TRANSCRIPT OF A LETTER WHICH THE ADMIRAL OF THE INDIES SENT TO THE NURSE OF PRINCE DON JOHN OF CASTILE
IN THE YEAR 1500 WHEN HE WAS RETURNING FROM THE INDIES AS A PRISONER
Most virtuous Lady:—
Though my complaint of the world is new, its habit of ill-using is very ancient. I have had a thousand struggles with it, and have thus far withstood them all, but now neither arms nor counsels avail me, and it cruelly keeps me under water. Hope in the Creator of all men sustains me; His help was always very ready; on another occasion, and not long ago, when I was still more overwhelmed, he raised me with his right arm, saying, O man of little faith, arise, it is I; be not afraid.[371-1]
I came with so much cordial affection to serve these Princes, and have served them with such service, as has never been heard of or seen.
Of the new heaven and earth which our Lord made, when Saint John was writing the Apocalypse,[371-2] after what was spoken by the mouth of Isaiah,[371-3] he made me the messenger, and showed me where it lay. In all men there was disbelief, but to the Queen my Lady He gave the spirit of understanding, and great courage, and made her heiress of all, as a dear and much loved daughter. I went to take possession of all this in her royal name. They sought to make amends to her for the ignorance they had all shown by passing over their little knowledge, and talking of obstacles and expenses. Her Highness, on the other hand, approved of it, and supported it as far as she was able.
Seven years passed in discussion, and nine in execution.[372-1] During this time very remarkable and noteworthy things occurred whereof no idea at all had been formed. I have arrived at, and am in such a condition that there is no person so vile but thinks he may insult me; he shall be reckoned in the world as valor itself who is courageous enough not to consent to it.
If I were to steal the Indies or the land which lies towards them,[372-2] of which I am now speaking, from the altar of Saint Peter, and give them to the Moors, they could not show greater enmity towards me in Spain. Who would believe such a thing where there was always so much magnanimity?
I should have much desired to free myself from this affair had it been honorable towards my Queen to do so. The support of Our Lord and of Her Highness made me persevere; and to alleviate in some measure the sorrows which death had caused her,[372-3] I undertook a fresh voyage to the new heaven and earth which up to that time had remained hidden; and if it is not held there in esteem like the other voyages to the Indies, that is no wonder because it came to be looked upon as my work.
The Holy Spirit inflamed Saint Peter and twelve others with him, and they all fought here below, and their toils and hardships were many, but last of all they gained the victory.
This voyage to Paria[373-1] I thought would somewhat appease them on account of the pearls, and of the discovery of gold in Española. I ordered the pearls to be collected and fished for by people with whom an arrangement was made that I should return for them, and, as I understood, they were to be measured by the bushel.[373-2] If I did not write about this to their Highnesses, it was because I wished to have first of all done the same thing with the gold. The result to me in this has been the same as in many other things; I should not have lost them nor my honor, if I had sought my own advantage, and had allowed Española to be ruined, or if my privileges and contracts had been observed. And I say just the same about the gold which I had then collected, and [for] which with such great afflictions and toils I have, by divine power, almost perfected [the arrangements].
When I went from Paria I found almost half the people of Española in revolt,[373-3] and they have waged war against me until now, as against a Moor; and the Indians on the other side grievously [harassed me]. At this time Hojeda arrived[373-4] and tried to put the finishing stroke: he said that their Highnesses had sent him with promises of gifts, franchises and pay; he gathered together a great band, for in the whole of Española there are very few save vagabonds, and not one with wife and children. This Hojeda gave me great trouble; he was obliged to depart, and left word that he would soon return with more ships and people, and that he had left the royal person of the Queen our Lady at the point of death. Then Vincent Yañez[373-5] arrived with four caravels; there was disturbance and mistrust, but no mischief; the Indians talked of many others at the Canibales [Caribbee Islands] and in Paria; and afterwards spread the news of six other caravels, which were brought by a brother of the Alcalde,[374-1] but it was with malicious intent. This occurred at the very last, when the hope that their Highnesses would ever send any ships to the Indies was almost abandoned, nor did we expect them; and it was commonly reported that her Highness was dead.
A certain Adrian about this time endeavored to rise in rebellion again, as he had done previously, but Our Lord did not permit his evil purpose to succeed. I had purposed in myself never to touch a hair of anybody’s head, but I lament to say that with this man, owing to his ingratitude, it was not possible to keep that resolve as I had intended; I should not have done less to my brother, if he had sought to kill me, and steal the dominion which my King and Queen had given me in trust.[374-2] This Adrian, as it appears, had sent Don Ferdinand[374-3] to Xaragua to collect some of his followers, and there a dispute arose with the Alcalde from which a deadly contest ensued, but he [Adrian] did not effect his purpose. The Alcalde seized him and a part of his band, and the fact was that he would have executed them if I had not prevented it; they were kept prisoners awaiting a caravel in which they might depart. The news of Hojeda which I told them, made them lose the hope that he would now come again.
For six months I had been prepared to return to their Highnesses with the good news of the gold, and to escape from governing a dissolute people, who fear neither God, nor their King and Queen, being full of vices and wickedness. I could have paid the people in full with six hundred thousand,[374-4] and for this purpose I had four millions of tenths and somewhat more, besides the third of the gold. Before my departure I many times begged their Highnesses to send there, at my expense, some one to take charge of the administration of justice; and after finding the Alcalde in arms I renewed my supplications to have either some troops or at least some servant of theirs with letters patent; for my reputation is such that even if I build churches and hospitals, they will always be called dens of thieves. They did indeed make provision at last, but it was the very contrary of what the matter demanded: may it be successful, since it was according to their good pleasure.
I was there for two years without being able to gain a decree of favor for myself or for those who went there, yet this man[375-1] brought a coffer full; whether they will all redound to their [Highnesses’] service, God knows. Indeed, to begin with, there are exemptions for twenty years, which is a man’s lifetime; and gold is collected to such an extent that there was one person who became worth five marks[375-2] in four hours; whereof I will speak more fully later on.
If it would please their Highnesses to remove the grounds of a common saying of those who know my labors, that the calumny of the people has done me more harm than much service and the maintenance of their [Highnesses’] property and dominion has done me good, it would be a charity, and I should be re-established in my honor, and it would be talked about all over the world; for the undertaking is of such a nature that it must daily become more famous and in higher esteem.
When the commander Bobadilla came to Santo Domingo,[375-3] I was at La Vega, and the Adelantado[375-4] at Xaragua, where that Adrian had made a stand, but then all was quiet, and the land rich and all men at peace. On the second day after his arrival he created himself Governor, and appointed officers and made executions, and proclaimed immunities of gold and tenths and in general of everything else for twenty years, which is a man’s lifetime, and that he came to pay everybody in full up to that day, even though they had not rendered service; and he publicly notified that, as for me, he had charge to send me in irons, and my brothers likewise, as he has done, and that I should nevermore return thither, nor any other of my family; alleging a thousand disgraceful and discourteous things about me. All this took place on the second day after his arrival, as I have said, and while I was absent at a distance, without my knowing either of him or of his arrival.
Some letters of their Highnesses signed in blank, of which he brought a number, he filled up and sent to the Alcalde and to his company, with favors and commendations; to me he never sent either letter or messenger, nor has he done so to this day. Imagine what any one holding my office would think when one who endeavored to rob their Highnesses, and who has done so much evil and mischief, is honored and favored, while he who maintained it at such risks is degraded.
When I heard this, I thought that this affair would be like that of Hojeda or one of the others, but I restrained myself when I learnt for certain from the friars that their Highnesses had sent him. I wrote to him that his arrival was welcome, and that I was prepared to go to the Court and had sold all I possessed by auction; and that with respect to the immunities he should not be hasty, for both that matter and the government I would hand over to him immediately as smooth as my palm. And I wrote to the same effect to the friars, but neither he nor they gave me any answer. On the contrary, he put himself in a warlike attitude, and compelled all who went there to take an oath to him as Governor; and they told me that it was for twenty years.
Directly I knew of those immunities, I thought that I would repair such a great error and that he would be pleased, for he gave them without the need or occasion necessary in so vast a matter; and he gave to vagabond people what would have been excessive for a man who had brought wife and children. So I announced by word and letters that he could not use his patents because mine were those in force; and I showed them the immunities which Juan Aguado[377-1] brought. All this was done by me in order to gain time, so that their Highnesses might be informed of the condition of the country, and that they might have an opportunity of issuing fresh commands as to what would best promote their service in that respect.
It is useless to publish such immunities in the Indies; to the settlers who have taken up residence it is a pure gain, for the best lands are given to them, and at a low valuation they will be worth two hundred thousand at the end of the four years when the period of residence is ended, without their digging a spadeful in them. I would not speak thus if the settlers were married, but there are not six among them all who are not on the lookout to gather what they can and depart speedily. It would be a good thing if people should go from Castile, and also if it were known who and what they are, and if the country could be settled with honest people.
I had agreed with those settlers that they should pay the third of the gold, and the tenths, and this at their own request; and they received it as a great favor from their Highnesses. I reproved them when I heard that they ceased to do this, and hoped that the Commander would do likewise, but he did the contrary. He incensed them against me by saying that I wanted to deprive them of what their Highnesses had given them; and he endeavored to set them at variance with me, and did so; and he induced them to write to their Highnesses that they should never again send me back to the government, and I likewise make the same supplication to them for myself and for my whole family, as long as there are not different inhabitants. And he together with them ordered inquisitions concerning me for wickednesses the like whereof were never known in hell. Our Lord, who rescued Daniel and the three children,[378-1] is present with the same wisdom and power as he had then, and with the same means, if it should please him and be in accordance with his will.
I should know how to remedy all this, and the rest of what has been said and has taken place since I have been in the Indies, if my disposition would allow me to seek my own advantage, and if it seemed honorable to me to do so, but the maintenance of justice and the extension of the dominion of Her Highness has hitherto kept me down. Now that so much gold is found, a dispute arises as to which brings more profit, whether to go about robbing or to go to the mines. A hundred castellanos[378-2] are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general, and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand, and for all ages a good price must be paid.
I assert that the violence of the calumny of turbulent persons has injured me more than my services have profited me; which is a bad example for the present and for the future. I take my oath that a number of men have gone to the Indies who did not deserve water in the sight of God and of the world; and now they are returning thither, and leave is granted them.[378-3]
I assert that when I declared that the Commander[378-4] could not grant immunities, I did what he desired, although I told him that it was to cause delay until their Highnesses should receive information from the country, and should command anew what might be for their service. He excited their enmity against me, and he seems, from what took place and from his behavior, to have come as my enemy and as a very vehement one; or else the report is true that he has spent much to obtain this employment. I do not know more about it than what I hear. I never heard of an inquisitor gathering rebels together and accepting them, and others devoid of credit and unworthy of it, as witnesses against their governor.
If their Highnesses were to make a general inquisition there, I assure you that they would look upon it as a great wonder that the island does not founder.
I think your Ladyship will remember that when, after losing my sails, I was driven into Lisbon by a tempest, I was falsely accused of having gone there to the King in order to give him the Indies. Their Highnesses afterwards learned the contrary, and that it was entirely malicious. Although I may know but little, I do not think anyone considers me so stupid as not to know that even if the Indies were mine I could not uphold myself without the help of some prince. If this be so, where could I find better support and security than in the King and Queen our Lords, who have raised me from nothing to such great honor, and are the most exalted princes of the world on sea and on land, and who consider that I have rendered them service, and preserve to me my privileges and rewards; and if anyone infringes them, their Highnesses increase them still more, as was seen in the case of Juan Aguado; and they order great honor to be conferred upon me, and, as I have already said, their Highnesses have received service from me, and keep my sons in their household;[379-1] all which could by no means happen with another prince, for where there is no affection, everything else fails.
I have now spoken thus in reply to a malicious slander, but against my will, as it is a thing which should not recur to memory even in dreams; for the Commander Bobadilla maliciously seeks in this way to set his own conduct and actions in a brighter light; but I shall easily show him that his small knowledge and great cowardice, together with his inordinate cupidity, have caused him to fail therein.
I have already said that I wrote to him and to the friars, and immediately set out, as I told him, almost alone, because all the people were with the Adelantado, and likewise in order to prevent suspicion on his part. When he heard this, he seized Don Diego[380-1] and sent him on board a caravel loaded with irons, and did the same to me upon my arrival, and afterwards to the Adelantado when he came; nor did I speak to him any more, nor to this day has he allowed anyone to speak to me; and I take my oath that I cannot understand why I am made a prisoner. He made it his first business to seize the gold, which he did without measuring or weighing it, and in my absence; he said that he wanted it to pay the people, and according to what I hear he assigned the chief part to himself and sent fresh exchangers for the exchanges. Of this gold I had put aside certain specimens, very big lumps, like the eggs of geese, hens, and pullets, and of many other shapes, which some persons had collected in a short space of time, in order that their Highnesses might be gladdened, and might comprehend the business upon seeing a quantity of large stones full of gold. This collection was the first to be given away, with malicious intent, so that their Highnesses should not hold the matter in any account until he has feathered his nest, which he is in great haste to do. Gold which is for melting diminishes at the fire; some chains which would weigh about twenty marks have never been seen again. I have been more distressed about this matter of the gold than even about the pearls, because I have not brought it to Her Highness.
The Commander at once set to work upon anything which he thought would injure me. I have already said that with six hundred thousand I could pay everyone without defrauding anybody, and that I had more than four millions of tenths and constabulary [dues], without touching the gold. He made some free gifts which are ridiculous, though I believe that he began by assigning the chief part to himself. Their Highnesses will find it out when they order an account to be obtained from him, especially if I should be present thereat. He does nothing but reiterate that a large sum is owing, and it is what I have said, and even less. I have been much distressed that there should be sent concerning me an inquisitor who is aware that if the inquisition which he returns is very grave he will remain in possession of the government.
Would that it had pleased our Lord that their Highnesses had sent him or some one else two years ago, for I know that I should now be free from scandal and infamy, and that my honor would not be taken from me, nor should I lose it. God is just, and will make known the why and the wherefore.
They judge me over there as they would a governor who had gone to Sicily, or to a city or town placed under regular government, and where the laws can be observed in their entirety without fear of ruining everything; and I am greatly injured thereby. I ought to be judged as a captain who went from Spain to the Indies to conquer a numerous and warlike people, whose customs and religion are very contrary to ours; who live in rocks and mountains, without fixed settlements, and not like ourselves; and where, by the divine will, I have placed under the dominion of the King and Queen, our sovereigns, another world,[381-1] through which Spain, which was reckoned a poor country, has become the richest. I ought to be judged as a captain who for such a long time up to this day has borne arms without laying them aside for an hour, and by gentlemen adventurers and by customs and not by letters,[381-2] unless they were Greeks or Romans, or others of modern times of whom there are so many and such noble examples in Spain;[381-3] or otherwise I receive great injury, because in the Indies there is neither town nor settlement.
The gate to the gold and pearls is now open, and plenty of everything—precious stones, spices, and a thousand other things—may be surely expected, and never could a worse misfortune befall me; for by the name of our Lord the first voyage would yield them just as much as would the traffic of Arabia Felix as far as Mecca, as I wrote to their Highnesses by Antonio de Torres in my reply respecting the repartition of the sea and land with the Portuguese; and afterwards it would equal that of Calicut, as I told them and put in writing at the monastery of Mejorada.
The news of the gold that I said I would give is, that on the day of the Nativity, while I was much tormented, being harassed by wicked Christians and by Indians, and when I was on the point of giving up everything and, if possible, escaping from life, our Lord miraculously comforted me and said, “Fear not violence, I will provide for all things; the seven years of the term of the gold have not elapsed, and in that and in everything else I will afford thee a remedy.” On that day I learned that there were eighty leagues of land with mines at every point thereof. The opinion now is that it is all one. Some have collected a hundred and twenty castellanos in one day, and others ninety, and even the number of two hundred and fifty has been reached. From fifty to seventy, and in many more cases from fifteen to fifty, is considered a good day’s work, and many carry it on. The usual quantity is from six to twelve, and any one obtaining less than this is not satisfied. It seems too that these mines are like others, and do not yield equally every day. The mines are new, and so are the workers: it is the opinion of everybody that even if all Castile were to go there, every individual, however inexpert he might be, would not obtain less than one or two castellanos daily, and now it is only commencing. It is true that they keep Indians, but the business is in the hands of the Christians. Behold what discernment Bobadilla had, when he gave up everything for nothing, and four millions of tenths, without any reason or even being requested, and without first notifying it to their Highnesses. And this is not the only loss.
I know that my errors have not been committed with the intention of doing evil, and I believe that their Highnesses regard the matter just as I state it; and I know and see that they deal mercifully even with those who maliciously act to their disservice. I believe and consider it very certain that their clemency will be both greater and more abundant towards me, for I fell therein through ignorance and the force of circumstances, as they will know fully hereafter; and I indeed am their creature, and they will look upon my services, and will acknowledge day by day that they are much profited. They will place everything in the balance, even as Holy Scripture tells us good and evil will be at the day of judgment. If, however, they command that another person do judge me, which I cannot believe, and that it be by inquisition in the Indies, I very humbly beseech them to send thither two conscientious and honorable persons at my expense, who I believe will easily, now that gold is discovered, find five marks in four hours. In either case it is needful for them to provide for this matter.
The Commander on his arrival at Santo Domingo took up his abode in my house, and just as he found it so he appropriated everything to himself. Well and good; perhaps he was in want of it. A pirate never acted thus towards a merchant. About my papers I have a greater grievance, for he has so completely deprived me of them that I have never been able to obtain a single one from him; and those that would have been most useful in my exculpation are precisely those which he has kept most concealed. Behold the just and honest inquisitor! Whatever he may have done, they tell me that there has been an end to justice, except in an arbitrary form. God our Lord is present with his strength and wisdom, as of old, and always punishes in the end, especially ingratitude and injuries.
[371-1] An echo of the words of Jesus to Peter when he began to sink, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Matthew, XIV. 31.
[371-2] Revelation, XXI. 1. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.”
[371-3] “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth.” Isaiah, LXV. 17.
[372-1] 1485-1491 inc. and 1492-1500 inc.
[372-2] Sy yo robara las Yndias o tierra que jaz fase ellas, etc. In the translation jaz fase is taken to stand for yace hacia. This supposition makes sense and is probably correct. The reading of the other text is “que san face ellas.” Navarrete says that neither one is intelligible.
[372-3] The death of Prince John, October 4, 1497.
[373-1] The name given to that part of the mainland of South America which Columbus discovered on his third voyage.
[373-2] I.e. so great was their abundance.
[373-3] On this revolt, see Bourne, Spain in America, p. 49 et seqq., and in greater detail, Irving, Columbus, ed. 1868, II. 109 et seqq.
[373-4] Hojeda sailed in May 1499. Las Casa’s account of his voyage is translated by Markham in his Letters of Amerigo Vespucci, Hakluyt Society (London, 1894), p. 78 et seqq. See also Irving, Columbus, III. 23-42 He was accompanied on this voyage by Amerigo Vespucci.
[373-5] Vicente Yañez Pinzon set sail from Palos, November 18, 1499. For his voyage, see Irving, Columbus, III. 49-58.
[374-1] The Alcalde was Roldan, the leader of the revolt. He was alcalde mayor of the city of Isabela and of the whole island, i.e., the chief justice. Las Casas, Historia de las Indias, II. 124.
[374-2] On the career in Española of Adrian de Muxica and his execution, see Irving, Columbus, II. 283 et seqq.
[374-3] Ferdinand de Guevara. See Irving, Columbus, II. 283 et seqq.
