Part 9 (1/2)
Age was rapidlyits advances upon Colue of discovery He had already numbered sixty-six years, and they were years filled with care and trouble, in which age outstrips the orous in the extreme, had been impaired by hardshi+ps and exposures in every clis of thea seth and majesty even in its decay, was yet crazed by infir pain His intellectual forces alone retained their wonted health and energy, pro him, at a period of life when most men seek repose, to sally forth with youthful ardor, on the most toilsome and adventurous of expeditions
His squadron for the present voyage consisted of four caravels, the s seventy, and the crews a in all to one hundred and fifty men With this little armament and these slender barks did the venerable discoverer undertake the search after a strait, which, if found, must conduct him into the ation of the globe
In this arduous voyage, however, he had a faithful counselor, and an intrepid and vigorous coadjutor, in his brother Don Bartholoer son Fernando cheered him with his affectionate sy too often an isolated stranger, surrounded by false friends and perfidious enemies
The squadron sailed from Cadiz on the 9th of May, and passed over to Ercilla, on the coast of Morocco, where it anchored on the 13th
Understanding that the Portuguese garrison was closely besieged in the fortress by the Moors, and exposed to great peril, Columbus was ordered to touch there, and render all the assistance in his power Before his arrival the siege had been raised, but the governor lay ill, having been wounded in an assault Columbus sent his brother, the Adelantado, his son Fernando, and the captains of the caravels on shore, to wait upon the governor, with expressions of friendshi+p and civility, and offers of the services of his squadron Their visit and h satisfaction, and several cavaliers were sent to wait upon the admiral in return, some of ere relatives of his deceased wife, Dona Felippa Munoz After this exchange of civilities, the ade [115] On the 25th of May, he arrived at the Grand Canary, and re in wood and water On the evening of the 25th, he took his departure for the New World The trade winds were so favorable, that the little squadron swept gently on its course, without shi+fting a sail, and arrived on the 15th of June at one of the Caribbee Islands, called by the natives Mantinino [116] After stopping here for three days, to take in wood and water, and allow the seamen time to wash their clothes, the squadron passed to the west of the island, and sailed to Doues distant [117] Colu the inside of the Antilles, to Santa Cruz, then along the south side of Porto Rico, and steered for San Doinal plan of the admiral, who had intended to steer to Jamaica, [118] and thence to take a departure for the continent, and explore its coasts in search of the supposed strait It was contrary to the orders of the sovereigns also, prohibiting hie to touch at Hispaniola His excuse was, that his principal vessel sailed extremely ill, could not carry any canvas, and continually embarrassed and delayed the rest of the squadron [119] He wished, therefore, to exchange it for one of the fleet which had recently conveyed Ovando to his governo; and he was persuaded that he would not be bla from his orders, in a case of such importance to the safety and success of his expedition
It is necessary to state the situation of the island at this o on the 15th of April He had been received with the accustomed ceremony on the shore, by Bobadilla, accompanied by the principal inhabitants of the town He was escorted to the fortress, where his commission was read in form, in presence of all the authorities
The usual oaths were taken, and cerereat demonstrations of obedience and satisfaction Ovando entered upon the duties of his office with coolness and prudence; and treated Bobadilla with a courtesy totally opposite to the rudeness hich the latter had superseded Columbus The emptiness of mere official rank, when unsustained by merit, was shown in the case of Bobadilla The moment his authority was at an end, all his ilected man, deserted by those whom he had most favored, and he experienced the worthlessness of the popularity gained by courting the prejudices and passions of thebeen instituted against him; and Las Casas, as on the spot, declares that he never heard any harsh thing spoken of him by the colonists [120]
The conduct of Roldan and his accoation, and many were arrested to be sent to Spain for trial They appeared undis to the influence of their friends in Spain to protect the on the well-known disposition of the Bishop of Fonseca to favor all who had been opposed to Coluht out Ovando was now ready for sea; and was to take out a number of the principal delinquents, and ates of the island Bobadilla was to embark in the principal shi+p, on board of which he put an iold, the revenue collected for the crown during his government, and which he confidently expected would atone for all his faults There was one solid old on board of this shi+p, which is famous in the old Spanish chronicles It had been found by a female Indian in a brook, on the estate of Francisco de Garay and Miguel Diaz, and had been taken by Bobadilla to send to the king, h three thousand six hundred castellanos [121]
Large quantities of gold were likewise shi+pped in the fleet, by the followers of Roldan, and other adventurers; the wealth gained by the sufferings of the unhappy natives A the various persons ere to sail in the principal shi+p, was the unfortunate Guarionex, the once powerful cacique of the Vega He had been confined in Fort Conception, ever since his capture after the war of Higuey, and was now to be sent a captive in chains to Spain In one of the shi+ps, Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal, the agent of Coluold, to be re part of his property, either recently collected, or recovered from the hands of Bobadilla [122]
