The Discovery
1493
THE first island discovered on this voyage lies between 14 deg. and 15 deg.
north latitude, near the middle of a chain of islands of different
sizes, intermingled with rocks and reefs, which stretches from
Trinidad, near the coast of Venezuela, in a north-by-westerly
direction to Puerto Rico. They are divided in two groups, the Windward
Islands forming the southern, the Leeward Islands the northern p
of the chain.
The Admiral shaped his course in the direction in which the islands,
one after the other, loomed up, merely touching at some for the
purpose of obtaining what information he could, which was meager
enough.
For an account of the expedition's experiences on that memorable
voyage, we have the fleet physician Chanca's circumstantial
description addressed to the Municipal Corporation of Seville, sent
home by the same pilot who conveyed the Admiral's first despatches to
the king and queen.
After describing the weather experienced up to the time the fleet
arrived at the island "de Hierro," he tells their worships that for
nineteen or twenty days they had the best weather ever experienced on
such a long voyage, excepting on the eve of San Simon, when they had a
storm which for four hours caused them great anxiety.
At daybreak on Sunday, November 3d, the pilot of the flagship
announced land. "It was marvelous," says Chanca, "to see and hear the
people's manifestations of joy; and with reason, for they were very
weary of the hardships they had undergone, and longed to be on land
again."
The first island they saw was high and mountainous. As the day
advanced they saw another more level, and then others appeared, till
they counted six, some of good size, and all covered with forest to
the water's edge.
Sailing along the shore of the first discovered island for the
distance of a league, and finding no suitable anchoring ground, they
proceeded to the next island, which was four or five leagues distant,
and here the Admiral landed, bearing the royal standard, and took
formal possession of this and all adjacent lands in the name of their
Highnesses. He named the first island Dominica, because it was
discovered on a Sunday, and to the second island he gave the name of
his ship, Marie-Galante.
"In this island," says Chanca, "it was wonderful to see the dense
forest and the great variety of unknown trees, some in bloom, others
with fruit, everything looking so green. We found a tree the leaves
whereof resembled laurel leaves, but not so large, and they exhaled
the finest odor of cloves.
"There were fruits of many kinds, some of which the men imprudently
tasted, with the result that their faces swelled, and that they
suffered such violent pain in throat and mouth that they behaved
like madmen, the application of cold substances giving them some
relief." No signs of inhabitants were discovered, so they remained
ashore two hours only and left next morning early (November 4th) in
the direction of another island seven or eight leagues northward. They
anchored off the southernmost coast of it, now known as Basse Terre,
and admired a mountain in the distance, which seemed to reach into the
sky (the volcano "la Souffriere"), and the beautiful waterfall on its
flank. The Admiral sent a small caravel close inshore to look for a
port, which was soon found. Perceiving some huts, the captain landed,
but the people who occupied them escaped into the forest as soon as
they saw the strangers. On entering the huts they found two large
parrots (guacamayos) entirely different from those seen until then by
the Spaniards, much cotton, spun and ready for spinning, and other
articles, bringing away a little of each, "especially," says the
doctor, "four or five bones of human arms and legs."
From this the Admiral concluded that he had found the islands
inhabited by the redoubtable Caribs, of whom he had heard on his first
voyage, and who were said to eat human flesh. The general direction
in which these islands were situated had been pointed out to him by
the natives of Guanahani and the Espanola; hence, he had steered a
southwesterly course on this his second voyage, "and," says the
doctor, "by the goodness of God and the Admiral's knowledge, we came
as straight as if we had come by a known and continuous route."
Having found a convenient port and seen some groups of huts, the
inhabitants of which fled as soon as they perceived the ships, the
Admiral gave orders that the next morning early parties of men should
go on shore to reconnoiter. Accordingly some captains, each with a
small band of men, dispersed. Most of them returned before noon with
the tangible results of their expeditions; one party brought a boy of
about fourteen years of age, who, from the signs he made, was
understood to be a captive from some other island; another party
brought a child that had been abandoned by the man who was leading it
by the hand when he perceived the Spaniards; others had taken some
women; and one party was accompanied by women who had voluntarily
joined them and who, on that account, were believed to be captives
also. Captain Diego Marquiz with six men, who had entered the thickest
part of the forest, did not return that night, nor the three following
days, notwithstanding the Admiral had sent Alonzo de Ojeda with forty
men to explore the jungle, blow trumpets, and do all that could be
done to find them. When, on the morning of the fourth day, they had
not returned, there was ground for concluding that they had been
killed and eaten by the natives; but they made their appearance in
the course of the day, emaciated and wearied, having suffered great
hardships, till by chance they had struck the coast and followed it
till they reached the ships. They brought ten persons, with
them - women and boys.