[374-4] I.e., maravedis, equivalent to about $4000.
[375-1] Bobadilla, the successor of Columbus as governor, who sent him back in chains.
[375-2] A mark was eight ounces or two-thirds of a Troy pound. Here it is probably the silver mark as a measure of value, which was about $3.25. If the word is used as a measure of weight of gold, it would be about $150.
[375-3] Bobadilla arrived at Santo Domingo August 23, 1500.
[375-4] Bartholomew Columbus.
[377-1] Juan Aguado arrived from Spain in October, 1495. Las Casas, Historia de las Indias, II. 109 et seqq., gives a full account of his mission. See also Irving, Columbus, ed. 1868, II. 77 et seqq.
[378-1] Cf. Daniel, chs. III. and VI.
[378-2] The castellano was one-sixth of an ounce, or in value about $3.
[378-3] See Bourne, Spain in America, p. 50, for Columbus’s bitter characterization of the Spaniards in Española in 1498, and p. 46 for the royal authorization in June, 1497, to transport criminals to the island. The terrible consequences of this policy led the Spanish government later to adopt the strictest regulations controlling emigration to the New World. Cf. Spain in America, ch. XVI.
[378-4] Bobadilla was a knight commander of the military order of Calatrava.
[379-1] Diego Columbus had been appointed a page to Prince John in 1492. Navarrete, Viages, II. 17. At this time, 1500, both Diego and Ferdinand were pages in the Queen’s household. Historie, ed. 1867, p. 276.
[380-1] The younger brother of the Admiral.
[381-1] Un otro mundo. See [note, p. 352] above.
[381-2] Caballeros de conquistas y del uso, y no de letras. This should be: “Knights of Conquests and by profession and not of letters.” I.e., by nobles that have actually been conquerors and had conquered territory awarded to them and who are knights by practice or profession and not gentlemen of letters.
[381-3] What this means is not altogether clear. Apparently Columbus means that men of letters or lawyers in Greece and Rome, great conquering nations, would know what standards to apply in his case, and that there were some such men of breadth in Spain.
LETTER OF COLUMBUS ON THE FOURTH VOYAGE
INTRODUCTION
The letter on Columbus’s last voyage when he explored the coast of Central America and of the Isthmus of Panama was written when he was shipwrecked on the island of Jamaica, 1503. It is his last important writing and one of great significance in understanding his geographical conceptions.
The Spanish text of this letter is not older than the sixteenth century and perhaps not older than the seventeenth. The Spanish text was first published by Navarrete in his Coleccion de los Viages y Descubrimientos, 1825. An Italian translation, however, was published in 1505 and is commonly known as the Lettera Rarissima. Mr. John Boyd Thacher has reproduced this early Italian translation in facsimile in his Christopher Columbus, accompanied by a translation into English. Cesare de Lollis prepared a critical edition of the Spanish text for the Raccolta Colombiana, which was carefully collated with and in some instances corrected by this contemporary translation. Most of his changes in punctuation and textual emendations have been adopted in the present edition, and attention is called to them in the notes.
The translation is that of R. H. Major as published in the revised edition of his Select Letters of Columbus. It has been carefully revised by the present editor, and some important changes have been made. As hitherto published in English a good many passages in this letter have been so confused and obscure and some so absolutely unintelligible, that the late Justin Winsor characterized this last of the important writings of Columbus as “a sorrowful index of his wandering reason.”[388-1] Almost every one of these passages has yielded up the secret of its meaning either through a more exact translation or in the light of the textual emendations suggested by de Lollis or proposed by the present editor. Among such revisions and textual emendations attention may be called to those discussed on pp. 392, 396, 397. As here published this letter of Columbus is as coherent and intelligible as his other writings.
The editor wishes here to acknowledge his obligations to Professor Henry R. Lang of Yale University, whom he has consulted in regard to perplexing passages or possible emendations, and from whom he has received valuable assistance.
The other important accounts of this voyage, or of the part of it covered by this letter, are the brief report by Diego de Porras, of which a translation is given in Thacher’s Columbus, and those by Ferdinand Columbus in the Historie and Peter Martyr in his De Rebus Oceanicis. On this voyage Las Casas’s source was the account of Ferdinand Columbus. Lollis presents some striking evidence to show that the accounts of Ferdinand Columbus and Peter Martyr were based upon the same original, a lost narrative of the Admiral. It will be remembered, however, that Ferdinand accompanied his father on this voyage, and although only a boy of thirteen his narrative contains several passages of vivid personal recollection. The editor has carefully compared Ferdinand’s narrative with the account in this letter and noted the important differences.
E. G. B.
[388-1] Christopher Columbus, p 459; cf. also the passages quoted on p. 460.
THE FOURTH VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS
A Letter written by Don Christóbal Colon, Viceroy and Admiral of the Indies, to the most Christian and mighty King and Queen of Spain, our Sovereigns, in which are described the events of his voyage, and the countries, provinces, cities, rivers and other marvellous matters therein discovered, as well as the places where gold and other substances of great richness and value are to be found
Most Serene, and very high and mighty Princes, the King and Queen our Sovereigns:—
My passage from Cadiz to the Canary occupied four days, and thence to the Indies sixteen days. From which I wrote, that my intention was to expedite my voyage as much as possible while I had good vessels, good crews and stores, and that Jamaica was the place to which I was bound. I wrote this in Dominica:[389-1]—
Up to the period of my reaching these shores I experienced most excellent weather, but the night of my arrival came on with a dreadful tempest, and the same bad weather has continued ever since. On reaching the island of Española[389-2] I despatched a packet of letters, by which I begged as a favor that a ship should be supplied me at my own cost in lieu of one of those that I had brought with me, which had become unseaworthy, and could no longer carry sail. The letters were taken, and your Highnesses will know if a reply has been given to them. For my part I was forbidden to go on shore;[390-1] the hearts of my people failed them lest I should take them further, and they said that if any danger were to befall them, they should receive no succor, but, on the contrary, in all probability have some great affront offered them. Moreover every man had it in his power to tell me that the new Governor would have the superintendence of the countries that I might acquire.[390-2]
The tempest was terrible throughout the night, all the ships were separated, and each one driven to the last extremity, without hope of anything but death; each of them also looked upon the loss of the rest as a matter of certainty. What man was ever born, not even excepting Job, who would not have been ready to die of despair at finding himself as I then was, in anxious fear for my own safety, and that of my son, my brother[390-3] and my friends, and yet refused permission either to land or to put into harbor on the shores which by God’s mercy I had gained for Spain sweating blood?
But to return to the ships: although the tempest had so completely separated them from me as to leave me single, yet the Lord restored them to me in His own good time. The ship which we had the greatest fear for, had put out to sea to escape [being blown] toward the island. The Gallega[390-4] lost her boat and a great part of her provisions, which latter loss indeed all the ships suffered. The vessel in which I was, though dreadfully buffeted, was saved by our Lord’s mercy from any injury whatever; my brother went in the ship that was unsound, and he under God was the cause of its being saved. With this tempest I struggled on till I reached Jamaica, and there the sea became calm, but there was a strong current which carried me as far as the Queen’s Garden[391-1] without seeing land. Hence as opportunity afforded I pushed on for the mainland, in spite of the wind and a fearful contrary current, against which I contended for sixty days, and after all only made seventy leagues. All this time I was unable to get into harbor, nor was there any cessation of the tempest, which was one continuation of rain, thunder and lightning; indeed it seemed as if it were the end of the world. I at length reached the Cape of Gracias á Dios, and after that the Lord granted me fair wind and tide; this was on the twelfth of September.[391-2] Eighty-eight days did this fearful tempest continue, during which I was at sea, and saw neither sun nor stars; my ships lay exposed, with sails torn, and anchors, rigging, cables, boats and a great quantity of provisions lost; my people were very weak and humbled in spirit, many of them promising to lead a religious life, and all making vows and promising to perform pilgrimages, while some of them would frequently go to their messmates to make confession.[392-1] 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. Our 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.
Such is my fate, that the twenty years of service[393-1] 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 Spain 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 Diego, whom I had left an orphan in Spain, and dispossessed of my honor and property, although I had looked upon it as a certainty, that your Majesties, as just and grateful Princes, would restore it to him in all respects with increase.[393-2]
I reached the land of Cariay,[393-3] where I stopped to repair my vessels and take in provisions, as well as to afford relaxation to the men, who had become very weak. I myself (who, as I said before, had been several times at the point of death) gained information respecting the gold mines of which I was in search, in the province of Ciamba;[393-4] and two Indians conducted me to Carambaru,[393-5] where the people (who go naked) wear golden mirrors round their necks, which they will neither sell, give, nor part with for any consideration. They named to me many places on the sea-coast where there were both gold and mines. The last that they mentioned was Veragua,[394-1] which was five-and-twenty leagues distant from the place where we then were. I started with the intention of visiting all of them, but when I had reached the middle of my journey I learned that there were other mines at so short a distance that they might be reached in two days. I determined on sending to see them. It was on the eve of St. Simon and St. Jude,[394-2] which was the day fixed for our departure; but that night there arose so violent a storm, that we were forced to go wherever it drove us, and the Indian who was to conduct us to the mines was with us all the time. As I had found every thing true that had been told me in the different places which I had visited, I felt satisfied it would be the same with respect to Ciguare,[394-3] which according to their account, is nine days journey across the country westward: they tell me there is a great quantity of gold there, 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. All the people agree in the report I now repeat, and their account is so favorable that I should be content with the tithe of the advantages that their description holds out. They are all likewise acquainted with the pepper-plant;[395-1] according to the account of these people, the inhabitants of Ciguare are accustomed to hold fairs and markets for carrying on their commerce, and they showed me also the mode and form in which they transact their various exchanges; others assert that their ships carry cannon, and that the men go clothed and use bows and arrows, swords and cuirasses, and that on shore they have horses which they use in battle, and that they wear rich clothes and have good things.[395-2] They also say that the sea surrounds Ciguare, and that at ten days’ journey from thence is the river Ganges; these lands appear to hold the same relation to Veragua, as Tortosa to Fontarabia, or Pisa to Venice.[395-3] When I left Carambaru and reached the places in its neighborhood, which I have mentioned above as being spoken of by the Indians, I found the customs of the people correspond with the accounts that had been given of them, except as regarded the golden mirrors: any man who had one of them would willingly part with it for three hawks’-bells,[395-4] although they were equivalent in weight to ten or fifteen ducats. These people resemble the natives of Española in all their habits. They have various modes of collecting the gold, none of which will bear comparison with the plans adopted by the Christians.
All that I have here stated is from hearsay. This, however, I know, that in the year ninety-four I sailed twenty-four degrees to the westward in nine hours,[396-1] and there can be no mistake upon the subject, because there was an eclipse; the sun was in Libra and the moon in Aries.[396-2] What I had learned by the mouth of these people I already knew in detail from books. Ptolemy thought that he had satisfactorily corrected[396-3] Marinus, and yet this latter appears to have come very near to the truth. Ptolemy placed Catigara[396-4] at a distance of twelve lines to the west of his meridian, which he fixes at two degrees and a third beyond Cape St. Vincent, in Portugal. Marinus comprised the earth and its limits in fifteen lines.[396-5] Marinus on Ethiopia gives a description covering more than twenty-four degrees beyond the equinoctial line, and now that the Portuguese have sailed there they find it correct.[397-1] Ptolemy says also that the most southern land is the first boundary, and that it does not go lower down than fifteen degrees and a third.[397-2] The world is but small; out of seven divisions of it the dry part occupies six, and the seventh is entirely covered by water.[398-1] Experience has shown it, and I have written it with quotations from the Holy Scripture, in other letters, where I have treated of the situation of the terrestrial paradise, as approved by the Holy Church;[398-2] and I say that the world is not so large as vulgar opinion makes it, and that one degree of the equinoctial line measures fifty-six miles and two-thirds; and this may be proved to a nicety.[398-3]
But I leave this subject, which it is not my intention now to treat upon, but simply to give a narrative of my laborious and painful voyage, although of all my voyages it is the most honorable and advantageous. I have said that on the eve of St. Simon and St. Jude I ran before the wind wherever it took me, without power to resist it; at length I found shelter for ten days from the roughness of the sea and the tempest overhead, and resolved not to attempt to go back to the mines, which I regarded as already in our possession.[398-4] When I started in pursuance of my voyage it was under a heavy rain, and reaching the harbor of Bastimentos I put in, though much against my will.[399-1] The storm and a rapid current kept me in for fourteen days, when I again set sail, but not with favorable weather. After I had made fifteen leagues with great exertions, the wind and the current drove me back[399-2] again with great fury, but in again making for the port which I had quitted, I found on the way another port, which I named Retrete, where I put in for shelter with as much risk as regret, the ships being in sad condition, and my crews and myself exceedingly fatigued.[399-3] I remained there fifteen days, kept in by stress of weather, and when I fancied my troubles were at an end, I found them only begun. It was then that I changed my resolution with respect to proceeding to the mines, and proposed doing something in the interim, until the weather should prove more favorable for my voyage.[399-4] I had already made four leagues when the storm recommenced, and wearied me to such a degree that I absolutely knew not what to do; my wound reopened, and for nine days my life was despaired of; never was the sea seen so high, so terrific, and so covered with foam; not only did the wind oppose our proceeding onward, but it also rendered it highly dangerous to run in for any headland, and kept me in that sea which seemed to me as a sea of blood, seething like a cauldron on a mighty fire. Never did the sky look more fearful; during one day and one night it burned like a furnace, and every instant I looked to see if my masts and my sails were not destroyed; these flashes came with such alarming fury that we all thought the ships must have been consumed. All this time the waters from heaven never ceased, not to say that it rained, for it was like a repetition of the deluge. The men were at this time so crushed in spirit that they longed for death as a deliverance from so many martyrdoms. Twice already had the ships suffered loss in boats, anchors, and rigging, and were now lying bare without sails.
When it pleased our Lord, I returned to Puerto Gordo,[400-1] where I recruited my condition as well as I could. I then once more turned towards Veragua; for my voyage, although I was [ready] for it, the wind and current were still contrary.[400-2] I arrived at nearly the same spot as before, and there again the wind and currents still opposed my progress; and once again I was compelled to put into port, not daring to await the opposition of Saturn[400-3] with Mars so tossed on an exposed coast; for it almost always brings on a tempest or severe weather. This was on Christmas-day, about the hour of mass.
Thus, after all these fatigues, I had once more to return to the spot from whence I started; and when the new year had set in, I returned again to my task: but although I had fine weather for my voyage, the ships were no longer in a sailing condition, and my people were either dying or very sick. On the day of the Epiphany,[400-4] I reached Veragua in a state of exhaustion; there, by our Lord’s goodness, I found a river and a safe harbor, although at the entrance there were only ten spans of water. I succeeded in making an entry, but with great difficulty; and on the following day the storm recommenced, and had I been still on the outside at that time, I should have been unable to enter on account of the reef. It rained without ceasing until the fourteenth of February, so that I could find no opportunity of penetrating into the interior, nor of recruiting my condition in any respect whatever; and on the twenty-fourth of January, when I considered myself in perfect safety, the river suddenly rose with great violence to a considerable height, breaking my cables and the breastfasts,[401-1] and nearly carrying away my ships altogether, which certainly appeared to me to be in greater danger than ever. Our Lord, however, brought a remedy as He has always done. I do not know if any one else ever suffered greater trials.
On the sixth of February, while it was still raining, I sent seventy men on shore to go into the interior, and at five leagues’ distance they found several mines. The Indians who went with them conducted them to a very lofty mountain, and thence showing them the country all around, as far as the eye could reach, told them there was gold in every part, and that, towards the west, the mines extended twenty days’ journey; they also recounted the names of the towns and villages where there was more or less of it. I afterwards learned that the Quibian,[402-1] who had lent these Indians, had ordered them to show the distant mines, and which belonged to an enemy of his; but that in his own territory one man might, if he would, collect in ten days as much as a child could carry.[402-2] I bring with me some Indians, his servants, who are witnesses of this fact. The boats went up to the spot where the dwellings of these people are situated; and, after four hours, my brother returned with the guides, all of them bringing back gold which they had collected at that place. The gold must be abundant, and of good quality, for none of these men had ever seen mines before; very many of them had never seen pure gold, and most of them were seamen and lads. Having building materials in abundance, I established a settlement, and made many presents to the Quibian, which is the name they gave to the lord of the country. I plainly saw that harmony would not last long, for the natives are of a very rough disposition, and the Spaniards very encroaching; and, moreover, I had taken possession of land belonging to the Quibian. When he saw what we did, and found the traffic increasing, he resolved upon burning the houses, and putting us all to death; but his project did not succeed, for we took him prisoner, together with his wives, his children, and his servants. His captivity, it is true, lasted but a short time, for he eluded the custody of a trustworthy man, into whose charge he had been given, with a guard of men; and his sons escaped from a ship, in which they had been placed under the special charge of the master.
In the month of January the mouth of the river was entirely closed up,[403-1] and in April the vessels were so eaten by the shipworm,[403-2] that they could scarcely be kept above water. At this time the river forced a channel for itself, by which I managed, with great difficulty, to extricate three of them after I had unloaded them. The boats were then sent back into the river for water and salt, but the sea became so high and furious, that it afforded them no chance of exit; upon which the Indians collected themselves together in great numbers, and made an attack upon the boats, and at length massacred the men.[403-3] My brother, and all the rest of our people, were in a ship which remained inside; I was alone, outside, upon that dangerous coast, suffering from a severe fever and worn with fatigue. All hope of escape was gone. I toiled up to the highest part of the ship, and, with a voice of fear crying, and very urgently, I called upon your Highnesses’ war-captains in every direction for help, but there was no reply. At length, groaning with exhaustion, I fell asleep, and heard a compassionate voice address me thus: “O fool, and slow to believe and to serve thy God, the God of all! what did He do more for Moses, or for David his servant, than He has done for thee? From thine infancy He has kept thee under His constant and watchful care. When He saw thee arrived at an age which suited His designs respecting thee, He brought wonderful renown to thy name throughout all the land. He gave thee for thine own the Indies, which form so rich a portion of the world, and thou hast divided them as it pleased thee, for He gave thee power to do so. He gave thee also the keys of those barriers of the ocean sea which were closed with such mighty chains;[404-1] and thou wast obeyed through many lands, and gained an honorable fame throughout Christendom. What did he more for the people of Israel, when he brought them out of Egypt?404-2 or for David, whom from a shepherd He made to be king in Judea? Turn to Him, and acknowledge thine error—His mercy is infinite. Thine old age shall not prevent thee from accomplishing any great undertaking. He holds under His sway many very great possessions. Abraham had exceeded a hundred years of age when he begat Isaac; nor was Sarah young. Thou criest out for uncertain help: answer, who has afflicted thee so much and so often, God or the world? The privileges promised by God, He never fails in bestowing; nor does He ever declare, after a service has been rendered Him, that such was not agreeable with His intention, or that He had regarded the matter in another light; nor does he inflict suffering, in order to give effect to the manifestation of His power. His word goes according to the letter; and He performs all his promises with interest. This is [his] custom. Thus I have told thee what thy Creator has done for thee, and what He does for all men. Just now He gave me a specimen of the reward of so many toils and dangers incurred by thee in the service of others.”[404-2]
I heard all this, as it were, in a trance; but I had no answer to give in definite words, and could but weep for my errors. He who spoke to me, whoever it was, concluded by saying,—“Fear not, but trust; all these tribulations are recorded on marble, and not without cause.” I arose as soon as I could; and at the end of nine days there came fine weather, but not sufficiently so to allow of drawing the vessels out of the river. I collected the men who were on land, and, in fact, all of them that I could, because there were not enough to admit of one party remaining on shore while another stayed on board to work the vessels. I myself should have remained with my men to defend the settlement, had your Highnesses known of it; but the fear that ships might never reach the spot where we were, as well as the thought, that when provision is to be made for bringing help, everything will be provided,[405-1] made me decide upon leaving. I departed, in the name of the Holy Trinity, on Easter night,[405-2] with the ships rotten, worm-eaten and full of holes. One of them I left at Belen, with a supply of necessaries; I did the same at Belpuerto. I then had only two left, and they in the same state as the others. 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. Let those who are accustomed to finding fault and censuring ask, while they sit in security at home, “Why did you not do so and so under such circumstances?” I wish they now had this voyage to make. I verily believe that another journey of another kind awaits them, or our faith is nothing.
