COLUMBUS
(Select Letters of Christopher Columbus, Ed., R. H. Major; Hakluyt Society, 1847)
LETTER TO LORD RAPHAEL SANCHEZ, TREASURER TO THEIR MOST INVINCIBLE MAJESTIES, FERDINAND AND ISABELLA, KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN (p. I).
... Thirty-three days after my departure from Cadiz I reached the Indian Sea, where I discovered many islands, thickly peopled, of which I took possession without resistance in the name of our most illustrious Monarch, by public proclamation and with unfurled banners. To the first of these islands I gave the name of Our Blessed Saviour [San Salvador].... As soon as we arrived at ... Juana [Nth. Caico] I proceeded along its coast a short distance westwards, and found it to be so large and apparently without termination, that I could not suppose it to be an island, but the continental province of Cathay....
At length after proceeding a great way and finding that nothing new presented itself, and that the line of coast was leading us northwards (which I wished to avoid because it was winter) and it was my intention to move southwards and because the winds were contrary, I resolved not to attempt any further progress but rather to turn back.
... All these islands are very beautiful and distinguished by a diversity of scenery; they are filled with a great variety of trees of immense height, and which I believe to retain their foliage in all seasons; for when I saw them they were as verdant and luxuriant as they usually are in Spain in the month of May—some of them were blossoming, some bearing fruit—yet the islands are not so thickly wooded as to be impassable.... The nightingale and various birds were singing in countless numbers, and that in November, the month in which I arrived there.... There are besides, seven or eight kinds of palm-trees ... the pines also are very handsome, and there are very extensive fields and meadows, a variety of birds, different kinds of honey, and many sorts of metals, but no iron....
The inhabitants of both sexes ... go always as they were born, with the exception of some of the women, who use the coverings of a leaf or small bough, or an apron of cotton which they prepare for that purpose. None of them are possessed of any iron, neither have they weapons ... because they are timid and full of fear. They carry, however, in lieu of arms, canes dried in the sun, on the ends of which they fix heads of dried wood, sharpened to a point, and even these they dare not use habitually ... and have fled in such haste at the approach of our men, that the fathers forsook their children and the children their fathers.... I gave to all I approached whatever articles I had about me, such as cloth and many other things, but they are naturally timid and fearful ... they are very simple and honest and exceedingly liberal with all they have ... they also give objects of great value for trifles ... a sailor received for a leather strap, gold worth three golden nobles ... thus they bartered like idiots, cotton and gold for fragments of bows, glasses, bottles and jars; which I forbade as being unjust....
They practise no kind of idolatry, but have a firm belief that all strength and power, and indeed all good things, are in Heaven, and that I had descended from thence with these ships and sailors, and under this impression was I received after they had thrown aside their fears. Nor are they slow or stupid but of very clear understanding....
On my arrival I had taken some Indians by force from the first island that I came to, in order that they might learn our language and communicate to us what they knew respecting the country; which plan succeeded excellently, and was a great advantage to us, for in a short time, either by gestures and signs or by words, we were enabled to understand each other. These men are still travelling with me. At any new place ... crying out ... to the other Indians, “Come, come and look upon beings of a celestial race,” upon which both men and women, children and adults, young men and old, when they got rid of the fear they at first entertained, would come out in throngs, crowding the roads to see us, some bringing food, others drink, with astonishing affection and kindness. Each of these islands has a great number of canoes, built of solid wood, narrow and not unlike our double banked boats in length and shape, but swifter in their motion: they steer them only by the oar.... (pp. 9, 10).
I ordered a fortress to be built there [Espanola] which must by this time be completed, in which I left as many men as I thought necessary, with all sorts of arms and enough provisions for more than a year.
... I did not find, as some of us had expected, any cannibals amongst them, but on the contrary, men of great deference and kindness. Neither are they black like the Ethiopians: their hair is smooth and straight.... I saw no cannibals, nor did I hear of any, except in a certain island called Chari (? Carib).
Finally ... I promise, that with a little assistance afforded me by our most invincible sovereigns, I will procure them as much gold as they need, as great a quantity of spices, of cotton and of mastic, and as many men for the service of the navy as their Majesties may require. I promise also rhubarb and other sorts of drugs.... (p. 15).
But these great and marvellous results are not to be attributed to any merit of mine, but to the Holy Christian faith, and to the piety and religion of our sovereigns.... Let processions be made and sacred feasts be held, and the temples be adorned with festive boughs.... Farewell.
