Book I. 
The VOYAGES of 
fome Prejudices againft Columbus on account of that 
Height with which he had exerted his Authority •, but at 
the bottom at his having procured it rather by way of 
Contraft, than by expefting fuch a Reward as their Ca- 
tholic Majefties fliould judge proper. The Admiral faw 
this clearly enough, and that though their Majefties were 
defirous to do Jiiftice to his Pretenfions, yet they were 
inclined to ftrip him of his Power, and were therefore 
averfe to his Defire of returning to the Indies. 
He refolved therefore to attack them in their own 
Way s and, having demanded a private Audience of the 
Queen, infmuated, that what he had yet done was no- 
thing*, that his Difcoveries on the Continent were with a 
View to find a Pafiage to the Eaft Indies., and that he did 
not at all doubt but that in another Voyage he ftiould be 
able to fUrmount all Difficulties, and fubdue the Eaji as 
well as the Indies to the Power of their Catholic 
Majefties. This had its defired Eftedl: *, a Fleet was im- 
mediately ordered for this new Service, and the Admiral 
was again as much careflfed, as if the King and Queen 
had really thought it poffible to blot out of his Mind the 
Memory of his ill Ufage. 
2. He fet fail from Cadiz on the 9th of May 1 502, 
and failed to St. Catherines *, thence they went to Arzilla to 
relieve the Portuguefe., who were reported to be in great 
Diftrefs *, but when they came thither the Moors had raifed 
the Siege : The Admiral therefore fent his Brother Don 
Bartholomew Columbus., his own Son, with the Captain of 
the Ships, on ffiore, to vifit the Governor of Arzilla, 
who had been wounded by the Moors in an Afiault. He 
returned the Admiral Thanks for the Vifit, and to this 
purpofe fent fome Gentlemen to him, among whom fome 
were Relations to Donna Philippa Moniz the Admiral’s 
Wife. The fame Day he failed, and, arriving at Grand 
Canaria on the 20th of May, caft anchor among the lit- 
tle Iilands, and on the 24th went over to Mafpalomas in 
the fame Hand, there to wood and water for their Voy- 
age. The 1 5th of June they arrived at the Hand Mar- 
tinico, whence they ftood to the Weftward and came to 
IDorningo, ten Leagues from the other, fo running along 
among the Caribhee IJlands to Santa Cruz *, and on the 
24th of the fame Month ran along the South Side of the 
Hand of St. John. The Admiral had a mind to 
change one of his Ships for another, becaufe it was a bad 
Sailer, and befides would lie almoft under Water, which 
was a Hindrance to his Voyage, becaufe his Defign was 
to have gone diredtly upon the Coaft of Paria, and keep 
upon the Shore till he came upon the Streight, which he 
certainly concluded was about the Places fince called V e- 
ragua and N ombre de ffios but feeing the Fault of the 
Ship, he 'was forced to repair to S. Domingo, to change it 
for a better. 
Yet that the Judge fent by their Majefties to call Bova- 
dilla to an Account for his Mal-adminiftration might not 
be furprized at his unexpedled Arrival, upon the 29th of 
June, being near the Port, the Admiral fent Peter de f er- 
ror os, Captain of one of the Ships, to fignify what Oc- 
cafion he had to change that Ship, for which Reafon, as 
alfo becaufe he apprehended a great Storm was coming, 
he defired to fecure himfelf in that Port, advifmg him 
not to let the homeward-bound Fleet fail out for eight 
Days to come, for if he did it would be in great Dan- 
ger. But the Governor would not permit the Admiral 
to come into the Harbour, nor did he hinder the going 
out of the Fleet that was bound for Spain, which confifted 
of eighteen Sail, and was to carry Bovadilla, who had 
imprifoned the Admiral and his Brother, Francis Roldan, 
and all the reft who had been in the Rebellion againft 
them, and done them fo much Harm *, all whom it 
pleafed God to infatuate, that they might not admit of 
the Admiral’s good Advice. This was prevented by their 
fetting out of that Port for Spain *, for no fooner were they 
come to the Eaft Point of the Hand Hifpaniola, but there 
arofe fo terrible a Storm, that the Admiral of the Fleet 
funk, in which was Bovadilla, with moft of the Rebels ; 
and this Hurricane made fuch Havock among the reft, 
that of the eighteen Ships only three or four were fayed. 
