The Discoveries of America to the Year 1525

by Arthur James Weise

Under the date of Sunday, the twenty-first of October, while at anchor off the island of Isabela, Columbus writes: “I shall depart immediately, if the weather serve, and sail round the island till I succeed in meeting with the king, in order to see if I can acquire any of the gold which, I hear, he possesses. Afterward I shall set sail for another very large island, which I believe to be Cipango, according to the signs I receive from the Indians on board. They call the island Colba [Cuba], and say there are many large ships and sailors there. Another island they call Bosio, and inform me that it is very large. The others that are on the course I shall examine on the way, and accordingly as I find gold or spices in abundance, I shall determine what to do. Nevertheless, I am determined to proceed to the continent, and visit the city of Guisay [the city of heaven, the residence of the Grand Khan], where I shall deliver the letters of your highnesses to the Grand Khan, and demand an answer, with which I shall return....

“Tuesday, the twenty-third of October.... It is now my determination to depart for the island of Cuba, which I believe to be Cipango from the accounts I have received here of the great number and riches of the people. I have abandoned the intention of staying here and sailing round the island in search of the king, as it would be a waste of time, and I perceive there are no gold mines to be found.... And as we are going to places where there is great commerce, I judge it inexpedient to linger on the way, but to proceed and survey the countries we meet with, till we arrive at that one most favorable for our business. It is my opinion that we shall find much profit there in spices, but my want of knowledge in these articles occasions me extreme regret, inasmuch as I see a thousand kinds of trees, each kind with its particular fruit, and as flourishing at this time as the fields in Spain during the months of May and June. Likewise a thousand kinds of herbs and flowers, of the properties of which I remain in ignorance, with the exception of the aloe, which I have directed to-day to be taken on board in large quantities for the use of your highnesses....

“Wednesday, the twenty-fourth of October.... At midnight weighed anchor and set sail from Cabo del Isles of the island of Isabela, being in the north part, where I had remained preparing to depart for the island of Cuba, in which place the Indians tell me I shall find great commerce, with abundance of gold and spices, and large ships, and merchants. They direct me to steer toward the west-southwest, which is the course I am holding. If the accounts which the natives of the islands and those on board the ships have communicated to me by signs (for their language I do not understand) are credible, this must be the island of Cipango, of which we have heard so many wonderful things. According to my geographical knowledge it must be somewhere in this neighborhood.”

On Sunday, the twenty-eighth of October, Columbus’s ships arrived off the coast of Cuba and “entered an attractive river, free from shallows and all other obstructions.... The mouth of the river had a depth of twelve fathoms of water, and a breadth sufficient for ships to beat in. They anchored within the river, and the admiral remarks that the scenery here exceeded in beauty any thing he had ever seen, the river being bordered with trees of the most beautiful and luxuriant foliage of a peculiar appearance, and its banks covered with flowers and fruits of different kinds. Birds were here in great number singing most charmingly. Numerous palm trees were seen, different from those of Guinea and Spain, not having the same kind of bark. They were of a moderate height and bore very large leaves, which the natives used to cover their houses. The land appeared quite level. The admiral went ashore in a boat, and found two dwellings, which he supposed to be those of fishermen, and that the owners had fled. He found in one of them a dog unable to bark. Both houses contained nets of palm, lines, horn fish-hooks, harpoons of bone, and other implements for fishing, as also many fire-places, and each house seemed sufficiently large to shelter a great number of people. The admiral gave orders that nothing should be touched.... They returned on board the boat and ascended the river some distance.... The admiral declares this to be the most beautiful island ever seen, abounding in good harbors and deep rivers, with a shore upon which it appears the sea never breaks high, as the grass grows down to the water’s edge, a thing that never happens where the sea is rough. Indeed, a high sea they had not yet had among these islands. This island, he says, is full of attractive mountains, which are lofty, although not of great range. The rest of the country is high, similar to Sicily, abounding in streams, as they understood from the Indians of Guanahani that were on board the ships, who informed them by signs that it contained ten large rivers, and that the island was so large that with their canoes they could not sail round it in twenty days.... The Indians told them there were mines of gold here and pearls.... They further informed him that large vessels came there from the Grand Khan, and that the main-land was distant a voyage of ten days. The admiral named the river and port San Salvador.” Farther westward, along the northern side of the island, Columbus discovered the rivers which he called Rio de la Luna (River of the Moon), and the Rio de Mares (River of Seas). The houses which were built on the shores of the latter river, he says, were “the finest he had yet seen, and thinks, the nearer he approaches the continent, they will continue to improve. They were of a large size, built in the shape of a tent, and each collection of them appeared like a camp, without any order of streets, the houses scattered here and there. Their interiors were found very clean and neat, well furnished and set in order. The houses were all built of fine palm branches. They found here many statues shaped like women, and numerous heads somewhat like masks, well made; whether these were used as ornaments, or objects of worship, did not appear. Here, about the houses, were small fowl originally wild, but now tame.”

