Chapter V (11)

----, Marco, influence of his travels upon the mind of Columbus; ii. 406; short account of his travels; his return; commands a galley at the battle of Cuzzola: is taken prisoner and sent in chains to Genoa; writes an account of his travels; is liberated and returns to Venice; an account of his work.

Porras, Francisco de, engages in a mutiny at Jamaica; they embark with most of Columbus's erew in ten Indian canoes; are driven back; and with their companions rove about the island; refuses an offer of pardon; attacks the Admiral and Adelantado; taken prisoner: is set at liberty by Ovando; and sent to Spain to be examined by the Indian board. 284.

Porto Rico, or Boriquen, discovery of.

Portugal and Spain, diplomatic negotiations between the courts of, with respect to the new discoveries.

Potato in Hayti.

Prado, prior of. See Talavera.

Prester John, an imaginary Christian king; account of.

Priests of the Haytiens.

Ptolemy, difficulty at the council of Salamanaca to reconcile the theory of Columbus with that of.

Puerto de Bastimento, harbor of.

---- Bello, discovery of, by Columbus.

---- Santo, Columbus's description of.

Q.

Queen's Gardens, Columlms's arrival at, in his third voyage; archipelago of, discovered.

Question, the territorial, how settled.

Quibian, Cacique of Veragua, interview with Bartholomew Columbus: second interview; determines on preventing the Spaniards from obtaining a settlement in his territories; conspires to burn their houses and murder them; is seized by the Adelantado with his wives and children; escapes in a very extraordinary manner 199; attacks the Spaniards and is defeated.

Quinsai, Marco Polo's account of.

Quintanilla, Alonzo de, receives Columbus into his house.

R.

Rabida, La, convent of, Columbus is entertained at, on his first arrival in Spain; present state.

Reeds, river of.

----, immense, seen on the Mosquito coast.

Reinier, king of Naples, Columbus engages in his service.

Religion of the natives of Hayti.

Repartimientos, origin of: opposition of Don Diego Columbus to the.

Rewards and punishments, ideas of the Haytiens in respect to.

Rio Verde, or the green river.

Riquelme, Pedro, makes his house the headquarters of the rebels at Hispaniola; made Alcalde by Roldan: joins in a conspiracy with Adrian de Moxica; is taken.

Road, the first constructed by Europeans in the New World.

Rodriguez, Sebastian, takes a letter from the prior Perez to the queen. 91.

Roldan, Francisco, history and character of: an account of his conspiracy; takes possession of Xaragua; his conduct in respect to the ships sent forward by Columbus: promises to repair to St. Domingo on the arrival of Columbus; his interview with Ballester; rejects an offer of pardon; demands his discharge; his interview with Carvajal, etc.; determines on going to the admiral; correspondence with the admiral; sends propositions by Carvajal; which are accepted; circumstances prevent their being acted upon; makes a second arrangement with the admiral; is permitted to resume his office of Alcalde-mayor; receives a grant of lands; visits his lands; assumes new authority; is sent to meet Alonzo de Ojeda; his manoeuvres with him; his rivalship with Guevara; seizes him in the dwelling of Anacaona; treated with confidence by Bobadilla; his conduct investigated by Ovando; sails for Spain, and is lost in a violent hurricane.

Roman, Friar, his account of the natives of Hispauiola.

S.

Sabellicus, his account of the capture of the Venetian galleys.

Salamanca, the learned assemble at, to consider the proposition of Columbus; pronounce the plan to be vain and impossible.

Salcedo, Diego de, arrives at Jamaica with succors from Ovando.

Salvador, St., discovery of; awe and surprise of the natives on first beholding the ships of Columbus; description of them; gold first discovered in this island.

Samana, Gulf of, discovered.

San Rafael, discovery of.

Sanchez, Juan, takes charge of Quibian. ii. 196; who escapes; killed in battle by the Adelantado.

Sande, Don Ruy do, his mission to the Spanish court.

Santa Marta, island of, discovered.

Santa, La Isla, discovery of.

Santa Cruz, island of, discovery of.

Santa Gloria, (St. Ann's Bay), discovered by Columbus.

Santiago. See Jamaica; letter of Heneken, note.

----, river of, discovered.

Saometa, discovery of.