This happened on the laft of June, when the Admiral, 
having fovefeen the Storm, and being refufed Admittance 
I 
into the Port for his Security, drew up as clofe to Land 
as he could, thus ffieltering himfelf, not without much 
Diffatisfadion among the Men, who, for being with him, 
were denied that Reception which certainly had been al- 
lowed to Strangers, much more to them who were of the 
fame Nation ^ for they feared they ffiould be fo ferved if 
any Misfortune ffiould befal them for the future ; and 
though the Admiral was concerned on the fame Account, 
yet it grieved him more to behold the Bafenefs and Ingra- 
titude ufed towards him in that Country he had difcover- 
ed for the Honour and Benefit of Spain, in being thus re- 
fufed to ffielter his Life in it. 
Yet his Judgment and Prudence fecured his Ships till 
the next Dayj when the Tempeft increafing, and the 
Night coming on very dark, three Ships broke from 
him, every one his own Way, the Men on board each 
of them, though all in great Danger, concluding, the 
others Were loft : Thofe aboard the Ship called Santo, 
thinking to fave their Boat, which had been aftiore with 
the Captain ferreros, dragged it aftern, where it overfet, 
and were at laft forced to let go to fave themfelves : But the 
Caravel Bermuda was in much more Danger *, for while 
running. out to Sea, ffie was alm.oft covered with it; by 
which it appeared the Admiral had Reafon to change it, 
and ail Men concluding that, under God, the Admiral’s 
Brother was the faving of her, by his Wifdom and Re- 
folution ; for, as has been faid, there was not at that time 
a more expert Sailor than he. So that after they had all 
fulfered very much, except the Admiral, it pleafed God 
they met again in the Port of Azua, on the South Side 
of Hifpaniola, where every one giving an Account of his 
Misfortunes, it appeared, that Bartholomew Columbus had 
weathered fo great a Storm, by flying from Land like an 
able Sailor ; and that the Admiral was out of Danger, 
by lying clofe to the Shore like a cunning Aftrologer, 
who knew whence the Danger muft come. Well might 
his Enemies blame him therefore, as if he had raifed the 
Storm by Magic, to be revenged on Bovadilla, and the 
reft of his Enemies that were with him, feeing that none 
of his four Ships periffied, and that of eighteen with 
Bovadilla, only one, called la Aguja or the Needle, the 
worft of them all, held on its Courfe for Spain, where it 
arrived fafe, having on board four thoufand Pefos of 
Gold belonging to the Admiral, the other three that 
efcaped, returning to S. Domingo ffiatteredand in a diftref- 
fed Condition. 
3. The Admiral in the Port of Azua gave his Men 
fome Refreffiment after the Storm, and it being one of 
the Diverfions ufed at Sea to fiffi when there is nothing 
elfe to do, it may not be amifs to mention two Sorts of 
Fiffi among the reft which were taken there, the one 
pleafant, the other Angular : The firft was a Fiffi called 
Saavina, as big as half an ordinary Bell, whicn lying 
afleep above Water was ftruck with a Harping-iron from 
the Boat of the Ship Bifceina, and held fo faft that it 
could not get loofe, but being tied with a long Rope to 
the Boat, drew it after it as fwift as an Arrow, fo that 
thofe aboard the Ship feeing the Boat fkim about, and 
not knowing the Occafion, were aftoniffied, till at laft 
the Fiffi funk, and being drawn to the Ship’s Side was 
there hauled up by the Tackle. The other Fiffi was 
taken after another Manner : The Indians call it Manati, 
and there are none in Europe ; it is as big as a Calf, no- 
thing differing from it in the Colour and Tafte of the 
Fleffi, but that it is better and fatter : Within they have 
nothing like a Fiffi, and feed only on the Grafs they find 
along the Banks. _ ^ / 
But to return to our Hiftory : The Admiral having a 
little refreffied his Men and repaired his Ships, left tne 
Port of Azua and went to that of Brazil, whkh the In- 
dians call Giacchomo, to ffiun another Storm that was 
coming : He faded again on the 14th of July, and was 
fo becalmed, that, inftead of holding his Courfe, the 
Currents carried him away to certain Hands near Jamaica, 
v/hich are very fmall and fandy, and he called them los 
Poros, or the Wells, becaufe, not finding any Water in 
them, they dug many Pits in the Band, and took up 
Water there for their Ufe : Then failing Southward for 
the Continent, he came to certain Iflands, and went affiore 
upon 
