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THE

HISTORY

OF

AMERICA.

By WILLIAM ROBERTSON, D.D.

VKINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH,

HISTORIOGRAPHER TO HIS MAJESTY

FOR SCOTLAND,

AND MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF

HISTORV AT MADRID.

THE EIGHTH EDITION, In which is included the Pofthumous Volume,

CONTAINING THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA, TO THE YEAR l688j AND OF NEW ENGLAND, TO THE

IN THREE VO

VOL.

LONDON.

Printed by A, Strahan, Printers-^nwtl,

roR T. CADELL JUN. AND W. DAVIES, STRAND,

AND E. BALFOUR, EDINBURGH.

1 SOO. ^

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2011 with funding from Universidad Francisco Marroquin

http://www.archive.org/details/historyofameric01robeguat

PREFACE.

tn fulfilling the engagement which I had come * under to the Public with refpeft to the Hif- tory of America, it wag my intention not to have publifhed any part of the work until the whole was completed. The prefent itate of the Britifh colonies has induced me to alter that refolution. While they are engaged in civil war with Great Britain, inquiries and fpeculations concerning their ancient forms of policy and laws, which exift no longer, cannot be interefting. The at- tention and expectation of mankind are now turned towards their future condition. In what- ever manner this unhappy conteft may terminate, a new order of things muft arife in North Ame- rica, and its affairs will affume another afpedt. I wait, with the folicitude of a good citizen, until the ferment fubfide, and regular government be re-eftablifhed, and then I (hall return to this part of my work, in which I had made fome progrefs. That, together with the hiflory of Portuguese America, and of the fettlements made by the fe* veral nations of Europe in the Weft India iflands, will complete my plan.

The three volumes which I now publifh, con- tain an account of the difcovery of the New World, and of the progrefs of the Spanifh arms and colonies there. This is not only the moft fplendid portion of the American ftory, but fo much detached, as, by itfelf, to form a perfect whole, remarkable for the unity of the fubjecl:. As the principles and maxims of the Spaniards A3 in

VI PREFACE.

in planting colonies, which have been adopted in fome meafure by every nation, are unfolded in this part of my work ; it will ferve as a proper introduction to the hiftory of all the European eftablifhments in America, and convey fuch in- formation concerning this important article of policy, as may be deemed no lefs interefting than curious.

In defcribing the atchievements and inftitu- tions of the Spaniards in the New World, I have departed in many inftances from the accounts of preceding hiftorians, and have often related facts which feem to have been unknown to them. It is a duty I owe the Public to mention the fources from which I have derived fuch intelligence, as juftifles me either in placing tran factions in a new light, or in forming any new opinion with refpe& to their caufes and effects. This duty I perform with greater fatisfa&ion, as it will afford an op* portunity of exprefling my gratitude to thofe be* nefa&ors, who have honoured mc with their countenance and aid in my refearches.

As it was from Spain that I had to ex peel: the moll important information, with regard to this part of my work, I confidered it as a very for- tunate circumftance for me, when lord Gran- tham, to whom I had the honour of being per- fonally known, and with whofe liberality of fen* timent, and difpofition to oblige, 1 was well ac* quainted, was appointed ambaflador to the court of Madrid. Upon applying to him, I met with fuch a reception as fatisfied me that his endea- vours would be employed in the moft proper manner, in order to obtain the gratification of my wifhes; and I am perfectly fenfible, that

what

PREFACE. Vll

what progrefs I have made in my inquiries among the Spaniards, ought to be afcribed chiefly to their knowing how much his lordfhip interefted himfelf in my fuccefs.

But did I owe nothing more to lord Gran- tham, than the advantages which I have derived from his attention in engaging Mr. Waddilove, the chaplain of his embafty, to take the conduct of my literary inquiries in Spain, the obligations I lie under to him would be very great. During five years, that gentleman has carried on re- fearches for my behoof, with fuch activity, per- feverance, and knowledge of the fubjedt, to which his attention was turned, as have filled me wjth no lefs aftonifhment than fatisfaction. He pro- cured for me the greater part of the Spanifh books, which I have confulted ; and as many of them were printed early in the fixteenth centuiy, and are become extremely rare, the collecting of thefe was fuch an occupation, as, alone, required much time and affiduity. To his friendly atten- tion I am indebted for copies of feveral valuable manufcripts, containing facts and details which I might have fearched for in vain, in works that have been made public. Encouraged by the inviting good-will with which Mr. Waddilove conferred his favours, I tranfmitted to him a fet of queries, with refpect both to the cuftoms and policy of the native Americans, and the nature of feveral inftitutions in the Spanifh fettlements, framed in fuch a manner, that a Spaniard might anfwer them, without difclofing any thing that was im- proper to be communicated to a foreigner. He tranflated thefe into Spanifh, and obtained from various perfons who had refided in moft of the

Spanifh

Vlll PREFACE.

Spanifh colonies, fuch replies as have afforded me much inftrudtion.

Notwithstanding thofe peculiar advantages with which my inquiries were carried on in Spain, it is with regret I am obliged to add, that their fuccefs mull be afcribed to the benefi- cence of individuals, not to any communication by public authority. By a fmgle arrangement of Philip II. the records of the Spanifh monarchy are depofited in the Archive* of Simancas, near Valladolid, at the diflance of a hundred and twenty miles from the feat of government, and the fupreme courts of juilice. The papers re- lative to America, and chiefly to that early pe- riod of its hiflory, towards which my attention was dire&ed, are fo numerous, that they alone, according to one account, fill the largeft apart- ment in the Archivo ; and according to another, they compofe eight hundred and feventy-three large bundles. Confcious of poffefiing, in fome degree, the induftry which belongs to an hifto- rian, the profpeft of fuch a treafure excited my moft ardent curiofity. But the profpecl; of it, is all that I have enjoyed. Spain, with an excefs of caution, has uniformly thrown a veil over her tranfactions in America. From flrangers they are concealed with peculiar folicitude. Even to her own fubjects the Archivo of Simancas is not opened without a particular order from the crown ; and after obtaining that, papers cannot be copied, without paying fees of office fo ex- orbitant, that the expence exceeds what it would be proper to bellow, when the gratification of literary curiofity is the only object. It is to be hoped, that the Spaniards will at laft difcover

this

PREFACE. IX

this fyftem of concealment to be no Iefs impolitic than illiberal. From what I have experienced in the courfe of my inquiries, I am fatisfled, that upon a more minute fcrutiny into their early ope- rations in the New World, however reprehenfible the actions of individuals may appear, the con- duct of the nation will be placed in a more fa- vourable light.

In other parts of Europe very different fen- timents prevail. Having fearched, without fuc- cefs, in Spain, for a letter of Cortes to Charles V. written foon after he landed in the Mexican em- pire, which has not hitherto been publifhed ; it occurred to me, that as the emperor was fetting out for Germany at the time when the meflen- gers from Cortes arrived in Europe, the letter with which they were intrufted might poffibly be preferved in the Imperial library of Vienna. I communicated this idea to fir Robert Murray- Keith, with whom I have long had the honour to live in friend fhip, and I had foon the pleafure to learn that upon his application, her Imperial majefty had been gracioufly pleafed to ifTue an order, that not only a copy of that letter, (if it were found,) but of any other papers in the li- brary, which could throw light upon the Hiflory of America, mould be tranfmitted to me. The letter from Cortes is not in the Imperial library, but an authentic copy, attefted by a notary, of the letter written by the magiftrates of the co- lony planted by him at Vera Cruz, which I have mentioned, vol. ii. p. 141, having been found, it was tranfcribed and fent to me. As this letter is no lefs curious, and as little known as that which was the object of my inquiries, I have

given

X PREFACE.

given fome account, in its proper place, of what is moil worthy of notice in it. Together with it, I received a copy of a letter from Cortes, containing a long account of his expedition to Honduras, with refpect to which, I did not think it neceflary to enter into any particular detail ; and likewife thofe curious Mexican paint- ings, which I have defcribed, vol. iii. p. 23.

My inquiries at St. Peterfburg were carried on with equal facility and fuccefs. In examining into the neareft communication between our con- tinent and that of America, it became of confe- quence to obtain authentic information concern- ing the difcoveries of the Ruffians in their navi- gation from Kamchatka towards the coaft of America. Accurate relations of their firft voy- age, in 1 741, have been publifhed by Muller and Gmelin. Several foreign authors have enter- tained an opinion, that the court of Ruffia ftudi- oufly conceals the progrefs which has been made by more recent navigators, and fuffers the Public to be amufed with falfe accounts of their route. Such conduct appeared to me unfuitable to thofe liberal fentiments, and that patronage of fcience, for which the prefent fovereign of Ruffia is emi- nent 5 nor could I difcern any political reafon, that might render it improper to apply for in- formation concerning the late attempts of the Ruffians to open a communication between Alia and America. My ingenious countryman, Dr. Rogerfon, firft phyfician to the emprefs, pre- fented my requeft to her Imperial majefty, who not only difclaimed any idea of concealment, but inilantly ordered the journal of captain Krenit- zin, who conducted the only voyage of difcovery

made

PREFACE. XI

made by public authority fince the year 1741, to be translated, and his original chart to be copied for my ufe. By confulting them, I have been enabled to give a more accurate view of the pro- grefs and extent of the Ruffian discoveries, than has hitherto been communicated to the Public.

From other quarters I have received inform- ation of great utility and importance. M. le chevalier de Pinto, the minifter from Portugal to the court of Great Britain, who commanded for feveral years at Matagroffo, a fettlement of the Portuguese in the interior part of Brazil, where the Indians arc numerous, and their ori- ginal manners little altered by intercourfe with Europeans, was pleafed to fend me very full an- fwers to fome queries concerning the character and inftitutions of the natives of America, which his polite reception of an application made to him in my name> encouraged me to propofe. Thefe Satisfied me, that he had contemplated with a difcerning attention the curious objects which his iituation prefented to his view, and I have often followed him as one of my beft-in- ftrucled guides.

M. Suard, to whofe elegant tranflation of the Hiftory of the Reign of Charles V. I owe the favourable reception of that work on the conti- nent, procured me anfwers to the fame queries from M. de Bougainville, who had opportunities of obferving the Indians both of North and South America, and from M. Godin le Jeune, who re- fided fifteen years among the Indians in Quito, and twenty years in Cayenne. The latter are more valuable from having been examined by M. de la Condamine, who, a few weeks before

his

XII. PREFACE.

his death, made fome fhort additions to them, which may be confidered as the lail effort of that attention to fcience which occupied a long life.

My inquiries were not confined to one region in America. Governor Hutchinfon took the trouble of recommending the confideration of my queries to Mr. Hawley and Mr. Brainerd, two proteftant miflionaries, employed among the Indians of the Five Nations, who favoured me with anfwers, which difcover a confiderable knowledge of the people whofe cuiloms they defcribe. From William Smith, efq. the inge- nious hiftorian of New York, I received fome ufeful information. When I enter upon the Hif- tory of our Colonies in North America, I fhall have occafion to acknowledge how much I have been indebted to many other gentlemen of that country.

From the valuable Collection of Voyages made by Alexander Dalrymple, efq. with whofe at- tention to the Hillory of Navigation and Difco- very the Public is well acquainted, I have re- ceived fome very rare books, particularly two large volumes of Memorials, partly manufcript, and partly in print, which were prefented to the court of Spain during the reigns of Philip II L and Philip IV. From thefe I have learned many curious particulars with refpect to the interior Hate of the Spanifh colonies, and the various fchemes formed for their improvement. As this Collection of Memorials formerly belonged to the Colbert library, I have quoted them by that title.

All thofe books and manufcripts I have con- fulted with that attention which the refpect due

PREFACE* Xlli

from an author to the Public required ; and by minute references to them, I have endeavoured to authenticate whatever I relate. The longer I reflect on the nature of hiftorical compofition, the more I am convinced that this fcrupulous ac- curacy is necefTary. The hiftorian who records the events of his own time, is credited in pro- portion to the opinion which the Public enter- tains with refped: to his means of information and his veracity. He who delineates the tranf- aclions of a remote period, has no title to claim afTent, unlefs he produces evidence in proof of his aflertions. Without this, he may write an amufing tale, but cannot be faid to have com- pofed an authentic hiftory. In thofe fentiments I have been confirmed by the opinion of an author*, whom his induftry, erudition, and dif- cernment have defervedly placed in high rank among the moft eminent hiftorians of the age. Emboldened by a hint from him, I have pub- limed a catalogue of the Spanifh books which I have confulted. This pra&ice was frequent in the laft century, and was coniidered as an evi- dence of laudable induftry in an author ; in the prefent, it may, perhaps, be deemed the effect of oftentation ; but as many of thefe books are unknown in Great Britain, I could not other- wife have referred to them as authorities, with- out encumbering the page with an infertion of their full titles. To any perfon who may choofe to follow me in this path of inquiry, the cata- logue muft be very ufeful.

My readers will obferve, that in mentioning fums of money, I have uniformly followed the

* Mr» Gibbon. vol. i. b Spanifh

XIV PREFACE.

Spanifh method of computing by psfos. In America, the pefo fuerte, or duro, is the only one known, and that is always meant when any fum imported from America is mentioned. The pefo fuerte, as well as other coins, has varied in its numerary value ; but I have been advifed, without attending to fuch minute variations, to confider it as equal to four (hillings and fixpence of our money. It is to be remembered, how- ever, that in the fixteenth century, the effective value of a pefo, i. e. the quantity of labour which it reprefented, or of goods which it would pur- chafe, was five or fix times as much as at prefent.

N. B. Since this edition was put into the prefs, a Hiftory of Mexico, in two volumes in quarto, tranflated from the Italian of the Abbe D. Fran- cefco Saverio Clavigero, has been publifhed. From a perfon, who is a native of New Spain, who has refided forty years in that country, and who is acquainted with the Mexican language, it was natural to expect much new information. Upon pending his work, however, I find that it contains hardly any addition to the ancient Hiiiory of the Mexican empire, as related by Acofta and Herrera, but what is derived from the improbable narratives and fanciful conjec- tures of Torquemada and Boturini. Having copied their fplendid defcriptions of the high ftate of civilization in the Mexican empire, M. Clavigero, in the abundance of his zeal for the honour of his native country, charges me with having miftaken fome points, and with having mifreprefented others, in the Hiflory of it.

When

PREFACE,

XV

When an author is confcious of having exerted induftry in refearch and impartiality in decifion, he may, without prefumption, claim what praife is due to thefe qualities, and he cannot be in- fenfible to any accufation that tends to weaken the force of his claim. A feeling of this kind has induced me to examine fuch ftricliures of M. Clavigero on my Hiftory of America as me* rited any attention, efpecially as thefe are made by one, who feemed to poffefs the means of ob- taining accurate information ; and to fhew that the greater part of them is deftitute of any juft foundation. This I have done in notes upon the paflages in my Hiftory, which gave rife to his criticffms.

College af Edinburgh, March ift, 1788.

j 1 j^t^M

\

CONTENTS.

VOLUME THE FIRST.

BOOK I.

•pKOGREss of navigation among the ancients.— View of * their discoveries as preparatory to thofe of the moderns— Imperfection of ancient navigation and geography — Doc- trine of the zones — Farther difcoveries checked by the irruption of barbarous nations — Geographical knowledge flill preferved in the Eaft, and among the Arabians — Re- vival of commerce and navigation in Europe — favoured by the Croifades — extended by travellers into the Eaft — pro- rooted by the invention of the mariner's compafs — Firft regular plan of difcovery formed by Portugal — State of that kingdom— Schemes of prince Henry — Early attempts feeble— Progrefs along the weftern coaft of Africa— Hopes of difcovering a new route to the Eaft Indies-— Attempts to accomplish this— Profpects of fuccefs. Page i

BOOK II.

Birth and education of Columbus— acquires naval /kill in the fervice of Portugal — conceives hopes of reaching the Eaft Indies by holding a wefterly courfe — his fyftem founded on the ideas of the ancients, and knowledge of their naviga- tion— and on the difcoveries of the Portuguefe — His nego- tiations with different courts— Obftacles which he had to furmount in Spain— «Voyage of difcovery — difficulties— fuccefs— return to Spain— Aftonifhment of mankind on this difcovery of a new world— Papal grant of it— Second \oyage — Colony fettled— Farther difcoveries — War with the Indians — Firft tax impofed on them— Third voyage- He difcovers the continent — State of the Spanifh colony- Errors in the firft fyftem of colonizing— Voyage of the Portuguefe to the Eaft Indies by the Cape of Good Hope — Effects of this— Difcoveries made by private adven- b 3 tmers

XVlil CONTENTS.

turers in the new world — Name of America given to it- Machinations againft Columbus— Difgraced and fent in chains to Europe— Fourth voyage of Columbus— His dif- coveries — difafters — death. Page 65

BOOK III.

State of the colony in Hifpaniola — New war with the Indians —Cruelty of the Spaniards — Fatal regulations concerning the condition of the Indians— Diminution of that people— Difcoveries and fettlements — Firft colony planted on the continent — Conqueft of Cuba — Difcovery of Florida — of the South Sea — Great expectations raifed by this— Caufes of difappointment with refpect to thefe for fome time— . Controverfy concerning the treatment of the Indians- Contrary decifions— Zeal of the ecclefiaftics, particularly of Las Cafas— Singular proceedings of Ximenes— -Negroes imported into America — Las Cafas* idea of a new colony —permitted to attempt it— unfuccefsful — Difcoveries to-

. wards the Weft — Yucatan— Campeachy— New Spain- Preparations for invading it. 194

BOOK. IV.

View of America when firft difcovered, and of the manners and policy of its moft uncivilized inhabitants— V aft ex- tent of America — Grandeur of the objects it prefents to view—Its mountains — rivers — lakes — Its form favourable to commerce— Temperature— predominance of cold— Caufes of this— uncultivated— unwholefome— its animals •—foil — Inquiry how America was peopled — various theo- ries—what appears moft probable— Condition and charac- ter of the Americans — All, the Mexicans and Peruvians excepted, in the ftate of favages— Inquiry confined to the uncivilized tribes— Difficulty of obtaining information- various caufes of this— Method obferved in the inquiry—

I. The bodily conftitution of the Americans considered—

II. The qualities of their minds — III. Their domeftic ftate.

271

VOLUME THE SECOND.

BOOK IV. concluded. IV. Their political ftate and inftitutions— V. Their fyftem of war and public fecurity — VI. The arts with which

they

CONTENTS, XIX

they were acquainted — VII. Their religious ideas and inftitutions — VIII. Such Angular and detached cuf- toms as are not reducible to any of the former heads— —IX. General review and eftimate of their virtues and defects. page i

BOOK V.

Hiftory of the conqueft of New Spain, by Cortes. 107

BOOK VI.

JJiftory of the conqueft of Peru, by Pizarro— and of the dif- fen/ions and civil wars of the Spaniards in that country- origin— progrefs — and effects of thefe. 27 1

VOLUME THE THIRD.

BOOK VII.

View of the inftitutions and manners of the Mexicans and Peruvians — Civilized ftates in comparifon of other Ameri- cans—Recent origin of the Mexicans — Facts which prove their progrefs in civilization— View of their policy in its various branches— of their arts— Facts which indicate a fmall progrefs in civilization — What opinion mould be formed on comparing thofe contradictory facts — Genius of their religion —Peruvian monarchy more ancient— Its po- licy founded on religion — Singular effects of this — Pecu- liar ft ate of property among the Peruvians— Their public works and arts— roads — bridges — buildings— Their un- warlike fpirit— View of other dominions of Spain in Ame- rica— Cinaloa and Sonora — California — Yucatan and Hon- duras— Chili — Tucuman— Kingdom of Tierra Firme— New Kingdom of Granada. I

BOOK VIII.

View of the interior government, commerce, &c. of the Spanifh colonies — Depopulation of America — firft effect oi their fettlements— »not the confequence of any fyftem of

policy

xx CONTENTS.

policy— »nor to be imputed to religion — Number of* Indians ftill remaining — Fundamental maxims on which the Spanifh fyftem of colonization is founded— Condi- tion of different orders of men in their colonies— Cha- petones — Creoles— Negroes — Indians— Eccleliaftical ftate and policy — Character of fecular and regular clergy- Small progrefs of Christianity among the natives— Mines chief object of their attention — Mode of working thefe —their produce — Effects of encouraging this fpecies of induftry — Other commodities of Spanifh America — Firft effects of tlvs new commerce with America on Spain- Why the Spanifh colonies have not been as beneficial to the parent- ftate as thofe of other nations— Errors in the Spanifh fyftem of regulating this commerce — confined to one port — carried on by annual fleets— Contraband trade —Decline of Spain both in population and wealth— Re- medies propofed— View of the wife regulations of the Bourbon princes — A new and more liberal fyftem intro- duced—Beneficial effects of this — Probable confequences — Trade between New Spain and the Philippines — Re- venue of Spain from America — whence it arifes — to what it amounts. Page 89

BOOKIX. The Hiftory of Virginia to the year 1688.

Spirit of adventure awakened in England by Columbus's difcoveries — Checked by unfkilfulnefs in navigation- Expedition from Briftol under the command of Cabot— who difcovers Newfoundland, and fails along the coaft to Virginia — Expedition to South America under the command of Sebaftian Cabot— Unfuccefsful attempts to difcover a north-weft paffage to India — Sir Hugh Wil- loughby fails in fearch of a north-eaft paffage — Wil- loughby perifhes — One of his fhips anchor at Archangel —The captain vifits Mofcow — Trade opened with Ruflia —Communication with India by land — Expedition to the coaft of Africa — Frobifher makes three attempts to dif- cover the north-weft paffage — Sir Francis Drake fails round the world — Enthufiafm of difcovery — Firft project of a colony in North America— Charter granted by queen

Elizabeth—*

CONTENTS. XXI

Elizabeth— Firft expedition fails — The plan refumed by Ralegh — Discovery of Virginia — Colony eftablifhed there by fir Richard Greenville — In danger of perifliing by famine, returns to England — Ufe of tobacco introduced in England — Ralegh's fecond attempt to fettle a colony in Virginia — Colony perifhes by famine— Ralegh abandons the defign of fettling a colony in Virginia— Direct courfc from England to North America firft attempted by Gof- nold— .Conferences of Gofnold'b voyage — Hakluyt im- proves the commercial and naval fkiil of the age — James divides the coaft cf America into two parts — and grants charters to two companies— Colonies of Virginia and New England— Newport fails for Virginia — Difcovers the Chefapeak— Sails up James river — Founds James Town— Suffers from fcarcity and the unhealthinefs of the climate — Smith called to the command — He is taken prifoner by the Indians — Smith undertakes a furvey of the country — A new charter granted — Lord Delaware appointed governor — Gates and Summer appointed to command till lord Delaware's arrival — Their fhip brand- ed on the coaft of Bermuda — The colony reduced by famne— Lord Delaware arrives— His wife adminiftration —His health obliges him to return to England — Sir Thomas Dale appointed governor — New charter iflued— • Treaty with the natives — Rolfe marries the daughter of an Indian chief — Land in Virginia firft becomes property —Culture of tobacco introduced — Young women emi- giate from England to Virginia — Firft general afTembly of reprefentatives— General mafiacre of the Englifh planned by the Indians — Bloody war with the Indians- Company at home divided by factions— Company required to furrender its charter, and refufes—Di Ablution of the company — Temporary council appointed for the govern- ment of Virginia — Acceflion of Charles I.— His arbi- trary government of the colony — Colonifts feize on Harvey their governor, and fend him prifoner to England —He is releafed by the king, and reinftated in his government — Sir W. Berkeley appointed governor- Virginia flouriihes under the new government — Parlia- ment makes war on Virginia, which is forced to acknow- ledge the commonwealth— Reftraints on the colony— The colonifts difTatisfied — Are the firlt to acknowledge Charles II. — Infurre&ion in Virginia headed by N. Bacon

—who

XXII CONTENTS*

— who forces Sir W. Berkeley and the council to fly- Death of Bacon terminates the rebellion— State of the colony at the revolution in 1688. Page 195

BOOK X.

The Hiftory of New England to the year 1652.

Firft attempts to fettle on the northern coaft — Smith furveys that coaft, and calls it New England — Religious difputes give rife to the New England colony— Religious perfecution by Mary— Queen Elizabeth — Puritans — Intolerant fpirit of the church— Entire feparation of the Puritans from the church — Brownifts— take refuge in Holland — Remove from thence to America— Firft attempt to fettle in MaiTa* chufets Bay— Settle at New Plymouth--P)an of government — Grand council of Plymouth appointed — Project of anew colony — Charter to the new colony of Maflachufet? Bay- Settlement in confequence of this charter— Begin with efta blifhing a church — Intolerance of the new church— Emi- grations from England increafed by the intolerance of Laud— Charter of the company transferred to the colonifts ^—Colony extended— None but members of the church admitted as freemenr— Indian territories depopulated by the fmall-pox — Settlements of the colonifts extended — Freemen meet by reprefentatives — Extent of political liberty afiumed by the aflembty— -New fettlers— Antino- mian feet— Their doctrines condemned by a general fynod — The fectaries fettle in Providence and Rhode Jfland— Colony of Connecticut — of New Hampshire and Main — War with the Pequod tribes — Deteat of the Indians — Cruelties exercifed againft the Indians— Emi- grations from England — Prohibited by royal proclamation -—Colony of Mafiachufets Bay lued at law, and found to have forfeited its rights— Exemption from certain duties granted to the colonies— Confederacy of the New Eng- land ftates — Right of coining afTumed by the colonifts— Cromwell patronifes the New England colonies — Propofes to tranfport the colonifts to Jamaica — Colonifts decline accepting this offer. 288

4 CATALOGUE

© r

Spanifh Books and Manufcripts,

A car ete de Bifcay, Relation des Voyages dans la Riviere de la Plata, & de la par Terre au Perou. Exft. Recueil deThevenot, Part IV.

A Voyage up the River de la Plata, and thence

by Land to Peru, 8vo. London, 1698.

Acoita (P. Jof. de) Hiftoria Natural y Moral de las Indias, 4to. Madrid, 1590.

. (Jofeph de) Hiftoire Naturelle 8c Moral des Indes,

tant Orientales qu' Occidentales, 8vo. Paris, 1600.

Novi Orbis Hiitoria Naturalis & Moralis.

Ext. in Collea. Theod. de Bry, Pars IX.

De Natura Novi Orbis, Libri duo, & de pro-

curanda Indorum Salute, Libri fex, Salmant. 8vo. 1589.

1 (Chriftov.) Tratado da las Drogas y Mede-

cinas de las Indias Occidentales, con fus Plantas Dibuxadas al vivo, 4to. Burgos, 1578.

Acugna (P. Chriftoph.) Relation de la Riviere des Ama- zones, umo. Tom. ii. Paris, 1682.

Acugna's Relation of the great River of the Amazons in South America, 8vo. Lond. 1698.

Alarchon (Fern.) Navigatione aScoprere ii Regno di fette Citta. Ramufio, 111. 363.

Albuquerque Coello (Duarte de) Memorial de Artes de la Guerra del Brafil, 4to. Mad. 1634.

Alcafarado (Franc) An Hiftorical Relation of the Dif- covery of the lile of Madeira, 4to, Lond. 1675.

Alcedo

XXIV A CATALOGUE OF SPANISH

Albedo y Herrera (D. Dionyfio de) Avifo Hiftorico-Po- litico-Geografico, con las Noticiasmas particulars, del Peru, Tierra Firme, Chili, y neuvo Reyno de Granada, 4to. Mad.

J74°* . .

■ Compendi Hiftonco de la Provincia y Puerto de

Guayaquil, 4to. Mad. 1741.

, Memorial fobre diferentes Puntos tocantes al eftado

de la Real hazienda, y del Comercio, &c. en las Indias, fol.

Aldamay Guevara (D. Jof. Auguftin de) Arde dela Len- gua Mexicana, i2mo. Mexico, 1754.

Alvaiado (Pedro de) Dos Relaciones a Hern. Cortes Referiendole fus Expediciones y Conquiftas en varias Pro- vincias de N. Efpagna. Exft. Barcia Hiftoriad. Primiu torn. i.

Lettere due, &c. Exft. Ramuf. III. 296.

Aparicio y Leon (D. Lorenzo de) Difcurfo Hiftorico- Politico del Hofpital San Lazaro de Lima, 8vo. Lim* 1761.

Aranzeles Reales de los Miniftros de la Real Audiencia de N. Efpagna, fol. Mexica, 1727.

Argenfola (Bartolome Leonardo de) Conquifta de las Mas Malucas, fol. Mad. 1609.

■■ Anales de Aragon, fol. Saragoca, 1630.

Arguello (Eman.) Sentum Confeffionis, i2mo. Mer« 1703. ( ;

Arriago (P. Pablo Jof. de) Extirpacion de la Idolatria de Peru, 4to. Lima, 162 1.

Avendagno (Didac.) Thefaurus Indicus, ceu generalis Inftruclor pro Regimine Confcientiae, in ijs quae ad Indias fpeclant, fol. 2. vols. Antwerp, 1660.

Aznar (De Bern. Fran.) Difcurfo tocante a la real hazi- enda y adminiftracion de ella, 4to.

B

Bandini (Angelo Maria) Vitae Lettere di Armerlgo Vef- pucci, 4to. Firenze, 1745.

Barcia (D. And. Gonzal.) Hiftoriadores Primkivos de las Indias Occidentales, foL 3 vols. Mad. 1749.

Barco-Centinera (D. Martin de) Argentina y Conquifta del Rio de la Plata Poema. Exft. Barcia Hiftoriad. Pri- mir. H]9

Barros

BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. XXV

Barros ( Joao de) Decadas de Afia, fol. 4 vols. Lilboa, 1682.

Bellefteros (D. Thomas de) Ordenanzas del Peru, fol.. a vols. Lima, 1685.

Beltraa (P. F. Pedro) Arte de el Jdioma Maya reducido a fucintas reglas, y Semilexicon, 410. Mex. 1746.

Benzo (Hieron. ) Novi Orbis Hiftorae— De Bry America, Part IV. V. VI.

Betancurt y Figueroa (Don Luis) Derecho de las Iglefias Metropolitanas de las Indias, 4to. Mad. 1637.

Blanco (F. Matias Ruiz) Converfiion de Piritu de Indios Cumanagotos y otros, i2mo. Mad. 1690.

Boturini Benaduci (Lorenzo) Idea de una nueva Hiftoria general de la America Septentrional, fundada fobre material copiofa de Figuras, Symbolas Caradteres, Cantares y Manu-. fcritos de Autores Indios, 4to. Mad. 1746.

Botello de Moraes y Vafconcellos (D. Francifco de) El Nuevo Mundo Poema Heroyco, 410. Barcelona, 1701.

Botero Benes (Juan) Description de Todas las Provincias, Reynos, y Ciudades del Mundo, 4to. Girona, 1748.

Brietius (Phil.) Paralela Geographise Veteris & Novae, 4to. Paris, 1648.

Cabeza de Baca (Alvar. Nugnez) Relacion de los Nau- fragios. Exft. Barcia Hift. Prim. torn. i.

— — ' Examen Apologetico dela Hiftorica

Narration da los Naufragios. Exft. Barcia Hift. Prim, torn- i.

■- Commentarlos de lo fuccedido duarante

fu gubierno del Rio de la Plata. Exit. ibid.

Cabo de Vacca Relatione de. Exft. Ramuf. III. 310.

Cabota (Sebaft.) Navigazione de. Exft. Ramuf. II. MI.

Cadamuftus (Aloyfius) Navigatio ad Terras incognitas. Exft. Nov. Orb. Grynaei, p. 1.

Calancha (F. Anton, de la) Cronica moralizada del Orden de San Auguftin en el Peru, fol. Barcelona, 1638.

California — Diario Hiftorico de los Viages de Mar y Tierra hechos en 1768, al Norte de California di orden del Marques de Croix Vi-rey de Nueva Efpagna, &c. MS.

vol. i. c Caiie

XXVI A CATALOGUE Ot SPANISH

Calle (Juan Diaz de la) Memorial Informatorio de lo que a fu Mageftad Provien de la Nueva Efpagna y Peru, 41:0.

Campomanes (D. Pedro Rodrig.) Antiguedad Maritima de la Republica de Cartago, con el Periplo de fu general Harmon traducido e illuftrado, 4to. Mad. 1756.

" Difcurfo fobre el fomento de lalnduftria po-

pular, 8vo. Mad. 1774.

_ Difcurfo fobre la Education popular de los

Artefanos, 8vo. 5 vol. Mad. 1775, &c.

Caracas — Real Cedula de Fundacion de la real Compagnia Guipufcoana de Caracas, izmo. Mad. 1765.

Caravantes (Fr. Lopez de) Relacion de las Provincias que tiene el Govierno del Peru, los Officios que en el fe Provien, y la Hacienda que alii tiene fu Mageftad, lo que fe Gafta de ella y le queda Libre, &c. &c. Dedicado al Marques de Santos Claros, Agno, de 161 1. MS.

Cardenas y Cano (Gabr.) Enfayo Cronologicoparala Hif- toria general de la Florida, fol. Mad. 1733.

Carranzana (D. Goncales) A Geographical Defcription of the Coafts, &c. of the Spaniih Weft indies, 8vo. Lond. 1740.

Cafas (BarU de las) BrevilTima Relacion de la Deftruycion de las Indias, 4to. 1552.

— (Bart, delas) Narratio Iconibus illuftrataper Theod. de Bry. 4to. Oppent. 16 14.

— » (Bart, de las) An Account of the firft Voyages and Difcoveries of the Spaniards in America, 8vo« Lond.

1693*

CaiTani (P. Jofeph) Hiftoria de la Provincia de Compagnia de Jefus del Nuevo Reyno de Granada, fol. Mad. 1741.

Caftanheda (Fern. Lop. de) Hiftoria do Defcobrimento 8c Conquifta de India pelos Portuguefes* fol. 2 vol. Liibon, 1552.

Caftellanos (Juan de) Primera y Secunda de las Elegias de Varones Illuftres de Indias, 4to. 2 vol. Mad. 1589.

Caftillo (Bernal Dias del) Hiftoria Verdaderade la Con- quifta de Nueva Efpagna, fol. Mad. 1632.

Caftro, Figueroa y Salazar (D. Pedro de) Relacion di fa ancimiento y fervicios, 12 mo.

Cavallero (D. Jof. Garcia) Brieve Cotejo y Valance de las pefas y Medidas di varias Naciones, reducidas a las que Corren «n Caftilla, ^.tcu Mad* j 731*

Cepeda

BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. XXVli

Ccpeda (D. Fern.) Relacion Univerfal del Sitio en que cfta fundada la Cjudad de Mexico, fol. 1637.

Cieca de Leon (Pedro de) Chronica del Peru, fol. Sevill.

1533-

Cjfneros (Diego) Sitio, Naturaleza y Propriedades de la Ciudad de Mexico, 4to. Mexico, 1618.

Clemente (P. Claudio) Tablas Chronologicas, en que contienen los Sucefos Eccleiiafticos y Seculares de India., 4to. Val. 1689.

Cogullado (P. Fr. Diego Lopez) Hiftoria de Yucatan, fol. Mad. 1688.

Collecao dos Brives Pontificos e Leyes Regias que forao Expedidos y Publicadas defde o Anno 1741, fobre a la Li* berdada des Peflbas bene e Commercio dos lndos de Breiil.

Collepcion General de las Providencias haita aqui tomadas par el Gobierno fobre el Eftragnimento, y Occupacion de Temporalidades de los Regulaies de la Compagnia, de Ef- pagna, Indias, &c. Partes IV. 4to. Mad. 1767.

Colon (D. Fernando) La Hiftoria del Almirante, D. Chriftoval Colon. Exft. Barcia Hift. Prim. I. 1.

Columbus (Chrift.) Navigatio qua multas Regiones haclenus incognitas invenit. Exft. Nov. Orb. Grynaei? p. 9Qf

, (Ferd.) Life and Actions of his Father Ad-

miral Chriftoph. Columbus. Exft. Churchill's Voyages, II. 479-

Compagnia Real de Comereio para las Jilas de Sto. Do- mingo, Puerto-rico y la Margarita, izmo.

Compendlo General de las Contribuciones y gattos que occafionan todos los effeclos, frutos, caudales, &c. que tra» fican entre los reynos de Caftilla y America, 4to.

Cpncilios Provinciates Primero y Segundo celebrados en la muy Noble y muy leal Ciudad de Mexico en los Agnos de 1555 & 1565, fol. Mexico, 1769.

Concilium Mexicanum Provinciale tertium celebratum Mexici, Anno 1585, fol. Mexici, 1770.

Continente Americano, Argonauta de las coftasde Nueva Efpagna y Tierra Firme. i2mo.

Cordeyro (Antonio) Hiftoria lnfulana das ilhas a Portugas fugeytas no Oceano Occidental, fol. Lilb. 1717.

Cbrita (Dr. Alonzo) Breve y fumaria Relacion de los Seg-

nores, manera y Differencia de ellos, que havia en la Nueva

Efpagna, y otras Provincias fus Comarcanas, y de fus -Leyes,

c 2 Ufos

XXVlil A CATALOGUE OF SPANISH

Ufos y Coftumbres, y de la Forma que tenian en Tributar fus Vafallos en Tiempo de fu Gentilidad, &c. MS. 4to. pp. 307. I" .

Coronada (Fr. Vafq. de) Sommario di due fue Lettere del Viaggio fatto del Fra. Marco da Nizza al fette Citta de Cevola. Exft. Ramufio III. 354.

■ ■ Relacion Viaggio alle fette Citta. Ramufio III.

359-

Cortes (Hern.) Quattro Cartas dirigidas al Emperador

Carlos V. en que ha Relacion de fus Conquiftas en la Nueva Efpagna. Exft. Barcia Hift. Prim. torn. i.

Corteflii (Ferd.) De infulis nuper inventis Narrationes ad Carolum V. fol. 1532.

Cortefe (Fern.) Relacioni, &c. Exft. Ramufio III. 225.

Cubero (D. Pedro) Peregrination del Mayor Parte del Mundo, ZaragolT. 4to. 1688.

