34

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS1451-1506

Born into a family of wool workers near the once supreme Mediterranean port ofGenoa, Christopher Columbus turned to the sea as a young man; developed a planto find a commercially viable Atlantic route to Asia; and in 1492 won the support ofthe Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, for this "enterprise of the Indies." Hisseries of four voyages between 1492 and 1504 produced a brief moment of wonderfollowed by a long series of disasters and disenchantments. Apparently friendly rela-tions with the Taino Indians on the island of Hispaniola in 1492 turned sour as thesettlers Columbus left behind demanded gold and sexual partners from their hosts;on his return there in 1494, none of the Europeans were alive. A new settlementestablished on the island following this discovery fell into such disorder during theabsence of Columbus in Cuba and Jamaica that in 1496 he was forced to return toSpain to clear his name of politically motivated charges made against him by otherEuropeans in the Indies. A third y-oyage,begun in 1498, took him for the first timeto the South American mainland; the lushness of nature there made him believehimself near Paradise, but that illusion vanished when, on his return to Hispaniola,he encountered Spanish settlers there in open rebellion against his authority. Ableto reach a truce only at the expense of the Taino Indians, who were to be virtuallyenslaved by the rebels, Columbus soon found himself under arrest, sent in chains toSpain in 1500 to answer yet more charges. His last voyage, intended to recoup histarnished reputation, resulted in a long period of suffering in Panama and shipwreckin Jamaica, and these outer woes were accompanied by nearly delusional periods asColumbus underwent a virtual breakdown. Rescued at last from this extremity, hereturned to Europe, where soon afterward he died. The West Indies, as his discoverieswere called, remained disordered and bloody.Several documents regarding the four voyages survive from Columbus's hand. The

supposed Journal of his first voyage is actually a summary prepared by the cleric andreformer Bartolome de las Casas. A letter sent by Columbus to Luis de Santangel, aroyal official and an early supporter of his venture, provides a more authentic accountand served as the basis for the first printed description of America, issued in 1493 inSpain and widely translated and reprinted across Europe. A memorandum regardingthe second voyage, intended by Columbus for the Spanish monarchs (whoseresponses to each point also survive), offers useful insights into the emerging ambi-guities and problems of the colony on Hispaniola. For the third and fourth voyages,three letters from Columbus, two sent to the Crown and one to a woman of theSpanish court, detail his deepening worldly and spiritual troubles.The texts are from Select Documents Illustrating the Four Voyages of Columbus,

translated and edited by Cecil Jane (1930-33).

From Letter to Luis de SantangeP Regarding the First Voyage

[At sea, February 15, 1493]

Sir,

As I kn6w that you will be pleased at the great victory with which OurLord has qowned my voyage, I write this to you, from which you will learn

1. A former·merchant and a court official since 1478 who had supported Columbus's proposal to the..Spanish C(oWl1 and·had helped secure financing for the first voyage.

LETTER TO LUIS DE>SANTANGEL / 35

how in thirty-three days, I passed from the Canary Islands fo the Indies withthe fleet which the l1).OStillustrious king an~rqJiee~our,scl,'yereign.sgave tome.And there I found very many islands fiTrM~ith pe?pld l¥qurp,e.rable;.andof them all I have taken possession for their highiiesses,:;by proclamationmade and with the royal standard unfurled, and no opposition was offeredto me. To the first island which I found I gave the name S(;!nSalvador,2 inremembrance of the Divine Majesty, Who has marvelously bestowed all this; Ithe Indians call it "Guanahani."To the~econd I gave the name Isla de SantaMaria de ConGfPci6n; to the third, Fernandina; to the fourth, Isabella; to thefifth, Isla Juana,3 and so to each one I gave a new name. .When I reached Juana I followed its coast to the westward, and I found it

