Although the admiral was much disgusted with the irresolution and want of judgment which he had encountered among the Spanish councillors, and was quite out of hope of success; yet considering himself in a great measure as a Spaniard, owing to his long residence in the country, he was desirous that Spain rather than any other country, might reap the benefit of his undertaking. Another reason of the preference was that his children were then resident in Spain. In a letter which he wrote about this time to their Catholic majesties he said: "That I might serve your highnesses, I have refused the offers of France, England, and Portugal, as may be seen by the letters of these princes, which I have deposited in the hands of the doctor Villalan."
Gained by the pressing instances of Perez, the admiral departed from the monastery of Rabida, accompanied by that ecclesiastic, and went to the camp of St Faith, where their Catholic majesties were then carrying on the siege of Granada. Perez here made such pressing instances to Isabella, that she was pleased to order a renewal of the conferences, which were still held with the prior of Prado and his former coadjutors, who were still irresolute and contradictory in their opinions. Besides Columbus was high in his demands of honour and emolument, requiring that he should be appointed admiral and viceroy of all the countries he might discover, together with other important concessions. The Spanish councillors deemed his demands too high to be granted, as too considerable even in the event of success; and, in case of disappointment, they thought it would reflect ridicule and the imputation of folly upon the court to have conceded such high titles. Owing to these considerations the business again came to nothing.
I cannot forbear expressing my sense of the admirals wisdom and high spirit, as well as his foresight and resolution on this trying occasion. Besides his earnest desire to go upon his great undertaking, and his wish that it might be in the service of Spain for the reasons formerly mentioned, he was now so exceedingly reduced in his circumstances, that any ordinary person would have been glad to accept of almost any offer whatever. But he would not accept any terms short of the high titles and honours, and those other conditions of eventual emolument which he had demanded, as if foreseeing with assured certainty the entire success of his project. Hence by his spirited determination they were at the last obliged to concede to all his demands: that he should be admiral on the ocean of all the seas and lands which he might discorer, with all the allowances, privileges, and prerogatives enjoyed by the admirals of Castile and Leon in their several seas; that all civil employments, as well of government as in the administration of justice, should be entirely at his disposal in all the islands and continents which he was to discover; that all governments should be given to one of three persons to be named by him; and that he should appoint judges in all parts of Spain trading to the Indies, to decide upon all causes relating to that trade and to those parts. Besides the salary and perquisites belonging to the offices of admiral, viceroy, and governor-general over all his discoveries, he demanded to have one tenth of all that should be bought, bartered, found, or procured in any manner of way within the bounds of his authority, abating only the charges attending the discovery and conquest; so that if 1000 ducats were acquired in any island or place, 100 of these were to belong to him. Besides all this, as his adversaries alleged that he ventured nothing in the undertaking, and had the command of the fleet during the expedition, he offered to be at one eighth part of the expence, for which he demanded to receive the eighth part of what he should bring home in the fleet. As these high conditions were refused, the admiral took leave of all his friends, and began his journey to Cordova, with the intention of making preparations for going to France; being resolved not to return into Portugal, although the king had invited him back.
The admiral departed from the camp of St Faith in the month of January 1492 on his intended journey; and on the same day Lewis de Santangel, formerly mentioned, who was exceedingly anxious to forward his project, obtained an audience of the queen of Castile, and used every argument he could devise to persuade her to adopt the undertaking and to comply with the terms required. He expressed his astonishment that she, who had always evinced much greatness of soul in all important matters, should now want spirit to venture upon an undertaking where so little was to be risked, and which might redound so highly to the glory of God and the propagation of the faith, not without great benefit and honour to her kingdoms and dominions. That, should any other prince accept the offer of Columbus, the injury which her crown would sustain was very obvious; and that then she would justly incur much blame from her friends and servants, and would be reproached by her enemies, and all the world would say that she deserved the misfortune and disappointment; and, although she might never be sensible of the evil consequences of her refusal, her successors must. That, since the proposal seemed well grounded in reason and sound argument, and was made by a man of wisdom and knowledge, who demanded no other reward but what might arise from his discoveries, and who was willing to bear a proportion of the charges, and to adventure his own personal safety on the event, her majesty ought certainly to make the attempt. That she ought not to believe the undertaking was such an impossibility as had been alleged by those learned men to whom the proposal had been referred, neither to consider its possible failure as any reflection upon her wisdom; for in his opinion it would be universally looked upon as a mark of generous magnanimity to attempt discovering the secret wonders of the world, as had been done by other monarchs to their great honour and advantage. That, however uncertain the event might be, even a considerable sum of money would be well employed in the endeavour to ascertain the certainty of so very important an affair; whereas the admiral only required 2500 crowns to fit out a fleet for the discovery; and that therefore she ought not to allow it to be said hereafter that the fear of losing so small a sum had kept her from patronizing the enterprise.
