Footnote 566:These tropical birds are calledsoldados, or "soldiers," because their stately attitudes remind one of sentinels on duty. The whole town of Angostura, in Venezuela, was one day frightened out of its wits by the sudden appearance of a flock of these cranes on the summit of a neighbouring hill. They were mistaken for a war-party of Indians. Humboldt,Voyage aux régions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent, tom. ii. p. 314.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 567:See above, p.287, note.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 568:For these events, see Bernaldez,Reyes Católicos, cap. cxxiii.; F. Columbus,Vita dell' Ammiraglio, cap. lvi.; Muñoz,Historia del Nuevo Mundo, lib. v. § 16; Humboldt,Examen critique, tom. iv. pp. 237-263; Irving'sColumbus, vol. i. pp. 491-504.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 569:That is to say, he thought he had passed the coast of Mangi (southern China) and reached the beginning of the coast of Champa (Cochin China; see Yule'sMarco Polo, vol. ii. p. 213). The name Champa, coming to European writers through an Italian source, was written Ciampa and Ciamba. See its position on the Behaim and Toscanelli maps, and also on Ruysch's map, 1508, below, vol. ii. p. 114. Peter Martyr says that Columbus was sure that he had reached the coast of Gangetic (i. e. what we call Farther) India: "Indiæ Gangetidis continentem eam (Cubæ) plagam esse contendit Colonus."Epist.xciii.ad Bernardinum. Of course Columbus understood that this region, while agreeing well enough with Toscanelli's latitude, was far from agreeing with his longitude. But from the moment when he turned eastward on his first voyage he seems to have made up his mind that Toscanelli's longitudes needed serious amendment. Indeed he had always used different measurements from Toscanelli.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 570:For an account of Ptolemy's almost purely hypothetical and curiously distorted notions about southeastern Asia, see Bunbury'sHistory of Ancient Geography, vol. ii. pp. 604-608.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 571:See below, vol. ii. pp. 200-210.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 572:The length of Cuba from Cape Mayzi to Cape San Antonio is about 700 English miles. But in following the sinuosities of the coast, and including tacks, the estimate of these pilots was probably not far from correct.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 573:"É cortada la lengua;" "y le cortarian la lengua." Irving understands it to mean cutting off the tongue. But in those days of symbolism slitting the tip of that unruly member was a recognized punishment for serious lying.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 574:It is printed in full in Navarrete, torn. ii. pp. 143-149.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 575:It is given upon La Cosa's map; see below, vol. ii., frontispiece.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 576:Hispaniola continued, however, for many years to be commonly identified with Cipango. See note D on Ruysch's map, 1508, below, vol. ii. p. 114.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 577:See above, p.417.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 578:Las Casas,Hist. de las Indias, tom. ii. p. 80.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 579:See below, vol. ii. pp. 433, 434.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 580:The first of a series of such schemes in American history, including those of Sassacus, Philip, Pontiac, and to some extent Tecumseh.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 581:The Indians then living upon the island did not dig, but scraped up the small pieces of gold that were more or less abundant in the beds of shallow streams.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 582:Peter Martyr,De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. i. lib. iv.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 583:The original Ophir may be inferred, fromGenesisx. 29, to have been situated where, as Milton says,
"northeast winds blowSabæan odours from the spicy shoreOf Araby the Blest,"
but the name seems to have become applied indiscriminately to the remote countries reached by ships that sailed past that coast; chiefly no doubt, to Hindustan. See Lassen,Indische Alterthumskunde, bd. i. p. 538.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 584:Bartholomew's town was built on the left side of the river, and was called New Isabella. In 1504 it was destroyed by a hurricane, and rebuilt on the right bank in its present situation. It was then named San Domingo after the patron saint of Domenico, the father of Columbus.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 585:While the Spaniards were on this island they encountered a party of tall and powerful women armed with bows and arrows; so that Columbus supposed it must be the Asiatic island of Amazons mentioned by Marco Polo. See Yule'sMarco Polo, vol. ii. pp. 338-340.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 586:Among them was Caonabo, who died on the voyage.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 587:The curate thus heard the story of the second voyage from Columbus himself while it was fresh in his mind. Columbus also left with him written memoranda, so that for the events of this expedition theHistoria de los Reyes Católicosis of the highest authority.