New Granada is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea, and the province of Costa Rica in the kingdom of Guatimala; on the east by the government of Caraccas, Spanish Guiana, and Portuguese Guiana; on the west by the Pacific Ocean; and on the south by the river Maranon, and the viceroyalty of Peru: its extent from 3° 30ʹ south latitude to 12° north latitude, is about 930 geographical miles, its mean breadth being 240.
TERRITORIAL AND POLITICAL DIVISIONS.
This extensive viceroyalty is divided into numerous provinces, governed by intendants and governors under the orders of the viceroy.
These provinces are named Jaen de Bracamoros, Quixos, Maynas, Quito, Tacames, Popayan, Antioquia, Santa Fé, San Juan de los Llanos, Merida, Santa Marta, Carthagena, Choco, Darien, Panama, and Veragua; the three last of which are known by the distinctive appellation of Tierra Firme.
DISCOVERIES.
The coasts of New Granada which border on the Caribbean Sea were first visited by Columbus during his fourth voyage. Sailing from Spain to the West Indies, he arrived with his fleet at St. Domingo, in Hispaniola, where the governor Ovando, from private pique, refused him permission to enter the harbour and refit his vessels. This unforeseen occurrence obliged the admiral to stand to the west; after sailing in this direction for a few days, he discovered a little island, off the coast or cape of Honduras, where his brother landed, and traded with the natives. Prosecuting their voyage, they touched at the Cape itself, then called by Columbus Cape Casinas, and on which the admiralʼs brother landed to take formal possession for the crown of Spain: after this ceremony the fleet proceeded along the shore, and was compelled by the easterly winds to double a cape, which the pilots performing with difficulty, gave it the appellation of Gracias à Dios (thanks to God), because they could now take advantage of those winds in navigating along such unknown coasts with comparative safety.
Columbus touched at many places in this voyage, at Veragua, Nombre de Dios, Belem, Porto Bello, &c. At Veragua he sent his brother up the country to search for gold, and Don Bartolomeo returning with a considerable quantity; the admiral wished to have planted a colony, but having made several fruitless attempts, and finding that the ships were very rotten and worm-eaten, he set sail for Hispaniola to procure new vessels and supplies; in this attempt he was forced by storms to run on shore in a creek in the island of Jamaica, where he propped up the worn-out hulls with shores, building huts on the decks for the crews. Columbus remained almost a year in this condition, and from the mutinous behaviour of his men, his life was several times in danger; this, combined with the fatigue and vexation he had undergone, seriously affected his health, and at length, worn out with watching for succour, he determined as a last resource, to send over a canoe to Hispaniola, with one of his most faithful followers, and some Indians. These men after encountering great dangers, succeeded in reaching that island, and there procured a small ship, (but not without much opposition from the enemies of Columbus,) in which this great and unfortunate man returned to Spain, where he fixed his abode at Valladolid, and closed his illustrious career on the 20th of May, 1506, at the age of 64. His body was interred in the church of the Carthusians at Seville, and a handsome monument pointed out the spot where his remains were deposited; on which was engraven this inscription:—
“A Castilla y a Leon,
Nuévo mundo dio Colon.”
“To Castile and Leon Columbus gave a new world.”