The return of Antonio de Torres into Spain with the twelve ships gave much pleasure to their Catholic majesties, who signified to the admiral by his brother Don Bartholomew their entire satisfaction with his conduct, giving him many thanks for all his toils and dangers in their service, expressing much concern for the affronts which had been offered to his person and authority, and promising always to support him in the exercise of his government. They ordered him to send home Bernal de Pisa in the next ships, and to appoint such person as he and Friar Boyle thought proper, in his place of head alguazil. To satisfy the admiral, and to promote the prosperity of the new colony, they ordered Rodriquez de Fonseca immediately to fit out four ships with such articles as the admiral desired might be sent to him, and appointed Antonio de Torres to return with these to the West Indies. He brought letters from their majesties to Columbus, dated at Segovia the 16th of August, in which they thanked him for his exertions in their service, promising to shew him all manner of favour, seeing that he had performed all he had undertaken, as exactly as if he had known the land which he went to discover. They acknowledged the receipt of his letters, giving an account of his second voyage; yet wished him to be more particular in mentioning how many islands he had discovered; what names they were known by to the natives, and what new names he had given them; their distances from each other, and their productions; and an account of the nature of the seasons during the different months. Having sent him all those things which he desired for the advancement of the infant colony, they requested him to send them all the falcons he could meet with, and other kinds of birds. Their majesties approved of all that he had done hitherto in regard to the government of the colony, directing him to continue in the same manner, giving every encouragement and countenance to those who conducted themselves properly, and discouraging all disorderly persons. They were quite satisfied in respect to the town he had founded, since he who was on the spot was necessarily the best judge, and they would have taken his advice if they had been themselves present. They gave him to understand that the controversy with Portugal was adjusted, sending him a copy of the articles of agreement; and as the settlement of the geographical line of partition was a matter of much importance and considerable difficulty, their majesties wished the admiral might be present along with the commissioners of the two crowns at fixing this boundary; but, in case he could not come himself, desired him to send his brother Don Bartholomew, or some other able persons, furnished with proper instructions and draughts for the purpose. And they requested this might be done as soon as possible, not to disappoint the king of Portugal. Finally, in order to receive frequent intelligence from him, they thought it advisable that a caravel should sail every month from Spain to the West Indies, and another return from thence to Spain.
The imprisonment of Caunabo gave great alarm, and infinite offence to his three brothers, who were all valiant men, and who now resolved to carry on war with all the energy in in their power against the Spaniards. Learning that all the country was in arms and collecting to an appointed rendezvous, the admiral, instead of waiting to be besieged in Isabella, determined to meet the Indians in the field. So many of his men were sick at this time, that he could only muster 200 foot and 20 horse. Yet with this small force, he marched from Isabella on the 24th of March 1495, accompanied by his brother Don Bartholomew, the adelantado or lieutenant-governor. Guacanagari, likewise, the constant friend of the Spaniards, accompanied him with all his forces; and part of the force employed by Columbus on this occasion, consisted of 20 blood-hounds, which made great havock among the naked Indians. Columbus marched to the Royal plain, where they found the Indian army drawn up under the command of Manicatex, appearing to amount to 100,000 men. Don Barthlomew gave the first charge, and the Spaniards acted with such vigour, assisted by their dogs, that the Indians were soon put to the rout with prodigious loss, great numbers being slain, and many made prisoners, who were made slaves of, a considerable number of them being sent to Spain in the four ships commanded by Antonio de Torres.
After this great victory, the admiral ranged for nine or ten months about the island, punishing such as he found most active in the revolt. For some time he met with considerable opposition from the brothers of Caunabo; but finding themselves unable to resist, they and Guarionex, being the most powerful caciques in the island, submitted at length to the admiral. On the complete reduction of the island, Columbus imposed the following tribute upon its native inhabitants. All the inhabitants from 14 years of age and upwards of the Royal Plain, the province of Cibao, and of other districts near the mines, were ordered to pay the fill of a small hawks-bell of gold dust every three months. Those of the other provinces were rated at a quarter of an hundred weight of cotton. The cacique Manicatex, who had headed the great insurrection, was condemned to pay monthly half a gourd, or calabash full of gold, which was worth 150 pieces of eight. To ascertain the regular payment of this tribute, certain medals of brass or copper were coined, every time the tribute fell due, and every tributary Indian received one of these to wear about his neck, that it might be known who had paid. Guarionex, the principal cacique of the Royal Plain, represented to the admiral that his subjects knew not how to gather the gold which was exacted from them, and offered to cultivate corn for the Spaniards all across the island, from the town of Isabella to where St Domingo was afterwards built, provided he would demand no gold from him. The distance between these two places is 55 leagues[1], and the grain produce of this vast territory would have sufficed to maintain the whole population of Castile. The admiral was conscious that he was obnoxious to the ministers of their Catholic majesties, being an unprotected stranger, and that he could not support his interest in Spain, except by the transmission of treasure, which made him eager to procure gold from the natives: But the pressure of this tribute was so intolerable upon the Indians, that many of them abandoned their habitations and roamed about the island, to avoid the tax which they were unable to pay, seeking a precarious subsistence in the woods. In the sequel, finding this tribute could not be paid, its amount was lessened by the admiral.