to be so extensive that I thought that it must be the mainland, the provinceof Catayo.4 And since there were neither towns nor villages on the seashore,but only small hamlets, with the people of which I could not have speechbecause they all fled immediately, I went forward on the same course, think-ing that I should not fail to find great cities and towns. And at the end ofmany leagues, seeing that there was no change and that the coast was bearingme northwards, which I wished to avoid since winterwas already beginningand I proposed to make from it to the south, and as moreover the wind wascarrying me forward, I determined not to wait for a change in the weatherand retraced my path as far as a certain narbor known to me. And from thatpoint I sent two men inland to learn if there were a king or great cities. Theytraveled three days' journey and found an infinity of small hamlets and peoplewithout number, but nothing of importance. For this reason they returned.I understood sufficiently from other Indians, whom I had already taken,

that this land was nothing but an island. And therefore I followed its coasteastwards for one hundred and seven leagues to the point where it ended.And from that cape I saw another island distant eighteen leagues from theformer, to the east, to which I at once gave the name "Espanola."5 And Iwent there and followed its northern coast, as I had in the case of Juana, tothe eastward for one hundred and eighty-eight great leagues in a straightlinerrhis island and all the others are very §;@e to a limitless degree, andthis island is extremely so. In it there are many h rs on the c st of thesea, beyond comparison with others which I know i Christendom, nd manyrivers, goo an arge, I ISmarve ous. Its an s are Ig ,an there arein it very many sierras and very lofty mountains, beyond comparison withthe island of Tenerife. 6 All are most beautiful, of a thousand shapes, and allare accessible and filled with trees of a thousand kinds and tall, and theyseem to touch the sky. And I am told that they never lose thei folia e, as Ican understand, for I saw them as green and as ovely as they are in painin May, and some of them were flowering, some bearing fruit ~nd some'anot er ,cor III a eIr nature. t e nig tingale was singingan ot er ir s a a thousand kinds in t e month of November there whereI went. There are SIXor eIgntkinds of palm, which are a wonder to beholdon account of their beautiful variety, but so are the other trees and fruits

2. The precise identity of the Bahamian islandColumbus named San Salvador is not knowntoday, although many theories have been put for-ward.3. Of these four islands, only the identity ofJuana

(Cuba) is today certain.4. I.e., China (or "Cathay").5. I.e" Hispaniola, where the countries of Haitiand the Dgminican Republic are located.6. The llirgest of the Canary Islands.

36 / CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

and plants. In it are marvelous pine groves, and there are very large tracts ofcultivatable lands, is honey,7 and there are birds .of many kinds.~ diversity. 'theinterior are mines of metals, and thepopulation is without num er. Espanola is a marvel.

1493

From Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regardingthe Fourth Voyagel

Uamaica, July 7, 1503]

* l}c *

Of Espanola, Paria,2 and the other lands, I never think without weeping.I believed that their example would have been to the profit of others; on thecontrary, they are in an exhausted state; although they are not dead, theinfirmity is incurable or very extensive; let him who brought them to thisstate come now with the remedy if he can or if he lmows it; in destruction,everyone is an adept. Itwas always the custom to givethanks andpromotionto him who imperiled his person. It is not just that he who has been so hostileto this undertaking should enjoy its fruits or that his children should. Thosewho left the Indies, flying from toils and speaking evil of the matter and ofme, have returned with official employment.3 So it has now been ordainedin the case ofVeragua.4 It is an ill example and without profit for the businessand for justice in the world. ,The fear of this, with other sufficient reasons, which I saw clearly, led me

to pray your highnesses before I went to discover these islands and TerraFirma, that you would leave them to me to govern in your royal name. Itpleased you; it was a privilege and agreement, and under seal and oath;landyou granted me the'title of Viceroy and admiral and governor general of all.And you (fixed the bounCl(ary,a hundred leagues beyond the Azores and theCape Vercle"1s1ands"by.fl"line~'passin§f.r'om.,pol~4Q•.p01e, ..aRd·you~;gavemewide power over this and over all that I might further discover. The documentstates this very fully. .The Lithennost-impmtant matter; which calls aloud for redress, remains

inexplicabk"wthts"moment;"'Seven'years'l-was at your royal court, where allto whom'''fhiS'unclettaki'Iig'was mentioned, unanimously declared it to be adetusibh':Now-ali;" down to the very tailors, seek permission to make discov-·edes:·"It:'cafibehelievedthatthey~o.forth,topluncleFf ..andjLis.granted"tothem to',do sq, so that they greatly'prejudice"my'h6noranddo'very-greatdamage'to th~enterprise. It is well to give·toGodthatwhiGhcis His due, and

.~ ~ ..

