It is very difficult to exactly understand the course pursued at this juncture by the [pg 296]king. The popular view, as adopted by most writers, is that he regarded Columbus as having served his day: the ladder had fulfilled its use, and might now be kicked down. It is, perhaps, more reasonable to believe that Ferdinand hardly knew how to act, with his queen still firmly believing in the great discoverer, and so much pressure in other directions being brought to bear from the court and outside. It was determined to send out a commissioner to investigate the affairs of the colony, and the person chosen seems to have been a most unfit agent. He was one Francisco de Bobadilla, a poor knight of Calatrava, who, puffed up with arrogance at his sudden elevation, seems from the first to have regarded Columbus in the light of a convicted criminal. On his arrival in San Domingo he immediately commanded the admiral to appear before him, and without even pretence of legal inquiry, put him in chains, and thrust him into prison. His two brothers, Bartolomeo and Diego, suffered the same indignities. Bobadilla gave orders that he should be kept strictly in irons during the passage; “afraid,” says his son Ferdinand, satirically, “that he might by any chance swim back again to the island.” It is recorded that the officers who had him in charge would have removed them, but Columbus proudly and bitterly told them, “I will wear them till the king orders otherwise, and will preserve them as memorials of his gratitude.” On arrival at Cadiz, it is not to be wondered that the popular indignation burst forth like a torrent, and was re-echoed through Spain; all seemed to feel it as a national dishonour that such indignities should be heaped on the greatest discoverer of his day. Ferdinand understood the weight of obloquy which, rightly or wrongly, would rest upon him, and sent to Cadiz immediately to release him. The king disclaimed all share in the shameful act; while the queen, who was at least honest in the matter, shed tears when the old man came into her presence, and endeavoured to cheer his wounded spirit. But Ferdinand had no intention of reinstating him in his former power, and Columbus wasted nine months in vain solicitations for redress. At the end of this time, another governor of Hispaniola was appointed in his place. During this time Columbus was reduced to poverty, and we have his own statement to the effect that “he had no place to repair to except an inn, and very frequently had not wherewithal to pay his reckoning.”
COLUMBUS UNDER ARREST.
Later he was indeed employed on a fourth voyage, but with greatly curtailed powers. He imagined that there might be a passage through the Isthmus of Darien, which would shorten the passage to the East Indies. It need not be stated that he did not find it, although a ship canal through that neck of land has been and is now being mooted, and may some day become an accomplished fact. He, however, discovered parts of the coasts of Honduras, the Mosquito coast, and Costa Rica. Again we find him making his way to Hispaniola, on this occasion with only two over-crowded vessels, almost wrecks in fact, out of the four with which he had sailed from Cadiz. Here he exhausted his funds in procuring necessaries and comforts for his men, even for those who had on the voyage been the ringleaders of vexatious and outrageous mutinies. At length he returned to Spain, where he learned of the death of Queen Isabella, his warm patron. Wearied with illness and disappointment, it was some months before he could proceed on his journey to the court, then at Segovia. Columbus at this period of his life—he was not far from seventy years of age—suffered severely from gout. When he did meet Ferdinand, that monarch gave him fair words, [pg 297]but those alone. Prescott has probably indicated the secret, although he admits that “it was the grossest injustice to withhold from him the revenues secured by the original contract with the crown.” Poor Columbus was obliged to borrow money at this time for necessary expenses. The truth was that the king, as the resources of the new countries began to develop themselves, saw that he had promised a larger proportion of the profits than he ever would have done to a subject and a foreigner could he have foreseen the importance of the discoveries. He was so unjust as to at last propose a compromise—that the admiral should relinquish his claims, in consideration of other estates and dignities to be assigned him in Castile. He regarded him in the unwelcome light of a creditor, whose claims were too just to be disavowed, and too large to be satisfied. It is very doubtful whether Columbus received any assistance from the crown at this time, and wearied in spirit, with health broken by a life of great hardship, he did not long survive. He expired on May 20th, 1506, and his remains, first deposited at Valladolid, were, six years later, removed to Seville, where a costly monument was raised over them by King Ferdinand, with the following inscription:—
“A Castilla y á Leon
Nuevo mundo dió Colon”;
“Columbus has given a new world to Castile and Leon”—a very limited estimate of what [pg 298]he had done. From Seville his remains were taken, in 1536, to San Domingo; and at length, on the cession of that island to the French in 1795, were removed to Cuba, where they were finally allowed to repose in peace in the cathedral church of Havana.
While the Spaniards were prosecuting enterprises of great importance in and about the New World, the Portuguese were well employed in pushing their way towards the Orient by a sea route. The aims of both were practically the same. Each wished to find a shorter route to that fabled Cathay, the land of gold, and pearls, and spice, and silk. The celebrated voyages of Vasco da Gama deserve a full share of notice.
VASCO DA GAMA.