Saona, island of, discovered; difference of longitude between, and Cadiz

Scandinavians, an essay relative to the voyages of.

Schedel, remarks on an interpolation in his chronicle.

Seneca, his notice of electrical lights on the masts of ships.

Serafin Point.

Sharks, a multitude of, seen on the coast of Veragua; curious method of taking them; superstition concerning.

Ships, observation relative to the size of those employed by Columbus.

Slaves, five hundred are sent to Spain; three hundred sent by Bartholomew Columbus; arrival in Spain; Queen Isabella interests herself in their favor; orders them to be sent back to Hayti; negroes first introduced to the New World; revolt of; Hispaniola the first island to exhibit an awful retribution; regulations in respect to.

Solomon, the gold used in the temple of.

Soria, Juan de, his insolence to Columbus.

Soul, ideas of the Haytiens in respect to the; the after-state of, believed by the natives of Cuba.

Spain and Portugal, diplomatic negotiations between the courts of, with respect to the new discoveries.

Spotorno, Gio, publishes documents relative to Columbus, note.

Sugar-cane introduced into Hayti.

Superstition of St. Elmo lights.

Swallow, a, encircles the ships of Columbus.

T.

Talavera, Fernando de, prior of Prado and confessor to Queen Isabella. 85; esteems Columbus's plan impossible; he is desired by the king to assemble men of science to consider the matter; reports to the king that the council had pronounced the plan vain and impossible; takes a message from the king;' disgusted at the high terms insisted on by Columbus.

Teneriffe, fears of the crew at beholding Mount.

Territory, question of, how settled.

Thomas, St., fortress of, erected; see note; conduct of the colonists there; attacks of.

Tobacco, first seen in the island of Cuba.

Tobago, discovery of.

Toledo, archbishop of, his character; gives Columbus an attentive hearing; and procures him an audience of the king.

Toledo, Doña Maria de, Don Diego Columbus becomes enamored of: their marriage; and embarkation for Hispaniola; is left as vice-queen at St. Domingo on the sailing of Don Diego for Spain; becomes a widow.

Torre, Doña Juana de la, receives a letter from Columbus with an account of his treatment.

Torres, Antonio de, dispatched from Hispaniola, with twelve ships, to Spain; arrives at Cadiz; dismissed from office.

----, Luis de, sent up the island of Cuba by Columbus; an account of his journey.

Tortoises, sea covered with, on the southern coast of Cuba; curious method of taking; a living one taken out of the maw of a shark.

Tortugas, beautiful island of, discovery of.

Toscanelli, Paulo, his correspondence with Columbus.

Trade of the colonies monopolized by the crown of Spain; the Spanish system the scoff of modern times.

Trasierra, Juan de.

Triana, Rodrigo de, first sees the land of the western world; account of.

Tribute imposed upon the Haytiens.

Trinidad, island of, discovered; description of its appearance; curious account of the natives.

Tristan, Diego; is killed.

Tudela, Benjamin, travels of.

Turk's island, observations relative to.

U.

Ursula, Santa, island of, discovered.

V.

Vassals, natives of Hispaniola reduced to the condition of.

Vega, Garcilasso de la, his tale relative to a pilot having died in the house of Columbus.

----, river; called by the natives Yagui.

----, Real, the royal plain.

Velasco, Francisco.

Velasquez, Diego, commands the soldiery at the massacre of Xaragua.

Veragua, coast of, discovery of; warlike spirit of the inhabitants; soil appears to be impregnated with gold; Golden Castile.

Voraguas, duke of, consents to have the remains of Columbus removed to Cuba.

----, the heirship to Columbus decided in his favor.

Verde, Cape de, discovery of.

Vespucci, Amerigo, first notice of his expedition; employed by Columbus at court; an account of; a summary view of his claim to the title of a discoverer; the voyage whence his name was given to the American continent; Columbus's letter to his son relative to the merit and misfortunes of; Peter Martyr's character of: his letter to René, duke of Lorraine; observations relative to the points in controversy; author's conclusion, that the voyage asserted to have been made by Amerigo Vespucci never took place.

Vessel, stern-post of a, found in one of the houses at Guadaloupe.

Villains, natives of Hispaniola reduced to the condition of.

Villego, Alonzo de, appointed to carry Columbus to Spain; character of; his colloquy with Columbus previous to their sailing.