7. The honeybee, presumably the source of thehoney found on ~fei"island, is not nfltive to theWestern Hemisphere. Nor is the nightingale, men-tioned above.1. Written on Jal11aica in 1503, this letter washand-cflrried from tFiere to Hispaniola by DiegoMendez. .,: ,.2. Paria was the"f!1ai)1land region of what is nowVenezuela, near the island of Trinidad. Columbus,

who had first landed in South America ("TerraFirma," as he terms it later) in 1498, argued thatthe terrestrial paradise lay nearby.3. Although it appears that Columbus has specificpersonal enemies in mind, it is not clear who hemeans.4. I.e., Panama, where Columbus was ship~wrecked earlier in this voyage.

LETTER TO F!2RDINAND AND r~kBELLA / 37

to Caesar that which belongs to him. This'is a just sentiment and based onjustice. "The lands which here obeyryour Highnesses are more exten~,iveand richer

than all other Christian lands. After I, by the divine will, ~ac1:placed themunder your royal and exalted lordship, and was on the poiµt"of securing avery great revenue, suddenly, while I was waiting for ships lpcome to yourhigh presence with victory and with great hews of gold, being very secureand joyful, I was made a prisoner and w.iJ:hmy two brothers was thrown intoa ship, laden with fetters, stripped to the skin, very ill-treated, and withoutbeing tried or condemned. Who will believe that a poor foreigner could insuch a place rise against Your Highnesses, without cause, and without thesupport of some other prince, and being alone among your vassals and nat-ural subjects, and having all my children at your royal court?I came to serve at the age of twenty-eight years, and now I have not a hair

on my body that is not gray, and my body is infirm, and whatever remainedto me from those-years of service has been spent and taken away from meand sold, and from my brothers, down to my very coat, without my beingheard or seen, to my great dishonor. It must be believed that this was notdone by your royal command. The restitution of my honor, the reparation ofmy losses, and the punishment of him who did this, will spread abroad thefame of your royal nobility. The same punishment is due to him who robbedme of the pearls, and to him who infringed my rights as admiral.s Very greatwill be your merit, fame without parallel will be yours, if you do this, andthere will remain in Spain a glorious memory ofYour Highnesses, as gratefuland just princes.The pure devotion which I have ever borne to the service of Your High-

nesses, and the unmerited wrong that I have suffered, will not permit me toremain silent, although I would fain do"so; I pray Your Highnesses to pardonme. I am so ruined as I have said; hitherto I have wept for others; now,Heaven have mercy upon me, and may the earth weep for me. Of worldlygoods, I have not even a blanca6 for an offering in spiritual things. Here inthe Indies I have become careless of the prescribed forms of religion. Alonein my trouble, sick, in daily expectation of death, and encompassed about bya million savages, full of cruelty. and our foes, and so separated from the holySacraments of Holy Church, my soul will be forgotten if it here leaves mybody. Weep for me, whoever has charity,' truth, and justice.I did not sail upon this voyage to gain honor or wealth; this is certain, for·

already all hope of that was dead. I came to Your Highnesses with truedevotion and with ready zeal, and I do not lie. I humbly pray Your Highnessesthat if it please God to bring me forth from this place, that you will be pleasedto permit me to go to Rome and to other places of pilgrimage. May the HolyTrinity preserve your life and high estate, and grant you increase of prosper-ity.Done in the Indies in the island of Jamaica, on the seventh of July, in the

year one thousand five hundred and three.

1505

5. The reference is to Alonso de Ojeda (c. 1468-c. 1516), who had taken pearls (part of what wasreserved to Columbus under his agreement with

the Spanish Crown) from Paria to Espanola.6. A small Spanish coin.