Cumana-Govierno y Noticia de, fol. MS,

Davila Padilla (F. Aug.) Kiftoria de laFundacion y Dif- curfo de Provincia de St. Jago de Mexico, fol. BruiT. 1625,

(Gil Gonzalez) Teatro Ecclefiaftico de la Primi-

tiva Iglefia de los Indias Occidentales, fol. 2 vols. 1 649.

Documentos tocantes a la Perfecucion, que los Regulares de la Compagnia fufcitaron contra Don B. de Cardenas Obifpo de Paraguay, 4to. Mad. 1768.

Echaveri (D. Bernardo lbagnez de) El Reyno Jefuitico del Paraguay. Exft. torn. iv. Colleccion de Documentos, 4to. Mad. 1770.

Echave y AiTu (D. Francifco de) LaEftrellade Limacon- vertidaen Sol fobre fur tres Coronas, fol. Amberes, 1688.

Eguiara El Egueren (D. Jo. Jof.) Bibliotheca Mexicana, five Eruditorum Hiftoria Virorum in America Boreali -hato- rum,&c. torn. prim. fol. Mex. 1775. N. B. No more than one volume of this work has been publifhed.

Ercilla y Zuniga (D. Alonzo de) La Araucana, Poema Eroico, fol. Mad. 1733.

- 2 vols. 8vo. Mad. 1777.

Eicalona

BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. XXIX

Efcalona (D. Gafpar de) Gazophylacium Regiurn Peruvi- cum, fol. Mad. 1775.

Faria y Soufa (Manuel de) Hiltoria del Reyno de Portugal, fol. Amber. 1730.

Faria y Soufa, Hiftory of Portugal from the firft Ages to the Revolution under John IV. 8vo. Lond. 169S.

Fernandez (Diego) Prima y fecunda Parte de la Hiftoria del Pern, fol. Seviil. 1571.

— (P. Juan Patr.) Relacion Hiftorial de las

Mifiiones de los Indias que daman Chiquitos, 4to. Mad. 1726.

Feyjoo (Benit. Geron) Efpagnoles Americanos— Difcurfo VI. del torn. iv. del Teatro Critico. Mad. 1769.

Solucion del gran Problema Hiftorico

fobrela Poblacion de la America— Difcurfo XV. del torn. v. de Teatro Critico.

1 . (D. Miguel) Relacion Defcriptiva de la Ciudad y Provincia Truxillo del Peru, fol. Mad. 1763.

Freyre (Ant.) Piratas de la America, 4to.

FraiTb (D.Petro) De Regio Patronatu Indiarum, fol. 2 vols. Matriti, 1775.

Galvao (Antonio) Tratado dos Defcobrimentos Antigos y Modernos, fol. Lifboa, 173L

Galvano (Ant.) The Difcoveries of the World from the firft Original unto the Year 1555. Ofborne's Collect. II.

354-

Gamboa (D. Fran. Xavier de) Comentarios a los ordi- nanzas de Minas, fol. Mad. 1761.

Garcia (Gregorio) Hiftoria Ecclefiaftica y Seglar de la India Oriental y Occidental, y Predicacion de la Santa Evan- geiia en ella, i2mo. Baeca, 1626.

(Fr. Gregorio) Origen de los Indios del Nuevo

Mundo, fol. Mad. 1729.

Gaftelu (Anton. Valefquez) Arte de Lengua Mexicana, 4_to. Puibla de los Angeles. 1716.

Gazeu de Mexico pos lbs Annos 1728, 1729, 1730, 4to. C 3 Ginva

XXX A CATALOGUE OF SPANISH

Girava (Hieronymo) Dos Libros de Cofmographia. Milan, i5«;6.

Godoy (Diego de) Relacion al H. Cortes, que trafa del Defcubrimiento de diverfas Ciudades, y Provincias, y Guer- ras que tuio con los Indios. Exft. Barcia Hift. Prim, torn. i.

Godoy Lettera a Cortefe, &c. Exft. RamufioIII. 300.

Gomara (Fr. Lopez de) La Hiftoria general de las Indias, l2mo. Anv. 1554.

. Hiftoria general de las Indias. Exft. Barcia Hift, Prim. torn. ii.

Chronica de la Nueva Efpagna 6 Conquifta de

Mexico. Exit. Barcia Hift. Prim. torn. ii.

Guatemala— Razon puntual de los fuccelTos mas memora- biles, y de los eftragos y dannos que ha padecido la rindad de Guatemala, fol. 1774.

Gumilla (P. Jof.) El Orinoco illuftrado y defendidoj Hiftoria Natural, Civil, y Geographica de efte Gran Rio, &c. 4to. 2 torn. Mad. I745»

__ . Hiftoire Naturelle, Civile, & Geogra-

phique de l'Orenoque. Traduite par M. Eidous, i2mo. torn. iii. Avig. 1758.

Gufman (Nugno de) Relacion fcritta in Omitlan Pro.- vincia de Mechuacan della maggior Spagna nell 1530. Exft, Ramufio III. 331.

H

Henis (P. Thadeus) Ephemerides Belli GuiaranicI, ab Anno 1754. Exft. Colleccion general de Docum. torn. iv.

Hernandes (Fran.) Plantarum, Animalium & Mineralium Mexicanorum Hiftoria, fol. Rom. 1 651.

Herera (Anton, de) Hiftoria general de los Hechos de lot Caftellanos en las Iflas y Tierra Firma de Mar Oceano, fol. 4 vols. Mad. 1 601.

Hiftoria General, &c. 4 vols. Mad. 1730.

General Hiftory, &c. Tranflated by Stephens,

Svo. 6 vols. Lond. 1740.

■ Defcriptio Indiae Occidentalis, fol. Amft. 1622.

Huemez y Horcafitas (D. Juan Francifco de) Extraclo de los Autos de Diligencias y reconocimientos de los rios, lagu- nas, vertientes, y defaguas de Mexico y fu valle, &c. fol. Mex. 1743.

Jefuitaa

BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. XXXi

Jefuitas— Colleccion de las applicaciones que fe van hacien- do de los Cienes, cafas y Coligios que fueron de la Compagnia de Jefus, expatriados de eftos Reales dominios, 4to. 2 vols. Lima, 177a y 1773*

Colleccion General de Providencias hafta aqui

tomadas por el Gobierno fobre el Eftrannamiento y Occupa- cion de temporaiidades, de los Regulares de la Compagnia de Efpagna, Indias, e Iflas Filipinas, 4to. Mad. 1767.

Retrato de los Jefuitas formado al natural, 4to.

a vols. Mad. 1768.

__ Relacion Abbreviada da Republica que os Re- Hgiofos Jefuitas eftabeleceraon, 12010.

Idea del Origen, Gobierno, &c. de la Com- pagnia de Jefus, 8vo. Mad. 1768.

L

Laevinius (Apollonius) Libri V. de Peruviae Invention. & rebus in eadem geflis, i2mo. Ant. 1567.

Leon (Fr. Ruiz, de) Hernandia, PoemaHeroyco de Con- quifta de Mexico, 4to. Mad. 1755.

■ (Ant. de) Epitome de la Bibliotheca Oriental

y Occidental, Nautica y Geograrlca, fol. Mad. 1737.

Lima, A true Account of the Earthquake which happened there, 28th October 1746. Tranflated from the Spanifh, 8vo. Lond. 1748.

Lima Gozofa, Defcription de las feftibas Demonftraciones, con que efta ciudad Celebro la real Proclamacion de el Nom- bre Augufto del Catolico Monarcho D. Carlos III. Lima, 4to. 1760.

Llano Zapata (D. Jof. Eufeb.) Preliminar al Tomo I. de las Memorias Hiftorico-Phyficas, Critico-Apologeticas de la America Meridional, 8vo. Cadiz, 1759.

Lopez (D. Juan Luis) Difcurfo Hittorico Politico en de« fenfo de la Jurifdicion Real, fol. 1685.

■ 1 (Thorn.) Atlas Geographico de la America Sep* tentrional y Meridional, i2mo. Par. 1758.

Lorenzana (D. Fr. Ant.) Arzobifpo de Mexico, ahora, ds Toledo, Hiltoria de Nueva Efpagna, efcrita por fu Efcla-

recido

XXX11 A CATALOGUE OF SPANISH

recido Oonquiftador Hernan Cortes, Aumentada con otros Documentos y Notas, fol. Mex. 1770.

Lozano (P. Pedro) Defcription Chorographica, del Ter. retor'os, Arboles, Animates, del Gran Chaco, y de los Ri- tos y Coftumbres, de las innumcrabiles Naciones que la ha- bitan 4to. Cordov. 1 73 3.

. Hiftoria de la Compagnia de Jefus en la Pro-

vinciadel Paraguay, fol. 2 vols. Mad, 1753.

M

Madriga (Pedro de) Defcription de la Gouvernement du Perou. Exft. Voyages qui ont fervi a retablifiement de la comp. des Indes, torn. ix. 105.

Mariana (P. Juan de) Difcurfo de las Enfermedades de la Compagnia de Jefus, 4*0. Mad. 1768.

Martinez de la Puen^e (D. JoC) Compendio de las Hif- torias de l<;s Defcubnmientos, Conquiftas, y Guerras de la Indb Oriental, y fus Idas, defde los Tiempos del Infante Don Enriqeu de Portugal fu inventor. 4to. Mad. 1681.

Mar'yr ab Angleria (Petr.) De Rebus Oceanicis & Novo Orbe Decades tres, i2mo. Colon 1574.

Martyr ab Angleria (Petr.) De Infulis nuper inventis, & de Moiibus Incolarum. Ibid. p. 329,

. u Opus Epiftolarum, fol. Amft. 1670.

■ II Sommario cavato della fua Hiftoria del

Kuevo Mundo. Ramufio IJI. i.

Mata (1). Ge;on. Fern, de) Ideas politicas y morales, j2mo. Toledo, 1640.

Mechuacan— Relacion de las Ceremonias, Ritos, y Po- blacion de los Indios de Mechuacan hepha al I. S. D. Ant. de Jvlendoza Vjrrey de Nueva Efpagna, fol. MS.

Melendez (Fr. Juan) Teforos Verdaderos de las Indias Hiftoria de la Provincia de S. Juan Baptifta del Peru, del Orden de Predicadores, fol. 3 vols. Rom. 1681.

Memorial Ajuftado por D. A. Fern, de Heredia Gober- Dador de Nicaragua y Honduras, fol. 1753*

Memorial Adjuftado contra los Officiales de Cafa de Mo* neda a Mexico de el anno 1729, fol.

Mendoza (D. Ant. de) Lettera al Imperatore del DifcoprU mento della Terra Firma della N. Spagna verfo Tramontano. Exft. Ramufio III. 355.

Mendoza

BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. XXX1H

Mendoza (Juan Gonz. de) Hiitoria del gran Reyno de China, con un Itinerario del Nuevo Mundo, 8vo. Rom* 1585.

Miguel (Vic. Jof.) Tablas de los Sucefos Ecclefiatticos en Africa, Indias Orientales y Occidentals, 4jto. Val. 1689.

Mifcellanea Economico- Politico, &c. fol. Pampl. 1749.

Molina (P. F. Anton.) Vocabulario Caftellano y Mexi- cano, fol. 1 571.

Monardes (El Dottor) Primera y Segunda y Tercera Parte de la Hiitoria Medicinal, de lasCofas que fe traen de nuefttaa Indias Occidentales, que (irven en Medicina, 4to. Sevilla,

*754«

Moncada (Sanchode) Reftauracion Politica de Efpagna y defeos Publicos, 4 to. Mad. 1746*

Morales (Ambrofiode) Coronica General deEfpagnia, fol. 4 vols. Alcala 1574.

Moreno y Efcaudon (D. Fran. Ant*) Defcripcion y Ef- tado del Virreynato de Santa Fee, Nuevo Reyno de Granada, &c. fol. MS.

Munoz (D. Antonio) Difcurfo fobre economia politica^ Svo. Mad. 1769.

N

Nizza (F. Marco) Relatione del Vlaggio fatta per Terra al Cevole, Regno di cette Citta. Exft. Ramuf. HI. 356.

Nodal— Relacion del Viage que hicieron los Capitanes Barth. y Gonz. de Nodal al defcubrimiento del Eftrecho que hoy es nombrado de Maire, y reconocimiento del de Magel- Janes, 4to. Mad.

Noticia Individual de los derechos fegun Io reglado en ulti- mo proye&o de 1720, 4to. Barcelona, 173Z.

Nueva Efpagna — Hiftoria de los Indios de Nueva Efpagna dibidida en tres Partes. En la primera trata de los Ritos, Sacrificios y Idolatrias del Tiempo de fu Gentilidad. En la fegunda de fu maravilloia Converfion a la Fe, y modo de celebrar las Fieftas de Nueftra Santa Iglefia. En la tercera del Genio y Caracler de aquella Gente j y Figuras con que notaban fus Acontecimientos, con otras patticularidades $ y Noticias de las principals Ciudades en aquel Reyno. Efcrita en el Agno 1541 por uno de los doce Religiofos Francifcos que primero Paflaron aentender en fu Converfion. MS. fol. pp. 618.

Ogna

3CXX1V A CATALOGUE OF SPANISH

Ogna (Pedro de) Arauco Domado. Poema, i2mo. Mad. 1605.

Ordenanzas del Confejo real de las Indias, fol. Mad. 168 1.

Ortega (D. Cafimiro de) Refumen Hiftqrico del primer Viage hecho al rededor del Mundo, 41:0. Mad. 1769.

Ofibrio (Jerome) Hiftory of the Portuguefe, during the Reign of Emmanuel, 8vo. 2 vols. Lond. 1752.

Oflbrius (Hieron.) De rebus Emmanuelis Lufitaniae Re- gis, 8vo. Col. Agr. 1752.

Ovalle (Alonlo) Hiftoiica Relacion del Reyno de Chili, fol. Rom. 1646.

■ An Hiftorical Relation of the Kingdom of Chili. Exft. Churchill Collect. III. 1. ^

Oviedo y Bagnos (D. Jof.) Hiftoria la Conquifta y Pub- lication ce Venezuela, fol. Mad. 1723.

Oviedo Sommaria, &c. Exft. Ramulio III. 44.

Oviedo (Gonz. Fern, de) Relacion Sommaria de la Hif- toria Natural de los Indias. Exft. Barcia Hift. Prim, torn i*

Oviedo Hiftoria Generale & Naturale dell Indie Occiden- tale. Exft. Ramufio HI. 74.

■ Relatione della Navigatione per la Grandifiima

Piume Maragnon. Exft. Ramuf. III. 415.

Palacio (D. Ralm. Mig.) Difcurfo Economico Politico, 4to. Mad. 1778.

Palafox y Mendoza (D. Juan) Virtudes del Indios o Na- turaliza y Coftumbres de los Indios de N. Efpagna, 4to.

Vie de Venerable Dom. Jean Palafox Eveque de

PAngelopolis, i2mo. Cologne, 1772.

Pegna (Juan Nugnez de la) Conquifta y Antiguedades de las I/las de Gran Canaria, 4to. Mad. 1676.

Pegna Montenegro (D. Alonfo de la) Itinerario para Pa- rochos de Indios, en que tratan les marerias mas particulars, tocan es a ellos para fu buen admjniftracion, 4to. Amberes,

1754.

Penalofa y Mondragon (Fr. Benito de) Cjneo Excellencias del Efpagnol que des peublan a Efpagna, 4to. Pampl. 1629.

Peraita Barnuevo (D. Pedro de) Lima fundada o Conquifta del Peru JVema Eroyco, 4to. Lima, 1732.

Peraita

BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. XXXY

Peralta Calderon (D. Mathias de) El Apoftol de las Indn9 y nueves gentes San Francifco Xavier de la Compagnia dc Jefus Epitome de fus Apoftolicos hechos, 4to. Pampl. 1 66 5.*

Pereira de Berrido (Bernard.) Annaes Hiftoricos do eftado do Maranchao, fol. Lifboa, 1749.

Peru — Relatione d'un Capitano Spagnuolo del Defcopri- mento y Conquifta del Peru. Exft. Ramuf. III. 371.

Peru— -Relatione d'un Secretario de Franc. Pizzarro dull a Conquefta del Peru. Exft. Ramufio III. 371.

— Relacion del Peru, MS.

Pefquifa de los Oydores de Panama contra D. Jayme Mug. nos, &c. por haverlos Commerciado illicitamente en tiempo de Guerro, fol. 1755.

Philipinas— Carta que efcribe un Religiofo antiguo de Phi- lipinas, a un Amigo fuyo en Efpagna, que le pregunta ei Naturel y Genio de los Indies Naturales de Eftas Iilas. MS, 4to.

Piedrahita (Luc. Fern.) Hiftoria general de las Conquiftas del Nuevo Reyno de Granada, fol. Ambres.

Pinelo ( Anc. de Leon) Epitome de la Bibliothcca Oriental y Occidental en que fe continen los Efcritores de las Indias Orientales y Occidentales, fol. 2 vols. Mad. 1737.

Pinzonius focius Admirantis Columbi — N avigatio & res per eum repertae. Exft. Nov. Orb. Grynaei, p. 119.

Pizarro y Orellana (D. Fern.) Varones illuftres del N". Mundo, fol. Mad. 1639.

Plan&us Judorum Chriftianorum in America Peruntina, l2mo.

Puente (D. Jof. Martinez de la) Compendio de las Hif- torias de los Defcubrimientos de la India Oriental y fus Mas, 4to. Mad. 1 63 1.

Quir (Ferd. de) Terra Auftralis Incognita; or, a new Southern Difcovery, containing a fifth Part of the Worl4 lateiy found out, 4to. Lond. 1617.

Ramufio (Giov. Battifta) Racolto delle Navigationi e Vi« *ggi> fol. 3 vols. VeneU 1588.

Real Compagnia Guipuzcoanade Caracas, Noticias hiito- riales Pra&kas, de los Succeffos y Adelanumientos de efta

Compagnia

XXXVI A CATALOGUE OF SPANISH

Compagnia defde fu Fundacion en 1728 hafta 1764, 4to, 1765-

Recopilacion de Leyes de los Reynos de las Indias, fol. 4 vols. Mad. 1756.

Reglamento y Aranceles Reales para el Comercio de Ef- pagna a Indias, fol. Mad. 1778.

Relatione <Tun Gentilhuomo del Sig. Fern. Cortefe della gran Citta Temiftatan, Mexico, & delle altre cofe della Nova Spagna. Exft. Ramuf. llh 304.

Remefal (Fr. Ant) Hiftoria general de las Indias Occiden- tales y particular de la Governacion de Chiapa y Guatimala, fol. Mad. 1620.

Ribadeneyra (D. Diego Portichuelo de) Relacion del Viage defde que falio de Lima, hafta que Illego a Efpagna, 410. Mad. 1657.

Ribandeneyra y Barrientos (D. Ant. Joach.) Manuel Compendio de el Regio Patronato Indiano, fol. Mad.

*755-

Ribas (Andr. Perez de) Hiftoria de los Triumphos de Nueftra Sta Fe, entre Gentes la mas Barbaras, en las mif- liones de Nueva Efpagna, fol. Mad. 1645.

Riol (D. Santiago) Reprefentacion a Philipe V. fobre ei eftado aclual de los Papeles univerfales de la Monarchia, MS.

Ripia (Juan de la) Praclica de la Adminiftracion y co- branza de las rentas reales, fol. Mad. 1768.

Rocha Pitta (Sebaftiano de) Hiftoria de America Portou- gueza des de o Anno de 1500 du fu Defeobrimento ate 0 de I724, fol. Lifboa, 1730.

Rodriguez ( Manuel) Explicacion de la Bulla de la Santa Cruzada, 4to. Alcala, 1589.

1 (P. Man.) El. Maragnon y Amozonas, Hifto-

ria de los Defcubrimientos, Entradas y Reducion de Naciones. foL Mad. 1684.

Roman (Hieron) Republicas del Mundo, fol. 3 vols. Mad. 1595.

Roma y Rofell (De Franc.) Las fegnales de la felicidad de Efpagna y medios de hacerlas eflicaees, 8vo. Mad, 1768.

Rofende (P. Ant. Gonz. de) Vida del Juan de Palafox Arzobifpo de Mexico, fol. Mad. 167 1„

Rubaclava (Don Jof. Gutierrez de) Tratado Hiftorica Politico, y Legal de el commercio de las India* Occidentales, izmo* Cad. 1750.

Ruiz

BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. XXXVtt

Ruiz (P. Ant.) Conquifta Efpiritual hecha por los Reli- giofos de la Compagnia de Jeius, en las Provincias de la Paraguay Uraguay, Parana y Tape, 4to. Mad. 1639,

Salazar de Mendoza (D. Pedro) Monarquia de Efpagna, torn, i, ii, iii. fol. Mad. 1770.

— y Olarte (D. Ignacio) Hiftoria de la Conquifta

de Mexico— Segunda parte, Cordov. 1743.

— y Zevallos (D. Alonz. Ed. de) Conftitucio-

nes y Ordenanzas antiguas Agnadidas y Modernas de la Real Univerfidad y eftudio general fte San Marcos de la Ciudad de los Reyes del Peru, fol. En la Ciudad de los Reyes, 1735.

Sanchez (Ant. Ribero) Diflertation fur POngine de la Maladie Venerienne, dans laquelle on preuve qu'elle n'a point ete portee de l'Amerique, izmo. Paris, 1765.

Sarmiento de Gam boa (Pedro de) Viage al Eftrecho dc Magellanes, 4to. Mad. 1768.

Santa Cruz (El Marques) Comercio Suelto y en Com- panias General, izmo. Mad. 1732.

Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, y Margarita, Real Compag- nia de Comercio, i2mo. 1756.

Schemidel (Hulderico) Hiftoria y Defcubrimiento de Rio de la Plata y Paraguay. Exft. Barcia Hift. Prim, torn. iii.

Sebara da Sylva (Jof. de) Recueil Chronologique & Ana- lytique de tout ce qu'a fait en Portugal la Societe dite de Jefus, depuis fon Entree dans ce Royaume en 1540 jufqu'a fon Expulfion 1759* ^n10* 3 vols. Lift). 1769.

Segni (D. Diego Raymundo) Antiquario Noticiofa Gene- ral de Efpagna y fus Indios, 1 2mo. 1769.

Sepulveda (Genefius) Dialogus de juftis belli caufis, prae- fertim in IndosNovi Orbis. MS.

(Jo. Genefius) Epiftolarum Libri VII. I2m<*»

Salam. 1557.

Sepulveda de regno, Libri III. i2mo. Ilerdae, 1570.

Seyxas y Lovero (D. Fr.) Theatro Naval Hydrographko, 4to. 1648.

■ ■ Defcripcion Geographica y Derrotera de la Re- gion Auftral Magellanic*, 4to. Mad. 1690,

vol. 1. d Simon

XXXV1U A CATALOGUE OF SPANISH

Simon (Pedro) Noticias Hiftoriaies de las Conquiftas dc Tierra Firme en las Indias Occidentals, fol. Cuenca, 1627.

Solis (D. Ant. de) Hlftorias de las Conquiftas de Mexico, fol. Mad. 1684.

— — Hiftory of the Conqueft of Mexico. — Tranf.

lated by Townfend, fol. 1724.

Solarzano y Pereyrra (Joan.) Politica Indiana, fol. z vols. Mad. 1776.

— — De Indiarum jure, five de jufta Indiarum Occi-

dentalium Gubernatione, fol. 2 vols. Lngd. 1672.

■ Qbras Varias pofthumas, fo>. Mad. 1776.

Soto y marne (P. Franc, de) Copia de la Relacion de Viage que defde la ciudad de Cadiz a la Cartagena de Indias hizo, 4to. Mad. 1753.

Spilbergen et Le Maire Speculum Orientalis Occidenta. lifque Navigationum, 4to. L. Bat. 1619.

Suarez de Figueroa (Chriftov.) Hec.hos de D, Garcia Huitado de Mendoza, 4to. Mad. 16 13.

Tanco (Luis Bezerra) Felicidad de Mexico en la admi- rable Aparicion de N. Signora di Guadalupe, 8vo. Mad* *745-

Tarragones (Hierom Gir.) Dos Libros de Cofmographia, 4to. Milan, 1556.

Techo (F. Nkhol. de) The Hiftory of the Province* Paraguay, Tucuman,Rro de la Plata, &c. Exft. Churchill's Coll. VI. 3. •

Torquemada (Juan de) Monarquia Indiana, fol. . 3 vols* Mad. 1723.

Torres (Sim. Per. de) Viage del Mundo. Exft. Barcia Hift. Prim. III.

■ (Franc. Carode) Hiftoria de las Ordencs Militares

de Santiago, Calatrava y Alcantara, defde fu Fundacion hafta el Rey D. Felipe II. Adminiftador perpetuo deilas, fol. Mad. 1629.

Torribio (P. F. Jof.) Aparato para la Hiftoria Natural Efpagnala, fol. Mad. 1754.

— - DiiTertacion Hiftorico Politica y en mucha parte Geographica de las Was Philipinas, nmo. Mad.

1753-

Totanes

BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. XXXIX

Totancs (F. Sebaftian de) Manual Tagalog para auxilio de Provincia de las Philipinas, 4to. Samplai en las Philipinas, ^745-

V

tJlloa (D. Ant. de) Voyage Hiitorique de TAmerique Meridionale, 4to. 2 torn. Paris, 1752.

. (D. Ant. de) Noricias Americanas, Entretenimien-

tos Phyficos-Hlitoricos, fobre la America Meridional y la Septentrional Oriental, 4to. Mad. 1772.

... (D. Bern, de) Reitablecimiento de las Fabricas, trafico, y comercio maritimo de Efpagna, i2mo. 2 vols. Mad. 1740.

— (Franc.) Navigatione per fcoprire ITfole delle Spe~ cierie fmo al Mare detto Verraejo nel 1539- Exit. Ramuf. III. 339.

(D. Bernardo) RetablifTemeitt des Manufactures &

du Commerce d'Efpagne, 1 2mo. Amft 1753.

Uztariz (D. Geron.) Theoria y Practica de Commercio & de Marina, fol. Mad. 1757.

■ The Theory and Practice of Commerce and Mari-

time Affairs. Svo. 2 vols. Lond. 175 1.

V .

Verages (D. Thorn. Tamaio de) Reftauracion de la Ciudad del Salvador y Baia de Todos Sanclos en la Provincia del Brafil, 4to. Mad. 1628.

Vargas Machuca (D. Bern, de) Milicia y Defcripcion de las Jndias, 4. to. Mad. 1699.

Vega (GarcilafTo de la) Hiltoire de la Conquete de la Floride. Traduite par Richelet, 12 mo. 2 torn. Leyd. 1731.

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Lond. 1688.

Vega (L'Ynca GarcilafTo de la) Hiftoire des Guerres Civilts jdos Efpagnoles dans les Indes, par Baudouin, 4to. 2 torn. Paris, 1648.

Veitia Linage (Jof.) The Spanifli Rule of Trade to the Weft Indies, Svo. Lond 1701*

Declamacion Oratoria en Defenfa de D.

Jof, Fern. Veitia Linage, fol. 1702.

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%\ A CATALOGUE OF SPANISH

Vcitia Linage ( Jof.) Norte de la Contratacion de las Indias Occidentales, fol. Sevill. 1672.

Venegas (Miguel) A Natural and Civil Hiftory of Cali- fornia, 8vo. 2 vols. Lond. 1759.

Verazzano (Giov.; Relatione delle Terra per lui Scoperta nel 1524. Exft. Ramufio III. p. 420.

Vefputius (Americus) Duae Navigationcs fub aufptciis Ferdinandi, &c. Exft. DeBry America. Pars X.

Navigatio prima, fecunda, tertia, quarta. Exft.

Nov. Orb. Grynaei, p. 155.

Viage de Efpagna, nmo. 6 torn. Mad. 1776.

Vi&una (Fran.) Relationes Theologicae de Indis & de jure beili contra eos, 4to. 1765.

Viera y Clavijo (D. Jof.) Noticias de la Hiftoria general de las Iflas de Canaria, 4to. 3 torn. Mad. 1 772.

Villalobos (D. Juan de) Manifiefto fobre in introduccion de efclavos negros en las Indias Occidentales, 4 to. Sevilla, 1682.

Villagra (Gafp. de) Hiftoria de Nueva Mexico Poema, nmo. Alcala. 16 10.

Villa Segnor y Sanchez (D. Jof. Ant.) Theatro Ameri- cano. Defcripcion general de los Reynos y Provincias de la Nueva Efpagna, fol. 2 torn. Mcx. 1746.

■ Res puefta fobre el precio de Asogue, 4to.

Vocabulario Brafiliano y Partugues, 4to. MS.

W

Ward (D. Bernardo) Proyecto Economico fobre la pobla- cion de Efpagna> la agricultuia en todos fus ramos, y de mas eftablecimientos de induftria, comercio con nueftra marina, arreglo de nueftra interefes en America, libertad del commercio en Indias, &c. 2- vols. 4to. MS.

X

Xeres (Franc, de) Verdadera Relacion de la Conquifta del Peru y Provincia de Cuzco, Embtada al Emperador Carlos V. Exft. Barcia Hift. Prim, torn- iii.

m — »— — » Relatione, &c. &c. Exft. Ramufiq III. 37*.

Zarate

BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. xll

z

Zarate ( Au£. de) Hiftoria del Defcubrimiento y Conquilta de la Provincia del Peru. Exft. Barcia Hift. Prim. torn. iii. . ■ Hiltoire de la Decouverte & de la Conquete du Perou, nmo. 2 torn. Paris, 1742.

Zavala y Augnon (D. Miguel de) Reprefentacion al Rev N. Segnor IX Phllipe V. dirigidaal mas feguro Aumentodel Real Erario. Noplace. 1732.

Zevallos (D. Pedro Ordognez de) Hiftoria y Viage del Mundo, 4to. Mad. 1691*

D 3 THE

THE

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK I

The progrefs of men in discovering and peo- pling the various parts of the earth, has been extremely flow. Several ages elapfed be- fore they removed far from thofe mild and fertile regions in which they were originally placed by their Creator. The occafion of their firft gene- ral difperfion is known ; but we are unacquainted with the courfe of their migrations, or the time when they took poflefllon of the different coun- tries which they now inhabit. Neither hiftory nor tradition furnifh fuch information concerning thofe remote events, as enables us to trace, with any certainty, the operations of the human race in the infancy of fociety.

We may conclude, however, that all the early migrations of mankind were made by land. The ocean, which furrounds the habitable earth, as well as the various arms of the fea which feparate one region from another, though deftined to fa- cilitate the communication between diflant coun- tries, feem, at firft view, to be formed to check the progrefs of man, and to mark the bounds of that portion of the globe to which nature had confined him. It was long, we may believe, before men attempted to pafs thefe formidable

2 barriers,

2 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I.

barriers, and became fo fkilful and adventrous as to commit themfelves to the mercy of the winds and waves, or to quit their native mores in queft of remote and unknown regions.

Navigation and mip-building are arts fo nice and complicated, that they require the ingenuity, as well as experience, of many fucceffive ages to bring them to any degree of perfection. From the raft or canoe, which firft ferved to carry a favage over the river that obftru&ed him in the chafe, to the conftruftion of a veffel capable t>f conveying a numerous crew with fafety to a dif- tant coaft, the progrefs in improvement is im* menfe. Many efforts would be made, many ex* periments would be tried, and much labour as well as invention would be employed, before men could accomplifli this arduous and important un- dertaking. The rude and imperfect ftate in which navigation is ftill found among all nations which are not confiderably civilized, correfponds with this account of its progrefs, and demon- ftrates that, in early times, the art was not fo far improved as to enable men to undertake diflant voyages, or to attempt remote difcoveries.

As foon, however, as the art of navigation became known, a new fpecies of correfpondence among men took place. It is from this sera, that we muft date the commencement of fuch an in- tercourfe between nations as deferves the appel- lation of commerce. Men are, indeed, far ad- vanced in improvement before commerce becomes an object of great importance to them. They muft even have made fome confiderable progrefs towards civilization, before they acquire the idea of property, and afcertain it fo perfectly as tQ be

acquainted

W It HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3

acquainted with the moil fimple of all contracts, that of exchanging by barter one rude commo- dity for another. But as foon as this important right is eitablifhed, and every individual feels that he has an exclufive title to poffefs or to alie- nate whatever he has acquired by his own labour or dexterity, the wants and ingenuity of his na- ture fugged to him a new method of increafing his acquiiitions and enjoyments, by difpofing of what is fuperfluous in his own ftores, in order to procure what is neceflary or defirable in thofe of other men. Thus a commercial in- tercourfe begins, and is carried on among the members of the fame community. By degrees, they difcover that neighbouring tribes poffefs what they themfelves want, and enjoy comforts of which they wifh to partake. In the fame mode, and upon the fame principles, that do- meftic traffic is carried on within the fociety, an external commerce is eftablifhed with other tribes or nations. Their mutual intereft and mutual wants render this intercourfe defirable, and im- perceptibly introduce the maxims and laws which facilitate its progrefs and render it fecure. But no very extenfive commerce can take place be- tween contiguous provinces, whofe foil and cli- mate being nearly the fame, yield fimilar pro- ductions. Remote countries cannot convey their commodities by land, to thofe places, where on account of their rarity they are defired, and be- come valuable. It is to navigation that men are indebted for the power of tranfporting the fuper- fluous flock of one part of the earth, to fupply the wants of another. The luxuries and bleffings of a particular climate are no longer confined to

itfelf

;:

HISTORY OF AMERICA, 3. I.

itfelf alone, but the enjoyment of them is com- municated to the moil diflant regions.

In proportion as the knowledge of the advan- tages derived from navigation and commerce con- tinued to fpread, the intercourfe among nations extended. The ambition of conquefl, or the neceflity of procuring new fettlements, were no longer the fole motives of viiiting diflant lands. The defire of gain became a new incentive to activity, roufed adventurers, and fent them forth upon long voyages, in fearch of countries, whofe products or wants might increafe that circula- tion, which nourifhes and gives vigour to com- merce. Trade proved a great fource of difco- very, it opened unknown leas, it penetrated into new regions, and contributed more than any other caufe, to bring men acquainted with the fituation, the nature, and commodities of the different parts of the globe. But even after a regular commerce was eftablifhed in the world, after nations were confiderably civilized, and the fciences and arts were cultivated with ardour and fuccefs, navigation continued to be fo imperfect, that it can hardly be faid to have advanced be- yond the infancy of its improvement in the an- cient world.

Among all the nations of antiquity the flruc- ture of their vefTels was extremely rude, and their method of working them very defective. They were unacquainted with feveral principles and operations in navigation, which are now confi- dered as the firfl elements on which that fcience is founded. Though that property of the mag- net, by which it attracts iron, was well known £o the ancients, its more important and amazing

virtue

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. $

virtue of pointing to the poles had entirely efcaped their obfervation. Deftitute of this faithful guide, which now conducts the pilot with fo much certainty in the unbounded ocean, during the darknefs of night, or when the hea- vens are covered with clouds, the ancients had no other method of regulating their courfe than by obferving the fun and liars. Their navigation was of coniequence uncertain and timid. They durft feldom quit fight of land, but crept along the coaft, expofed to all the dangers, and re- tarded by all the obftructions, unavoidable in holding fuch an awkward courfe. An incredible length of time was requifite for performing voy- ages, which are now finifhed in a (hort fpace. Even in the mildeft climates, and in feas the leaft tempeftuous, it was only during the fum- mer months that the ancients ventured out of their harbours. The remainder of the year was loft in inactivity. It would have been deemed moil inconfiderate rafhnefs to have braved the fury of the winds and waves during winter a.

While both the fcience and practice of naviga- tion continued to be fo defective, it was an un- dertaking of no fmall difficulty and danger to vifit any remote region of the earth. Under every difadvantage, however, the active fpirit of commerce exerted itfelf. The Egyptians, foon after the eftablimment of their monarchy, are faid to have opened a trade between the Arabian Gulf or Red Sea, and the weftern coaft of the great Indian continent. The commodities which they imported from the eaft, were carried by land

* Vegetius de Re milit, lib. iv.

from

6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I.

from the Arabian Gulf to the banks of the Nile, and conveyed down that river to the Me- diterranean. But if the Egyptians in early times applied themfelves to commerce, their attention to it was of fhort duration. The fertile foil and mild climate of Egypt produced the neceffaries and comforts of life with fuch profufion, as ren- dered its inhabitants fo independent of other countries, that it became an eilablifhed maxim among that people, whofe ideas and inftitutions differed in almoft every point from thofe of other nations, to renounce all intercourfe with fo- reigners. In confequence of this, they never went out of their own country ; they held all feafaring perfons in deteftation, as impious and profane ; and fortifying their own harbours, they denied ftrangers admittance into them b. It was in the decline of their power, and when their ve- neration for ancient maxims had greatly abated, that they again opened their ports, and refumed any communication with foreigners.

The character and fituation of the Phenicians were as favourable to the fpirit of commerce and difcovery as thofe of the Egyptians were adverfe to it. They had no diftinguifhing peculiarity in their manners and inftitutions ; they were not addicted to any fingular and unfocial form of fu- perftition ; they could mingle with other nations without fcruple or reluctance. The territory* which they poffeffed was neither large nor fertile. Commerce was the only fource from which they could derive opulence or power. Accordingly,

b Diod. Sicui. lib. I. p. 78. Ed. Weflelingl. Amft. 2756. Stnbo, lib. xvii. p. 114Z, Ed. Amft. 1707.

the

B. I. HISTORY OP AMERICA. J

the trade carried on by the Phenicians of Sidon and Tyre, was more exteniive and enterprifing than that of any ftate in the ancient world. The genius of the Phenicians, as well as the obje& of their policy and the fpirit of their laws, were en- tirely commercial. They were a people of mer- chants who aimed at the empire of the fea, and aftually poflefled it. Their fhips not only fre- quented all the ports in the Mediterranean, but they were the firft who ventured beyond the an- cient boundaries of navigation, and palling the Straits of Gades, vifited the weftern coaits of Spain and Africa. In many of the places to -which they reforted, they planted colonies, and communicated to the rude inhabitants fome knowledge of their arts and improvements. While they extended their difcoveries towards the north and the well, they did not neglect to penetrate into the more opulent and fertile re- gions of the fouth and eaft. Having rendered themfelves mailers of feveral commodious har- bours towards the bottom of the Arabian Gulf, they, after the example of the Egyptians, efta- blifhed a regular intercourfe with Arabia and the continent of India on the one hand, and with the eaftern coaft of Africa on the other. From thefe countries they imported many valuable com- modities, unknown to the reft of the world, and, during a long period, engrofled that lucrative branch of commerce without a rival c.