During the days thus lost the other captains collected more than
twenty female captives, and three boys came running toward them,
evidently escaping from their captors. Few men were seen. It was
afterward ascertained that ten canoes full had gone on one of their
marauding expeditions. In their different expeditions on shore the
Spaniards found all the huts and villages abandoned, and in them "an
infinite quantity" of human bones and skulls hanging on the walls as
receptacles. From the natives taken on board the Spaniards learned
that the name of the first island they had seen was Cayri or Keiree;
the one they were on they named Sibuqueira, and they spoke of a third,
not yet discovered, named Aye-Aye. The Admiral gave to Sibuqueira the
name of Guadaloupe.
Anchors were weighed at daybreak on November 10th. About noon of the
next day the fleet reached an island which Juan de la Cosa laid down
on his map with the name Santa Maria de Monserrat. From the Indian
women on board it was understood that this island had been depopulated
by the Caribs and was then uninhabited. On the same day in the
afternoon they made another island which, according to Navarrete, was
named by the Admiral Santa Maria de la Redonda (the round one), and
seeing that there were many shallows in the neighborhood, and that it
would be dangerous to continue the voyage during the night, the fleet
came to anchor.
On the following morning (the 13th) another island was discovered (la
Antigua); thence the fleet proceeded in a northwesterly direction to
San Martin, without landing at any place, because, as Chanca observes,
"the Admiral was anxious to arrive at 'la Espanola.'"
After weighing anchor at San Martin on the morning of Thursday the
14th, the fleet experienced rough weather and was driven southward,
anchoring the same day off the island Aye-Aye (Santa Cruz).
Fernandez, the Admiral's son, in his description of his father's
second voyage, says that a small craft (a sloop) with twenty-five men
was sent ashore to take some of the people, that Columbus might obtain
information from them regarding his whereabouts. While they carried
out this order a canoe with four men, two women, and a boy approached
the ships, and, struck with astonishment at what they saw, they never
moved from one spot till the sloop returned with four kidnaped women
and three children.
When the natives in the canoe saw the sloop bearing down upon them,
and that they had no chance of escape, they showed fight. Two
Spaniards were wounded - an arrow shot by one of the amazons went clear
through a buckler - then the canoe was overturned, and finding a
footing in a shallow place, they continued the fight till they were
all taken, one of them being mortally wounded by the thrust of a
lance.
To regain the latitude in which he was sailing when the storm began to
drive his ships southwestward to Aye-Aye, the Admiral, after a delay
of only a few hours, steered north, until, toward nightfall, he
reached a numerous group of small islands. Most of them appeared bare
and devoid of vegetation. The next morning (November 15th) a small
caravel was sent among the group to explore, the other ships standing
out to sea for fear of shallows, but nothing of interest was found
except a few Indian fishermen. All the islands were uninhabited, and
they were baptized "the eleven thousand Virgins." The largest one,
according to Navarrete, was named Santa Ursula - "la Virgin Gorda" (the
fat Virgin) according to Angleria.
During the night the ships lay to at sea. On the 16th the voyage was
continued till the afternoon of the 17th, when another island was
sighted; the fleet sailed along its southern shore for a whole day.
That night two women and a boy of those who had voluntarily joined the
expedition in Sobuqueira, swam ashore, having recognized their home.
On the 19th the fleet anchored in a bay on the western coast, where
Columbus landed and took possession in the name of his royal patrons
with the same formalities as observed in Marie-Galante, and named the
island San Juan Bautista. Near the landing-place was found a deserted
village consisting of a dozen huts of the usual size surrounding a
larger one of superior construction; from the village a road or walk,
hedged in by trees and plants, led to the sea, "which," says
Munoz, "gave it the aspect of some cacique's place of seaside
recreation."
After remaining two days in port (November 20th and 21st), and without
a single native having shown himself, the fleet lifted anchor on the
morning of the 22d, and proceeding on its northwesterly course,
reached the bay of Samana, in Espanola, before night, whence, sailing
along the coast, the Admiral reached the longed-for port of Navidad on
the 25th, only to find that the first act of the bloody drama that was
to be enacted in this bright new world had already been performed.
Here we leave Columbus and his companions to play the important roles
in the conquest of America assigned to each of them. The fortunes of
the yeoman of humble birth, the former lance-bearer or stirrup-page of
the knight commander of Calatrava, already referred to, were destined
to become intimately connected with those of the island whose history
we will now trace.
More
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