CHAPTER XXXV.
The Companions and Followers of Columbus.
The Era of Spanish Discovery—Reasons for its Rapid Development—Ojeda’s First Voyage—Fighting the Caribs—Indians and Cannon—Pinzon’s Discovery of Brazil—A Rough Reception—Bastides the Humane—A New Calamity—Ships leaking like Sieves—Economical Generosity of King Ferdinand—Ojeda’s Second Voyage—The disputed Strong-Box—Ojeda Entrapped—Swimming in Irons—Condemned Abroad—Acquitted at Home—A Triumphant Client, but a Ruined Man—A Third Voyage—Worthy La Cosa—Rival Commanders—A Foolish Challenge.
In the following pages the enterprises of certain Spanish and Portuguese voyagers less known to fame than those recently under notice, but still great names in the history of maritime discovery, will be recorded. Not merely had the examples of such men as Columbus and Vasco da Gama stirred up a spirit of adventure unparalleled before or perhaps since, but, as Washington Irving shows us,[52] the conquest of Granada and the end of the Peninsular war with the Moorish usurpers, had deprived the Spanish of a sphere of action which had [pg 301]occupied them almost incessantly during the eight centuries preceding. The youth of the nation, bred up to daring adventure and heroic achievement, could not brook the tranquil and regular pursuits of common life, but panted for some new field of romantic enterprise. The treaty of Columbus with Ferdinand and Isabella was, in a sense, signed with the same pen that had subscribed to the capitulation of the Moorish capital; while not a few of the cavaliers who had fought in that memorable war now crowded the ships of the discoverers, firmly believing that a grand new field of arms had opened to them.
Alonzo de Ojeda, a native of New Castile, was one of this numerous class. He had fought against the Moors when a youth, and had accompanied Columbus on his second voyage when only twenty-one years of age. One of his relatives, a Dominican friar, was one of the first inquisitors of Spain, and was an intimate of the Bishop Fonseca, who had the chief management of the affairs of the Indies, which then included all the countries as yet known in the New World. Ojeda, therefore, was naturally and easily introduced to the Bishop’s notice, who took him under his special protection. When he had accompanied Columbus he had taken with him a small Flemish painting of the Holy Virgin, presented to him by Fonseca, and this he had always carried with him as a protecting charm, invoking it at all times of peril; while to its possession he attributed his hitherto wonderful immunity from harm. When Columbus returned from his third voyage, with the news of rich discoveries, especially of the pearl-fisheries of Paria, Ojeda had no difficulty in obtaining from the Bishop, who was one of the worst enemies of poor Columbus, a commission authorising him to fit out an armament and proceed on a voyage of discovery. It does not appear that the sanction of the King and Queen was asked on this occasion. The means were readily supplied by merchants of Seville. Among his associates were several men who had just returned with Columbus, principal among whom was a bold Biscayan, Juan de la Cosa by name. Amerigo Vespucci, the man from whose first name the title of America is derived, a broken-down Florentine merchant, accompanied the expedition. It does not appear that he had any interest in the voyage, or even position on board ship. Ojeda sailed from Spain on the 20th May, 1499.
After touching at the Canaries, he made, for those days, a rapid voyage to America. In twenty-four days from leaving the islands he reached the New World, at a part of the coast considerably south of that discovered by Columbus, and after a little passed the mouths of several large rivers, including those of the Orinoco and Esquivo, rivers which freshen the [pg 302]sea-water for many miles outside. They afterwards touched at the island of Trinidad, of the inhabitants of which Vespucci gives a number of details. He tells us that they believed in no religious creed, and therefore neither prayed nor offered sacrifice. Their habitations were practically caravanserai, built in the shape of bells (meaning, doubtless, with bell-shaped roofs), each holding from six hundred to over a thousand inhabitants. He adds that every seven or eight years the inhabitants were obliged to change their residences, from the maladies engendered by such close packing. They ornamented themselves with beads and ornaments made from the bones of fishes, with white and green stones strung together as necklaces, and with the feathers of tropical birds. They buried their dead in caverns or sepulchres, always leaving a jar of water and something to eat by the head of the corpse, as do some tribes to-day.