The vaft wealth which the Phenicians acquired by monopolizing the trade carried on in the Red Sea, incited their neighbours the Jews, under the prbfperous reigns of David and Solomon, to

c See Note I. at the end of the volume.

vol, i. £ aim

8 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. F.

aim at being admitted to fome (hare of it. This they obtained, partly by their conqueft of Idu- mea, which ftretches along the Red Sea, and partly by their alliance with Hiram king of Tyre. Solomon fitted out fleets, which, under the direction of Phenician pilots, failed from the Red Sea to Tarfhifh and Ophir. Thefe it is probable were ports in India and Africa which their conductors were accuflomed to frequent, and from them the Jewifh mips returned with fuch valuable cargoes as fuddenly diffufed wealth and fplendour through the kingdom of lfraeld. But the fingular inftitutions of the Jews, the ob i fervance of which was enjoined by their divine legiflator, with an intention of preferving them a feparate people, uninfected by idolatry, formed a national character incapable of that open and liberal intercourfe with ftrangers which com- merce requires. Accordingly, this unfocial ge- nius of the people, together with the difailers which befel the kingdom of Ifrael, prevented the commercial fpirit which their monarchs laboured to introduce, and to cherifh, from fpreading among them. The Jews cannot be numbered among the nations which contributed to improve navigation, or to extend difcovery.

But though the inftructions and example of the Phenicians were unable to mould the man- ners and temper of the Jews, in oppofition to the tendency of their laws, they transmitted the commercial fpirit with facility, and in full vi- gour, to their own defcendants the Carthagi- nians. The commonwealth of Carthage applied

d Memoire fur le Pays d' Ophir par M. D'Anville, Mem fie l'Academ. des Infcript. &c. torn. xxx. 83.

1

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 9

to trade and to naval affairs, with no lefs ardour, ingenuity, and fuccefs, than its parent ftate. Carthage early rivalled, and foon furpafTed Tyre, in opulence and power, but feems not to have aimed at obtaining any (hare in the commerce with India. The Phenicians had engrofted this, and had fuch a command of the Red Sea, as fecured to them the exclufive pofFeflion of that lucrative branch of trade. The commercial ac- tivity of the Carthaginians was exerted in ano- ther direction. Without contending for the trade of the earl with their mother-country, they extended their navigation chiefly towards the weft and north. Following the courfe which the Phenicians had opened, they patted the Straits of Gades, and pufhing their discove- ries far beyond thofe of the parent ftate, vi- iked not only all the coafts of Spain, but thofe of Gaul, and penetrated at laft into Britain* At the fame time that they acquired knowledge of new countries in this part of the globe, they gradually carried their refearches towards the fouth. They made confiderable progrefs, by land, into the interior provinces of Africa, traded with fome of them, and fubje&ed others to their empire. They failed along the weftern coaft of that great continent, almoft to the tro- pic of Cancer, and planted feveral colonies, in order to civilize the natives, and accuftom thera to commerce. They difcovered the Fortunate Iflands, now known by the name of the Cana- ries, the utmoft boundary of ancient navigation in the weftern ocean c.

e Plinii Nat. Hift. lib. vi. cap. 37. edit, in ufum Detyh. *to. J685.

E Z Nor

10 HISTORY OF AMERICA, B.I.

Nor was the progrefs of the Phenicians and Carthaginians in their knowledge of the globe, owing entirely to the defire of extending their trade from one country to another. Commerce was followed by its ufual effects among both thefe people. It awakened curiofity, enlarged the ideas and defires of men, and incited them to bold enterprizes. Voyages were undertaken, the fole object of which was to difcover new countries, and to explore unknown feas. Such, during the profperous age of the Carthaginian republic, were the famous navigations of Hanno and Himilco. Both their fleets were equipped by authority of the fenate, and at public ex- pence. Hanno was directed to lleer towards the fouth, along the coaft of Africa, and he feems to have advanced much nearer the equi- noctial line than any former navigator f. Himilco had it in charge to proceed towards the north, and to examine the weftern coafls of the Eu- ropean continent &. Of the fame nature was the extraordinary navigation of the Phenicians round Africa. A Phenician fleet, we are told, fitted out by Necho king of Egypt, took its departure about fix hundred and four years before the Chriftian aera, from a port in the Red Sea, doubled the fouthern promontory of Africa, and, after a voyage of three years, returned by the Straits of Gades, to the mouth of the Nile h.

f Plinii Nat. Hift. lib. v. c. I. Hannonis Periplus ap. Ccograph. minores, edit. Hudfoni, vol. i. p. I.

8 Plinii Nat. Hift. lib. ii. c. 67. Feftus Avienus apud Bochart. Geogr. Sacr. lib. i. c. 60. p. 652. Oper. vol. iii. L. Bat. 1707.

b Kero4ot, lib. iv. c. 42.

Eudoxus

B.I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. U

Eudoxus of Cyzicus is faid to have held the fame courfe, and to have accomplished the fame ardu- ous undertaking1.

Thefe voyages, if performed in the manner which I have related, may juftly be reckoned the greateft effort of navigation in the ancient world ; and if we attend to the imperfect Hate of the art at that time, it is difficult to determine, whether we fhould moft admire the courage and fagacity with which the defign was formed, or the conduct and good fortune with which it was executed. But unfortunately, all the original and authentic accounts of the Phenician and Carthaginian voyages, whether undertaken by public authority, or in profecution of their pri- vate trade, have perifhed. The information which we receive concerning them from the Greek and Roman authors, is not only obfcure and inaccurate, but, if we except a fhort narra- tive of Hanno's expedition, is of fufpicious au- thority k. Whatever acquaintance with the re- mote regions of the earth the Phenicians or Car- thaginians may have acquired, was concealed from the reft of mankind with a mercantile jea- loufy. Every thing relative to the courfe of their navigation was not only a myftery of trade, but a fecret of ftate. Extraordinary facts are •recorded concerning their folicitude to prevent other nations from penetrating into what they wifhed fhould remain undivulged1. Many of their difcoveries feem, accordingly, to have been fcarcely known beyond the precincts of their

* Plinii Nat. Hift. lib. ii. c. 67. k See Note II.

1 Strab. Geogr. lib. iii. p. 265, lib. xviii. p. 1154*

e 3 own

12 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B.I,

own ft ate. The navigation round Africa, in particular, is recorded by the Greek and Roman writers, rather as a ftrange amufing tale, which they did not comprehend, or did not believe, than as a real tranfa£Hon, which enlarged their knowledge and influenced their opinions"1. As neither the progrefs of the Phenician or Cartha- ginian difcoveries, nor the extent of their navi- gation, were communicated to the reft of man- kind, all memorials of their extraordinary fkill in naval affairs feem, in a great meafure, to have perifhed, when the maritime power of the former was annihilated by Alexander's conqueftof Tyre, and the empire of the latter was overturned by the Roman arms.

Leaving then the obfcure and pompous ac- counts of the Phenician and Carthaginian voy- ages to the curiofity and conjectures of antiqua- ries, hiftory mull reft fatisfied with relating the progrefs of navigation and difcovery among the Greeks and Romans, which, though lefs fplen- did, is better afcertained. It is evident that the Phenicians, who inftru&ed the Greeks in many other ufeful fciences and arts, did not communi- cate to them that extenfive knowledge of naviga- tion which they themfelves pofTeffed ; nor did the Romans imbibe that commercial fpirit and ardour for difcovery which diftinguifhed their rivals the Carthaginians. Though Greece be almoft en- compaffed by the fea, which formed many fpa- cious bays and commodious harbours, though it be furrounded by a great number of fertile iflands, yet, notwithstanding fuch a favourable

« See Note III.

fituation,

B.I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 13

fituation, which feemed to invite that ingenious people to apply themfelves to navigation, it was long before this art atta'ned any degree of per- fection among them. Their early voyages, the object of which was piracy rather than com- merce, were fo inconfiderable, that the expedi- tion of the Argonauts from the coafl of Theffaly to the Euxine fea, appeared fuch an amazing effort of fkill and courage, as entitled the con- ductors of it to be ranked among the demigods, and exalted the veffel in which they failed to a place among the heavenly conftellations. Even at a later period, when the Greeks engaged in their famous enterprize againft Troy, their knowledge in naval affairs feems not to have been much improved. According to the account of Homer, the only poet to whom hiftory ven- tures to appeal, and who, by his fcrupulous ac- curacy in defcribing the manners and arts of early ages, merits this diftinction, the fcience of navigation, at that time, had hardly advanced beyond its rudeft flate. The Greeks in the he- roic age feem to have been unacquainted with the life of iron, the moil ferviceable of all the metals, without which no confiderable progrefs was ever made in the mechanical arts. Their veflels were of inconfiderable burthen, and moflly with- out decks. They had only one malt, which was erected or taken down at pleafure. They were ftrangers to the ufe of anchors. All their opera- tions in failing were clumfy and unikilful. They turned their obfervation towards ftars, which were improper for regulating their courfe, and their mode of obferving them was inaccurate and fal- lacious. When they had finifhed a voyage they

drew

£4 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. U

drew their paltry barks aihore, as favages do their canoes, and thefe remained on dry land until the feafon of returning to fea approached. It is not then in the early or heroic ages of Greece that we can expect to obferve the fcience of navigation, and the fpirit of difcovery, making any confiderable progrefs. During that period of diforder and ignorance, a thoufand caufes concurred in reftraining curiofity and enterprize within very narrow bounds.

But the Greeks advanced with rapidity to a date of greater civilization and refinement. Govern- ment, in its moil liberal and perfect form, began to be eftablifhed in their different communities ; equal laws and regular police were gradually in- troduced ; the fciences and arts which are ufeful or ornamental in life were carried to a high pitch of improvement, and feveral of the Grecian com- monwealths applied to commerce with fuch ar- dour and fuccefs, that they were confidered, in the ancient world, as maritime powers of the firft rank. Even then, however, the naval victories of the Greeks muft be afcribed rather to the na- tive fpirit of the people, and to that courage which the enjoyment of liberty infpires, than to any extraordinary progrefs in the fcience of na- vigation. In the Perfian war, thofe exploits which the genius of the Greek hiftorians has rendered fo famous, were performed by fleets, compofed chiefly of fmall veflels without decks"; the crews of which rufhed forward with impetu- ous volour, but little art, to board thofe of the enemy. In the war of Peloponnefus, their fhips

* Thucyd. lib, i. c. 14.

feem

V.U HISTORY OF AMERICA. 15

feem ftill to have been of inconfiderable burthen and force. The extent of their trade, how highly foever it may have been eflimated in an- cient times, was in proportion to this low condi- tion of their marine. The maritime ilates of Greece hardly carried on any commerce beyond the limits of the Mediterranean fea. Their chief intercourfe was with the colonies of their country- men, planted in the leiTer Afia, in Italy and Sicily. They fometimes vifited the ports of Egypt, of the fouthern provinces of Gaul, and of Thrace ; or, palling through the Hellefpont, they traded with the countries fituated around the Euxine fea. Amazing inftances occur of their ignorance even of thofe countries which lay within the narrow precincts to which their navi- gation was confined. When the Greeks had alTembled their combined fleet againfl Xerxes at Egina, they thought it unadvifable to fail to Samos, becaufe they believed the diftance be- tween that ifland and Egina to be as great as the diftance between Egina and the Pillars of Her- cules °. They were either utterly unacquainted with all the parts of the globe beyond the Mediterranean fea, or what knowledge they had of them was founded on conjecture, or derived from the information of a few perfons, whom curiofity and the love of fcience had prompted to travel by land into the Upper Afia, or by fea into Egypt, the ancient feats of wifdom and arts. After all that the Greeks learned from them, they appear to have been ignorant of the moil important facls on which an accurate and fcien- tific knowledge of the globe is founded. 0 Herodot. lib. viii. c. 132.

The

1-6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. Mi U

The "expedition of Alexander the Great into the eaft, confiderably enlarged the fphere of na- vigation and of geographical knowledge among the Greeks. That extraordinary man, notwith- Handing the violent paflions which incited him, at fome times, to the wildeft actions, and the moil extravagant enterprifes, poffeffed talents which fitted him not only to conquer, but to govern the world. He was capable of framing thofe bold and original fchemes of policy, which gave a new form to human affairs. The revolu- tion in commerce, brought about by the force of his genius, is hardly inferior to that revolution in empire occafioned by the fuccefs of his arms. It is probable, that the oppofition and efforts of the republic of Tyre, which checked him fo long in the career of his victories, gave Alexan- der an opportunity of obferving the vaft refour- ces of a maritime power, and conveyed to him fome idea of the immenfe wealth which the Tyrians derived from their commerce, efpecially that with the Eaft Indies. As foon as he had accomplished the deftruc"r.ion of Tyre, and re- duced Egypt to fubjection, he formed the plan of rendering* the empire which he propofed to eftablifh, the centre of commerce as well as the feat of dominion. With this view he founded a great city, which he honoured with his own name, near one of the mouths of the river Nile, that, by the Mediterranean fea, and the neigh- bourhood of the Arabian Gulf, it might com- mand the trade both of the eaft and weft P. This Situation was chofen with fuch difcernment, that

*> Strab. Geogr. lib. xvii. p. 1 143. 1149-

Alexandria

1. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 17

Alexandria foon became the chief commercial city in the world. Not only during the fub- fiftence of the Grecian empire in Egypt and in the eaft, but amidit all the fucceffive revolu- tions in thofe countries, from the time of the Ptolemies to the difcovery of the navigation by the Cape of Good Hope, commerce, particularly that of the Eafl Indies, continued to flow in the channel which the fagacity and forefight of Alexander had marked out for it.

His ambition was not fatisfied with having opened to the Greeks a communication with India by fea ; he afpired to the fovereignty of thofe regions which furnifhed the reft of man- kind with fo many precious commodities, and conducted his army thither by land. Enter- prifing, however, as he was, he may be faid rather to have viewed, than to have conquered that country. He did not, in his progrefs towards the ealt, advance beyond the banks of the rivers that fall into the Indus, which is now the weftern boundary of the vail continent of India. Amidft the wild exploits which diftinguifhed this part of his hiftory, he purfued meafures that mark the fuperiority of his genius, as well as the extent of his views. He had penetrated as far into India as to confirm his opinion of its commercial im- portance, and to perceive that immenfe wealth might be derived from intercourse with a coun- try, where the arts of elegance having been more early cultivated, were arrived at greater perfec- tion in any other part of the earth (J. Full of

* Strab. Geogr. lib.xv. p. 1036.. Q^Curtms, lib, xviii.

thu

l8 HISTORY OF AMERICA, B.I*

this idea, he refolved to examine the courfe of navigation from the mouth of the Indus to the bottom of the Perlian Gulf; and if it mould be found practicable, to eftablifh a regular commu- nication between them. In order to effect this, he propofed to remove the cataracts, with which, the jealoufy of the Perlians, and their averfion to correfpondence with foreigners, had obftrucled the entrance into the Euphrates r ; to carry the commodities of the ea(t up that river, and the Tigris, which unites with it, into the interior parts of his Afiatic dominions ; while, by the way of the Arabian Gulf, and the river Nile, they might be conveyed to Alexandria, and diftributed to the reft of the world. Near- chus, an officer of eminent abilities, was entruftcd with the command of the fleet fitted out for this expedition. He performed this voyage, which was deemed an enterprife fo arduous and im- portant, that Alexander reckoned it one of the moll extraordinary events which diftinguifhed his reign. Inconliderable as it may now appear, it was, at that time, an undertaking of no little merit and difficulty. In the profecution of it, ftriking in (lances occur of the fmall progrefs which the Greeks had made in naval knowledge8. Having never failed beyond the bounds of the Mediterranean, where the ebb and flow of the fea are hardly perceptible, when they nrft ob- ferved this phenomenon at the mouth of the Indus, it appeared to them a prodigy by which the gods teflified the difpleafure of Heaven

* Strab. Geogr. lib, xvi. p. 1075. * See Note IV.

again 11

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 19.

againft their enterprife £. During their whole courfe, they feem never to have loft fight m of land, but followed the bearings of the coafl fo fervilely, that they could not much avail them- felves of thofe periodical winds which facilitate navigation in the Indian ocean. Accordingly, they fpent no lefs than ten u months in perform- ing this voyage, which, from the mouth of the Indus to that of the Perfian Gulf, does not exceed twenty degrees. It is probable, that amidit the violent convulfions and frequent revo- lutions in the eaft, occaiioned by the contefts among the fucceffors of Alexander, the naviga- tion to India, by the courfe which Nearchus had opened, was difcontinued. The In'dian trade carried on at Alexandria not only fubfiited, but was fo much extended under the Grecian mo- narchs of Egypt, that it proved a great fource of the wealth which diilinguiihed their king- dom.

The progrefs which the Romans made in navi- gation and difcovery, was flill more inconfiderable than that of the Greeks* The genius of the Roman people, their military education, and the fpirit of their laws, concurred in eflranging them from commerce and naval affairs. It was the neceffity of oppofmg a formidable rival, not the deiire of extending trade, which hrft prompted them to aim at maritime power. Though they foon perceived that, in order to acquire the univerfal dominion after which they afpired, it was neceffary to render themfelves mailers of the fea, they flill coniidered the naval fervice as a

• See Note V. u Plin. Hit. Nat. lib. vi. c. 23. VOL. I. F fub-

20 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. U

fubordinate ftation, and referved for it fuch citi- zens as were not of a rank to be admitted into the legions x. In the hiftory of the Roman republic, hardly one event occurs, that marks attention to navigation any farther than as it was inftrumental towards conqueft. When the Roman valour and difcipline had fubdued all the maritime ftates known in the ancient world ; when Carthage, Greece, and Egypt had fubmitted to their power, the Romans did not imbibe the commercial fpirit of the conquered nations. Among that people of foldiers, to have applied to trade would have been deemed a degradation of a Roman citizen. They abandoned the mechanical arts, commerce, and navigation, to flaves, to freed- men, to provincials, and to citizens of the lowefl clafs. Even after the fubverfion of liberty, when the feverity and haughtinefs of ancient manners began to abate, commerce did not rife into high cftimation among the Romans. The trade of Greece, Egypt, and the other conquered coun- tries, continued to be carried on in its ufual channels, after they were reduced into the form of Roman provinces. As Rome was the capital of the world, and the feat of government, all the wealth, and valuable productions of the provinces flowed naturally thither. The Romans, fatisfied with this, feem to have fuffered commerce to remain almoft entirely in the hands of the natives of the refpec\ive countries. The extent, how- ever, of the Roman power, which reached over the greateft part of the known world, the vigi- lant infpe&ion of the Roman magiftrates, and the

Polyb. lib, v.

fpirit

3. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 21

fpirit of the Roman government, no lefs intelli- gent than active, gave fuch additional fecurity to commerce, as animated it with new vigour. The union among nations was never fo entire, nor the intercourfe fo perfect, as within the bounds of this vail empire. Commerce, under the Roman dominion, was not obftructed by the jealoufy of rival ftates, interrupted by frequent hoftilities, or limited by partial reftridtions. One fuperintend- ing power moved and regulated the induftry of mankind, and enjoyed the fruits of their joint efforts.

Navigation felt this influence, and improved under it. As foon as the Romans acquired a tafle for the luxuries of the eaft, the trade with India through Egypt was pufhed with new vigour, and carried on to greater extent. By frequenting the Indian continent, navigators became acquainted with the periodical courfe of the winds, which, in the ocean that feparates Africa from India, blow with little variation during one half of the year from the earl, and during the other half blow with equal fteadinefs from the welt. Encouraged by obferving this, the pilots who failed from Egypt to India abandoned their ancient flow and dangerous courfe along the coaft, and as foon as the weftern monfoon fet in, took their departure from Ocelis, at the mouth of the Arabian Gulf, and ftretched boldly acrofs the ocean y. The uniform direc- tion of the wind fupplying the place of the compafs, and rendering the guidance of the ftars lefs neceiTary, conducted them to the port of

y Pliiu Nat. Hift. lib. vi. c. 23.

f z Mufiris,

22 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. U

Mufiris, on the weftern more of the Indian continent. There they took on board their cargo, and returning with the eaftern monfoon, finifhed their voyage to the Arabian Gulf within the year. This part of India, now known by the name of the Malabar coaft, feems to have been the utmoft limit of ancient navigation in that quarter of the globe. What imperfect knowledge the ancients had of the immenfc countries which ftretch beyond this towards the caft, they received from a few adventurers, who had vifited them by land. Such excurfions were neither frequent nor extenfive, and it is probable, that while the Roman intercourse with India fubfifted, no traveller ever penetrated farther than to the banks of the Ganges e. The fleets from Egypt which traded at Mufiris were loaded, it is true, with the fpices and other rich com- modities of the continent and iflands of the farther India ; but thefe were brought to that port, which became the ftaple of the commerce be- tween the Eaft and Weft, by the Indians them- felves, in canoes hollowed out of one tree a. The Egyptian and Roman merchants, fatisfied with acquiring thofe commodities in this manner, did not think it necefTary to explore unknown feas, and venture upon a dangerous navigation in quell of the countries which produced them. But though the difcoveries of the Romans in India were fo limited, their commerce there was fuch as will appear confiderable, even to the prefent age, in which the Indian trade has been extended

z Strab. Geogr. lib. xv. p. 1006. 1010. See Mote VI. • Pun. Nat. Hiit. lib. vi. c. z&.

fsLT

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. t$

far beyond the practice or conception of any preceding period. We are informed by one au- thor of credit b, that the commerce with India drained the Roman empire every year of more than four hundred thoufand pounds ; and by another, that one hundred and twenty (hips failed annually from the Arabian Gulf to that country c.

The difcovery of this new method of failing to India, is the moft confiderable improvement in navigation made during the continuance of the Roman power. But in ancient times, the knowledge of remote countries was acquired more frequently by land than by fea d ; and the Romans, from their peculiar difinclination to naval affairs, may be faid to have neglected to- tally the latter, though a more eafy and expe- ditious method of difcovery. The progrefs, however, of their victorious armies through a confiderable portion of Europe, Afia, and Africa, contributed greatly to extend difcovery by land, and gradually opened the navigation of new and unknown feas. Previous to the Roman conquefts, the civilized nations of antiquity had little com- munication with thofe countries in Europe, which now form its moft opulent and powerful king- doms. The interior parts of Spain and Gaul were imperfectly known. Britain, feparated from the reft of the world, had never been vilit- ed, except by its neighbours the Gauls, and by | a few Carthaginian merchants. The name of

Germany had fcarcely been heard of. Into all

«^

h Plin. Nat. Hift. lib. vi. c. 26. e Strab. Geogr.

1 lib. ii. p. 179, d See Note VJI#

f 3 thefc

24- HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I.

tbefe countries the arms of the Romans pene- trated. They entirely fubdued Spain and Gaul ; they conquered the greatefl and moft fertile parts of Britain ; they advanced into Germany, as far as the banks of the river Elbe. In Africa, they acquired a confiderable knowledge of the provinces which ftretch along the Mediterranean lea, from Egypt weftwardto the Straits of Gades. In Afia, they not only fubjected to their power moft of the provinces which compofed the Pruffian and Macedonian empires, but, after their victories over Mithridates and Tigranes, they feem to have made a more accurate furvey of the countries contiguous to the Euxine and Cafpian feas, and to have carried on a more extenfive trade than that of the Greeks with the opulent and commercial nations, then feated round the Euxine fea.

From this fuccinct furvey of difcovery and navigation, which I have traced from the earliell dawn of hiftorical knowledge to the full efta- blifhment of the Roman dominion, the progrefs of both appears to have been wonderfully flow. It feems neither adequate to what we might have expected from the activity and enterprize of the human mind, nor to what might have been per- formed by the power of the great empires which fucceffively governed the world. If we reject accounts that are fabulous and obfeure ; if we adhere fteadily to the light and information of authentic hiftory, without fubflituting in its place the conjectures of fancy, or the dreams of etymologifts, we muft conclude, that the knowledge which the ancients had acquired of the habitable globe was extremely confined.

In

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 2£

In Europe, the extenfive provinces in the eaflern part of Germany were little known to them. They were almoft totally unacquainted with the vafl countries which are now fubjec~l to the kings of Denmark, Sweden, Pruffia, Poland, and the Ruffian empire. The more barren regions, that ftretch within the arctic circle, were quite unex- plored. In Africa, their refearches did not extend far beyond the provinces which border on the Mediterranean, and thofe fituated on the weftern fhore of the Arabian Gulf. In Afia, they were unacquainted, as I formerly obferved, with all the fertile and opulent countries beyond the Ganges, which furnifh the moll valuable commodities. that, in modern times, have been the great object of the European commerce with India ; nor do they feem to have ever penetrated into thofe immenfe regions occupied by the wandering tribes, which they called by the general name of Sarmatians or Scythians, and which are now poiTefled by Tartars of various denominations, and by the Afiatic fubjects of Rufiia.

But there is one opinion, that tmiverfally pre- vailed among the ancients, which conveys a more finking idea of the fmall progrefs they had made in the knowledge of the habitable globe, than can be derived from any detail of their difco- veries. They fuppofed the earth to be divided into five regions, which they diftinguifhed by the name of zones. Two of thefe, which were neareft the poles, they termed frigid zones, and believed that the extreme cold which reigned perpetually there, rendered them uninhabitable. Another, feated under the line, and extending

on

26 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. 1.

on either fide towards the tropics, they called the torrid zone, and imagined it to be fo burnt up with unremitting heat, as to be equally deili- tute of inhabitants. On the two other zones, which occupied the remainder of the earth, they bellowed the appellation of temperate, and taught that thefe, being the only regions in which life could fubfifl, were allotted to man for his habitation. This wild opinion was not a conceit of the uninformed vulgar, or a fanciful fiction of the poets, but a fyilem adopted by the moil enlightened philofophers, the moil accurate hiflorians and geographers in Greece and Rome. According to this theory, a vail portion of the habitable earth was pronounced to be unfit for fuftaining the human fpecies. Thofe fertile and populous regions within the torrid zone, which are now known not only to yield their own in- habitants the neceffaries and comforts of life with moil luxuriant profufion, but to communis cate their fuperfluous ilores to the reft of the world, were fuppofed to be the manfion of per- petual ilerility and defolation. As all the parts of the globe with which the ancients were ac- quainted, lay within the northern temperate zone, their opinion that the other temperate zone was filled with inhabitants, was founded on reafoning and conjecture, not on difcovery. They even believed that, by the intolerable heat of the torrid zone, fuch an infuperable barrier was placed between the two temperate regions of the earth, as would prevent for ever any intercourfe between their refpedlive inhabitants. Thus this extravagant theory not only proves that the an- cients were unacquainted with the true ftate of

the

OS. U HISTORY OF AMERICA. 2J

the globe, but it tended to render their igno- rance perpetual, by reprefenting all attempts towards opening a communication with the remote regions of the earth, as utterly imprac- ticable f.

But, however imperfect or inaccurate the geographical knowledge which the Greeks and Romans had acquired may appear, in refpect of the prefent improved ftate of that fcience, their progrefs in difcovery will feem confiderable, and the extent to which they carried navigation and -commerce mud be reckoned great, when com- pared with the ignorance of early times. As long as the Roman empire retained fuch vigour as to preferve its authority over the conquered nations, and to keep them united, it was an object of public police, as well as of private cu- riofity, to examine and defcribe the countries which compofed this great body. Even when the other fciences began to decline, geography, enriched with new observations, and receiving fome acceffion from the experience of every age, and the reports of every traveller, continued to improve. It attained to the higheft point of perfection and accuracy to which it ever arrived in the ancient world, by the induftry and genius of Ptolemy the philofopher. He flourifhed in the fecond century of the Chriftian sera, and pub- limed a defcription of the terreftrial globe, more ample and exact than that of any of his pre- decefTors.

But, foon after, violent convulfions began to ihake the Roman ftate ; the fatal ambition or

f See Noti VIII.

caprice

aS HISTORY OF AMERICA* B. I.

caprice of Conftantinej by changing the feat of government, divided and weakened its force ; the barbarous nations, which Providence pre- pared as inflruments to overturn the mighty- fabric of the Roman power, began to aflemble and to mufler their armies on its frontier ; the empire tottered to its fall. During this decline and old age of the Roman flate, it was impoffible that the fciences mould go on improving. The efforts of genius were, at that period, as languid and feeble as thofe of government. From the time of Ptolemy, no confiderable addition feems to have been made to geographical knowledge, nor did any important revolution happen in trade, excepting thatConflantinople,byits advantageous fituation, and the encouragement of the eaftern emperors, became a commercial city of the firft note.

At length, the clouds which had been fo long gathering round the Roman empire, burfl into a florin. Barbarous nations rufhed in from feve- ral quarters with irrefiftible impetuofity, and, in the general wreck, occafioned by the inundation which overwhelmed Europe, the arts, fciences, inventions,and difcoveries of the Romans,perifhed in a great meafure, and difappeared =. All the various tribes, which fettled in the different provinces of the Roman empire, were unciviliz- ed, flrangers to letters, deftitute of arts, unac- quainted with regular government, fubordination, or laws. The manners and inflitutions of fome of them were fo rude, as to be hardly compatible with a flate of focial union. Europe, when oc-

« Hift, of Charles V. vol. i. p. 19.84.

cupied

B. I. HISTORY OP AMERICA. 20,

cupied by fuch inhabitants, may be faid to have returned to a fecond infancy, and had to begin anew its career in improvement, fcience, and civility. The firft effect of the fettlement of thofe barbarous invaders was to difTolve the union by which the Roman power had cemented man- kind together. They parcelled out Europe into many fmall and independent ftates, differing from each other in language and cuftoms. No intercourfe fubfifted between the members of thofe divided and hoflile communities. Accuf- tomed to a fimple mode of life, and averfe to induftry, they had few wants to fupply, and few fuperfluities to difpofe of. The names oijir -anger and of enemy became once more words of the fame import. Cuftoms every where prevailed, and even laws were eftablifhed, which rendered it difagreeable and dangerous to vifit any foreign country h. Cities, in which alone an exteniive commerce can be carried on, were few, inconfi- derable, and deftitute of thofe immunities which produce fecurity or excite enterprife. The fci- ences, on which geography and navigation are founded, were little cultivated. The accounts of ancient improvements and difcoveries, con- tained in the Greek and Roman authors, were neglected or mifunderftood. The knowledge of remote regions was loft, their fituation, their commodities, and almoft their names, were un« known.

One circumftance prevented commercial inter- courfe with diftant nations from ceafing alto- gether. Conftantinople, though often threatened

h Hift. of Charles V. vol. i. p. S4. 321.

by

3° HISTORY OF AMERICA. «• A

by the fierce invaders, who fpread defolation over the reft of Europe, was fo fortunate as to efcape their deflructive rage* In that city, the knowledge of ancient arts and difcoveries was preferved ; a tafte for fplendour and elegance fubfifled ; the productions and luxuries of foreign countries were in requefl ; and commerce con- tinued to ilourifh there when it was almoit extinct in every other part of Europe. The citizens of Constantinople did not confine their trade to the iflands of the Archipelago, or to the adjacent coafls of Alia ; they took a wider range, and following the courfe which the ancients had marked out, imported the commodities of the Eaft Indies from Alexandria. When Egypt was torn from the Roman empire by the Ara- bians, the induftry of the Greeks difcovered a new channel, by which the productions of India might be conveyed to Conflantinople. They were carried up the Indus, as far as that great river is navigable ; thence they were transported by land to the banks of the river Oxus, and pro- ceeded down its ftream to the Cafpian fea. There they entered the Volga, and failing up it, were carried by land to the Tanais, which conducted them into the Euxine fea, where veffels from Conflantinople waited their arrival *. This ex- traordinary and tedious mode of conveyance merits attention, not only as a proof of the violent paflion which the inhabitants of Conflan- tinople had conceived for the luxuries of the eafl, and as a Specimen of the ardour and ingenuity with which they carried on commerce ; but be-

* Ramufio, vol. i. p. 372, F.

caufe

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. £1

caufe it demonftrates, that, during the ignorance which reigned in the reft of Europe, an extenfive knowledge of remote countries was ftill preferved in the capital of the Greek empire.

At the fame time, a gleam of light and knowledge broke in upon the eaft. The Ara* bians having contracted fome relifh for the fci- ences of the people, whofe empire they had con- tributed to overturn, tranflated the books of feveral of the Greek philofophers into their own language. One of the firft was that valuable work of Ptolemy, which I have already men- tioned. The fludy of geography became, of confequence, an early object of attention to the Arabians. But that acute and ingenious people cultivated chiefly the fpeculative and fcientific parts of geography. In order to afcertain the figure and dimensions of the terreftrial globe, they applied the principles of geometry, they had recourfe to aftronomical obfervations, they em- ployed experiments and operations, which, Eu- rope, in more enlightened times, has been proud to adopt and to imitate. At that period, how- ever, the fame of the improvements made by the Arabians did not reach Europe. The know- ledge of their difcoveries was referved for ages capable of comprehending and of perfecting them.

By degrees, the calamities and defolation brought upon the weftern provinces of the Ro- man empire by its barbarous conquerors, were forgotten, and in fome meafure repaired. The rude tribes which fettled there, acquiring infenfibly fome idea of regular government, and fome relifh for the functions and comforts

VOL. I. G of

32 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I.

of civil life, Europe began to awake from its torpid and unadtive flate. The firtt fymptoms of revival were difcerned in Italy. The northern tribes, which took pofleffion of this country, hiade progrefs in improvement with greater rapidity than the people fettled in other parts of Europe. Various caufes, which it is not the object of this work to enumerate or explain, concurred in reftoring liberty and independence to the cities of Italy k. The acquifition of thefe roufed induflry, and gave motion and vigour to all the active powers of the human mind. Foreign commerce revived, navigation was at- tended to and improved. Conilantinople became the chief mart to which the Italians reforted. There they not only met with a favourable re- ception, but obtained fuch mercantile privileges as enabled them to carry on trade with great advantage. They were fupplied both with the precious commodities of the earl, and with many curious manufactures, the product of ancient arts and ingenuity which ftill fubiifled among the Greeks. As the labour and expence of convey- ing the productions of India to Conilantinople by that long and indirect courfe which I have defcribed, rendered them extremely rare, and of an exorbitant price, the induftry of the Italians difcovered other methods of procuring them in greater abundance, and at an eafier rate. They Sometimes purchafed them in Aleppo, Tripoli, and other ports on the coafl of Syria, to which they were brought by a route not unknown to the ancients. They were conveyed from India by fea, up the Perfian Gulf, and afcending the

* Hift. of Charles V, vol. i. p. 33.

Euphrates

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA, 33

Euphrates and Tigris, as far as Bagdat, were I carried by land acrofs the defart of Palmyra, and from thence to the towns on the Mediterranean. But from the length of the journey, and the dangers to which the caravans were expofed, this proved always a tedious, and often a precarious mode of conveyance. At length, the Soldans of Egypt, having revived the commerce with India in its ancient channel, by the Arabian Gulf, the Italian merchants, notwithstanding the violent antipathy to each other with which Chriflians and the followers of Mahomet were then poffefled, repaired to Alexandria, and enduring, from the love of gain, the infolence and exactions of the Mahometans, eftablifhed a lucrative trade in that port. From that period, the commercial fpirit of Italy became active and enterprifing. Venice Genoa, Pifa, rofe from inconliderable towns, to be populous and wealthy cities. Their naval power increakd ; their veffels frequented not only all the ports in the Mediterranean, but ven- turing fometimes beyond the Streights, vifited the maritime towns of Spain, France, the Low- Countries, and England ; and, by diftributing their commodities over Europe, began to com- municate to its various nations fome taflefor the, valuable productions of the eaft, as well as fome ideas of manufactures and arts, which were then unknown beyond the precincts of Italy.

While the cities of Italy were thus advancing in their career of improvement, an event hap- pened, the moll extraordinary perhaps in the hiftory of mankind, which, inilead of retarding the commercial progrefs of the Italians, rendered it mere rapid. The martial fpirit of the Euro-

c 2 peuns,

34 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I.

peans, heightened and inflamed by religious zeal, prompted them to attempt the deliverance of the Holy Land from the dominion of infidels, Vaft armies, compofed of all the nations in Eu- rope, marched towards Afia, upon this wild en- terprize. The Genoefe, the Pifans, and Venetians furnifhed the tranfports which carried them thi- ther. They fupplied them with provisions and military ft ores. Befide the immenfe fums which they received on this account, they obtained commercial privileges and eftablifhments, of great confequence in the fettlements which the cru- faders made in Paleftine, and in other provinces of Afia. From thofe fources, prodigious wealth flowed into the cities which I have mentioned. This was accompanied with a proportional in- creafe of power, and, by the end of the holy "war, Venice, in particular, became a great mari- time ftate, poflefling an extenfive commerce, and ample territories K Italy was not the only country in which the crufades contributed to revive and difFufe fuch a fpirit as prepared Eu- rope for future difcoveries. By their expeditions into Afia, the other European nations became well acquainted with remote regions, which for- merly they knew only by name, or by the reports of ignorant and credulous pilgrims. They had an opportunity of obferving the manners, the arts, and the accommodations of people more polifhed than themfelves. This intercourfe be- tween the eaft and weft fubfifted aimoft two centuries. The adventurers, who returned from Alia, communicated to their countrymen the

1 Effai de THiftoire du Commerce de Venife, p. 52, &c.

ideas

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 35

ideas which they had acquired, and the habits of life they had contracted by vifiting more re- fined nations. The Europeans began to be fen- fible of wants with which they were formerly unacquainted : new deiires were excited ; and fuch a tafte for the commodities and arts of other countries gradually fpread among them, that they not only encouraged the refort of foreigners to their harbours, but began to per- ceive the advantage and neceflity of applying to commerce themfelves m.

