COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER. 



149 



tioii; therefore, in tin- wtuul case it Hhould bo und< r 

 i.l deelaivd that tin- admiral performed his 

 part I'V otleriii:: I" eoiitriliute his part to tin- prer-ent ; 

 Q he lie Named, but rather thoM who did not 

 notify to liim, what it was their duty to do, etc. 



In iv>[>oMse to this they said : "It was never 

 our intention to prejudice in any way the said 

 I )i>n Cliristobal Colon, nor to allow th'e conven- 

 tions. jri\ ilctrt'.s, and favors which we have 

 ^ranted him to be encroached upon or violated ; 

 Imt, on the contrary, in consequence of the serv- 

 toet which he has rendered us, we intend to con- 

 fer still further tavors on him." 



A royal letter was written conferring the office 

 of udelantado, which Bartholomew held through 

 his brother. Permission was granted him to 

 take out 330 persons in royal pay, of whom 40 

 were to be gentlemen, 100 foot soldiers, 30 sail- 

 ors, 30 ship boys, 20 miners, 50 husbandmen, 10 

 gardeners, 20 mechanics, and 30 women. Co- 

 lumbus had authority to grant lands and many 

 other things. Another full year he waited be- 

 fore the first step was taken that made the rest 

 possible possession of the needed vessels. These 

 were pressed into service, and then, so diligently 

 had evil reports been doing their work in all this 

 time of evident royal neglect, no one volunteered 

 for the service. A general pardon was promised 

 to criminals who would embark. Fonseca left 

 no stone unturned to vex and delay Columbus. 

 As they were about to set sail a last outrage 

 offered him caused Columbus to assault a treas- 

 urer of Fonseca's. He wrote of it with bitter 

 sorrow to Isabella, and begged that it might not 

 prejudice their good opinion, seeing I am, he 

 added, "absent, envied, and a stranger." Be- 

 fore leaving Spain on this voyage Columbus 

 drew up a deed of entail, which is of interest as 

 a revelation of his character, and for the pathos 

 in its suggestion how well he knew that princes 

 could " keep the word of promise to the ear and 

 break it to the hope." The following are its 

 most interesting passages : 



It pleased the Lord Almighty that in the year 

 one thousand four hundred and ninety-two I should 

 ilix-ovcr the continent of the Indios and many islands, 

 among them Kspanola, which the Indians call Ayte 

 ainl the Monicongos Cipango. I then returned to 

 Castile to their highnesses, who approved of my un- 

 dertaking a second enterprise for farther discoveries 

 and settlements; and the Lord gave me victory over 

 tin- island of Espanola, which extends 600 leagues, anil 

 I conquered it and made it tributary ; and I discov- 

 ered many islands inhabited by cannibals, and TOO to 

 the west of Kspanola, among wnich is Jamaica, which 

 we call Santiago, and 333 leagues of continent from 

 smith tn \ve-t. besides 107 to the north, which I dis- 

 covered in my first voyage, together with many isl- 

 ands, as may more clearly be seen by my letters, me- 

 morials, and maritime charts. Ana as we hope in 

 God that before long a good and great revenue will 

 In- derived from the above islands and continent, of 

 which, for the reasons aforesaid, belong to me the 

 tenth and the eighth, with the salaries and emolu- 

 mi-nts s|>eeitied above; and considering that we are 

 mortal, and that it is proper for every one to settle 

 lii> atlairs and to leave declared to his heirs and suc- 

 feors the property he possesses or may have a right 

 to : Wherefore I have concluded to create an entailed 

 estate out of the said eighth of the lands, places, and 

 revenue^ iii the manner which I now proceed to state : 



In the first place, I am to be succeeded by Don 

 Oit'iro, my son, who in case of death without children 

 is t be succeeded by my other son, Ferdinand ; and 

 should God dispose of him also without leaving chil- 



dren and without my having any other son, then my 

 brother l>on Bartholomew is to succeed; he shall be 

 sueeeeded \>y his sons from one t<> another forever; 

 or, in the failure of a son, to be succeeded by \>"n 

 Ferdinand, after the same manner, from son to BOD 

 successively; or in their place by my brothers Bar 

 tholomew and Diego. And should it please the Lord 

 that the estate, after having continued some time in 

 the line of any of the above successors, should stand 

 in need of an immediate and lawful malt- heir, tin- 

 succession shall then devolve to the nearest relation, 

 lieiiiir a man of legitimate birth and bearing the name 

 of Columbus derived from his fath-T arid his an- 

 cestors. I pray their highnesses to order that this, 

 my privilege and testament, be held valid and be 

 executed summarily, and without any opposition or 

 demur, according to the letter. 1 also pray the 

 grandees of the realm, and the lords of the council, 

 and all others having administration of justice, to be 

 pleased not to suffer this rny will and testament to be 

 of no avail, but to cause it to be fulfilled as by me 

 ordained ; it being just that a noble who has served 

 the King; and Queen and the kingdom should be re- 

 spected in the disposition of his estate by will, testa- 

 ment, institution of entail or inheritance, and that the 

 same be not infringed either in whole or in part. 



In the first place, my son Don Diego, and all my 

 successors and descendants, as well as my brothers 

 Bartholomew and Diego, shall bear my arms, such as 

 I shall leave them after my days, without inserting 

 anything else in them ; and they shall be their seal to 

 seal withal. Don Diego my son, or any other who 

 may inherit this estate, on coming into possession of 

 the inheritance, shall sign with the signature which I 

 now make use of, which is an X with an S over it, 

 and an M with a Koman A over it, and over that an S, 

 and then a Greek Y, with an S over it, with its lines 

 and points as is my custom, as may be seen by my 

 signatures, of which there are many, and it will be 

 seen by the present one. 



He shall only write " the Admiral," whatever other 

 titles the King may have conferred on him. This is 

 to be understood as respects his signature, but not the 

 enumeration of his titles, which he can make at full 

 length if agreeable, only the signature is to be " the 

 Admiral." 



The said Don Diego, or any other inheritor of this 

 estate, shall possess my offices of admiral of the ocean. 

 Item. The said Don Diego, or any other inheritor 

 of this estate, shall distribute the revenue which it 

 may please our Lord to grant him, in the following 

 manner : 



First Of the whole income of this estate, now and 

 at all times, and of whatever may be had or collected 

 from it, he shall give the fourth part of it to my brother, 

 Don Bartholomew Columbus, Adelantado of the In- 

 dies ; and this is to continue till he shall have acquired 

 an income of a million of maravedises* for his sup- 

 port, and for the services he lias, rendered and will 

 continue to render to this entailed estate. . . . 



Item. From the revenues of the said estate, or from 

 any other fourth part of it (should its amount be ade- 

 quate to it), shall be paid every year to my son Fer- 

 dinand 2,000,000, till such time as his revenue shall 

 amount to 2,000,000, in the same form and manner as 

 in the ease of Bartholomew, who, as well as his heirs, 

 are to have the million or the part that may be want- 

 ing. 



Item. The said Don Diego or Don Bartholomew 

 shall make out of the said estate, for my brother 

 Diego, such provision as may enable him to live de- 

 cently, as he is my brother, to whom I assign no par- 

 ticular sum, as he has attached himself to the Church, 

 and that will be given him which is right: and this 

 to be given him in a mass, and before anything shall 

 have oeen received by Ferdinand my son, or Bar- 

 tholomew my brother, or their heirs, and also accord- 

 ing to the amount of the income of the estate. A nd 



* Approximately *8,roo. equivalent to between $10,000 and 

 $12,000 at tbe present tin it-. 