On the thirteenth of May I reached the province of Mago [Mango],[405-3] which borders on Cathay, and thence I started for the island of Española. I sailed two days with a good wind, after which it became contrary. The route that I followed called forth all my care to avoid the numerous islands, that I might not be stranded on the shoals that lie in their neighborhood. The sea was very tempestuous, and I was driven backward under bare poles. I anchored at an island, where I lost, at one stroke, three anchors; and, at midnight, when the weather was such that the world appeared to be coming to an end, the cables of the other ship broke, and it came down upon my vessel with such force that it was a wonder we were not dashed to pieces; the single anchor that remained to me was, next to the Lord, our only preservation. After six days, when the weather became calm, I resumed my journey, having already lost all my tackle; my ships were pierced by borers more than a honey-comb and the crew entirely paralyzed with fear and in despair. I reached the island a little beyond the point at which I first arrived at it, and there I turned in to recover myself after the storm;[406-1] but I afterwards put into a much safer port in the same island. After eight days I put to sea again, and reached Jamaica by the end of June;[406-2] but always beating against contrary winds, and with the ships in the worst possible condition. With three pumps, and the use of pots and kettles, we could scarcely clear the water that came into the ship, there being no remedy but this for the mischief done by the ship-worm. I steered in such a manner as to come as near as possible to Española, from which we were twenty-eight leagues distant, but I afterwards wished I had not done so, for the other ship which was half under water was obliged to run in for a port. I determined on keeping the sea in spite of the weather, and my vessel was on the very point of sinking when our Lord miraculously brought us upon land. Who will believe what I now write? I assert that in this letter I have not related one hundredth part of the wonderful events that occurred in this voyage; those who were with the Admiral can bear witness to it. If your Highnesses would be graciously pleased to send to my help a ship of above sixty-four tons, with two hundred quintals of biscuits and other provisions, there would then be sufficient to carry me and my crew from Española to Spain. I have already said that there are not twenty-eight leagues between Jamaica and Española; and I should not have gone there, even if the ships had been in a fit condition for so doing, because your Highnesses ordered me not to land there. God knows if this command has proved of any service. I send this letter by means of and by the hands of Indians; it will be a miracle if it reaches its destination.
This is the account I have to give of my voyage. The men who accompanied me were a hundred and fifty in number, among whom were many calculated for pilots and good sailors, but none of them can explain whither I went nor whence I came;[407-1] the reason is very simple: I started from a point above the port of Brazil[407-2] in Española. The storm prevented me from following my intended route, for I was obliged to go wherever the wind drove me; at the same time I fell very sick, and there was no one who had navigated in these parts before. However, after some days, the wind and sea became tranquil, and the storm was succeeded by a calm, but accompanied with rapid currents. I put into harbor at an island called Isla de las Pozas, and then steered for mainland;[408-1] but it is impossible to give a correct account of all our movements, because I was carried away by the current so many days without seeing land. I ascertained, however, by the compass and by observation, that I moved parallel with the coast of the mainland. No one could tell under what part of the heavens we were, and when I set out from there to come to the island of Española, the pilots thought we had come to the island of St. John, whereas it was the land of Mango, four hundred leagues to the westward of where they said.[408-2] Let them answer and say if they know where Veragua is situated. I assert that they can give no other account than that they went to lands, where there was an abundance of gold, and this they can certify surely enough; but they do not know the way to return thither for such a purpose; they would be obliged to go on a voyage of discovery as much as if they had never been there before.
There is a mode of reckoning derived from astronomy which is sure and safe, and a sufficient guide to any one who understands it. This resembles a prophetic vision.[408-3] The Indies ships[408-4] do not sail except with the wind abaft, but this is not because they are badly built or clumsy, but because the strong currents in those parts, together with the wind, render it impossible to sail with the bowline,[408-5] for in one day they would lose as much way as they might have made in seven; for the same reason I could make no use of caravels, even though they were Portuguese lateens.[409-1] This is the cause that they do not sail unless with a regular breeze, and they will sometimes stay in harbor waiting for this seven or eight months at a time; nor is this anything wonderful, for the same very often occurs in Spain.
The nation of which Pope Pius II. describes the situation and characteristics has now been found,[409-2] excepting the horses with the saddles and poitrels and bridles of gold; but this is not to be wondered at, for the lands on the sea-coast are only inhabited by fishermen, and moreover I made no stay there, because I was in haste to proceed on my voyage. In Cariay[409-3] and the neighboring country there are great enchanters of a very fearful character. They would have given the world to prevent my remaining there an hour. When I arrived they sent me immediately two girls very showily dressed; the eldest could not be more than eleven years of age and the other seven, and both exhibited so much immodesty, that more could not be expected from public women; they carried concealed about them a magic powder; when they came I gave them some articles to dress themselves out with, and directly sent them back to the shore.[409-4] I saw here, built on a mountain, a sepulchre as large as a house, and elaborately sculptured; the body lay uncovered and embalmed in it. They also spoke to me of other very excellent works of art.[410-1] There are many species of animals both small and large, and very different from those of our country. I had a present of two pigs, and an Irish dog was afraid to face them. A cross-bowman had wounded an animal like a monkey,[410-2] except that it was larger, and had a face like a man’s; the arrow had pierced it from the neck to the tail, and since it was fierce he was obliged to cut off an arm and a leg; the pig bristled up on seeing it and tried to get away. I, when I saw this, ordered the begare[410-3] as it is called to be thrown to the pig where he was, and though the animal was nearly dead, and the arrow had passed quite through his body, yet he threw his tail round the snout of the boar, and then holding him firmly, seized him by the nape of the neck with his remaining hand, as if he were engaged with an enemy. This action was so novel and so extraordinary, that I have thought it worth while to describe it here. There is a great variety of animals here, but they all die of barra.[410-4] I saw some very large fowls (the feathers of which resemble wool),[410-5] lions, stags, fallow-deer and birds.
When we were so harassed with our troubles at sea, some of our men imagined that we were under the influence of sorcery, and even to this day entertain the same notion. Some of the people whom I discovered eat men, as was evidenced by the brutality of their countenances. They say that there are great mines of copper in the country, of which they make hatchets[411-1] and other elaborate articles both cast and soldered; they also make of it forges, with all the apparatus of the goldsmith, and crucibles. The inhabitants go clothed; and in that province I saw some large sheets of cotton very elaborately and cleverly worked, and others very delicately painted in colors.[411-2] They tell me that more inland towards Cathay they have them interwoven with gold. For want of an interpreter we were able to learn but very little respecting these countries, or what they contain. Although the country is very thickly peopled, yet each nation has a very different language; indeed so much so, that they can no more understand each other than we understand the Arabs. I think, however, that this applies to the barbarians on the sea-coast, and not to the people who live more inland. When I discovered the Indies, I said that they composed the richest lordship in the world; I spoke of gold and pearls and precious stones, of spices and the traffic that might be carried on in them; and because all these things were not forthcoming at once I was abused. This punishment causes me to refrain from relating anything but what the natives tell me. One thing I can venture upon stating, because there are so many witnesses of it, viz., that in this land of Veragua I saw more signs of gold in the first two days than I saw in Española during fours years, and that there is not a more fertile or better cultivated country in all the world, nor one whose inhabitants are more timid; added to which there is a good harbor, a beautiful river, and the whole place is capable of being easily put into a state of defence. All this tends to the security of the Christians and the permanency of their sovereignty, while it affords the hope of great increase and honor to the Christian religion; moreover the road hither will be as short as that to Española, because there is a certainty of a fair wind for the passage. Your Highnesses are as much lords of this country as of Xerez or Toledo; your ships if they should go there, go to your own house. From there they will take gold; in other lands to have what there is in them, they will have to take it by force or retire empty-handed, and on the land they will have to trust their persons in the hands of a savage.[412-1]
Of the other [matter] that I refrain from saying, I have already said why I kept silent. I do not speak so, neither [do I say] that I make a threefold affirmation in all that I have ever said or written nor that I am at the source.[412-2] The Genoese, Venetians and all other nations that possess pearls, precious stones, and other articles of value, take them to the ends of the world to exchange them for gold. Gold is most excellent; gold is treasure, and he who possesses it does all he wishes to in this world, and succeeds in helping souls into paradise. They say that when one of the lords of the country of Veragua dies, they bury all the gold he possessed with his body. There were brought to Solomon at one journey[412-3] six hundred and sixty-six quintals of gold, besides what the merchants and sailors brought, and that which was paid in Arabia. Of this gold he made two hundred lances[412-4] and three hundred shields, and the flooring[412-5] which was to be above them was also of gold, and ornamented with precious stones; many other things he made likewise of gold, and a great number of vessels of great size, which he enriched with precious stones. This is related by Josephus in his Chronicle De Antiquitatibus; mention is also made of it in the Chronicles and in the Book of Kings.[413-1] Josephus thinks that this gold was found in the Aurea;[413-2] if it were so, I contend that these mines of the Aurea are identical with those of Veragua, which, as I have said before, extends westward twenty days’ journey, and they are at an equal distance from the Pole and the Line.[413-3] Solomon bought all of it,—gold, precious stones, and silver,—but your Majesties need only send to seek them to have them at your pleasure. David, in his will, left three thousand quintals of Indian gold to Solomon, to assist in building the Temple; and, according to Josephus, it came from these lands.[413-4] Jerusalem and Mount Sion are to be rebuilt by the hands of Christians, who it is to be God told by the mouth of His prophet in the fourteenth Psalm.[413-5] The Abbot Joaquim said that he who should do this was to come from Spain;[414-1] Saint Jerome showed the holy woman the way to accomplish it;[414-2] and the emperor of Cathay, a long time ago, sent for wise men to instruct him in the faith of Christ.[414-3] Who will offer himself for this work?[414-4] Should any one do so, I pledge myself, in the name of God, to convey him safely thither, provided the Lord permits me to return to Spain.
The people who have sailed with me have passed through incredible toil and danger, and I beseech your Highnesses, since they are poor, to pay them promptly, and to be gracious to each of them according to their respective merits; for I can safely assert, that to my belief they are the bearers of the best news that ever was carried to Spain. With respect to the gold which belongs to the Quibian of Veragua, and other chiefs in the neighboring country, although it appears by the accounts we have received of it to be very abundant, I do not think it would be well or desirable, on the part of your Highnesses, to take possession of it in the way of plunder; by fair dealing, scandal and disrepute will be avoided, and all the gold will thus reach your Highnesses’ treasury without the loss of a grain.
With one month of fair weather I shall complete my voyage. As I was deficient in ships, I did not persist in delaying my course; but in everything that concerns your Highnesses’ service, I trust in Him who made me, and I hope also that my health will be re-established. I think your Highnesses will remember that I had intended to build some ships in a new manner, but the shortness of the time did not permit it. I had certainly foreseen how things would be. I think more of this opening for commerce, and of the lordship over such extensive mines, than of all that has been done in the Indies.[415-1] This is not a child to be left to the care of a stepmother.
I never think of Española, and Paria, and the other countries, without shedding tears. I thought that what had occurred there would have been an example for others; on the contrary, these settlements are now in a languid state, although not dead, and the malady is incurable, or at least very extensive. Let him who brought the evil come now and cure it, if he knows the remedy, or how to apply it; but when a disturbance is on foot, every one is ready to take the lead. It used to be the custom to give thanks and promotion to him who placed his person in jeopardy; but there is no justice in allowing the man who opposed this undertaking, to enjoy the fruits of it with his children. Those who left the Indies, avoiding the toils consequent upon the enterprise, and speaking evil of it and me, have since returned with official appointments,—such is the case now in Veragua: it is an evil example, and profitless both as regards the business in which we are embarked, and as respects the general maintenance of justice. The fear of this, with other sufficient considerations, which I clearly foresaw, caused me to beg your Highnesses, previously to my coming to discover these islands and mainland, to grant me permission to govern in your royal name. Your Highnesses granted my request; and it was a privilege and treaty granted under the royal seal and oath, by which I was nominated viceroy, and admiral, and governor-general of all: and your Highnesses limited the extent of my government to a hundred leagues beyond the Azores and Cape Verde islands, by a line passing from one pole to the other, and gave me ample power over all that I might discover beyond this line; all which is more fully described in the official document.[416-1]
But the most important affair of all, and that which cries most loudly for redress, remains inexplicable to this moment. For seven years was I at your royal court, where every one to whom the enterprise was mentioned treated it as ridiculous; but now there is not a man, down to the very tailors, who does not beg to be allowed to become a discoverer. There is reason to believe, that they make the voyage only for plunder, and that they are permitted to do so, to the great disparagement of my honor, and the detriment of the undertaking itself.[416-2] It is right to give God His own,—and to Caesar[416-3] that which belongs to him.[416-4] This is a just sentiment, and proceeds from just feelings. The lands in this part of the world, which are now under your Highnesses’ sway, are richer and more extensive than those of any other Christian power, and yet, after that I had, by the Divine will, placed them under your high and royal sovereignty, and was on the point of bringing your majesties into the receipt of a very great and unexpected revenue; and while I was waiting for ships, to convey me in safety, and with a heart full of joy, to your royal presence, victoriously to announce the news of the gold that I had discovered, I was arrested and thrown, with my two brothers, loaded with irons, into a ship, stripped, and very ill-treated, without being allowed any appeal to justice.[417-1]
Who could believe, that a poor foreigner would have risen against your Highnesses, in such a place, without any motive or argument on his side; without even the assistance of any other prince upon which to rely; but on the contrary, amongst your own vassals and natural subjects, and with my sons staying at your royal court? I was twenty-eight years old when I came into your Highnesses’ service,[417-2] and now I have not a hair upon me that is not gray; my body is infirm, and all that was left to me, as well as to my brothers, has been taken away and sold, even to the frock that I wore, to my great dishonor. I cannot but believe that this was done without your royal permission. The restitution of my honor, the reparation of my losses, and the punishment of those who have inflicted them, will redound to the honor of your royal character; a similar punishment also is due to those who plundered me of my pearls, and who have brought a disparagement upon the privileges of my admiralty. Great and unexampled will be the glory and fame of your Highnesses, if you do this; and the memory of your Highnesses, as just and grateful sovereigns, will survive as a bright example to Spain in future ages. The honest devotedness I have always shown to your Majesties’ service, and the so unmerited outrage with which it has been repaid, will not allow my soul to keep silence, however much I may wish it: I implore your Highnesses to forgive my complaints. I am indeed in as ruined a condition as I have related; hitherto I have wept over others;—may Heaven now have mercy upon me, and may the earth weep for me. With regard to temporal things, I have not even a blanca,[418-1] for an offering; and in spiritual things, I have ceased here in the Indies from observing the prescribed forms of religion. Solitary in my trouble, sick, and in daily expectation of death, surrounded by a million of hostile savages full of cruelty, and thus separated from the blessed sacraments of our holy Church, how will my soul be forgotten if it be separated from the body in this foreign land? Weep for me, whoever has charity, truth, and justice! I did not come out on this voyage to gain to myself honor or wealth; this is a certain fact, for at that time all hope of such a thing was dead. I do not lie when I say, that I went to your Highnesses with honest purpose of heart, and sincere zeal in your cause. I humbly beseech your Highnesses, that if it please God to rescue me from this place, you will graciously sanction my pilgrimage to Rome and other holy places. May the Holy Trinity protect your Highnesses’ lives, and add to the prosperity of your exalted position.
Done in the Indies, in the island of Jamaica, on the seventh of July, in the year one thousand five hundred and three.
[389-1] The punctuation of this first paragraph has been changed in the light of the contemporary Italian translation known as the Lettera Rarissima, which is given in facsimile and English translation in Thacher’s Christopher Columbus, II. 671 et seqq.
[389-2] June 29. Las Casas, III. 29.
[390-1] By the letter of the King and Queen, March 14, 1502, Columbus had been forbidden to call at Española on the outward voyage. Las Casas, Historia de las Indias, III. 26.
[390-2] The new governor, Ovando, who had been sent out to supersede Bobadilla, had reached Santo Domingo in April of this year, 1502.
[390-3] Columbus was accompanied by his younger son Ferdinand and his elder brother Bartholomew. Las Casas, III. 25.
[390-4] The translation here follows Lollis’s emendation of the text which changed the printed text, “habia, echado á la mar, por escapar, fasta la isola la Gallega; perdio la barca,” etc., to “habia echado á la mar, por escapar fasta la isla; la Gallega perdio la barca.” One of the ships was named La Gallega, and there is no island of that name in that region.
[391-1] Columbus set forth from the harbor of Santo Domingo in the storm, Friday, July 1. The ships found refuge in the harbor of Azua on the following Sunday, July 3. (Ferdinand Columbus in the Historie, ed. 1867, pp. 286-287.) Azua is about 50 miles west of Santo Domingo in a straight line, but much farther by water. After a rest and repairs the Admiral sailed to Yaquimo, the present Jacmel in the territory of Hayti, into which port he went to escape another storm. He left Yaquimo, July 14. (Las Casas, III. 108; Ferdinand Columbus, Historie, p. 289.) He then passed south of Jamaica, and was carried by the currents northwest till he reached the Queen’s Garden, a group of many small islands south of Cuba and east of the Isle of Pines, so named by him in 1494 on his exploration of the coast of Cuba.
[391-2] From the Queen’s Garden he sailed south July 27 (the Porras narrative of this voyage, Navarrete, II. 283; in English in Thacher, Columbus, II. 640 et seqq.), and after a passage of ninety leagues sighted an island Saturday, July 30. (Porras in Thacher, II. 643.) This was the island of Guanaja about twelve leagues north of Trujillo, Honduras. (Las Casas, III. 109.) Here a landing was made and a canoe was encountered which was covered with an awning and contained Indians well clothed and a load of merchandise. Notwithstanding these indications of a more advanced culture than had hitherto been found, the Admiral decided not to explore the country of these Indians, which would have led him into Yucatan and possibly Mexico, but to search for the strait which he supposed separated Asia from the continental mass he had discovered on his third voyage (Paria, South America). He struck the mainland near Trujillo, naming the point Caxinas. At or near this place they landed Sunday, August 14, to say mass. (Las Casas, III. 112; Ferdinand Columbus, Historie, p. 295.) From this point he coasted very slowly, sailing in sight of land by day and anchoring at night, distressed by storms and headwinds, some days losing as much ground as could be gained in two, till September 12, when he reached Cape Gracias á Dios. (Las Casas, III. 113; Historie, p. 297; Porras narrative in Thacher, Columbus, II. 644.) It will be seen from this collation of the sources that the statements in our text are far from exact, that they are in fact a very general and greatly exaggerated recollection of a most trying experience. It will be remembered that Ferdinand was on this voyage, but his narrative says nothing of any storm between July 14 when he left the Queen’s Gardens and the arrival at Guanaja, a passage which Porras says took three days. This passage, however, Las Casas describes apparently on the basis of this letter as having taken sixty days (Historia, III. 108). Next the text of the Historie presents a difficulty, for it places the tedious stormy voyage of sixty leagues and seventy days between Caxinas (Trujillo) and Cape Gracias á Dios (Historie, p. 296), although in another place it gives the beginning of this coasting as after August 14 and the date of arrival at the Cape as September 12. This last chronological difficulty may perhaps be accounted for in this way: The original manuscript of the Historie may have had “XXX dias,” which a copyist or the Italian translator may have taken for “LXX dias.”