The preparations were all made, and the fleet was ready to put to sea, when, on the 29th of June, the squadron of Columbus arrived at the mouth of the river He immediately sent Pedro de Terreros, captain of one of the caravels, on shore, to wait on Ovando, and explain to hi was to procure a vessel in exchange for one of his caravels, which was extremely defective He requested permission also to shelter his squadron in the harbor; as he apprehended, fro storm This request was refused by Ovando Las Casas thinks it probable that he had instructions frons not to admit Columbus, and that he was further swayed by prudent considerations, as San Doo was at that moment croith the h state of exasperation, froainst theht to Coluht at least to avert the danger of the fleet, which was about to sail He sent back the officer therefore to the governor, entreating him not to per hi tempest This second request was equally fruitless with the first The weather, to an inexperienced eye, was fair and tranquil; the pilots and seamen were impatient to depart They scoffed at the prediction of the ad him as a false prophet, and they persuaded Ovando not to detain the fleet on so unsubstantial a pretext
It was hard treatment of Columbus, thus to be denied the relief which the state of his shi+ps required, and to be excluded in time of distress from the very harbor he had discovered He retired fronation His crewshut out froers, tinder similar circu embarked with a co but evil froers of the sea, and repulsed fro confident, from his observations of those natural phenomena in which he was deeply skilled, that the anticipated stor it from the land side, Coluht for secure anchorage in some wild bay or river of the island
In the o, and stood out confidently to sea Within two days, the predictions of Columbus were verified One of those tremendous hurricanes, which soathered up The baleful appearance of the heavens, the wild look of the ocean, the rising ave notice of its approach The fleet had scarcely reached the eastern point of Hispaniola, when the te in wreck and ruin The shi+p on board of which were Bobadilla, Roldan, and a number of the most inveterate enemies of Columbus, ed up with all its crew, and with the celebrated otten treasure, gained by the miseries of the Indians Many of the shi+ps were entirely lost, soo, in shattered condition, and only one was enabled to continue her voyage to Spain That one, according to Fernando Columbus, was the weakest of the fleet, and had on board the four thousand pieces of gold, the property of the ad the early part of this storm, the little squadron of Columbus remained tolerably well sheltered by the land On the second day the te on with unusual darkness, the shi+ps lost sight of each other and were separated The ade The others, fearful of the land in such a dark and boisterous night, ran out for sea-room, and encountered the whole fury of the elements For several days they were driven about at the mercy of wind and wave, fearful eachup each other as lost The Adelantado, who co scarcely seaworthy, ran thebut his consuth, after various vicissitudes, they all arrived safe at Port Hero The Adelantado had lost his long boat; and all the vessels, with the exception of that of the admiral, had sustained nal destruction that had overwhelmed his enemies, almost before his eyes, he was deeply impressed with awe, and considered his own preservation as little less than miraculous Both his son Fernando, and the venerable historian Las Casas, looked upon the event as one of those awful judgments, which seem at times to deal forth temporal retribution They notice the circumstance, that while the ene sea, the only shi+p of the fleet which was enabled to pursue her voyage, and reach her port of destination, was the frail bark freighted with the property of Columbus
The evil, however, in this, as in most circuuilty In the shi+p with Bobadilla and Roldan perished the captive Guarionex, the unfortunate cacique of the Vega
[124]
Chapter II
Voyage along the Coast of Honduras
[1502]
For several days Columbus remained in Port Hermosa to repair his vessels, and permit his crews to repose and refresh themselves after the late teed to take shelter from another storm in Jacquemel, or, as it was called by the Spaniards, Port Brazil Hence he sailed on the 14th of July, steering for Terra Fir perfectly calm, he was borne away by the currents until he found himself in the vicinity of sos, but where the sea holes in the sand on the beach
The calroup of small islands, or keys, on the southern coast of Cuba, to which, in 1494, he had given the name of The Gardens He had scarcely touched there, however, when the wind sprang up from a favorable quarter, and he was enabled to make sail on his destined course He now stood to the southwest, and after a few days discovered, on the 30th of July, a sreeable to the eye fro these was a great number of lofty pines, from which circumstance Columbus named it Isla de Pinos It has always, however, retained its Indian name of Guanaja, [126] which has been extended to a nuroup is within a few leagues of the coast of Honduras, to the east of the great bay or gulf of that name
The Adelantado, with two launches full of people, landed on the principal island, which was extremely verdant and fertile The inhabitants rese that their foreheads were narrower