This communication, which was opened be- tween Europe and the weilern provinces of Afia, encouraged feveral perfons to advance far beyond the countries in which the crufaders carried on their operations, and to travel by land into the more remote and opulent regions of the eaft. The wild fanaticifm, which feems at that period to have mingled in all the fchemes of individuals, no lefs than in all the counfels of na- tions, firft incited men to enter upon thofe long and dangerous peregrinations. They were after- wards undertaken from profpects of commercial advantage, or from motives of mere curioiity. Benjamin, a Jew of Tudela, in the kingdom of Navarre, poffeiTed with a fuperftitious veneration for the law of Mofes, and folicitous to vifit his countrymen in the eaft, whom he hoped to find in fuch a itate of power and opulence as might redound to the honour of his fed, fet out from Spain in the year 1 1 60, and travelling by land to Constantinople, proceeded through the coun- tries to the north of the Euxine and Cafpian

3 Hid. Charles V. vol.i. p. 31, &c#

G 3 feas,

3^ HISTORY OF AMERICA. B.I.

feas, as far as Chinefe Tartary. From thence he took his route towards the fouth, and after traverfmg various provinces of the farther India, he embarked on the Indian ocean, vifited feveral of its iflands, and returned at the end of thir- teen years by the way of Egypt, to Europe, with much information concerning a large diitrict of the globe, altogether unknown at that time to the weflern world n. The zeal of the head of the Chriftjan church co-operated with the fuper- ftition of Benjamin the Jew, in dilcovering the interior and remote provinces of Afia. All Chriftendom having been alarmed with accounts of the rapid progrefs of the Tartar arms under Zengis Khan, Innocent IV. who entertained moft exalted ideas concerning the plenitude of his own power, and the fubmiffion due to his injunctions, fent father John de Piano Carpini, at the head of a million of Francifcan monks, and father Afcolino, at the head of another of Dominicans, to enjoin Kayuk Khan, the grand- fon of Zengis, who was then at the head of the Tartar empire, to embrace the Chriftian faith, and to defift from defolating the earth by his arms. The haughty defcendant of the greateft conqueror Afia had ever beheld, aftonifhed at this ftrange mandate from an Italian prieft, whofe name and jurifdi&ion were alike unknown to him, received it v ith the contempt which it merited, though he difmiffed the mendicants who delivered it with impunity. But, as they had penetrated into the country by different routes, and followed for fome time the Tartar camps, which were

? Bergeron Recueil des Voyages, &c, torn. i. p. 1.

always

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 37

always in motion, they had opportunity of vifit- ing a great part of Afia. Carpini, who pro- ceeded hy the way of Poland and Ruflia, tra- velled through its northern provinces as far as the extremities of Thibet. Afcolino, who feems to have landed fomewhere in Syria, advanced through its fouthern provinces, into the interior parts of Perfia °.

Not long after [1253], St. Louis of France contributed farther towards extending the know- ledge which the Europeans had begun to acquire of thofe diflant regions. Some defigning im- poftor, who took advantage of the flender ac- quaintance of Chrillendom with the ftate and character of the Afiatic nations, having informed him that a powerful khan of the Tartars had em- braced the Chriilian faith, the monarch liftened to the tale with pious credulity, and inftantly refolved to fend ambafladors to this illuilrious convert, with a view of inciting him to attack their common enemy the Saracens in one quarter, while he fell upon them in another. As monks were the only perfons in that age who poffefTed fuch a degree of knowledge as qualified them for a fervice of this kind, he employed in it father Andrew, ajacobine, who was followed by father William de Rubruquis, a Francifcan. With refpeel: to the progrefs of the former, there is no memorial extant. The journal of the latter has been publifhed. He was admitted into the pre- sence of Mangu, the third khan in fucceflion from Zengis, and made a circuit through the interior

? Hakluyt, l.zu Bergeron, torn» i.

parti

38 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I,

parts of Afia, more cxtenfive than that of any- European who had hitherto explored them P.

To thofe travellers, whom religious zeal fent forth to viik Ana, fucceeded others who ventur- ed into remote countries, from the profpect of commercial advantage, or from motives of mere curiofity. The fii ft and moll eminent of thefe was Marco Polo, a Venetian of a noble family. Having engaged early in trade [1269], accord- ing to the cuftom of his country, his afpiring mind wimed for a fphere of activity more exten- five than was afforded to it by the eftablifhed traffic carried on in thofe ports of Europe and Afia, which the Venetians frequented. This prompted him to travel into unknown countries, in expectation of opening a commercial inter- courfe with them, more fuited to the fanguinc ideas and hopes of a young adventurer.

As his father had already carried fome Euro- pean commodities to the court of the great khan of the Tartars, and had difpofed of them to ad- vantage, he reforted thither. Under the pro- tection of Kublay khan, the moft powerful of all the fucceffors of Zengis, he continued his mercantile peregrinations in Afia upwards of twenty-fix years ; and, during that time, ad- vanced towards the eaft, far beyond the utmofl boundaries to which any European traveller had ever proceeded. Inftead of following the courfe of Carpini and Rubruquis, along the vaft un- peopled plains of Tartary, he pafied through the chief trading cities in the more cultivated parts of Afia, and penetrated to Cambalu, or Peking,

P Hakl. i» 71. Recueil des Voyages par Bergeron, torn. i.

the

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA, 39

the capital of the great kingdom of Cathay, or China, fubjecl: at that time to the fucceflbrs of Zengis. He made more than one voyage, on the Indian ocean, he traded in many of the iflands, from which Europe had long received fpiceries and other commodities, which it held in high eftimation, though unacquainted with the particular countries to which it was indebted for thofe precious productions ; and he obtained information concerning feveral countries, which he did not vifit in perfon, particularly the ifland of Zipangi, probably the fame now known by the name of Japan *. On his return, he aftonifhed his contemporaries with his defcriptions of vafl regions, whofe names had never been heard of in Europe, and with fuch pompous accounts of their fertility, their populoufnefs, their opulence, the variety of their manufactures, and the extent of their trade, as rofe far above the conception of an uninformed age.

About half a century after Marco Polo [1322], fir John Mandeville, an Englifhman, encouraged by his example, vifited molt of the countries in the eaft which he had defcribed, and, like him, publifhed an account of them r. The narrations of thofe early travellers abound with many wild incoherent tales, concerning giants, enchanters, and monlters. But they were not, from that circumftance, lefs acceptable to an ignorant age, which delighted in what was marvellous. The wonders which they told, moftly on hear- fay, filled the multitude with admiration. The facts which they related from their own obferv-

q Vigaggi d» Marco Polo. Ramuf. ii. 2. Bergeron, torn, ii, * Voyages and Travels, by Sir John Mande-

ationj

ville.

4P HISTORY OF AMERICA. I). I.

ation, attracted the attention of the more dif- cerning. The former, which may be conhdered as the popular traditions and fables of the coun- tries through which they had paffed, were gra- dually difregarded as Europe advanced in know- ledge. The latter, however incredible fomc of them may have appeared in their own time, have been confirmed by the obfervations of modern travellers. By means of both, however, the cu- riofity of mankind was excited with refpect to the remote parts of the earth, their ideas were enlarged, and they were not only infenfibly dif- pofed to attempt new difcoveries, but received fuch information as directed to that particular courfe in which thefe were afterwards carried on. While this fpirit was gradually forming in Europe, a fortunate difcovery was made, which contributed more than all the efforts and inge- nuity of preceding ages, to improve and to ex- tend navigation. That wonderful property of the magnet, by which it communicates fuch vir- tue to a needle or (lender rod of iron, as to point towards the poles of the earth, was obferved. The ufe which might be made of this in direct- ing navigation was immediately perceived. That valuable, but now familiar inltrument, the ma- riners compafsy was conftru&ed. When, by means of it, navigators found that, at all fea- fons, and in every place, they could difcover the north and fouth with fo much eafe and accuracy, it became no longer neceffary to depend merely on the light of the itars and the obfervation of the fea coal!. They gradually abandoned their ancient timid and lingering courfe along the fhore, ventured boldly into the ocean, and re- lying on this new guide, could iteer in the

darkeft

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 41

darkeft night, and under the moll cloudy Iky, with a fecurity and precifion hitherto unknown. The compafs may be faid to have opened to man the dominion of the lea, and to have put him m full pofleflion of the earth, by enabling him to viiit every part of it. Flavio Gioia, a citizen of Amalfi, a town of coniiderable trade in the king- dom of Naples, was the author of this great dis- covery, about the year one thoufand three hun- dred and two. It hath been often the fate of thofe illuflrious benefactors of mankind, who have enriched fcience and improved the arts by their inventions, to derive more reputation than benefit from the happy efforts of their genius. But the lot of Gioia has been flill more cruel ; through the inattention or ignorance of contem- porary hiftorians, he has been defrauded even of the fame to which he had fuch a juft title. We receive from them no information with refpe£t to his profefiion, his character, the precife time when he made this important difcovery, or the accidents and inquiries which led to it. The knowledge of this event, though productive of greater effects than any recorded in the annals of the human race, is tranfmitted to us without any of thofe circumftances, which can gratify the cu- riofity that it naturally awakens s. But though the ufe of the compafs might enable the Italians to perform the fhort voyages to which they were accuftomed, with greater fecurity and expedition, its influence was not fo fudden or extenfive, as immediately to render navigation adventurous,

» Collinas & Trombellus de Acus nauticae Inventore. Iaftit. Acad. Bonon. torn. ii. part iii. p. 372.

and

42 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I.

and to excite a fpirit of difcovery. Many caufes combined in preventing this beneficial invention from producing its full effect inflantaneoufly. Men relinquish ancient habits flowly, and with reluctance. They are averfe to new experi- ments, and venture upon them with timidity. The commercial jealoufy of the Italians, it is probable, laboured to conceal the happy difco- very of their countryman from other nations. The art of fleering by the compafs with fuch fkill and accuracy as to infpire a full confidence in its direction, was acquired gradually. Sailors, unaccuflomed to quit fight of land, durfl not launch out at once and commit themfelves to un- known feas. Accordingly, near half a century elapfed from the time of Gioia's difcovery, before navigators ventured into any feas which they had not been accuilomed to frequent.

The fir ft appearance of a bolder fpirit may be dated from the voyages of the Spaniards to the Canary or Fortunate Iflands. By what accident they were led to the difcovery of thofe fmall ifles, which lie near five hundred miles from the Spanifh coaft, and above a hundred and fifty miles from the coaft of Africa, contemporary writers have not explained. But, about the middle of the fourteenth century, the people of all the different kingdoms into which Spain was then divided, were accuilomed to make piratical excurfions thither, in order to plunder the inha- bitants, or to carry them off as flaves. Clement VI. in virtue of the right claimed by the holy fee, to difpofe of all countries poffeffed by infi- dels, erected thofe ifles into a kingdom, in the year one thoufand three hundred and forty-four,

and

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA, 43

and conferred it on Lewis de la Cerda, defcended from the royal family of Caftile. But that un- fortunate prince, deftitute of power to affert his nominal title, having never viiited the Canaries, John de Bethencourt, a Norman baron, ob- tained a grant of them from Henry III. of Caftile ?. Bethencourt, with the valour and good fortune which diftinguifhed the adventurers of his country, attempted and effected the conqueft, and the poiTefiion of the Canaries remained for fome time in his family, as a fief held of the crown of Caftile. Previous to this expedition of Bethencourt, his countrymen fettled in Nor- mandy are faid to have vifited the coaft of Africa, and to have proceeded far to the fouth of the Canary iflands [1365]. But their voyages thi- ther feem not to have been undertaken in confe- quence of any public or regular plan for extend- ing navigation and attempting new difcoveries. They were either excurfions fuggefted by that roving piratical fpirit, which deicended to the Normans from their anceftors, or the commercial cnterprizes of private merchants, which attracted fo little notice, that hardly any memorial of them is to be found in contemporary authors. In a general furvey of the progrefs of difcovery, it is fiifficient to have mentioned this event ; and leav- ing it among thofe of dubious exiftence, or of fmall importance, we may conclude, that though much additional information concerning the re- mote regions of the eaft had been received by travellers who vifited them by land, navigation,

* Viera y Clavijo Notic. de la Hiftor. de Canaria, i. 268, &c. Glas. Hift. c. 1.

VOL. I* h at

44 history of America. ir.i.

at the beginning of the fifteenth century, had not advanced beyond the ftate to which it had attained before the downfal of the Roman em- pire.

At length the period arrived, when Provi- dence decreed that men were to pafs the limits within which they had been fo long confined, and open to themfelves a more ample field wherein to diiplay their talents, their enterprize, and cou- rage. The firft conliderable eiForts towards this were not made by any of the more powerful itates of Europe, or by thofe who had applied to navigation with the greateil afliduity and fuc- cefs. The glory of leading the way in this new career was referved for Portugal, one of the fmallelt and leafl powerful of the European kingdoms. As the attempts of the Portuguefe to acquire the knowledge of thofe parts of the globe with which mankind were then unac- quainted, not only improved and extended the art of navigation, but roufed fuch a fpirit of CU- rioiity and enterprize, as led to the difcovery of the New World, of which 1 propofe to write the hiilory, it is neceflary to take a full view of the rife, the progrefs, and'fuccefs of their va- rious naval operations. It was in this fchool that the difcoverer of America was trained ; and unlefs we trace the fteps by which his inilruct.ors and guides advanced, it will be impollible to com- prehend the circumflances which fuggefted the idea, or facilitated the execution of his great deiign.

Various circumftances prompted the Portu- guefe to exert their activity in this new direc- tion, and enabled them to accomplim undertak- ings

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 45

Jngs apparently fuperior to the natural force of their monarchy. The kings of Portugal, hav- ing driven the Moors out of their dominions, had acquired power, as well as glory, by the fucccfs of their arms againil the infidels. By their vic- tories over them, they had extended the royal authority beyond the narrow limits within which it was originally circumfcribcd in Portugal, as well as in other feudal kingdoms. They had the command of the national force, could roufe it to act with united vigour, and, after the ex- pulfion of the Moors, could employ it without dread of interruption from any domeilic enemy. By the perpetual hoftilities carried on for feveral centuries againft the Mahometans, the martial and adventurous fpirit which diftinguifhed ail the European nations during the middle ages, was improved and heightened among the Portuguefe. A fierce civil war towards the clofe of the four- teenth century, occafioned by a difputed fuccef- fion, augmented the military ardour of the na- tion, and formed or called forth men of fuch active and daring genius, as are fit for bold un- dertakings. The lituation of the kingdom, i bounded on every fide by the dominions of a more powerful neighbour, did not afford free fcope to the activity of the Portuguefe by land, as the ftrength of their monarchy was no match for that of Caftile. But Portugal was a mari- time ftate, in which there were many commo- dious harbours ; the people had begun to make fome progrefs in the knowledge and practice of navigation ; and the fea was open to them, pre- fenting the only field of enterprise in which they £Ould diitinguifh themfelves.

h 2 Such

46 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B.I*

Such was the ftate of Portugal, and fuch the difpofition of the people, when John I. furnamed the Baftard, obtained fecure pofleflion of the crown by the peace concluded with Caftile, in the year one thoufand four hundred and eleven. He was a prince of great merit, who, by fupe* rior courage had abilities, and opened his way to a throne, which of right did not belong to him. He inftantly perceived that it would be impoflible to preferve public order, or dome (lie tranquillity, without finding fome employment for the reftlefs fpirit of his fubjec~T.s. With this view he afTembled a numerous fleet at Lifbon, compofed of all the fhips which he could fit out in his own kingdom, and of many hired from foreigners. This great armament was deftined to attack the Moors fettled on the coaft of Bar- bary [141 2]. While it was equipping, a few veflels were appointed to fail along the weftera fhore of Africa bounded by the Atlantic ocean, and to difcover the unknown countries fituated there. From this inconfiderable attempt, we may date the commencement of that fpirit of difcovery, which opened the barriers that had fo long fhut out mankind from the knowledge of one half of the terreflrial globe.

At the time when John fent forth thefe fhips on this new voyage, the art of navigation was itill very imperfect. Though Africa lay fo near to Portugal, and the fertility of the countries already known on that continent invited men to explore it more fully, the Portuguefe had never ventured to fail beyond Cape Non. That pro- montory, as its name imports, was hitherto con- fidered as a boundary which could not be pafled.

But

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA, 47.

But the nations of Europe had now acquired as much knowledge, as emboldened them to difre- gard the prejudices and to correct the errors of their anceftors. The long reign of ignorance, the conilant enemy of every curious inquiry, and of every new undertaking, was approaching to its period. The light of fcience began to dawn. The works of the ancient Greeks and Romans began to be read with admiration and profit. The fciences cultivated by the Arabians were introduced into Europe by the Moors fettled in Spain and Portugal, and by the Jews, who were very numerous in both thefe kingdoms. Geo- metry, ailronomy, and geography, the fciences on which the art of navigation is founded, be- came objects of iludious attention. The me- mory of the difcoveries made by the ancients was revived, and the progrefs of their navigation and commerce began to be traced. Some of the caufes which have obilru&ed the cultivation of fcience in Portugal, during this century and the laft, did not exift, or did not operate in the fame manner, in the fifteenth century t ; and the Por- tuguefe, at that period, feem to have kept pace with other nations on this fide the Alps in literary purfuits.

As the genius of the age favoured the execu- tion of that new undertaking, to which the pe- culiar ftate of the country invited the Portuguefe, it proved fuccefsful. The veffels fent on the dif- covery doubled that formidable cape* which had terminated the progrefs of former navigators, and proceeded a hundred and fixty miles beyond it,

* See Note IX.

H3 to

48 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. |«

to Cape Bojador. As its rocky cliffs, which ftretched a confiderable way into the Atlantic, appeared more dreadful than the promontory which they had paiTed, the Portuguefe com- manders durft not attempt to fail round it, but returned to Lifbon, more fatisfied with having advanced fo far, than amamed of having ven- tured no farther.

Inconfiderable as this voyage was, it increaferl the pafhon for difcovery, which began to arife in Portugal. The fortunate iffue of the king's ex- pedition againfl the Moors of Barbary [1417], added ftrength to that fpirit in the nation, and pufhed it on to new undertakings. In order to render thefe fuccefsful, it was necefTary that they mould be conducted by a perfon who poffefled abilities capable of difcerning what was attain- able, who enjoyed leifure to form a regular fyftem for profecuting difcovery, and who was animated with ardour that would perfevere in fpite of obllacles and repulfes. Happily for Portugal, fhe found all thofe qualities in Henry duke of Vifeo, the fourth fon of king John by Philippa of Lancafter, fifter of Henry IV. king of England. That prince, in his early youth, having accompanied his father in his expedition to Barbary, diftinguifhed himfelf by many deeds of valour. To the martial fpirit, which was the characteriftic of every man of noble birth at that time, he added all the accomplifhments of a more enlightened and polifhed age. He cultivated the arts and fciences, which were then unknown and defpifed by perfons of his rank. He applied with peculiar fondnefs to the ftudy of geogra- phy ; and by the inftru&ion of able mailers, as

well

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 49

well as by the accounts of travellers, he early ac- quired fuch knowledge of the habitable globe, as difcovered the great probability of finding new and opulent countries, by failing along the coafl of Africa. Such an object was formed to awaken the enthufiafm and ardour of a youthful mind, and he efpoufed with the utmoil zeal the pa- tronage of a defign which might prove as bene- ficial, as it appeared to be fplendid and honour- able. In order that he might purfue this great fcheme without interruption, he retired from court immediately after his return from Africa, and fixed his refidence at Sagres, near Cape St. Vincent, where the profpec\ of the Atlantic ocean invited his thoughts continually towards his favourite project, and encouraged him to ex- ecute it. In this retreat he was attended by fome of the moll learned men in his country, who aided him in his refearches. He applied for information to the Moors of Barbary, who were accuftomed to travel by land into the interior provinces of Africa, in quell of ivory, gold-duft, and other rich commodities. He confulted the Jews fettled in Portugal. By promifes, rewards, and marks of refpecl, he allured into his fervice feveral perfons, foreigners as well as Portuguefe, who were eminent for their fkill in navigation. In taking thofe preparatory Heps, the great abi- lities of the prince were feconded by his private virtues. His integrity, his affability, his refpect. for religion, his zeal for the honour of his coun- try, engaged perfons of all ranks to applaud his defign, and to favour the execution of it. His fchemes were allowed by the greater part of his countrymen to proceed neither from ambition

nor

JO HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. 1.

nor the defire of wealth, but to flow from the warm benevolence of a heart eager to promote the happinefs of mankind, and which juftly en- titled him to affume a motto for his device, that defcribed the quality, by which he wifhed to be diftinguifhed, the talent of doing good*

His firft effort, as is ufual at the commence- ment of any new undertaking, was extremely inconfiderable He fitted out a fingle fhip [141 8], and giving the command of it to John Gonzalez Zarco and Triftan Vaz, two gentle- men of his houfehold, who voluntarily offered to conduct the enterprize, he inftructed them to ufe their utmoft efforts to double Cape Bojador, and thence to fleer towards the fouth. They, ac- cording to the mode of navigation which flill prevailed, held their courfe along the more ; and by following that direction, they mull have en- countered almofl infuperable difficulties in at- tempting to pafs Cape Bojador. But fortune came in aid to their want of fkill, and prevented the voyage from being, altogether fruitlefs. A fudden fquall of wind arofe, drove them out to fea, and when they expected every moment to perifh, landed them on an unknown ifland, which from their happy efcape they named Porto Santo. In the infancy of navigation, the difcovery of this fmall ifland appeared a matter of fuch mo- ment, that they inftantly returned to Portugal with the good tidings, and were received by Henry with the applaufe and honour due to fortu- nate adventurers. This faint dawn of fuccefs filled a mind ardent in the purfuit of a favourite object with fuch fanguine hopes as were fufficient in- citements to proceed. Next year [14T9],

Z Henry

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. $t

Henry fent out three fhips under the fame commanders, to whom he joined Bartholomew Pereftrello, in order to take poffeflion of the ifland which they had difcovered. When they began to fettle in Porto Santo, they obferved towards the fouth a fixed fpot in the horizon like a fmall black cloud. By degrees, they were led to conjecture that it might be land, and fleering towards it, they arrived at a con- fiderable ifland, uninhabited and covered with wood, which on that account they called Madeira u. As it was Henry's chief object to render his difcoveries ufeful to his country, he immediately equipped a fleet to carry a colony of Portuguefe to thefe iflands [1420]. By his provident care, they were furnifhed not only with the feeds, plants, and domeflic animals com- mon in Europe ; but as he forefaw that the warmth of the climate and fertility of the foil would prove favourable to the rearing of other productions, he procured flips of the vine from the ifland of Cyprus, the rich wines of which were then in great requeft, and plants of the fugar-cane from Sicily, into which it had been lately introduced. Thefe throve fo profperoufly in this new country, that the benefit of cultivating them was immediately perceived, and the fugar and wine of Madeira quickly became articles of fome confequence in the commerce of Por- tugal x.

As foon as the advantages derived from this firft fettlement to the wed of the European con-

u Hiftorical Relation of the firft Difcovery of Madeira,

tranflated from the Portuguefe of Fran. Alcafarma, p. 1 5, &c.

* Lud. Guicciardini Defcrkt. de Paefi Baffi, p. 18:, 181.

tinent

J2 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I*

tinent began to be felt, the fpirit of difco very- appeared lefs chimerical, and became more ad- venturous. By their voyages to Madeira, the Portuguefe were gradually accuftomed to a bolder navigation, and inftead of creeping fervilely along the coaft, ventured into the open fea. In con- fequence of taking this courfe, Gilianez, who commanded one of prince Henry's (hips, doubled Cape Bojador [1433], the boundary of the Por- tuguefe navigation upwards of twenty years, and which had hitherto been deemed unpaflable. This fuccefsful voyage, which the ignorance of the age placed on a level with the moft famous exploits recorded in hiftory, opened a new fphere to navigation, as it difcovered the vaft continent of Africa, ftill warned by the Atlantic ocean, and flretching towards the fouth. Part of this was foon explored ; the Portuguefe advanced within the tropics, and in the fpace of a few years they difcovered the river Senegal, and all the coaft extending from Cape Blanco to Cape de Verd.

Hitherto the Portuguefe had been guided in their difcoveries, or encouraged to attempt them, by the light and information which they received from the works of the ancient mathematicians and geographers. But, when they began to enter the torrid zone, the notion which prevailed among the ancients, that the heat, which reigned perpetually there, was fo exceflive as to render it uninhabitable, deterred them, for fome time, from proceeding. Their own obfervations, when they firft ventured into this unknown and for- midable region, tended to confirm the opinion of antiquity concerning the violent operation of

the

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 53

the direct rays of the fun. As far as the river Senegal, the Portuguefe had found the coaft of Africa inhabited by people nearly refembling the Moors of Barbary. When they advanced to the fouth of that river, the human form feemed to put on a new appearance. They beheld men with fkins black as ebony, with fliort curled hair, flat nofes, thick lips, and all the peculiar features which are now known to dillinguifh the race of negroes. This furp riling alteration they natu- rally attributed to the influence of heat, and if they mould advance nearer to the line, they be- gan to dread that its efte&s would be ftill more violent. Thofe dangers were exaggerated, and mAny other objections againil attempting farther difcoveries were propofed by fome of the gran- dees, who, from ignorance, from envy, or from that cold timid prudence which rejedls whatever has the air of novelty or enterprize, had hitherto condemned all prince Henry's fchemes. They reprefented, that ii was altogether chimerical to expect any advantage from countries fituateu in that region which the wifdom and experience of antiquity had pronounced to be unfit for the habitation of men ; that their forefathers, fatif- fied with cultivating the territory which Provi- dence had allotted them, did not wafte the ftrength of the kingdom by fruitlefs projects, in queft of new fettlements ; that Portugal was I already exhaufted by the expence of attempts to difcover lands which either did not exift, or which nature deftined to remain unknown ; and was drained of men, who might have been em- ployeaTuTundertakings attended with more cer- tain fuccefs, and produ&ive of greater benefit.

But

54 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I.

But neither their appeal to the authority of the ancients, nor their reafonings concerning the interefts of Portugal, made any impreiTion upon the determined philofophic mind of prince Hen- ry. The difcoveries which he had already made convinced him that the ancients had little more than a conjectural knowledge of the torrid zone. He was no lefs fatisfied that the political argu- ments of his opponents with refpeel: to the inte- reft of Portugal were malevolent and ill founded. In thofe fentiments he was ftrenuoufly fupported by his brother Pedro, who governed the king- dom as guardian of their nephew Alphonfo V. who had fucceeded to the throne during his minority [1438] ; and, inftead of ilackening his efforts, Henry continued to purfue his difcoveries with frefh ardour.

But, in order to filence all the murmurs of oppofition, he endeavoured to obtain the fanclion of the highefl authority in favour of his opera- tions. With this view, he applied to the pope, and reprefented, in pompous terms, the pious and unwearied zeal with which he had exerted him- felf during twenty years, in difcovering unknown countries, the wretched inhabitants of which were utter ftrangers to true religion, wandering in heathen darknefs, or led aftray by the delufions of Mahomet. He befought the holy father, to whom, as the vicar of Chrift, all the kingdoms of the earth were fubjecl:, to confer on the crown of Portugal a right to all the countries poffelTed by infidels, which mould be difcovered by the induilry of its fubjec~rs, and fubdued by the force of its arms. He intreated him to enjoin all Chrift ian powers, under the highefl penalties,

not

B. I. HISTORY OP AMERICA. 5£

not to moleft Portugal while engaged in this laudable enterprize, and to prohibit them from fettling in any of the countries which the Portu- guefe mould difcover. He promifed that, in all their expeditions, it mould be the chief object of his countrymen to fpread the knowledge of the Chriiiian religion, to eftablifh the authority of the holy fee, and to increafe the flock of the univerfal parlor. As it was by improving with dexterity every favourable conjuncture for acquir- ing new powers, that the court of Rome had gradually extended its ufurpations, Eugene IV. the pontiff to whom this application was madey eagerly feized the opportunity which now pre- fented itfelf. He inflantly perceived, that by complying with prince Henry's requeft, he might exerciie a prerogative no lefs flattering in its own nature, than likely to prove beneficial in its con- fequences. A bull was accordingly iffued, in which, after applauding in the ftrongeft terms the pafl efforts of the Portuguefe, and exhorting them to proceed in that laudable career on which they had entered, he granted them an excluiive right to all the countries which they mould difcover, from Cape Non to the continent of India.

Extravagant as this donation, comprehending fuch a large portion of the habitable globe, would now appear even in catholic countries, no perfon in the fifteenth century doubted that the pope, in the plenitude of his apoftolic power, had a right to confer it. Prince Henry was foon ifeniible of the advantages which he derived from this tranfa&ion. His fchemes were authorifed and fandtified by the bull approving of them.

vol. i, i The

56 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I

The fpirit of difcovery was connected with zeal for religion, which, in that age, was a principle of fiich activity and vigour, as to influence the conduct of nations. All ChrilUan princes were deterred from intruding into thofe countries which the Portuguefe had difcovered, or from interrupting the progrefs of their navigation and conquefts y.

The fame of the Portuguefe voyages foon fpread over Europe. Men, long accuftomed to circumfcribe the activity and knowledge of the human mind within the limits to which they had been hitherto confined, were aftonifhed to behold the fphere of navigation fo fuddenly en- larged, and a profpect opened of vifiting regions of the globe, the exiflence of which was unknown in former times. The learned and fpeculative reafoned and formed theories concerning thofe unexpected difcoveries. The vulgar inquired and wondered ; while enterpriiing adventurers crowd- ed from every part of Europe, foliciting prince Henry to employ them in this honourable fervice. Many Venetians and Genoefe, in particular, who were, at that time, fuperior to all other nations in the fcience of naval affairs, entered aboard the Portuguefe mips, and acquired a more perfect and exteniive knowledge of their profemon in that new fchool of navigation. In emulation of thefe foreigners, the Portuguefe exerted their own talents. The nation feconded the defigns of the prince. Private merchants formed com- panies [1446], with a view to fearch for un- > known countries. The Cape de Verd iflands,

7 See Note X.

which *

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 57

which lie off the promontory of that name, were difcovered [1449], and foon after the ifles called the Azores. As the former of thefe are above three hundred miles from the African coaft, and the latter nine hundred miles from any continent, it is evident, by their venturing fo boldly into the open feas, that the Portuguefe had, by this time, improved greatly in the art of navigation.

While the paifion for engaging in new under- takings was thus warm and afiive, it received an unfortunate check by the death of prince Henry, whofe fuperior knowledge had hitherto directed all the operations of the difcoverers, and whofe patronage had encouraged and protected them. But notwithstanding all the advantages which they derived from thefe, the Portuguefe, during his life, did not advance, in their utmofl pro- grefs towards the fouth, within five degrees of the equinodiial line ; and, after their continued exertions for half a century [from 141 2 to 1463 ] , hardly fifteen hundred miles of the coaft of Africa were difcovered. To an age acquainted with the efforts of navigation in its Hate of ma- turity and improvement, thofe effays of its early years muft neceffarily appear feeble and unfkil- ful. But, inconfiderable as they may be deemed, they were fufficient to turn the curiofity of the European nations into a new channel, to excite an enterpriling fpirit, and to point the way to future difcoveries.

Alphonfo, who poffefTed the throne of Portu- gal at the time of prince Henry's death, was fo much engaged in fupporting his own pretentions to the crown of Caftile, or in carrying on his expeditions againlt the Moors in Barbary, that 1 2 the

5?> HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I.

the force of his kingdom being exerted in other operations, he could not profecute the difcoveries in Africa with ardour. He committed the con- duel: of them to Fernando Gomez, a merchant in Lifbon, to whom he granted an exclufive right of commerce with all the countries of which prince Henry had taken poflefiion. Under the reftraint and oppreflion of a monopoly, the fpirit of difcovery languifhed. It ceafed to be a national object, and became the concern of a private man, more attentive to his own gain, i than to the glory of his country. Some pro- grefs, however, was made. The Portuguefe ventured at length to crofs the line [1471], and, to their aftonifhment, found that region of the torrid zone, which was fuppofed to be fcorched with intolerable heat, to be not only habitable, but populous and fertile.

John II. who fucceeded his father Alphonfo [1481], poffefTed talents capable both of form- ing and executing great defigns. As part of his revenues, while prince, had arifen from duties on the trade with the newly-difcovered countries, this naturally turned his attention towards them, and fatisfied him with refpedr. to their utility and importance. In proportion as his knowledge of thefe countries extended, the poffemon of them apppeared to be of greater confequence. While the Portuguefe proceeded along the coaft of Africa, from Cape Non to the river of Senegal, they found all that extenfive tract to be fandy, barren, and thinly inhabited by a wretched peo- ple, profefling the Mahometan religion, and fub- jedfc to the vail empire of Morocco. But to the fbuth of that river, the power and religion of

the

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 59

the Mahometans were unknown. The country- was divided into fmall independent principalities, the population was confiderable, the foil fertile z, and the Portuguefe foon difcovered that it pro- duced ivory, rich gums, gold, and other valuable commodities. By the acquifition of thefe, com- merce was enlarged, and became more adventu- rous. Men, animated and rendered active by the certain profpecl: of gain, purfued difcovery with greater eagernefs, than when they were excited only by curiofity and hope.

This fpirit derived no fmall reinforcement of vigour from the countenance of fuch a monarch as John. Declaring himfelf the patron of every attempt towards difcovery, he promoted it with all the ardour of his grand-uncle prince Henry, and with fuperior power. The effects of this were immediately felt. A powerful fleet was fitted out [1484], which, after difcovering the kingdoms of Benin and Congo, advanced above fifteen hundred miles beyond the line, and the Portuguefe, for the firft time, beheld a new heaven, and obferved the ftars of another hemi- fphere. John was not only folicitous to difcover, but attentive to fecure the poffeflion of thofe countries. He built forts on the coaft of Guinea ; he fent out colonies to fettle there ; he eftablifhed a commercial intercourfe with the more power- ful kingdoms ; he endeavoured to render fuch as were feeble or divided, tributary to the crown of Portugal. Some of the petty princes voluntarily acknowledged themfelves his vaffals. Others

* Navigatio Aloyfii Cadamufti apud Novum Orbem Gry- naei, p. 2. 18. Navigat. all Ifola di San Tome per un Pi- lotto Portugh. Ramufio, i.115.

1 3 were

60 HISTORY OF AMERICA. R. I,

were compelled to do fo by force of arms. A regular and well-digefted fyflem was formed with refpect. to this new object of policy, and by firmly adhering to it, the Portuguefe power and commerce in Africa were eftablifhed upon a folid foundation.

By their conftant intercourfe with the people of Africa, the Portuguefe gradually acquired fome knowledge of thofe parts of that country which they had not vifited. The information which they received from the natives, added to what they had obferved in their own voyages, began to open profpe&s more extenfive, and to fugged the idea of fchemes more important, than thole which had hitherto allured and occupied them. They had detected the error of the ancients concerning the nature of the torrid zone. They found, as they proceeded fouth- wards, that the continent of Africa, inftead of extending in breadth, according to the doctrine of Ptolemy a, at that time the oracle and guide of the learned in the fcience of geography, appeared fenfibly to contract itfelf, and to bend towards the eait. This induced them to give credit to the accounts of the ancient Phenician voyages round Africa, which had long been deemed fabulous, and led them to conceive hopes that by following the fame route, they might arrive at the Eait Indies, and engrofs that commerce which has been the fource of wealth and power to every nation poffeffed of it. The comprehen- five genius of prince Henry, as we may conjec- ture from the words of the pope's bull, had early

a Vide Nov. Orbis kTabul. Geograph. fecund, Ptolem. Amft. 1730,

formed J

a. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 6l

formed fome idea of this navigation. But though his countrymen, at that period, were incapable of conceiving the extent of his views and fchemes, all the Portuguefe mathematicians and pilots now concurred in reprefenting them as well- founded and practicable. The king entered with warmth into their fentiments, and began to concert meafures for this arduous and important voyage.

Before his preparations for this expedition were finifhed, accounts were tranfmitted from Africa, that various nations along the coaft had mentioned a mighty kingdom fituated on their continent, at a great diftance towards the eaft, the king of which, according to their defcrip- tion, profeffed the Chriftian religion. The Por. tuguefe monarch immediately concluded, that this mull be the emperor of Abyflmia, to whom the Europeans, feduced by a miftake of Rubruquis, Marco Polo, and other travellers to the eaft, abfurdly gave the name of Prefter or Prefbyter John ; and as he hoped to receive information and afliftance from a Chriftian prince, in profe- cuting a fcheme that tended to propagate their common faith, he refolved to, open, if poffible, fome intercourfe with his court. With this view, he made choice of Pedro de Covillam and Alphonfo de Payva, who were perfect mailers of the Arabic language, and fent them into the eaft, to fearch for the refidence of this unknown potentate, and to make him proffers of friendmip. They had in charge likewife to procure what- ever intelligence the nations which they vifited could fupply, with refped to the trade of In- dia,

62 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B.I.

dia, and the courfe of navigation to that con- tinent b.