[392-1] A review of the chronology of the voyage in the preceding note will show that no such storm of eighty-eight days’ duration could have occurred in the first part of this voyage. Columbus was only seventy-four days in going from Santo Domingo to Cabo Gracias á Dios. Either the text is wrong or his memory was at fault. The most probable conclusion is that in copying either LXXXVIII got substituted for XXVIII or Ochenta y ocho for Veinte y ocho. In that case we should have almost exactly the time spent in going from Trujillo to Cape Gracias á Dios, August 14 to September 12, and exact agreement between our text, the Historie, and the Porras narrative.
[393-1] Twenty years, speaking approximately. This letter was written in 1503, and Columbus entered the service of Spain in 1485.
[393-2] Diego was the heir of his father’s titles. He was appointed governor of the Indies in 1508, but a prolonged lawsuit was necessary to establish his claims to inherit his father’s rights.
[393-3] Their course was down the Mosquito coast. Cariay was near the mouth of the San Juan River of Nicaragua. Las Casas gives the date of the arrival at Cariarí, as he gives the name, as September 17 (III. 114). The Historie gives the date as September 5 and the name as Cariai (p. 297).
[393-4] Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis (ed. 1574), p. 239, says that Columbus called Ciamba the region which the inhabitants called Quiriquetana, a name which it would seem still survives in Chiriqui Lagoon just east of Almirante Bay. The name “Ciamba” appears on Martin Behaim’s globe, 1492, as a province corresponding to Cochin-China. It is described in Marco Polo under the name “Chamba”; see Yule’s Marco Polo, II. 248-252 (bk. III., ch. V.).
[393-5] Carambaru is the present Almirante Bay, about on the border between Costa Rica and Panama. Las Casas describes the bay as six leagues long and over three broad with many islands and coves. He gives the name as Caravaró (III. 118). Ferdinand Columbus’s account is practically identical.
[394-1] Veragua in this letter includes practically all of the present republic of Panama. The western quarter of it was granted to Luis Colon, the Admiral’s grandson, in 1537, as a dukedom in partial compensation for his renouncing his hereditary rights. Hence the title Dukes of Veragua borne by the Admiral’s descendants. The name still survives in geography in that of the little island Escudo de Veragua, which lies off the northern coast.
[394-2] The eve or vigil of St. Simon and St. Jude is October 27. According to the narrative in the Historie, on October 7, they went ashore at the channel of Cerabora (Carambaru). A few days later they went on to Aburema. October 17 they left Aburema and went twelve leagues to Guaigo, where they landed. Thence they went to Cateva (Catiba, Las Casas) and cast anchor in a large river (the Chagres). Thence easterly to Cobrava; thence to five towns, among which was Beragua (Veragua); the next day to Cubiga. The distance from Cerabora to Cubiga was fifty leagues. Without landing, the Admiral went on to Belporto (Puerto Bello), which he so named. (“Puerto Bello, which was a matter of six leagues from what we now call El Nombre de Dios.” Las Casas, III. 121.) He arrived at Puerto Bello November 2, and remained there seven days on account of the rains and bad weather. (Historie, pp. 302-306.) Apparently Columbus put this period of bad weather a few days too early in his recollection of it.
[394-3] Ciguare. An outlying province of the Mayas lying on the Pacific side of southern Costa Rica. Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, p. 240, says, “In this great tract (i.e., where the Admiral was) are two districts, the near one called Taia, and the further one Maia.”
[395-1] See [p. 311, note 5].
[395-2] Probably casas, houses, should be the reading here. In the corresponding passage of the contemporary Italian version the word is “houses.” This information, mixed as it is with Columbus’s misinterpretations of the Indian signs and distorted by his preconceptions, was first made public in the Italian translation of this letter in 1505 and then gave Europe its first intimations of the culture of the Mayas.
[395-3] I.e., in being on either side of a peninsula, Tortosa and Fontarabia being on opposite sides of the narrowest part of the Spanish peninsula.
[395-4] See [p. 300, note 1].
[396-1] The Spanish reads, “Lo que yo sé es que el año de noventa y cuatro en veinte y cuatros grados al Poniente en termino de nueve horas.” The translation in the text and that in Thacher (II. 687) of the Italian makes nonsense. The translation should be “what I know is that in the year ’94 (1494) I sailed westward on the 24th parallel (lit. on 24 degrees) a total of nine hours (lit. to a limit of nine hours).” That is, he reckoned that he had gone 9/24 round the world on the 24th parallel, and he knew it because there was an eclipse by which he found out the difference in time between Europe and where he was. The “termino” of nine hours refers to the western limit of his exploration of the southern coast of Cuba when he concluded it was a projection of the mainland of Asia. After reaching the conclusion that this is the correct interpretation of this passage, I discovered that it had been given by Humboldt in his Kritische Untersuchungen über die historische Entwickelung der geographischen Kenntnisse von der Neuen Welt, I. 553, and by Peschel in his Zeitalter der Entdeckungen, p. 97, note 2. It may be objected to this explanation that in reality Columbus had only gone about 75 degrees west of Cape St. Vincent in Portugal. The accurate calculation of longitude at that time, however, was impossible, and as will be seen in the following note Columbus’s calculation was biassed by powerful preconceptions.
[396-2] In his Libro de Profecias Columbus recorded the data of this eclipse which took place February 29, 1494, from which he drew the conclusion, “The difference between the middle of the island Jamaica in the Indies and the island of Cadiz in Spain is seven hours and fifteen minutes.” Navarrete, Viages, II. 272.
[396-3] Reading remendiado or remendado instead of remedado.
[396-4] Catigara was in China on the east side of the Gulf of Tonquin.
[396-5] Marinus of Tyre divided the earth into 24 meridians, 15 degrees or one hour apart. His first meridian passed the Fortunate Isles, which he supposed to be 2 1/2 degrees west of Cape St. Vincent, and his fifteenth through Catigara, southeastern China. The inhabited world embraced fifteen of these lines, 225 degrees, and the unknown portion east of India and west of Spain, nine lines, or hours, or 135 degrees. Cf. Vignaud, Toscanelli and Columbus, p. 74; Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, II. 519 et seqq. Columbus, therefore, according to his calculations, had in 1494 completely covered this unknown section and reached India (or China), and so had demonstrated the correctness of Marinus’s views. In reality his strong preconceptions as to where he was distorted his calculations of the longitude. Ptolemy corrected Marinus’s estimate of 225 degrees from Cape St. Vincent to Sera in China, and, as noted in Columbus’s letter, placed Catigara in China (on the east side of the Gulf of Tonquin) at twelve lines or 180 degrees west of his meridian (2 1/2 degrees west of Cape St. Vincent). If Ptolemy was right, Columbus had not reached India (or more exactly China) or come, on his own calculation, within 45 degrees or 2700 geographical miles of it measured on the equator. The outline reproduction of the map of Bartholomew Columbus made after his return from this voyage given in Channing’s Student’s History of the United States, p. 27 (photographic reproduction in Bourne, Spain in America, p. 96) illustrates the Admiral’s ideas and conclusions. This region (i.e., Costa Rica and Panama) is a southern extension of Cochin-China and Cambodia and is connected with Mondo Novo, i.e., South America.
[397-1] The translation here adopts the emended text of Lollis, substituting “ali[e]nde” for “al Indo” in the sentence “Marino en Ethiopía escribe al Indo la línea equinoçial.” Raccolta Colombiana, parte I., tomo II., p. 184. The translation of the unamended text as printed by Major was “the same author describes the Indus in Ethiopia as being more than four and twenty degrees from the equinoctial line.” Apparently the 24 should be 44. With these changes the statements in the text agree with Columbus’s marginalia to the Imago Mundi, where he notes that the Cape of Good Hope is Agesinba and that Bartholomew Diaz found it to be 45 degrees south of the equator. “This,” he goes on, “agrees with the dictum of Marinus, whom Ptolemy corrects, in regard to the expedition to the Garamantes, who said it traversed 27,500 stadia beyond the equinoctial.” Raccolta Colombiana, parte II., tomo II., p. 377. On Marinus’s exaggerated estimate of the distance covered by the Romans in tropical Africa, see Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, II. 524.
[397-2] This is unintelligible. The Spanish is, “Tolomeo diz que la tierra mas austral es el plazo primero.” The meaning of plazo is not “boundary” but “term” (allotted time). The reading should be: “la tierra mas austral es el praso promontorio,” and the translation should be, “Ptolemy says that the most southern land is the promontory of Prasum,” etc. Prasum promontorium was Ptolemy’s southern limit of the world. He placed it at about 16 degrees south latitude. See Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, II. 572, and Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, art. “Prasum Promontorium”; also Ptolemy’s Geography, bk. IV., ch. IX., the descriptive matter relating to Map 4 on Africa.
[398-1] II. Esdras, VI. 42, see [p. 358, note 1].
[398-2] See the Letter of Columbus on his Third Voyage. Major, Select Letters of Columbus, p. 141.
[398-3] Ptolemy reckoned the length of the degree on the equator at 62 1/2 miles. The shorter measurement of 56 2/3 was the estimate adopted by the Arab astronomer Alfragan in the ninth century and known to Columbus through Cardinal d’Ailly’s Imago Mundi, the source of much if not most of his information on the geographical knowledge and opinions of former times. Cardinal d’Ailly’s source of information about Alfragan was Roger Bacon’s Opus Majus. Columbus was deeply impressed with Alfragan’s estimate of the length of the degree and annotated the passages in the Imago Mundi. Cf. Raccolta Colombiana, Parte I., tomo II., pp. 378, 407, and frequently. See this whole question in Vignaud, Toscanelli and Columbus, p. 79 et seqq.
[398-4] In Puerto Bello. See [p. 394, note 2]. Porto Bello, to use the Anglicized form, became the great shipping port on the north side of the isthmus for the trade with Peru. Cf. Bourne, Spain in America, p. 292.
[399-1] Columbus left Porto Bello November 9 and went eight leagues, but the next day he turned back four and took refuge at what is now Nombre de Dios. From the abundance of maize fields he named it Port of Provisions (Puerto de Bastimentos). Historie, p. 306.
[399-2] Me reposó atrás il viento, etc. For reposó the text apparently should be either repuso, “put back,” or rempujó, “drove back,” and the translation is based on this supposition.
[399-3] They remained at Bastimentos till November 23, when they went on to Guiga, but did not tarry but pushed on to a little harbor (November 26), which the Admiral called Retrete (Closet) because it was so small that it could hold only five or six vessels and the entrance was only fifteen or twenty paces wide. Historie, p. 306.
[399-4] That is, Columbus turns back to explore the mines on account of the violence of the east and northeast winds. This was December 5. Historie, p. 309.
[400-1] Not mentioned in the Historie by name. It was the place where they stayed from December 26 to January 3 to repair the ship Gallega as appears in the Probanzas del Almirante. Navarrete, Viages, III. 600. It was between Rio de los Lagartos and Puerto Bello. Lollis, Raccolta Colombiana, Parte I., tomo II., p. 187.
[400-2] Adopting de Lollis’s text and punctuation.
[400-3] La oposicion de Saturno con Marte tan desvaratado en costa brava, adopting de Lollis’s text following the suggestion of the contemporary Italian translation. According to the doctrines of astrology the influence of Saturn was malign. “When Saturn is in the first degree of Aries, and any other Planet in the first degree of Libra, they being now an hundred and eighty degrees each from other, are said to be in Opposition: A bad Aspect.” William Lilly, Christian Astrology (London, 1647), p. 27.
[400-4] Epiphany, January 6. It will be remembered that Columbus had passed Veragua the previous October when working eastward. See [p. 394, note 2]. He now found he could enter the river of Veragua, but found another near by called by the Indians Yebra, but which Columbus named Belem in memory of the coming of the three kings (the wise men of the East) to Bethlehem. (Las Casas, III. 128; Porras in Thacher, II. 645.) The name is still preserved attached to the river.
[401-1] Proeses. In nautical Spanish prois or proiza is a breastfast or headfast, that is a large cable for fastening a ship to a wharf or another ship. In Portuguese proiz is a stone or tree on shore to which the hawsers are fastened. Major interpreted it in this sense, translating the words las amarras y proeses, “the cables and the supports to which they were fastened.” The interpretation given first seems to me the correct one, especially as Ferdinand says that the flood came so suddenly that they could not get the cables on land. Historie, p. 315.
[402-1] Quibian is a title, as indicated a few lines further on, and not a proper name as Major, Irving, Markham, and others following Las Casas have taken it to be. The Spanish is uniformly “El Quibian.” Peter Martyr says: “They call a kinglet (regulus) Cacicus, as we have said elsewhere, in other places Quebi, in some places also Tiba. A chief, in some places Sacchus, in others Jurá.” De Rebus Oceanicis, p. 241.
[402-2] “Una mozada de oro.” Mozada is not given in any of the Spanish dictionaries I have consulted. The Academy dictionary gives mojoda as a square measure, deriving it from the low Latin modiata from modius. Perhaps one should read mojada instead of mozada and give it a meaning similar to that of modius or about a peck. Major’s translation follows the explanation of De Verneuil, who says: “Mozada signifie la mesure que peut porter un jeune garçon.”
[403-1] The mouth of the river was closed by sand thrown up by the violent storms outside. Historie, p. 321.
[403-2] The teredo.
[403-3] During the weeks that he was shut in the River Belem Columbus had his brother explore the country. The prospects for a successful colony led him to build a small settlement and to plan to return to Spain for re-enforcements and supplies. The story is told in detail in the Historie and by Irving, Columbus, II. 425-450, and more briefly by Markham, Columbus, pp. 259-207. This was the first settlement projected on the American Continent. The hostility of the Indians culminating in this attack rendered the execution of the project impracticable. In the manuscript copy of Las Casas’s Historia de las Indias Las Casas noted on the margin of the passage containing the account of this incident, “This was the first settlement that the Spaniards made on the mainland, although in a short time it came to naught.” See Thacher, Columbus, II. 608.
[404-1] De Lollis points out that these striking words are a paraphrase of the famous lines in Seneca’s Medea, Chorus, Act II.:—
Venient annis saecula seris
Quibus Oceanus vincula rerum
Laxet, et ingens pateat tellus,
Tethysque novos detegat orbes
Nec sit terris ultima Thule.
Columbus copied these verses into his Libro de las Profecias and translated them. Navarrete, Viages, II. 272.
[404-2] Accepting de Lollis’s emended text.
[405-1] “Quando se aia de proveer de socorro, se proveera de todo.”
[405-2] April 16, 1503.
[405-3] Cuba. According to Ferdinand Columbus the course was as follows: The Admiral followed the coast of the isthmus eastward beyond El Retrete to a place he named Marmoro (near Punto de Mosquitos) somewhat west of the entrance to the Gulf of Darien; then May 1 in response to the urgency of the pilots he turned north. May 10 they sighted two little islands, Caymanos Chicos, and the 12th they reached the Queen’s Garden just south of Cuba (see [p. 301, note 1]). The next day they landed in Cuba and secured supplies. It is significant of the tenacity of Columbus’s conviction that Cuba was a part of the mainland of Asia that he here calls it Mago (i.e., Mango). June 12, 1494, when he had explored the southern coast of Cuba, he reached this conviction and compelled his officers and crew to take oath that “it (i.e., Cuba) is mainland and in particular the province of Mango.” Navarrete, Viages, II. 144. (The affidavits are translated in Thacher, Columbus, II. 327.) Mangi (southern China) is described by Marco Polo at great length. In the second Toscanelli letter Quinsay is said to be “in the province of Mangi, i.e., near the province of Cathay.” It is noted several times in Columbus’s marginalia to Marco Polo.
[406-1] Allí me torné á reposar atrás la fortuna. De Lollis, following the Italian translation, reads: Allí me torné á reposar atrás la fortuna, etc. “There the storm returned to drive me back; I stopped in the same island in a safer port.” As this gives an unknown meaning to reposar, he suggests that Columbus may have written repujar, “to drive.”
[406-2] June 23. Historie, p. 334.
[407-1] On the contrary the narrative of Diego de Porras, which he prepared after his return to Spain in November, 1504, is a much clearer account of the voyage in most respects than this letter of Columbus’s. For it, see Thacher, Columbus, II. 640-646. Porras relates that during this voyage the Admiral took all the charts away that the seamen had had. Thacher, Columbus, II. 646.
[407-2] “El puerto de Jaquimo [Jacmel], which he called the port of Brasil.” Las Casas, Historia, III. 108.
[408-1] Cuba.
[408-2] The pilots thought that they were east of Española when Columbus turned north, and consequently thought that Cuba (Mango) was Porto Rico (San Juan). Cf. Historie, p. 333.
[408-3] I.e., in that it is clear to one who understands it, and blind to one who does not.
[408-4] Las naos de las Indias, i.e., the large ships for the Indies, i.e., Española.
[408-5] Bow-lines are ropes employed to keep the windward edges of the principal sails steady, and are only used when the wind is so unfavorable that the sails must be all braced sideways, or close hauled to the wind. (Major.)
[409-1] I.e., rigged with lateen sails in the Portuguese fashion.
[409-2] Columbus, in his marginal notes to his copy of the Historia Rerum ubique Gestarum of Pope Pius II. (Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini; Venice, 1477), summarized the description of the Massagetae in ch. XII. in part as follows: they “use golden girths and golden bridles and silver breast-pieces and have no iron but plenty of copper and gold.” Raccolta Colombiana, parte I., tomo II., p. 300. This description of the Massagetae goes back to Herodotus. While some habits ascribed to the Massagetae were like what Columbus observed in Veragua, their home was nowhere near eastern China.
[409-3] See [p. 393, note 3].
[409-4] The account in the Historie is radically at variance with this. The girls were brought on board and “showed themselves very brave since although the Christians in looks, acts, and race were very strange, they gave no signs of distress or sadness, but maintained a cheerful and modest (honesto) bearing, wherefore they were very well treated by the Admiral who gave them clothes and something to eat and then sent them back.” Historie, p. 299. Ferdinand gives the ages as eight and fourteen and says nothing of witchcraft except that the Indians were frightened and thought they were being bewitched when Bartholomew the next day ordered the ships’ clerks to write down the replies he got to his questions; ibid.
[410-1] A specimen of the Maya sculptures, of which such imposing remains are found in Yucatan. The translation follows Lollis’s emendation, which substitutes mirrado for mirando.
[410-2] Gato paulo. On this name, see [p. 341, note 3]. Ferdinand, in the Historie, relates this incident in more detail, from which it is clear that the pigs were peccaries which had been captured by the men. On the other hand, Ulloa, the Italian translator of the Historie, mistranslated gato paulo by “gatto,” “cat.”
[410-3] Begare. Columbus in recollecting this incident transferred to the monkey the Indian name of the wild pigs. The begare is the “peccary,” a native of America. Oviedo, lib. XII., cap. XX, gives baquira as the name of wild pigs in Nicaragua, and baquira and begare are obviously identical.
