COLUMBUS, CHBISTOPHER. 



155 



1'iii'J. in which the King and Queen solemnly as- 

 sured liim that their promises to him should be 

 fulfilled to the letter, and to his children; and 

 thin they also intended to bestow new honors 

 upon him and his descendants. Therefore, they 

 bade him depart in peace. This letter, with a 

 full statement of his rights and privileges, Co- 

 lumbus had witnessed before Uie alcaldes of Se- 

 ville, and caused to be copied and deposited in 

 St. (ieorge's Mank in Genoa. He set all his af- 

 fairs in order, and, so far as human foresight 

 could, arranged for the perpetuation to his chil- 

 dren of the rights and emolument! that were 

 already his, or which he believed would yet ac- 

 crue from his discovery, and which he might well 

 have been convinced he alone must maintain. 



On May 9, 1502, when about sixty-six years 

 old. Columbus set sail once more from Cadiz. 

 He had four small caravels, the largest of 70 tons 

 Imrden, t he smallest of 50. With these he pur- 

 posed to find the Indian strait, and to circum- 

 navigate the earth. With him were his noble 

 and faithful brother Don Bartholomew and his 

 younger son, Fernando. He had orders from 

 the Crown not to stop at his own island of His- 

 paniola, except on his return. Extracts from a 

 description of this voyage, in a letter to Ferdi- 

 nand and Isabella, written in 1503, are given 

 below ; but they do not give Columbus due credit 

 in many particulars. Others relate that when, 

 from the condition of one of his ships and from 

 st re-s of weather, he anchored outside Santo Do- 

 mingo and asked harborage from the tempest 

 which he foresaw, and it was denied him, he 

 sent word to hold the fleet until it was over. 

 There was no sign to the other mariners of such 

 disaster, and the vessels put to sea, carrying 

 Bobadilla and the colonists who were to be re- 

 turned to Spain, and much gold. The tempest 

 broke, and most of the ships foundered, Roldan 

 and Bobadilla being among the lost. But one 

 vessel, which contained 4,000 gold pieces belong- 

 ing to Columbus, could proceed to Spain. 



My passage from Cadiz to the Canaries occupied 

 four days, and thence to the Indies sixteen days. 



Up to the period of my reaching these shores I ex- 

 perienced most excellent weather, but the night of 

 my arrival came on with a dreadful tempest. On 

 reaching the island of Espanola I dispatched a packet 

 of letters, by which 1 heirircd as a favor that a ship 

 should be supplied me at my own cost in lieu of one 

 <>f those that T had brought with me, which had be- 

 come unseaworthy, and could no longer carry sail. 

 The letters were taken, and your highnesses will 

 know if a reply has been (riven to them. For my 

 part I wus formddcn to go on shore. 



The tempest was terrible throughout the night, all 

 the ships were separated, and each one driven to the 

 last extremity, without hope of anything but death ; 

 each of them also looked upon the loss of the rest as 

 u matter ot certainty. I was in anxious fear for my 

 oun ^at'ety, and that of my son, my brother, and my 

 friends, and yet was refused permission either to land 

 or to put intV, harbor on the shores which by God's 

 mercy I had gained for Spain with so much toil and 

 danger. 



The ship which we had the greatest fear for had 

 put out to sea for safety, and readied the island of 

 Gallega. The vessel in which I was, though dreadfully 

 buffeted, was saved by our Lord's mercy from any 

 injury whatever; my brother went in the ship that 

 was unsound, and he under God was the cause of its 

 being saved. With this tempest I st nitrified on till I 

 reached Jamaica, and there t lie sea became calm, but 



there was a strong current which carried me as far 

 a.s Die IJiiccir* diinieii u it liout seeing land. Hence, 

 as opportunity ottered, 1 pushed mi for ///<///////,/, 

 in spite of the wind and a fearful contrary current, 

 against which I contended for sixty days, and during 

 that time only made 7" leagues. All this time I was 

 unable to get into harbor, nor was there any cessa- 

 tion of the tempest, which was one continuation of 

 ram, thunder, and lightning ; indeed, it seemed as if 

 it were the end of the world. I at length reached 

 Cape of Gracias a Uios. 



I reached the land of Cariuy, when- I stopped to 

 repair my vessels and take in provi -ions, trained in- 

 formation respecting the gold mines of which I was 

 in search, in the province of Ciamba ; and two In- 

 dians conducted uie to Carambaru, where the people 

 (who go naked) wear golden mirrors round their 

 necks, which they will neither sell, give, nor part 

 with for any consideration. They named to me 

 many places on the seacoast where there were both 

 gold and mines. The last that they mentioned was 

 Vengna, which was 25 leagues distant from the place 

 \\ here we then were. 



When I discovered the Indies I said that they com- 

 posed the richest lordship in the world: I sj>oke of 

 gold and pearls and precious stones of spices ; and the 

 tralfic that might be carried on in them ; and because 

 these things were not forthcoming at once, 1 was 

 abused. This punishment causes me to refrain from 

 relating anything but what the natives tell me. One 

 thing I can venture upon saying, because there are 

 so many witnesses of it, viz., that in this land of Vera- 

 gua I saw more signs of gold jn the first two days 

 than I saw in Espanola during four years; and that 

 there is not a more fertile or better cultivated country 

 in all the world, nor one whose inhabitants are more 

 timid ; added to which, there is a good harbor, a 

 beautiful river, and the whole place is capable of be- 

 ing easily put into a state of defense. 



The people who have sailed with me have passed 

 through incredible toil and danger, and I beseech 

 your highnesses, since they are poor> to pay them 

 promptly, and to be gracious to each of them accord- 

 Ing to their respective merits; for I can safely assert, 

 that to my belief they are the bearers of the best 

 news that ever were carried to Spain. With re-pet 

 to the gold which belongs to Quibian, the cacique of 

 Veragua, and other chiefs in the neighboring coun- 

 try, although it appears by the accounts we have re- 

 ceived of it to be very abundant, I do not think it 

 would be well or desirable, on the part of your high- 

 nesses, to take possession of it in the wav of plunder. 

 By fair dealing, scandal and disrepute will 1 avoided, 

 and all the gold will thus reach your highnesses' 

 treasury without the loss of a grain. 



With* one month of fair weather I shall complete 

 my vnvage. As I was deficient in ships. 1 did not 

 persist in delaying my course. I think your high- 

 will remember that 1 had intended to build 

 some ships in a new manner, but the shortness of the 

 time did not permit it. 1 think more of this opening 

 for commerce, and of the lordship over such exten- 

 sive mines, than of all that has been done in the 

 Indies. This is not a child to be left to the care of a 

 stepmother. 



I never think of Espanola and Paria and other 

 countries without sheading tears. 1 thought that 

 what had occurred there would have been an exam- 

 ple for others; on the contrary, these settlements arc 

 now in a hinjruid Mate, although not dead, and the 

 malady is incurable, or at least very extensive. Let 

 him \vlio brought the evil come now and cure it. if 

 he knows the remedy or how to apply it; but when 

 a disturbance is on foot, every one is ready to take 

 the lead. 



I am indeed in a mined condition, llithcrt > I 

 have wept over others; may Heaven now have mercy 

 upon me, and may the earth weep for me. With re- 

 gard to temporal thing*. I have not even a blanca for 

 an otlerimr: and in spiritual things I have eMM 

 here in the Indies from observing the prescribed 