Vines introduced into Hayti.

Vinland, a supposed discovery.

Virgins, the eleven thousand, islands of, discovered.

Vows made in a storm by Columbus and his crew; attempt at fulfilment.

W.

Waterspout, a remarkable, seen on the coast of Veragua.

Wax, cake of, presented to the sovereigns by Columbus.

Wheat, introduced into Hayti.

Wolves, sea, several killed on the coast of Hispaniola.

Woman, account of a very strong, of Guadaloupe; taken to Columbus's ship; falls in love with Caonabo, and refuses to return on shore.

Women, origin of, according to the Haytiens.

Writing, fear of the Indians of Cariari at seeing the Spaniards write.

X.

Xagua, gulf of.

Xaragua, domain of, an account of; description of its inhabitants; Roldan takes possession of; massacre at.

Xerif al Edrizi, his description of the Atlantic.

Ximenes, cardinal; prohibits licenses to import slaves from Africa to the colonies.

Y.

Yanique, river of.

Z.

Zemes, inferior deities of the Haytiens.

Zipangu (Japan), Marco Polo's account of.

Zones, the, observations relative to.

Footnotes

[1]: Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. iv.

[2]: Ibid., lib. v.

[3]: Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. v.

[4]: Charlevoix, Hist. St. Domingo, lib. ii. p. 147. Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, lib. vi. § 6.

[5]: Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. v.

[6]: "These serpentes are lyke unto crocodiles, saving in bygness; they call them guanas. Unto that day none of owre men durste adventure to taste of them, by reason of theyre horrible deformitie and lothsomnes. Yet the Adelantado being entysed by the pleasantnes of the king's sister, Anacaona, determined to taste the serpentes. But when he felte the flesh thereof to be so delycate to his tongue, he fel to amayne without al feare. The which thyng his companions perceiving, were not behynde hym in greedynesse: insomuche that they had now none other talke than of the sweetnesse of these serpentes, which, they affirm to be of more pleasant taste, than eyther our phesantes or partriches." Peter Martyr, decad. i. book v. Eden's Eng. Trans.

[7]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., tom. i. cap. 113.

[8]: Ibid, lib. i. cap. 114.

[9]: P. Martyr, decad. i. lib. v. Of the residence of Guarionex, which must have been a considerable town, not the least vestige can be discovered at present. Vol. II.--2.

[10]: Escritura de Fr. Roman, Hist. del Almirante.

[11]: Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. ix.

[12]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 121.

[13]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 65. Peter Martyr, decad. vi. lib. v.

[14]: Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 7.

[15]: Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. v. Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 6.

[16]: Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. v. Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 6.

[17]: Ramusio, vol. iii. p. 9.

[18]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 1.

[19]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 118.

[20]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 73.

[21]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 73.

[22]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 7. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 74.

_Extract of a letter from T. S. Heneken, Esq.,_ 1847.--Fort Conception is situated at the foot of a hill now called Santo Cerro. It is constructed of bricks, and is almost as entire at the present day as when just finished. It stands in the gloom of an exuberant forest which has invaded the scene of former bustle and activity; a spot once considered of great importance and surrounded by swarms of intelligent beings.

What has become of the countless multitudes this fortress was intended to awe? Not a trace of them remains excepting in the records of history. The silence of the tomb prevails where their habitations responded to their songs and dances. A few indigent Spaniards, living in miserable hovels, scattered widely apart in the bosom of the forest, are now the sole occupants of this once fruitful and beautiful region.

A Spanish town gradually grew up round the fortress; the ruins of which extend to a considerable distance. It was destroyed by an earthquake, at nine o'clock of the morning of Saturday, 20th April, 1564, during the celebration of mass. Part of the massive walls of a handsome church still remain, as well as those of a very large convent or hospital, supposed to have been constructed in pursuance of the testamentary dispositions of Columbus. The inhabitants who survived the catastrophe retired to a small chapel, on the banks of a river, about a league distant, where the new town of La Vega was afterwards built.

[23]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 7. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 74.

[24]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 74. Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 7.

[25]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 118.

[26]: Ibid., cap. 119.

[27]: Las Casas. Herrera. Hist. del Almirante.

[28]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 8.

[29]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., cap. 121, MS. Peter Martyr, decad. i. cap. 5.

