Chapter 39

[405-3] Cuba. According to Ferdinand Columbus the course was as follows: The Admiral followed the coast of the isthmus eastward beyond El Retrete to a place he named Marmoro (near Punto de Mosquitos) somewhat west of the entrance to the Gulf of Darien; then May 1 in response to the urgency of the pilots he turned north. May 10 they sighted two little islands, Caymanos Chicos, and the 12th they reached the Queen's Garden just south of Cuba (see p. 301, note 1). The next day they landed in Cuba and secured supplies. It is significant of the tenacity of Columbus's conviction that Cuba was a part of the mainland of Asia that he here calls it Mago (_i.e._, Mango). June 12, 1494, when he had explored the southern coast of Cuba, he reached this conviction and compelled his officers and crew to take oath that "it (_i.e._, Cuba) is mainland and in particular the province of Mango." Navarrete, _Viages_, II. 144. (The affidavits are translated in Thacher, _Columbus_, II. 327.) Mangi (southern China) is described by Marco Polo at great length. In the second Toscanelli letter Quinsay is said to be "in the province of Mangi, _i.e._, near the province of Cathay." It is noted several times in Columbus's marginalia to Marco Polo.

[406-1] _Alli me torne a reposar atras la fortuna._ De Lollis, following the Italian translation, reads: _Alli me torne a reposar atras la fortuna_, etc. "There the storm returned to drive me back; I stopped in the same island in a safer port." As this gives an unknown meaning to _reposar_, he suggests that Columbus may have written _repujar_, "to drive."

[406-2] June 23. _Historie_, p. 334.

[407-1] On the contrary the narrative of Diego de Porras, which he prepared after his return to Spain in November, 1504, is a much clearer account of the voyage in most respects than this letter of Columbus's. For it, see Thacher, _Columbus_, II. 640-646. Porras relates that during this voyage the Admiral took all the charts away that the seamen had had. Thacher, _Columbus_, II. 646.

[407-2] "_El puerto de Jaquimo_ [Jacmel], which he called the port of Brasil." Las Casas, _Historia_, III. 108.

[408-1] Cuba.

[408-2] The pilots thought that they were east of Espanola when Columbus turned north, and consequently thought that Cuba (Mango) was Porto Rico (San Juan). _Cf._ _Historie_, p. 333.

[408-3] _I.e._, in that it is clear to one who understands it, and blind to one who does not.

[408-4] _Las naos de las Indias_, _i.e._, the large ships for the Indies, _i.e._, Espanola.

[408-5] Bow-lines are ropes employed to keep the windward edges of the principal sails steady, and are only used when the wind is so unfavorable that the sails must be all braced sideways, or close hauled to the wind. (Major.)

[409-1] _I.e._, rigged with lateen sails in the Portuguese fashion.

[409-2] Columbus, in his marginal notes to his copy of the _Historia Rerum ubique Gestarum_ of Pope Pius II. (Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini; Venice, 1477), summarized the description of the Massagetae in ch. XII. in part as follows: they "use golden girths and golden bridles and silver breast-pieces and have no iron but plenty of copper and gold." _Raccolta Colombiana_, parte I., tomo II., p. 300. This description of the Massagetae goes back to Herodotus. While some habits ascribed to the Massagetae were like what Columbus observed in Veragua, their home was nowhere near eastern China.

[409-3] See p. 393, note 3.

[409-4] The account in the _Historie_ is radically at variance with this. The girls were brought on board and "showed themselves very brave since although the Christians in looks, acts, and race were very strange, they gave no signs of distress or sadness, but maintained a cheerful and modest (_honesto_) bearing, wherefore they were very well treated by the Admiral who gave them clothes and something to eat and then sent them back." _Historie_, p. 299. Ferdinand gives the ages as eight and fourteen and says nothing of witchcraft except that the Indians were frightened and thought they were being bewitched when Bartholomew the next day ordered the ships' clerks to write down the replies he got to his questions; _ibid._

[410-1] A specimen of the Maya sculptures, of which such imposing remains are found in Yucatan. The translation follows Lollis's emendation, which substitutes _mirrado_ for _mirando_.