[410-4] For the word barra no explanation can be offered except what is derived from the context. As the Italian has diverse malattie, “divers diseases,” de Lollis suggests that barra should be varias and that maladias was somehow dropped from the text.
[410-5] Leones. The American lion or puma.
[411-1] A misunderstanding. The Mayas made no metal tools. Brinton, The American Race, p. 156.
[411-2] Possibly Columbus may have seen some Maya codices, of which such remarkable specimens have been preserved.
[412-1] Considering Columbus’s experience at Veragua this account exhibits boundless optimism. Still it is not to be forgotten that through the conquest of Mexico to the north this prediction was rather strikingly fulfilled.
[412-2] It is not clear to what Columbus refers in this sentence.
[412-3] De un camino. The texts to which Columbus refers just below show that this should read de un año, in one year.
[412-4] In the Latin version of Josephus used by Columbus the Greek θυρεὁϛ, a target, was rendered lancea. See Raccolta Colombiana, parte I., tomo II., p. 367.
[412-5] Tablado. In the Italian translation tavolato, a “partition wall,” “wainscoting,” also “floor.” Tablado also means “scaffold” and “stage” or “staging.” We have here a curious series of mistakes. The Greek text of Josephus has ἐκπώματα, “cups.” The old Latin translator, perhaps having a defective text, took ἐκπώματα apparently to be equivalent to πώματα, which has as its secondary meaning, “lids,” and translated it by the uncommon word coopercula, “lids” (cf. Georges, Lateinischdeutsches Handwörterbuch, sub voce cooperculum). The meaning of this word Columbus guessed at, not having the text before him to see the connection, and from its derivation from cooperio, “to cover,” took it to be a “covering” in the sense of flooring, or perhaps ceiling, above where the shields were hung “in the house of the forest of Lebanon,” and rendered it tablado. The whole passage from the old Latin version (published in 1470 and frequently later), Columbus copied into a fly-leaf of his copy of the Historia Rerum ubique Gestarum of Pope Pius II. See Raccolta Colombiana, parte I., tomo II., pp. 366-367.
[413-1] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, bk. VIII., ch. VII., sect. 4; I. Kings, X. 14, 15; II. Chronicles, IX. 13, 14.
[413-2] The Chersonesus Aurea of Ptolemy, or the Malay Peninsula.
[413-3] That is, Veragua and the Golden Chersonese are in the same latitude.
[413-4] Josephus wrote that the gold came from the “Land of Gold,” “a terra que vocatur aurea,” as the passage in the Latin version reads. The Greek is, ἀπὸ τῆς χρυσῆς καλουμένης γῆς. Josephus gives no further identification of the location.
[413-5] I have not been able to verify this reference. There is nothing in the fourteenth Psalm relating to this matter, nor is the fourteenth Psalm mentioned among the many citations from the Psalms in the Libro de las Profecias.
[414-1] In his Libro de las Profecias Columbus wrote, “El abad Johachín, calabrés, diso que habia de salir de España quien havía de redificar la Casa del Monte Sion.” “The abbot Joachim, the Calabrian, said that he who was destined to rebuild the House of Mount Sion was to come from Spain.” Lollis remarks that Columbus interpreted in his own way the “Oraculum Turcicum,” which concludes the thirty prophecies of Joachim of Flora in regard to the popes. In the edition (Venice, 1589) which Lollis had seen, this prophecy was interpreted to mean Charles VIII. of France. Raccolta Colombiana, parte II., tomo II., p. 83.
[414-2] The reference to St. Jerome I have not found in Columbus’s marginalia.
[414-3] The father and uncle of Marco Polo had been given this mission by Cublay Kaan. See Marco Polo, bk. I., ch. VII. Opposite the passage in his copy of the Latin Marco Polo which he had, Columbus wrote, “magnus kam misit legatos ad pontificem.” Raccolta Colombiana, parte II., tomo II., p. 446.
[414-4] The recovery of the Holy Sepulchre had been long a cherished object with Columbus. See the Journal of the First Voyage, [December 26]; the letter to Pope Alexander VI., February, 1502 (Navarrete, Viages, II. 280), and his Libra de Profecias, a collection of Scripture texts compiled under his supervision relating to the restoration of Zion, etc. Raccolta Colombiana, parte I., tomo II., pp. 77-160.
[415-1] An opinion abundantly justified through the conquest of Mexico and the establishment of the kingdom of New Spain.
[416-1] See the Capitulation, [pp. 77, 78] above. The limit mentioned was fixed by the Papal Demarcation line; the limit agreed upon by Spain and Portugal was 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands.
[416-2] A reference to such voyages as those of Vicente Yañez Pinzon, Hojeda, Diego de Lepe, and Rodrigo de Bastidas which occurred in 1499-1502. Cf. Bourne, Spain in America, pp. 67-71, and for details Irving, Columbus, III. 15-62.
[416-3] Accepting de Lollis’s emendation á César instead of the MS. reading açetar which Navarrete printed aceptar. The Italian has a Cesaro.
[416-4] “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God, the things which are God’s.” Matthew, XXII. 21.
[417-1] At Española in 1500 by Bobadilla. Cf. the letter to the nurse above, [p. 380].
[417-2] This is one of the most important passages bearing upon the age of Columbus. As he came to Spain at the end of 1484 according to Ferdinand Columbus, Historie, ch. XII., Peschel fixed his birth in 1456, Zeitalter der Entdeckungen, p. 76. The majority of modern critics, however, have agreed upon the basis of notarial documents in Genoa that 1446 was the date of his birth and propose therefore to emend the text here by substituting “treinta y ocho” for “veinte y ocho.” On the various dates set for his birth see Vignaud, The Real Birth-date of Christopher Columbus. Vignaud fixes upon 1451.
[418-1] Blanca, a copper coin worth about one-third of a cent.
ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF THE VOYAGES OF JOHN CABOT
INTRODUCTION
John Cabot, the Venetian sailor who took the first English ship across the Atlantic, was not a writer like Columbus, and consequently our knowledge of his projects and his achievements is limited to what is derived from the reports of other men who knew him or his son and from certain official documents. In general our material may be classified into: (a) English official documents, (b) reports derived from John Cabot himself, and (c) reports or records derived more or less directly from Sebastian Cabot. The materials in a and b are harmonious; those in classes b and c, on the other hand, are practically irreconcilable. The result of this conflict of testimony has been to discredit Sebastian Cabot and to lead many scholars to believe that he tried to ascribe to himself what his father did. Other critics reluctant to bring so serious a charge against a man who held honorable positions in Spain and later in England believe that the material in class c relates to the second voyage—that of 1498, and that by a mistake it was in the minds of the narrators confused with the voyage of 1497. For a presentation of all the original material the reader may be referred to H. Harrisse, John Cabot the Discoverer of North America, and Sebastian his Son (London, 1896), and to G. E. Weare, Cabot’s Discovery of North America (London, 1897). G. P. Winship, Cabot Bibliography (London, 1900), gives a complete guide to the Cabot literature. For a brief account of the voyages and of the Cabot question see E. G. Bourne, Spain in America (New York, 1904), pp. 54-63. The most important recent monograph is H. P. Biggar, The Voyages of the Cabots and of the Corte-Reals, in Revue Hispanique, tome X. (Paris, 1903).
The material presented here consists of the private letters of two Italians sojourning in London in 1497-1498, and the official despatch of the junior Spanish ambassador at the English court.
E. G. B.
THE VOYAGES OF JOHN CABOT
LETTER OF LORENZO PASQUALIGO TO HIS BROTHERS ALVISE AND FRANCESCO, MERCHANTS IN VENICE[423-1]
The Venetian, our countryman, who went with a ship from Bristol to find new islands, has returned, and says that 700 leagues hence he discovered mainland, the territory of the Grand Cham (Gram Cam).[423-2] He coasted for 300 leagues and landed; he did not see any person, but he has brought hither to the King certain snares which had been set to catch game, and a needle for making nets; he also found some cut trees, wherefore he supposed there were inhabitants. Being in doubt he returned to his ship.
He was three months on the voyage, and this is certain, and on his return he saw two islands[423-3] but would not land, so as not to lose time, as he was short of provisions. The King is much pleased with this. He says that the tides are slack and do not flow as they do here.
The King has promised that in the spring our countryman shall have ten ships, armed to his order, and at his request has conceded him all the prisoners, except traitors, to go with him as he has requested. The King has also given him money wherewith to amuse himself till then,[424-1] and he is now at Bristol with his wife, who is also Venetian, and with his sons; his name is Zuam Talbot,[424-2] and he is styled the great admiral. Vast honor is paid him; he dresses in silk, and these English run after him like mad people, so that he can enlist as many of them as he pleases, and a number of our own rogues besides.
The discoverer of these things planted on his new-found land a large cross, with one flag of England and another of St. Mark, by reason of his being a Venetian, so that our banner has floated very far afield.
London, 23 August 1497.
FIRST LETTER OF RAIMONDO DE SONCINO, AGENT OF THE DUKE OF MILAN, TO THE DUKE[424-3]
... Also some months ago his Majesty sent out a Venetian, who is a very good mariner, and has good skill in discovering new islands, and he has returned safe, and has found two very large and fertile new islands; having likewise discovered the Seven Cities,[425-1] 400 leagues from England, on the western passage. This next spring his Majesty means to send him with fifteen or twenty ships.
SECOND LETTER OF RAIMONDO DE SONCINO TO THE DUKE OF MILAN[425-2]
Most Illustrious and Excellent My Lord:—
Perhaps among your Excellency’s many occupations, it may not displease you to learn how his Majesty here has won a part of Asia without a stroke of the sword. There is in this kingdom a Venetian fellow, Master John Caboto by name, of fine mind, greatly skilled in navigation, who seeing that those most serene kings, first he of Portugal, and then the one of Spain, have occupied unknown islands, determined to make a like acquisition for his Majesty aforesaid.[425-3] And having obtained royal grants that he should have the usufruct of all that he should discover, provided that the ownership of the same is reserved to the crown, with a small ship and eighteen persons he committed himself to fortune; and having set out from Bristol, a western port of this kingdom, and passed the western limits of Ireland, and then standing to the northward he began to sail toward the Oriental regions, leaving (after a few days) the North Star on his right hand; and, having wandered about considerably, at last he struck mainland, where, having planted the royal banner and taken possession on behalf of this King, and taken certain tokens, he has returned thence. The said Master John, as being foreign-born and poor, would not be believed if his comrades, who are almost all Englishmen and from Bristol, did not testify that what he says is true. This Master John has the description of the world in a chart, and also in a solid globe which he has made, and he shows where he landed, and that going toward the east he passed considerably beyond the country of the Tanais.[426-1] And they say that it is a very good and temperate country, and they think that Brazil-wood[426-2] and silk grow there; and they affirm that that sea is covered with fishes, which are caught not only with the net but with baskets, a stone being tied to them in order that the baskets may sink in the water. And this I heard the said Master John relate.
And the aforesaid Englishmen, his comrades, say that they will bring so many fishes that this kingdom will no longer have need of Iceland, from which country there comes a very great store of fish which are called stock-fish.[427-1] But Master John has set his mind on something greater; for he expects to go farther on toward the East[427-2] from that place already occupied, constantly hugging the shore, until he shall be over against an island, by him called Cipango, situated in the equinoctial region, where he thinks all the spices of the world, and also the precious stones, originate;[427-3] and he says that in former times he was at Mecca, whither spices are brought by caravans from distant countries,[427-4] and that those who brought them, on being asked where the said spices grow, answered that they do not know, but that other caravans come to their homes with this merchandise from distant countries, and these [caravans] again say that they are brought to them from other remote regions. And he argues thus,—that if the Orientals affirmed to the Southerners that these things come from a distance from them, and so from hand to hand, presupposing the rotundity of the earth, it must be that the last ones get them at the North toward the West;[428-1] and he said it in such a way, that, having nothing to gain or lose by it, I too believe it: and what is more, the King here, who is wise and not lavish, likewise puts some faith in him; for (ever) since his return he has made good provision for him, as the same Master John tells me. And it is said that, in the spring, his Majesty aforenamed will fit out some ships, and will besides give him all the convicts, and they will go to that country to make a colony, by means of which they hope to establish in London a greater emporium of spices than there is in Alexandria; and the chief men of the enterprise are of Bristol, great sailors, who, now that they know where to go, say that it is not a voyage of more than fifteen days, nor do they ever have storms after they get away from Hibernia. I have also talked with a Burgundian, a comrade of Master John’s, who confirms everything, and wishes to return thither because the Admiral (for so Master John already entitles himself)[428-2] has given him an island; and he has given another one to a barber of his from Castiglione-of-Genoa, and both of them regard themselves as Counts, nor does my Lord the Admiral esteem himself anything less than a Prince. I think that with this expedition there will go several poor Italian monks, who have all been promised bishoprics. And, as I have become a friend of the Admiral’s, if I wished to go thither I should get an archbishopric. But I have thought that the benefices which your Excellency has in store for me are a surer thing; and therefore I beg that if these should fall vacant in my absence, you will cause possession to be given to me, taking measures to do this rather where it is needed, in order that they be not taken from me by others, who because they are present can be more diligent than I, who in this country have been brought to the pass of eating ten or twelve dishes at every meal, and sitting at table three hours at a time twice a day,[429-1] for the sake of your Excellency, to whom I humbly commend myself.
Your Excellency’s
Very humble servant,
Raimondo.
London, Dec. 18, 1497.
DESPATCH TO FERDINAND AND ISABELLA FROM PEDRO DE AYALA JUNIOR AMBASSADOR AT THE COURT OF ENGLAND, JULY 25, 1498[429-2]
I think your Majesties have already heard that the King of England has equipped a fleet in order to discover certain islands and mainland which he was informed some people from Bristol, who manned a few ships[430-1] for the same purpose last year, had found. I have seen the map which the discoverer has made, who is another Genoese, like Colon [and?][430-2] who has been in Seville and in Lisbon, asking assistance for this discovery. The people of Bristol have, for the last seven years, sent out every year two, three, or four light ships (caravelas), in search of the island of Brazil and the seven cities,[430-3] according to the fancy of this Genoese. The King determined to send out [ships], because, the year before, they brought certain news that they had found land. The fleet consisted of five vessels, which carried provisions for one year. It is said that one of them, in which another Fai [Friar?] Buil[430-4] went, has returned to Ireland in great distress, the ship being much damaged. The Genoese continued his voyage. I, having seen the route which they took, and the distance they sailed, find that what they have found, or what they are in search of, is what your Highnesses already possess since it is, in fine, what fell to your Highnesses by the treaty with Portugal.[430-5] It is expected that they will be back in the month of September. I inform your Highnesses in regard to it. The king of England has often spoken to me on this subject. He hoped to derive great advantage from it. I think it is not further distant than four hundred leagues. I told him that, in my opinion, the land was already in the possession of your Majesties; but, though I gave him my reasons, he did not like it. Because I believe that your Highnesses will presently receive information in regard to all this matter, and the chart or map which this man has made, I do not now send it; it is here and it, according to my opinion, is false, in order to make it appear that they are not the said islands.
[423-1] This letter was received in Venice on September 23, 1497, and a copy of it was incorporated by Marino Sanuto in his diary. It was first brought to light by Rawdon Brown in his Ragguagli sulla Vita e sulle Opere di Marin Sanuto, etc. (Venezia, 1837). It was published in English in a generally accessible form in 1864 in the Calendar of State Papers, Venetian Series, I. 262, edited by Rawdon Brown. The translation here given is a revision of Brown’s version. Another translation is printed in Markham, The Journal of Columbus (London, 1893).
[423-2] This reference to the Grand Cham probably indicates familiarity with Columbus’s views of what he had discovered as expressed in his letters to Santangel and to Sanchez; see above, [p. 268].
The landfall of John Cabot has been the subject of prolonged discussion. Labrador, Newfoundland, and Cape Breton are the principal places advocated. Of late years, owing to the vigorous and learned arguments of Dr. S. E. Dawson there has been an increasing disposition to accept Cape Breton on Cape Breton Island as the most probable location. See Winship, Cabot Bibliography, for the literature.
[423-3] The words “to starboard” have been inserted at this point in all English translations. Biggar has pointed out that the words al dreto so translated are Venetian dialect for addietro, which is an alternate form for the more common indietro, back. The earlier translators thought al dreto equivalent to al dritto, on the right. Al tornar al dreto means simply “in going back.”
[424-1] “August 10, 1497: To hym that founde the New Isle, 10£.” British Museum, Add. MSS. No. 7099, 12 Henry VII., fol. 41. From Weare, Cabot’s Discovery of North America, 124.
[424-2] So in Sanuto’s text. This form indicates perhaps that Pasqualigo had only heard the name and not seen it written.
[424-3] This letter was found in the archives of the Sforza family in Milan. The manuscript is apparently no longer extant. There are two somewhat divergent texts. The one translated here is the one sent by Rawdon Brown to the Public Record Office in London. Both are printed in Weare, Cabot’s Discovery, pp. 142-143. The translation given here is by Rawdon Brown as printed in the Calendar of State Papers, Venetian Series, I. 259-260.
[425-1] The Seven Cities was a legendary island in the Atlantic. They are all placed and named on the legendary island of Antilia on the map of Grazioso Benincasa in 1482. See E. G. Bourne, Spain in America, pp. 6 and 7, and Kretschmer, Die Entdeckung Amerikas, Atlas, plate 4. Columbus reported in Portugal that he had discovered Antilia (see [p. 225, note 1]); hence the deduction either of John Cabot or of Raimondo that the region explored by Cabot, being far to the west in the ocean, was the same as that visited by Columbus. Cf. also art. “Brazil, Island of,” Encyclopaedia Britannica.
[425-2] This letter is preserved in the Archivio di Stato in Milan. It was first published in the Annuario Scientifico del 1865 (Milan, 1866). It was first printed in English in Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America, III. 54-55 (Boston, 1884), in the chapter by Charles Deane, entitled “The Voyages of the Cabots.” This translation was revised by Professor B. H. Nash of Harvard University and is given here with only one or two slight changes.
[425-3] In this passage Cabot’s immediate impulse is attributed to the voyages of Columbus and their results.
[426-1] No satisfactory explanation of this can be given. Bellemo, in the Raccolta Colombiana, pt. III., vol. I., p. 197, interprets this sentence to mean that Cabot showed on the globe the place he had reached on the voyage and then to that statement the remark is added, referring to earlier journeys, “and going toward the east he has passed considerably beyond the land of the Tanais.” Tanais is the Latin name for the Don, and at the mouth of the Don was the important Venetian trading station of La Tana. Cf. Biggar, Voyages of the Cabots and Corte-Reals, pp. 33-34, note. Biggar dissents from this interpretation. I would offer the conjecture that “the land of the Tanais” stands for the land of Tana. In Marco Polo the kingdom of Tana, on the western side of India, is described as powerful and having an extensive commerce. See Marco Polo, pt. III., ch. XXX. Raimondo, if unfamiliar with Marco Polo, would understand La Tana by Tana and then naturally assume that “the country of Tana” was a slip for “country of the Tanais.” Cabot on the other hand might have heard of Tana when in Mecca without getting any very definite idea of its location except that it was far to the East in India. The phrase “toward the East,” like the one earlier in the letter “toward the Oriental regions,” is used of the ultimate destination, not the direction, and of the destination as a known spot always thought of in Europe as “the East.”