On Tuesday, the thirtieth of October, “they sailed from the river which they had named Rio de Mares, and standing to the northwest, discovered a cape covered with palm trees, which the admiral called Cabo de Palmas; it is fifteen leagues distant from the place of their departure. The Indians on board the Pinta signified to the Spaniards, that beyond this cape was a river, and from this river to Cuba was a distance of a voyage or a journey of four days. The captain of the Pinta declared that he understood Cuba to be a city, and that the land here was a continent of great extent which stretched far to the north; also that the king of this country was at war with the Grand Khan, whom the Indians called Cami, and his country or city, Fava and other names. The admiral determined to steer for this river, and to send a present and the letter of the Spanish sovereigns to the king.... Seemingly the admiral was forty-two degrees distant from the equator toward the north, if the manuscript is not corrupted from which I [Las Casas] have taken this [information], and he says that he had undertaken to go to the Grand Khan, who, he thinks, was near there or in the city of Cathay of the Grand Khan, which city is very large according to what was told before he departed from Spain.”

The vessels having returned on Wednesday to the Rio de Mares from a short exploration of the coast, the admiral at sunrise, on Thursday, sent some of his men ashore “to visit the houses they saw there. They found the inhabitants had all fled, but after some time they espied a man. The admiral then sent one of his Indians ashore, who called to him from a distance and bade him not to fear any harm as the Spaniards were a friendly people, not injuring any one nor belonging to the Grand Khan, but on the contrary had made many presents of their goods to the inhabitants of the islands. The natives, having ascertained that no ill treatment was intended them, regained confidence, and came in more than sixteen canoes to the vessels, bringing cotton yarn and other things, which the admiral ordered should not be taken from them, as he wished them to understand that he was in search of nothing but gold, which they called nucay. All day the canoes passed between the ships and the shore. The admiral saw no gold among them, but remarks that, having observed an Indian with a piece of wrought silver in his nose, he conceived it to be an indication of the existence of that metal in the country. The Indians informed them by signs that within three days many traders would come there from the interior to purchase the goods of the Spaniards to whom the traders would communicate news of the king, who, as far as could be learned from the signs of the natives, resided at a place that was a journey of four days from there. They informed the Spaniards also that many persons had been sent to tell the king respecting the admiral. These people were found to be of the same race and manners as those already seen, without any religion that could be discovered. The Spaniards never saw the Indians who were kept on board the vessels engaged in any act of worship, but they would, when directed, make the sign of the cross, and repeat the Salve and Ave Maria, with their hands extended toward heaven. The language is the same throughout these islands and the people friendly toward one another, which the admiral says he believes to be the case in all the neighboring parts, and that they are at war with the Grand Khan, whom they call Cavila, and his country Bafan. These people go naked as the others.... It is certain, says the admiral, that this is the continent, and that we are in the neighborhood of Zayto and Guinsay, a hundred leagues more or less distant from the one or the other.”[152]

