[333] Mariana says that the Itinerary contains “muchas otras cosas asaz maravillosas, si verdaderas.” (Hist., Lib. XIX. c. 11.) But Blanco White, in his “Variedades,” (Tom. I. pp. 316-318,) shows, from an examination of Clavijo’s Itinerary, by Major Rennell, and from other sources, that its general fidelity may be depended upon.
[334] In the account of his first voyage, rendered to his sovereigns, he says he was in 1492 at Granada, “adonde, este presente año, á dos dias del mes de Enero, por fuerza de armas, vide poner las banderas reales de Vuestras Altezas en las torres de Alfambra,” etc. Navarrete, Coleccion de los Viajes y Descubrimientos que hicieron por Mar los Españoles desde Fines del Siglo XV., Madrid, 1825, 4to, Tom. I. p. 1;—a work admirably edited, and of great value, as containing the authentic materials for the history of the discovery of America. Old Bernaldez, the friend of Columbus, describes more exactly what Columbus saw: “E mostraron en la mas alta torre primeramente el estandarte de Jesu Cristo, que fue la Santa Cruz de plata, que el rey traia siempre en la santa conquista consigo.” Hist. de los Reyes Católicos, Cap. 102, MS.
[335] This appears from his letter to the Pope, February, 1502, in which he says, he had counted upon furnishing, in twelve years, 10,000 horse and 100,000 foot soldiers for the conquest of the Holy City, and that his undertaking to discover new countries was with the view of spending the means he might there acquire in this sacred service. Navarrete, Coleccion, Tom. II. p. 282.
[336] One of the prophecies he supposed himself called on to fulfil was that in the eighteenth Psalm. (Navarrete, Col., Tom. I. pp. xlviii., xlix., note; Tom. II. pp. 262-266.) In King James’s version, the passage stands thus:—“Thou hast made me the head of the heathen; a people whom I have not known shall serve me. As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me; the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.” vv. 43, 44.
[337] “Ya dije que para la esecucion de la impresa de las Indias no me aprovechó razon ni matematica ni mapamundos;—llenamente se cumplió lo que dijo Isaías, y esto es lo que deseo de escrebir aquí por le reducir á V. A. á memoria, y porque se alegren del otro que yo le dije de Jerusalen por las mesmas autoridades, de la qual impresa, si fe hay, tengo por muy cierto la vitoria.” Letter of Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabella (Navarrete, Col., Tom. II. p. 265). And elsewhere in the same letter he says: “Yo dije que diria la razon que tengo de la restitucion de la Casa Santa á la Santa Iglesia; digo que yo dejo todo mi navegar desde edad nueva y las pláticas que yo haya tenido con tanta gente en tantas tierras y de tantas setas, y dejo las tantas artes y escrituras de que yo dije arriba; solamente me tengo á la Santa y Sacra Escritura y á algunas autoridades proféticas de algunas personas santas, que por revelacion divina han dicho algo desto.” Ibid., p. 263.
[338] “Segund esta cuenta, no falta, salvo ciento e cincuenta y cinco años, para complimiento de siete mil, en los quales digo arriba por las autoridades dichas que habrá de fenecer el mundo.” Ibid., p. 264.
[339] See the very beautiful passage about the Orinoco River, mixed with prophetical interpretations, in his account of his third voyage, to the King and Queen, (Navarrete, Col., Tom. I. pp. 256, etc.,)—a singular mixture of practical judgment and wild, dreamy speculation. “I believe,” he says, “that there is the terrestrial paradise, at which no man can arrive except by the Divine will,”—“Creo, que allá es el Paraiso terrenal, adonde no puede llegar nadie, salvo por voluntad divina.” The honest Clavijo thought he had found another river of paradise on just the opposite side of the earth, as he journeyed to Samarcand, nearly a century before. Vida del Gran Tamorlan, p. 137.
[340] See the letter to Ferdinand and Isabella, concerning his fourth and last voyage, dated, Jamaica, 7 July, 1503, in which this extraordinary passage occurs. Navarrete, Col., Tom. I. p. 303.
[341] To those who wish to know more of Columbus as a writer than can be properly sought in a classical life of him like that of Irving, I commend as precious: 1. The account of his first voyage, addressed to his sovereigns, with the letter to Rafael Sanchez on the same subject (Navarrete, Col., Tom. I. pp. 1-197); the first document being extant only in an abstract, which contains, however, large extracts from the original made by Las Casas, and of which a very good translation appeared at Boston, 1827 (8vo). Nothing is more remarkable, in the tone of these narratives, than the devout spirit that constantly breaks forth. 2. The account, by Columbus himself, of his third voyage, in a letter to his sovereigns and in a letter to the nurse of Prince John; the first containing several interesting passages showing that he had a love for the beautiful in nature. (Navarrete, Col., Tom. I. pp. 242-276.) 3. The letter to the sovereigns about his fourth and last voyage, which contains the account of his vision at Veragua. (Navarrete, Col., Tom. I. pp. 296-312.) 4. Fifteen miscellaneous letters. (Ibid., Tom. I. pp. 330-352.) 5. His speculations about the prophecies, (Tom. II. pp. 260-273,) and his letter to the Pope (Tom. II. pp. 280-282). But whoever would speak worthily of Columbus, or know what was most noble and elevated in his character, will be guilty of an unhappy neglect, if he fails to read the discussions about him by Alexander von Humboldt; especially those in the “Examen Critique de l’Histoire de la Géographie du Nouveau Continent,” (Paris, 1836-38, 8vo, Vol. II. pp. 350, etc., Vol. III. pp. 227-262,)—a book no less remarkable for the vastness of its views than for the minute accuracy of its learning on some of the most obscure subjects of historical inquiry. Nobody has comprehended the character of Columbus as he has,—its generosity, its enthusiasm, its far-reaching visions, which seemed watching beforehand for the great scientific discoveries of the sixteenth century.
[342] All relating to these adventures and voyages worth looking at on the score of language or style is to be found in Vols. III., IV., V., of Navarrete, Coleccion, etc., published by the government, Madrid, 1829-37, but unhappily not continued since, so as to contain the accounts of the discovery and conquest of Mexico, Peru, etc.