all which he had tried to discover had really been discovered, seemed to contribute precisely toinspire him with the greatest fear that he could not succeed. He confessed,himself, that every mosquito that passed before his eyes was enough toannoy and trouble him. He attributed this to his little faith, and his lack ofconfidence in Divine Providence. On the other hand, he was re-animatedby the favors which God had shown him in granting to him so great atriumph as that which he had achieved, in all his discoveries, in fulfillingall his wishes, and in granting that, after having experienced in Castile somany rebuffs and disappointments, all his hopes should at last be morethan surpassed. In one word, as the sovereign master of the universe, had,in the outset, distinguished him in granting all his requests, before he hadcarried out his expedition for God's greatest glory, and before it hadsucceeded, he was compelled to believe now that God would preserve himto complete the work which he had begun." Such is Las Casas'sabridgment of Columbus's words.
"For which reasons he said he ought to have had no fear of the tempestthat was raging. But his weakness and anguish did not leave him amoment's calm. He also said that his greatest grief was the thought ofleaving his two boys orphans. They were at Cordova, at their studies.
What would become of them in a strange land, without father or mother?
for the king and queen, being ignorant of the services he had renderedthem in this voyage, and of the good news which he was bringing to them,would not be bound by any consideration to serve as their protectors.
"Full of this thought, he sought, even in the storm, some means ofapprising their highnesses of the victory which the Lord had granted him,in permitting him to discover in the Indies all which he had sought in hisvoyage, and to let them know that these coasts were free from storms,which is proved, he said, by the growth of herbage and trees even to theedge of the sea. With this purpose, that, if he perished in this tempest, theking and queen might have some news of his voyage, he took a parchmentand wrote on it all that he could of his discoveries, and urgently beggedthat whoever found it would carry it to the king and queen. He rolled upthis parchment in a piece of waxed linen, closed this parcel tightly, andtied it up securely; he had brought to him a large wooden barrel, within which he placed it, without anybody's knowing what it was. Everybodythought the proceeding was some act of devotion. He then caused it to bethrown into the sea."[*]
[*] Within a few months, in the summer of 1890, a well knownEnglish publisher has issued an interesting and ingenious edition, of whatpretended to be a fac simile of this document. The reader is asked tobelieve that the lost barrel has just now been found on the western coast ofEngland. But publishers and purchasers know alike that this is only anamusing suggestion of what might have been.
The sudden and heavy showers, and the squalls which followed sometime afterwards, changed the wind, which turned to the west. They had thewind thus abaft, and he sailed thus during five hours with the foresail only,having always the troubled sea, and made at once two leagues and a halftowards the northeast. He had lowered the main topmast lest a wave mightcarry it away.
With a heavy wind astern, so that the sea frequently broke over thelittle Nina, she made eastward rapidly, and at daybreak on the fifteenththey saw land. The Admiral knew that he had made the Azores, he hadbeen steadily directing the course that way; some of the seamen thoughtthey were at Madeira, and some hopeful ones thought they saw the rock ofCintra in Portugal. Columbus did not land till the eighteenth, when he sentsome men on shore, upon the island of Santa Maria. His news of discoverywas at first received with enthusiasm.
But there followed a period of disagreeable negotiation with Castaneda,the governor of the Azores. Pretending great courtesy and hospitality, butreally acting upon the orders of the king of Portugal, he did his best todisable Columbus and even seized some of his crew and kept themprisoners for some days. When Columbus once had them on board again,he gave up his plans for taking ballast and water on these inhospitableislands, and sailed for Europe.
He had again a stormy passage. Again they were in imminent danger.
"But God was good enough to save him. He caused the crew to draw lotsto send to Notre Dame de la Cintra, at the island of Huelva, a pilgrim whoshould come there in his shirt. The lot fell upon himself. All the crew, including the Admiral, vowed to fast on bread and water on the firstSaturday which should come after the arrival of the vessel. He hadproceeded sixty miles before the sails were torn; then they went undermasts and shrouds on account of the unusual strength of the wind, and theroughness of the sea, which pressed them almost on all sides. They sawindications of the nearness of the land; they were in fact, very nearLisbon."At Lisbon, after a reception which was at first cordial, the Portugueseofficers showed an inhospitality like that of Castaneda at the Azores. Butthe king himself showed more dignity and courtesy. He received thestorm-tossed Admiral with distinction, and permitted him to refit hisshattered vessel with all he needed. Columbus took this occasion to writeto his own sovereigns.
On the thirteenth he sailed again, and on the fifteenth entered the bayand harbor of Palos, which he had left six months and a half before. Hehad sailed on Friday. He had discovered America on Friday. And on Fridayhe safely returned to his home.
His journal of the voyage ends with these words: "I see by this voyagethat God has wonderfully proved what I say, as anybody may convincehimself, by reading this narrative, by the signal wonders which he hasworked during the course of my voyage, and in favor of myself, who havebeen for so long a time at the court of your Highnesses in opposition andcontrary to the opinions of so many distinguished personages of yourhousehold, who all opposed me, treating my project as a dream, and myundertaking as a chimera. And I hope still, nevertheless, in our Lord, thisvoyage will bring the greatest honor to Christianity, although it has beenperformed with so much ease."