[30]: The particulars of this chapter are chiefly from P. Martyr, decad. i. lib. vi.; the manuscript history of Las Casas, lib. i. cap. 121; and Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 8, 9.

[31]: Las Casas, lib. i. cap. 149,150. Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 12. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 77.

[32]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 153.

[33]: Hist, del Almirante, cap. 78.

[34]: In one of these ships sailed the father of the venerable historian Las Casas, from whom he derived many of the facts of his history. Las Casas, lib. i. cap. 153.

[35]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 157.

[36]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 78.

[37]: Ibid., cap. 79. Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap 13.

[38]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 153.

[39]: Ibid., cap. 158.

[40]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 79.

[41]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 80.

[42]: Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.

[43]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.

[44]: Herrera, decad. I. lib. iii. cap. 16.

[45]: Idem. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 38.

[46]: Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.

[47]: Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iii cap. 16.

[48]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.

[49]: Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, lib. vi. § 50.

[50]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 84.

[51]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.

[52]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 83, 84.

[53]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.

[54]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iii. cap. 16.

[55]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 3.

[56]: Las Casas.

[57]: Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 4. Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, part in MS. unpublished.

[58]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 84.

[59]: Hist. del Almirante, ubi sup.

[60]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 169, MS.

[61]: Letter of Columbus to the nurse of Prince Juan.

[62]: Las Casas, lib. i. cap. 169.

[63]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 5.

[64]: Lag Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 170, MS. Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 7.

[65]: Letter of Columbus to the nurse of Prince Juan. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 84.

[66]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 85.

[67]: Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, part unpublished.

[68]: Las Casas, lib. i.

[69]: Oviedo, Cronica, lib. iii. cap. 6.

[70]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 7.

[71]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib i. cap. 169. Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 8.

[72]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 179.

[73]: Las Casas, ubi sup. Herrera, ubi sup.

[74]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 85. Las Casas. Herrera, ubi sup.

[75]: Letter of Columbus to the nurse of Prince Juan.

[76]: Ibid.

[77]: Letter of Columbus to the nurse of Prince Juan.

[78]: Idem. Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv.

[79]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 9. Letter to the nurse of Prince Juan.

[80]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 180.

[81]: Idem, lib. i. cap. 180.

[82]: Peter Martyr mentions a vulgar rumor of the day, that the admiral, not knowing what might happen, wrote a letter in cipher to the Adelantado, urging him to come with arms in his hands to prevent any violence that might be contrived against him; that the Adelantado advanced, in effect, with his armed force, but having the imprudence to proceed some distance ahead of it, was surprised by the governor, before his men could come to his succor, and that the letter in cipher had been sent to Spain. This must have been one of the groundless rumors of the day, circulated to prejudice the public mind. Nothing of the kind appears among the charges in the inquest made by Bobadilla, and which was seen, and extracts made from it, by Las Casas, for his history. It is, in fact, in total contradiction to the statements of Las Casas, Herrera, and Fernando Columbus.

[83]: Charlevoix, in his History of San Domingo (lib. iii. p. 199), states that the suit against Columbus was conducted in writing; that written charges were sent to him, to which he replied in the same way. This is contrary to the statements of Las Casas, Herrera, and Fernando Columbus. The admiral himself, in his letter to the nurse of Prince Juan, after relating the manner in which he and his brothers had been thrown into irons, and confined separately, without being visited by Bobadilla, or permitted to see any other persons, expressly adds, "I make oath that I do not know for what I am imprisoned." Again, in a letter written some time afterwards from Jamaica, he says, "I was taken and thrown with two of my brothers in a ship, loaded with irons, with little clothing and much ill-treatment, without being summoned or convicted by justice."

[84]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 10. Oviedo, Cronica. lib. iii. cap. 6.

[85]: Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, part unpublished.

[86]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 86.

[87]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 180, MS.

[88]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 180, MS.

[89]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 86.

[90]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 182.

[91]: Oviedo, Cronica, lib. iii. cap. 6.

[92]: Las Casas, lib. i. cap. 182. Two thousand ducats, or two thousand eight hundred and forty-six dollars, equivalent to eight thousand five hundred and thirty-eight dollars of the present day.

[93]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 10.

[94]: Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. ix.

[95]: Herrera, decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 12. Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, part unpublished.

