Authentic Letters of Columbus. 173 



XXV. 



Draft of letter of Columbus relating to his claims against 

 THE Crown of Spain, based upon the privileges and conces- 

 sions granted to him by the contract with the Spanish Sov- 

 ereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella. Original in the collec- 

 tion OF the Duke of Berwick-Alba, Madrid. 



t 



" Report on my jDrivileges and concessions. 

 Jhs cumas, t no . . . " 

 Jesus cum Alari sit ncjbis in vita 

 (May Jesus and Mary be with us in life). 



Magnificent Sirs: 



It appears from your privilege and the articles of agreement 

 entered into with you, that their Highnesses appointed you Admiral 

 of the Ocean Seas, which they defined by causing a line to be 

 drawn from pole to pole, crossing the Cape Verde Islands and the 

 Azores, and that they granted to you exactly the same rights, hon- 

 ors, and favors as are enjoyed by the Lord Admiral of Castile within 

 his own district. 



Item. They graciously appointed you also Viceroy and Gov- 

 ernor-General of all the islands and continents, whether already dis- 

 covered or to be discovered, on the other side of the line aforesaid, 

 and they granted you the power to appoint all the officers who 

 should be required for the administration of the government of the 

 said islands and continents. 



Item. They also gave you the tenth of everything received 

 from the district subject to your jurisdiction as Admiral, after deduct- 

 ing the expenses. 



Item. They gave you, likewise, the eighth of all the profits 

 made out of expeditions, or fleets sent to the Indies, to the equip- 

 ment of which you had contributed by paying one-eighth of the ex- 

 penses. 



It appears from the acts of confirmation of your privileges that 

 3'ou are the discoverer of the islands and continents of the Indies. If 

 anything is now discovered there, it will be owing to you and your 

 industry, and can not properly be called discovery. You are the 

 one who discovered the Indies, in spite of the doubts which were 