[410-2] _Gato paulo_. On this name, see p. 341, note 3. Ferdinand, in the _Historie_, relates this incident in more detail, from which it is clear that the pigs were peccaries which had been captured by the men. On the other hand, Ulloa, the Italian translator of the _Historie_, mistranslated _gato paulo_ by "gatto," "cat."

[410-3] _Begare._ Columbus in recollecting this incident transferred to the monkey the Indian name of the wild pigs. The _begare_ is the "peccary," a native of America. Oviedo, lib. XII., cap. XX, gives _baquira_ as the name of wild pigs in Nicaragua, and _baquira_ and _begare_ are obviously identical.

[410-4] For the word _barra_ no explanation can be offered except what is derived from the context. As the Italian has _diverse malattie_, "divers diseases," de Lollis suggests that _barra_ should be _varias_ and that _maladias_ was somehow dropped from the text.

[410-5] _Leones._ The American lion or puma.

[411-1] A misunderstanding. The Mayas made no metal tools. Brinton, _The American Race_, p. 156.

[411-2] Possibly Columbus may have seen some Maya codices, of which such remarkable specimens have been preserved.

[412-1] Considering Columbus's experience at Veragua this account exhibits boundless optimism. Still it is not to be forgotten that through the conquest of Mexico to the north this prediction was rather strikingly fulfilled.

[412-2] It is not clear to what Columbus refers in this sentence.

[412-3] _De un camino._ The texts to which Columbus refers just below show that this should read _de un ano_, in one year.

[412-4] In the Latin version of Josephus used by Columbus the Greek thyreos, a target, was rendered _lancea_. See _Raccolta Colombiana_, parte I., tomo II., p. 367.

[412-5] _Tablado._ In the Italian translation _tavolato_, a "partition wall," "wainscoting," also "floor." _Tablado_ also means "scaffold" and "stage" or "staging." We have here a curious series of mistakes. The Greek text of Josephus has ekpomata, "cups." The old Latin translator, perhaps having a defective text, took ekpomata apparently to be equivalent to pomata, which has as its secondary meaning, "lids," and translated it by the uncommon word _coopercula_, "lids" (_cf._ Georges, _Lateinischdeutsches Handwoerterbuch, sub voce cooperculum_). The meaning of this word Columbus guessed at, not having the text before him to see the connection, and from its derivation from _cooperio_, "to cover," took it to be a "covering" in the sense of flooring, or perhaps ceiling, above where the shields were hung "in the house of the forest of Lebanon," and rendered it _tablado_. The whole passage from the old Latin version (published in 1470 and frequently later), Columbus copied into a fly-leaf of his copy of the _Historia Rerum ubique Gestarum_ of Pope Pius II. See _Raccolta Colombiana_, parte I., tomo II., pp. 366-367.

[413-1] Josephus, _Antiquities of the Jews_, bk. VIII., ch. VII., sect. 4; _I. Kings_, X. 14, 15; _II. Chronicles_, IX. 13, 14.

[413-2] The Chersonesus Aurea of Ptolemy, or the Malay Peninsula.

[413-3] That is, Veragua and the Golden Chersonese are in the same latitude.

[413-4] Josephus wrote that the gold came from the "Land of Gold," "_a terra que vocatur aurea_," as the passage in the Latin version reads. The Greek is, apo tes chryses kaloumenes ges. Josephus gives no further identification of the location.

[413-5] I have not been able to verify this reference. There is nothing in the fourteenth Psalm relating to this matter, nor is the fourteenth Psalm mentioned among the many citations from the Psalms in the _Libro de las Profecias_.

[414-1] In his _Libro de las Profecias_ Columbus wrote, "El abad Johachin, calabres, diso que habia de salir de Espana quien havia de redificar la Casa del Monte Sion." "The abbot Joachim, the Calabrian, said that he who was destined to rebuild the House of Mount Sion was to come from Spain." Lollis remarks that Columbus interpreted in his own way the "Oraculum Turcicum," which concludes the thirty prophecies of Joachim of Flora in regard to the popes. In the edition (Venice, 1589) which Lollis had seen, this prophecy was interpreted to mean Charles VIII. of France. _Raccolta Colombiana_, parte II., tomo II., p. 83.

[414-2] The reference to St. Jerome I have not found in Columbus's marginalia.