[96]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 2. Muñoz, part unpublished.

[97]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 2 Muñoz, part unpublished.

[98]: Hakluyt's Collection of Voyages, vol. iii. p. 7. Vol. II.-9

[99]: Lafiteau, Conquetes des Portugais, lib. ii.

[100]: Robertson, Hist. America, book ii.

[101]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 3.

[102]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 1, MS.

[103]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. lib. ii. cap. 3, MS.

[104]: Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. iv. cap. 12.

[105]: Muñoz, part inedit. Las Casas says the fleet consisted of thirty-two sail. He states from memory, however; Muñoz from documents.

[106]: Muñoz, H. N. Mundo, part inedit.

[107]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 3, MS.

[108]: Garibay, Hist. España, lib. xix. cap. 6. Among the collections existing in the library of the late Prince Sebastian, there is a folio which, among other things, contains a paper or letter, in which is a calculation of the probable expenses of an army of twenty thousand men, for the conquest of the Holy Land. It is dated in 1509 or 1510, and the handwriting appears to be of the same time.

[109]: Columbus was not singular in his belief; it was entertained by many of his zealous and learned admirers. The erudite lapidary, Jayme Ferrer, in the letter written to Columbus in 1495, at the command of the sovereigns, observes: "I see in this a great mystery: the divine and infallible Providence sent the great St. Thomas from the west into the east, to manifest in India our holy and Catholic faith; and you, Señor, he sent in an opposite direction, from the east into the west, until you have arrived in the Orient, into the extreme part of Upper India, that the people may hear that which their ancestors neglected of the preaching of St. Thomas. Thus shall be accomplished what was written, _in omnem terram exibit sonus eorum_." ... And again, "The office which you hold, Señor, places you in the light of an apostle and ambassador of God, sent by his divine judgment, to make known his holy name in unknown lands."--Letra de Mossen, Jayme Ferrer, Navarrete, Coleccion, tom. ii. decad. 68. See also the opinion expressed by Agostino Giustiniani, his contemporary, in his Polyglot Psalter.

[110]: Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 4. Las Casas specifics the vicinity of Nombre de Dios as the place.

[111]: Navarrete, Colec. Viag., tom. ii. p. 145.

[112]: A manuscript volume containing a copy of this letter and of the collection of prophecies is in the Columbian Library, in the Cathedral of Seville, where the author of this work has seen and examined it since publishing the first edition. The title and some of the early pages of the work are in the handwriting of Fernando Columbus; the main body of the work is by a strange hand, probably by the Friar Gaspar Gorricio, or some brother of his Convent. There are trifling marginal notes or corrections, and one or two trivial additions in the handwriting of Columbus, especially a passage added after his return from his fourth voyage, and shortly before his death, alluding to an eclipse of the moon which took place during his sojourn in the island of Jamaica. The handwriting of this last passage, like most of the manuscript of Columbus which the author has seen, is small and delicate, but wants the firmness and distinctness of his earlier writing, his hand having doubtless become unsteady by age and infirmity.

This document is extremely curious as containing all the passages of Scripture and of the works of the fathers which had so powerful an influence on the enthusiastic mind of Columbus, and were construed by him into mysterious prophecies and revelations. The volume is in good preservation, excepting that a few pages have been cut out. The writing, though of the beginning of the fifteenth century, is very distinct and legible. The library-mark of the book is Estante Z. Tab. 138, No. 25.

[113]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 4.

[114]: These documents lay unknown in the Oderigo family until 1670, when Lorenzo Oderigo presented them to the government of Genoa, and they were deposited in the archives. In the disturbances and revolutions of after times, one of these copies was taken to Paris, and the other disappeared. In 1816 the latter was discovered in the library of the deceased Count Michel Angelo Cambiaso, a senator of Genoa. It was procured by the king of Sardinia, then sovereign of Genoa, and given up by him to the city of Genoa in 1821. A custodia, or monument, was erected in that city for its preservation, consisting of a marble column supporting an urn, surmounted by a bust of Columbus. The documents were deposited in the urn. These papers have been published, together with an historical memoir of Columbus, by D. Gio. Battista Spotorno, Professor of Eloquence, etc. in the University of Genoa.

[115]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 88.

