Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus

Front matter

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Introduction

. The first discovery of the western hemisphere has already been related by the author in his History of Co lumbus. It is proposed by him, in the present work, to narrate the enterprises of certain of the companions and disciples of the admiral, who, enkindled by his zeal, and instructed by his example, sallied forth separately in the vast region of adventure to which he had led the way. Many of them sought merely to skirt the continent which he had partially visited, and to secure the first fruits of the pearl fisheries of Paria and Cubaga, or to explore the coast of Veragua, which he had represented as the Aurea Chersonesus of the Ancients. Others aspired to accomplish a grand discovery which he had meditated toward the close of his career. In the course of his expeditions along the coast of Terra Firma, Columbus had repeatedly received information of the existence of a vast sea to the south.

He supposed it to be the great Indian Ocean, the region of the Oriental spice islands, and that it must communicate by a strait with the Caribbean Sea. His last and most disastrous voyage was made for the express purpose of discovering that imaginary strait, and making

INTRODUCTION.

. his way irjto this Southern Ocean. The illustrious navi gator, however, was doomed to die, as it were, upon the threshold of his discoveries. It was reserved for one of his followers, Vasco Nufiez de Balboa, to obtain the first view of the promised ocean, from the lofty mountains of Darien, some years after the eyes of the venerable admiral had been closed in death. The expeditions herein narrated, therefore, may be considered as springing immediately out of the voyages of Columbus, and fulfilling some of his grand designs. They may be compared to the attempts of adventurous knights errant to achieve the enterprise left unfinished by some illustrious predecessor. Neither is this com parison entirely fanciful. On the contrary, it is a curious fact, well worthy of notice, that the spirit of chivalry entered largely into the early expeditions of the Spanish discoverers, giving them a character wholly distinct from similar enterprises undertaken by other nations.

It will not, perhaps, be considered far sought, if we trace the cause of this peculiarity to the domestic history of the Spaniards during the middle ages. Eight centuries of incessant warfare with the Moorish usurpers of the peninsula produced a deep and lasting effect upon the Spanish character and manners. The war being ever close at home, mingled itself with the domestic habits and concerns of the Spaniard. He was born a soldier. The wild and predatory nature of the war, also, made him a kind of chivalrous marauder. His horse and weapon were always ready for the field. His delight was in roving incursions and extravagant exploits, and no gain was so glorious in his eyes as the cavalgada of spoils and captives, driven home in triumph from a plundered province. Religion, which has ever held great

INTRODUCTION.

. empire in the Spanish mind, lent its aid to sanctify these roving and ravaging propensities, and the Castilian cavalier, as he sacked the towns and laid waste the fields of his Moslem neighbour, piously believed he was doing God service. The conquest of Granada put an end to the peninsular wars between christian and infidel ; the spirit of Spanish chivalry was thus suddenly deprived of its wonted sphere of action ; but it had been too long fostered and excited to be as suddenly appeased. The youth of the nation, bred up to daring adventure and heroic achievement, could not brook the tranquil and regular pursuits of com mon life, but panted for some new field of romantic en terprise. It was at this juncture that the grand project of Co lumbus was carried into effect. His treaty with the sovereigns was, in a manner, signed with the same pen that had subscribed the capitulation of the Moorish capital, and his first expedition may almost be said to have departed from beneath the walls of Granada.

Many of the youthful cavaliers who had fleshed their swords in that memorable war, crouded the ships of the discoverers, thinking a new career of arms was to be opened to them — a kind of crusade into splendid and unknown regions of infidels. The very weapons and armour that had been used against the Moors, were drawn from the arsenals to equip the discoverers, and some of the most noted of the early commanders in the new world will be found to have made their first essay in arms under the banner of Fer dinand and Isabella, in their romantic campaigns among the mountains of Andalusia. To these circumstances may, in a great measure, be ascribed that swelling chivalrous spirit which will be

INTRODUCTION.

. found continually mingling, or rather warring, with the technical habits of the seaman, and the sordid schemes of the mercenary adventurer; in these early Spanish discoveries, chivalry had left the land and launched upon the deep. The Spanish cavalier had embarked in the Cara val of the discoverer; he carried among the trackless wildernesses of the new world, the same contempt of dan ger and fortitude under suffering, the same restless roam ing spirit, the same passion for inroad and ravage, and vain-glorious exploit, and the same fervent, and often bigoted, zeal for the propagation of his faith that had dis tinguished him during his warfare with the Moors. In stances in point will be found in the extravagant career of the daring Ojeda, particularly in his adventures along the coast of Terra Firma and the wild shores of Cuba.

