Chap. I. 
HRISTOPHER lOLUMBUS. 
$ 
with fair Promifes of great Rewards, upon Condition of a 
little more Patience. And though he made fhift to cheat 
them into a little good Humour, by crying out Land, on 
the 25th of September, yet that Calm was quickly fuc- 
ceeded by a more outrageous Storm than before : The 
Refult of which was, that after fome farther Trials Co- 
lumbus was forced to promife to return, if they difcovered 
no Land in Three Days time, this being the utmoft 
Space that the mutinous Sailors would allow him. 
10. The fir'll of thofe Days he found, by the Sun-fetting, 
that Land was near *, upon which they contracted their 
Sails ^ and the very fame Night they faw Light. About 
Two Hours after Midnight, Rodrigo di Triana , one of the 
Company, difcovered Land : This was on October the 1 ith, 
A. D. 1492. which they found to be an Ifland of Fifteen 
Leagues Compafs, and is one of the Luc ay as , called by 
the Inhabitants Gavehani , or rather Guamhani •, but by them 
San Salvador , being about 950 Leagues from the Canaries . 
Here they went afhore, and, having fung I'e Deum , they 
took folemn Poffeftion of the Place, in the Name of their 
Catholic Majefties, King Ferdinand , and Queen Ifabella. 
The Natives thought them to be very Arrange People, and 
much more wondered at their Ships, which they believed 
to be great Animals. The Spaniards gave them Caps, 
Beads, and other Toys, which they paid themfelves for in 
more valuable Things. Thefe People were naked, of a 
middle Size, well-proportioned Bodies ; their natural Com- 
plexion of an Olive, but painted with other Colours, ac- 
cording to their Fancies. They knew not the Ufe of 
Iron, nor the Make of Weapons, but innocently laid their 
Hands on the Edges of the Spaniards Swords. Their 
Me abounded with Parrots,- befides which they fcarce faw 
any other Animals ; they trucked for Cotton-yarn, and 
told the Spaniards , that the Gold they wore in Rings at 
their Noftrils, came from the South, where they would find 
a Prince whofe Subjects were very rich therein. 
11. On the 1 5th of October they went to another Ifland, 
Seven Leagues from thence, which they called St a. Maria de 
la Conception. The 17th they went to Ferdinanda , the Wo- 
men of which Place had only fhort Cotton Coats, from the 
Navel to the Mid-thigh, to cover their Nakednefs. After 
this they came to another Ifle, which they called Ifabella ; of 
which, as of all others, they took folemn Poffeffion ; and, 
in all thefe Places, carried itjuflly and-honeftly towards the 
Natives. They proceeded hence to Cuba , which, the Indi- 
ans told them, afforded Gold and Pearl, befides other rich 
Commodities. Two Spaniards, and as many Indians, were 
here lent to fearch the Country ; and, lighting on an Indian 
Town of about Fifty Houfes, they were well treated there, the 
Spaniards being honoured with Incenfe as they went along, 
as if they had been Deities ; which the fimple Indians indeed 
did almoft believe, tho’ Experience foon made them wifer. 
Here they faw Cotton grow of itfelf, with feveral Sorts of 
ftrange Birds and Trees : But the Commodity the Spaniards 
moft minded, was the Gold which they faw the Indians 
wear in their Nofes, about which they were curious to afk 
Queftions : To which the Indians honeftly anfwered, Cuba- 
nacan ; that is, they had it out of the Midft of Cuba ; the 
Spaniards thinking, (becaufe of that Term can ) that they 
had talked of the Great Chan of Cathay . Alonfo Rincon 
Ml Columbus here, who quickly after went himfelf in queft 
of Hifpaniola, which the Natives at that time called Hayti. 
They took here a Woman, a Native of the Ifland ; and* 
treating her well, fhe became a ferviceable Agent on their 
Behalf, with the reft of the Natives : So that, at laft, there 
was a very good Correfpondence eftablifhed between the 
Indians and Spaniards there, the King of the Place inviting 
Columbus to come afhore. A Fort was built upon this 
Ifland, to maintain the Spanijh Pretenfions and Authority, 
m which Thirty-eight Soldiers were left : And, after this 
Bulmefs done, Columbus made Provifions for a Voyage 
homeward, charging the Spaniards to carry it obligingly to 
the Indians and their King. 