[1] Herrera is exceedingly inaccurate in his measures, as the real direct distance is only 55 Spanish leagues.--E.
The Indians had flattered themselves that the visit of the Spaniards to their country was only temporary, and used often to ask them when they meant to return home: But finding that they built stone houses, that they were much greater eaters than themselves, and were even obliged to bring part of their provisions out of Spain, many of the towns endeavoured to contrive to starve the Spaniards, so that they should either perish for want of food, or be compelled to return into Spain. For this purpose they discontinued the cultivation of provisions, and withdrew into the woods and mountains, trusting to wild roots and the vast numbers of an animal like a rabbit, called utias, for their subsistence. Although by this contrivance the Spaniards suffered greatly from want, and by ranging after the Indians, were often forced to feed on filthy and unwholesome things so that many of them died; yet the calamity fell heavily on the Indians themselves, who wandered about with their families in the utmost distress, not daring to hunt or fish, or to seek provisions, and skulking on the damp grounds, along the rivers, or among the mountains. Owing to these hardships and the want of proper food, a violent distemper broke out among the natives which carried off vast multitudes; insomuch that, through that illness and the casualities of the war, a third part of the population of the island had died by the year 1496.
Friar Boyle and Don Peter Margarite, who had deserted the island without leave, as before related, combined together on their return into Spain to discredit the admiral and his discoveries, because they had not found gold laid up in chests, or growing on trees, ready to lay hold of. They also grossly misrepresented the conduct of the admiral in his government of the colony; and there being other letters sent against him in the four ships commanded by Antonio de Torres, their Catholic majesties began to listen to the aspersions of the malcontents. Owing to this, about the same time that Columbus was taking the field against the insurgents in the Royal Plain, their majesties sent out Juan Aguado, one of the pages of their bed chamber, with authority to inquire into the actual situation of affairs in Hispaniola. They sent at the same time four ships under his command, carrying provisions and other necessaries for the assistance of the colony. The credentials with which he was furnished were in the following terms: "Gentlemen, yeomen, and others residing in the Indies, we send you our page of the bed chamber, Juan Aguado, who will discourse with you in our name, and to whom we command you to give full credit. Given at Madrid on the 9th of April." Aguado arrived at Isabella about the month of October, when the admiral was absent in the province of Maguana, prosecuting the war against the brothers of Caunabo. He immediately began to carry himself with a high hand, intermeddling in the government, reproving some of the officers of the colony who had been appointed by the admiral, imprisoning others, and paying no respect to Don Bartholomew Columbus, who had been left to govern the town of Isabella. He even resolved to go after the admiral with a military escort of cavalry and infantry, who gave out on their march that another admiral was come, who would kill the old one: The natives, being greatly dissatisfied by the war and the tribute of gold, were much pleased with this news; and several of the caciques met together privately in the house of a cacique named Manicaotex, whose territories were near the river Yaqui, when they agreed to complain against the admiral, and to demand redress of their grievances from the new commander. When he received intelligence of Juan Aguado coming in search of him, the admiral thought proper to return to the town of Isabella; where he received the letters of their majesties before all the people, with the sound of trumpets, and all the demonstrations of profound respect. Aguado, however, did not the less continue to shew his indiscretion, behaving disrespectfully to the admiral, and interfering with many things, by which he gave a bad example to others, and encouraged them to despise the admirals authority; who, on the other hand, honoured and entertained him generously, and bore his contumelious behaviour with great modesty. Among other things, Aguado pretended that the admiral had not received their majesties letters with becoming respect; and about four months afterwards he sent for the notaries to his house, requiring them to make out affidavits to that effect. When they desired him to send the vouchers on which this charge was grounded, he alleged that he could not trust them in their hands: At length, however, affidavit was made on this subject; but it was entirely favourable to the character of the admiral. The conduct and example of Aguado were very prejudicial to the authority of the admiral, and the inhabitants of Isabella were at the same time much dissatisfied with their condition; They were mostly sick, and had no other provisions beyond their allowances from the royal stores. Each man was allowed a small measure of wheat, which he had to grind for his own use in a hand-mill, though many used it boiled: Besides which they had rations of rusty bacon, or rotten cheese, and a few beans or peas, without any wine. As they were all in the royal pay, the admiral compelled them to work on the fort, his own house, or the other public structures, which reduced them almost to despair, and induced them to complain of their intolerable hardships to Aguado. Such of the colonists as were in health fared much better, as they were employed in going about the island keeping the natives in subjection. Having collected as he thought a sufficient number of complaints against the admiral, Aguado prepared to return into Spain; but his four ships were wrecked in the port, by one of these great storms which the Indians call Hurrancans, so that he had no vessel to return in except one of the two caravels belonging to the admiral.