In the sad story of the "unfortunate Nicuesa;" graced as it is with occasional touches of high-bred courtesy ; in the singular cruise of that brave, but credulous, old cava lier, Juan Ponce de Leon, who fell upon the flowery coast of Florida, in his search after an imaginary fountain of youth ; and above all in the chequered fortunes of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, whose discovery of the Pacific ocean, forms one of the most beautiful and striking incidents in the history of the new world, and whose fate might furnish a theme of wonderful interest for a poem or a drama. The extraordinary actions and adventures of these men, while they rival the exploits recorded in chivalric tale, have the additional interest of verity. They leave us in admiration of the bold and heroic qualities inherent in the Spanish character, which led that nation to so high a pitch of power and glory, and which are still discernible in the great mass of that gallant people, by those who have an opportunity of judging of them rightly.

INTRODUCTION.

. 7 Before concluding these prefatory remarks, the author would acknowledge how much he has been indebted to the third volume of the invaluable Historical collection of Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrete, wherein he has ex hibited his usual industry, accuracy and critical acumen. He has likewise profited greatly by the second volume of Oviedo's general history, which only exists in manuscript, and a copy of which he found in the Columbian library of the Cathedral of Seville. He has had some assistance also from the documents of the law case between Don Diego Columbus and the Crown, which exists in the archives of the Indies ; and for an inspection of which he is much indebted to the permission of the Spanish Government and the kind attentions of Don Josef de La Higuera Lara, the keeper of the archives.

These, with the historical works of Las Casas, Herrera Gomera, and Peter Martyr, have been his au thorities for the facts cpntained in the following work ; though he has not thought proper to refer to them con tinually at the bottom of his page. While his work was going through the press he received a volume of Spanish Biography, written with great elegance and accuracy, by Don Manuel Josef Quintana, and containing a life of Vasco Nunez de Balboa. He was gratified to find that his arrangement of facts were generally corroborated by this work ; though he was en abled to correct his dates in several instances, and to make a few other emendations from the volume of Seflor Quintana, whose position in Spain gave him the means of attaining superior exactness on these points. ALONZO DE OJEDA.* — H+V© @©4*« — HIS FIRST VOYAGE, IN WHICH HE WAS ACCOMPANIED BY AMERIGO VESPUCCI-t

Chapter I

Some Account of Ojeda — of Juan de la Cosa — of Amerigo Vespucci — Preparations for the Voyage. — (1499.) Those who have read the History of Columbus will, doubtless, remember the character and exploits of Alonzo de Ojeda; as some of the readers of the following pages, however, may not have perused that work, and as it is proposed at present to trace the subsequent fortunes of this youthful adventurer, a brief sketch of him may not be deemed superfluous. Alonzo de Ojeda was a native of Cuenca, in New Cas tile, and of a respectable family. He was brought up as a page or esquire, in the service of Don Luis de Cerda, Duke of Medina Celi, one of the most powerful nobles of Spain ; the same who for some time patronised Columbus during his application to the Spanish court. J In those warlike days, when the peninsula was distracted by contests between the christian kingdoms, by * Ojeda is pronounced in Spanish Oheda, with a strong aspi ration of the h. t Vespucci, Vespuchy.

X Varones Ilustres, por F. Pizarro y Orellana, p. 41. Las Casas, Hist. Ind. 1. i. c. 82. '2 [1499. 10 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. feuds between the nobles and the crown, and by the in cessant and marauding warfare with the Moors, the house hold of a Spanish nobleman was a complete school of arms, where the youth of the country were sent to be trained up in all kinds of hardy exercises, and to be led to battle under an illustrious banner. Such was especi ally the case with the service of the Duke of Medina Celi, who possessed princely domains, whose household was a petty court, who led legions of armed retainers to the field, and who appeared in splendid state and with an immense retinue, more as an ally of Ferdinand and Isabella, than as a subject. He engaged in many of the roughest expeditions of the memorable war of Granada, always insisting on leading his own troops in pe^gon, when the service was of peculiar difficulty and danger.

