[1494.] Thus during the absence of Columbus on his second voyage we have seen the ocean route between Spain and Española six times navigated; first, by the fleet of twelve vessels sent back to Spain by the admiral under Antonio de Torres; second, by Bartolomé Colon, who followed his brother to Española with three ships; third, by Margarite, who revolted and left Española during the absence of Columbus in Cuba; fourth, by Torres in command of four vessels from Spain with supplies for the colony; fifth, by the return of the same four ships to Spain with gold and slaves; and sixth, by Juan de Aguado with four ships from Spain in August, 1495.

REPARATION OF THE WORLD.

With the division of the world by Pope Alexander VI., Portugal was not satisfied. The world was thought to be not so large then as now, and one half of it was not enough for so small a kingdom which had boasted so great a navigator as Prince Henry. It was not their own side, but the other side, that troubled the Portuguese, fearing as they did that the opposite meridian threw into Spain's half a part or the whole of India. So Spain and Portugal fell to quarrelling over this partition by his Holiness; and the matter was referred to a commission, and finally settled by the treaty of Tordesillas in June, 1494, which moved the line 270 leagues farther west. About the location of this line of demarcation, and its effect on Brazil, and the Moluccas, much has been written, though little has been said as to the motive that prompted Portugal in making this change. The fact is, that at a time when the Spice Islands were but vaguely known, and the existence of Brazil not even suspected, it is impossible to conceive why Portugal desired to change the partition line from 100 leagues to 370 leagues west of the Azores; for the change could only diminish the possessions of Portugal in India by 270 leagues, as in truth it did, including the Moluccas in the loss, and gaining in return 270 leagues of open Atlantic sea! True, there proved to be an accidental gain of a part of Brazil, but there could have been no idea at the time that this partition line cut through any eastern portion of lands discovered by Columbus to the west. In whatever light we imagine them to have regarded it, there is still an unexplained mystery. The Pacific ocean was unknown; between the discoveries of Spain and Portugal, so far as known, all was land—India. By carrying the partition line westward, Portugal may have thought to find some western land; at all events, it is generally believed that the effect of the partition in the antipodes was not well considered; that the only point in question was the right of making discoveries in the western ocean, and that the treaty of Tordesillas was decided in favor of Spain—Portugal being forced to yield the main point, but insisting on the change of partition in order to give her more sea-room. On the other hand it may be claimed that the antipodes, of which they knew so little, were the avowed object of all the expeditions sent out by both parties. See the original bull and treaty in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, tom. ii. pp. 28, 130; also Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. ii. pp. 173-83; Calvo, Recueil Complet des Traités, Paris, 1862, tom. i. pp. 1-36; Purchas, His Pilgrimes, vol. i. booke ii. pp. 13-15; Curious and Ent. Voy., p. 20; Cancellieri, Notizie di Colombo, p. 183.

Italy, and especially Venice, as we have seen, was the first of the European states to display in any marked degree in mediæval times that commercial spirit so early and so well developed in the Phœnicians. Portugal caught the flame under John the Great, 1385-1433, and led the van of a more daring discovery and exploration by conquests on the north-west coast of Africa. Simultaneously Prince Henry was sending expeditions farther down the western coast of Africa, and among the islands of the Atlantic. His country reaped the reward in 1486, when the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope opened her a way by sea to Hindostan, and to the commerce of the Orient, and gave at the same time the death-blow to Venetian ascendancy in that market.

But Spain, as chance would have it, did not lag far behind her sister kingdom. The fact of the great navigators, Columbus and Vespucci, being Italians, and yet having to seek assistance of Spain, sufficiently indicates in what direction the swing of maritime power was tending. The astronomical schools of Córdova, Seville, and Granada had well prepared Spain for the application of astronomy to navigation, and the long internal wars had bred those bold and enduring spirits who alone are fitted to conduct with success great enterprises of certain danger and uncertain result.

It is claimed by some that John and Sebastian Cabot made their first voyage and discovered Newfoundland in 1494. The claim rests on a statement of the Spanish ambassador to England in a letter dated July 25, 1498, to the effect that during the past seven years several vessels had been sent each year from Bristol in search of Brasil and the Islands of the Seven Cities, and on an inscription on Sebastian Cabot's map of 1544, which states that land was first discovered by the Cabots on June 24, 1494. D'Avesac, Letter on the Voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot, in Kohl, pp. 506-7. But other authors consider the map—even if made by Cabot, which is extremely doubtful—insufficient authority to prove such a voyage.

