THscovery of dldaut Lands. 223 



1)0 deterred l)y no lal^ors, ex])enses, dangers, nor even tlie effu- 

 sion of your own 1)lood, and knowing, moreover, that you had 

 for a long time dedicated all your thoughts and efforts thereunto, 

 as is shown hy the recovery of Granada from the Saracen yoke, 

 brought about l)y you in these days, to such great glory of God's 

 name, we with reason concluded to grant 3-0U spontaneously 

 and approvingly whatsoever would enable you to promote, with 

 ever-increasing zeal for God's glory and the propagation of 

 Christianity, an aim so holy, so laudible, and so pleasing to the 

 immortal God. We have, indeed, heard that you, who had 

 long been determined to search for and find certain remote and 

 unknown continents and islands which no one had ever dis- 

 covered, in order to convert the natives and inhabitants thereof 

 to the worship of the Redeemer and the profession of the Christian 

 faith, being most earnestly engaged in the reduction and recovery 

 of the said kingdom of Granada, were unable to carry into exe- 

 cution your holy and laudable resolve. When at length, how- 

 ever, by God's will, the said kingdom had been reconquered 

 you, in your desire to begin at once the accomplishment of your 

 purpose, sent our beloved son, Christopher Colon, a worthy and 

 most commendable man and well fitted for so great an under- 

 taking, with ships and suitable crews and cargoes, prepared with 

 great labor, risk and expense, to make diligent search for the 

 said remote and unknown continents and islands in a sea 

 whereon none had ever before sailed. 



Finally, with the divine assistance and by dint of the greatest 

 care, your envoys, while navigating the ocean, discovered cer- 

 tain most distant islands, and continents also, which had never 

 before been found, the inhabitants whereof are numerous and 

 peaceful and, according to report, go naked and eat no meat. 

 Moreover, as your said envoys have reason to think, the inhal)- 

 itants of these islands believe in one God the Creator, in heaven, 

 and appear sufficiently disposed to embrace the Catholic faith 

 and to become imbued with good morals, and it is hoped that 

 by means of instruction the name of our Lord Jesus Christ can 

 easily be introduced into the said islands. The said Christopher 

 has already erected a sufficiently fortified citadel, in which he 

 has placed a garrison of his fellow-voyagers, who are to search 

 for other distant continents and islands. In those already dis- 

 covered gold, spices and a great number of other precious 