[426-2] El brasilio for el legno brasilio. Brazil wood was an East Indian red wood imported into Europe. It is the Caesalpina sappan. Its bright color led to its being compared to glowing coals, brazia, brascia, etc., Eng. brazier, and then to its being called, as it were, “glowing coals wood,” lignum brasile, lignum brasilium, etc., and in Italian most commonly brasile and verzino, a popular corruption. Heyd, Histoire du Commerce du Levant au Moyen-Age, II. 587. On the transference of the name of this wood to a mythical island in the Atlantic and then, after the discoveries, to the present country of Brazil which produced dye-woods similar to Brasilio, see Yule’s art. “Brazil, Island of,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, I. 49-51.
[427-1] Stochfissi. The English word “stockfish” Italianized. Of the English fish trade with Iceland, Biggar gives a full account, Voyages of the Cabots, pp. 53-62, making frequent citations from G. W. Dasent, Icelandic Annals, IV. 427-437. He quotes also a passage from the Libell of English Policy, 1436, beginning:
“Of Yseland to wryte is lytille nede
Save of stokfische;” etc.
[427-2] El Levante, here again as a known place, oriented from Europe. His destination, not the direction of his route.
[427-3] In Cabot’s mind the Cipango of Marco Polo is confused with the Spice Islands. Marco Polo says nothing of the production of spices in his account of Cipango. The confusion is probably to be traced to Columbus’s reports that he had discovered Cipango and that the islands he had discovered produced spices.
[427-4] From 1425 Jiddah on the east shore of the Red Sea rapidly displaced Aden as an emporium of the spice trade where the cargoes were transshipped from Indian to Egyptian vessels. Jiddah is the port of entry for Mecca, distant about forty-five miles, and Mecca became a great spice market. See Heyd, Histoire du Commerce du Levant au Moyen-Age, II. 445 et seqq., and Biggar, Voyages of the Cabots and Corte-Reals, pp. 31-36. Biggar quotes interesting passages on the Mecca trade from The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema, Hakluyt Society (London, 1863).
[428-1] I.e., a place far enough east from Arabia to be thought of as west from Europe. After making all due allowances one may be excused for feeling some misgiving whether John Cabot actually ever was in Mecca. While some of the spices and eastern commodities were brought overland by caravan from Ormuz or Bassora, the greater part came by water to Jiddah. At Jiddah he could hardly have failed to get fairly accurate information as to where the spices came from. That one who had seen that great commerce should have remained so much in the dark as to conclude that spices came from northeastern Asia is strange enough.
[428-2] In imitation of Columbus.
[429-1] English social joys in the fifteenth century did not appeal to the more refined Italians. An interesting parallel to this comment of Raimondo de Soncino is to be found in Vespasiano’s life of Poggio. “Pope Martin sent him with letters to England. He strongly condemned their life, consuming the time in eating and drinking. He was used to say in pleasantry that oftentimes being invited by those prelates or English gentlemen to dinner or to supper and staying four hours at the table he must needs rise from the table many times to wash his eyes with cold water so as not to fall asleep.” Vespasiano da Bisticci, Vite di Uomini Illustri del Secolo XV. (Florence, 1859), p. 420.
[429-2] The original is in the archives at Simancas partly in cipher. It was discovered and deciphered by Bergenroth and published in the Calendar of State Papers, Spanish Series, I., pp. 176-177. The Spanish text was published by Harrisse, Jean et Sébastien Cabot, pp. 329-330, and in Weare, Cabot’s Discovery, pp. 160-161. Bergenroth’s translation is given here, carefully revised. The contents of this letter were briefly summarized in a despatch to the Catholic sovereigns by Dr. Puebla, their senior ambassador, which was transmitted at or about the same time with that of Ayala. The Puebla despatch, which contains nothing not in the Ayala despatch, can be seen in Weare, p. 159.
[430-1] In this Ayala would seem to have been misinformed. Cf. [pp. 423], [425].
[430-2] The “and” is not in the original, but is supplied by all the editors. It is not absolutely certain that it belongs there. If it does, the passage implies that Cabot had recently been in Seville and Lisbon to enlist interest in his second voyage.
[430-3] This information is not elsewhere confirmed. On Brazil and the Seven Cities, see [p. 426, note 2], and [p. 425, note 1].
[430-4] One Friar Buil went with Columbus on his second voyage.
[430-5] The treaty of Tordesillas, June 7, 1494; see [p. 323, note 3].
INDEX
- Aburema, [394 n.]
- Acúl, Bay of, [188 n.], [197], [198 n.]
- Adam of Bremen, and reliability of Vinland tradition, [13];
- Descriptio Insularum Aquilonis, extract, [67-68].
- Aden, decline of spice trade, [427 n.]
- Admiral, office of, [78 n.], [79].
- Affonso, Rodrigo, and Columbus, [324].
- Agesinba, identified by Columbus with Cape of Good Hope, [397 n.]
- Aguado, Juan, [377], [379].
- Aguja, Point of, [344], [345].
- Alcaçovas, Treaty of, [254 n.]
- Alexander VI., pope, letter concerning projected voyage of newly appointed Bishop of Gardar, [73-74].
- Almirante Bay, [393 n.]
- Alonso, Roderigo, see [Affonso, Rodrigo].
- “Alto de Juan Dañue,” [133 n.]
- Alto Velo, mountain, [365].
- Alto y Bajo, Cabo, [188].
- America and Vinland voyages, [7-13];
- and Asia, [126], [131], [134], [135], [136], [145], [157], [174], [268];
- mainland discovered by John Cabot, [423];
- mainland discovered by Columbus, [333].
- Amianus, see [Arrianus].
- Amiga, La, island, [198], [199], [208].
- Angel, Cabo del, [220].
- Antilia, legendary island, [101 n.], [425 n.]
- Arana, Diego de, [183 n.];
- sent ashore, [200];
- remains in Española, [209-210];
- mentioned, [321].
- Arana, Pedro de, despatched to Española, [321].
- Arena, Las Islas de, [130].
- Arenal, Punta del, [334].
- Arnarstapi, Gudrid in, [18].
- Arnlaug, settles in Greenland, [47].
- Arnold, Bishop of Greenland, [69 n.]
- Arrianus, history of India, [329 n.]
- Asia, Columbus believes Cuba to be part of, [396 n.];
- and John Cabot’s landfall, [425].
- Aslak of Langadal, [16].
- Asuncion, Isla de la, [356].
- Aud the Wealthy, [14];
- in Iceland, [15].
- Avalldamon, reported to be a king of the Skrellings, [41].
- Ayala, Pedro de, despatch to Ferdinand and Isabella, [429-430].
- Ayay, see [Guadeloupe].
- Azores, reports of land to westward, [93];
- mentioned, [236], [237], [329];
- Columbus at, [243-249];
- and Demarcation Line, [323], [326], [416].
- Azua, Columbus in, [391 n.]
- Azules, Punta de los, [166 n.]
- Babeque, Columbus sails towards, [143], [147];
- reports of gold, [181], [184], [214-215];
- sighted, [150-151];
- Martin Alonso Pinzon seeks, [152], [214-215];
- Columbus seeks, [167], [179];
- described by Indians, [174].
- Babueca, island, [346].
- Bafan, [136].
- Ballena, Gulf of, [334], [339], [345], [349], [355].
- Baneque, see [Babeque].
- Banes, Puerto de, [132 n.]
- Baracoa, Puerto de, [131 n.]-[133 n.];
- Columbus enters, [158 n.]-159;
- inland explorations, [161-162];
- Columbus sets up cross, [162];
- Columbus sails from, [166].
- Bardsen, Ivar, account of Greenland, [11], [71 n.]
- Bassora, spice caravans, [428 n.]
- Bastidas, Rodrigo de, voyage, [416 n.]
- Bastimentos, harbor of, Columbus in, [398-399].
- Becerro, Cabo del, [213].
- Behechio, an Indian ruler, [345].
- Belem, river, [401 n.];
- settlement near, [403 n.]
- Belprado, Cape, [220].
- Belpuerto, [394 n.], [399 n.], [405].
- Beothuk Indians, [41 n.]
- Biarney, [32].
- Biarni, Grimolf’s son, [30];
- accompanies expedition to Vinland, [31-32], [35];
- fate, [39], [42-43].
- Biarni Herjulfson, and discovery of America, [8-9], [12];
- voyage, [48-50].
- Blacksark, discovered, [17], [46].
- Boavista, Columbus at, [324-325].
- Bobadilla, Francisco de, [375];
- governor, [376];
- and Columbus, [376-383], [417 n.];
- proclaims immunities, [376];
- takes Columbus prisoner, [380];
- distributes gold, [380];
- appropriates Columbus’s house, [383].
- Bohio, [126], [146], [147];
- inhabitants, [153], [156], [167];
- sighted, [167];
- size, [174];
- reports of gold, [202];
- Columbus in, [295].
- Boma, Rio, [166 n.]
- Boto, Cape, [340], [353], [354].
- Brand of Alptafirth, sons of, [45].
- Brand, Bishop, the Elder, and chronology of Vinland voyages, [6-7], [43 n.]
- Brattahlid, Eric in, [23], [27], [46], [48], [50];
- Biarni and Thorfinn Karlsefni in, [30-31];
- Leif arrives, [54];
- Gudrid comes to, [59].
- Brazil, discovery, [326 n.]
- Brazil, mythical island, [426 n.], [430].
- Brazil, port of, Española, [407].
- Breidabolstad, [16].
- Breidafirth, Eric goes to, [17], [45], [46].
- Bristol, and expedition of John Cabot, [423], [425], [428], [430];
- and search for the Seven Cities, [430].
- Brokey, Eric takes possession, [16].
- Buen Tiempo, Cabo del, [220].
- Buil, Friar, [430].
- Burenquen, [294-295].
- See also [Porto Rico].
- Cabañas, Puerto de las, [353].
- Cabañas, Punta de, [132 n.]
- Cabo Rico, [356].
- Cabo Santo, [211], [212].
- Cabot, John, sources of information, [421-422];
- letter of Lorenzo Pasqualigo, [423-424];
- voyage of 1497, [423-424];
- landfall, [423 n.], [426];
- reception, [424], [428];
- new voyage proposed, [428];
- and title admiral, [428];
- map, [426], [430].
- Cabot, Sebastian, and father’s voyages, [421].
- Cabra, [213 n.], [296 n.]
- Cabral, route of, [326 n.]
- Cabron, Cabo, [221 n.]
- Cadiz, and proposed inspection of ships from Indies, [277];
- Columbus’s departure, [283].
- Caithness, conquered by Thorstein the Red and Earl Sigurd the Mighty, [14].
- Cambodia, supposed connection of Costa Rica and Panama with, [397 n.]
- Campana, Cabo de, Columbus approaches, [156-158].
- Canaries, Columbus at, [92-94], [283-284], [320-323];
- French ship at, [320];
- pearls, [364].
- Caonabó, King, and fate of first settlement in Española, [300], [303], [304], [307];
- mentioned, [312].
- Cape Breton Island, and Karlsefni’s voyages, [40 n.];
- and landfall of John Cabot, [423 n.]
- Cape Verde Islands, [103];
- and Hesperides, [322];
- and Demarcation Line, [323], [326], [416];
- Columbus at, [324-326].
- Carabelas grandes, Boca de, [134 n.]
- Caracol, Bay of, Columbus anchors in, [299 n.]
- Caracol, El, island, [340], [353].
- Carambaru, [393], [394 n.]
- Cariay, [393];
- Indians of, [409].
- Carib, island of, [223], [225], [226], [229], [230].
- See also Porto Rico.
- Caribata, Cabo de, [188].
- Caribata, Monte, described, [188];
- mentioned, [196], [199].
- Caribs, [203];
- houses, [286], [289];
- reported cannibalism, [286], [288-290];
- industry, [289];
- appearance, [289], [293];
- treatment of captives, [290-291];
- several captured, [292], [293];
- fight with Spaniards, [293];
- and natives of Porto Rico, [294];
- mentioned, [322], [330], [348], [359].
- Caritaba, province of, reports of gold, [202].
- Carvajal, Alonso Sanchez de, despatched to Española, [321].
- Cascaes, Columbus at, [251].
- Cassiterides, Columbus identifies with Azores, [329].
- Castañeda, Juan de, attempt to seize Columbus, [245-248].
- Cateva, [394 n.]
- Cathay, Columbus’s desire to reach, [134];
- supposed proximity to Cuba, [405];
- emperor’s embassy to Rome, [414].
- Catholicism, in Greenland, [70-74];
- Columbus urges its establishment in Española, [274-275], [361].
- Catiba, Columbus in, [394 n.]
- Catigara, location, [396-397].
- Caxinas, Point, named, [391 n.];
- mentioned, [392 n.]
- Caymanos Chicos, islands, sighted, [405 n.]
- Cayre, [293]. See also [Dominica].
- Central America, exploration of coast, [387].
- Cerabora, see Carambaru.
- Ceyre, [290]. See also [Dominica].
- Chanca, Dr., letter to Cabildo of Seville, [280-313].
- China, Columbus’s belief that he had reached, [397 n.]
- Christianity, introduced into Greenland, [23-26];
- in Greenland, [29], [56], [57], [71-74];
- in Iceland, [46];
- and New World, [352].
- Chuzona chica, Rio, [219 n.]
- Ciamba, province of, [393].
- Cibao, [197];
- reports of gold, [202];
- mentioned, [206];
- explored, [312-313];
- mines, [338].
- Ciguare, described by natives, [394-395].
- Cinquin, Cabo de, [168];
- Columbus approaches, [171], [174].
- Cipango, [101 n.];
- Columbus desires to find, [113];
- Cuba mistaken for, [126], [127], [128], [130];
- mentioned, [197], [202], [212].
- Clato, Prior of, entertains Columbus, [254].
- Cobrava, [394 n.]
- Coche, [357].
- Cochin-China, Costa Rica and Panama believed to be southern extension of, [397 n.]
- Colon, see [Columbus].
- Colonization, plan of Columbus for Española, [273-277].
- Columbo, Juan Antonio, despatched to Española, [321].
- Columbus, Bartholomew, in Española, [321];
- mentioned, [345];
- projected exploring expedition, [360];
- meets admiral, [366];
- in Paragua, [375];
- taken prisoner, [380];
- map, [397 n.]
- Columbus, Christopher, contract, [77-80];
- patent, [81-84];
- first voyage, [89-258];
- departure, [90];
- at Canaries, [92-94];
- signs of land, [96-100];
- landfall, [108-109];
- takes possession, [110];
- desire to reach Cipango, [113];
- at Santa Maria de la Concepcion, [115];
- at Fernandina, [120];
- believes Cuba to be Cipango, [126];
- discovers Cuba, [130];
- along coast, [144-168];
- Martin Alonso Pinzon deserts, [152];
- at Española, [169-228];
- reappearance of Pinzon, [214];
- and disaffection of Pinzons, [216-219];
- homeward voyage, [228-258];
- storm, [241];
- at Azores, [244-249];
- puts in at Portugal, [251-256];
- reception by King of Portugal, [251-256];
- arrival, [257];
- letter to Santangel, [263-272];
- and Cuba, [263];
- and Española, [264];
- duration of first voyage, [272];
- plan for colonization and commerce of Española, [273-277];
- second voyage, [278-313];
- sources of information, [281-282];
- at Canaries, [283-284];
- at Dominica, [284-285];
- at Guadeloupe, [286-291];
- at Porto Rico, [294-295];
- at Española, [295-313];
- finds settlement destroyed, [300];
- visits Cacique, [304];
- building of city, [308];
- sickness, [309], [312];
- third voyage, [314-366];
- sources of information, [317-318];
- preparations, [319];
- reception in Madeira, [320];
- at Canaries, [320];
- at Cape Verde Islands, [324-326];
- sends ships ahead to Española, [320-323];
- instructions concerning treatment of Indians, [322];
- proposed route, [322], [326], [327];
- and Demarcation Line, [326], [382];
- signs of land, [329-330];
- Trinidad sighted, [331];
- mainland of South America discovered, [333];
- at Trinidad, [335-339];
- along coast, [331-351], [353-358], [362];
- and a New World, [352], [355], [356];
- in Boca del Drago, [354];
- near Margarita, [356-357], [362];
- anxiety about Española, [359-360];
- reasons for hastening to Española, [359-362];
- and Earthly Paradise, [364-365];
- arrival in Española, [365], [366];
- misfortunes, [371];
- aid of Isabella, [371-372];
- in disfavor, [372], [375], [378-379];
- revolt in Española, [374];
- and Bobadilla, [376-383];
- letter on fourth voyage, significance, [387];
- fourth voyage, [389-418];
- outward voyage, [389];
- arrival at Española, [389];
- forbidden to land, [390];
- storm, [390-392];
- at Queen’s Garden, [391];
- along coast of Central America, [391-403], [405];
- search for strait, [391 n.];
- illness, [392-393], [399];
- geographical conceptions, [396-398];
- and Earthly Paradise, [398];
- illness, [399];
- tempest, [399-400];
- sends out exploring party, [401];
- trouble with Indians, [402-403];
- establishes settlement, [402];
- reaches Cuba, [406];
- in Jamaica, [406];
- one ship puts into a port of Española, [407];
- urges colonization of Veragua, [411-413];
- deplores condition of Spanish settlements, [415];
- complains of ill-treatment, [416-418].
- Columbus, Diego, brother of Columbus, in Española, [321];
- taken prisoner, [380].
- Columbus, Diego, son of Columbus, page to Prince John, [379];
- mentioned, [393].
- Columbus, Ferdinand, [241 n.], [321];
- page in Queen’s household, [379];
- account of fourth voyage, [318], [388], [392 n.]
- Commerce, plan of Columbus for Española, [273-277];
- value of Spanish colonies predicted, [415].
- Concepcion, La, island, [356].
- Concepcion, Puerto de la, Columbus in, [172-179].
- Conchas, Cabo de, [356].
- Coroay, [206].
- Cosa, Juan de la, master of Santa María, [200];
- mentioned, [204].
- Costa Rica, supposed connection with Cambodia, [397 n.]
- Crooked Island, [123].
- Cuba, mistaken for Cipango, [126-130];
- described by Indians, [130-136];
- discovered, [136];
- mistaken for mainland of Asia, [134], [263], [323], [405], [406];
- explorations, [136-148];
- Columbus returns, [153];
- Columbus leaves, [167];
- mentioned, [176], [263-264], [267], [364], [391 n.];
- Columbus lands on fourth voyage, [405].
- Cuba, Cabo de, [146], [147].
- Cubagua, reports of pearls, [357].
- Cubiga, [394 n.]
- Dama, Alvaro, [253].
- Darien, Gulf of, [405 n.]
- Davis, John, voyage to Greenland, [74 n.]
- Delfin, El, [340], [353].
- Demarcation Line, and Columbus, [326];
- Papal, [416];
- agreement between Spain and Portugal, [416].
- Diaz, Bartolomé, [252], [397 n.]
- Dimunarvag, [16].
- Dögurdar River, country between, and Skraumuhlaups River, occupied by Aud, [15].
- Dominica, discovered, [285];
- described [285];
- mentioned, [290], [321];
- report of gold, [293];
- Columbus heads for, [330].
- Drago, Boca del, named, [340];
- Columbus’s ships in peril in, [354-355].
- Drangar, [16], [45].
- Drepstokk, Heriulf at, [47].
- Drontheim, Leif arrives in, [47].
- Drontheim, Archbishop of, papal letter to, [70 n.];
- jurisdiction, [71].
- Drontheim, Archbishop Valkendorf of, [74 n.]
- Dublin, captured by King Olaf, [14].
- Duelling-Hrafn, killed by Eric the Red, [16], [45].
- Earthly Paradise, Columbus and, [364-365].
- Einar of Laugarbrekka, [18].
- Einar, of Einarsfirth, settles in Greenland, [47].
