The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (Volume II)

139

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 21. Hist. del Almirante cap. 91.

140

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 21. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 91. Letter of Columbus from Jamaica.

141

In some English maps this bay is called Almirante, or Carnabaco Bay. The channel by which Columbus entered is still called Boca del Almirante, or the mouth of the Admiral.

142

Journal of Porras, Navarrete, tom. i.

143

P. Martyr, decad. iii. lib. v.

144

Columbus' Letter from Jamaica.

145

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 92.

146

Idem.

147

Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. Navarrete, Colec., tom. i. Vol. II. – 12.

148

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 23. Hist. del Almirante.

149

Peter Martyr, decad. iii. lib. iv.

150

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 23. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 92.

151

Las Casas. lib. ii. cap. 23. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 92.

152

It appears doubtful whether Columbus was acquainted with the exact particulars of that voyage, as they could scarcely have reached Spain previously to his sailing. Bastides had been seized in Hispaniola by Bobadilla, and was on board of that very fleet which was wrecked at the time that Columbus arrived off San Domingo. He escaped the fate that attended most of his companions, and returned to Spain, where he was rewarded by the sovereigns for his enterprise. Though some of his seamen had reached Spain previous to the sailing of Columbus, and had given a general idea of the voyage, it is doubtful whether he had transmitted his papers and charts. Porras, in his journal of the voyage of Columbus, states that they arrived at the place where the discoveries of Bastides terminated; but this information he may have obtained subsequently at San Domingo.

153

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 24. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 90.

154

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 94.

155

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 94.

156

A superstitious notion with respect to gold appears to have been very prevalent among the natives. The Indians of Hispaniola observed the same privations when they sought for it, abstaining from food and from sexual intercourse. Columbus, who seemed to look upon gold as one of the sacred and mystic treasures of the earth, wished to encourage similar observances among the Spaniards; exhorting them to purify themselves for the research of the mines by fasting, prayer, and chastity. It is scarcely necessary to add, that his advice was but little attended to by his rapacious and sensual followers.

157

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 95.

158

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 25. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 95.

159

Peter Martyr, decad. iii. lib. iv.

160

Letter of the Admiral from Jamaica.

161

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 25. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 95.

162

Letter of Columbus from Jamaica.

163

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 96.

164

Letter from Jamaica.

165

Equivalent to one thousand two hundred and eighty-one dollars at the present day.

166

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 98. Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 27. Many of the particulars of this chapter are from a short narrative given by Diego Mendez, and inserted in his last will and testament. It is written in a strain of simple egotism, as he represents himself as the principal and almost the sole actor in every affair. The facts, however, have all the air of veracity, and being given on such a solemn occasion, the document is entitled to high credit. He will be found to distinguish himself on another hazardous and important occasion in the course of this history. – Vide Navarrete, Colec., tom. i.

167

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 98. Las Casas, lib. ii. Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. Relation of Diego Mendez, Navarrete, tom. i. Journal of Porras, Navarrete, tom. i.

168

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 99.

169

Letter of Columbus from Jamaica.

170

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 99, 100. Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 29. Relacion por Diego Mendez. Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. Journal of Porras, Navarrete, Colec., tom. i.

171

Hist. del Almirante. Letter from Jamaica.

172

Journal of Porras, Navarrete, Colec., tom. i.

173

Letter from Jamaica.

174

Testimony of Pedro de Ledesma. Pleito de los Colones.

175

Letter from Jamaica.

176

Idem.

177

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 100. Letter of Columbus from Jamaica.

178

Hist. del Almirante. Journal of Porras.

179

Relacion por Diego Mendez. Navarrete, torn. i.

180

Relacion por Diego Mendez. Navarrete, Colec, torn. i.

181

Joachim, native of the burgh of Celico, near Cozenza, traveled in the Holy Land. Returning to Calabria, he took the habit of the Cistercians in the monastery of Corazzo, of which he became prior and abbot, and afterwards rose to higher monastic importance. He died in 1202, having attained 72 years of age, leaving a great number of works; among the most known are commentaries on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the Apocalypse. There are also prophecies by him, "which," (says the Dictionnaire Historique,) "during his life, made him to be admired by fools, and despised by men of sense; at present the latter sentiment prevails. He was either very weak or very presumptuous, to flatter himself that he had the keys of things of which God reserves the knowledge to himself." – Dict. Hist., tom. 5, Caen, 1785.

182

Hist, del Almirante, cap. 101.

183

Hist, del Almirante, cap. 102.

184

Letter of Columbus to his son Diego. Navarrete, Colec. Vol. II. -15

185

Hist, del Almirante, cap. 102.

186

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 32. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 102.

187

Hist, del Almirante, cap. 102.

188

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 32.

189

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 102. Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 32.

190

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 103. Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 33.

191

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 104.

192

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 33.