[414-3] The father and uncle of Marco Polo had been given this mission by Cublay Kaan. See Marco Polo, bk. I., ch. VII. Opposite the passage in his copy of the Latin Marco Polo which he had, Columbus wrote, "magnus kam misit legatos ad pontificem." _Raccolta Colombiana_, parte II., tomo II., p. 446.

[414-4] The recovery of the Holy Sepulchre had been long a cherished object with Columbus. See the Journal of the First Voyage, December 26; the letter to Pope Alexander VI., February, 1502 (Navarrete, _Viages_, II. 280), and his _Libra de Profecias_, a collection of Scripture texts compiled under his supervision relating to the restoration of Zion, etc. _Raccolta Colombiana_, parte I., tomo II., pp. 77-160.

[415-1] An opinion abundantly justified through the conquest of Mexico and the establishment of the kingdom of New Spain.

[416-1] See the Capitulation, pp. 77, 78 above. The limit mentioned was fixed by the Papal Demarcation line; the limit agreed upon by Spain and Portugal was 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands.

[416-2] A reference to such voyages as those of Vicente Yanez Pinzon, Hojeda, Diego de Lepe, and Rodrigo de Bastidas which occurred in 1499-1502. _Cf._ Bourne, _Spain in America_, pp. 67-71, and for details Irving, _Columbus_, III. 15-62.

[416-3] Accepting de Lollis's emendation _a Cesar_ instead of the MS. reading _acetar_ which Navarrete printed _aceptar_. The Italian has _a Cesaro_.

[416-4] "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God, the things which are God's." _Matthew_, XXII. 21.

[417-1] At Espanola in 1500 by Bobadilla. _Cf._ the letter to the nurse above, p. 380.

[417-2] This is one of the most important passages bearing upon the age of Columbus. As he came to Spain at the end of 1484 according to Ferdinand Columbus, _Historie_, ch. XII., Peschel fixed his birth in 1456, _Zeitalter der Entdeckungen_, p. 76. The majority of modern critics, however, have agreed upon the basis of notarial documents in Genoa that 1446 was the date of his birth and propose therefore to emend the text here by substituting "treinta y ocho" for "veinte y ocho." On the various dates set for his birth see Vignaud, _The Real Birth-date of Christopher Columbus_. Vignaud fixes upon 1451.

[418-1] _Blanca_, a copper coin worth about one-third of a cent.

ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF THE VOYAGES OF JOHN CABOT

INTRODUCTION

John Cabot, the Venetian sailor who took the first English ship across the Atlantic, was not a writer like Columbus, and consequently our knowledge of his projects and his achievements is limited to what is derived from the reports of other men who knew him or his son and from certain official documents. In general our material may be classified into: (_a_) English official documents, (_b_) reports derived from John Cabot himself, and (_c_) reports or records derived more or less directly from Sebastian Cabot. The materials in _a_ and _b_ are harmonious; those in classes _b_ and _c_, on the other hand, are practically irreconcilable. The result of this conflict of testimony has been to discredit Sebastian Cabot and to lead many scholars to believe that he tried to ascribe to himself what his father did. Other critics reluctant to bring so serious a charge against a man who held honorable positions in Spain and later in England believe that the material in class _c_ relates to the second voyage--that of 1498, and that by a mistake it was in the minds of the narrators confused with the voyage of 1497. For a presentation of all the original material the reader may be referred to H. Harrisse, _John Cabot the Discoverer of North America, and Sebastian his Son_ (London, 1896), and to G.E. Weare, _Cabot's Discovery of North America_ (London, 1897). G.P. Winship, _Cabot Bibliography_ (London, 1900), gives a complete guide to the Cabot literature. For a brief account of the voyages and of the Cabot question see E.G. Bourne, _Spain in America_ (New York, 1904), pp. 54-63. The most important recent monograph is H.P. Biggar, _The Voyages of the Cabots and of the Corte-Reals_, in _Revue Hispanique_, tome X. (Paris, 1903).

The material presented here consists of the private letters of two Italians sojourning in London in 1497-1498, and the official despatch of the junior Spanish ambassador at the English court.

E.G.B.