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 588:"All vessels were to sail exclusively from the port of Cadiz, and under the inspection of officers appointed by the crown. Those who embarked for Hispaniola without pay, and at their own expense, were to have lands assigned to them, and to be provisioned for one year, with a right to retain such lands and all houses they might erect upon them. Of all gold which they might collect, they were to retain one third for themselves, and pay two thirds to the crown. Of all other articles of merchandise, the produce of the island, they were to pay merely one tenth to the crown. Their purchases were to be made in the presence of officers appointed by the sovereigns, and the royal duties paid into the hands of the king's receiver. Each ship sailing on private enterprise was to take one or two persons named by the royal officers at Cadiz. One tenth of the tonnage of the ship was to be at the service of the crown, free of charge. One tenth of whatever such ships should procure in the newly-discovered countries was to be paid to the crown on their return. These regulations included private ships trading to Hispaniola with provisions. For every vessel thus fitted out on private adventure, Columbus, in consideration of his privilege of an eighth of tonnage, was to have the right to freight one on his own account." Irving'sColumbus, vol. ii. p. 76.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 589:"Parece que uno debiera de, en estos reveses, y, por ventura, en palábras contra él y contra la negociacion destas Indias, mas que otro señalarse, y segun entendÃ, no debiera ser cristiano viejo, y creo que se llamaba Ximeno, contra el cual debió el Almirante gravemente sentirse y enojarse, y aguardó el dia que se hizo á la vela, y, ó en la nao que entró, por ventura, el dicho oficial, ó en tierra quando queria desembarcarse, arrebatólo el Almirante, y dále muchas coces ó remesones, por manera que lo trató mal; y á mi parecer, por esta causa principalmente, sobre otras quejas que fueron de acá, y cosas que murmuraron dél y contra él los que bien con él no estaban y le acumularon; los Reyes indignados proveyeron de quitarle la gobernacion." Las Casas,Historia de las Indias, tom. ii. p. 199.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 590:The figure given by Columbus is equivalent only to 360 geographical miles (Navarrete,Coleccion, tom. i. p. 246), but as Las Casas (Hist.tom. ii. p. 226) already noticed, there must be some mistake here, for on a S. W. course from the Cape Verde islands it would require a distance of 900 geographical miles to cut the fifth parallel. From the weather that followed, it is clear that Columbus stated his latitude pretty correctly; he had come into the belt of calms. Therefore his error must be in the distance run.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 591:Humboldt in 1799 did just this thing, starting from Teneriffe and reaching Trinidad in nineteen days. See Bruhn'sLife of Humboldt, vol. i. p. 263.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 592:"The strength of the trade-winds depends entirely upon the difference in temperature between the equator and the pole; the greater the difference, the stronger the wind. Now, at the present time, the south pole is much colder than the north pole, and the southern trades are consequently much stronger than the northern, so that the neutral zone in which they meet lies some five degrees north of the equator."Excursions of an Evolutionist, p. 64.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 593:Irving'sColumbus, vol. ii. p. 137. One is reminded of a scene in theRime of the Ancient Mariner:—
"All in a hot and copper skyThe bloody sun, at noon,Right up above the mast did stand,No bigger than the moon."Day after day, day after day,We stuck,—nor breath nor motion;As idle as a painted shipUpon a painted ocean."[Back to Main Text]
"All in a hot and copper skyThe bloody sun, at noon,Right up above the mast did stand,No bigger than the moon.
"Day after day, day after day,We stuck,—nor breath nor motion;As idle as a painted shipUpon a painted ocean."[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 594:He "gave it the name of Isla Santa," says Irving (vol. ii. p. 140), "little imagining that he now, for the first time, beheld that continent, that Terra Firma, which had been the object of his earnest search." The reader of this passage should bear in mind that the continent of South America, which nobody had ever heard of, wasnotthe object of Columbus's search. The Terra Firma which was the object of his search was the mainland of Asia, and that he never beheld, though he felt positively sure that he had already set foot upon it in 1492 and 1494.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 595:A modern traveller thus describes this river: "Right and left of us lay, at some distance off, the low banks of the Apuré, at this point quite a broad stream. But before us the waters spread out like a wide dark flood, limited on the horizon only by a low black streak, and here and there showing a few distant hills. This was the Orinoco, rolling with irrepressible power and majesty sea-wards, and often upheaving its billows like the ocean when lashed to fury by the wind.... The Orinoco sends a current of fresh water far into the ocean, its waters—generally green, but in the shallows milk-white—contrasting sharply with the indigo blue of the surrounding sea." Bates,Central America, the West Indies, and South America, 2d ed., London, 1882, pp. 234, 235. The island of Trinidad forms an obstacle to the escape of this huge volume of fresh water, and hence the furious commotion at the two outlets, the Serpent's Mouth and Dragon's Mouth, especially in July and August, when the Orinoco is swollen with tropical rains.