193

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 33. Hist. del Almirante cap. 103.

194

Las Casas, ubi sup. Hist. del Almirante, ubi sup.

195

Not far from the Island of Navasa there gushes up in the sea a pure fountain of fresh water that sweetens the surface for some distance: this circumstance was of course unknown to the Spaniards at the time. (Oviedo, Cronica, lib. vi. cap. 12.)

196

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 105. Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 31. Testament of Diego Mendez. Navarrete, tom. i.

197

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 35. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 106.

198

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 106. Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 35.

199

At present Mammee Bay.

200

Hist. del Almirante, ubi sup.

201

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 107. Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib ii. cap. 35.

202

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 35.

203

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 32.

204

Some brief notice of the further fortunes of Diego Mendez may be interesting to the reader. When King Ferdinand heard of his faithful services, says Oviedo, he bestowed rewards upon Mendez, and permitted him to bear a canoe in his coat of arms, as a memento of his loyalty. He continued devotedly attached to the admiral, serving him zealously after his return to Spain, and during his last illness. Columbus retained the most grateful and affectionate sense of his fidelity. On his death-bed he promised Mendez that, in reward for his services, he should be appointed principal Alguazil of the island of Hispaniola; an engagement which the admiral's son, Don Diego, who was present, cheerfully undertook to perform. A few years afterwards, when the latter succeeded to the office of his father, Mendez reminded him of the promise, but Don Diego informed him that he had given the office to his uncle Don Bartholomew; he assured him, however, that he should receive something equivalent. Mendez shrewdly replied, that the equivalent had better be given to Don Bartholomew, and the office to himself, according to agreement. The promise, however, remained unperformed, and Diego Mendez unrewarded. He was afterwards engaged on voyages of discovery in vessels of his own, but met with many vicissitudes, and appears to have died in impoverished circumstances. His last will, from which these particulars are principally gathered, was dated in Valladolid, the 19th of June, 1536, by which it is evident he must have been in the prime of life at the time of his voyage with the admiral. In this will he requested that the reward which had been promised to him should be paid to his children, by making his eldest son principal Alguazil for life of the city of San Domingo, and his other son lieutenant to the admiral for the same city. It does not appear whether this request was complied with under the successors of Don Diego.

In another clause of his will, he desired that a large stone should be placed upon his sepulchre, on which should be engraved, "Here lies the honorable Cavalier Diego Mendez, who served greatly the royal crown of Spain, in the conquest of the Indies, with the admiral Don Christopher Columbus, of glorious memory, who made the discovery; and afterwards by himself, with ships at his own cost. He died, &c., &c. Bestow in charity a Paternoster, and an Ave Maria."

He ordered that in the midst of this stone there should be carved an Indian canoe, as given him by the king for armorial bearings in memorial of his voyage from Jamaica to Hispaniola, and above it should be engraved in large letters the word "CANOA." He enjoined upon his heirs to be loyal to the admiral (Don Diego Columbus), and his lady, and gave them much ghostly counsel, mingled with pious benedictions. As an heirloom in his family, he bequeathed his library, consisting of a few volumes, which accompanied him in his wanderings; viz. "The Art of Holy Dying, by Erasmus; A sermon of the same author, in Spanish; The Lingua, and the Colloquies of the same; The History of Josephus; The Moral Philosophy of Aristotle; The Book of the Holy Land; A Book called the Contemplation of the Passion of our Savior; A Tract on the Vengeance of the Death of Agamemnon, and several other short treatises." This curious and characteristic testament is in the archives of the Duke of Veragua in Madrid.

205

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 6.

206

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 14, MS.

207

Idem, ubi sup.

208

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 9.

209

Oviedo, Cronica de las Indias, lib. iii. cap. 12.

210

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 9.

211

Charlevoix, Hist. San Domingo, lib. xxiv. p. 235.

212

Relacion hecha por Don Diego Mendez. Navarrete, Col., tom. i. p. 314.

213

Oviedo, Cronica de las Indias, lib. iii. cap. 12. Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 9.

214

Oviedo, Cronica de las Indias, lib. iii. cap. 12.

215

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 8.

216

Las Casas, ubi. sup.

217

Las Casas, ubi. sup.

218

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 17, MS.

219

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 18.

220

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 36.

221

Letter of Columbus to his son Diego, Seville, Nov. 21, 1504. Navarrete, Colec., tom. i.

222

Letter of Columbus to his son Diego, dated Seville, 3d Dec., 1504. Navarrete, tom. i. p. 341.

223

Navarrete, Colec., tom. ii. decad. 151, 152.

224

Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. v. cap. 12.

225

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 108. Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 36.

226

Let. Seville, 13 Dec., 1504. Navarrete, v. i. p. 343.