- Einar, son of Thorgeir, [18];
- sues for Gudrid’s hand, [19].
- Elefante, Cabo del, [168], [171].
- Enamorado, Cabo del, [221].
- Engaño, Cabo del, [229 n.], [295 n.], [322].
- Enriquez, Beatrix, [321].
- Eric, Earl, visited by Biarni Herjulfson, [150].
- Eric the Red, saga of, [3-5], [14-43];
- goes to Iceland, [14], [45];
- in Drangar and Haukadal, [15-16], [45];
- voyage, [16-17], [45-46];
- discovers Greenland, [16], [17], [46];
- return to Iceland, [17], [46];
- fight with Thorgest, [17];
- names and colonizes Greenland, [17], [46];
- mentioned, [20];
- welcomes Thorbiorn to Eastern Settlement, [23];
- unwilling to embrace Christianity, [26];
- and expedition to land discovered by Leif, [26-27], [50];
- receives Gudrid, [29];
- welcomes Biarni and Thorfinn Karlsefni, [30], [42];
- mentioned, [31], [33], [56];
- at Brattahlid, [48];
- death, [54].
- Eric Gnupson, Bishop of Greenland, expedition, [69].
- Eric Uppsi, see [Eric Gnupson].
- Ericsey, Eric the Red at, [17], [46].
- Ericsfirth, Eric the Red at, [17], [46];
- mentioned, [26], [27], [29], [30], [54], [55], [59], [64].
- Ericsholms, Eric in, [17].
- Ericsstad, Eric at, [16].
- Ericsstadir, Eric the Red in, [15], [45].
- Ericsvag, [16], [45].
- Escocesa, Bahia, [220 n.]
- Escobedo, Rodrigo de, [110], [184];
- remains in Española, [209], [210].
- Escudo, Puerto, [168 n.], [171 n.]
- Eskimos, and Vinland, [10], [41 n.];
- and Greenlanders, [71 n.]-[72 n.]
- Española discovered, [168];
- named, [173], [264];
- natives, [175-177], [180-187], [190-196], [198], [201-203], [205-210], [222-225], [265-269], [297-307];
- products, [177], [178];
- climate, [178];
- description, [181-182], [192-193], [264-268];
- Columbus praises land and people, [198], [201], [202];
- first settlement, [204], [206], [268];
- reports of gold, [215];
- coast explored, [215-228];
- recommendations of Columbus for colonization and commerce, [273-277];
- return of Columbus, [295];
- scenery, [296];
- fate of first settlement, [300-304];
- building of city Isabella, [308];
- products, [310-312];
- ships despatched to, [320-323];
- supplies for, [348-350], [353];
- revolts, [360], [366], [373];
- colonists, [373], [374-377];
- arrival of Bobadilla, [375-378];
- Columbus taken prisoner, [380];
- mining, [382];
- Columbus forbidden to land, [390];
- and Columbus’s fourth voyage, [406-408];
- condition, [415].
- Estrella, Cabo de la, [168], [171].
- Exploring expeditions, independent, authorized by Ferdinand and Isabella, [360].
- Eyiulf of Sviney, [16], [45].
- Eyiulf the Foul, [15], [16], [45].
- Eyrar, Biarni arrives at, [48].
- Eyxney, [16], [45].
- Fava, [134].
- Fayal, mentioned, [235].
- Ferdinand and Isabella, contract with Columbus, [77-80];
- and route to Indies, [78];
- patent to Columbus, [81-84];
- war with Moors, [89];
- and Demarcation Line, [323], [326];
- and Columbus, [331];
- authorize independent exploring expeditions, [360];
- and Hojeda, [373];
- and Bobadilla, [376];
- and Columbus’s fourth voyage, [389-418].
- Fernandina, discovered, [116-117], [263];
- Columbus approaches, [118];
- natives, [119];
- described, [119];
- coast explored, [120-122];
- sighted, [129].
- Ferro, island of, [93], [104], [112], [137], [237], [284], [323].
- Finnbogi, voyage to Wineland, [62], [63];
- death, [64].
- Flat Island Book, [3];
- composition, [4];
- “The Vinland History,” and collateral sources, [8-9];
- reliability of “Vinland History” questioned, [8-10], [12].
- Flechas, Golfo de las, [228].
- Flechas, Puerto de las, Columbus in, [222-228].
- Flores, island, [235-237].
- Fortunate Isles, and first meridian of Marinus, [396 n.]
- Fraile, Punta del, [166 n.]
- Frances, Cabo, [220].
- Frances, Puerto, [199 n.]
- Frederick, Bishop, in Iceland, [46].
- Freydis, [32];
- drives off Skrellings, [38];
- fate, [39];
- marriage, [48];
- voyage to Vinland, [62-64];
- and death of Helgi and Finnbogi, [63-64];
- return, [64-65].
- Froda-wonder, [24].
- Fuma, [206].
- Funchal, Columbus in, [320].
- Furdustrandir, see [Wonder-strands].
- Galeota, Cape, Columbus sees, [332 n.]
- Galera, Cabo de la, [332].
- Gallega, La, ship of Columbus on fourth voyage, [390].
- Gama, Vasco da, [323 n.];
- in south Atlantic, [323 n.], [326 n.]
- Gard, overseer at Lysufirth, death, [27], [29].
- Gardar, Freydis at, [48];
- Freydis leaves, [62];
- bishopric of, in fifteenth century, [70-74].
- Gatos, Puerto de, [353].
- Geirstein, [16].
- Geography, Columbus’s conceptions of world, [387], [396-398].
- Glaumbœiar-land, Thorfinn Karlsefni in, [65].
- Glaumbœr, church in, [66].
- Gomera, Columbus at, [93], [284], [320];
- mentioned, [94].
- Gomera, Count of, see [Peraza, Guillen].
- Good Hope, Cape of, [397 n.]
- Gordo, Puerto, [400].
- Gottskalk, Annals of, quoted, [69 n.]
- Government of Española, Columbus’s plan, [274];
- Columbus’s desire to be relieved, [375];
- Bobadilla’s arrival, [375-376];
- immunities proclaimed, [376-378].
- Gracia, Isla de, [338-341].
- Gracia, Rio de, [219].
- Gracias á Dios, Cape, [391], [392 n.]
- Gran Can, [89];
- embassy to Rome, [89];
- and Columbus’s belief that he has reached Asia, [126], [131], [134], [135], [136], [145], [157], [174], [268];
- and Cabot’s landfall, [423].
- Gran Canaria, Columbus at, [92], [283].
- Granja, Puerto de la, [187 n.]
- Greenland, Norse colonists, [10];
- discovery, [17];
- explored, [17];
- named, [17];
- colonization, [17];
- Thorbiorn in Western Settlement, [20-23];
- introduction of Christianity, [23-26];
- sickness in Western Settlement, [27-29], [57-59];
- Biarni and Thorfinn Karlsefni in, [30-32], [59];
- return of Thorfinn Karlsefni, [62];
- Helgi and Finnbogi in, [62];
- mentioned, [67 n.];
- bishopric of Gardar, [71-74];
- conditions in colony, [71-74].
- Grimhild, death and burial, [57], [58].
- Guacamari, see [Guacanagarí].
- Guacanagarí, Indian cacique, [193 n.], [207];
- Columbus takes leave of, [209-210];
- mentioned, [298-300], [303], [361];
- suspected of treachery, [301], [305-307];
- receives Columbus, [304-305].
- Guadalquivir River, [180].
- Guadeloupe, [225 n.], [290 n.];
- Columbus at, [286];
- mentioned, [343];
- natives report mainland to south, [359].
- Guaigo, [394 n.]
- Guanahani, discovered, [110], [263];
- Columbus takes possession of, [110];
- natives, [111-113];
- mentioned, [131], [134], [151].
- Guanaja, Columbus at, [391 n.], [392 n.]
- Guarico, [188 n.], [196 n.]
- Guarionex, [206].
- Gudrid, ancestry, [15 n.], [18];
- in Arnarstapi, [18];
- return to Laugarbrekka, [19];
- and prophecy of Thorbiorg, [22-23];
- marries Thorstein Ericson, [27], [56];
- in Western Settlement, Greenland, [27-29], [57-59];
- goes to Eastern Settlement, [29], [59];
- marries Thorfinn Karlsefni, [31], [59];
- goes to Iceland, [43];
- descendants, [43-44], [66];
- accompanies Thorfinn Karlsefni to Vinland, [60-61];
- in Iceland, [66].
- Guevara, Ferdinand de, in Xaragua, [374].
- Guiga, [399 n.]
- Guinea, [145];
- and reported trade of canoes with land to west, [326];
- navigation of Portuguese, [332];
- exploration, [351-352].
- Guisay, see [Quinsay].
- Gunnbiorn, son of Ulf the Crow, voyage, [16], [46].
- Gunnbiorns-skerries, discovered, [16], [46].
- Gutierrez, Pedro, [109];
- sent ashore, [200];
- remains in Española, [209-210].
- Haekia, in Vinland, [33].
- Hafgrim, settles in Greenland, [47].
- Haki, in Vinland, [33].
- Halldis, [18];
- death, [20];
- mentioned, [22].
- Hallveig, daughter of Einar, [18].
- Hanno, voyage, [328].
- Harold, the Stern-ruler, King of Norway, voyage, [68].
- Haukadal, Eric the Red in, [15];
- Eric banished, [16], [45].
- Hauk Erlendsson, book, [3-5];
- reliability, [8].
- Hayti, [168 n.], [295], [391 n.]
- Hebrides, Aud and Thorstein go to, [14];
- Leif in, [24-25].
- Helgi, voyage to Wineland, [62-63];
- death, [64].
- Helgi Thorbrandsson, settles in Greenland, [47].
- Helluland, identification, [10];
- named, [51];
- explored, [32].
- Henry VII., of England, reception of John Cabot, [424];
- plan of second voyage, [425], [428];
- preparations for second voyage, [429].
- Heriulf, accompanies Eric the Red to Greenland, [46-47];
- at Heriulfsness, [48-49].
- Heriulfsness, Thorbiorn arrives in, [20];
- Heriulf at, [46], [48-49].
- Hermoso, Cabo, [123], [124].
- Hesperides, and Cape Verde Islands, [322 n.]
- Hierro, island, see [Ferro].
- Hierro, Punta del, [220].
- Hojeda, Alonso de, [312 n.];
- explores Cibao, [313 n.];
- voyage, [360], [416 n.];
- arrival in Española, [373];
- mentioned, [376].
- Holar, Bishop of, ordered to inquire into affairs of Gardar bishopric, [73].
- Holmar, Eric winters at, [46].
- Holmlatr, Eric spends winter in, [17].
- Hop, Karlsefni at, [36], [39], [40-41].
- Horn-Strands, [45].
- Hrafn, settles in Greenland, [47].
- Hrafnsfirth, Eric enters, [17], [46].
- Hrafnsgnipa, [46].
- Huego, reports of land to the southwest, [326].
- Hvamm, Aud in, [15].
- Hvarfsgnipa, [17].
- Hvitramanna-land, [42].
- Ibarro, Bernaldo de, quoted, [336].
- Iceland, saga-telling period, [7];
- Eric and Thorvald in, [15], [45];
- mentioned, [17], [18];
- the Froda-wonder, [24];
- Thorfinn Karlsefni sails to, [43], [65];
- Biarni Herjulfson in, [48];
- extracts from Annales regii, [69];
- English fish trade, [427].
- Iguana Grande, island, [215 n.]
- Illugi, son of Aslak, [16].
- Indians, trade with Columbus, [111-113], [119], [121], [127], [135], [142], [165], [194-195];
- enslaved, [112], [144], [145], [267], [287], [292], [293], [343-344];
- Columbus’s policy towards, [110], [116-118], [126], [192], [194], [195], [322];
- named, [110];
- and tobacco-smoking, [141];
- signal fires, [180], [224];
- fight with Spaniards, [224], [292-293];
- weapons, [307];
- of Guanahani, [110-112];
- of Santa Maria de la Concepcion, [115-116];
- of Fernandina, [119-122];
- of Cuba, [139-142];
- of Española, [175-177], [180-187], [190-196], [198], [201-203], [205-210], [222-225], [265-269], [297-307];
- at Trinidad, [335-336];
- of mainland of South America, [342-344], [347];
- of Veragua, [402].
- See also [Caribs] and [Mayas].
- Ingolf, colonist of Iceland, [17], [47].
- Innocent VIII., pope, elects Matthias Bishop of Gardar, [74].
- Ireland, Thorhall driven ashore on, [35].
- Ireland the Great, see [Hvitramanna-land].
- Isabelica, Punta, [217 n.]
- Isabella, aids Columbus, [371-372];
- reports of illness, [373].
- See also [Ferdinand and Isabella].
- Isabella, in Española, preparations for city, [308];
- Columbus’s departure, [366];
- mentioned, [321], [322].
- Isabella, island, discovered by Columbus, [123], [124], [263];
- Columbus leaves [128];
- mentioned, [151].
- Isleo, Cabo del, [127], [128].
- Jacmel, [407 n.]
- Jaederen, Thorvald and Eric the Red leave, [15], [45].
- Jamaica, [215], [338];
- Columbus’s shipwreck, [387];
- Columbus bound for, [389];
- Columbus reaches, [406].
- Jardines, described, [344];
- natives, [345-346].
- Jerez, Rodrigo de, [136].
- Jerome, St., [414].
- Jews, expulsion from Spain, [90].
- Jiddah, spice trade, [427 n.]
- Joachim, Abbot, prophecy, [413-414].
- John II., of Portugal, grant to Fernam Dominguez do Arco, [93 n.];
- receives Columbus, [253-255];
- and Demarcation Line, [323], [326].
- John, prince of Castile, [323], [369].
- Jon Thordsson, and Flat Island Book, [4].
- Juana, see [Cuba].
- Karlsefni, see [Thorfinn Karlsefni].
- Keelness, [33], [35], [39], [55].
- Ketil, settles in Greenland, [46].
- Kialarnes, see [Keelness].
- Labrador, and John Cabot’s first voyage, [423 n.]
- Lagartos, Rio de los, [400 n.]
- Lanzada, Punta, [179].
- Lanzarote, [92].
- Lapa, Cape of, [340];
- pearl fisheries near, [346];
- Columbus near, [353], [354].
- La Vega, Columbus at, [375].
- Leif Ericson, and discovery of America, [8], [11];
- date of voyage, [12], [43 n.];
- in Norway, [24-25], [47];
- discovery, [25], [50-54];
- introduces Christianity in Greenland, [26];
- mentioned, [33], [59], [62], [63];
- displeasure at Freydis, [65].
- Leif’s-booths in Vinland, Thorvald reaches, [54-55];
- Thorfinn Karlsefni’s arrival, [60].
- Leikskalar, Eric at, [16].
- Lepe, Diego de, voyage, [416 n.]
- Levantados, Cayo de, [221 n.]
- Lindo, Cabo, [166].
- Lisbon, Columbus driven into river by tempest, [251], [379];
- John Cabot’s presence in, alleged, [430].
- Llana, Punta, [349].
- Llandra, Columbus at, [256].
- Long Island, [117 n.]
- Lucayos, discovered, [110].
- Luengo, Cabo, [356].
- Luna, Rio de la, [132].
- Lybia, voyage of Hanno from, [328].
- Lysufirth, [27], [57].
- Macorix, [206].
- Macuris, Punta, [220 n.]
- Madama Beata, island, named, [365].
- Madeira, [236], [243], [250];
- Columbus at, [320].
- Magnus Thorhallsson, and Flat Island Book, [4].
- Mago, see [Mango].
- Maici, Punta de, [158 n.]
- Maldonado, Melchior, explores Española, [302-303].
- Mango, Cuba mistaken for, [405], [408].
- Manzanillo, Bahia de, [212 n.]
- Maravi, Port of, [158 n.]
- Mares, Puerto de, advantages for settlement, [140];
- Columbus leaves, [143].
- Mares, Rio de, Columbus in, [132], [133], [135], [144];
- mentioned, [147], [160], [176].
- Margarita, discovered, [356];
- Columbus leaves vicinity, [362-363].
- Margot, Puerto, [187 n.], [188 n.]
- Maria, Puerto, [168].
- Marigalante, ship, [284 n.]
- Marigalante, island, [285].
- Marinus, conception of world, [396-397].
- Markland, identification, [10];
- natives, [11];
- expedition of Thorfinn Karlsefni, [32], [41];
- named by Leif, [51];
- mentioned, [69].
- Marmoro, [405 n.]
- Marquez, Diego, [288].
- Martian, quoted, [67].
- Martinet, El, island, [356-357].
- Martinique, [225 n.]
- Martyr, Peter, account of Columbus’s fourth voyage, [388].
- Maternillo, Punta del, [135 n.]
- Matinino, island, inhabitants, [223], [225], [270];
- copper reported, [226];
- Columbus desires to see, [228-229];
- mentioned, [230].
- Matthias, elected Bishop of Gardar, [74].
- Mayas, [215 n.];
- culture, [394 n.];
- sculptures, [409-410];
- animals, [410];
- language, [411].
- Mayonic, [206].
- Mayreni, King, reported to have killed Spaniards, [300], [302], [303].
- Mayrones, Francis de, quoted, [359].
- Mecca, Cabot in, [426 n.], [427];
- spice trade of, [427 n.]
- Micmac Indians, appearance, [36 n.]
- Midiokul, [46].
- Mines, Española, [382];
- of Spanish colonies, value predicted, [415].
- Missions, need in New World, [274], [361].
- Moa, Rio de, [154 n.]
- Moa, Sierras de, [154 n.]
- Mogens Heinesen, [74 n.]
- Mona, island of, [322].
- Monte, Cabo del, [166].
- Monte Cristi, [212];
- described, [213];
- mentioned, [216], [218], [296];
- harbor described, [298].
- Montserrat, [291 n.]
- Moray, conquered by Thorstein the Red and Earl Sigurd the Mighty, [14].
- Mosquito, Bahia, [172 n.]
- Mosquito Coast, Columbus on, [393 n.]
- Mosquitos, Punto de, [405 n.]
- Moya, Cayo de, [153].
- Mulas, Punta de, [132 n.]
- Muxica, Adrian de, revolt, [374].
- Navidad, fort built, [206];
- Columbus leaves settlement, [209-211], [268-269], [271];
- gold, [217];
- anxiety of Columbus about, [224];
- Columbus finds settlement destroyed, [298-304];
- mentioned, [361].
- Navigation, between Spain and Española, recommendations of Columbus, [276-277];
- compass, [363 n.];
- difficulties due to strong currents, [408-409].
- New Spain, discovery postponed by Roldan’s revolt, [360].
- Nicholas V., letter to Bishops of Skalholt and Holar, [70-73].
- Nidaros, Leif reaches, [47].
- Niña, ship, [96], [97], [102];
- crew report land, [106];
- mentioned, [108], [116], [122], [139];
- Indians escape from, [115-116], [150];
- new fittings, [155];
- Columbus on, [201].
- Niño, Pedro Alonso, [236].
- Nipe, [131 n.]
- Niti, [309], [312];
- reports of gold, [313].
- Nombre de Dios, [394 n.], [399].
- Noroña, D. Martin de, [253];
- escorts Columbus, [256].
- North America, voyages of Northmen, [25], [50-54], [47-49]; [54-56], [31-42], [59-62], [62-64], [67], [69];
- Cabot’s landfall, [422].
- Northmen in America, sources, [3-13];
- identification of localities, [10];
- dates, [12], [43 n.]
- Norway, Eric the Red and Thorvald leave, [15], [45];
- Leif in, [25], [47];
- Thorfinn Karlsefni sails from, [59];
- Thorfinn Karlsefni in, [65].