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 596:In Columbus's own words, in his letter to the sovereigns describing this third voyage, "Y digo que ... viene este rio y procede de tierra infinita, pues al austro, de la cual fasta agora no se ha habido noticia." Navarrete,Coleccion, tom. i. p. 262.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 597:Thus would be explained the astounding force with which the water was poured down. It was common in the Middle Ages to imagine the terrestrial paradise at the top of a mountain. See Dante,Purgatorio, canto xxviii. Columbus quotes many authorities in favour of his opinion. The whole letter is worth reading. See Navarrete, tom. i. pp. 242-264.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 598:"Ecco i figliuoli dell' Ammiraglio de' Mosciolini, di colui che ha trovate terre di vanitá e d' inganno, per sepoltura e miseria de' gentiluomini castigliani."Vita dell' Ammiraglio, cap. lxxxiv.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 599:Major,Prince Henry the Navigator, pp. 398-401.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 600:The documents are given in Navarrete,Coleccion de viages, tom. ii. pp. 235-240; and, with accompanying narrative, in Las Casas,Hist. de las Indias, tom. ii. pp. 472-487.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 601:No better justification for the government of the brothers Columbus can be found than to contrast it with the infinitely worse state of affairs that ensued under the administrations of Bobadilla and Ovando. See below, vol. ii. pp. 442-446.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 602:Las Casas,Hist. de las Indias, tom. ii. p. 501; F. Columbus,Vita dell' Ammiraglio, cap. lxxxv. Ferdinand adds that he had often seen these fetters hanging in his father's room.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 603:It is given in full in Las Casas,op. cit.tom. ii. pp. 502-510.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 604:Herrera,Historia, dec. i. lib. iv. cap. 10.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 605:See below, vol. ii. pp. 435-446.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 606:Navarrete,Coleccion, tom. ii. pp. 280-282.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 607:The MS. volume of notes on the prophecies is in the Colombina. There is a description of it in Navarrete, tom. ii. pp. 260-273.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 608:"Aqueste tan gran juicio de Dios no curemos de escudriñallo, pues en el dia final deste mundo nos será bien claro."Hist. do las Indias, tom. iii. p. 32; cf.Vita dell' Ammiraglio, cap. lxxxvii. As Las Casas was then in San Domingo, having come out in Ovando's fleet, and as Ferdinand Columbus was with his father, the testimony is very direct.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 609:In the next chapter I shall give some reasons for supposing that the Admiral had learned the existence of the Yucatan channel from the pilot Ledesma, coupled with information which made it unlikely that a passage into the Indian ocean would be found that way. See below, vol. ii. p. 92.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 610:Vita dell' Ammiraglio, cap. lxxxviii.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 611:Irving (vol. ii. pp. 386, 387) seems to think it strange that Columbus did not at once turn westward and circumnavigate Yucatan. But if—as Irving supposed—Columbus had not seen the Yucatan channel, and regarded the Honduras coast as continuous with that of Cuba, he could only expect by turning westward to be carried back to Cape Alpha and Omega, where he had already been twice before! In the next chapter, however, I shall show that Columbus may have shaped his course in accordance with the advice of the pilot Ledesma.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 612:Navarrete,Coleccion de viages, tom. i. p. 299.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 613:Vita dell' Ammiraglio, cap. lxxxix.; Humboldt,Examen Critique, tom. i. p. 350.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 614:"Nothing could evince more clearly his generous ambition than hurrying in this brief manner along a coast where wealth was to be gathered at every step, for the purpose of seeking a strait which, however it might produce vast benefit to mankind, could yield little else to himself than the glory of the discovery." Irving'sColumbus, vol. ii. p. 406. In this voyage, however, the express purpose from the start was to find the strait of Malacca as a passage to the very same regions which had been visited by Gama, and Columbus expected thus to get wealth enough to equip an army of Crusaders. Irving's statement does not correctly describe the Admiral's purpose, and as savouring of misplaced eulogy, is sure to provoke a reaction on the part of captious critics.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 615:A graphic account of these scenes, in which he took part, is given by Ferdinand Columbus,Vita dell' Ammiraglio, cap. xciii.-cvi.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 616:Harrisse,Notes on Columbus, New York, 1866, p. 73.[Back to Main Text]
Footnote 617:Vita del Ammiraglio, cap. cvii. This is unquestionably a gloss of the translator Ulloa. Cf. Harrisse,Christophe Colomb, tom. ii. pp. 177-179.[Back to Main Text]