[1495.] At the solicitation of the brothers Pinzon and other navigators, a license was granted April 10, 1495, permitting any native-born Spaniard to make private voyages for trade and discovery from Cádiz to the Western India; such expeditions to be under the inspection of government, one of whose officials was to accompany each vessel to ensure the payment to the crown of one tenth of the profit of the voyage. For this document in full, see Navarrete, Col. de Viages, tom. ii. p. 165. See also Humboldt, Exam. Crit., tom. i. pp. 356 et seq. Whether any one actually took advantage of this license before its repeal—which was on June 2, 1497, at the instigation of Columbus—is a disputed point of some importance in connection with certain doubtful expeditions to be considered hereafter.

[1496.] Pedro Alonso Niño sailed from Cádiz June 17, 1496, just after the return of Columbus, in command of three vessels laden with supplies for the colony at Española.

AMERIGO VESPUCCI.

[1497.] Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine navigator, claims to have set sail from Cádiz with four vessels in the service of the king of Spain on the tenth, or twentieth, of May, 1497. In what capacity he accompanied the expedition, or who was its commander, he does not state, but says that he was chosen by the king to go with the expedition. "Me ad talia investiganda in ipsam societatem elegit." Sailing south-south-west to the Canaries, 280 leagues from Lisbon, he remained there eight days, and then sailed west-one-quarter-south-west 1,000 leagues in twenty-seven, or thirty-seven, days, to a point on the main-land in 16° north and 75° west of the Canaries—that is to say, on the coast of Central America near Cape Gracias á Dios. This must have been about the 1st of July, some days perhaps after Cabot's landing farther north, which was the 24th of June. The Spaniards went ashore in boats, but the natives were too timid to trade; so that continuing their voyage for two days north-west in sight of the flat coast, they reached a more secure anchorage, established friendly relations with the people, and found some traces of gold. The ships then followed the coast for several days, to a port where was found a village built over the water like Venice, and there fought with the natives (of Tabasco?); sailed eighty leagues along the coast to a region of many rivers (Pánuco?), where they were kindly received by people of a different language, and made a journey of eighteen leagues inland, visiting many towns. This province was called by the inhabitants Lariab, and is situated in the torrid zone, near the tropic of Cancer, in 23° north. Again they started, pursued a north-west course and frequently anchored, sailing thus 870 leagues, until after thirteen months, that is to say in June, 1498, they reached "the best harbor in the world" (port of Cape Cañaveral?), in 28° 30', where they resolved to repair their ships for the return voyage. There they remained thirty-seven days, and when about to depart, the natives complained of certain cannibals who came each year from an island 100 leagues distant to attack them. The Spaniards, in return for their kindness, promised to avenge their wrongs. Accordingly they sailed north-east and east to a group of islands, some of which were inhabited (Bermudas?); landing at one of them called Ity, they defeated the cannibals, and made 250 prisoners, with a loss of one man killed and twenty-two wounded. Returning, they arrived at Cádiz October 15, 1499, with 222 prisoners, who were sold as slaves. The above is the account given by Vespucci in a letter written in 1504, according to the edition adopted as authentic and original by Varnhagen, Le premier Voyage de Amerigo Vespucci, who believes that Vicente Yañez Pinzon and Juan Diaz de Solis were the commanders. This voyage is not generally regarded as authentic; and a long and complicated discussion has arisen on the question whether the account given is to be regarded as true, as wholly a fabrication, or as belonging to a subsequent voyage and accidentally or intentionally dated back two years. As this voyage, if actually made as claimed by M. Varnhagen, would be the first to touch the territory which I denominate the Pacific States, I find it necessary to give in this place the leading points in the discussion. In what may be called the standard authorities on American discovery, such as Navarrete, Humboldt, and others, is found fully presented the question of the authenticity of Vespucci's voyage, always, however, under the supposition that the land claimed to have been visited was the coast of Paria. The theory of M. Varnhagen, that that region must be sought in North America, reopens the question and introduces some new features which cannot be passed by unnoticed in this connection. Without entering upon the somewhat complicated bibliography of Vespucci's narrations, or taking up the question of his claims in the matter of naming America, I shall attempt to state briefly, and as clearly as I am able, the arguments for and against the authenticity of a voyage, in which perhaps is involved the question of the first post-Scandinavian discovery of the North American continent.