- Nova Scotia, and Northmen, [10];
- Indians, [36 n.];
- climate, [37 n.];
- and voyage of Thorfinn Karlsefni, [40 n.], [41 n.]
- Nuestra Señora, Mar de, [148];
- Columbus re-enters, [153];
- mentioned, [160].
- Nuevitas del Principe, Puerto de las, [131 n.], [132 n.]
- Odd, of Jorva, [16].
- Olaf the White, King, in Ireland, [14].
- Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway, [24];
- and Christianity in Greenland, [25-26], [71];
- and Leif Ericson, [25], [33], [47].
- Orinoco, Columbus near mouth, [334 n.]
- Orkneys, Aud the Wealthy sails to, [14].
- Orm of Arnarstapi, [18];
- entertains Gudrid, [18-19];
- starts with Thorbiorn to Greenland, [20];
- death, [20].
- Oro, Rio del, [217], [218].
- Ovando, and Columbus, [390].
- Padre y Hijo, Cabo de, [221].
- Palmas, Cabo de, [133].
- Palmista, Punta, [168 n.]
- Panama, coast explored, [387], [394 n.];
- supposed connection with Cambodia, [397 n.]
- Paria, discovery, [339], [373];
- described, [340], [341];
- pearls, [346], [348], [373];
- natives, [346-347];
- Columbus near, [353], [354];
- explored by Hojeda and Pinzon, [360 n.];
- condition, [415].
- Paria, Gulf of, [337 n.], [340 n.], [350 n.]
- Peraza, Doña Ines, [93].
- Peraza, Guillen, [93].
- Pérez, Alonso, sights land, [330].
- Perlas, Golpho de las, [350];
- Columbus explores, [355], [356], [358].
- Pico, Cabo de, [156].
- Pierna, Punta, [178].
- Pinta, ship, rudder disabled, [92];
- repaired, [92-93];
- sails ahead of Admiral’s ship, [97-98];
- crew sights land, [108-109];
- mentioned, [120], [122], [133], [138], [211];
- leaves other ships, [152];
- news, [205], [207];
- reappearance, [214];
- on coast of Española, [215], [219];
- weakness of mast, [232];
- leaves Niña, [238].
- Pinzon, Martin Alonso, at the Canaries, [92];
- sails ahead of Columbus, [97-98];
- and Columbus, [100-101];
- claims to see land, [102];
- advises course, [106], [120];
- at Guanahani, [110];
- mentioned, [120], [127], [134], [138], [211], [232];
- leaves Admiral’s fleet, [152];
- rejoins Niña, [214];
- on coast of Española, [215], [219];
- Columbus disapproves of, [214], [216];
- runs Pinta ahead of Niña, [238].
- Pinzon, Vicente Yañez, [108 n.];
- at Guanahani, [110];
- at Española, [207];
- disaffection, [216];
- quoted, [235];
- charts route, [237];
- voyage, [360 n.], [373], [416 n.]
- Plata, Monte de, [220].
- Plata, Puerto de, [220 n.], [296 n.], [346].
- Playa, Punta de la, [333].
- Pliny, quoted, [324], [348], [353].
- Polo, Marco, [364], [393 n.], [406 n.], [426 n.]
- Porras, Diego de, report of fourth voyage of Columbus, [388], [407 n.]
- Port Clarence, Long Island, [120 n.]
- Porto Rico, [223], [225];
- reports of gold, [225];
- copper reported, [226];
- location, [230];
- Columbus at, [294-295];
- mentioned, [321], [338], [359], [408].
- Portugal, relations with Spain, [246].
- Columbus received in, [253-256];
- and Demarcation Line, [323], [416 n.], [430];
- and treaty of Tordesillas, [430].
- Pozas, Isla de las, [408].
- Principe, Puerto del, [148];
- Columbus leaves, [150];
- Columbus returns towards, [151].
- Ptolemy, geographical system, [329 n.], [396-397].
- Puerto Sancto, Columbus at, [320].
- Puerto Santo, in Cuba, Columbus at, [162-166];
- natives, [164-165].
- Punta Santa, [196], [199].
- Queen’s Garden, islands, [391], [405 n.]
- Quinsay, and Columbus’s belief in Asian landfall, [126], [136 n.], [406 n.]
- Quintero, Cristóbal, and the Pinta, [92].
- Rascon, Gomes, and the Pinta, [92].
- Rastelo, Columbus passes, [251];
- ship of King of Portugal near, [252].
- Ratos, Isla de, [198 n.]
- Redondo, Cabo, [220].
- Retrete, harbor, [399], [405 n.]
- Reyniness, Thorfinn Karlsefni in, [43].
- Ricchieri, Ludovico, Antiquarum Lectionum Libri XVI., [329 n.]
- Rico, Cabo, [356].
- Roca, Cabo de la, [220 n.]
- Roja, Punta, [217].
- Roldan, the pilot, [235];
- charts route, [237].
- Roldan, Francisco, revolt, [360], [366], [373-374];
- and Bobadilla, [376].
- Romero, El, island, [356].
- Ross, conquered by Thorstein the Red and Earl Sigurd the Mighty, [14].
- Rucia, Punta, [213 n.]
- Ruiz, Sancho, charts route, [237].
- Rum Cay, [115].
- Sabeta, [345].
- Sabor, Cabo de, [356].
- Sacro, Puerto, [221].
- Saga-age, in Iceland, [7].
- St. Martin, island, [291 n.]
- St. Nicholas Mole, Hayti, [168 n.]
- St. Ursula, island, [294 n.]
- Sal, La, island, Columbus near, [324].
- Saltes, bar of, [91];
- Columbus crosses, [257].
- Samana, Bay of, described, [221];
- Columbus leaves, [228];
- mentioned, [295 n.]
- Samana, peninsula, [221 n.]
- Samaot, [119], [120], [122].
- San Honorato, [196 n.]
- San Juan, see [Porto Rico].
- San Juan River, Nicaragua, [393 n.]
- San Miguel, Columbus approaches, [247].
- San Nicolas, Puerto de, described, [169-170].
- San Salvador, name given by Columbus to landfall, [114], [115], [151], [263];
- natives, [116-117].
- San Salvador, name given by Columbus to river and port in Cuba, [131], [133].
- San Theramo, Cape, [229].
- Sanchez, Rodrigo, [109];
- at Guanahani, [110];
- in Cuba, [140].
- Sancta Ana, Cape, [327].
- Santa Catalina, harbor, [156].
- Santa Catherina, island, [322], [365].
- Santa Cruz, island, [293 n.];
- reported proximity of mainland, [359].
- Santa Maria de la Concepcion, discovered, [115], [263];
- mentioned, [117];
- Columbus sails from, [118].
- Santa Maria, Azores, Columbus reaches, [236];
- attempted seizure of Columbus at, [245-249];
- mentioned, [250].
- Santangel, Luis de, Columbus’s letter to, [243 n.], [252 n.], [259-272], [369].
- Santo Domingo, [321-322], [365];
- Columbus’s arrival, [366];
- revolts, [369];
- Bobadilla’s arrival, [375-383];
- departure of Columbus, [391 n.]
- Santo Tomas, island, [187], [188], [189], [198], [199], [208].
- São Thiago, Columbus at, [324 n.], [325-326].
- Saometo, see [Isabella, island].
- Saona, [322].
- Sara, Punta, [349].
- Scotland, and Thorstein the Red, [14].
- Seca, Punta, [220], [349].
- Sera, distance from Cape St. Vincent, estimated by Ptolemy, [397 n.]
- Sesua, Punta, [220 n.]
- Seven Cities, myth, and John Cabot’s voyage, [425].
- Seville, letter of Dr. Chanca to Cabildo of, [280-313].
- Sierpe, Boca de la, named, [340];
- mentioned, [354].
- Sierpe, Cabo de, [211].
- Siete Hermanos, Los, [212 n.]
- Sigrid, wife of Thorstein of Lysufirth, death, [27], [28].
- Sigurd the Mighty, Earl, [14].
- Skagafirth, Karlsefni arrives at, [65].
- Skalholt, Bishop of, ordered to inquire into affairs of Gardar bishopric, [73].
- Skalholt annals, extract, [69].
- Skrellings, [11];
- appearance, [36];
- trade with Northmen, [37];
- attack Northmen, [38-39];
- of Markland, [41];
- attack Thorvald, [55];
- trade with Thorfinn Karlsefni, [60];
- attack Thorfinn Karlsefni, [61-62].
- Slave-trade, Indian, [378].
- Slavery, Indian, and Columbus, [344].
- Snaefell, Eric sails to, [17], [46].
- Snaefells-iokul, Eric sails from, [17], [46].
- Snaefellsness, [18].
- Snorri, son of Thorfinn Karlsefni, [41], [43], [60], [66].
- Snorri, Thorbrand’s son, [30];
- accompanies Thorfinn Karlsefni to Greenland, [30];
- accompanies Thorfinn Karlsefni to Vinland, [31], [35-36], [38-39].
- Snorri Thorbrandsson, saga of Thorfinn Karlsefni and, see [Eric the Red, saga of].
- Social life in Greenland in tenth century, soothsaying, [21-23];
- Yule feast, [31].
- Sol, Rio del, [143].
- Solvi, settles in Greenland, [47].
- Soncino, Raimondo de, first letter to Duke of Milan, [424-425];
- second letter, [425-429].
- Soothsaying, an exhibition in Greenland, [21-23].
- South America, Columbus on coast, [331-363];
- explorations of Hojeda and Pinzon, [360 n.];
- Earthly Paradise, [364-365];
- first settlement of Spaniards, [403 n.];
- and Asia, [397 n.]
- Spain, Columbus’s suggestions of colonial policy for, [160], [273-277];
- and Demarcation Line, [323], [416 n.], [430];
- and Columbus’s discoveries, [351], [352], [360-361], [363-364], [390].
- Spice Islands, Cipango confused by Cabot with, [427 n.]
- Spice trade of the East, [427 n.]
- Stokkaness, Thorbiorn settles at, [23].
- Straumey, [33].
- Straumfiord, [34]. See [Streamfirth].
- Streamfirth, arrival of Thorfinn Karlsefni and Snorri, [39];
- Thorfinn Karlsefni in, [41];
- arrival of ship from Greenland, [69].
- Styr Thorgrimsson, [16], [45];
- accompanies Eric on voyage, [45].
- Sudrey, [16].
- Sutherland, conquered by Thorstein the Red and Earl Sigurd the Mighty, [14].
- Svend Estridson, king of Denmark, [67], [68].
- Tajado, Cabo, [220].
- Tanais, country of, [426].
- Tapion, Rio, [212 n.]
- Taxamo, Puerto de, [147 n.]
- Tello, Gomez, appointed receiver of royal dues, [275 n.]
- Tenerife, Columbus near, [93].
- Terceira, Pedro Alonso Niño near, [236].
- Testigos, Los, discovered, [356].
- Thiodhild, see [Thorhild].
- Thorbiorg, called Little Sibyl, prophesies, [21-23].
- Thorbiorn, Vifil’s son, [15], [16];
- gives feasts, [19], [20];
- goes to Greenland, [20];
- sails to Brattahlid, [23];
- mentioned, [26], [27], [45];
- death, [29].
- Thorbiorn Gleamer, settles in Greenland, [47].
- Thorbrand, of Alptafirth, sons of, [16].
- Thorbrand, son of Snorri, [38].
- Thord of Höfdi, descendants, [30].
- Thord the Yeller, sons of, [16], [45].
- Thorfinn Karlsefni, and Hauk’s book, [5];
- and North America, [11];
- date of voyages, [12], [43 n.];
- in Greenland, [30-31];
- marries Gudrid, [31], [59];
- voyage, [31-42], [59-62];
- in Norway, [65];
- in Iceland, [43], [65];
- descendants, [43-44], [66].
- Thorfinn Karlsefni, saga of, see [Eric the Red, saga of].
- Thorgeir of Hitardal, [16], [45].
- Thorgeir of Thorgeirsfell, [18].
- Thorgeir, Vifil’s son, in Iceland, [15];
- marriage, [18].
- Thorgest, quarrels with Eric the Red, [16], [45];
- defeats Eric, [17].
- Thorgils, son of Leif, [24].
- Thorgunna, [24].
- Thorhall the Huntsman, [30];
- accompanies expedition of Thorfinn Karlsefni, [32];
- asks aid of Thor, [34];
- sails in search of Vinland, [34-35];
- fate, [35];
- Thorstein Karlsefni goes in search of, [39].
- Thorhild, wife of Eric, [15], [23], [45];
- embraces Christianity, [26].
- Thori Eastman, in Greenland, [54];
- death, [54].
- Thorkel, entertains Thorbiorn, [20-21].
- Thorlak, Bishop, [43 n.]
- Thorsnessthing, [16], [45].
- Thorstein Ericson, [23];
- leads expedition towards land discovered by Leif, [26], [56];
- failure, [27], [56-57];
- weds Gudrid, [27], [56];
- in Western Settlement, [27], [57];
- death, [28-58];
- prophecy of Gudrid’s fate, [29], [58], [59];
- mentioned, [48].
- Thorstein of Lysufirth, entertains Thorstein Ericson and Gudrid, [27-28], [57-58];
- accompanies Gudrid to Ericsfirth, [59].
- Thorstein the Red, and Scots, [14].
- Thorvald, father of Eric, goes to Iceland, [15], [45].
- Thorvald, son of Eric, and the Uniped, [40];
- mentioned, [48];
- voyage to Wineland, [54-56];
- death, [56].
- Thorvald Kodransson, [46].
- Thorvard, accompanies expedition of Karlsefni, [32];
- marriage, [48];
- and death of Helgi and Finnbogi, [64].
- Thurid, daughter of Eyvind Easterling, [14].
- Thurid, daughter of Thorbiorn Vifilson, see [Gudrid].
- Tobacco-smoking, earliest reference, [141 n.]
- Tordesillas, Treaty of, [323 n.], [326 n.], [430].
- Torres, Antonio de, sent back to Spain, [312 n.];
- mentioned, [369];
- and Columbus’s letter to sovereigns concerning Demarcation Line, [382].
- Torres, Doña Juana de, Columbus’s letter to, [369-383].
- Torres, Luis de, sent ashore at Cuba, [136].
- Torres, Cabo de, [187], [188].
- Tortuga Island, [168], [172], [174];
- Columbus reaches, [178];
- described, [179];
- natives, [180], [183];
- reports of gold, [184].
- Toscanelli map, [101 n.]
- Tradir, Eric at, [16].
- Tramontana, La, island, [348], [349].
- Triana, Rodrigo de, sights land, [109].
- Trinidad, discovered, [331];
- Columbus seeks harbor, [333];
- size, [334], [340];
- Columbus’s crew lands, [335];
- Indians, [335-336];
- climate, [337];
- fruits, [338];
- animals, [338-339].
- Trivigliano, Angelo, letters of, mentioned, [318].
- Trujillo, Columbus near, [391 n.], [392 n.]
- Turuqueira, [290].
- Tyrker, accompanies Leif on voyage of discovery, [50];
- in Vinland, [52-53].
- Vætilldi, [41].
- Valldidida, reported to be a king of the Skrellings, [41].
- Valle del Paraiso, [180].
- Valparaiso, Portugal, Columbus at, [254].
- Valthiof, and Eric the Red, [16].
- Valthiofsstadir, landslide caused by Eric’s thralls at, [15].
- Vatnshorn, [15], [16], [45].
- Veragua, report of mines, [394];
- Columbus reaches, [400-401];
- explored, [401];
- mines found, [401];
- natives, [401-402];
- signs of gold, [411];
- advantages for settlement, [411-412];
- and Columbus’s mythological geography, [413];
- gold of Quibian, [414];
- official appointments, [415].
- Verde, Cabo, [129].
- Verde, Simone, letter of, mentioned, [318].
- Vespucci, Amerigo, and naming of America, [359 n.]
- Vifil, freed by Aud, [15].
- Vifilsdal, given by Aud to Vifil, [15].
- Vinland, and Northmen, sources, [3-13];
- verity of tradition, [4], [7-8], [11], [13];
- location, [10], [37 n.], [67 n.];
- natives, [10-11];
- chronology of voyages, [12], [43 n.];
- Leif’s discovery, [25], [50-54];
- Thorstein Ericson’s attempt, [26-27];
- voyage of Biarni Herjulfson, [47-49];
- Thorvald’s voyage, [54-56];
- Thorfinn Karlsefni’s expedition, [31-42], [59-62];
- expedition of Finnbogi and Freydis, [62-64];
- described by Adam of Bremen, [67];
- Bishop Eric’s expedition, [69].
- Voyages, Gunnbiorn, [16], [46];
- Eric the Red, [16-17], [45-46];
- Leif Ericson, [25], [50-54];
- Thorstein Ericson, [26-27];
- Biarni Herjulfson, [47-49];
- Thorvald, [54-56];
- Thorfinn Karlsefni, [31-42], [59-62];
- Finnbogi and Freydis, [62-64];
- Bishop Eric, [69];
- Columbus’s first, [89-258], [263-272];
- second, [278-313];
- third, [314-366];
- fourth, [389-418];
- John Cabot (1497), [423-424].
- Yamaye, see [Jamaica].
- Yaqui River, [216 n.], [298 n.]
- Yaquino, port, [365], [391 n.]
- Yazual, Isla, see [Padre y Hijo, Cabo de].
- Yebra, river, [401 n.]
- Ysabeta, island, [347], [349], [350].
- Yucatan, and the Mayas, [215 n.], [410 n.]
- Yuyapari, [334], [339], [340], [349], [350], [353].
The following errors and inconsistencies have been maintained.
Misspelled words and typographical errors:
| Page | Error |
| [101] | “certainis lands” for “certain islands” |
| [221, fn. 5] | A . was omitted after “by Columbus” |
| [229, fn. 2] | “Cabod el Engaño” should read “Cabo del Engaño” (258) |
| [268, fn. 2] | “Historia de las Reyes Catolicos” should read “Historia de los Reyes Catolicos” |
| [295, fn. 6] | "October 21. and note" should have a comma after 21 |
| [329, fn. 6] | Columbiana for Colombiana |
| [359, fn. 2] | “et seq.” for “et seqq.” |
| [373, fn. 4] | "III. 23-42 He was" is missing a . after 42 |
| [405, fn. 3] | p. 301, note 1, should read p. 391, note 1 |
| [411] | “during fours years” for “during four years” |
The following words were inconsistently spelled:
Acul / Acúl
Arna-Magnæan / Arne-Magnæan
Christóbal / Cristóbal
Encyclopædia / Encyclopaedia
Ericson / Ericsson
Guacanagari / Guacanagarí
Maicí / Maici
mother-of-pearl / mother-o’-pearl
Pinzon / Pinzón
Santa Maria / Santa María
Skalholt / Skálholt
Snaefell / Snæfell
Tenerife / Teneriffe
Xaragua / Xaraguá
Yuyapari / Yuyaparí
The following words had inconsistent hyphenation:
bedchamber / bed-chamber
crossbow / cross-bow
flood tide / flood-tide
highborn / high-born
Horsehead / Horse-head
housewife / house-wife
landslide / land-slide
lookout / look-out
nightfall / night-fall
northeast / north-east
northwest / north-west
sandbanks / sand-banks
sawmills / saw-mills
shipmates / ship-mates
shipworm / ship-worm
southwest / south-west
stockfish / stock-fish
Streamfirth / Stream-firth
Thorsnessthing / Thorsness-thing
Wonderstrands / Wonder-strands