227

The dying command of Isabella has been obeyed. The author of this work has seen her tomb in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Granada, in which her remains are interred with those of Ferdinand. Their effigies, sculptured in white marble, lie side by side on a magnificent sepulchre. The altar of the chapel is adorned with bas reliefs representing the conquest and surrender of Granada.

228

Elogio de la Reina Catolica por D. Diego Clemencin. Illustration 19.

229

Letter to his son Diego, Dec. 3,1504.

230

Letter of December 21,1504. Navarrete, torn. i. p. 346.

231

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 37. Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. vi. cap. 13.

232

Las Casas, Hist. Ind, lib. ii. cap. 37, MS.

233

Navarrete, Colec., tom. i.

234

Diego, the son of the admiral, notes in his own testament this bequest of his father, and says, that he was charged by him to pay Beatrix Enriquez 10,000 maravedis a year, which for some time he had faithfully performed; but as he believes that for three or four years previous to her death he had neglected to do so, he orders that the deficiency shall be ascertained and paid to her heirs. Memorial ajustado sobre la propriedad del mayorazgo que foudo D. Christ. Colon, § 245.

235

Cura de los Palacios, cap. 121.

236

Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 38. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 108.

237

D. Humboldt. Examen Critique.

238

Cladera, Investigaciones historias, p. 43.

239

Navarrete, Colec., tom. ii. p. 365.

240

Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. ii. lib. vii. cap. 4.

241

Extracts from the minutes of the process taken by the historian Muñoz, MS.

242

Further mention will be found of this lawsuit in the article relative to Amerigo Vespucci.

243

Charlevoix, ut supra, v. i. p. 272, id. 274.

244

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 49, MS.

245

Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 49, MS.

246

Herrera, decad. i. lib. vii. cap, 12.

247

Idem.

248

Charlevoix, Hist. St. Domingo, p. 321.

249

Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad i. lib. ix. cap. 5.

250

Idem.

251

Herrera, decad. ii. lib. ii. cap. 7.

252

Idem, decad. 1. lib. x. cap. 16.

253

Charlevoix, Hist. St. Doming., lib. v.

254

Herrera, decad. ii. lib. ix. cap. 7.

255

Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. iii. lib. iv. cap. 9.

256

Idem, decad. iii. lib. v. cap. 4.

257

Charlevoix, Hist. St. Doming., lib. Ti.

258

Herrera, decad. Hi. lib. Tut. cap. 15.

259

Memorial ajustado sobre el estado de Veragua.

Charlevoix mentions another son called Diego, and calls one of the daughters Phillipine. Spotorno says that the daughter Maria took the veil; confounding her with a niece. These are trivial errors, merely noticed to avoid the imputation of inaccuracy. The account of the descendants of Columbus here given, accords with a genealogical tree of the family, produced before the council of the Indies, in a great lawsuit for the estates.

260

Herrern, decad. iv. lib. ii. cap. 6.

261

Charlevoix, Hist. St. Doming., lib. vi. p. 443.

262

Idem, tom. i. lib. vi. p. 446.

263

Spotorno, Hist. Colom., p. 123.

264

Bossi, Hist. Colom. Dissert., p. 67.

265

Idem, Dissert. on the Country of Columbus, p. 03.

266

Bossi, Dissertation on the Country of Columbus.

267

Spotorno, p. 127.

268

Literally, in the original, Cazador de Volateria, a Falconer. Hawking was in those days an amusement of the highest classes; and to keep hawks was almost a sign of nobility.

269

Herrera, decad. i. lib. i. cap. 7.

270

Dissertation, &c.

271

Bossi. French Translation, Paris, 1824, p. 09.

272

Idem.

273

Correspondence Astronom. Geograph. &c. de Baron du Zach, vol. 14, cabier 6, lettera 29. 1826.

274

Felippo Alberto Pollero, Epicherema, cioe breve discorso per difess di sua persona e carrattere. Torino, per Gio Battista Zappata. MCDXCVI. (read 1696) in 40. pag. 47.

275

Spotorno, Eng. trans., pp. xi, xii.

276

Bossi, French trans., p. 76.

277

Idem, p. 88.

278

Cura de los Palacios, MS., cap. 118.

279

Alex. Geraldini, Itin. ad. Reg. sub. Aquinor.

280

Antonio Gallo, Anales of Genoa, Muratori, tom. 23.

281

Senarega, Muratori, tom. 24.

282

Foglieta, Elog. Clar. Ligur.

283

Grineus, Nov. Orb.

284

"Item. Mando el dicho Don Diego mi hijo, á la persona que heredare el dicho mayorazgo, que tenga y sostenga siempre en la ciudad de Genova una persona de nuestro linage que tenga alli casa é muger, é le ordene renta con que pueda vivir honestamente, como persona tan llegada á nuestro linage, y haga pie y raiz en la dicha ciudad como natural della, porque podrá baber de la dicha ciudad ayuda e favor en las cosas del menester suyo, pues que della sali y en ella naci."

