6 ,2 Difcoveries of the Spaniards^ the Death of Book I. 
bright, with the Shafts of them painted. The Spaniard's^ 
thinking thofe Axes had been of pale Gold, purchafed 
fix hundred' of them, and the Indians would willingly 
have parted with more. 
A Soldier, whofe Name was Bartholomew Pardo, went 
into a Temple that flood in the Fields, whence he took 
that Perfume which the Indians call Copal, or, as fome 
call it, Gum Anime •, he alfo took the Knives made of 
Flints, with v/hich they facrificed Men, ripping open their 
Breafts , and fome Idols ; all which he delivered to the 
Commander in chief, having firfl taken off their Ear- 
rings, Pendants, Plates, and Crowns of Gold, worth 
about ninety Pieces of Eight j but, not being able to con- 
ceal his Joy for the Booty, Grijalva had Notice of it, 
who ordered ail to be taken from him ; yet, being of a 
generous Temper, reftored them upon paying the fifth 
to the King. The Ship being refitted, in forty-five Days 
they arrived at Cuba with four thoufand Pieces of Eight 
in Gold, befidcs what Alverado had carried, and the 
Copper Axes, which, when they went to pay the fifth, 
thinking them to have been Gold, they found nifty, to 
the Confufion of the Purchafers. 
They put into the Port oi Mat anc as, where they found 
a Letter from the Governor, ordering Grijalva to make 
hafte to the Port of Santiago, and to tell the Men that 
another Fleet was fitting out to return thither to make a 
' Settlement *, and that they who intended to go back 
fhould remain in fome Farms he had, thereabouts. 
Grijalva i made hafte to Santiago, where the Fleet was 
making ready ; and when he appeared before Felafquez, 
he had no Thanks for the Trouble he had been at ; but 
was abufed, becaufe he had not fettled, though it was 
purfuant to his own Inftrudions j which was a great Over- 
fight in Felafquez, and fuch an Overfight as was altoge- 
ther inexcufable •, for his great Point was, to find in the 
firft Place a Man capable of making fuch aDifeovery, 
and in the next, one incapable of betraying him in order 
to fet up for himfeff. 
There could not certainly be a more difficult, or a more 
uneafy Employment, than to fearch out fuch a Perfon •, 
but one would have imagined, that a Man of fo much 
good Senfe as Velafquez really was, would have had Wit 
enough to have kept him, when Experience had demon- 
ftrated that Grijalva was fuch a Man. The very thing 
for which he difgraced him, ought chiefly to have pre- 
ferved him from that Fate, fince nothing but a fcrupulous 
Regard to Inflrudlions could poffibly tie down a Man 
who had made great Difcoveries, from taking that 
Method which was moll likely to acquire him Reputa- 
tion, and to ellablifh at once his Fortune and Indepen- 
dency. But Velafquez, like many other Men of good 
Senfe, preferred other Peoples Opinions to his own, and 
thereby loft the Advantage which his fuperior Talents 
would have given him, though it is highly probable that 
this Error of his might contribute more to the important 
Conqiiefts made by the Spaniards in thofe Parts than the 
wifefl Mcafures he could have taken, as the Reader will 
fee at large in the enfuing Sedlions •, but it is now time 
to conclude this with a few Obfervations and Remarks, 
which I flatter myfelf will be of fome Ufe to the 
Reader. 
1 5. The vaft and furprifing Succefs which the Spa- 
niards met with in reducing fo many fine Iflands, and 
fuch rich and fruitful Countries under their Dominion, 
has united a multitude of Writers in a Notion, that 
they conduded their Affairs with that extraordinary Pru- 
dence and Steadinefs of Charader, for which they have 
been always remarkable ; but a little Refledion on the 
Fads related in this and the foregoing Sedions will 
ftiew, that this Notion is abfolutely groundlefs, and that 
they aded in this Matter with as little Condud and with 
lefs Judgment than could have been expeded from a 
Nation at that time in fo high a Reputation for Wif- 
dom, as they were. The Truth is, that it was the Virtue 
of Particulars that acquired all ; and, in this Refped, they 
were indeed very fortunate, fince few Nations could 
boaft of abler Politicians, or of more expert Captains 
than thofe three great Men to whom the Spaniards owe 
their mighty Empire in America. 