Taking into consideration the disrespectful behaviour of Aguado, and being also informed of all that Friar Boyle and Don Peter Margarite had reported to his prejudice at court, where he had no other support but his own virtue, the admiral resolved to appear in person before their majesties, that he might clear himself of the many calumnies which had been invented by his enemies, and might acquaint them with the discoveries he had made respecting Cuba, and give his advice respecting the line of partition of the ocean between the crowns of Spain and Portugal. Before leaving the island, he thought fit to place certain forts in good order, which he had begun to erect for the security of the colony, and to keep the natives under subjection. Besides the fort of St Thomas, already mentioned, for protecting the mines of Cibao, there were the fort of St Mary Magdalen, called likewise the lower Macorix, situated in the district belonging to Guanozonel, one of the caciques in the Royal Plain, three or four leagues from where the town of Santiago now stands, the command of which fort was confided to Lewis de Arriaga. Another fort, named Santa Catalina, or St Catherine, was placed under the command of Ferdinand Navarro, a native of Logronno. Another fort on the banks of the Yaqui, towards Ciboa, was named Esperanza, or the Hope. Another, in the district of the cacique Guarionex, in the Royal Plain, was called the Conception, which was commanded by Juan de Ayala, who was afterwards succeeded by Michael Ballester. The caciques, who were much burdened by the gold tax, informed the admiral that there were good gold mines to the southward, and advised him to send a party of Christians to explore them. Being much interested in this matter, as conducive to support his reputation at court, for which this served very opportunely on his approaching return to Spain, the admiral sent a party under Francis de Garay, and Michael Diaz, with some guides furnished by the Indians, to examine into the truth of this report. From the town of Isabella, this party went by the forts of Magdalen and the Conception, quite across the royal plain, and thence through a pass in the mountains, two leagues long, after which they came in view of a plain belonging to a cacique named Bonao. Having travelled several leagues along the ridges of the mountains in this district, they came to a considerable river called Hayra, the banks of which are very fertile. In this place they were informed that much gold was to be found in all the brooks and rivulets, which they found to be the case. Likewise, by digging in several places, gold was found in such plenty, that a single labourer was able to get to the value of three pieces of eight every day. These new mines are now known by the name of the mines of St Christopher, from a fort of that name which the admiral left orders to build for their protection; but they were afterwards called the old mines. About this time, some inhabitants of Seville were soliciting permission from the court of Spain to fit out expeditions for new discoveries.
SECTION XV.
Conclusion of the Discoveries of Columbus.
Having been very particular in relating the incidents of these two voyages of Columbus, and of the steps previous to their commencement, to shew by what means the discovery of America and the West Indies was first made, I shall only briefly touch upon the remaining particulars of the actions of that great man. Having left all things in Hispaniola in the best posture he was able, Columbus returned into Spain, labouring under severe illness and loaded with heavy accusations: But their Catholic majesties, considering his great services and extraordinary sufferings, cleared him in spite of all his enemies, only recommending to him to treat the Spaniards under his authority with kindness. After receiving from him a recital of the new discoveries which he had made, and of the immense wealth to be procured from these countries, they sent him back honourably to Seville, where eight ships were provided for his third voyage. Two of these he sent out to his brother Don Bartholomew, who had then begun to build the city of San Domingo, the capital of Hispaniola, which is situated on the southern coast of the island at the mouth of the river Ozama. With the other six ships, Columbus set sail from San Lucar de Barrameda on the 19th May 1497. In this voyage he held a southerly course till he came under the line, where he met with long continued calms, accompanied by such violent heat that the men thought they should all have perished. At length the wind sprung up and enabled him to proceed to the westwards; and, on the 1st of August, he discovered the island of La Trinidad, or the Trinity, near that part of the continent of South America, now called New Andalusia[1]. He then continued his voyage westwards along the coast of the continent, trading with the natives for gold and pearls, and giving names to noted places. After spending some time in this new discovery, he sailed back to Trinidad, discovering the island of Margarite by the way. Thinking his presence might be necessary in the colony of Hispaniola, he stood across the Caribbean sea from Trinidad, and arrived at the new city of San Domingo.