[116]: Señor Navarrete supposes this island to be the same at present called Santa Lucia. From the distance between it and Dominica, as stated by Fernando Columbus, it was more probably the present Martinica.

[117]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 88.

[118]: Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. Journal of Porras, Navarrete, tom. i.

[119]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 88. Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 5.

[120]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 3.

[121]: Las Casas, cap. 5.

[122]: Las Casas, cap. 5.

[123]: Las Casas ubi sup.

[124]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 5. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 88.

[125]: Supposed to be the Morant Keys.

[126]: Called in some of the English maps Bonacca.

[127]: Journal of Porras, Navarrete, tom. i.

[128]: Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 20. Letter of Columbus from Jamaica.

[129]: Journal of Porras, Navarrete, Colec., tom. i.

[130]: Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 21. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 90.

[131]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 80.

[132]: Letter from Jamaica. Navarrete, Colec., tom. i.

[133]: Las Casas, lib ii. cap. 21. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 91.

[134]: P. Martyr, decad. iii. lib. iv. These may have been the lime, a small and extremely acid species of the lemon.

[135]: Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 21. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 91. Journal of Porras.

[136]: Hist. del Almirante, cap. 91.

[137]: Letter from Jamaica.

[138]: Note.--We find instances of the same kind of superstition in the work of Marco Polo, and as Columbus considered himself in the vicinity of the countries described by that traveler, he may have been influenced in this respect by his narrations. Speaking of the island of Soccotera (Socotra), Marco Polo observes: "The inhabitants deal more in sorcery and witchcraft than any other people, although forbidden by their archbishop, who excommunicates and anathematizes them for the sin. Of this, however, they make little account, and if any vessel belong to a pirate should injure one of theirs, they do not fail to lay him under a spell, so that he cannot proceed on his cruise until he has made satisfaction for the damage; and even although he should have a fair and leading wind, they have the power of causing it to change, and thereby obliging him, in spite of himself, to return to the island. They can, in like manner, cause the sea to become calm, and at their will can raise tempests, occasion ship-wrecks, and produce many other extraordinary effects that need not be particularized."--Marco Polo, Book iii. cap. 35, Eng. translation by W. Marsden.

[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.

_Note to the Revised Edition, 1848._--Humboldt, in his Examen Critique, published in Paris, in 1837, says: "I have been so happy as to discover, very recently, the name and the literary relations of the mysterious personage who (in 1507) was the first to propose the name of America to designate the new continent, and who concealed himself under the Grecianized name of Hylacomylas." He then, by a long and ingenious investigation, shows that the real name of this personage was Martin Waldseemüller, of Fribourg, an eminent cosmographer, patronized by René, duke of Lorraine; who no doubt put in his hands the letter received by him from Amerigo Vespucci. The geographical works of Waldseemüller, under the assumed name of Hylacomylas, had a wide circulation, went through repeated editions, and propagated the use of the name America throughout the world. There is no reason to suppose that this application of the name was in any wise suggested by Amerigo Vespucci. It appears to have been entirely gratuitous on the part of Waldseemüller.

[307]: An instance of these errors may be cited in the edition of the letter of Amerigo Vespucci to king René, inserted by Grinæus in his Novus Orbis, in 1532. In this Vespucci is made to state that he sailed from Cadiz May 20, MCCCCXCVII. (1497,) that he was eighteen months absent, and returned to Cadiz October 15, MCCCCXCIX. (1499,) which would constitute an absence of 29 months. He states his departure from Cadiz, on his second voyage, Sunday, May 11th, MCCCCLXXXIX. (1489,) which would have made his second voyage precede his first by eight years. If we substitute 1499 for 1489, the departure on his second voyage would still precede his return from his first by five months. Canovai, in his edition, has altered the date of the first return to 1498, to limit the voyage to eighteen months.

[308]: Gomara, Hist. Ind., cap. 14.

[309]: Navigatio Christophori Columbi, Madrignano Interprete. It is contained in a collection of voyages called Novus Orbis Regionum, edition of 1555, but was originally published in Italian as written by Montalbodo Francanzano (or Francapano de Montaldo), in a collection of voyages entitled Nuovo Mundo, in Vicenza, 1507.

[310]: Girolamo Benzoni, Hist, del Nuevo Mundo, lib. i. fo. 12. In Venetia, 1572.