Alonzo de Ojeda was formed to signalize himself in such a school. Though small of stature, he was well made, and of wonderful force and activity, with a towering spi rit and a daring eye that seemed to make up for defici ency of height. He was a bold and graceful horseman, an excellent foot soldier, dexterous with every weapon, and noted for his extraordinary skill and adroitness in all feats of strength and agility. He must have been quite young when he followed the duke of Medina Celi, as page, to the Moorish wars ; for he was but about twenty-one years of age when he accompanied Columbus in his second voyage ; he had already, however, distinguished himself by his enter prizing spirit and headlong valour; and his exploits during that voyage contributed to enhance his reputation. He returned to Spain with Columbus, but did not accompany him in his third voyage, in the spring of 1498.

He was probably impatient of subordination, and ambi- 1499.] 11 ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. tious of a separate employment or command, which the influence of his connexions gave him a great chance of obtaining. He had a cousin german of his own name, the reverend Padre Alonzo de Ojeda, a Dominican friar, who was one of the first inquisitors of Spain, and a great favourite with the Catholic sovereigns.* This father inquisitor was, moreover, an intimate friend of the bishop Don Juan Rodriguez Fonseca, who had the chief management of the affairs of the Indies, under which general name were comprehended all the countries discovered in the new world. Through the good offices of his cousin inquisitor, therefore, Ojeda had been introduced to the notice of the bishop, who took him into his especial favour and patronage.

Mention has already been made, in the History of Columbus, of a present made by the bishop to Ojeda. of a small Flemish painting of the Holy Virgin. This the young adventurer carried about with him as a protecting relic, invoking it at all times of peril, whether by sea or land ; and to the special care of the Virgin he attributed the remarkable circumstance that he had never been wounded in any of the innumerable brawls and battles into which he was continually betrayed by his rash and fiery temperament. While Ojeda was lingering about the court, letters were received from Columbus, giving an account of the events of his third voyage, especially of his discovery of the coast of Paria, which he described as abounding with drugs and spices, with gold and silver, • and precious stones, and, above all, with oriental pearls, and which he supposed to* be the borders of that vast and unknown region of the East, wherein, according to certain learned * Pizarro.

Varones Ilustres. [1499. 12 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. theorists, was situated the terrestrial paradise. Speci mens of the pearls, procured in considerable quantities from the natives, accompanied his epistle, together with charts descriptive of his route. These tidings caused a great sensation among the maritime adventurers of Spain; but no, one was more excited by them than Alonzo de Ojeda, who, from his intimacy with the bishop, had full access to the charts and correspondence of Columbus. He immediately conceived the project of making a voyage in the route thus marked out by the .admiral, and of seizing upon. the first fruits of discovery which he had left ungathered. His scheme met with ready encouragement from Fonseca, who, as has heretofore been shown, was an implacable enemy to Columbus, and willing to promote any measure that might injure or molest him.

The bishop accordingly granted a commission to Ojeda, authorizing him to fit out an armament and proceed on a Voyage of discovery, with the proviso merely that he should not visit any territories appertaining to Portugal, or any of the lands discovered in the name of Spain previous to the year 1495. The latter part of this pro vision appears to have been craftily worded by the bishop, so as to leave the coast of Paria and its pearl fisheries open to Ojeda, they having been recently discovered by Columbus in 1498. The commission was signed by Fonseca alone, in virtue of general powers vested in him for such purposes, but the signature of the sovereigns did not appear on the in strument, and it is doubtful whether their sanction was sought on the occasion. He knew that Columbus had re cently remonstrated against a royal mandate issued in 1495, permitting voyages of discovery, by private adventurers, and that the sovereigns had in consequence re- 1499.] 13 ALONZO DE OJEDA — FIRST VOYAGE. voked their mandate wherever it might be deemed pre judicial to the stipulated privileges of the admiral,* It is probable, therefore, that the bishop avoided raising any question that might impede the enterprize; being con fident of the ultimate approbation of Ferdinand, who would be well pleased to have his dominions in the new world extended by the discoveries of private adventurers, undertaken at their own expense.

It was stipulated in this, as well as in subsequent licenses for private expeditions, that a certain proportion of the profits, generally a fourth or fifth, should be reserved for the crown. Having thus obtained permission to make thevoyage, the next consideration with Ojeda was to find the means. He was a young adventurer, a mere soldier of fortune, and destitute of wealth ; but he had a high reputation for courage and enterprise, and with these, it was thought, would soon make his way to the richest parts of the newly discovered lands, and have the wealth of the Indies at his disposal. He had no difficulty, therefore, in finding monied associates among the rich merchants of Seville, who, in that age of discovery, were ever ready to Stake their property upon the schemes of roving navigators.