While John made this new attempt by land, to obtain fome knowledge of the country, which he wifhed fo ardently to difcover, he did not neglect the profecution of this great defign by fea. The conduct of a voyage for this purpofe [i486], the moft arduous and important which the Portuguefe had ever projected, was com- mitted to Bartholomew Diaz, an officer whofe fagacity, experience, and fortitude rendered him equal to the undertaking. He ftretched boldly towards the fouth, and proceeding beyond the utmoft limits to which his countrymen had hi- therto advanced, difcovered near a thoufand miles of new country. Neither the danger to which he was expofed, by a fucceflion of violent tempefts in unknown feas, and by the frequent mutinies of his crew, nor the calamities of famine which he fuffered from lofing his ftore-fhip, could deter him from profecuting his enterprize. In rccompence of his labours and perfeverance, he at laft defcried that lofty promontory which bounds Africa to the fouth. But to defcry it, was all that he had in his power to accomplifh. The violence of the winds, the mattered con- dition of his mips, and the turbulent fpirit of his failors, compelled him to return, after a voyage of fixteen months, in which he difco- vered a far greater extent of country than any former navigator. Diaz had called the promon- tory which terminated his voyage Cabo Tormen- tofo, or the ftormy Cape ; but the king, his

b Faria y Soufa Port. Afia, vol. i. p. 26. Lafitau De- couv. tie Port. i. 46.

mailer,

B. I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 6$

mailer, as he now entertained no doubt of having found the long defired route to India, gave it a name more inviting, and of better omen, The Cape of Good Hope c.

Thofe fanguine expectations of fuccefs were confirmed by the intelligence which John received over land, in confequence of his embaify to Abyf- fmia. Covillam and Payva, in obedience to their matter's inft.ru6t.ions, had repaired to Grand Cairo. From that city, they travelled along with a caravan of Egyptian merchants, and em- barking on the Red Sea, arrived at Aden in Arabia. There they feparated ; Payva failed directly towards Abyffinia ; Covillam embarked for the Eaft Indies, and having vifited Calecut, Goa, and other cities on the Malabar coaft, re- turned to Sofala, on the eaft fide of Africa, and thence to Grand Cairo, which Payva and he had fixed upon as their place of rendezvous. Un- fortunately the former was cruelly murdered in Abyfhnia, but Covillam found at Cairo two Portuguefe Jews, whom John, whofe provident fagacity attended to every circumftance that could facilitate the execution of his fchemes, had difpatched after them, in order to receive a de- tail of their proceedings, and to communicate to them new inftructions. By one of thefe Jews, Covillam tranfmitted to Portugal a journal of his travels by fea and land, his remarks upon the trade of India, together with exact maps of the coafts on which he had touched ; and from what he himfelf had obferved, as well as from the information of fkilful feamen in different coun-

f Faria y Soufa Port. Afia, vol. i. p. 26.

tries,

64 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I.

tries, he concluded, that by failing round Africa, a paflage might be found to the Eail Indies d.

The happy coincidence of Covillam's opinion and report, with the difcoveries which Diaz had lately made, left hardly any fhadow of doubt with refpecl: to the poflibility of failing from Eu- rope to India. But the vaft length of the voyage, and the furious ftorms which Diaz had encoun- tered near the Cape of Good Hope, alarmed and intimidated the Portuguefe to fuch a degree, al- though by long experience they were now be- come adventurous and fkilful mariners, that fome time was requifite to prepare their minds for this dangerous and extraordinary voyage. The courage, however, and authority of the mo- narch, gradually difpelled the vain fears of his fubjects, or made it necefTary to conceal them. \ As John thought himfelf now upon the eve of accomplifhing that great defign, which had been the principal object of his reign, his earneftnefs in profecuting it became fo vehement, that it occupied his thoughts by day, and bereaved him of fleep through the night. While he was taking every precaution that his wifdom and experience could fuggeft, in order to infure the fuccefs of the expedition, which was to decide concerning the fate of his favourite project, the fame of the vaft difcoveries which the Portuguefe had already made, the reports concerning the extraordinary intelligence which they had received from the caft, and the profpect of the voyage which they

d Faria y Soufa Port. Afia, vol. i. p. 27. Lafitau De- couv. i. 48.

now

B.I. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 65

now meditated, drew the attention of all the jEuropean nations, and held them in fufpence and expectation. By fome, the maritime fkill and navigations of the Portuguefe were compared with thofe of the Phenicians and Carthaginians, and exalted above them. Others formed con- jectures concerning the revolutions which the fuccefs of the Portuguefe fchemes might occafion in the courfe of trade, and the political Hate of Europe. The Venetians began to be difquicted with the apprehenfion of lofing their Indian com- merce> the monopoly of which was the chief fource of their power as well as opulence, and the Portuguefe already enjoyed in fancy, the wealth of the eaft. But, during this interval, which gave fuch fcope to the various workings of curioiity, of hope and of fear, an account was brought to Europe of an event no lefs extra- ordinary than unexpected, the difcovery of a New World fituated in the weft ; and the eyes and admiration of mankind . turned immediately towards that great object.

BOOK II.

Among the foreigners whom the fame of the difcoveries made by the Portuguefe had al- lured into their fervice, was Chriftopher Colon or Columbus, a fubjecl of the republic of Ge- noa. Neither the time nor place of his birth are known with certainty a ; but he was defcended

» Sec Note XU

of

66 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II,

of an honourable family, though reduced to in- digence by various misfortunes. His anceflors having betaken themfelves for fubfiitence to a feafaring life, Columbus difcovered, in his early youth, the peculiar character and talents which mark out a man for that profeflion. His parents, inftead of thwarting this original propeniity of his mind, feem to have encouraged and confirmed it, by the education which they gave him. After acquiring fome knowledge of the Latin tongue, the only language in which fcience was taught at that time, he was inflructed in geometry, cofmography, aftronomy, and the art of drawing. To thefe he applied with fuch ardour and predi- lection, on account of their connection with navi- gation, his favourite object, that he advanced with rapid proficiency in the fludy of them. Thus qualified, he went to fea at the age of fourteen f 1 46 1 3 > and began his career on that element which conducted him to fo much glory. His early voyages were to thofe ports in the Medi- terranean which his countrymen the Genoefe frequented. This being a fphere too narrow for his aclive mind, he made an excurfion to the northern feas [1467], and vifited the coails of Iceland, to which the Englifh and other nations had begun to refort on account of its fifliery. As navigation, in every direction, was now be- come enterprifing, he proceeded beyond that ifland, the Thule of the ancients, and advanced feveral degrees within the polar circle. Having fatisfied his curiofity, by a voyage which tended more to enlarge his knowledge of naval affairs, than to improve his fortune^ he entered into the fervice of a famous fea-captain, of his own name

and

t. II. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 6j

and family. This man commanded a fmall fqnadron, fitted out at his own expence, and by cruiiing fometimes againft the Mahometans, ifometimes againft the Venetians, the rivals of his country in trade, had acquired both wealth and reputation. With him Columbus continued for feveral years, no lefs diftinguifhed for his courage, than for his experience as a failor. At length, in an obflinate engagement, off the coaft of Por- tugal, with fome Venetian caravals, returning richly laden from the Low-Countries, the veflel on board which he ferved took fire, together with one of the enemy's mips, to which it was fait grappled. In this dreadful extremity his intrepidity and prefence of mind did not forfake him. He threw himfelf into the fea, laid hold of a floating oar, and by the fupport of it, and his dexterity in fwimming, he reached the more, though above two leagues diflant, and faved a life referved for great undertakings b.

As foon as he recovered flrength for the jour- ney, he repaired to Lifbon, where many of his countrymen were fettled. They foon conceived fuch a favourable opinion of his merit, as well as talents, that they warmly folicited him to re- main in that kingdom, where his naval ikill and experience could not fail of rendering him con- spicuous. To every adventurer, animated either with curiofity to vifit new countries, or with ambition to diftinguifh himfelf, the Portuguefe fervice was at that time extremely inviting. Columbus liftened with a favourable ear to the advice of his friends, and having gained the efteem of a Portuguefe lady, whom he married,

k Life of Columbus, c. v.

▼ol. i. k fixed

(S HISTORY OF AMERICA- "&. Hi

fixed his refidencc in Lifbon. This alliance, inftead of detaching him from a feafaring life, contributed to enlarge the Sphere of his naval knowledge, and to excite a defire of extending it iiill farther. His wife was a daughter of Bar- tholomew Pereftrello, one of the captains em- ployed by prince Henry in his early navigations, and who, under his protection, had discovered and planted the iflands of Porto Santo and Ma- deira. Columbus got pofiefiion of the journals and charts of this experienced navigator, and from them he learned the courfe which the Por- tuguefe had held in making their difcoveries, as well as the various circumflances which guided or encouraged them in their attempts. The ihidy of thefe foothed and inflamed his favourite paflion ; and while he contemplated the maps, and read the defcriptions of the new countries which Perellrello had feen, his impatience to vilit them became irrefiflible. In order to indulge it, he made a voyage to Madeira, and continued during feveral years to trade with that ifland, with the Canaries, the Azores, the Settlements in Guinea, and all the other places which the Portuguefe had difcovered on the continent of Africa c.

By the experience which Columbus acquired „ during fuch a variety of voyages, to almoit every part of the globe with which, at that time, any intercourse was carried on by fea, he was now become one of the moft fkilful navigators in Eu- rope. But, not Satisfied with that praife, hi* ambition aimed at Something more. The fuc- \fcffi\i progreSs of the Portuguefe navigators had

c J,i& of Columbus, c« iv. v.

awakened

B. II. HISTORY OT AMERICA. 69

awakened a fpirit of curiofity and emulation, which fet every man of fcience upon examining all the circumilances that led to the difcovcries which they had made, or that afforded a profpeel: of fucceeding in any new and bolder undertaking. The mind of Columbus, naturally inquifitive, capable of deep reflection, and turned to fpecula- tions of this kind, was fo often employed in re- volving the principles upon which the Portuguefe had founded their fchemes of difcovery, and the mode on which they had carried them on, that he gradually began to form an idea of improving upon their plan, and of accomplifhing difco- vcries which hitherto they had attempted in vain.

To find out a paffage by fea to the Eaft Indies, was the great object in view at that period. From the time that the Portuguefe doubled Cape de Verd, this was the point at which they aimed in all their navigations, and, in comparifon with it, all their difcoveries in Africa appeared inconfiderable. The fertility and riches of India had been known for many ages ; its fpices and other valuable commodities were in high requeft; throughout Europe, and the vaft wealth of the Venetians arifing from their having cngroffed this trade, had raifed the envy of all nations. But how intent foever the Portuguefe were upon discovering a new route to thofe defirable regions, they fearched for it only by fleering towards the fouth, in hopes of arriving at India, by turning to the eaft, after they had failed round the far- ther extremity of Africa. This courfe was ftill unknown, and, even if difcovered, was of fuch immenfe length, that a voyage from Europe to k 2 India

7© HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

India muft have appeared, at that period, an undertaking, extremely arduous, and of very un- certain iffue. More than half a century had been > employed in advancing from Cape Non to the equator ; a much longer fpace of time might clapfe before the more extenfive navigation from that to India could be accomplifhed. Thefe reflections upon the uncertainty, the danger and tedioufnefs of the courfe which the Portuguefe were purfuing, naturally led Columbus to con- fider whether a fhorter and more direcl: paflage to the Eaft Indies might not be found out. After revolving long and ferioufly every circumftance fuggefted by his fuperior knowledge in the theory as well as practice of navigation, after compar- ing attentively the observations of modern pilots with the hints and conjectures of ancient authors, he at lafb concluded, that by failing directly to- wards the weft, acrofs the Atlantic ocean, new countries, which probably formed a part of the great continent of India, muft infallibly be discovered.

Principles and arguments of various kinds, and derived from different fources, induced him to adopt this opinion, feemingly as chimerical as it was new and extraordinary. The fpherical figure of the earth was known, and its magnitude afcertained with fome degree of- accuracy. From this it was evident, that the continents of Eu- rope, Afia, and Africa, as far as they were known at that time, formed but a fmall portion of the terraqueous globe. It was fuitable to our ideas concerning the wifdom and beneficence of the Author of Nature, to believe that the vaft fpace ftill unexplored, was not covered entirely

B. I!. * HISTORY OF AMERICA. 71

by a wafle unprofitable ocean, but occupied by countries fit for the habitation of man. It ap- peared likewife extremely probable, that the continent, on this fide of the globe, was balanced by a proportional quantity of land in the other hemifphere. Thefe conclufions concerning the exiftence of another continent, drawn from the figure and ftrudture of the globe, were confirmed by the observations and conjeclures of modern navigators. A Portuguefe pilot, having ftretched farther to the weft than was ufual at that time, took up a piece of timber artificially carved, floating upon the fea ; and as it was driven to- wards him by a wefterly wind, he concluded that it came from fome unknown land, fituated in that quarter. Columbus's brother-in-law had found, to the weft of the Madeira Ifles, a piece of timber fafhioned in the fame manner, and brought by the fame wind ; and had feen likewife canes of an enormous fize floating upon the waves, which refembled tho'fe defcribed by Ptolemy as produc- tions peculiar to the Eaft Indies d. After a courfe of wefterly winds, trees, torn up by the roots, were often driven upon the coafts of the Azores, and at one time the dead bodies of two men with fmgular features, refembling neither the in- habitants of Europe nor of Africa, were caft afliore there.

As the force of this united evidence, arifing from theoretical principles and practical obferva- tions, led Columbus to expect the difcovery of new countries in the weflern ocean, other rea- fons induced him to believe that thefe muft be xonne&ed with the continent of India. Though

4 Lib. i. c. 17.

k 3 the

72 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II,

the ancients had hardly ever penetrated into India farther than the banks of the Ganges, yet fome Greek authors had ventured to defcribe the pro- vinces beyond that river. As men are prone, and at liberty, to magnify what is remote or unknown, they reprefented them as regions of an immenfe extent. Ctefias affirmed that India was as large as all the reft of Afia. Oneficritus, whom Pliny the naturalift follows e, contended that it was equal to a third part of the habitable earth, Nearchus afferted, that it would take four months to march in a ftraight line from one extremity of India to the other f. The journal of Marco Polo, who had proceeded towards the eaft far beyond the limits to which any Eu- ropean had ever advanced, feemed to confirm thefe exaggerated accounts of the ancients. By his magnificent descriptions of the kingdoms of Cathay and Cipango, and of many other countries, the names of which were unknown in Europe, India appeared to be a region of vaft extent. From thefe accounts, which, however defective, were the moft accurate that the people of Eu- rope had received at that period, with refpec"l to the remote parts of the eaft, Columbus drew a juft conclufion. He contended, that, in propor- tion as the continent of India ftretched out to- wards the eaft, it muft, in confequence of the fpherical figure of the earth, approach nearer to the iflands which had lately been difcovered to the weft of Africa ; that the diftance from the one to the other was probably not very confider- able ; and that the moft direct, as well as fhort-

e Nat. Hift. lib. vi. c. 17.

f Strab. Geogr. lib, xv. p. icii.

eft

B. II. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 73

eft courfe to the remote regions of the eaft, was to be found by failing due weft s. This notion concerning the vicinity of India to the weftern parts of our continent, was countenanced by fome eminent writers among the ancients, the fanction of whofe authority was neceffary, in that age, to procure a favourable reception to any tenet. Ariftotle thought it probable that the Columns of Hercules, or Straits of Gibraltar, were not far removed from the Eaft Indies, and that there might be a communication by fea between them h. Seneca, in terms ftill more explicit, affirms, that, with a fair wind, one might fail from Spain to India, in a few days *. The famous Atlantic iiland defcribed by Plato, and fuppofed by many to be a real country, beyond which an unknown continent was fituated, is reprefented by him as lying at no great diftance from Spain, After weighing all thefe particulars, Columbus, in whofe character the modefty and diffidence of true genius was united with the ardent enthufiafm of a projector, did not reft with fuch abfolute aflurance either upon his own arguments or upon the authority of the ancients, as not to confult fuch of his contemporaries as were capable of comprehending the nature of the evidence which he produced in fupport of his opinion. As early as the year one thoufand fourhundred andfeventy- four, he communicated his ideas concerning the probability of discovering new countries, by failing weftwards, to Paul, a phyfician of Florence, eminent for his knowledge of cofmography, and

e See Note XII. * Ariftot. de Ccelo, lib. ii. c. id.

edit. Du Val, Par. 1629. vol. i. p. 472. » Senec.

Quaeit. Natur. lib. i. in proem.

who,

74 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

who, from the learning as well as candour which he difcovers in his reply, appears to have been well entitled to the confidence which Columbus placed in him. He warmly approved of the plan, fuggelted feveral fadts in confirmation of it, and encouraged Columbus to perfevere in an under- taking fo laudable, and which muft redound fo much to the honour of his country, and the benefit of Europe k.

To a mind lefs capable of forming and of exe- cuting great defigns than that of Columbus, all thofe reafonings, and obfervations, and autho- rities, would have ferved only as the foundation of fome plaufible and fruitlefs theory, which might have furnifhed matter for ingenious dii- courfe, or fanciful conjecture. But with his languine and enterprifing temper, fpeculation led directly to action. Fully fatisfied himfelf with refpedl to the truth of his fyilem, he was impatient to bring it to the teft of experiment, and to fet out upon a voyage of difcovery. The firfl ftep towards this was to fecure the patronage of fome of the confiderable powers in Europe, capable of undertaking fuch an enterprize. As long abfence had not extinguifhed the affection which he bore to his native country, he wifhed that it mould reap the fruits of his labours and invention. With this view, he laid his fcheme before the fenate of Genoa, and making his country the firft tender of his fervice, offered to fail under the banners of the republic, in quell of the new regions which he expected to difcover. But Columbus had refided for fo many years in foreign parts, that his countrymen were unac-

k Life of Columbus, c. via*

quainted

B. II. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 7£

quainted with his abilities and chara&er ; and, though a maritime people, were fo little ac- cuftomed to diftant voyages, that they could ! form no juft idea of the principles on which he founded his hopes of fuccefs. They inconfider- ately rejected his propofal, as the dream of a chimerical projector, and loft for ever the oppor- tunity of reftoring their commonwealth to its ancient fplendour1.

Having performed what was due to his coun- try, Columbus was fo little difcouraged by the repulfe which he had received, that, inftead of relinquifhing his undertaking, he purfued it with frefh ardour. He made his next overture to John II. king of Portugal, in whofe dominions he had been long eftablifhed, and whom he con- fidered, on that account, as having the fecond claim to his fervice. Here every circumftance feemed to promife him a more favourable re- ception. He applied to a monarch of an enter- prifmg genius, no incompetent judge in naval affairs, and proud of patronifing every attempt to difcover new countries. His fubjeclis were the moft experienced navigators in Europe, and the leaft apt to be intimidated either by the no- velty or boldnefs of any maritime expedition. In Portugal, the profefTional fkill of Columbus, as well as his perfonal good qualities, were thoroughly known ; and as the former rendered it probable that his fcheme was not altogether vifionary, the latter exempted him from the fuf- picion of any finifter intention in propofmg it. Accordingly, the king liftened to him in the moft gracious manner, and referred the con- ' Herrera Hift, de las Indias Occid, dec. i. lib. i. c. 7.

fideration

76 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. If.

fideration of his plan to Diego Ortiz, bifhop of Ceuta, and two Jewifti phyiicians, eminent cof- mographers, whom he was accuflomed to con- futt in matters of this kind. As in Genoa, igno- rance had oppofed and disappointed Columbus ; in Lifbon, he had to combat with prejudice, an enemy no lefs formidable. The perSons, accord- ing to whofe decifion his fcheme was to be adopted or rejected, had been the chief directors of the Portuguese navigations, and had advifed to fearch for a paflage to India, by fleering a courfe directly oppoSite to that which Colum* bus recommended as fhorter and more certain. They could not> therefore, approve of his pro- pofal, without fubmitting to the double morti- fication, of condemning their own theory, and of acknowledging his Superior Sagacity. After teafing him with captious queftions, and Starting innumerable objections, with a view of betraying him into fuch a particular explanation of his fyf- tem, as might draw from him a full difcovery of its nature, they deferred palling a final judgment with reSpect to it. In the mean time, they con- Spired to rob him of the honour and advantages which he expected from the fuccefs of his fcheme, advifing the king to difpatch a veffel fecretly, in order to attempt the propofed difcovery, by fol- lowing exactly the courfe which Columbus Seem- ed to point out. John, forgetting on this occa- fion the Sentiments becoming a monarch, meanly adopted this perfidious counfel. But the pilot, choSen to execute Columbus's plan, had neither the genius, nor the fortitude of its author. Con- trary winds arofe, no Sight oS approaching land appeared, his courage Sailed, and he returned to

Lifbon,

B, II. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 77

Lifbon, execrating the project as equally extra- vagant and dangerous m.

Upon discovering this difhonourable transac- tion, Columbus felt the indignation natural to an ingenuous mind, and in the warmth of his re- fentment determined to break off all intercourfe with a nation capable of fuch flagrant treachery. He inflantly quitted the kingdom, and landed in Spain towards the clofe of the year one thoufand . f 4 v 4' four hundred and eighty-four. As he was now at liberty to court the protection of any patron > whom he could engage to approve of his plan, and to carry it into execution, he relolved to propofe it in perfon to Ferdinand and Ifabella, who at that time governed the united kingdoms of Caftile and Aragon. But as he had already experienced the uncertain iflue of applications to kings and minifters, he took the precaution of fending into England his brother Bartholomew* jp to whom he had fully communicated his ideas, in order that he might negociate, at the fame time, with Henry VII. who was reputed one of the moil lagacious as well as opulent princes in Europe.

It was not without reafon that Columbus en- tertained doubts and fears with refpect to the reception of his propofals in the Spanifh court. Spain was, at that juncture, engaged in a dan- gerous war with Granada, the laft of the Moorifh kingdoms in that country. The wary and fuf- picious temper of Ferdinand was not formed to relifh bold or uncommon deiigns. Ifabella, though more generous and enterprifing, was un- der the influence of her hufband in all her actions. The Spaniards had hitherto made no efforts to

p Life of Columbus, c. xl. Hertera, decad. i. lib. i. c. 7.

extend

78 HlSTOttY OV AMERICA* B.

extend navigation beyond its ancient limits, an< had beheld the amazing progrefs of difcoven among their neighbours the Portuguese, with- out one attempt to imitate or to rival them. The war with the Infidels afforded an ample field to the national activity and love of glory. Under circumflances fo unfavourable, it was impoflible for Columbus to make rapid progrefs with a na- tion, naturally flow and dilatory in forming all its refolutions. His character, however, was ad- mirably adapted to that of the people, whofe confidence and protection he folicited. He was grave, though courteous in his deportment ; cir- cumfpedt in his words and actions ; irreproach- able in his morals ; and exemplary in his atten- tion to all the duties and functions of religion. By qualities fo refpedlable, he not only gained many private friends, but acquired fuch general efleem, that, notwithstanding the plainnefs of his appearance, fuitable to the mediocrity of his fortune, he was not confidered as a mere adven- turer, to whom indigence had fuggefted a vifion- ary project, .but was received as a perfon to whofe proportions ferious attention was due.

Ferdinand and Ifabella, though fully occupied by their operations againit the Moors, paid fo much regard to Columbus, as to remit the con- fideration of his plan to the queen's confeffor, Ferdinand de Talavera. He confulted fuch of his countrymen as were luppofed beft qualified to decide with refpect to a fubjecl: of this kind. But true fcience had, hitherto, made fo little progrefs in Spain, that the pretended philofo- phers, fele&ed to judge in a matter of fuch mo- ment, did not comprehend the firit principles

upon

B* If. HISTORY Of AMERICA. 7<)

upon which Columbus founded his conjectures and hopes. Some of them, from miftaken no- tions concerning the dimeniions of the globe, contended that a voyage to thofe remote parts of the eaft, which Columbus expected to difcover, could not be performed in lefs than three years. Others concluded, that either he would find the ocean to be of infinite extent, according to the opinion of fome ancient philofophers ; or, if he fhould perfiil in fleering towards the weft beyond a certain point, that the convex figure of the globe would prevent his return, and that he mull inevitably perifh, in the vain attempt to open a communication between the two oppofite hemifpheres, which nature had for ever disjoined. Even without deigning to enter into any particu- lar difcuffion, many rejected the fcheme in gene- ral, upon the credit of a maxim, under which the ignorant and unenterprifing fhelter them- felves in every age, " That it is prefumptuous in any perfon, to fuppofe that he alone pofiefTes knowledge fuperior to all the reft of mankind united." They maintained, that if there were really any fuch countries as Columbus pretended, they could not have remained fo long concealed, nor would the wifdom and fagacity of former ages have left the glory of this invention to an obfeure Genoefe pilot.

It required all Columbus's patience and ad- drefs to negociate with men capable of advan- '\ cing fuch ftrange propofitions. He had to con- ) tend not only with the obftinacy of ignorance, i but with what is flill more intractable, the pride Vof falfe knowledge. After innumerable con- ferences, and waiting five years in fruitlefs en- voi-, i. i. deavours

8o HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. It.

deavours to inform and to fatisfy judges fo little capable of deciding with propriety, Talavera, at lait, made fuch an unfavourable report to Ferdi- nand and Ifabella, as induced them to acquaint Columbus, that until the war with the Moors fhould be brought to a period, it would be im- prudent to engage in any new and extenfive en- terprize.

Whatever care was taken to foften the harfh- nefs of this declaration, Columbus confidered it as a final rejection of his propofals. But happily for mankind, that fuperiority of genius, which is capable of forming great and uncommon de- figns, is ufually accompanied with an ardent en- thuiiafm, which can neither be cooled by delays, nor damped by disappointment. Columbus was of this fanguine temper. Though he felt deeply the cruel blow given to his hopes, and retired immediately from a court, where he had been amufed fo long with vain expectations, his con- fidence in the juftnefs of his own fyftem did not diminim, and his impatience to demonftrate the truth of it by an actual experiment, became greater than ever. Having courted the pro- tection of fovereign ftates without fuccefs, he applied, next, to perfons of inferior rank, and addreffed fuccefiively the dukes of Medina, Si- donia, and Medina Celi, who, though fubjects, were poflefTed of power and opulence more than equal to the enterprize which he projedled. His negociations with them proved as fruitlefs, a3 thofe in which he had been hitherto engaged ; for thefe noblemen were either as little con- vinced by Columbus's arguments as their fupe- riors, or they were afraid of alarming the jea-

louiy»

B. II. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 8l

loufy, and offending the pride of Ferdinand, by countenancing a fcheme which he had rejected n.

Amid the painful fenfations occafioned by fuch a fucceffion of difappointments, Columbus had to fuftain the additional diftrefs, of having received no accounts of his brother, whom he had fent to the court of England. In his voyage to that country, Bartholomew had been fo unfortunate as to fall into the hands of pirates, who having dripped him of every thing, detained him a pri- ibner for feveral years. At length, he made his efcape, and arrived in London, but in fuch ex- treme indigence, that he was obliged to employ himfelf, during a confiderable time, in drawing and felling maps, in order to pick up as much money as would purchafe a decent drefs, in which he might venture to appear at court. He then laid before the king the propofals, with which he had been entrufted by his bro- ther, and, notwithstanding Henry's excefiive cau- tion and parfimony, which rendered him averfc to new or expenfive undertakings, he received Columbus's overtures, with more approbation than any monarch to whom they had hitherto been prefented.

Meanwhile, Columbus being unacquainted with his brother's fate, and having now no profpect of encouragement in Spain, refolved to vifit the court of England in perfon, in hopes of meeting with a more favourable reception there. He had already made preparations for this purpofe, and taken meafures for the difpofal of his children during his abfence, when Juan Perez, the guardian of the monaftery of Rabida,

? Life of Columb. c. 13. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. i. c. 7. ' h 2 near

?2 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. XI.

near Palos, in which they had been educated, earneftly folicited him to defer his journey for a fhort time. Perez was a man of conliderable learning, and of fome credit with queen Ifabella, to whom he was known personally. He was warmly attached to Columbus, with whofe abi- lities as well as integrity he had many opportu- nities of being acquainted. Prompted by cu- riofity or by friendship, he entered upon an ac- curate examination of his fyftera, in conjunction, with a phyfician fettled in the neighbourhood, who was a confiderable proficient in mathema- tical knowledge. This invefligation fatisfied them fo thoroughly, with refpec"t. to the fo- lidity of the principles on which Columbus founded his opinion, and the probability of fuc- cefs in executing the plan which he propofed, that Perez, in order to prevent his country from being deprived of the glory and benefit, which. mull accrue to the patrons of fuch a grand en- terprife, ventured to write to Ifabella, conjuring her to eonfider the matter anew, with the atten- tion which it merited.

Moved by the reprefentations of a perfon whom (he refpecled, Ifabella defired Perez to repair immediately to the village of Santa Fe, in which, on account of the fiege of Granada, the court refided at that time, that (he might confer with him upon this important fubjecl:. The firft effect of their interview was a gracious invitation of Columbus back to court [1491 ]> accompanied with the prefent of a fmall fum to equip him for the journey. As there was now a certain pro- Xpcft, that the war with the Moors would fpeedily be brought to an happy iffue by the reduction of

Granada,

B. IT. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 2$

Granada, which would leave the nation at liberty to engage in new undertakings ; this, as well as the mark of royal favour, with which Columbus had been lately honoured, encouraged his friends to appear with greater confidence than formerly in fupport of his fchcme. The chief of thefe, Alonfo de Quintanilla, comptroller of the fi« nances in Carfile, and Luis de Santangel, re- ceiver of the ecclefiaftical revenues in Aragon, whofe meritorious zeal in promoting this great defign entitles their names to an honourable place in hiftory, introduced Columbus to many perfons of high rank, and intereited them warmly in his behalf.

But it was not an eafy matter to infpire Fer- dinand with favourable fentlments. He frill re- garded Columbus's project as extravagant and chimerical ; and in order to render the efforts of his partizans ineffectual, he had the addrefs to employ in this new negociation with him, fome of the perfons who had formerly pronounced his fcheme to be impracticable. To their aftonifh- ment, Columbus appeared before them with the fame confident hopes of fuccefs as formerly, and infilled upon the fame high recompence. He propofed that a fmall fleet mould be fitted out, under his command, to attempt the difco* tery, and demanded to be appointed hereditary admiral and viceroy of all the feas and lands which he mould difcover, and to have the tenths of the profits arifing from them, fettled irre- vocably upon himfelf and his defcendants. At the fame time, he offered to advance the eighth part of the fum neceffary for accomplifhing his tkfign, on condition that he fhould be entitled l 3 to

64 HISTORY OF AMERICA, B. n#

to a proportional mare of benefit from the ad- venture. If the enterprife mould totally mif- carry, he made no ftipulation for any reward or emolument whatever. Inftead of viewing this conduct as the clearefL evidence of his full per- fuafion with refpect to the truth of his own fyf- tem, or being ftruck with that magnanimity which, after fo many delays and repulfes, would ftoop to nothing inferior to its original claims, the perfons with whom Columbus treated, began meanly to calculate the expence of the expedi- tion, and the value of the reward which he de- manded. The expence, moderate as it was, they reprefented to be too great for Spain, in the prefent exhaufted ftate of its finances. They contended, that the honours and emoluments claimed by Columbus were exorbitant, even i he mould perform the utmoft of what he had promifed ; and if all his fanguine hopes mould prove illufive, fuch vaft concefiions to an adven- turer would be deemed not only inconfiderate, but ridiculous. In this impofing garb of cau- tion and prudence, their opinion appeared fo plaufible, and was fo warmly fupported by Fer dinand, that Ifabella declined giving any coun- tenance to Columbus, and abruptly broke off the negociation with him which fhe had begun.

This was more mortifying to Columbus than all the difappointments which he had hitherto met with. The invitation to court from Ifa- bella, like an unexpected ray of light, had opened fuch profpe&s of fuccefs, as encourage him to hope that his labours were at an end; but now darknefs and uncertainty returned, and his mind, firm as it was, could hardly fupport

the

B. IT. HISTORY OF AMERICA, 8$

the fhock of fuch an unforefeen reverfe. He withdrew in deep anguifh from court, with an intention of profecuting his voyage to England, as his laft refource.

About that time Granada furrendered, and Ferdinand and Ifabella, in triumphal pomp, took poiTeflion of a city [Jan. 2, 1492]* the reduction of which extirpated a foreign power from the heart of their dc minions, and rendered them matters of all the provinces, extending from the bottom of the Pyrenees to the fron- tiers of Portugal. As the flow of fpirits which accompanies fuccefs elevates the mind, and ren- ders it enterprifing, Quintanilla and Santangel, the vigilant and difcerning patrons of Columbus, took advantage of this favourable fituation, in order to make one effort more in behalf of their friend. They addreiTed themfelves to Ifabella, and after expreffing fome furprife, that fhe, who had always been the munificent patronefs of ge- nerous undertakings, mould hefitate fo long to countenance the moil fplendid fcheme that had ever been propofed to any monarch ; they re- prefented to her, that Columbus was a man of a found underitanding and virtuous character, well qualified, by his experience in navigation, as well as his knowledge of geometry, to form juft ideas with refpeel: to the {tincture of the globe and the fituation of its various regions ; that, by offering to rifk his own life and fortune in the execution of his fcheme, he gave the moil fatisfying evi- dence both of his integrity and hope of fuccefs ; that the fum requifite for equipping fuch an ar«. mament as he demanded was inconfiderable, an4 tlic advantages which might accrue from his ui>

deitaking

86 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

dertaking were immenfe ; that he demanded no recompence for his invention and labour, but what was to arife from the countries which he mould difcover ; that, as it was worthy of her magnanimity to make this noble attempt to ex« tend the fphere of human knowledge, and to open an intercourfe with regions hitherto un- known, fo it would afford the higheft fatisfac- tion to her piety and zeal, after re-eftablifhing the Chriftian faith in thofe provinces of Spain from which it had been long banifhed, to difco- ver a new world, to which fhe might communi- cate the light and bleffings of divine truth ; that if now (he did not decide inftantly, the op- portunity would be irretrievably loft ; that Co- lumbus was on his way to foreign countries, where fome prince, more fortunate or adven- turous, would clofe with his propofals, and Spain would for ever bewail the fatal timidity which had excluded her from the glory and ad- vantages that fhe had once in her power to have enjoyed.

Thefe forcible arguments, urged by perfons of fuch authority, and at a juncture fo well chofen, produced the defired effect. They dis- pelled all Ifabella's doubts and fears ; fhe ordered Columbus to be inftantly recalled, declared her refolution of employing him on his own terms, and regretting the low eftate of her finances, gencroufly offered to pledge her own jewels, in order to raife as much money as might be needed in making preparations for the voyage. Sant- angel, in a tranfport of gratitude, kiffed the queen's hand, and in order to fave her from hav- ing recourfe to fuch a mortifying expedient for

procuring

*4920 HISTORY OF AMERICA, $7

procuring money, engaged to advance immedi- ately the fum that was requifite °.

Columbus had proceeded fome leagues on his journey, when the mefTenger from Ifabella over- took him. Upon receiving an account of the unexpected revolution in his favour, he returned directly to Santo Fe, though fome remainder of diffidence ftill mingled itfelf with his joy. But the cordial reception which he met with from Ifabella, together with the near profpeft of fet- ting out upon that voyage which had fo long been the object of his thoughts and wifhes, foon effaced the remembrance of all that he had fuf- fered in Spain, during eight tedious years of fo- iicitation and fufpenie. The negociation now went forward with facility and difpatch, and a *Y | treaty or capitulation with Columbus was figned-W*vA, on the feventeenth of April, one thoufand four 't ?/U hundred and ninety-two The chief articles of it were, I. Ferdinand and Ifabella, as fovereigns of the ocean, conftituted Columbus their high admiral in all the feas, iflands, and continents which mould be difcovered by his induftry ; and ftipulated that he and his heirs for ever mould enjoy this office, with the fame powers and pre- rogatives which belonged to the high admiral of Caftile, within the limits of his jurifdiction. 2. They appointed Columbus their viceroy in all the iflands and continents which he mould disco- ver ; but if, for the better adminiftration of af- fairs, it mould hereafter be neceflary to eflablifh a feparate governor in any of thofe countries, they authorised Columbus to name three per- sons, of whom they would choofe one for that 0 Hcrrejra, dec, j, lib* i. c. 8.

office J

83 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II*

office ; and the dignity of viceroy, with all its immunities, was likewife to be hereditary in the family of Columbus. 3. They granted to Co- lumbus and his heirs for ever, the tenth of the free profits accruing from the productions and commerce of the countries which he mould dis- cover. 4. They declared, that if any contro- verfy or law-fuit (hall arife with refpeel: to any mercantile tranfa&ion in the countries which fhould be difcovered, it fhould be determined by the fole authority of Columbus, or of judges to be appointed by him. 5. They permitted Columbus to advance one-eighth part of what fhould be expended in preparing for the expedi- tion, and in carrying on commerce with the countries which he mould difcover, and entitled him, in return, to an eighth part of the profit P.

Though the name of Ferdinand appears con- joined with that of Ifabella in this tranfaction, his diftruft of Columbus was ftill fo violent that he refufed to take any part in the enterprife as king of Aragon. As the whole expence of the expedition was to be defrayed by the crown of Caftile, Ifabella referved for her fubjefts of that kingdom an exclufive right to all the benefits which might redound from its fuccefs.

As foon as the treaty was figned, Ifabella, by her attention and activity in forwarding the pre- parations for the voyage, endeavoured to make fome reparation to Columbus for the time which he had loft in fruitlefc Solicitation. By the twelfth of May, all that depended upon her was adjufted ; and Columbus waited on the king and queen, in order to receive their final inftrucuons. * Life of Columbus, c. 15, Herrera, dec. I. lib* i. c. 9.

Every

I4920 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 89

Every thing refpe&ing the deftination and con- duel: of the voyage, they committed implicitly to the difpofal of his prudence. But that they might avoid giving any jull caufe of offence to the king of Portugal, they ftriclily enjoined him not to approach near to the Portuguefe fettle- ments on the coafl of Guinea, or in any of the other countries to which the Portuguefe claimed right as difcoverers. Ifabella had ordered the fhips, of which Columbus was to take the com- mand, to be fitted out in the port of Palos, a fmall maritime., town in the province of Anda- j lufia. As the guardian Juan Perez, to whom j Columbus had already been fo much indebted, refided in the neighbourhood of this place, he, ■ by the influence of that good eccleiiaflic, as well as by his own connection with the inhabitants, i not only raifed among them what he wanted of I the fum that he was bound by treaty to advance, • but engaged fcveral of them to accompany him 1 in the voyage. The chief of thefe aflbciates i were three brothers of the name of Pinzon, of i confiderable wealth, and of great experience in I naval affairs, who were willing to hazard their 1 lives and fortunes in the expedition.

