i6 ■ ^le V O Y 
neat' any 5 ther'Latidj but that they were in Danger of 
i'ofing the beft Guide they had, viz. the Certainty of the 
Gompafs ; and therefore Columbus was forced to tell them, 
that the Reafon why the Needle varied a whole Point 
to the North- weft was, becaufe the Star by which they 
difcerned this Variation, took a Compafs about the Pole, 
which gave them Satisfaftion^ tho’ it could not give it 
him, who knew better than to take up with fuch an Opi- 
nion. This Turn, however, ftiews the Wifdom and good 
Senfe of this great Navigator, who knew how to difcover 
the Caufe of moft Things, and when he was at a Lofs 
"for a Caufe to invent fomething that looked like one, in 
order to pacify thofe whofe Fears were the conftant Effedls 
of their Ignorance. 
It was this Talent of his that enabled him to maintain 
his Authority amongft fuch a Crew of wild and unruly 
Spirits, and put it in his Power to complete that Difco- 
very which his great Parts had fuggefted to him. To fay 
the Truth, confider him in what Light one will, as a 
Philofopher, a Seaman, a Commander in chief, a Gover- 
nor, or a Legiflator, he was alike great in all j and had 
that kind ofSuperiority of Mind which fet him above thofe 
Events which common People, for want of a better Ex- 
prefllon, call the Frowns of Fortune. He was not di- 
ftradted in his Thoughts when his Companions defpaired 
of ever feeing Land more *, nor was he elevated by that 
fudden Turn of their Affedlions when they difcovered the 
firft Eland i he knew how to pacify them when mutinous, 
and he knew likewife how to make a right Ufe of this 
fuddeg Return to their Obedience *, his Behaviour to- 
wards the Indians was like a Father and a Friend ; and it 
was this Magnanimity of his that induced thofe honeft 
and fiiTiple People to believe that he and his Companions 
came from Pleaven, and made them fo defirous of their 
Company. 
Neither are we to attribute his earneft and conftant 
Search after Gold to any Self-intereft, or Principle of 
Avarice ; but to the earneft Deftre he had of fliewing 
that, by this Voyage, he had not only difcovered new 
Countries, but Countries in which this precious Metal 
was found in Abundance, v/hich in thofe Days pafled for 
a Charafteriftic of the Indies. The fame Notion made 
him liften with equal Attention to another Difcovery, that 
one of his Commanders believed he had made of Rhubarb •, 
which would have been a ftronger Proof j for all that came 
AGES of Book L 
of that Drug into in thofe Days, was by the Way 
of Alexandria., and was therefore believed to come from 
the Indies., as indeed it did, tho’ it grows chiefly in lar- 
tary., and in thofe defart Countries, which, from the Fron- 
tiers of Perfta., extend quite to China. 
He fhewed a becoming Spirit on his Arrival in the Har* 
bour of Lijhon., and, in all probability, it was that Spirit 
that defended him from the Infults and Injuries that might 
have been offered him j for there wanted not fome 
amongft the Nobility of Portugal, who fuggefted that 
this Difcovery was to the Prejudice of their Country, and 
fo poffeffed their Sovereign’s Mind with this Notion, that 
he adlually formed Pretenfions to thofe Countries, noW 
withftanding he had relinquifhed all colour of Right to 
them, by rejefting the Propofals of Columbus when offered 
to him at firft, and before he had made any Overtures to 
the Court of Spain. The fame Greatnefs of Soul diftin- 
guifhed the Admiral in his Audience of their Catholic 
Majefties, in which he neither overvalued his Merit nor 
boafted of more than he had performed ; but ftated the 
Thing truly, and laid open the Confequences fairly, with 
that Penetration and Sagacity peculiar to himfelf. 
This it was that determined their Catholic Majefties to fend 
him again with a ftronger Squadron, and better equipped, to 
perfedt thofe Difcoveries. He was then in the Zenith of his 
Favour and of his Reputation ; for tho’ he did greater 
Things afterwards, or at leaft fuch as redounded more to 
the Advantage of Spain, yet thefe Vere fo far from raifing 
him higher in Efteem, that, on the contrary, wEen others 
had made Voyages to the new World, not the Vulgar 
only, but fome even of Quality and Figure, affedted to 
leffen his Credit, and to treat that as a flight and eafy 
Matter, which themfelves had formerly reprefented, not 
as difficult only, but impradlicable. But thefe Turns and 
Changes in other Men wrought none at all in him, and it 
is very remarkable, that the Inftrudlions he gave for the 
Preparations of his fecond Voyage were fo perfedHy well 
adapted as exadtly to anfwer the End of his Defign, as 
will appear in the fubfequent Sedlion, in which we fliall 
give the Reader a full and diftindt Relation of that 
Voyage, tho’ in fewer Words than were ufed in the Nar- 
ration of the firft, as well to avoid needlefs Repetitions, 
as that we may keep within the Bounds originally affigned 
to this Work. 
SECTION III. 
^he Second Voyage of the Admiral Don Christopher Columbus, to the Weft In- 
dies, including an Account of all the Difcoveries made by hhn in that V oyage. 
I. Tihe Meafures taken by their Catholic Majefties to fecure their Properties in the ftrft^ Difcoveries maf by 
their Admiral, and the Perms on which he failed a fecond Ptme from Spam. . 2. Hts fafe Arrival in the 
Weft Indies, and the Information he received from the Natives as to the State of that Part of the JVorld> 
3. Phe Admiral continues his Voyage to the Iftand of Hifpaniola, ftndsthe Colony ruined, and the Spani- 
ards he had left behind defroyed by their own Folly. 4. Phe Pains he took to put things once 7nore into 
a good Condition ; a Mutiny againft him, and the Manner of his Proceeding after it was quelled. 5. 
He proceeds to difcover the inland Parts of the Country, to fecure the Gold Mines, and to make an ab- 
folute Conqueft ^ Hifpaniola for the Ufe of their Catholic Majefties. 6. Phe Admiral having pit all 
things in order, refolves to leave his Brother Governor of Plifpaniola, and to fail again upon Difcovery, 
which he performs accordingly, y. Phe Confequences of that loyage, the Difcoveries made therein, par-^ 
ticularly that of Jamaica, and the Hardfhips endured by the Admiral and his People. 8.^ Hn return ^ to 
Hifpaniola, the Condition in which he found things there, and the Pegulations made by him jor fecuring 
and pfomoting the Settlement, g. Phe Grounds of thofe fealouftes andUneaftneftes which difturbed the 
Admiral, and induced him to refolve upon returning back again to Spain. 10. An Account of his fecond 
return from the Indies, and of the Peception he met with from their Catholic Majefties. ii. Remarks 
and Obfervations on the foregoing SeBion. 
L f I H E more the Difcoveries made by Don Chrijio- 
pher Cohmbus were canvaffed by the Spanifh 
Council, the more important they appeared j and there- 
fore to ftrengthen their Title in the beft Manner poffible, 
their Catholic Majefties difpatched an Ambaffador to the 
Pope, who was at that time Alexander VI. requefting 
him to exert his Apoftolic Authority in their Favour, and 
by his Bulls confirm to them thofe Countries, Hands, 
(Ac. which their Admiral had difcovered. This his Ho- 
linefs moft readily complied with, and indeed it coft him 
little i and by his Bull, dated May 2, 1493, granted the 
faid Difcoveries to them as fully as the Difcoveries made 
by 
