144 



COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER. 



share that ought to be reserved for your highnesses, 

 this, in my opinion, must be left to the aforesaid gov- 

 ernor and treasurer, because it will have to be greater 

 or less, according to the quantity of gold that may be 

 found. Or, should it seem preferable, your high- 

 nesses might, for the space of one year, take one half 

 and the collector the other, and a better arrangement 

 for the division be made afterward. 



Item. That if the said alcaldes or notaries shall 

 commit or be privy to any fraud, punishment shall be 

 provided ; and the same for the colonists who shall 

 not have declared all the gold they have. 



Item. That in the said island there shall be a 

 treasurer, with a clerk to assist him, who shall re- 

 ceive all the gold belonging to your highnesses ; and 

 the alcaldes and notaries of the town shall each keep 

 a record of what they deliver to the said treasurer. 



Item. As in the eagerness to get gold every one 

 will wish naturally to engage in its search in prefer- 

 ence to any other employment, it seems to me that 

 the privilege of going to look for gold ought to be 

 withheld during some portion of each year, that there 

 may be opportunity to nave the other business neces- 

 sary for the island performed. 



Item. In regard to the discovery of new countries, 

 I think permission should be granted to all that wish 

 to go, and more liberality used in the matter of the 

 fifth, making the tax easier in some fair way in order 

 that many may be disposed to go on voyage. 



I will now give my opinion about ships going to 

 the said island of Espanola and the order that should 

 be maintained; and that is, that the said ships should 

 only be allowed to discharge in one or two ports des- 

 ignated for the purpose, and should register there 

 whatever cargo they bring or unload ; and when the 

 time for their departure comes, that they should sail 

 from these same ports and register all the cargo they 

 take in, that nothing may be concealed. 



Item. In reference to the transportation of gold 

 from the island to Castile, that all of it should be 

 taken on board the ship, both that belonging to your 

 highnesses and the property of every one else ; that 

 it should all be placed in one chest with two locks, 

 with their keys, and that the master of the vessel 

 keep one key and some person selected by the gov- 

 ernor and treasurer the other; that there should come 

 with the gold, for a testimony, a list of all that has 

 been put into the said chest, properly marked, so that 

 each owner may receive his own ; and that for the 

 faithful performance of this duty, if any gold whatso- 

 ever is found outside of the said chest in any way, be 

 it little or much, it shall be forfeited to your high- 

 nesses. 



Item. That all the ships that come from the said 

 island shall be obliged to make their proper dis- 

 charge in the port of Cadiz, and that no person shall 

 debark or other person be permitted to go on board 

 until the ship has been visited by the person or per- 

 sons deputed for that purpose in the said city by 

 your highnesses, to whom the master shall show all 

 that he carries and exhibit the manifest of all the 

 cargo, that it may be seen and examined if the said 

 ship brings anything hidden and not known at the 

 time of lading. 



Item. That the chest in which the said gold has 

 been carried shall be opened in the presence of the 

 magistrates of the said city of Cadiz and of the per- 

 son deputed for that purpose by your highnesses, and 

 his own property be given to each owner. I beg your 

 highnesses to hold me in your protection; and I re- 

 main, praying our Lord God for your highnesses' 

 lives and the increase of much greater states, 



S. 



S. A. S. 

 X M Y 

 Xpo FERENS. 



On Sept. 25, 1493, the second expedition sailed 

 from the port of Cadiz, and on Nov. 2 Columbus 

 announced that they might soon look for land. 



On the following day they sighted a lofty island, 

 which he named Dominica, the day being Sun- 

 day. As he could find no good anchorage at 

 Dominica, Columbus coasted about among the 

 Antilles, stopping at an island which he named 

 Guadeloupe. Although there were a few evi- 

 dences of greater advance in skill among the 

 natives of this island, he became convinced that 

 they were cannibals, and felt no small alarm on 

 finding that the captain and 8 men from one of 

 the caravels were missing from the fleet. For 

 days, impatient as he was to reach the colony, 

 Columbus waited, firing guns and sending out 

 searching parties to find the men. At length, 

 when they were given up for lost, to the joy of 

 all they appeared. To pass so decided a breach 

 of discipline would be fatal to future order, and 

 Columbus put the captain under arrest and re- 

 duced the rations of the men. 



WJth the most eager anticipations they drew 

 near La Navidad. It was too dark to attempt 

 its dangerous entrance, but guns were fired and 

 every eye and ear strained to catch sight or 

 sound of answering signal. The stillness was 

 unbroken. About midnight a canoe came out 

 to the vessels and its occupant asked for the 

 admiral. Columbus came to his vessel's side 

 and in the darkness recognized the friendly In- 

 dian chief, Guacanigari, who had brought him 

 a present of 2 masks ornamented with gold. In 

 answer to Columbus's eager inquiry for the 

 Spaniards, he replied that some had died of sick- 

 ness, others had quarreled and killed one an- 

 other, others had gone off to another part of the 

 island, where they had Indian wives. He said 

 that Caonabo had burned his village and rav- 

 aged the country. The fort was in ruins, and 

 garments and utensils and several dead bodies 

 were found, but not a trace of life. 



Columbus immediately looked for a site for a 

 new colony, and finding one near Monti Chris- 

 ti, he called the place Isabella, and began the 

 work of building. Streets and squares were laid 

 out, and a church and storehouse were built of 

 stone. Wood, plaster, and reeds formed the 

 material of the houses, and for a time all en- 

 deavored to work diligently. But few of those 

 colonists had ever been on the sea ; there had been 

 much illness, their provisions were half spoiled, 

 and they knew nothing about the kind of care ne- 

 cessary in a new soil teeming with moisture. The 

 work was too hard for the weakened men, and the 

 prospect was not what was fancied by the roman- 

 tic and greedy noblemen. Columbus was stricken 

 with illness, and lay for weeks unable to rise: 

 but he arranged plans for the new city, and gave 

 a thousand directions for the general welfare. 

 One thing weighed heavily on him : the vessels 

 which he must send back to Spain were awaited 

 with high expectations by the Court and people. 

 They looked for shiploads of gold, and it would 

 be hard to tell the tale of disaster. He resolved 

 to send Ojeda to the golden mountain of Cibao, 

 in hopes of finding the coveted treasure, and he 

 dispatched another cavalier in another direction. 

 Both returned with accounts of evidences of 

 mines of great richness that only needed to be 

 opened, and with specimens of gold and of the 

 fruits and plants of the country. Then he dis- 

 patched 12 ships, with enough good tidings to 

 temper the disappointment. . 