, But, after all the efforts of Ifabella and Co» I lumbus, the armament was not fuitable, either i to the dignity of the nation by which it was equipped, or to the importance of the fervice for which it was deftined. It coniifted of three veflels. The largeft, a fhip of no confiderable burden, was commanded by Columbus, as ad- miral, who gave it the name of Santa Maria* out of refpect for the BlerTed Virgin, whom he honoured with fingular devotion. Of the fe-

cond,

;

90 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II

cond, called the Pinta, Martin Pinzon was cap- tain, and his brother Francis pilot. The third named the Nigna, was under the command of Vincent Yanez Pinzon. Thefe two were light veffcls, hardly fuperior in burden or force to large boats. This fquadron, if it merits that name, was victualled for twelve months, and had on board ninety men, moftly failors, together with a few adventurers who followed the for- tune of Columbus, and fome gentlemen of Isa- bella's court, whom fhe appointed to accompany him. Though the expence of the undertaking was one of the circumftances which chiefly alarm- ed the court of Spain, and retarded fo long the negociation with Columbus, the fum employed in fitting out this fquadron did not exceed four thoufand pounds.

As the art of fhip-building in the fifteenth cen- tury was extremely rude, and the bulk of veflels was accommodated to the fhort and eafy voyages along the coaft which they were accufiomed to perform, it is a proof of the courage as well as enterprifing genius of Columbus, that he ven- tured, with- a fleet fo unfit for a diftant naviga- tion, to explore unknown feas, where he had no chart to guide him, no knowledge of the tides and currents, and no experience of the dangers to which he might be expofed. His eagernefs to accomplifh the great defign which had fo long engrofled his thoughts, made him overlook or difregard every circumflance that would have in- timidated a mind lefs adventurous. He pufhed forward the preparations with fuch ardour, and was feconded fo effectually by the perfons to whom Ifabella committed the fuperintendence of 2 this

F492-] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 91

this bufinefs, that every thing was foon in readi- nefs for the voyage. But as Columbus was deeply imprefled with fentiments of religion, he would not fet out upon an expedition fo arduous, and of which one great object was to extend the knowledge of the Chriitian faith, without im- ploring publicly the guidance and protection of Heaven. With this view, he, together with all the perfons under his command, marched in • folemn proceffion to the monaftery of Rabida. After confefling their fins, and obtaining abfolu- tion, they received the holy facrament from the hands of the guardian, who joined his prayers to theirs for the fuccefs of an enterprife which heT^i^r had fo zealoufly patronized. £ 0

Next morning, being Friday the third day 6fA\* ■ Auguft, in the year one thoufand four hundred V^TtX and ninety-two, Columbus fet fail, a little before fun-rife, in prefence of a vail crowd of fpectators, who fent up their fupplications to Heaven for the profperous iffue of the voyage, which they wiihed rather than expected. Columbus {leered directly for the Canary Iflands, and arrived there £ Aug. 13] without any occurrence that would have deferved notice on any other occafion. But, in a voyage of fuch expectation and importance, every circumftance was the object of attention. The rudder of the Pinta broke loofe, the day after me left the harbour, and that accident alarmed the crew, no lefs fuperflitious than un- (kilful, as a certain omen of the unfortunate deftiny of the expedition. Even in the fhort run to the Canaries, the mips were found to be fo crazy and ill appointed, as to be very impro- per for- a navigation which was expected to be

Vol. 1. m both

L

92 HISTORY OP AMERICA. B. II.

both long and dangerous. Columbus refitted them, however, to the beft of his power, and having fupplied himfelf with frefh provifions, he took his departure from Gomera, one of the moll wefterly of the Canary Iflands, on the fixth day of September. > ^Here the voyage of difcovery may properly be \ ** faid to begin ; for Columbus holding his courfe iu&X ^ue we^> k^ immediately the ufual track of navigation, and ftretched into unfrequented and unknown feas. The fird day, as it was very calm, he made but little way ; but on the fecond, he loft fight of the Canaries ; and many of the failors, dejected already and difmayed, when they contemplated the boldnefs of the undertaking, began to beat their breads, and to fhed tears, as if they were never more to behold land. Co- lumbus comforted them with aflurances of fuc- cefs, and the profpe& of vail wealth, in thofe opulent regions whither he was conducting them. This early difcovery of the fpirit of his follow- ers taught Columbus, that he mull prepare to ilruggle, not only with the unavoidable difficul- ties which might be expected from the nature of his undertaking, but with fuch as were likely to arife from the ignorance and timidity of the people under his command; and he perceived that the art of governing the minds of men would be no lefs requifite for accomplishing the difco- veries which he had in view, than naval fkill and undaunted courage. Happily for himfelf, and for the country by which he was employed, he joined to the ardent temper and inventive genius of a projector, virtues of another fpecies, which are rarely united with them. He poffefTed

a tho-

T492'] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 93

thorough knowledge of mankind, an infinuating addrefs, a patient perfeverance in executing any plan, the perfect government of his own paffions, and the talent of acquiring an afcendant over thofe of other men. All thefe qualities, which formed him for command, were accompanied with that fuperior knowledge of his profeflion, which begets confidence in times of difficulty* and danger. To unfkilful Spanifh failors, accuf- tomed only to coatting voyages in the Medi- terranean, the maritime fcience of Columbus, the fruit of thirty years experience, improved by an acquaintance with all the inventions of the Portu- guese, appeared immenfe. As foon as they put to fea, he regulated every thing by his fole au- thority ; he fuperintended the execution of every order ; and allowing himfelf only a few hours for fleep, he was at all other times upon deck. As his courfe lay through feas which had not formerly been vifited, the founding-line, or in- ftruments for obfervation, were continually in his hands. After the example of the Portuguefe difcoverers, he attended to the motion of tides and currents, watched the flight of birds, the appearance of fifhes, of fea- weeds, and of every thing that floated on the waves, and entered every occurrence, with a minute exa&nefs, in the jour- nal which he kept. As the length of the voyage could not fail of alarming failors habituated only to fhort excurfions, Columbus endeavoured to conceal from them the real progrefs which they made. With this view, though they run eighteen leagues on the fecond day after they left Go- mtra, he gave out that they had advanced only fifteen, and he uniformly employed the fame M 2 • artifice

94 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II,

jd> artifice of reckoning fhort during the whole i\ Jjf voyage. By the fourteenth of September, the j ^ ^fleet was above two hundred leagues to the well u«**l. °^ t^ie Canary I^e8> at a greater diftance from " land than any Spaniard had been before that time. There they were flruck with an appear- ance no lefs aftonifhing than new. They obferved that the magnetic needle, in their companes, did not point exactly to the polar liar, but varied towards the weft ; and as they proceeded, this variation increafed. This appearance, which is now familiar, though it Hill remains one of the mylleries of nature, into the caufe of which the fagacity of man hath not been able to penetrate, filled the companions of Columbus with terror. They were now in a boundlefs and unknown ocean, far from the ufual courfe of navigation ; nature itfelf feemed to be altered, and the only guide which they had left was about to fail them. Columbus, with no lefs quicknefs than ingenuity, invented a reafon for this appearance, which, though it did not fatisfy himfelf, feemed fo plau- fible to them, that it difpelled their fears, or iilenced their murmurs.

He Hill continued to fteer due well, nearly in the fame latitude with the Canary Iflands. In this courfe he came within the fphere of the trade wind, which blows invariably from eall to well, between the tropics and a few degrees be- yond them. He advanced before this Heady gale with fuch uniform rapidity, that it was fel* dom neceflary to Ihift a fail. When about four hundred leagues to the well of the Canaries, he found the lea fo covered with weeds, that it jrefembled a meadow of vail extent, and in fome

place*

I492-] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 95

places they were fd thick, as to retard the mo- tion of the veffels. This ftrange appearance occa- fioned new alarm and difquiet. The failors ima- gined that they were now arrived at the utmoit boundary of the navigable ocean ; that thefe floating weeds would obftruct their farther pro- grefs, and concealed dangerous rocks, or fome large tract of land, which had funk, they knew not how, in that place. Columbus endeavoured to perfuade them, that what had alarmed, ought rather to have encouraged them, and was to be confidered as a figrt of approaching land. At the fame time, a brifk gale arofe, and carried them forward. Several birds were feen hover- ing about the fhip P, and directed their flight towards the weft. The defponding crew re- fumed fome degree of fpirit, and began to enter- ^ * tain frefh hopes. q *

Upon the nrft of October they were, accord- ing to the admiral's reckoning, feven hundred /*"& and feventy leagues to the well of the Canaries ; but left his men fhould be intimidated by the prodigious length of the navigation, he gave out A* ' « that they had proceeded only live hundred and eighty-four leagues ; and, fortunately for Co- lumbus, neither his own pilot, nor thofe of the other fhips, had Ikill fufficient to correct this trror, and difcover the deceit. They had now been above three weeks at fea ; they had pro- ceeded far beyond what former navigators had attempted or deemed poiTible ; all their prog- tioftics of difcovery, drawn from the flight of birds and other circumftances, had proved falla- cious ; the appearances of land, with which their p See Notk XIII.

m 3 own

96 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II,

own credulity or the artifice of their commander had from time to time flattered and amufed them, had been altogether illufive, and their profpect of fuccefs feemed now to be as diftant as ever. Thefe reflections occurred often to men who had no other object or occupation than to reafon and difcourfe concerning the intention and circumftances of their expedition. They made impreffion, at firft, upon the ignorant and timid, and extending, by degrees, to fuch as were better informed or more refolute, the con* tagion fpread at length from {hip to fhip. From fecret whifpers or murmurings, they proceeded to open cabals and public complaints. They taxed their fovereign with inconfiderate credulity, in paying fuch regard to the vain promifes and ram conjectures of an indigent foreigner, as to hazard the lives of fo many of her own fubjects, in profecuting a chimerical fcheme. They af- firmed that they had fully performed their dutyf by venturing fo far in an unknown and hopelefs courfe, and could incur no blame, for refuting to follow, any longer, a defperate adventurer to certain deftruction. They contended, that it was neceffary to think of returning to Spain, while their crazy veffels were ftill in a condition to keep the fea, but exprefled their fears that the attempt would prove vain, as the wind which had hitherto been fo favourable to their courfe, muft render it impoifible to fail in the oppofite direction. All agreed that Columbus Ihould be compelled by force tp adopt a meafure on which .their common fafety depended. Some of the more audacious propofed, as the moll expeditious and certain method for getting rid at once of his

remon*

1 I492'3 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 97

remonftrances, to throw him into the fea, being perfuaded that, upon their return to Spain, the death of an unfuccefsful projector would excite little concern, and be inquired into with no curiofity-

Columbus was fully fenfible of his perilous fituation. He had obferved, with great uneafi- nefs, the fatal operation of ignorance and of fear in producing difaffection among his crew, and faw that it was now ready to burft out into open mutiny. He retained, however, perfect prefence of mind. He affected, to feem ignorant of their machinations. Notwithstanding the agitation and folicitude of his own mind, he appeared with a cheerful countenance, like a man fatisfied with the progrefs he had made, and confident of fuccefs. Sometimes he employed all the arts of infinuation, to footh his men. Sometimes he endeavoured to work upon their ambition or avarice, by magnificent defcriptions of the fame and wealth which they were about to acquire. On other occafions, he afTumed a tone of autho- rity, and threatened them with vengeance from their fovereign, if, by their daflardly behaviour, they mould defeat this noble effort to promote the glory of God, and to exalt the Spanifh name above that of every other nation. Even with feditious failors, the words of a man whom they had been accuftomed to reverence, were weighty and perfuafive, and not only reftrained them from thofe violent exceffes, which they meditated, but prevailed with them to accompany their admiral for fome time longer.

As they proceeded, the indications of ap- proaching laud feemed to be more certain, and

excited

98 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

Excited hope in proportion. The birds began to appear in flocks, making towards the fouth- weft. Columbus, in imitation of the Portuguefe navigators, who had been guided, in feveral of their discoveries, by the motion of birds, altered his courfe from due weft towards that quarter whither they pointed their flight. But, after holding on for feveral days in this new direction, without any better fuccefs than formerly, having feen no object, during thirty days, but the fea and the fky, the hopes of his companions fub- fided fafter than they had rifen ; their fears re- vived with additional force ; impatience, rage, and defpair, appeared in every countenance. All fenfe of fubordinatioh was loft : the officers, who had hitherto concurred with Columbus in opinion, and fupported his authority, now took part with the private men ; they affembled tumultuoufly on the deck, expoftulated with their commander, mingled threats with their expostulations, and required him inftantly to tack about and to re* turn to Europe. Columbus perceived that would be of no avail to have recourfe to any o\ his former arts, which having been tried fo often, had loft their effect ; and that it was impoflibh to rekindle any zeal for the fuceefs of the expe- dition among men, in whofe breafts fear had extinguifhed every generous fentiment. He faw that it was no lefs vain to think of employing either gentle or fevere meafures to quell a mutiny fo general and fo violent* It was necelTary, oh all thefe accounts, to footh paffions which he could no longer command,, and to give way to a torrent too impetuous to be checked. He Jpromifed Solemnly to his men that he would

comply

I4920 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 99

comply with their requeft, provided they would accompany him, and obey his commands for three days longer, and if, during that time, land were not difcovered, he would then aban- don the enterprize, and direct his courfe towards Spain r.

Enraged as the failors were, and impatient to turn their faces again towards their native coun- try, this proportion did not appear to them un- reasonable. Nor did Columbus hazard much in confining himfelf to a term fo fhort. The pre- fages of difcovering land were now fo numerous and promising, that he deemed them infallible. For fome days the founding line reached the bottom, and the foil which it brought up indi- cated land to be at no great diftance. The flocks of birds increafed, and were compofed not only of fea-fowl, but of fuch land birds as could not be fuppofed to fly far from the fhore. The crew of the Pinta obferved a cane floating, which feemed to have been newly cut, and likewife a piece of timber artificially carved. The failors aboard the Nigna took up the branch of a tree with red berries, perfectly frefh. The clouds around the fetting-fun affumed a new appear- ance ; the air was more mild and warm, and, during night, the wind became unequal and variable. From all thefe fymptoms, Columbus <0 was fo confident of being near land, that on the $<*t evening of the eleventh of October, after public / 1$ prayers for fuccefs, he ordered the fails to be 7' furled, and the fhips to lie-to, keeping ftrid " watch, left they fhould be driven afhore in the night. During this interval of fufpenfe and r OviedoHift^p. Ramuf. vol. iii, p, 8i. E.

expectation,

lOO HISTORY OF AMERICA, B. II.

expe&ation, no man fhut his eyes, all kept upon deck, gazing intently towards that quarter where they expected to difcover the land, which had been fo long the object of their wifhes.

About two hours before midnight, Colum- bus Handing on the forecaftle, obferved a light at & diftance, and privately pointed it out to Pedro Guttierez, a page of the queen's wardrobe. Guttierez perceived it, and calling to Salcedo, Comptroller of the fleet, all three faw it in mo- tion, as if it were carried from place to place. A little after midnight the joyful found of land, land, was heard from the Pinta, which kept always ahead of the other mips. But, having been fo often deceived by fallacious appearances, every

T«tiAr- s .*nan was now Decome flow of belief, and waited, in

all the anguifh of uncertainty and impatience,

** \. for the return of day. As foon as morning

3oG dawned [Friday, 061. 12], all doubts and fears ~~ Were difpelled. From every fliip an ifland was - feen about two leagues to the north, whofe flat and verdant fields, well ftored with wood, and watered with many rivulets, prefented the afpedt of a delightful country. The crew of the Pinta inftantly began the Te Deum, as a hymn of thankfgiving to God, and were joined by thofe of the other fhips, with tears of joy and tranf- ports of congratulation. This office of grati- tude to Heaven was followed by an «£ of juit ice to their commander. They threw themfelves at the feet of Columbus, with feelings of felf-con- demnation mingled with reverence. They im- plored him to pardon their ignorance, incredu- lity, and infolence, which had created him fo jnuch unrieceflary difquiet, and had fo often ob-

ftrufted

TbliJPap

*«t$0uaj'c6jia0aitty OtdUtUJ^Kuufinvul .

Z&mu/ca

I492*] HISTORY OF AMERICA. lOt

ilructed the profecution of his well-concerted plan ; and pafling, in the warmth of their ad- miration, from one extreme to another, they now pronounced the man, whom they had fo lately reviled and threatened, to be a perfon in- fpired by Heaven with fagacity and fortitude more than human, in order to accomplifh a defign fo far beyond the ideas and conception of all former ages.

As foon as the fun arofe, all their boats were manned and armed. They rowed towards the ifland with their colours difplayed, with warlike muiic, and other martial pomp. As tKey ap- proached the coaft, they faw it covered with a multitude of people, whom the novelty of the fpe&acle had drawn together, whofe attitudes and geftures expreffed wonder and aftonifhment at the ftrange objects which prefented themfelves to their view. Columbus was the fir ft European who fet foot in the New World which he had difcovered. He landed in a rich drefs, and with a naked fword in his hand. His men follow- ed, and kneeling down, they all kifTed the ground which they had fo long defired to fee. They next ereded a crucifix, and proftrating themfelves before it, returned thanks to God for conducting their voyage to fuch an happy lime. They then took folemn pofTefiion of the country for the crown of Caftile and Leon, with all the formalities which the Portuguefe were accuftomed to obferve in ads of this Jdnd, in their new difcoveries *.

1 Life of Columbus, c. 22, 23. Hcrrcra, dec, u lib. ?• c. 13.

The

102 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II,

The Spaniards, while thus employed, wen furrounded by many of the natives, who gazed, in iilent admiration, upon actions which they could not comprehend, and of which they die not forefee the confequences. The drefs o the Spaniards, the whitenefs of their fkins, theii beards, their arms, appeared ftrange and fur prifing. The vaft machines in which they hac traverfed the ocean, that feemed to move upon the waters with wings,* and uttered a dreadfu found ^ refembling thunder, accompanied with lightning and fmoke, ftruck them with fuch ter- ror, that they began to refpeft their new guefts as a fuperior order of beings, and concluded that they were children of the Sun, who had de fcended to vifit the earth.

The Europeans were hardly lefs amazed at the fcene now before them. Every herb, an< fhrub, and tree, was different from thofe whicl flourifhed in Europe. The foil feemed to b, rich, but bore few marks of cultivation. The climate, even to the Spaniards, felt warm, though extremely delightful. The inhabitants appeared in the fimple innocence of nature, entirely naked Their black hair, long and uncurled, floated upoi their moulders, or was bound in treffes aroum their heads. They had no beards, and ever part of their bodies was perfe&ly fmooth. Thei' complexion was of a dufky copper colour, thei features fingular, rather than difagreeable, thei. afpect. gentle and timid. Though not tall, they were well fhaped, and aftive. Their faces, and feveral parts of their body, were fantastically painted with, glaring colours. They were fir at firft through fear, but foon became familia

efhy

niliar with

I492'] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 10$

with the Spaniards, and with tranfports of joy received from them hawks-bells, glafs beads, or other baubles, in return for which they gave fuch provilions as they had, and fome cotton yarn, the only commodity of value that they could produce. Towards evening, Columbus returned to his fhip, accompanied by many o£ the iflanders in their boats, which they called canoes, and though rudely formed out of the trunk of a fingle tree, they rowed them with furprifing dexterity. Thus, in the firft interview between the inhabitants of the old and new worlds, every thing was conducted amicably, and to their mutual fatisfaclion. The former, en- lightened and ambitious, formed already vaft ideas with refpecl: to the advantages which they might derive from the regions that began to open to their view. The latter, fimple and undifcerning, had no forefight of the calamities and defolation which were approaching their country.

Columbus, who now affumed the title and authority of admiral and viceroy, called the ifland which he had difcovered San Salvador. It is better known by the name of Guanahani, which the natives gave to it, and is one of that large clufter of iflands called the Lucaya or Bahama ifles. It is fituated above three thoufand miles to the weft of Gomera, from which the fquadron took its departure, and only four degrees to the fouth of it ; fo little had Columbus deviated from the wefterly courfe, which he had chofen as the moll proper.

Columbus employed the next day in vifiting the coafts of the ifland ; and from the univerfal poverty of the inhabitants, he perceived that this was not the rich country for which he fought.

vol. i. n But,

104 HISTORY OF AMERICA* 13. II.

But, conformably to his theory concerning the difcovery of thofe regions of Afia which ftretchsd towards the eaft, he concluded that San Salvador was one of the ifles which geographers defcribed as fituated in the great ocean adjacent to India *. Having obferved that molt of the people whom he had feen wore fmall plates of gold, by way of ornament, in their noftrils, he eagerly in- quired where they got that precious metal. They pointed towards the fouth, and made him comprehend by figns, that gold abounded in countries fituated in that quarter. Thither he immediately determined to direct his courfe, in full confidence of finding there thofe opulent regions which had been the object of his voyage,, and would be a recompence for all his toils and dangers. He took along with him feven of the natives of San Salvador, that, by acquiring the Spanifh language, they might ferve as guides and interpreters ; and thofe innocent people con- fidered it as a mark of diftinction when they were felected to accompany him.

He faw feveral iflands, and touched at three of the largeft, on which he bellowed the names of St. Mary of the Conception,. Fernandina, and Ifabella. But as their foil, productions, and in- habitants, nearly refembled thofe of San Salva- dor, he made no flay in any of them. He in- quired every where for gold, and the figns that -were uniformly made by way of anfwer, confirmed him in the opinion that it was brought from the fouth. He followed that courfe, and foon dif- covered a country which appeared very exten- five, not perfectly level, like thofe which he had Already vifited, but fo diverfified with rifmg J Pet. Mart, epiit. 135.

grounds,

I492*] HISTORY OF AMERICA. IO£

grounds, hills, rivers, woods, and plains, that he was uncertain whether it might prove an ifland, or part of the continent. The natives of San Salvador, whom he had on board, called it Cuba ; Columbus gave it the name of Juanna. He en- tered the mouth of a large river with his fqua- dron, and all the inhabitants fled to the moun- tains as he approached the fhore. But as he refolved to careen his (hips in that place, he fent fome Spaniards, together with one of the people of San Salvador, to view the interior part of the country. They, having advanced above fixty miles from the fhore, reported, upon their re- turn, that the foil was richer and more culti- vated than any they had hitherto difcovered ; that, befides many fcattered cottages, they had found one village, containing above a thoufand inhabitants ; that the people, though naked, feemed to be more intelligent than thofe of San Salvador, but had treated them with the fame refpedful attention, killing their feet, and ho* nouring them as facred beings allied to Heaven ; that they had given them to eat a certain root, the taite of which refembled roafted chefnuts, and likewife a fmgular fpecies of corn called maize, which, either when roafted whole of ground into meal, was abundantly palatable ; that there feemed to be no four-footed animals in the country, but a fpecies of dogs, which could not bark, and a creature refembling a rab- bit, but of a much fmaller iize ; that they had obferved fome ornaments of gold among the people, but of no great value u.

u Life of Columbus, c. 24— 28. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. i. c. 14.

n 2 Thefe

ICO HISTORY OF AMERICA. 13. II.

Thefe mefTengers had prevailed with fome of the natives to accompany them, who informed Columbus, that the gold of which they made their ornaments was found in Cubanacan. By this word they meant the middle or inland part of Cuba ; but Columbus, being ignorant of their language, as well as unaccuftomed to their pro- nunciation, and his thoughts running continually upon his own theory concerning the difcovery of the Eaft Indies, he was led, by the refemblance of found, to fuppofe that they fpoke of the Great Khan, and imagined that the opulent kingdom of Cathay, defcribed by Marco Polo, was not very remote. This induced him to em- ploy fome time in viewing the country. He vifited almoft every harbour, from Porto del Principe, on the north coaft of Cuba, to the eaftern extremity of the iiland : but, though de- lighted with the beauty of the fcenes which every where prefented themfelves, and amazed at the luxuriant fertility of the foil, both which, from their novelty, made a more lively imprefiion upon his imagination x, he did not find gold in fuch quantity as was fufficient to fatisfy either the avarice of his followers, or the expectations ©f the court to which he was to return. The people of the country, as much aftonifhed at his eagernefs in queft of gold, as the Europeans were at their ignorance and fimplicity, pointed towards the eaft, where an iiland which they called Hayti was iituated, in which that metal was more abundant than among them. Columbus ordered his fquadron to bend its courfe thither ; but Martin Alonfo Pinzon, impatient to be the

* See Note XIV.

firft

I492,l HISTORY OF AMERICA. 107

firft who fhould take poffeflion of the treafurea which this country was fuppofed to contain, quitted his companions, regardlefs of all the ad- miral's fignals to flacken fail until they fhould come up with him.

Columbus, retarded by contrary winds, .did not reach Hayti till the fixth of December. He called the port where he firft touched St. Nicho- las, and the ifland itfelf Efpagnola, in honour of the kingdom by which he was employed ; and it is the only country, of thofe he had yet disco- vered, which has retained the name that he gave it. As he could neither meet with the Pinta, nor have any intercourfe with the inhabitants, who fled in great conlternation towards the woods, he foon quitted St. Nicholas, and failing along the northern coafl of the ifland, he entered another harbour, which he called Conception* Here he was more fortunate ; his people over- took a woman who was flying from them, and after treating her with great gentlenefs, difmifled her with a prefent of fuch toys as they knew were moil valued in thofe regions. The de- fcription which fhe gave to her countrymen of the humanity and wonderful qualities of the ftrangers ; their admiration of the trinkets, which (lie ihewed with exultation ; and their eagernefs to participate of the fame favours ; removed all their fears, and induced many of them to repair to the harbour. The flrange objects which they beheld, and the baubles, which Columbus be- ftowed upon them, amply gratified their curiofity and their wifhes. They nearly refembled the people of Guanahani and Cuba. They were naked like them, ignorant, and fimple ; and n 3 feerned

108 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II,

feemed to be equally unacquainted with all the arts which appear molt neceflary in polifhed fo- cieties : but they were gentle, credulous, and timid, to a degree which rendered it eafy to ac- quire the afcendant over them, efpecially as their exceflive admiration led them into the fame error with the people of the other iflands, in believ* ing the Spaniards to be more than mortals, and delcended immediately from Heaven. They poffefTed gold in greater abundance than their neighbours, which they readily exchanged for bells, beads, or pins ; and in this unequal traffic both parties were highly pleafed, each confidering themfelves as gainers by the tranfaction. Here Columbus was vifited by a prince or caziqtie of the country. He appeared with all the pomp known among a fimple people, being carried in a fort of palanquin upon the moulders of four men, and attended by many of his fubjecls, who ferved him with great refpecl. His deportment was grave a'nd {lately, very referved towards his own people, but with Columbus and the Spaniards extremely courteous,. He gave the admiral fome thin plates of gold, and a girdle of curious work- manfhip, receiving in return prefents of fmall va-r lue, but highly acceptable to him?".

Columbus, ilill intent on difcovering the mines which yielded gold, continued to interrogate all the natives with whom he had any intercourfe concerning their fituation. They concurred in pointing out a mountainous country, which they called Cibao, at fome diftance from the fea, and farther towards the eaft. Struck with this found, which appeared to him the fame with Clpangor

y Lire of Columbus, c, 3a. Herrera, dec. 1, lib. i. c. 1 5, &c«

the.

I492'] HISTORY OF AMERICA. IO9

the name by which Marco Polo, and other tra- vellers to the eaft, diftinguifhed the ifland of Ja- pan, he no longer doubted with refpect to the vicinity of the countries which he had difcovered to the remote parts of Afia ; and, in full ex- pectation of reaching foon thofe regions which had been the object of his voyage, he directed his courfe towards the eaft. He put into a com- modious harbour, which he called St. Thomas, and found that di Uriel; to be under the govern- ment of a powerful cazique, named Guacanahari> who, as he afterwards learned, was one of the five fovereigns among whom the whole ifland was divided. He immediately fent meiTengers to Columbus, who, in his name, delivered to him the prefent of a mafk curioufly fafhioned, with the ears, nofe, and mouth of beaten gold, and invited him to the place of his refidence, near the harbour now called Cape Francois, fome leagues towards the eaft. Columbus dif- patched fome of his officers to vifit this prince, who, as he behaved himfelf with greater dignity, feemed to claim more attention. They return- ed, with fuch favourable accounts both of the country and of the people, as made Columbus impatient for that interview with Guacanahari to which he had been invited.

He failed for this purpofe from St. Thomas, on the twenty-fourth of December, with a fair wind, and the fea perfectly calm ; and as, amidft the multiplicity of his occupations, he had not fhut his eyes for two days, he retired at mid- night in order to take fome repofe, having com- mitted the helm to the pilot, with ftric~r. injunc- tions not to quit it for a moment,, The pilot,

dreading

TIO HISTORY OF AMERICA. B.I

dreading no danger, carelefsly left the helm to ail unexperienced cabin-boy, and the fhip, carried away by a current, was darned againit a rock. The violence of the (hock awakened Columbus. He ran up to the deck. There, all was con- fufion and defpair. He alone retained prefence of mind. He ordered fome of the failors to take a boat, and carry out an anchor allern ; but, in- Head of obeying, they made off towards the Nigna, which was about half a league diftant. He then commanded the mails to be cut down, in order to lighten the fhip ; but all his endea- vours were too late ; the vefTel opened near the keel, and filled fo fail with water that its lofs was inevitable. The fmoothnefs of the fea, and the timely afiHlance of boats from the Nigna, enabled the crew to fave their lives. As foon as the inlanders heard of this difafter, they crowded to the more, with their prince Guacanahari at their head. Inftead of taking advantage of the diftrefs in which they beheld the Spaniards, to attempt any thing to their detriment, they la- mented their misfortune with tears of fincerc condolence. Not fatisfied with this unavailing expreflion of their fympathy, they put to fea a number of canoes, and, under the direction of the Spaniards, aflifted in faving whatever could be got out of the wreck ; and by the united la- bour of fo many hands, almofl every thing of value was carried afhore. As faft as the goods were landed, Guacanahari in perfon took charge of them. By his orders they were all depofited in one place, and armed centinels were polled, who kept the multitude at a diflance, in order to prevent them not only from embezzling, but

from

I492»] HISTORY OF AMERICA. Ill

from infpe£ting too curioufly what belonged to their guefts z. Next morning this prince vifited Columbus, who was now on board the Nigna, and endeavoured to confole him for his lofs, by offering all that he poffeffed to repair it a.

The condition of Columbus was fuch, that he flood in need of confolation. He had hitherto procured no intelligence of the Pinta, and no longer doubted but that his treacherous affociate had fet fail for Europe, in order to have the merit of carrying the firft tidings of the extraor* dinary difcoveries which had been made, and to pre-occupy fo far the ear of their fovereign, as to rob him of the glory and reward to which he was juftly entitled. There remained but one veffel, and that the fmalleft and moft crazy of the fquadron, to traverfe fuch a vaft ocean, and carry fo many men back to Europe. Each of thofe circumftances was alarming, and filled the mind of Columbus with the utmoft folicitude. The defire of overtaking Pinzon, and of effacing the unfavourable impreffions which his mifrepre- fentations might make in Spain, made it necef- fary to return thither without delay. The dif- ficulty of taking fuch a number of perfons aboard the Nigna, confirmed him in an opinion, which the fertility of the country, and the gentle tem- per of the people, had already induced him to form. He refolved to leave a part of his crew in the ifland, that, by refiding there, they might learn the language of the natives, ftudy their difpofition, examine the nature of the country, fearch for mines, prepare for the commodious fettlement of the colony, with which he pro-

? See N0T2 XV. a Herrera, dec. i. lib. i. c. 18.

pofed

112 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

pofed to return, and thus fecure and facilitate the acquisition of thofe advantages which he ex- pected from his difcoveries. When he men- tioned this to his men, all approved of the de- iign ; and from impatience under the fatigue of a long voyage, from the levity natural to failors, or from the hopes of amafling wealth in a coun- try, which afforded fuch promifmg fpecimens of its riches, many offered voluntarily to be among the number of thofe who mould remain.

Nothing was now wanting towards the execu- tion of this fcheme, but to obtain the confent of Guacanahari ; and his unfufpicious fimplicity foon prefented to the admiral a favourable op- portunity of propofing it. Columbus having, in the bell manner he could, by broken words and figns, expreffed fome curiofity to know the caufe which had moved the iflanders to fly with fuch precipitation upon the approach of his mips, the cazique informed him that the country was much infefled by the incurfions of certain peo- ple, whom he called Carribeans, who inhabited feveral iflands to the fouth-eaft. Thefe he de* fcribed as a fierce and warlike race of men, who delighted in blood, and devoured the flefh of the prifoners who were fo unhappy as to fall into their hands ; and as the Spaniards, at their firft appearance, were fuppofed to be Carribeans, whom the natives, however numerous, durfl not face in battle, they had recourfe to their ufual method of fecuring their fafety, by flying into the thickeft and mofl impenetrable woods. Gua- canahari, while fpeaking of thofe dreadful in- vaders, difcovered fuch fymptoms of terror, as well as fuch confeioufnefs of the inability of his

own

1492.} HISTORY OF AMERICA. 11$

own people to refill them, as led Columbus to conclude that he would not be alarmed at the proportion of any fcheme which afforded him the profpe£t of an additional fecurity againfl their attacks. He inflantly offered him the affiitance of the Spaniards to repel his enemies ; he engaged to take him and his people under the protection of the powerful monarch whom he ferved, and offered to leave in the ifland fuch a number of his men as mould be fufficient, not only to defend the inhabitants from future in- curfions, but to avenge their part wrongs.

The credulous prince clofed eagerly with the propofal, and thought himfelf already fafe under the patronage of beings fprung from Heaven, and fuperior in power to mortal men. The ground was marked out for a fmall fort, which Columbus called Navidad, becaufe he had land- ed there on Chriflmas-day. A deep ditch was drawn around it. The ramparts were fortified with pallifades, and the great guns, faved out of the admiraPs fliip, were planted upon them. In ten days the work was flnifhed ; that fimple race of men labouring with inconfiderate afliduity in erecting this firlt monument of their, own fer- vitude. During this time, Columbus, by his- careffes and liberality,, laboured to increafe the higli opinion which the natives entertained of the Spaniards. But while he endeavoured to mfpire them with confidence in their difpofition to do good, he wifhed likewife to give them fome linking idea of their power to punifh and deflroy fuch as were the objects of their in- dignation* With this view, in prefence of a vail aflembly, he drew up his men in order of battle*

and

114 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

and made an oftentatious but innocent difplay of the fharpnefs of the Spanifh fwords, of the force of their fpears, and the operation of their crofs- bows. Thefe rude people, ftrangers to the ufe of iron, and unacquainted with any hoftile wea- pons, but arrows of reeds pointed with the bones of fifties, wooden fwords, and javelins hardened in the fire, wondered and trembled. Before this furprife or fear had time to abate, he ordered the great guns to be fired. The fudden explofion iiruck them with fuch terror, that they fell flat to the ground, covering their faces with their hands ; and when they beheld the aftonifhing effect of the bullets among the trees, towards which the cannon had been pointed, they con- cluded that it was impoffible to refill men, who had the command of fuch deftructive inftruments, and who came armed with thunder and lightning againft their enemies.

After giving fuch impreflions both of the be- nificence and power of the Spaniards, as might have rendered it eafy to preferve an afcendant over the minds of the natives, Columbus ap- pointed thirty-eight of his people to remain in the ifland. He entrufted the command of thefe to Diego de Arada, a gentleman of Cordova, invelling him with the fame powers which he himfelf had received from Ferdinand and Ifa- bella ; and furnifhed him with every thing re- quifite for the fubfiftence or defence of this in- fant colony. He ftriftly enjoined them to main- tain concord among themfelves, to yield an unre- ferved obedience to their commander, to avoid giving offence to the natives by any violence or exaction, to cultivate the friendfhip of Gua-

canahari,

[492*3

HISTORY OF AMERTCA,

"5

nahari, but not to put themfelves in his power,

y flraggling in fmall parties, or marching too

r from the fort. He promifed to revifit them Loon, with fuch a reinforcement of ftrength as

ight enable them to take full pofleflion of the :ountry, and to reap all the fruits of their difco- rcries. In the mean time, he engaged to men- tion their names to the king and queen, and to

tee their merit and fervices in the moil advan-

igeous light b.

1493.] Having thus taken every precaution for thefecurity of the colony, he left Navidadon the ~>urth of January one thoufand four hundred

id ninety-three, and fleering towards the eafi, difcovered, and gave names to moil of the har- bours on the northern coafl of the ifland. On the fixth, he defcried the Pinta, and foon came up with her, after a feparation of more than fix weeks. Pinzon endeavoured to juflify his con- duel, by pretending that he had been driven from his courfe by flrefs of weather, and pre- vented from returning by contrary winds. The admiral, though he Hill fufpedled his perfidious intentions, and knew well what he urged in his own defence to be frivolous as well as falfe, was fo fenfible that this was not a proper time for venturing upon any high ilrain of authority, and felt fuch fatisfaftion in this junction with his confort, which delivered him from many dif- quieting apprehenfions, that lame as Pinzon's apology was, he admitted of it without difficulty, and reflored him to favour. During his abfence from the admiral, Pinzon had vifited feveral har-

b Oviedo ap. Ramufio, iii. p. 82. E. Herrcra, dec. 1. lib. i« c. 20. Life of Columbus, c. 34.

vol. i. o bonis

Il6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. 12.

bours In the lfland, had acquired fome gold by trafficking with the natives, but had made no dis- covery of any importance.