With such assistance he soon equipped a squadron of four vessels at Port St. Mary, opposite Cadiz. Among the seamen who engaged with him were several who had just returned from accompanying Columbus in his voyage to this very coast of Paria. The principal associate of Ojeda, and one on whom he placed great reliance, was Juan de la Cosa ; who accompanied him as first mate, or, as it was termed, chief pilot. This was a bold Biscayan, who may be regarded as a disciple of Columbus, with * Navarrete, t. ii. Document, [1499. 14 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. whom he had sailed in his second voyage, when he coasted Cuba and Jamaica, and he had since accompanied Rodrigo de Bastides, in an expedition along the coast of Terra Firma. The hardy veteran was looked up to by his contemporaries as an oracle of the seas, and was pro nounced one of the most able mariners of the day ; he may be excused, therefore, if in his harmless vanity, he considered himself on a par even with Columbus.* Another conspicuous associate of Ojeda, in this voyage, was Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine merchant, induced by broken fortunes and a rambling disposition to seek adventures in the new world.

Whether he had any pe cuniary interest in the expedition, and in what capacity he sailed, does not appear. His importance has entirely arisen from subsequent circumstances ; from his having written and published a narrative of his voyages, and from his name having eventually been given to the new world. * Navarrete. Collec. Viag. t. iii. p. 4. 1499.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. 15 I

Chapter II

Departure from Spain — Arrival on the Coast of Paria — -Customs of the Nations. Ojeda sailed from Port St. Mary on the 20th of May, 1499, and, having touched for supplies at the Canaries, took a departure from Gomara, pursuing the route of Co lumbus, in his third voyage, being guided by the chart he had sent home, as well as by the mariners, who had accompanied him on that occasion. At the end of twenty four days he reached the continent of the new world, about two hundred leagues farther south than the part discovered by Columbus, being, as it is supposed., the coast of Surinam.* From hence he ran along the coast of the Gulf of Paria, passing the mouths of many rivers, but especially those of the Esquivo and the Oronoko. These, to the astonishment of the Spaniards, unaccustomed as yet to the mighty rivers of the new world, poured forth such a prodigious volume of water, as to freshen the sea for a great extent.

They beheld none of the natives until they arrived at the Island of Trinidad, on which island they met with traces of the recent visit of Columbus. Vespucci, in his letters, gives a long description of the people of this island and of the coast of Paria, who were of the Carib race, tall, well made and vigorous, and ex pert with the bow, the lance and the buckler. His de- * Navarrete. t. iii. p. 5. [1499. 16 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. scription, in general, resembles those which have frequently been given of the Aboriginals of the new world ; there are two or three particulars, however, worthy of citation. They appeared, he said, to believe in no religious creed, to have no place of worship, and to make no prayers or sacrifices ; but, he adds, from the voluptuousness of their lives, they might be considered Epicureans.* Their habitations were built in the shape of bells ; of the trunks of trees, thatched with palm leaves, and were proof against wind and weather.

They appeared to be in com mon, and some of them were of such magnitude as to con tain six hundred persons : in one place there were eight principal houses capable of sheltering nearly ten thousand inhabitants. Every seven or eight years the natives were obliged to change their residence, from the maladies en gendered by the heat of the climate in their crowded ha bitations. Their riches consisted in beads and ornaments made from the bones of fishes ; in small white and green stones strung like rosaries, with which they adorned their per sons, and in the beautiful plumes of various colours for which the tropical birds are noted. The Spaniards smiled at their simplicity in attaching an. extraordinary value to such worthless trifles; while the savages, in all probability, were equally surprised at beholding the strangers so eager after gold, and pearls and precious stones, which to themselves were objects of indifference.

Their manner of treating the dead was similar to that observed among the natives of some of the islands. * Viages de Vespucci. Navarrete. t. iii. p. 211. 1499.] 17 ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. Having deposited the corpse in a cavern or sepulchre, they placed a jar of water and a few eatables at its head, and then abandoned it without moan or lamentation. In some parts of the coast, when a person was considered near his end, his nearest relatives bore him to the woods and laid him in a hammock suspended to the trees. They then danced round him until evening, when, having left within his reach sufficient meat and drink to sustain him for four days, they repaired to their habitations. If he recovered and returned home, he was received with much ceremony and rejoicing;' if he died of his malady or of famine, nothing more was thought of him.