[311]: Padre Joseph de Acosta, Hist. Ind., lib. i. cap. 19.

[312]: Juan de Mariana, Hist. Espana, lib. xxvi. cap. 3.

[313]: Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. ii. lib. iii. cap. 1.

[314]: Commentarios de los Incas, Lib. i. cap. 3.

[315]: Names of historians who either adopted this story in detail, or the charge against Columbus, drawn from it.

Bernardo Aldrete, Antiguedad de España, lib. iv. cap. 17, p. 567.
Roderigo Caro, Antiguedad, lib. iii. cap. 76.
Juan de Solorzano, Ind. Jure, tom. i. lib. i. cap. 5.
Fernando Pizarro, Varones Ilust. del Nuevo Mundo, cap. 2.
Agostino Torniel, Annal. Sacr., tom. i. ann. Mund., 1931, No. 48.
Pet. Damarez or De Mariz, Dial. iv. de Var. Hist., cap. 4.
Gregorio Garcia, Orig. de los Indies, lib. i. cap. 4, 1.
Juan de Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. xviii. cap. 1.
John Baptiste Riccioli, Geograf. Reform., lib. iii.

To this list of old authors may be added many others of more recent date.

[316]: "Francisco Lopez de Gomara, Presbitero, Sevillano, escribio con elegante estilo acerca de las cosas de las Indies, pero dexandose llevar de falsas narraciones." Hijos de Sevilla, Numero ii. p. 42, Let. F. The same is stated in Bibliotheca Hispaña Nova, lib. i. p. 437. "El Francisco Lopez de Gomara escrivio tantos borrones é cosas que no son verdaderas, de que ha hecho mucho daño a muchos escritores e coronistas, que despues del Gomara han escrito en las cosas de la Nueva España ... es porque les ha hecho errar el Gomara." Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Hist. de la Conquest de la Nueva España, Fin de cap. 13.

"Tenía Gomara doctrina y estilo ... per empleose en ordinar sin discernimiento lo que halló escrito por sus antecesores, y dió credito á petrañas no solo falsas sino inverisimiles." Juan Bautista Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, Prologo, p 18.

[317]: Vasconcelos, lib. 4.

[318]: Murr, Notice sur M. Behaim.

[319]: Barros, decad. i. lib. ii. cap. 1. Lisbon, 1552.

[320]: Investigations Historicas, Madrid, 1794.

[321]: Cladera, Investig. Hist., p. 115.

[322]: Forster's Northern Voyages, book ii. chap. 2.

[323]: This account is taken from Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 123. The passage about gold and other metals is not to be found in the original Italian of Ramusio, (tom. ii. p. 23,) and is probably an interpolation.

[324]: Hakluyt, Collect., vol. iii. p. 127.

[325]: Malte-Brun, Hist, de Geog., tom. i. lib. xvii.

[326]: Idem, Geog. Unirerselle, tom. xiv. Note sur la decouverte de l'Amerique.

[327]: Gosselin, Recherches sur la Geographic des Anciens, tom. i. p. 162, &c.

[328]: Memoirs de l'Acad. des Inscript., tom. xxvi.

[329]: Capmany, Questiones Criticas, Quest. 6.

[330]: Archives de Ind. en Sevilla.

[331]: Capmany, Queat. Crit.

[332]: The author of this work is indebted for this able examination of the route of Columbus to an officer of the navy of the United States, whose name he regrets the not being at liberty to mention. He has been greatly benefited, in various parts of this history, by nautical information from the same intelligent source.

[333]: Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. ix. cap. 10.

[334]: In the first chapter of Herrera's description of the Indies, appended to his history, is another scale of the Bahama islands, which corroborates the above. It begins at the opposite end, at the N. W., and runs down to the S.E. It is thought unnecessary to cite it particularly.

[335]: See Caballero Pesos y Medidas. J. B. Say. Economic Politique.

[336]: In preparing the first edition of this work for the press the author had not the benefit of the English translation of Marco Polo, published a few years since, with admirable commentaries, by William Marsden, F. R. S. He availed himself, principally, of an Italian version in the Venetian edition of Ramusio (1606), the French translation by Bergeron, and an old and very incorrect Spanish translation. Having since procured the work of Mr. Marsden, he has made considerable alterations in these notices of Marco Polo.

[337]: Ramusio, tom. iii.