The firft was the Admiral Columbus who difeovered 
the Iflands, and upon whofe Schemes thofe Difeoverers 
went who found and fubdued the two great Empires on 
the Continent. The next was Ferdinand Cortes, and the 
Third, the Marquis Pizaro, Men of incredible Abilities, 
and therefore worthy of immortal Reputation. There 
is no doubt that their Atchievements, weighed in the 
Balance of Reafon, very far exceeded thofe of moft of 
the Antients ; for whereas, thefe had commonly good 
Tools to work with, thofe not only did their Work 
but forged their Tools. To convince the judicious 
Reader of what I fay, I fhall not fend him for Inftanee^ 
without the Limits of this Performance ; for having given 
this Work the Title of a Library, there ought to be 
nothing wanting in it that is neceffary to make its Sub- 
jedl underftood. Let us compare then the Expe- 
dition of Nearchus, of which we have given the Hiftory 
in our formerVolume, with that of Columbus, let us con- 
fider how great a Fleet, what a Number of Men, and 
what able Commanders he had, how fmall a Difeovery 
he made, failing always within Sight of Land, and only 
from the Mouth of the Ganges to the Head of the Perfian 
Gulph, yet how great a Figure does his Expedition make 
in the Works of the ableft Authors of Antiquity, and 
what mighty Rewards were beftowed upon him for 
thofe Services, his important Difcoveries. Yet Columbus, 
with three Veffels, fmaller than any of his, with fcarce 
any Encouragement or Affiftance from thofe about him, 
' made this furprifing Tranfit from Spain to the TVeJi- 
Indies, and eftablifhed the Spaniards there before his 
Death, in wider and more ufelul Conquefts, than accrued 
to the Mafter of Nearchus, from his Indian Expedition. 
Let us compare the Force with which Alexander attacked 
the Indians, and failed of fubduing them, with the Armies 
commanded by Cortes and Pizaro, and v/e ffiall find 
that the latter were, beyond all queftion, greater Con- 
querors, as we fhall fully demonftrate at the dole of 
their refpedlive Expeditions. 
At prefent we mention thefe only as Proofs of the 
Truth of our Obfervation, that it was not the Wifdora 
of the Spa?iijh Government ; but the perfonal Abilities 
of fuch as were accidentally employed in their Service 
that brought about thofe great Events. For, with re- 
gard to the former, we have feen how ill they treated 
the firft Difeoverer at Court, and how far they were 
from putting it in his Power to exert, even in their Ser- 
vice, his great Capacity to the utmoft. After his De- 
ceafe, the Management of the Affairs of the Indies fell 
almoft intirely into the Hands of the Bifhop of Burgos, 
who, of all the Statefmen at that Court, was the leaft fit 
to have been intruded with them, and who in fadl ma- 
naged them in the ftrangeft manner imaginable. 
Liftening, on the one hand, to the Propofals of every 
needy Projedlor, as in the Cafe of the firft Adventurers 
mentioned in this Sedtion ; and on the ptheCj flighting 
the Schemes of thofe who, by their general Knowledge of 
the Indies, were moft likely to accompliffi great 
Things, and who, by their wife Condudl in the fettling 
of their new Colonies, had, in their Own Hands, a 
Power fufficient to accompliffi them. Accordingly we 
ffiall fee that of all the Biffiop’s Inftruments, not one 
fuceeeded in what he propofed but, on the contrary, 
brought themfelves to Beggary and Want, by raffily 
engaging in Enterprizes every way beyond their Abi- 
lity, whereas all the fuccefsful Undertakings of the 
Spaniards were under fuch as were employed by the 
Governors of Colonies, and confequently the Spamjb 
Miniftry had no Right to take to themfelves any fort 
of Credit from their Performances. 
The only Favourites of our famous Biffiop Fonfeca, 
that made any Figure in the World, were two very bad 
Men, well provided with Impudence, but very indiffe- 
rently furniffied with otherTalents. The firft of thefe was 
Americas Vefpucius, whom we have already mentioned 
with little Credit, and whom we ffiall again have occafion 
to mention with lefs. This Man, by the Intereft of his 
Patron, was declared Chief Pilot of Spain, and to him 
all the Journals of Difcoveries were communicated, from 
which- he drew very elegant Maps, and helped out by 
( 