Their mode of treating a fever is also worthy of men tion. In the height of the malady they plunged the patient in .a bath of the coldest water, after which they obliged him to make many evolutions round a great fire, until he was in a violent heat, when they put him to bed, that he might sleep : a treatment, adds Amerigo Ves pucci, by which we saw many cured. [1499. 18 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY.

Chapter III

Coasting of Terra Firma — Military Expedition of Ojeda. After touching at various parts of Trinidad and the Gulf of Paria, Ojeda passed through the strait of the Boca del Drago, or Dragon's Mouth, which Columbus had found so formidable, and then, steered his course along the coast of Terra Firma, landing occasionally until he arrived at Curiana, or the Gulf of Pearls. From hence he stood to the opposite island of Margarita,- previously discovered by Columbus, and since renowned for its pearl fishery. This, as well as several adjacent islands, he visited and explored; after which he returned to the main land, and touched at Cumana and Maracapana, where he found the rivers infested with alligators resembling the crocodiles of the Nile. Finding a convenient harbour at Maracapana he un loaded and careened his vessels there, and built a small brigantine.

The natives came to him in great numbers, bringing abundance of venison, fish, and cassava bread, and aiding the seamen in their labours. Their hospitality was not certainly disinterested, for they sought to gain the protection of the Spaniards, whom they reverenced as superhuman beings. When they thought they had sufficiently secured their favour, they represented to Ojeda that their coast was subject to invasion from a distant island, the inhabitants of which were cannibals, and carried their people into captivity, to be devoured at 1499.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. 19 their unnatural banquets. They besought Ojeda, there fore, to avenge them upon these ferocious enemies. The request was gratifying to the fighting propensities of Alonzo de Ojeda, and to his love of adventure, and was readily granted.

Taking seven of the natives on board of his vessels, therefore, as guides, he set sail in quest of the cannibals. After sailing for seven days he came to a chain of islands, some of which were peopled, others uninhabited, and which are supposed to have been the Carribee islands. One of these was pointed out by his guides as the habitation of their foes. On running near the shore he beheld it thronged with savage war riors, decorated with coronets of gaudy plumes, their bodies painted with a variety of colours. They were armed with bows and arrows, with darts, lances, and bucklers, and seemed prepared to defend their island from invasion. This show of war was calculated to rouse the martial spirit of Ojeda. He brought his ships to anchor, ordered out his boats, and provided each with a paterero or small cannon.

Beside the oarsmen, each boat contained a number of soldiers, who were told to crouch out of sight in the bottom. The boats then pulled in steadily for the shore. As they approached the Indians let fly a cloud of arrows, but without much effect. Seeing the boats continue to advance, the savages threw themselves into the sea, and brandished their lances to prevent their landing. Upon this, the soldiers sprang up in the boats and discharged the patereroes. At the sound and smoke of these unknown weapons the savages abandoned the water in affright, while Ojeda and his men leaped on shore and pursued them. The Carib warriors rallied on the banks, and fought for a long time with that courage [1499. 20 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. peculiar to their race, but were at length driven to the woods, at the edge of the sword, leaving many killed andv wounded on the field of battle.

On the following day the savages were seen on the shore in still greater numbers, armed and painted, and decorated with war plumes, and sounding defiance with their conchs and drums. Ojeda again landed with fifty seven men, whom he separated into four companies, and ordered them to charge the enemy from different direc tions. The Caribs fought for a time hand to hand, dis playing great dexterity in covering themselves with their bucklers, but were at length entirely routed and driven, with great slaughter, tothe forests. The Spaniards had but one man killed and twenty-one wounded in these combats, — such superior advantage did their armour give them over the naked savages. Having plundered and set fire to the houses they returned triumphantly to their ships, with a number of Carib captives; and made sail for the main land.

Ojeda bestowed a part of the spoil upon the seven Indians who had accompanied him as guides, and sent them exulting to their homes, to relate to their countrymen the signal vengeance that had been wreaked upon their foes. He then anchored in a bay where he remained for twenty days, until his men had recovered from their wounds.* * There is some discrepance in the early accounts of this battle, as to the time and place of its occurrence. The author has collat ed the narratives of Vespucci, Las Casas, Herrera, and Peter Mar tyr, and the evidence given in the law-suit of Diego Columbus, and has endeavoured as much as possible to reconcile them. 1499.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. 21