THE VOYAGES OF JOHN CABOT

LETTER OF LORENZO PASQUALIGO TO HIS BROTHERS ALVISE AND FRANCESCO, MERCHANTS IN VENICE[423-1]

The Venetian, our countryman, who went with a ship from Bristol to find new islands, has returned, and says that 700 leagues hence he discovered mainland, the territory of the Grand Cham (_Gram Cam_).[423-2] He coasted for 300 leagues and landed; he did not see any person, but he has brought hither to the King certain snares which had been set to catch game, and a needle for making nets; he also found some cut trees, wherefore he supposed there were inhabitants. Being in doubt he returned to his ship.

He was three months on the voyage, and this is certain, and on his return he saw two islands[423-3] but would not land, so as not to lose time, as he was short of provisions. The King is much pleased with this. He says that the tides are slack and do not flow as they do here.

The King has promised that in the spring our countryman shall have ten ships, armed to his order, and at his request has conceded him all the prisoners, except traitors, to go with him as he has requested. The King has also given him money wherewith to amuse himself till then,[424-1] and he is now at Bristol with his wife, who is also Venetian, and with his sons; his name is Zuam Talbot,[424-2] and he is styled the great admiral. Vast honor is paid him; he dresses in silk, and these English run after him like mad people, so that he can enlist as many of them as he pleases, and a number of our own rogues besides.

The discoverer of these things planted on his new-found land a large cross, with one flag of England and another of St. Mark, by reason of his being a Venetian, so that our banner has floated very far afield.

London, 23 August 1497.

FIRST LETTER OF RAIMONDO DE SONCINO, AGENT OF THE DUKE OF MILAN, TO THE DUKE[424-3]

... Also some months ago his Majesty sent out a Venetian, who is a very good mariner, and has good skill in discovering new islands, and he has returned safe, and has found two very large and fertile new islands; having likewise discovered the Seven Cities,[425-1] 400 leagues from England, on the western passage. This next spring his Majesty means to send him with fifteen or twenty ships.

SECOND LETTER OF RAIMONDO DE SONCINO TO THE DUKE OF MILAN[425-2]

_Most Illustrious and Excellent My Lord_:--

Perhaps among your Excellency's many occupations, it may not displease you to learn how his Majesty here has won a part of Asia without a stroke of the sword. There is in this kingdom a Venetian fellow, Master John Caboto by name, of fine mind, greatly skilled in navigation, who seeing that those most serene kings, first he of Portugal, and then the one of Spain, have occupied unknown islands, determined to make a like acquisition for his Majesty aforesaid.[425-3] And having obtained royal grants that he should have the usufruct of all that he should discover, provided that the ownership of the same is reserved to the crown, with a small ship and eighteen persons he committed himself to fortune; and having set out from Bristol, a western port of this kingdom, and passed the western limits of Ireland, and then standing to the northward he began to sail toward the Oriental regions, leaving (after a few days) the North Star on his right hand; and, having wandered about considerably, at last he struck mainland, where, having planted the royal banner and taken possession on behalf of this King, and taken certain tokens, he has returned thence. The said Master John, as being foreign-born and poor, would not be believed if his comrades, who are almost all Englishmen and from Bristol, did not testify that what he says is true. This Master John has the description of the world in a chart, and also in a solid globe which he has made, and he shows where he landed, and that going toward the east he passed considerably beyond the country of the Tanais.[426-1] And they say that it is a very good and temperate country, and they think that Brazil-wood[426-2] and silk grow there; and they affirm that that sea is covered with fishes, which are caught not only with the net but with baskets, a stone being tied to them in order that the baskets may sink in the water. And this I heard the said Master John relate.