At Maracapana, on the mainland, the natives were friendly, and brought quantities of fish, venison, and cassava bread. They anxiously besought the Spaniards to aid them in punishing their enemies, the cannibals of a distant isle, and Ojeda seems to have rather liked the proposition. Taking seven of the natives on board his vessels to act as guides, he set sail in quest of these cannibal islands, which are believed to have been the Caribbees. After seven days he ran his vessels in near the shore of one which the guides indicated to be the habitation of their cruel foes, and a number of painted and befeathered warriors were seen on the shore, well armed with bows and arrows, darts, lances, and bucklers. “This show of war,” says Irving, “was calculated to rouse the martial spirit of Ojeda. He brought his ships to anchor, ordered out his boats, and provided each with a paterero or small cannon. Besides the oarsmen, each boat contained a number of soldiers, who were told to crouch out of sight in the bottom. The boats then pulled in steadily for the shore. As they approached, the Indians let fly a cloud of arrows, but without much effect. Seeing the boats continue to advance, the savages threw themselves into the sea, and brandished their lances to prevent their landing. Upon this the soldiers sprang up in the boats and discharged the patereroes. At the sound and smoke of these unknown weapons the savages abandoned the water in affright, while Ojeda and his men leaped on shore and pursued them. The Carib warriors rallied on the banks, and fought for a long time with that courage peculiar to their race, but were at length driven to the woods at the edge of the sword, leaving many killed and wounded on the field of battle.” Next day a larger number of the savages gathered on the beach, but, after a desperate fight, were routed, their houses burned, and many taken prisoners, which was probably Ojeda’s principal object in attacking them. Many similar experiences followed, but in all cases, as might be expected, the Spaniards came out conquerors, scarcely any of their men being even seriously wounded. At one place over a thousand Indians came off in canoes or swam from shore, so that in a little while the vessel’s decks were crowded. While they were gazing in wonder at all they saw on board, Ojeda ordered the cannon to be discharged, at the unaccustomed sound of which they “plunged into the water like so many frogs from a bank.”
Ojeda returned to Cadiz in June, 1500, his ships packed with slaves. But the commercial results of the voyage, after allowing for expenses, were so small that only about 500 ducats remained to be divided between fifty-five adventurers. Nino, another adventurer, who had once served as pilot with Columbus, made a voyage at the same period in a bark [pg 303]of only fifty tons, returning two months before Ojeda, with a large number of the finest pearls and some gold. The amount of pearls paid into the royal treasury was so large that it drew suspicion instead of favour upon Nino and one of his associates, and the first was actually thrown into prison on the accusation of having kept the larger part of the spoil. But nothing could be proved against him, and he was eventually set free.
The year 1499 was also marked by a most important discovery, that of the great kingdom of Brazil. It was reserved for Vicente Yanez Pinzon, in an otherwise disastrous voyage, to first cross the equinoctial line, and on the 28th of January, 1500, to sight the Cape, now known as that of St. Augustine, which he, however, first named Santa Maria de la Consolacion, because its appearance relieved him from much doubt and anxiety. Soon after he had taken formal possession of the territory in the name of Spain, an affray with the Indians occurred. In a general assault the latter killed eight or ten Spaniards, and the crews retreated to their boats, disputing every inch of ground. The Indians pursued them into the water, surrounded the boats, and seized the oars. In spite of a desperate defence they succeeded in overpowering the crew of one of the boats, and carried it off. “With this,” says Irving, “they retired from the combat, and the Spaniards returned defeated and disheartened to their ships, having met with the roughest reception that the Europeans had yet experienced in the New World.” Pinzon revenged himself, not on these savages, but on a quiet and hospitable tribe found on some beautiful islands off the mouth of the great Amazon River. Thirty-six of the poor natives were carried off, to be sold afterwards as slaves.
Off the Bahamas Pinzon’s little squadron of four vessels encountered a terrific hurricane, and two of them went down with all hands in sight of the remaining two, the crews of which were powerless to help. The third was driven out to sea, and the fourth was so battered by the furious waves that her crew abandoned her in their boats. A few inoffensive Indians were found ashore, and fearing that they might spread the tidings that a mere handful of shipwrecked Spaniards were on the island, it was seriously proposed to put them to death, when fortunately the vessel which had been driven away returned, and it was later found that the other had ridden out the storm uninjured. They speedily made sail for Spain, and arrived at Palos in safety. Pinzon had as much as he could do to prevent the merchants who had supplied goods for the voyage—at an advance of a hundred per cent. or so—from seizing and selling the vessels and cargoes. But a royal edict prevented this, and he was able to satisfy them in the end, after incurring much loss to himself.