Christopher Columbus,
Admiral of the Fleet of the Ocean.
Lisbon, 14th March.
MEMORIAL OF THE SECOND VOYAGE WITH COMMENTS THEREUPON OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA
... We have found upon the sea-shore ... so many indications of various spices, as naturally to suggest the hope of the best results for the future. The same holds good with respect to the gold mines; for two parties ... found ... a great number of rivers whose sands contained this precious metal in such quantities that each man took up a sample of it in his hand....
Their Highnesses return thanks to God for all that is here recorded, and regard as a very signal service all that the Admiral has already done, and is yet doing ... (pp. 70, 71).
We are very certain, as the fact has shown, that wheat and grapes will grow very well in this country. We must however, wait for the fruit.... There are also sugar-canes, of which the small quantity that we have planted has succeeded very well.
Since the land is so fertile, it is desirable to sow as much as possible: and Don Juan de Fonseca has been desired to send over immediately everything requisite for that purpose.... (pp. 77, 78).
LETTER ABOUT THE THIRD VOYAGE
This enterprise to the Indies [i.e., the original discovery] ... those who heard of it looked upon it as impossible, for they fixed all their hopes on the favours of fortune, and pinned their faith solely upon chance. I gave to the subject six or seven years of great anxiety, explaining ... how great service might be done to Our Lord, by this undertaking, in promulgating his Sacred Name and most holy faith among so many nations.... It was also requisite to refer to the temporal prosperity which was foretold in the writings of so many trustworthy and wise historians, who related that great riches were to be found in these parts.... (p. 104).
In this your Highnesses exhibited the noble spirit which has always been manifested by you on every subject; for all others who had thought of the matter or heard it spoken of, unanimously treated it with contempt, with the exception of two friars ... I pushed on for Terra Firma, in spite of the wind and a fearful contrary current, against which I contended for sixty days, and during that time made only seventy leagues (p. 171) ... other tempests have been experienced but never of so long a duration or so fearful as this: many whom we looked upon as brave men, on several occasions showed considerable trepidation, but the distress of my son who was with me grieved me to the soul and the more when I considered his tender age for he was but thirteen years old, and he enduring so much toil for so long a time. The Lord however gave him strength even to enable him to encourage the rest, and he worked as if he had been eighty years at sea, and all this was a consolation to me. I myself had fallen sick and was many times at the point of death, but from a little cabin that I had caused to be constructed on deck I directed our course. My brother was in the ship that was in the worst condition and the most exposed to danger; and my grief on this account was the greater that I brought him with me against his will (p. 172). Such is my fate, that the twenty years of service through which I have passed with so much toil and danger, have profited me nothing, and at this very day I do not possess a roof in Castille that I can call my own; if I wish to eat or sleep, I have nowhere to go but to the inn or tavern, and most times lack wherewith to pay the bill. Another anxiety wrung my very heartstrings, which was the thought of my son Diege, whom I had left an orphan in Spain, and stripped of the honour and property which were due to him on my account.... (p. 173). I stopped to repair my vessels and take in provisions, as well as to afford relaxation to the men, who had become very weak ... two Indians conducted me to Carambaru, where the people (who go naked) wear golden mirrors round their necks.... They named to me many places on the sea-coast where there were both gold and mines. The last that they mentioned was Veragua, nine days’ journey across the country westward: they tell me there is a great quantity of gold, and that the inhabitants wear coral ornaments on their heads, and very large coral bracelets and anklets, with which article also they adorn and inlay their seats, boxes and tables. They also said that the women there wore necklaces hanging down to their shoulders (p. 175).... I had taken possession of land belonging to Quibian remained inside [the river mouth, which had silted up]. I was alone outside upon that dangerous coast, suffering from a severe fever and worn with fatigue. All hope of escape was gone and I toiled up to the highest part of the ship, and with a quivering voice and fast-falling tears, I called upon your Highnesses’ war-captains from each point of the compass to come to my succour, but there was no reply. [Columbus sleeps and sees a vision in which he is upbraided for want of faith] (p. 184). I collected the men who were on land.... I departed in the name of the Holy Trinity, on Easter night, with the ships rotten, worn out and eaten into holes [by the teredo].... I then had only two left.... I was without boats or provisions, and in this condition I had to cross seven thousand miles of sea; or as an alternative to die on the passage with my son, my brother and so many of my people.... I send this letter by means of and by the hands of Indians; it will be a miracle if it reaches its destination (pp. 186, 189).LETTER RELATING TO FOURTH VOYAGE