285

Hist. del Almirante, cap. 1.

286

Duke of Calabria was a title of the heir apparent to the crown of Naples.

287

Colenuccio, Hist. Nap., lib. vii. cap. 17.

288

Zurita, Anales de Aragon, lib. xx. cap. 64.

289

Obras de Gareta de Resende, cap. 58, Avora, 1554.

290

Marco Antonio Coccio, better known under the name of Sabellicus, a cognomen which he adopted on being crowned poet in the pedantic academy of Pomponius Lætus. He was a contemporary of Columbus, and makes brief mention of his discoveries in the eighth book of the tenth Ennead of his universal history. By some writers he is called the Livy of his time; others accuse him of being full of misrepresentations in favor of Venice. The older Scaliger charges him with venality, and with being swayed by Venetian gold.

291

Bandini vita d'Amerigo Vespucci.

292

Cosm. Munst., p. 1108.

293

These particulars are from manuscript memoranda, extracted from the royal archives, by the late accurate historian Muñoz.

294

Bartolozzi, Recherche Historico. Firenze, 1789.

295

Panzer, tom. vi. p. 33, apud Esame Critico, p. 88, Antazione 1.

296

This rare book, in the possession of O. Rich, Esq., is believed to be the oldest printed collection of voyages extant. It has not the pages numbered; the sheets are merely marked with a letter of the alphabet at the foot of each eighth page – It contains the earliest account of the voyages of Columbus, from his first departure until his arrival at Cadiz in chains. The letter of Vespucci to Lorenzo de Medici occupies the fifth book of this little volume. It is stated to have been originally written in Spanish, and translated into Italian by a person of the name of Jocondo. An earlier edition is stated to have been printed in Venice by Alberto Vercellese, in 1504. The author is said to have been Angelo Trivigiani, secretary to the Venetian ambassador in Spain. This Trivigiani appears to have collected many of the particulars of the voyages of Columbus from the manuscript decades of Peter Martyr, who erroneously lays the charge of the plagiarism to Aloysius Cadamosto, whose voyages are inserted in the same collection. The book was entitled, "Libretto di tutta la navigazione del Re de Espagna, delle Isole e terreni nuovamente trovati."

297

Letter of Vespucci to Soderini or Renato – Edit. of Canovai.

298

Navarrete, Colec. Viag., tom. i. p. 351.

299

Peter Martyr, decad. iii. lib. v. Eden's English trans.

300

En este viage que este dicho testigo hizo trujo consigo a Juan de la Cosa, piloto, e Morego Vespuche, e otros pilotos.

301

Per la necessitá del mantenimento fummo all' Isola d'Antiglia (Hispaniola) che é questa che descoperse Cristoval Colombo piú anni fa, dove facemmo molto mantenimento, e stemmo due mesi e 17 giorni; dove passammo moti pericoli e travagli con li medesimi christiani que in questa isola stavanno col Colombo (credo per invidia). Letter of Vespucci. – Edit. of Canovai.

302

Preguntado como lo sabe; dijo – que lo sabe porque vió este testigo la figura que el dicho Almirante al dicho tiempo embió á Castilla al Rey e Reyna, nuestros Señores, de lo que habia descubierto, y porque este testigo luego vino á descubrir y halló que era verdad lo que dicho tiene que el dicho Almirante descubrió MS. Process of D. Diego Colon, Pregunta 2.

303

Este testigo escrivió úna carta que el Almirante escriviera al Rey a Reyna N. N. S. S. haciendo les saber las perlas e cosas que habia hallado, y le embió señalado con la dieba carta, en una carta de marear, los rumbos y víentos por donde habia llegado á la Paria, e que este testigo oyó decir como pr. aquella carte se habían hecho otras e por ellas habian venido Pedro Alonzo Merino (Niño) e Ojeda e otros que despues han ido á aquellas partes. Process of D. Diego Colon, Pregunta 9.

304

Idem, Pregunta 10.

305

Que en todos los viages qne algunos hicieron descubriendo en la dicha tierra, ivan personas que ovieron navegado con el dicho Almirante, y a ellos mostró muchas cosas de marear, y ellos por imitacion é industria del dicho Almirante las aprendian y aprendieron, e seguendo ag°. que el dicho Almirante les habia mostrado, hicieron los viages que desenbrieron en la Tierra Firma. Process, Pregunta 10.

306

The first suggestion of the name appears to have been in the Latin work already cited, published in St. Diez, in Lorraine, in 1507, in which was inserted the letter of Vespucci to king René. The author, after speaking of the other three parts of the world, Asia, Africa, and Europe, recommends that the fourth ehall be called Amerigo, or America, after Vespucci, whom he imagined its discoverer.