With his thoughts all aglow with his seeming power to prove the correctness of his geographical conjecture that he had reached the eastern coast of Asia, Columbus sent from this place, on the second of November, Rodrigo de Jerez of Ayamonte, and Luis de Torres, a Jew, (the latter having lived with the adelantado of Murcia, and who knew Hebrew, Chaldaic, and some Arabic,) and two Indians, into the interior of the island, with letters to the Grand Khan of Cathay. “He gave them strings of beads to purchase provisions, and directed them to return within six days. Specimens of spicery were intrusted to them that they might know if any thing similar existed in the country. He took care to instruct them how they should inquire for the king, and what they were to say to inform him that the king and queen of Castile had dispatched him with letters and a present for his majesty. Furthermore, the envoys were instructed to obtain some knowledge of the country, and observe the ports and rivers, with their distances from the place where the ships lay. Here the admiral took this night the altitude with a quadrant, and found that he was forty-two degrees from the equator, and by his calculation eleven hundred and forty-two leagues from Ferro, and he was confident that it was the continent.”[153]

Among the noticeable things which the embassadors observed while journeying into the interior of Cuba was the common use of tobacco by the natives. “The two Spaniards,” says Las Casas, “met upon their journey great numbers of people of both sexes: the men always with a firebrand in their hands and certain herbs for smoking. These were dry and were placed in a dry leaf, after the manner of those paper tubes which the boys in Spain use at Whitsuntide. Lighting one end, they drew the smoke by sucking at the other. This causes drowsiness and a kind of intoxication, and according to the statement of the natives relieves them from the feeling of fatigue. These tubes they call by the name of tabacos.”[154]

While waiting the return of the embassadors to the Grand Khan, Columbus acquired some knowledge of the productions of Cuba. “The soil is very fertile, producing mames, a root like a carrot, tasting like chestnuts. Beans are also found here but very dissimilar to ours; also cotton, growing spontaneously among the mountains. I am of the opinion that it is gathered at all seasons of the year, for I observed upon a single plant blossoms, buds, and open pods. A thousand other productions I have also observed, which doubtless are of great value, but it is impossible for me to describe them.”

On the fifth of November, the party sent to the Grand Khan returned, and gave these particulars of their journey: “After having travelled a dozen leagues they came to a town containing about fifty houses, where there were probably a thousand inhabitants; each house containing a large number of people. The houses were built after the manner of large tents. The inhabitants received them, after their fashion, with great ceremony. The men and women flocked to behold them, and they were lodged in their best houses. They showed their admiration and reverence by touching the strangers, kissing their hands and feet, and manifesting astonishment. They imagined them to be from heaven, and signified as much to them. They were feasted with such food as the natives had to offer. Upon their arrival at the town the chief men of the place led them by the arms to the principal building; here they gave them seats, and the Indians sat upon the ground in a circle round them. The Indians who had accompanied the Spaniards explained to the natives the manner in which their strange guests lived, and gave a favorable account of their character. The men then left the building, and the women entered, and sat around the Spaniards as the men had done. They kissed their hands and feet and examined them to see whether they were flesh and bone like their own.... No village was seen upon the road of a larger size than five houses.... Great numbers of birds were observed, all different from those of Spain except the nightingales, which delighted them with their songs. Partridges and geese were also found in great number. Of quadrupeds they saw none except dogs that could not bark. The soil appeared fertile and under good cultivation, producing the mames already mentioned and beans very dissimilar to ours, as well as the grain called panic. They saw large quantities of cotton, spun and manufactured. A single house contained more than five hundred arrobas[155] of it. Four thousand quintals might be collected here yearly.... These people are inoffensive and peaceable. They are unclothed, but the women wear a slight covering about their loins. Their manners are very decent, and their complexion not very dark, but lighter than the inhabitants of the Canary Islands. ‘I have no doubt, most serene sovereigns,’ says the admiral, ‘that were some proper, devout, and religious persons to come among them and learn their language, it would be an easy matter to convert them all to Christianity, and I hope in our Lord that your highnesses will devote yourselves with much diligence to this object, and bring as great a multitude into the church, inasmuch as you have exterminated those who refused to confess the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.’