12. He failed on Wednefday the 1 7 th of January • and tho 9 
he met with great Storms in his Paffage, yet he arrived 
on the 15 th of February 1493. at the Ifland of St. Mary , 
one of the Azores, and foon after returned to Spain, where 
he was very kindly received by the King and Queen, who 
caufed him to fit in their Prefence, the higheft Flonour a 
Subject could receive in Spain. It is to be obferved, that, on 
his Return from this firft Voyage, Columbus himfelf was of 
Opinion, that the Countries he had difcovered, were Iflands 
on the other Side of the Continent to which the Portuguefe 
traded ; and this it was that determined him to beftow 
on thefe Iflands the Name of the Weft Indies. To pre- 
ferve the Memory of this Difcovery in cafe he had been 
fhipwrecked, he, in his Paffage Home, wrote an exadt 
Account of every thing, wrapt this Memorial in a Cere- 
cloth, and put it into a Barrel, which he threw into the Sea. 
From the fame Motive, after he came back to Spain, he 
drew a very exadl Chart of his Difcoveries, and left it with 
his Sons. The Succefs of this firft Voyage engaged their 
Catholic Majefties to fend him back in the Autumn of the 
fame Year, with a Squadron of Eighteen Sail, very well 
equipped, with which he made farther Difcoveries, which 
ferved to confirm him in his former Opinion, that he had 
really found a new Paflage to the Indies. But in his third 
Voyage he gained fome Knowledge of the Continent, and, 
hearing that there was a Sea on the other Side, he readily 
owned his Miftake, declaring, at the fame time, it was 
his Opinion, that there was a Paffage from thefe North 
Seas into thofe on the South, and from thence it might be 
very poffible to fail to the Eaft Indies. This was certainly 
the higheft Proof that could be given of his Sagacity and 
Penetration, and fully juftifies our placing him at the Head 
of the Circum-navigators ; fince it is evident from thence, 
that fuch a Paflage round the Globe was the Thing he prin- 
cipally fought and intended. With good Reafon, there- 
fore, did the ingenious Mr. Boyle obferve, that we are lit- 
tle lels indebted to Columbus for the Difcoveries made after 
his Death, than for thofe made by him while living, fince 
they all followed from the Principles by him laid down, and 
were the Improvements of that DoRrine, which firft, with 
great Prudence, he devifed, and afterwards executed with 
wonderful Succefs s . We may like wife hint, that fome 
of thofe Difcoveries in the Art of Navigation, which are 
thought of much later Date, were not unknown to him, 
particularly the conftant Motion of the Sea from Eaft to 
Weft, of which he took notice in his firft Voyage, and 
explained from thence the Difference between the Time Ipent 
in going out, and in returning Flome. 
13. There never was, perhaps, a Man better qualified for 
the great Defigns he undertook, than Chriftopher Columbus •, 
but the Gravity of his Behaviour, and the fevere Difcipline 
he maintained while it was in his Power, raifed him Ene- 
mies amongft a mutinous, licentious Crew ; and thefe Difi- 
putes occafioned Appeals from both Parties to Spain ; 
whereupon one Francis Bobadilla was fent over to inquire 
into thefe Matters, and to do Juftice, according to the 
Light in which Things Ihould appear to him. This Man, 
to gratify a Bifhop, who had taken fome Pique to Columbus , 
caufed the Admiral to be feized, together with his Brethren, 
put them in Irons, and fent them in that Condition into Spain. 
14. They arrived at Cadiz the 25th of November 1500. 
and as foon as their Catholic Majefties were informed of the 
T. reatment the Admiral had met with, they ordered him 
to be fet at liberty, exprefling great Concern for his Suf- 
ferings, efpecially the Queen, who was his very fincere 
Friend t but it was a good while before he could procure 
a new Governor to be fent to Hifpaniola, which at laft, 
however, he did. When he had carried this Point, he 
folicited Leave to make a fourth Voyage for Difcoveries, 
which, with much ado, he obtained. It was in this his 
laft going into the Weft Indies , that he firft faw the Con- 
tinent, lying fome time at Anchor at th t Baftimentos. This 
was in 1502. Some farther Difcoveries he made on the 
fame Coaft ; but before he could thoroughly inform him- 
felf of the State of the Country, he was obliged to alter 
his Courfe, and fteer for Hifpaniola. Sonic time he re- 
mained there, but at length, new Difputes and Dilorders 
fage : “ Vi^obviouTh^ Confederations touching experimental E/fays in general, wherein he has this remarkable Paf- 
" by him, nor perhaps till lone aLr hiTn^ K f C ft lu f b f sio f the Detection of many Countries in America, which w.re not differed 
Ocean, which fevers the old § World from the new'^ ^ ^ informed us knowingly, that there were unknown Regions beyond that vaft 
Numb. i. 
arifings 