The queen was much impressed by these representations of Santangel, of whose sincere attachment to her service and honour she was extremely sensible. She thanked him for his good counsel, and said that she was willing to accede to the proposed enterprise, providing that the execution were delayed until she might have a little time to recruit her finances after the conclusion of the present war. Yet, if he thought it necessary to proceed immediately, she was willing that the requisite funds should be borrowed on the credit of her jewels. Upon this condescension to his advice which she had refused to all other persons, Santangel immediately replied, that there was no necessity to pawn her jewels on the occasion, as he would readily advance his own money to do such a service to her majesty. Upon this resolution, the queen immediately sent an officer to bring the admiral back, who had already reached the bridge of Pinos, two leagues from Granada. Though much mortified at the difficulties and delays he had met with hitherto, yet, on receiving intimation of the queens willingness to comply with his proposals, he returned immediately to the camp of St Faith, where he was honourably received by their majesties. The dispatch of the articles of agreement was commited to John Coloma the secretary, and every thing which he had demanded, as has been mentioned before, without alteration or diminution, was granted under the hands and seals of their Catholic majesties.
SECTION IV.
Narrative of the first voyage of Columbus, in which he actually discovered the New World.
All the conditions which the admiral demanded being conceded by their Catholic majesties, he set out from Granada on the 21st May 1492 for Palos, where he was to fit out the ships for his intended expedition. That town was bound to serve the crown for three months with two caravels, which were ordered to be given to Columbus; and he fitted out these and a third vessel with all care and diligence. The ship in which he personally embarked was called the St Mary; the second vessel named the Pinta, was commanded by Martin Alonzo Pinzon; and the third named the Nina, which had square sails, was under the command of Vincent Yanez Pinzon, the brother of Alonzo, both of whom were inhabitants of Palos. Being furnished with all necessaries, and having 90 men to navigate the three vessels, Columbus set sail from Palos on the 3d of August 1492, shaping his course directly for the Canaries.
During this voyage, and indeed in all the four voyages which he made from Spain to the West Indies, the admiral was very careful to keep an exact journal of every occurrence which took place; always specifying what winds blew, how far he sailed with each particular wind, what currents were found, and every thing that was seen by the way, whether birds, fishes, or any other thing. Although to note all these particulars with a minute relation of every thing that happened, shewing what impressions and effects answered to the course and aspect of the stars, and the differences between the seas which he sailed and those of our countries, might all be useful; yet as I conceive that the relation of these particulars might now be tiresome to the reader, I shall only give an account of what appears to me necessary and convenient to be known.
On Saturday the 4th of August, the next day after sailing from Palos, the rudder of the Pinta broke loose. The admiral strongly suspected that this was occasioned by the contrivance of the master on purpose to avoid proceeding on the voyage, which he had endeavoured to do before they left Spain, and he therefore ranged up along side of the disabled vessel to give every assistance in his power, but the wind blew so hard that he was unable to afford any aid. Pinzon, however, being an experienced seamen, soon made a temporary repair by means of ropes, and they proceeded on their voyage. But on the following Tuesday, the weather becoming rough and boisterous, the fastenings gave way, and the squadron was obliged to lay to for some time to renew the repairs. From this misfortune of twice breaking the rudder, a superstitious person might have foreboded the future disobedience of Pinzon to the admiral; as through his malice the Pinta twice separated from the squadron, as shall be afterwards related. Having applied the best remedy they could to the disabled state of the rudder, the squadron continued its voyage, and came in sight of the Canaries at daybreak of Thursday the 9th of August; but, owing to contrary winds, they were unable to come to anchor at Gran Canaria until the 12th. The admiral left Pinzon at Gran Canaria to endeavour to procure another vessel instead of that which was disabled, and went himself with the Nina on the same errand to Gomera.