And the aforesaid Englishmen, his comrades, say that they will bring so many fishes that this kingdom will no longer have need of Iceland, from which country there comes a very great store of fish which are called stock-fish.[427-1] But Master John has set his mind on something greater; for he expects to go farther on toward the East[427-2] from that place already occupied, constantly hugging the shore, until he shall be over against an island, by him called Cipango, situated in the equinoctial region, where he thinks all the spices of the world, and also the precious stones, originate;[427-3] and he says that in former times he was at Mecca, whither spices are brought by caravans from distant countries,[427-4] and that those who brought them, on being asked where the said spices grow, answered that they do not know, but that other caravans come to their homes with this merchandise from distant countries, and these [caravans] again say that they are brought to them from other remote regions. And he argues thus,--that if the Orientals affirmed to the Southerners that these things come from a distance from them, and so from hand to hand, presupposing the rotundity of the earth, it must be that the last ones get them at the North toward the West;[428-1] and he said it in such a way, that, having nothing to gain or lose by it, I too believe it: and what is more, the King here, who is wise and not lavish, likewise puts some faith in him; for (ever) since his return he has made good provision for him, as the same Master John tells me. And it is said that, in the spring, his Majesty aforenamed will fit out some ships, and will besides give him all the convicts, and they will go to that country to make a colony, by means of which they hope to establish in London a greater emporium of spices than there is in Alexandria; and the chief men of the enterprise are of Bristol, great sailors, who, now that they know where to go, say that it is not a voyage of more than fifteen days, nor do they ever have storms after they get away from Hibernia. I have also talked with a Burgundian, a comrade of Master John's, who confirms everything, and wishes to return thither because the Admiral (for so Master John already entitles himself)[428-2] has given him an island; and he has given another one to a barber of his from Castiglione-of-Genoa, and both of them regard themselves as Counts, nor does my Lord the Admiral esteem himself anything less than a Prince. I think that with this expedition there will go several poor Italian monks, who have all been promised bishoprics. And, as I have become a friend of the Admiral's, if I wished to go thither I should get an archbishopric. But I have thought that the benefices which your Excellency has in store for me are a surer thing; and therefore I beg that if these should fall vacant in my absence, you will cause possession to be given to me, taking measures to do this rather where it is needed, in order that they be not taken from me by others, who because they are present can be more diligent than I, who in this country have been brought to the pass of eating ten or twelve dishes at every meal, and sitting at table three hours at a time twice a day,[429-1] for the sake of your Excellency, to whom I humbly commend myself.

Your Excellency's Very humble servant, RAIMONDO.

London, Dec. 18, 1497.

DESPATCH TO FERDINAND AND ISABELLA FROM PEDRO DE AYALA JUNIOR AMBASSADOR AT THE COURT OF ENGLAND, JULY 25, 1498[429-2]

I think your Majesties have already heard that the King of England has equipped a fleet in order to discover certain islands and mainland which he was informed some people from Bristol, who manned a few ships[430-1] for the same purpose last year, had found. I have seen the map which the discoverer has made, who is another Genoese, like Colon [and?][430-2] who has been in Seville and in Lisbon, asking assistance for this discovery. The people of Bristol have, for the last seven years, sent out every year two, three, or four light ships (_caravelas_), in search of the island of Brazil and the seven cities,[430-3] according to the fancy of this Genoese. The King determined to send out [ships], because, the year before, they brought certain news that they had found land. The fleet consisted of five vessels, which carried provisions for one year. It is said that one of them, in which another Fai [Friar?] Buil[430-4] went, has returned to Ireland in great distress, the ship being much damaged. The Genoese continued his voyage. I, having seen the route which they took, and the distance they sailed, find that what they have found, or what they are in search of, is what your Highnesses already possess since it is, in fine, what fell to your Highnesses by the treaty with Portugal.[430-5] It is expected that they will be back in the month of September. I inform your Highnesses in regard to it. The king of England has often spoken to me on this subject. He hoped to derive great advantage from it. I think it is not further distant than four hundred leagues. I told him that, in my opinion, the land was already in the possession of your Majesties; but, though I gave him my reasons, he did not like it. Because I believe that your Highnesses will presently receive information in regard to all this matter, and the chart or map which this man has made, I do not now send it; it is here and it, according to my opinion, is false, in order to make it appear that they are not the said islands.

FOOTNOTES:

[423-1] This letter was received in Venice on September 23, 1497, and a copy of it was incorporated by Marino Sanuto in his diary. It was first brought to light by Rawdon Brown in his _Ragguagli sulla Vita e sulle Opere di Marin Sanuto_, etc. (Venezia, 1837). It was published in English in a generally accessible form in 1864 in the _Calendar of State Papers_, _Venetian Series_, I. 262, edited by Rawdon Brown. The translation here given is a revision of Brown's version. Another translation is printed in Markham, _The Journal of Columbus_ (London, 1893).

[423-2] This reference to the Grand Cham probably indicates familiarity with Columbus's views of what he had discovered as expressed in his letters to Santangel and to Sanchez; see above, p. 268.