From the condition of his mips, as well as the temper of his men, Columbus now found it ne- ceffary to haften his return to Europe. The for- mer, having fuffered much during a voyage of fuch an unufual length, were extremely leaky. The latter exprefied the utmoft impatience to revifit their native country, from which they had been lb long abfent, and where they had things fo wonderful and unheard-of to relate. Accord- ingly, on the fixteenth of January, he directed his conrfe towards the north-earl, and foon loit fight of land. He had on board fome of the na- tives, whom he had taken from the different iflands which he difcovered ; and befides the gold, which was the chief object of refeareh, he had collected fpecimens of all the productions which were likely to become fubje&s of com- merce in the feveral countries, as well as many unknown birds, and other natural curiofities, which might attract the attention of the learned, or excite the wonder of the people. The voyage was profperous to the fourteenth of February, and he had advanced near live hundred leagues acrofs the Atlantic ocean, when the wind began to rile, and continued to blow with increaling rage, which terminated in a furious hurricane. Every thing that the naval fkill and experience of Columbus could devife was employed, in or- der to fave the (hips. But it was impoflible to withftand the violence of the ftorm, and, as they \\\re Hill far from any land, deftru&ion feemed inevitable. The failors had recourfe to prayers

to

X493*] HISTORY OF AMERICA. II7

to Almighty God, to the invocation of faints, to vows and charms, to every thing that religion dictates, or fuperftition fuggefls, to the affrighted mind of man. No profpect of deliverance ap- pearing, they abandoned themfelves to defpair, and expected every moment to be fwallowed up in the waves. Beiides the paffions which natu- rally agitate and alarm the human mind in fuch awful fituations, when certain death, in one of his moil terrible forms, is before it, Columbus had to endure feelings of diltrefs peculiar to himfelf. He dreaded that all knowledge of the amazing difcoveries which he had made was now to perim ; mankind were to be deprived of every benefit that might have been derived from the happy fuccefs of his fchemes, and his own name would defcend to poflerity as that of a rafh de- luded adventurer, inftead of being tranfmitted with the honour due to the author and con- ductor of the moll noble enterprize that had ever been undertaken. Thefe reflections extin- guifhed all fenfe of his own perfonal danger. Lefs affected with the lofs of life, than folicitous to preferve the memory of what he had at- tempted and atchieved, he retired to his cabin, and wrote, upon parchment, a fhort account of the voyage which he had made, of the courfe which he had taken, of the fituation and riches of the countries which he had difcovered, and of the colony that he had left there. Having wrapped up this in an oiled cloth, which he in* clofed in a cake of wax, he put it into a cafk carefully flopped up, and threw it into the fea, in hopes that fome fortunate accident might pre- o z fervc

Il8 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

ferve a depoiit of fo much importance to the world c.

At length Providence intcrpofed, to fave a life referred for other fervices. The wind abated, the fea became calm, and on the evening of the fifteenth, Columbus and his companions difcovered land ; and though uncertain what it was, they made towards it. They foon knew it to be St. Mary, one of the Azores or weftern iiks, fubjedl to the crown of Portugal. There, after a violent conteft with the governor, in which Columbus difplayed no lefs fpirit than prudence, he obtained a fupply of frefh pro- vifions, and whatever elfe he needed. One cir- cumftance, however, greatly difquieted him. The Pinta, of which he had loll fight on the firft day of the hurricane, did not appear ; he dreaded for fome time that (he had foundered at fea, and that all her crew had perifhed : after- wards, his former fufpicions recurred, and he became apprehenfive that Pinzon had borne away for Spain, that he might reach it before him, and by giving the firft account of his dis- coveries, might obtain fome mare of his fame.

In order to prevent this, he left the Azores as foon as the weather would permit [Feb. 24]. At no great diftance from the coaft of Spain, when near the end of his voyage, and feemingly beyond the reach of any difafter, another itorm arofe, little inferior to the former in violence ; and after driving before it during two days and two nights, he was forced to take fhelter in the

c Life of Columbus, c. 37. Hcrrera, dec. 1. lib. ii» c. i, 2. bee Not* XVI.

river

I493'J HISTORY OF AMERICA. 1 19

river Tagus [March 4]. Upon application to the king of Portugal, he was allowed to come up to Lifbon ; and, notwithstanding the envy which it was natural for the Portuguefe to feel, when they beheld another nation entering upon that province of difcovery which they had hitherto deemed peculiarly their own, and in its firft effay, not only rivalling, but eclipfing their fame, Columbus was received with all the marks of diftinction due to a man who had performed things fo extraordinary and unexpected. The king admitted him into his prefence, treated him with the higheft refpect, and liflened to the account which he gave of his voyage with ad- miration mingled with regret. While Columbus, on his part, enjoyed the fatisfa&ion of defcribing the importance of his difcoveries, and of being now able to prove the folidity of his fchernes to thofe very perfons, who, with an ignorance dif- graceful to themfelves, and fatal to their country, had lately rejected them as the projects of a vifionary or defigning adventurer d.

Columbus was fo impatient to return to Spain, that he remained only five days in Lifbon. On the fifteenth of March he arrived in the port of Palos, feven months and eleven days from the time when he fet out thence upon his voyage. As foon as the fhip was difcovered approaching the port, all the inhabitants of Palos ran eagerly to the more, in order to welcome their relations and fellow-citizens, and to hear tidings of their voyage. When the profperous iflue of it was known, when they beheld the ft range people,

d Life of Columbia, c. 40, 41. Herrera, dec. 1. lib.ii. 03 the

MO HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

the unknown animals, and fingular productions brought from the countries which had been dis- covered, the effufion of joy was general and un- bounded. The bells were rung, the cannon fired ; Columbus was received at landing with royal honours, and all the people, in folemn proceflion, accompanied him and his crew to the church, where they returned thanks to Heaven, which had fo wonderfully conducted and crown- ed with fuccefs, a voyage of greater length and of more importance than had been attempted in any former age. On the evening of the fame day, he had the fatisfa&ion of feeing the Pinta, which the violence of the tempeft had driven far to the, north, enter the harbour.

The firft care of Columbus was to inform the king and queen, who were then at Barcelona, of his arrival and fuccefs. Ferdinand and Ifabella, no lefs aftonifhed than delighted with this unex- pected event, defired Columbus, in terms the moil: refpedtful and flattering, to repair immedi- ately to courty that from his own mouth they might receive a full detail of his extraordinary fervices and difcoveries. During his journey to Barcelona, the people crowded from the adjacent country, following him every where with admi- ration and applaule. His entrance into the city was conducted, by order of Ferdinand and Ifa bella, with pomp fuitable to the great event, which added fuch diilinguifhing luftre to their reign. The people whom he brought along with him from the countries which he had dif- covered, marched firft, and by their fingulaf complexion, the wild peculiarity of their features, and uncouth finery, appeared like men of an- other

TStDttiartlJ&jLdel? Cfiivcrs sculpt

Tubli/haLTeb'ji jSo^b}- £hd£ll&-JDa>'ics, Strand, .

I

I493-] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 121

other fpecies. Next to them were carried the ornaments of gold fafhioned by the rude art of the natives, the grains of gold found in the mountains, and duft of the fame metal gathered in the rivers. After thefe, appeared the various commodities of the new-difcovered countries, together with their curious productions. Co- lumbus himfelf clofed the procefiion, and at- tracted the eyes of all the fpe&ators, who gazed with admiration on the extraordinary man, whofe fuperior fagacity and fortitude had con- ducted their countrymen, by a route concealed from pall ages, to the knowledge of a new world. Ferdinand and Ifabella received him clad in their royal robes, and feated upon a throne, under a magnificent canopy. When he approached, they flood up, and raifmg him as he kneeled to kifs their hands, commanded him to take his feat upon a chair prepared for him, and to give a circumftantial account of his voyage. He delivered it with a gravity and compofure no lefs fuitable to the difpo- fkion of the Spanifh nation, than to the dig- nity o the audience in which he fpoke, and with that modeft fimplicity which characterifes men of fuperior minds, who, fatisfied with having performed great actions, court not vain applaufe by an oftentatious difplay of their exploits. When he had finifhed his narration, the king and queen, kneeling down, offered up folemn thanks to Almighty God for the diicovery of thofe new regions, from which they expected fo many advantages to flow in upon the kingdoms fubjecl to their government e. Every mark of * bee Note XVl{.

honour

122 HISTORY OF AMERICA* B. II.

honour that gratitude or admiration could fug- geft was conferred upon Columbus. Letters patent were iffued, confirming to him and to his heirs all the privileges contained in the capi- tulation concluded at Santa Fe ; his family was ennobled ; the king and queen, and, after their example, the courtiers, treated him, on every occafion, with all the ceremonious refpect paid to perfons of the higheft rank. But what pleafed him moft, as it gratified his active mind, bent continually upon great objects, was, an order to equip, without delay, an armament of fuch force, as might enable him not only to take poffefiion of the countries which he had already difcovered, but to go in fearch of thofe more opulent regions, which he llill confidently ex- pected to find f.

While preparations were making for this ex- pedition, the fame of Columbus's fuccefsful voyage fpread over Europe, and excited general attention. The multitude, (truck with amaze- ment when they heard that a new world had been found, could hardly believe an event fo much above their conception. Men of fcience, capable of comprehending the nature, and of difcerning the effects of this great difcovery, received the account of it with admiration and joy. They fpoke of his voyage with rapture, and congratulated one another upon their felicity in having lived in the period when, by this ex- traordinary event, the boundaries of human knowledge were fo much extended, and fuch a new field of inquiry and obfervation opened, as

f Life of Columbus, c. 42. 43. Herrera, dec. i« lib. ii.

would

149-3*1 HISTORY OF AMERICA. t£$

would lead mankind to a perfect acquaintance with the flru£f.ure and productions of the habit- able globe 8. Various opinions and conjectures were formed concerning the new-found countries, and what divifion of the earth they belonged to. Columbus adhered tenacioufly to his original opinion, that they mould be reckoned a part of thofe vail regions in Afia, comprehended under the general name of India. This fentiment was confirmed by the observations' which he made concerning the productions of the countries he had difcovered. Gold was known to abound in India, , and he had met with fuch promifing famples of it in the iflands which he viiited, as led him to believe that rich mines of it might be found. Cotton, another production of the Eafl Indies, was common there. The pimento of the iflands, he imagined to be a fpecies of the Eall Indian pepper. He miftook a root, fomewhat refembling rhubarb, for that valuable drug, which was then fuppofed to be a plant peculiar to the Eait Indies h. The birds brought home by him were adorned with the fame rich plumage which diftinguifhes thofe of India. The alliga- tor of the one country appeared to be the fame with the crocodile of the other. After weighing all thefe circumftances, not only the Spaniards, but the other nations of Europe, feem to have adopted the opinion of Columbus. The countries which he had difcovered were confidered as a part of India. In confequence of this notion, the name of Indies is given to them by Ferdi- nand and Ifabella, in a ratification of their

* P. Mart, epift. 133, 134, 135. See Note XVIII. b Herrera, dec. j. \l\it i. c. 20, Gomara Hift. c. 17.

former

*H HISTORY OF AMERICA, n

former agreement, which was granted to Co- lumbus upon his return *. Even after the error which gave rife to this opinion was dcte&ed, and the true pofition of the New World was afcertained, the name has remained, and the appellation of JVeft Indies is given by all the people of Europe to the country, and that of Indians to its inhabitants.

The names by which Columbus diftinguifhed the countries which he had difcovered was fo inviting, the fpecimens of their riches and fer- tility, which he produced, were fo confiderable, and the reports of his companions, delivered fre- quently with the exaggeration natural to tra- vellers, fo favourable as to excite a wonder- ful fpint of enterprise among the Spaniards. 1 hough little accullomed to naval expeditions, they were impatient to fet out upon the voyage. Volunteers of every rank folicited to be em- ployed. Allured by the inviting profpeds which opened to their ambitiou and avarice, neither the length nor danger of the navigation intimidated them. Cautious as Ferdinand was, and averfe to every thing new or adventurous, he feems to have catched the fame fpirit with his fubje&s. Under its influence, preparations for a lecond expedition were carried on with a rapidity unufual in Spain, and to an extent that would be deemed not inconfiderable in the pre- sent age. The fleet coniiited of feventeen (hips, fome of which were of good burden, It had on board fifteen hundred perfons, among whom were many of noble families, who had ferved in honourable llations. The greater part of thefe f Life of Columbus, c, 4. 4,

being

I

*493»] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 12£

being deftined to remain in the country, were furnifhed with every thing requifite for conqueft or fettlement, with all kinds of European do- meflic animals, with fuch feeds and plants as were moil likely to thrive in the climate of the "Weft Indies, with utenfils and inftruments of every fort, and with fuch artificers as might be moil ufeful in an infant colony k.

But, formidable and well- provided as this fleet was, Ferdinand and Ifabella did not reft their title to the pofTeflion of the newly-dif- covered countries upon its operations alone. The example of the Portuguefe, as well as the fuperftition of the age, made it neceffary to obtain from the Roman pontiff a grant of thofe territories which they wifhed to occupy. The pope, as the vicar and reprefentative of Jefus Chrilt, was fuppofed to have a right of dominion over all the kingdoms of the earth. Alexander VI a pontiff infamous for every crime which difgraces humanity, filled the papal throne at that time. As he was born Ferdinand's fubjedt., and very folicitous to fecure the protection of Spain, in order to facilitate the execution of his ambitious fchemes in favour of his own family, he was extremely willing to gratify the Spanifh monarchs. By an act of liberality which coft him nothing, and that ferved to eftablifh the jurifdic~tion and pretenfions of the papal fee, he granted in full right to Ferdinand and Ifabella all the countries inhabited by Infidels, which they had difcovered, or mould difcover; and, in virtue of that power which he derived from Jefus Chrirl, he conferred on the crown of

k Herrera, dec, i. lib* ii. c. 5. Life of Columbus, c.45.

Caftile

126 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B.I

Caftile vail regions, to the pofleffion of which he himfelf was fo far from having any title, tha he was unacquainted with their fituation, anc ignorant even of their exiftence. As it wa neceflary to prevent this grant from interfering with that formerly made. to the crown of Portu gal, he appointed that a line, fuppofed to b drawn from pole to pole, a hundred leagues t the weftward of the Azores, mould ferve as limit between them ; and, in the plenitude o his power, beftowed all to the eaft of this ima- ginary line upon the Portuguefe, and all to the weft of it, upon the Spaniards m. Zeal for pro pagating the Chriftian faith was the confideratio employed by Ferdinand in foliciting this bull and is mentioned by Alexander as his chie motive for iffuing it. In order to manifeft foni concern for this laudable object, feveral friars under the direction of father Boyl, a Catalonian monk of great reputation, as apoftolical vicar were appomted to accompany Columbus, and to devote themfelves to the inftruction of the na lives. The Indians, whom Columbus hac brought along with him, having received fomc tincture of Chriftian knowledge, were baptifed with much folemnity, the king himfelf, the prince his fon, and the chief perfons of his court, Handing as their godfathers. Thofe firfl fruits of the New World have not been followed by fuch an increafe as pious men wifhed, and had reafon to expect.

Ferdinand and Ifabella having thus acquired a title, which was then deemed completely valid,

m Herrera, dec, i. lib. ii. c. 4. Torquemeda Mon. Ind lib. xviii. c. 3.

:

H93'] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 127;

to extend their difcoveries and to eftablifh their dominion over fuch a confiderable portion of the globe, nothing now retarded the departure of • the fleet. Columbus was extremely impatient to revifit the colony which he had left, and to jpurfue that career of glory upon which he had entered. He fet fail from the bay of Cadiz on the twenty-fifth of September, and touching again at the ifland of Gomera, he fleered farther toward the fouth than in his former voyage. By holding this courfe, he enjoyed more fteadily the benefit: of the regular winds, which reign within the tropics, and was carried towards a large clutter of iflands, fituated considerably tc* the eaft of thofe which he had already difcovered. On the twenty-fixth day after his departure from Gomera [Nov. 2], he made land". It was one of the Caribbee or Leeward iflands, to which he gave the name of Defeada, on account of the impatience of his crew to difcover fome part of the New World. After this he vifited fuc- ceflively Dominica, Marigalante, Guadaloupe, Antigua, San Juan de Puerto Rico, and feveral other iflands, fcattered in his way as he ad- vanced towards the north-weft. All thefe he ' found to be inhabited by that fierce race of ; people whom Guacanahari had painted in fuch frightful colours. His defcriptions appeared not to have been exaggerated. The Spaniards never attempted to land without meeting with fuch a reception, as difcovered the martial and daring fpirit of the natives ; and in their habita- tions were found relics of thofe horrid feails which they had made upon the bodies of their enemies taken in war.

a Oviedo ap, Ramuf. Hi. 35, B.

voi<. 1. p But

128 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 13,1

But as Columbus was eager to know the ftate < the colony which he had planted, and to fuppl it with the neceffariesof which he fuppofed it to b In want, he made no ftay in any of thofe iflands and proceeded directly to Hifpaniola0 [Nov. 22 When he arrived off Navidad, the itation which he had left the thirty-eight men under th command of Arada, he was aftonifhed that non of them appeared, and expected every momen to fee them running with tranfports of joy t welcome their countrymen. Full of folicituc about their fafety, and foreboding in his min what had befallen them, he rowed inftantly land. All the natives from whom he migh have received information had fled. But th fort which he had built was entirely demolifhec and the tattered garments, the broken arms an< uteniils fcattered about it, left no room to doub concerning the unhappy fate of the garrifon While the Spaniards were fhedding tears ov thofe fad memorials of their fellow-citizens, brother of the cazique Guacanahari arrived From him Columbus received a particular detail of what had happened after his departure from the ifland. The familiar intercourfe of the Indians with the Spaniards tended gradually to diminifh the fuperftitious veneration with which their firft appearance had infpired that fimple people. By their own indifcretion and ill-con- duct, the Spaniards fpeedily effaced thofe fa- vourable impreflions, and foon convinced the natives, that they had all the wants, and weak-

0 P. Martyr, dec. p. 15. 18. Herrera, dec. I. lib. 1 c. 7. Life of Columbus, c. 46, &c. p- Hift. de Cura ds los Palacios. MS.

nefles

I493*] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 120,

nefles, and pafllons of men. As foon as the powerful reftraint which the prefence and authority of Columbus impofed was with- drawn, the garriion threw off all regard for the officer whom he had inverted with command. Regardlefs of the prudent inftru&ions which he had given them, every man became inde- pendent, and gratified his defires without con- trol. The gold, the women, the provifions of the natives, were all the prey of thofe licentious oppreffors. They roamed in fmall parties over the ifland, extending their ra- pacity and infolence to every corner of it. Gen- ; tie and timid as the people were, thofe unpro- ! voked injuries at length exhaufted their patience, and roufed their courage. The cazique of 1 Cibao, whofe country the Spaniards chiefly in- ; felled on account of the gold which it contained, furprifed and cut off feveral of them, while they ftraggled in as perfect fecurity as if their conduct had been altogether inoffeniive. He then af- fembled his fubje&s, and furrounding the fort, fet it on fire. Some of the Spaniards were i killed in defending it, the reft periihed in at- tempting to make their efcape by crofiing an : arm of the fea* Guacanahari, whom all their ; exactions had not alienated from the Spaniards, ' took arms in their behalf, and, in endeavouring to protect them, had received a wound, by which he was Hill confined %

Though this account was far from removing the fufpicions which the Spaniards entertained with refpect to the fidelity of Guacanahari,

* P. Martyr, decad. p. 22, &c. Herrera, dec. I. lib. ii. c. 7. 9. j,ife of Columbus, c 49, 50,

p 2 Columbus

t$0 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

Columbus perceived fo clearly that this was not a proper juncture for inquiring into his condudt with fcrupulous accuracy, that he rejected the advice of feveral of his officers, who urged him to feize the perfon of that prince, and to revenge the death of their countrymen by attacking his fubjects. He reprefented to them the neceffity of fecuring the friendfhip of fome potentate of the country, in order to facilitate the fettlement which they intended, and the danger of driving the natives to unite in fome defperate attempt againft them, by fuch an ill-timed and unavail- ing exercife of rigour. Inftead of wafting his time in pun idling pall wrongs, he took precau- tions for preventing any future injury. With this view he made choice of a fituation more healthy and commodious than that of Navidad. He traced out the plan of a town in a large plain near a fpacious bay, and obliging every perfon to put his hand to a work on which their com- mon fafety depended, the houfes and ramparts were foon fo far advanced by their united labour, as to afford them fhelter and fecurity. This rifmg city, the lirft that the Europeans founded in the New World, he named Ifa- bella, in honour of his patronefs the queen of Caftile'.

In carrying on this necefTary work, Columbus had not only to fuftain all the hardfhips, and to encounter all the difficulties, to which infant colonies are expofed when they fettle in an un- cultivated country, but he had to contend with what was more infuperable, the lazinefs, the im- patience, and mutinous difpofition of his fol-

r Life of Columbus, c. 51. Herrera, dec. x. lib. ii. c. 10.

lowers.

1493*] HISTORY OF AMERICA, I3I

! lowers. By the enervating influence of a hot climate, the natural inactivity of the Spaniards feemed to increafe. Many of them were gentler men, unaccuftomed to the fatigue of bodily la- bour, and all had engaged in the enterprize with the fanguine hopes excited by the fplendid and exaggerated description of their countrymen who returned from the firft voyage, or by the miftaken opinion of Columbus, that the country which he had difcovered was either the Cipango of Marco Polo, or the Ophirs, from which Solomon imported thofe precious commodities which fuddenly diffufed fuch extraordinary riches through his kingdom. But when, inflead of that golden harveft which they had expected to reap without toil or pains, the Spaniards faw that their profpect of wealth was remote as well as uncertain, and that it could not be attained but by the flow and perfevering efforts of in- duftry, the difappointment of thofe chimerical hopes occafioned fuch dejection of mind as bor- dered on defpair, and led to general difcontent. In vain did Columbus endeavour to revive their fpirits by pointing out the fertility of the foil, and exhibiting the fpecimens of gold daily brought in from different parts of the ifland. They had not patience to wait for the gradual returns which the former might yield, and the latter they defpifed as fcanty and inconfiderable. The fpirit of difaffe&ion fpread, and a confpiracy was formed, which might have been fatal to Columbus and the colony. Happily he difco- vered it, and feizing the ringleaders, punifhed fpme of them, fent others prifoners into Spain,

J P. Martyr, dec. p, 29*

? 3 whither

132 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

whither he difpatched twelve of the fhips which had ferved as tranfports, with an earned requeft for a reinforcement of men and a large fupply of provifions r.

1494.] Meanwhile, in order to banifh that idlenefs, which, by allowing his people leiiure to brood over their difappointment, nourifhed the fpirit of difcontent, Columbus planned feveral expeditions into the interior part of the country. He fent a detachment, under the command of Alonfo de Ojeda, a vigilant and enterprifing officer, to vifit the diftricl; of Cibao, which was faid to yield the greateft quantity of gold, and followed him in perfon with the main body of his troops [March 12]. In this expedition he dis- played all the pomp of military magnificence that he could exhibit, in order to itrike the imagination of the natives. He marched with colours flying, with martial mufic, and with a fmall body of cavalry that paraded fometimes in the front and fometimes in the rear. As thofe were the firft horfes which appeared in the New World, they were objects of terror no lefs than of admiration to the Indians, who having no tame animals themfelves, were unacquainted with that vaft acceflion of power, which man hath acquired by fubje&ing them to his dominion. They fuppofed them to be rational creatures. They imagined that the horfe and the rider formed one animal, with whofe fpeed they were aftonifhed, and whofe impetuofity and ftrength they confidered as irrefiftible. But while Co- lumbus endeavoured to infpire the natives with a dread of his power, he did not neglect the arts

1 Kerrera, dec* 1. lib. ii. c. io, II*

of

I494-] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 133

of gaining their love and confidence. He ad- hered fcrupuloufly to the principles of integrity and juftice in all his tranfactions with them, and treated them on every occafion, not only with humanity, but with indulgence. The diftri£t of Cibao anfwered the defcription given of it by the natives. It was mountainous and uncultivated, but in every river and brook gold was gathered either in duft or in grains, fome of which were of confiderable fize. The Indians had never opened any mines in fearch of gold. To pene- trate into the bowels of the earth, and to refine the rude ore, were operations too complicated and laborious for their talents and induitry, and they had no fuch high value for gold as to put their ingenuity and invention upon the ftretch in order to obtain it u. The fmall quantity of that' precious metal which they poiTefled, was either picked up in the beds of the rivers, or warned from the mountains by the heavy rains that fall within the tropics. But, from thofe indications, the Spaniards could no longer doubt that the country contained rich treafures in its bowels, of which they hoped foon to be mafters w. In order to fecure the command of this valuable pro- vince, Columbus erected a fmall fort, to which he gave the name of St. Thomas, by way of ridicule upon fome of his incredulous followers, who would not believe that the country pro- duced gold, until they faw it with their own eyes> and touched it with their hands \

The account of thofe promifing appearances of wealth in the country of Gibao came very fea~

u Oviedo, lib. ii. p. 90. A. w P. Martyr, dec. p. 32,

* Herrera, dec. 1, lib. ii. c. 12. Life of Columbus, c. 52.

fonably

*34 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II,

fonably to comfort the defponding colony, which was affected with diftrefles of various kinds. The flock of provifions which had been brought from Europe was moflly confumed ; what remain- ed was fo much corrupted by the heat and moif. ture of the climate, as to be almoft unfit for ufe ; the natives cultivated fo fmall a portion of ground, and with fo little fkill, that it hardly yielded what was fufficient for their own fubfillence ; the Spaniards at Ifabella had hitherto neither time nor leifure to clear the foil, fo as to reap any confiderable fruits of their own induftry. On all thefe accounts, they became afraid of perifh- ing with hunger, and were reduced already to a fcanty allowance. At the fame time, the difeafes predominant in the torrid zone, and which rage chiefly in thofe uncultivated countries, where the hand of induftry has not opened the woods, drained the marfhes, and confined the rivers within a certain channel, began to fpread among them. Alarmed at the violence and unufual fymp^ toms of thofe maladies, they exclaimed againft Columbus and his companions in the former voyage, who, by their fplendid but deceitful descriptions of Hifpaniola, had allured them to quit Spain for a barbarous uncultivated land, where they muft either be cut off by famine, or ctie of unknown diftempers. Several of the officers and perfons of note, inftead of checkings joined in thofe feditious complaints. Father Boyl, the apoftolical vicar, was one of the mofl turbulent and outrageous. It required all the authority and addrefs of Columbus to re-efta- blifh fubordination and tranquillity in the colony. Threats and promifes were alternately employed 2 for

1494-1 HISTORY OP AMERICA. 13$

for this purpofe ; but nothing contributed more to footh the malcontents, than the profpect of finding, in the mines of Cibao, fuch a rich ftore of treafure as would be a recompence for all their fufFerings, and efface the memory of former dis- appointments.

When, by his unwearied endeavours, concord and order were fo far reftored, that he could venture to leave the ifland, Columbus refolved to purfue his discoveries, that he might be able to afcertain whether thofe new countries with which he had opened a communication were connected with any region of the earth already known, or whether they were to be confidered as a fepaiate portion of the globe hitherto unvifited. He ap- pointed his brother Don Diego, with the affiit- ance of a council of officers, to govern the ifland in his abfence ; and gave the command of a body of foldiers to Don Pedro Margarita, with which he was to vifit the different parts of the ifland, and endeavour to eftablifh the authority of the Spaniards among the inhabitants. Having left them very particular inftructions with refpedr. to their conduct, he weighed anchor on the twenty- fourth of April, with one fhip and two fmall barks under his command. During a tedious voyage of full five months, he had a trial of almoit all the numerous hardfhips to which per- fons of his profefiion are expofed, without making any difcovery of importance, except the ifland of Jamaica. As he ranged along the fouthern coail of Cuba yy he was entangled in a labyrinth formed by an incredible number of fmall iflands, to which he gave the name of the Queen's Gar-

y See Note XIX.,

den.

I36 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II,

den. In this unknown courfe, among rock* and fhelves, he was retarded by contrary winds, afiaulted with furious florins, and alarmed with the terrible thunder and lightning wThich is often almoft inceiTant between the tropics. At length his provifions fell fhort ; his crew, exhaufted with fatigue as well as hunger, murmured and threat- ened, and were ready to proceed to the moft defperate extremities againft him. Befet with danger in fuch various forms, he wras obliged to keep continual watch, to obferve every occur- rence with his own eyes, to iflue every order, and to fuperintend the execution of it. On no occafion, was the extent of his fkill and experi- ence as a navigator fo much tried. To thefe the fquadron owed its fafety. But this unre- mitted fatigue of body, and intenfe application of mind, overpowering his conftitution, though naturally vigorous and robuft, brought on a feverifh diforder, which terminated in a lethargy, that deprived him of fenle and memory, and had almoft proved fatal to his life z.

But, on his return to Hifpaniola [Sept. 27], the fudden emotion of joy which he felt upon meeting with his brother Bartholomew at Isa- bella, occafioned fuch a flow of fpirits as contri- buted greatly to his recovery. It was now thirteen years fince the two brothers, whom fimi- larity of talents united in clofe friendlhip, had feparated from each other, and during that long period there had been no intercourfe between them. Bartholomew, after finifhing his negotia- tion in the court of England, had fet out for

z Life of Columbus, c. 54, &c. Herrera, dec* i. lib, ii. C. 13, 14. P. Martyr, dec. p. 34, &c.

Spain

1494'] HISTORY OF AMERICA. Itf

Spain by the way of France. At Paris he re- ceived an account of the extraordinary discove- ries which his brother had made in his firft voyage, and that he was then preparing to em- bark on a fecond expedition. Though this naturally induced him to purfue his journey with the utmoft difpatch, the admiral had failed for Hifpaniola before he reached Spain. Ferdinand and Ifabella received him with the refpect due to the neareft kinfman of a perfon whofe merit and fervices rendered him fo confpicuous ; and as they knew what confolation his prefence would afford to his brother, they perfuaded him to take the command of three mips, which they had appointed to carry provifions to the colony at Ifabella2.

He could not have arrived at any juncture when Columbus flood more in need of a friend capable of afiifting him with his counfels, or of dividing with him the cares and burden of go- vernment. For although the provifions now brought from Europe afforded a temporary relief to the Spaniards from the calamities of famine, the fupply was not in fuch quantity as to fupport them long, and the ifland did not hitherto yield what was fufficient for their fuftenance. They were threatened with another danger, ftill more formidable than the return of fcarcity, and which demanded more immediate attention. No fooner did Columbus leave the ifland on his voyage of difcovery, than the foldiers under Margarita, as if they had been fet free from discipline and fub- prdination, fcorned all reftraint. Inftead of con- forming to the prudent iaftructions of Columbus, * Herrera, dec. i. lib. ii. c. 15.

they

138 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II

they - difperfed in ftragglmg parties over th ifland, lived at difcretion upon the natives, walled their provifions, feized their women, and treated that inoffenfive race with all the infolence of military opprefiion a.

As long as the Indians had any profpedl that their fufFerings might come to a period by the voluntary departure of the invaders, they fub- mitted in filence, and diflembled their forrow ; but they now perceived that the yoke would be as permanent as it was intolerable. The Spa niards had built a town, and furrounded it with ramparts. They had erected forts in diffeient places. They had inclofed and fown feveral fields. It was apparent that they came not to. vifit the country, but to fettle in it. Though the number of thofe ftrangers was inconfiderable, the Hate of cultivation among this rude people was fo imperfect, and in fuch exact proportion to their own confumption, that it was with dif- ficulty they could afford fubfiflence to their new guefts. Their own mode of life was fo indolent and inactive, the warmth of the climate fo ener-r vating, the conftitution of their bodies naturally fo feeble, and fo unaccuflomed to the laborious exertions of induflry, that they were fatisfied with a proportion of food amazingly fmall. A handful of maize, or a little of the infipid bread made of the caiTada-root, was fufficient to fup- port men, whofe flrength and fpirits were not exhaufted by any vigorous efforts either of body or mind. The Spaniards, though the moil ab- flemious of all the European nations, appeared to them . exceflively voracious. One Spaniard

a P. Martyr, dec. p. 47* , confumed

1494*] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 1^9

confumed as much as feveral Indians. This keennefs of appetite furprifed them fo much, and feemed to be fo infatiable, that they fup- pofed the Spaniards had left their own country, becaufe it did not produce as much as was re- quisite to gratify their immoderate defire of food, and had come among them in queft of nourifh- ment b. Self-prefervation prompted them to wifh for the departure of guefls who wafted fo fail their {lender ftock of provifions. The in- juries which they fuffered, added to their impa- tience for this event. They had long expected that the Spaniards wrould retire of their own accord. They now perceived that in order to avert the deft ruction with which they were threatened, either by the flow confumption of famine, or by the violence of their oppreffors, it was neceffary to aflume courage, to attack thofe formidable invaders with united force, and drive them from the fettlements of which they had violently taken poftefuon.

Such were the fentiments which univcrfally prevailed among the Indians, when Columbus re- turned to Ifabella. Inflamed by the unprovoked outrages of the Spaniards, with a degree of rage of which their gentle natures, formed to fuffer and fubmit, feemed hardly fufceptible, they waited only for a fignal from their leaders to fall upon the colony. Some of the caziques had already furprifed and cut off feveral ftragglers. The dread of this impending danger united the Spaniards, and re-eftablifhed the authority of Columbus, as they faw no profpect of fafety but in committing themfelves to his prudent guid-

b Herrera, dec, i. lib. ii. c. 17.

vol. 1. q^ ance.

I4O HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II

ance. It was now neceffary to have recourfe arms, the employing- of which againft the Indian Columbus had hitherto avoided with the greateit folicitude. Unequal as the conflict may feem, between the naked inhabitants of the New World, armed with clubs, flicks hardened in the fire, wooden fwords, and arrows pointed with bones or flints ; and troops accuilomed to the difci- pline, and provided with the inllruments of de- ; ftru&ion known in the European art of war, the fituation of the Spaniards was far from being exempt from danger. The vaft fuperiority of the natives in number, compenfated many defects. An handful of men was about to encounter a whole nation. One adverfe event, or even any unforefeen delay in determining the fateof the war, might prove fatal to the Spaniards. Confcious that fuccefs depended on the vigour and rapidity of his operations, Columbus inftantly afTembled his forces. They were reduced to a very fmall number. Difeafes, engendered by the warmth and humidity of the country, or occaiioned by their own licentioufnefs, had raged among them with much violence ; experience had not yet taught them the art either of curing thefe, or the pre- cautions requifite for guarding againft them ; two-thirds of the original adventurers were dead, and many of thofe who furvived were incapable of fervice c. The body which took the field [March 24, 1495] confifted only of two hun- dred foot, twenty horfe, and twenty large dogs ; and how flrange foever it may feem, to mention the lafl as compoiing part of a military force, they were not perhaps the lead formidable and de*

f Life of Columbus* Ct 6i«

ftruftivc

!

1I495'] HISTORY OF AMERICA. I4I

Ijftru6live of the whole, when employed again ft ■naked and timid Indians. All the caziques of Bthe ifland, Guachanari excepted, who retained II an inviolable attachment to the Spaniards, were I; in arms to oppofe Columbus, with forces amount- II ing, if we may believe the Spanifh hiftorians, to I a hundred thoufand men. Inftead of attempt- ing to draw the Spaniards into the faftnefles 1 of the woods and mountains, they were fo imprudent as to take their ftation in the Vega Real, the molt open plain in the country. Co- ll lumbus did not allow them time to perceive their I error, or to alter their pofition. He attacked them during the night, when undifciplined troops are leaft capable or acting with union and con- cert, and obtained an eafy and bloodlels victory. The confternation with which the Indians were filled by the noife and havoc made by the fire- arms, by the impetuous force of the cavalry, and the fierce onfet of the dogs, was fo great, that they threw down their weapons, and fled with- out attempting refinance. Many were flain ; more were taken prifoners, and reduced to fervi* j tude d ; and fo thoroughly were the reft intimi- i dated, that from that moment they abandoned themfelves to defpair, relinquishing all thoughts [ of contending with aggreffors whom they deemed > i invincible.

Columbus employed feveral months in march- ing through the ifland, and in fubjecting it to Ithe Spanifh government, without meeting with any oppofition. He impofed a tribute upon all the inhabitants above the age of fourteen. Each pcrfon who lived in thofe diilridls where gold * See Note XX.

Q^2 was

I 1

142 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. H#

was found, was obliged to pay quarterly as muc gold dull as filled a hawk's bell ; from thofe i other parts of the country, tweiity-five pound of cotton were demanded. , This was the fir' regular taxation of the Indians, and ferved as precedent for exactions ftill more intolerable* Such an impofition was extremely contrary to thofe maxims which Columbus had hitherto m culcated, with refpect to the mode of treating them. But intrigues were carrying on in the court of Spain at this juncture, in order to un determine his power, and difcredit his opera- tions, which conftrained him to depart from hia own fyftem of adminiftration. Several unfavour able accounts of his conduct, as well as of the countries difcovered by him, had been tranfmittec to Spain. Margarita and father Boyl were now at court ; and in order to juftify their own con- duct, or or gratify their refentment, watchec with malevolent attention for every opportunity of fpreading infinuations to his detriment. Many of the courtiers viewed his growing reputation and power with envious eyes. Fonfeca, arch deacon of Seville, who was entruited with thi chief dire&ion of Indian affairs, had conceived fuch an unfavourable opinion of Columbus, fo: fome reafon which the contemporary writer have not mentioned, that he liftened with par tiality to every invective againft him. It was no cafy for an unfriended ftranger, unpra&ifed ir courtly arts, to counteract the machinations o fo many enemies. Columbus faw that there was but one method of fupporting his own credit, and of filencing all his adverfaries. He muft produce fuch a quantity of gold as would not r only

I495«l HISTORY OF AMERICA. 143

only j uftify what he had reported with refpect to the richnefs of the country, but encourage Ferdinand and Ifabella to perfevere in profecut- ing his plans. The necedky of obtaining it, forced him not only to impofe this heavy tax upon the Indians, but to exact payment of it with extreme rigour ; and may be pleaded in ex- cufe for his deviating on this occafion from the mildnefs and humanity with which he uniformly treated that unhappy people e.

The labour, attention, and forefight, which the Indians were obliged to employ in procuring the tribute demanded of them, appeared the moft intolerable of all evils, to men accuitomed to pafs their days in a carelefs, improvident in- dolence. They were incapable of fuch a regular and perfevering exertion of indufhy, and felt it fuch a grievous rellraint upon their liberty, that they had recourfe to an expedient for obtaining deliverance from this yoke, which demonftrates the excefs of their impatience and defpair. They formed a fcheme of ilarving thofe oppreffors whom they durft not attempt to expel ; and from the opinion which they entertained with refpecl: to the voracious appetite of the Spaniards they concluded the execution of it to be very practicable. With this view they fufpended all the operations of agriculture ; they fowed no maize, they pulled up the roots of the manioc or cafiada which were planted, and retiring to the moil inaccefllble parts of the mountains, left the uncultivated plains to their enemies. This def- perate refolution produced in fome degree the eftedts which they expected. The Spaniards

£ Herrera, dec. i. lib. ii« c. 17.

0^ 3 were

■

I44 history of America. b. i

were reduced to extreme want ; but they re- ceived fuch feafonable fupplies of proviiions from Europe, and found fo many refources in their own ingenuity and induftry, that they fuffered no great lofs of men. The wretched Indians were the victims of their own ill-concerted policy. A great multitude of people, fhut up in the moun- tainous or wooded part of the country, without any food but the fpontaneous productions of the earth, foon felt the utmoft diftrefles of famine. This brought on contagious difeafes ; and, in the courfe of a few months, more than a third part of the inhabitants of the ifland perifhed, after experiencing mifery in all its various forms f.

But while Columbus was eftablifhinp; th foundations of the Spanifh grandeur in the New World, his enemies laboured with unwearied afli- duity to deprive him of the glory and rewards, which by his fervices and Sufferings he was en- titled to enjoy. The hardfhips unavoidable in a new fettlement, the calamities occaiioned by an unhealthy climate, the difafters attending a voyage In unknown feas, were all represented as the effects of his refllefs and inconfiderate ambition. His prudent attention to preferve difcipline and fubordination was denominated excefs of rigour ; the punifhments which he inflicted upon the mutinous and disorderly were imputed to cruelty. Thefe accufations gained fuch credit in a jealous court, that a commifiioner was appointed to re-

f Herrera, dec. 1. lib. xi. C; 18. Life of Columbus, c. 61. Oviedo, lib. Hi. p. 93. D. Bcnzon Hift. Novi Orbis, lib. i, c. 9. P- Martyr, dec. p. 48.

z pair

1495*] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 1^

pair to Hifpaniola, and to infpedt into the con- duel of Columbus. By the recommendation of his enemies, Aguado, a groom of the bed- chamber, was the perfon to whom this important trufl was committed. But in this choice they feem to have been more influenced by the ob- fequious attachment of the man to their interefl, than by his capacity for the liation. Puffed up with fuch fudden elevation, Aguado difplayed, in the exercife of this office, all the frivolous felf- importance, and acted with all the difguiling in- folence, which are natural to little minds, when raifed to unexpected dignity, or employed in functions to which they are not equal. By liflen- ing with eagernefs to every accufation againft Columbus, and encouraging not only the mal- content Spaniards, but even the Indians, to pro- duce their grievances, real or imaginary, he fo- mented the fpirit of difTenfion in the illand, with- out eflablifhing any regulation of public utility, or that tended to redrefs the many wrongs, with the odium of which he wifhed to load the ad- miral's adminiflration. As Columbus felt fen- fibly how humiliating his fituation mufl be, if he fhould remain in the country while fuch a partial infpector obferved his motions, and con- trolled his jurisdiction, he took the refolution of returning to Spain, in order to lay a full account of all his tranfactions, particularly with refpect to the points in difpute between him and his adverfaries, before Ferdinand and Ifabella, from whofe juflice and difcernment he expected an equal and a favorable decifion. [1496] He committed the adminiflration of affairs, during his abfence, to Don Bartholomew his brother,

with

J46 HISTORY OF AMERICA* B.I

with the title of Adelantado, or licutenant-gove nor. By a choice lefs fortunate, and which proved the fource of many calamities to the co- lony, he appointed Francis Roldan chief juftice, with very extenlive powers *;

In returning to Europe, Columbus held a courfe different from that which he had taken in his former voyage. He fteered almoft due eaft from Hifpaniola, in the parallel of twenty, two degrees of latitude ; as experience had not yet difcovered the more certain and expeditious me- thod of flretching to the north, in order to fall in with the fouth-weft winds. By this ill-advifed choice, which, in the infancy of navigation be- tween the new and old worlds, can hardly be im* puted to the admiral as a defect in naval fkill, he was expofed to infinite fatigue and danger, in a perpetual ftruggle with the trade winds, which blow without variation from the eaft be- tween the tropics. Notwithftanding the almoft infuperable difficulties of fuch a navigation, he perli fted in 'his courfe with his ufual patience and firmnefs, but made fo little way, that he was three months without feeing land. At length his provifions began to fail, the crew was reduced to the fcanty allowance of fix ounces of bread a-day for each perion. The admiral fared no better than the meaneft failor. But, even in this extreme diftrefs, he retained the humanity which diftinguifhes his character, and refufed to comply with the earneft folicitations of his crew, fome of whom prppofed to feed upon the Indian prifoners whom they were carrying over, and others infilled to throw them overboard, in order to leffen the

f Heirera, decf i» lib. ii9 c, 18. lib. ui. c. 1.

confumption

:

I49^»] HISTORY OF AMERICA. I47

confumption of their fmall Hock. He repre- fented that they were human beings, reduced by a common calamity to the fame condition with themielves, and entitled to (hare an equal fate. His authority and remonftrances difiipated thofe wild ideas fuggefted by defpair. Nor had they time to recur, as he came foon within fight of the coaft of Spain, when all their fears and fufFer- ings ended h.

Columbus appeared at court with the modeft but determined confidence of a man confcious not only of integrity, but of having performed great fervices. , Ferdinand and Ifabella, afhamed of their own facility in lending too favourable an ear to frivolous or ill-founded accufations, received him with fuch diilingufhed marks of refpecl: as covered his enemies with (name. Their cenfures and calumnies were no more heard of at that juncture. The gold, the pearls, the cotton, and other commodities of value which Columbus produced, feemed fully to refute what the mal- contents had propagated with refpect to the po- verty of the country. By reducing the Indians to obedience, and impofing a regular tax upon them, he had fecured to Spain a large acceflion of new fubjects, and the eftablifhment of a re- venue that promifed to be confiderable. By the mines which he had found out and examined, a fource of wealth ftill more copious was opened. Great and unexpected as thofe advantages were, Columbus represented them only as preludes to future acquisitions, and as the earneft of more im- portant difcoveries, which he ftill meditated, and

h Herrera, dec. 1, lib. iii# c, j. Life of Columbus, c. 64.

to

i'4$ HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II,

to which thofe he had already made would con- duel: him with eafe and certainty *.

The attentive confideration of all thefe cir- cumftances made fuch imprefllon, not only upoi Ifabella, who was flattered with the idea of bein^ the patronefs of all Columbus's enterprizes, bul even upon Ferdinand, who, having originalb cxpreffed his difapprobation of his fchemes, was Hill apt to doubt of their fuccefs, that they re- folved to fupply the colony in Hifpaniola witl every thing which could render it a permaneu eftablifhment, and to furnifh Columbus with fuel a fleet, that he might proceed to fearch for thofe new countries, of whofe exiftence he feemed t< be confident. The meafures molt proper for ac« complifhing both thefe defigns were concertei with Columbus. Difcovery had been the foL obje£t of the flrfl voyage to the New World and though, in the fecond, fettlement had beei propofed, the precautions taken for that purpofe had either been infufficient, or were rendered ineffectual by the mutinous fpirit of the Spa« niards, and the unforefeen calamities ariiing from various caufes. Now a plan was to be formed of a regular colony, that might ferve as a model in all future eflablifhments. Every particular was confidered with attention, and the whole ar- j ranged with fcrupulous accuracy. The precife number of adventurers who fhould be permitted to embark was fixed. They were to be of dif- ferent ranks and profeflions ; and the proportion of each was eilablifhed, according to their nfe- fulnefs and the wants of the colony. A fuitable number of women was to be choien to accompany

* Life of Columbus, c. 65. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iii. c. 1.

thefe

1496-] HISTORY OF AMERICA. I49

efe new fettlers. As it was the firft object to [fe provifions in a country where fcarcity of food had been the occafion of fo much diftrefs, a considerable body of hufbandmen was to be car- ried over. As the Spaniards had then no con- ception of deriving any benefit from thofe pro- ductions of the New World which have fmce yielded fuch large returns of wealth to Europe, but had formed magnificent ideas, and entertained fanguine hopes with refpect to the riches con- tained in the mines which had been difcovered, a band of workmen, {killed in the various arts em- ployed in digging and refining the precious me- tals, was provided. All thefe emigrants were to receive pay and fubfiftence for fome years, at the public expencek

Thus far the regulations were prudent, and well adapted to the end in view. But as it was forefeen that few would engage voluntarily to fettle in a country, whofe noxious climate had been fatal to fo many of their countrymen, Co- lumbus propofed to tranfport to Hifpaniola fuch malefactors as had been convicted of crimes, which, though capital, were of a lefs atrocious na- ture ; and that for the future a certain proportion of the offenders ufually fent to the galHes, mould be condemned to labour in the mines which were to be opened. This advice, given without due reflection, was as inconfiderately adopted. The prifons of Spain were drained, in order to collect members for the intended colony; and the judges empowered to try criminals, were in- itructed to recruit it by their future fentences. It is not, however, with fuch materials that the

J6 Herrera, dec, x* lib* ill* c. 2.

found*

\$0 HISTORY OF AMERICA. E. II,

foundations of a fociety, deftined to be perma« nent, fhould be laid. Induftry, fobriety, pa- tience, and mutual confidence are indifpenfabb requiiite in an infant fettlement, where purity oi morals mult contribute more towards eftablimin{_ order, than the operation or authority of laws. But when fuch a mixture of what is corrupt admitted into the original conftitution of the po- litical body, the vices of thofe unfound and in- curable members will probably infect the whole, and muft certainly be productive of violent an< unhappy effects. This the Spaniards fatally ex- perienced ; and the other European nations having fucceflively imitated the practice of Spaii in this particular, pernicious confequences hav< followed in their fettlements, which can be im- puted to no other caufe ].

Though Columbus obtained, with great faci- lity and difpatch, the royal approbation of evei meafure and regulation that he propofed, his en- deavours to carry them into execution were fc long retarded, as mull: have tired out the patiena of any man, kfs accuflomed to encounter and t< fu mount difficulties. Thofe delays were occa- fioned partly by that tedious formality and fpiril of procraflination, with which the Spaniards coi duct bufinefs ; and partly by the exhaufted ftat< of the treafury, which was drained by the e: pence of celebrating the marriage of Ferdinand an< IfabehVs only fon with Margaret of Auftria, anc that of Joanna, their fecond daughter, witl Philip archduke of Auftria m ; but muft b< chiefly imputed to the malicious arts of Colui Herrera, dec. i. lib. in, 3. c. 2. Touron Hift. Gene

de rAmerique/i. p. 51

P, Martyr, epift. 168.

00.

il49^0 HISTORY OF AMERICA. I5I

bus's enemies. Aftonifhed at the reception which he met with upon his return, and over- awed by his prefence, they gave way, for fome time, to a tide of favour too ftrong for them to cppofe. Their enmity, however, was too in- veterate to remain long inactive. They refumed their operations, and by the affiftance of Fon- feca, the minifter for Indian affairs, who was jnow promoted to the bifhopric of Badajos, they threw in fo many obftacles to protract the pre- parations for Columbus's expedition, that a year elapfed before hen could procure two fhips to carry over a part of the fupplies deilined for the colony, and almoll two years were fpent be- fore the (mall fquadron was equipped, of which he himfelf was to take the command0.

T49^0 This fquadron confifted of fix (hips |only, of no great burden, and but indifferently provided for a long or dangerous navigation. The voyage which he now meditated was in a courfe different from any he had undertaken. ; As he was fully perfuaded that the fertile regions of India lay to the fouth-wefl of thofe countries which he had difcovered, he propofed as the tnoll certain method of finding out thefe, to Hand .directly fouth from the Canary or Cape de Verd iflands, until he came under the equinoctial line, and then to ftretch to the weft before the favour- able wind for fuch a courfe, which blows'invariably between the tropics. With this idea he fet fail [May 30], and touched firft at the Canary, and then at the Cape de Verd iflands [July 4]. From the former he difpatched three of his fhips with a

Life of Columbus, c« 6^. ° Herrera, dec. 1.

in. c. 9.

vol. u r fupply

I52 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

fupply of provifions for the colony in Hif- paniola : with the other three, he continued hu voyage towards the fouth. No remarkable oc- currence happened until they arrived within fivi degrees of the line [July 19]. There they wei becalmed, and at the fame time the heat becamt fo exceflive, that many of their wine calk* burft, the liquor in others foured, and their pn viiions corrupted P. The Spaniards, who ha< never ventured fo far to the fouth, were afraid that the mips would take fire, and began to a] prehend the reality of what the ancients hac taught concerning the deflructive qualities oj that torrid region of the globe. They were r< lieved, in fome meafure, from their fears by feafonable fall of rain. This, however, thougl fo heavy and unintermitting that the men couk hardly keep the deck, did not greatly mitigat< the intenfenefs of the heat. The admiral, wh< with his ufual vigilance had in perfon direct every operation from the beginning of the voyage, was fo much exhaufted by fatigue anc want of fleep, that it brought on a violent fit ol the gout, accompanied with a fever. All thefe circumflances conllrained him to yield to the ii portunities of his crew, and to alter his courfe U the north-weft, in order to reach fome of th< Caribbee iilands, where he might refit, and b( fupplied with provifions.

On the firft of Augufl, the man flationed 11 the round top furprifed them with the joyful ci of land. They flood towards it, and difcoveret a coniiderable ifland, which the admiral caliec Trinidad, a name it ftill retains. It lies on th(

p P. Martyr, dec. p. 70,

ccafl

149^. ] HISTORY OF AMERICA. I53

coaft of Guiana, near the mouth of the Orinoco. This, though a river only of the third or fourth magnitude in the New World, far furpafTes any of the ftreams in our hemifphere. It rolls to- wards the ocean fuch a vaft body of water, and nifties into it with fuch impetuous force, that when it meets the tide, which on that coaft rifes to an uncommon height, their collifion occafions 2 fwell and agitation of the waves no lefs fur- priling than formidable. In this conflict, the irrefiftible torrent of the river fo far prevails, that it frefhens the ocean many leagues with its flood <*. Columbus, before he could perceive the danger, was entangled among thofe adverfe cur- rents and tempeftuous waves, and it was with the utmoft difficulty that he efcaped through a nar- row ftrait, which appeared fo tremendous, that lie called it La Boca del Drago. As foon as the conilernation which this occailoned, per- mitted him to reflect upon the nature of an ap- pearance fo extraordinary, he difcerned in it a fource of comfort and hope. He juftly con- cluded, that fuch a vaft body of water as this river contained, could not be fupplied by any ifland, but muft flow through a country of im- menfe extent, and of confequence that he was now arrived at that continent which it had long been the object of his wifhes to difcover. Full of this idea, he Hood to the weft along the coaft of thofe provinces which are now known by the names of Paria and Cumana. He landed in feveral places, and had fome intercourfe with the people, who refembled thofe of Hifpaniola in their appearance and manner of life. They

? GumillaHift.de TOrenoque, torn. 1. p. 14.

r. 2 wore,

154 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

wore, as ornaments, fmall plates of gold, ai pearls of coniiderable value, whieh they willingly exchanged for European toys. They feemed t< poffefs a better underilanding, and greater cou- rage, than the inhabitants of the iflands. Th< country produced four-footed animals of feve ral kinds, as well as a great variety of fowls an< fruits r. The admiral was fo much delighte< with its beauty and fertility, that, with the wan enthufiafm of a difcoverer, he imagined it to b< the paradife defcribed in fcripture, which the Al mighty chofe for the refidence of man, while h< retained innocence that rendered him worthy fuch an habitation s. Thus Columbus had th< glory not only of difcovering to mankind the ex- ifience of a New World, but made confiderabh progrefs towards a perfect knowledge of it ; an< was the firft man who conducted the Spaniard to that vail continent which has been the chiei feat of their empire, and the fource of their tre< fures in this quarter of the globe. The fhattere< condition of his mips, fcarcity of provilions, b| own infirmities, together with the impatience his crew, prevented him from purfuing his dis- coveries any farther, and made it neceilary t( bear away for Hifpaniola. In his way thithei he difcovered the iflands of Cubagua and Marga- rita, which afterwards became remarkable foi their pearl-flfhery. When he arrived at Hif- paniola [Aug. 30], he was walled to an extreme degree with fatigue and ficknefs ; but found the affairs of the colony in fuch a fituation, as afforded

r Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iii. c. 9, 10, 11. Life of Colum- bus, c. 66 — 73. s Herrera, dec. I. lib. iii. c. izt £omara, c. 84. See No?£ XXIf

frim

149^-1 HISTORY OF AMERICA. * \$$

him no profpeft of enjoying that repofe of which he Hood fo much in need.

Many revolutions had happened in that coun- try during his abfence. His brother, the ade- lantado, in confequence of an advice which the admiral gave before his departure, had removed the colony from Ifabella to a more commodious ftation, on the oppofite fide of the ifland, and laid the foundation of St. Domingo", which was long the moil confiderable European town in the New World, and the feat of the fupreme courts in the Spanifh dominions there. As foon as the Spaniards were eftablifhed in this new fettlement, the adelantado, that they might neither languifh in inactivity, nor have leifure to form new cabals, marched into thofe parts of the ifland which his brother had not yet vifited or reduced to obedience. As the people were unable to refill:, they fubmitted every where to the tribute wich he impofed. But they foon found the burden to be fo intolerable, that, over- awed as they were by the fuperior power of their opprefibrs, they took arms againft them. Thofe infurre&ions, however, were not formid- able. A conflict with timid and naked Indians was neither dangerous nor of doubtful ifliie.

But while the adelantado was employed againft them in the field, a mutiny, of an afpect far more alarming, broke out among the Spaniards. The ringleader of it was Francis Roldan, whom Columbus had placed in a llation which required him to be the guardian of order and tranquillity in the colony. A turbulent and inconfiderate ambition precipitated him into this defperate u P. Martyr, dec* p. 56.

r 3 meafure,

l$6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

meafure, fo unbecoming his rank. The argu- ments which he employed to feduce his country- men were frivolous and ill-founded. He accufed Columbus and his two brothers of arrogance and feverity ; he pretended that they aimed at ef- tablifhing an independent dominion in the country ; he taxed them with an intention of cutting off part of the Spaniards by hunger and fatigue, that they might more ealily reduce the remainder to fubjection ; he reprefented it as un- worthy of Caftilians, to remain the tame and paflive (laves of three Genoefe adventurers. As men have always a propenfity to impute the hardfhips of which they feel the preflure, to the mifconduct. of their rulers ; as every nation views with a jealous eye the power and exaltation of foreigners, Roldan's infmuations made a deep impreflion on his countrymen. His character and rank added weight to them. A confider- able number of the Spaniards made choice of him as their leader, and taking arms againfl the adelantado and his brother, feized the king's magazine of provifions, and endeavoured to fur- priie the fort at St. Domingo. This was pr( ferved by the vigilance and courage of D01 Diego Columbus. The mutineers were oblige< to retire to the province of Xaragua, wher they continued not only to difclaim the adelan- tado's authority themfelves, but excited the In dians to throw off the yoke w.

Such was the diffracted Hate of the colon when Columbus landed at St. Domingo. H was aftonifhed to find that the three fhips whic

w Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iii. c. 5—8. Life of Columbus c. 74. — 77. Gomara, c. 23. P. Mar'vr, p. 78,

h

•

J49^0 HISTORY OF AMERICA. I57

he had difpatched from the Canaries were not yet arrived. By the unfkilfulnefs of the pilots, and the violence of currents, they had been car- ried a hundred and fixty miles to the welt of St. Domingo, and forced to take fhelter in a har- bour of the province of Xaragua, where Roldan and his feditious followers were cantoned. Roldan carefully concealed from the commanders of the ■fhips his infurrection againft the adelantado, and employing his utmoll addrefs to gain their con- fidence, perfuaded them to fet on fhore a conii- derable part of the new fettlers whom they brought over, that they might proceed by land to St. Domingo. It required but few argu- ments to prevail with thofe men to efpoufe his caufe. They were the refufe of the jails of Spain, to whom idlenefs, licentioufnefs, and deeds of violence were familiar ; and they re- turned eagerly to a courfe of life nearly re- fembling that to which they had been accuftom- cd. The commanders of the (hips perceiving, when it was too late, their imprudence in difem- barking fo many of their men, Hood away for St. Domingo, and got fafe into the port a few days after the admiral ; but their Hock of pro- ▼ifions was fo waited during a voyage of fuch long continuance, that they brought little relief to the colony x.

By this junction with a band of fuch bold and defperate aiTociates, Roldan became extremely formidable, and no lefs extravagant in his de- mands. Columbus, though filled with refent- ment at his ingratitude, and highly exafperated

x Herrera, dec. I. lib. iii. c. iz.	Life of Columbus,.
C. 7S, 79.
	by

158 HISTORY OS AMERICA. B. II

by the infolence of his followers, made no hail< to take the field. He trembled at the thought of kindling the flames of a civil war, in which, whatever party prevailed, the power and ftrength of both muft be fo much wafted, as might en- courage the common enemy to unite and com- plete their deftru&ion. At the fame time, he obferved, that the prejudices and paflions which incited the rebels to take arms, had fo far in- fected thofe who ftill adhered to him, that many of them were adverfe, and all cold to the fervice. From fuch fentiments, with refpecl: to the pub- lic intereft, as well as from this view of his own fituation, he chofe to negotiate rather than to fight. By a feafonable proclamation, offering free pardon to fuch as mould merit it by return- ing to their duty, he made imprefiion upon fome of the malcontents. By engaging to grant fuch as mould defire it the liberty of returning to Spain, he allured all thofe unfortunate adven- turers, who, from ficknefs and difappointment, were difgufted with the country. By promifing to re-eftablifh Roldan in his former office, he foothed his pride ; and, by complying with mod of his demands in behalf of his followers, he fatisfied their avarice. Thus, gradually and without bloodfhed, but after many tedious nego- tiations, he diffolved this dangerous combination which threatened the colony with ruin ; and re- ftored the appearance of order, regular govern- ment, and tranquillity y.

In confequence of this agreement with the mutineers, lands were allotted them in different

y Herrera, ded I. lib. Hi. C. 13, 14. Life of Columbus, c. 80, &c.

parts

1498.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. I59

i parts of the ifland, and the Indians fettled in each diftricl: were appointed to cultivate a certain portion of ground for the ufe of thofe new maf. ters. [H99] The performance of this work was fubflituted in place of the tribute formerly Impofed ; and how neceflary foever fuch a regu- lation might be in a fickly and feeble colony, it introduced among the Spaniards the Reparti- mientos, or distributions of Indians ertablifhed by them in all their fettlements, which brought numberlefs calamities upon that unhappy peo- ple, and fubjected them to the moil grievous oppreffion z. This was not the only bad effect of the infurre&ion in Hifpaniola ; it prevented Columbus from profecuting his difcoveries on the continent, as felf-prefervation obliged him to keep near his perfon his brother the adelantado, and the failors whom he intended to have employed in that fervice. As foon as his affairs would permit, he fent fome of his fhips to Spain with a journal of the voyage which he had made, a delcription of the new countries which he had difcovered, a chart of the coaft along which he had failed, and fpecimens of the gold, the pearls, and other curious or valuable productions which he had acquired by trafficking with the natives. At the fame time he tranfmitted an account of the infurreftion in Hifpaniola ; he accufed the mutineers not only of having thrown the colony into fuch violent convulfions as threatened its diflblution, but of having obftru&ed every attempt towards difcovery and improvement, by their unprovoked rebellion againft their fuperiors, and propofed feveral regulations for the better go-

■ Herrera, dect 1. life, ill* c. 14, &c.

vernment

l6o HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II,

vernment of the ifland, as well as the extinctioi of that mutinous fpirit, which, though fupprefle< at prefent, might foon burft out with addition; rage. Roldan and his affociates did not negle^ to convey to Spain, by the fame fhips, an apolo^ for their own conduct, together with their re criminations upon the admiral and his brothers. Unfortunately for the honour of Spain, and th< happinefs of Columbus, the latter gained mof credit in the court of Ferdinand and Ifabella, an: produced unexpected effects a.

But, previous to the relating of thefe, it i! proper to take a view of fome events, whicl merit attention, both on account of their ow importance, and their connection with the hiftoi of the New World. While Columbus was en- gaged in his fuccefllve voyages to the weft, th< fpirit of difcovery did not languifh in Portugal, the kingdom where it firfl acquired vigour, an( became enterprifing. Self-condemnation an< regret were not the only fentiments to which the fuccefs of Columbus, and reflection upon their own imprudence in rejecting his propofals, gave rife among the Portuguefe. They excited a general emulation to furpafs his performances, and an ardent defire to make fome reparation to their country for their own error. With this view, Emanuel, who inherited the enterprifing genius of his predeceffors, perfifted in their grand fcheme of opening a paffage to the Eaft Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, and foon after his accefiion to the throne, equipped a fquadron for that important voyage. He gave the command

a Herrera, dec. i. lib. Hi. c. Orb. lib. I. c, 2.

14. Benzon. Hift. Nov. of

.1499'] HISTORY OF AMERICA. l6l

of it to Vafco de Gama, a man of noble birth, poffeiTed of virtue* prudence, and courage, equal to the fiation. The fquadron, like all thofe fitted out for difcovery in the infancy of navigation, was extremely feeble, confiding only of three veflels, of neither burden nor force adequate to the fervice. As the Europeans were at that time little acquainted with the courfe of the trade- winds and periodical monfoons, which render navigation in the Atlantic ocean, as well as in the fea that feparates Africa from India, at fome fea- fons eafy, and at others not only dangerous, but almoft impracticable, the time chofen for Ga- ma's departure was the moft improper during the whole year. He fet fail from Lifbon on the ninth of July [1497]* and Handing towards the fouth, had to ftruggle for four months with contrary winds, before he could reach the Cape of Good Hope. Here their violence began to abate [Nov. 20] ; and during an interval of calm weather, Gama doubled that formidable promontory, which had fo long been the bound- ary of navigation, and directed his courfe to- wards the north-eaft, along the African coaft. He touched at feveral ports ; and after various adventures, which the Portuguefe hiitorians re- late with high but juft encomiums upon his con* duct and intrepidity, he came to anchor before the city of Melinda. Throughout all the vail countries which extend along the coail of Africa, from the river Senegal to the confines of Zan- guebar, the Portuguefe had found a race of men rude and uncultivated, ftrangers to letters, to arts, and commerce, and differing from the in- habitants of Europe, no lefs in their features

and.

3b-

l62 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3,

and complexion, than in their manners and in. tutions. As they advanced from this, they o„~ ferved, to their inexprerTible joy, that the human form gradually altered and improved ; the Aiiatic features began to predominate, marks of civiliz- ation appeared, letters were known, the Maho- metan religion was eftablifhed, and a commerce, far from being inconiiderable, was carried on. At that time feveral veflels from India were in the port of Melinda. Gama now purfued his voyage with almoit abfolute certainty of fuccefs, and, under the conduct of a Mahometan pilot, arrived at Calecut, upon the coaft of Malabar, on the twenty-fecond of May one thoufand four hundred and ninety-eight. What he beheld of the wealth, the populoufnefs, the cultivation, the induitry and arts of this highly civilized country, far furpaiTed any idea that he had formed, from the imperfect accounts which the Europeans had hitherto received of it. But as he poffeffed neither fufficient force to attempt a fettlement, nor proper • commodities with which he could carry on commerce of any confequence, he haf- tened back to Portugal, with an account of his fuccefs in performing a voyage, the longed, as well as molt difficult, that had ever been made, fmce the firit invention of navigation. He landed at Lifbon on the fourteenth of September one thoufand four hundred and ninety-nine, two years two months and five days from the time he left that port a.

Thus, during the courfe of the fifteenth cen- tury, mankind made greater progreis in explor- ing the Itate of the habitable globe, than in all; * Ramufio, vol, i. 119, D.

the

1499'] HISTORY OF AMERICA. l6j

the ages which had elapfed previous to that pe- riod. The fpirit of difcovery, feeble at fir 11 and cautious, moved within a very narrow fphere, and made its efforts with hefitation and timidity. Encouraged by fuccefs, it became adventurous, and boldly extended its operations. In the courfe of its progreffion, it continued to ac- quire vigour, and advanced at length with a rapidity and force which burn; through all the limits within which ignorance and fear had hi- therto circumfcribed the activity of the human race. Almoft fifty years were employed by the Portuguefe in creeping along the coait of Africa from Cape Non to Cape de Verd, the latter of : which lies only twelve degrees to the fouth of '• the former. In lefs than thirty years they ven- tured beyond the equinoctial line into another ; hemifphere, and penetrated to the fouthern ex- i tremity of Africa, at the diftance of forty-nine degrees from Cape de Verd. During the laft I feven years of the century, a New World was I difcovered in the weft, not inferior in extent to all i the parts of the earth with which mankind were j at that time acquainted. In the eaft, unknown I feas and countries were found out, and a com- , munication, long deiired, but hitherto concealed, : was opened between Europe and the opulent | regions of India. In comparifon with events fo wondeiful and unexpected, all that had hitherto been deemed great or fplendid, faded away and dii'appeared. Vaii objedts now prefented them* felves. The human mind, roufed and interefted by the profpecl, engaged with ardour in purfuit j of them, and exerted its active powers in a new ' direction. . .

vol. j, $ This

164 HISTORY OF AMERICA. E. I;

This {pint of enterprize, though but new] awakened in Spain, began foon to operate e: tenfively. All the attempts towards difcovery made in that kingdom, had hitherto been carried on by Columbus alone, and at the expence of the fovereign. But now private adventurers, allured by the magnificent defcriptions he gave of the regions which he had vilited, as well as by the fpecimens of their wealth which he pro- duced, offered to fit out fquadrons at their own rifle, and to go in queft of new countries. The Spanifh court, whofe fcanty revenues were ex- haufted by the charge of its expeditions to the New World, which, though they opened alluring profpe&s of future benefit, yielded a very fparing return of prefent profit, was extremely willing to devolve the burden of difcovery upon its fubjedls. It feized with joy an opportunity of rendering the avarice, the ingenuity, and efforts of projec- tors, infrrumental in promoting defigns of certain advantage to the public, though of doubtful fuccefs with refpect to themfelves. One of th( firft proportions of this kind was made b] Alonfo de Ojeda, a gallant and active officei who had accompanied Columbus in his feconc voyage. His rank and character procured hii fuch credit with the merchants of Seville, the they undertook to equip four fhips, provided he could obtain the royal licence, authorifmg the voyage. The powerful patronage of the bifhop of Badajos eafily fecured fuccefs in a fuit fo agreeable to the court. Without confulting Columbus, or regarding the rights and jurifdi&ion which he had acquired by the capitulation in one thoufand four hundred and ninety-two, Ojeda

was

I499-] HISTORY OF AMERICA. l6"$

was permitted to fet out for the New World. In order to direct his courfe, the bifhop com- municated to him the admiral's journal of his kit voyage, and his charts of the countries which he had difcovered. Ojeda ftruck out into no new path of navigation, but adhering fervilely to the route which Columbus had taken, arrived on the coaft of Paria [May]. He traded with the natives, and Handing to the weft, proceeded as far as Cape de Vela, and ranged along a confider- able extent of coaft beyond that on which Co- lumbus had touched. Having thus afcertained the opinion of Columbus, that this country was a part of the continent, Ojeda returned by way of Hifpaniola to Spain [October], with fome reputation as a difcoverer, but with little bene- fit to thofe who had raifed the funds for the expedition b.

Amerigo Vefpucci, a Florentine gentleman, accompanied Ojeda in this voyage. In what ftation he ferved, is uncertain ; but as he was an experienced failor, and eminently fkilful in all the fciences fubfervient to navigation, he feems to have acquired fuch authority among his com- panions, that they willingly allowed him to have a chief fhare in directing their operations during the voyage. Soon after his return, he tranf- mitted an account of his adventures and difco^ veries to one of his countrymen ; and labouring with the vanity of a traveller to magnify his own exploits, he had the addrefs and confidence to frame his narrative, fo as to make it appear that he had the glory of having full difcovered the continent in the New World, Amerigo's

_b Herrera, dec. i. lib. iv. c. i, 2, 3.

s 2 account

l66 HISTORY OF AMERICA. t

account was drawn up not only with art, bi with fome elegance. It contained an amufin^ hiftory of his voyage, and judicious obfervations upon the natural productions, the inhabitants, and the cuftoms of the countries which he had •viiited. As it was the firft description of any part of the New World that was published, a performance fo well calculated to gratify the paflion of mankind for what is new and marvel- lous, circulated rapidly, and was read with ad- miration. The country of which Amerigo was fuppofed to be the difcoverer, came gradually to be called by his name. The caprice of man* kind, often as unaccountable as unjuft, has per- petuated this error. By the univerfal confent of nations, America is the name bellowed on this new quarter of the globe. The bold pre- tenfions of a fortunate impoflor have robbed the difcoverer of the New World of a diflin&ion which belonged to him. The name of Amerigo has fupplanted that of Columbus ; and mankind may regret' an a£t of injuftice, which, having received the fan&ion of time, it is now too late to redrefs c.

During the fame year, another voyage of difcovery was undertaken. Columbus not only introduced the fpirit of naval enterprize into Spain, but all the firft adventurers who dif- tinguifhed themfelves in this new career, were formed by his inftructions, and acquired in his voyages the fkill and information which qualified them to imitate his example. Alonfo Nigno, who had ferved under the admiral in his lail ex- pedition, fitted out a fingle fhip, in conjunction

f See Not* XXII.

with

1499-1 HISTORY OF AMERICA. l6j

with Chriflopher Guerra, a merchant of Seville, and failed to the coafl of Paria. This voyage feems to have been conducted with greater at- tention to private emolument, than to any gene- ral or national object. Nigno and Guerra made no difcoveries of any importance ; but they brought home fuch a return of gold and pearls, as inflamed their countrymen with the deiire of engaging in fimilar adventures d,

Soon after [Jan. 13, 1500], Vincent Yanez Pinzon, one of the admiral's companions in his firfl voyage, failed from Palos with four mips. He Hood boldly towards the fouth, and was the firll Spaniard who ventured to crofs the equinoctial line ; but he feems to have landed on no part of the coafl beyond the mouth of the Maragnon, or river of the Amazons. All thefe navigators adopted the erroneous theory of Co- lumbus, and believed that the countries which they had difcovered were part of the vail con- tinent of India c.

During the Jail year of the fifteenth century, that fertile diflricl: of America, on the confines of which Pinzon had ilopt fhort, was more fully difcovered. The fuccefsful voyage of Gama to the Eafl Indies having encouraged the king or Portugal to fit out a fleet fo powerful, as not only to carry on trade, but to attempt conquefl, he gave the command of it to Pedro Alvarez Cabral. In order to avoid the coafl of Africa, where he was certain of meeting with variable breezes, or frequent calms, which might retard his voyage, Cabral flood out to fea, and kept fQ

d P. Martyr, dec. p. 87. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iv. c. 5* £ Herrera, dec. j. lib. iv, c. 6. P. Martyr, dec. p. 95.

§ 3 far

l6B HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. 1

far to the weft, that, to his furprife, he foun< himfelf upon the jfhore of an unknown country, in the tenth degree beyond the line. He ima- gined, at firft, that it was fome ifland in the Atlantic ocean, hitherto unobferved ; but, pro- ceeding along its coaft for feveral days, he was led gradually to believe, that a country fo ex- ten five formed a part of fome great continent. This latter opinion was well founded. Th< country with which he fell in belongs to thai province in South America, now known by the name of Brafil. He landed ; and having formed a very high idea of the fertility of the foil, and agreeablenefs of the climate, he took poffeflion of it for the crown of Portugal, and difpatched a fhip to Lifbon with an account of this event, which appeared to be no lefs important than it was unexpected f. Columbus's difcovery of the New World was the effort of an active genius, enlightened by fcience, guided by experience, ant acting upon a regular plan, executed with no lefs courage than perfeverance. But from this ad- venture of the Portuguefe, it appears that chance might have accomplished that great defign whicl it is now the pride of human reafon to have formed and perfected. If the fagacity of C< lumbus had not conducted mankind to America, Cabral, by a fortunate accident, might have led them, a few years later, to the knowledge of that extenfive continent ?.

While the Spaniards and Portuguefe, by thofe fuccefllve voyages, were daily acquiring more enlarged ideas of the extent and opulence of that quarter of the globe which Columbus had made

5 Herrera, dec. i. lib. iv. c. f9 s Id. lib. vii. c 5.

known

1500.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 169

known to them, he himfelf, far from enjoying the tranquillity and honours with which his fer- viees mould have been recompenfed, v/as ftrug- gYmg with every diflrefs in which the envy and malevolence of the people under his command* or the ingratitude of the court which he ferved, could involve him. Though the pacification with Roldan broke the union and weakened the force of the mutineers, it did not extirpate the feeds of difcord out of the ifland. Several of the malcontents continued in arms, refufing to fubmit to the admiral. He and his brothers were obliged to take the field alternately, in order to check their incurfions, or to punifh their crimes. The perpetual occupation and difquiet which this created, prevented him from giving dueattentiontothedangerous machinations of his enemies in the court of Spain. A good number of fuch as were molt difTatisfied with his administration, had embraced the opportunity of returning to Europe with the mips which he difpatched from St. Domingo. The final difap- pointment of all their hopes inflamed the rage of thefe unfortunate adventurers againil Colum- bus to the utmoft pitch. Their poverty and diftrefs, by exciting companion, rendered their accufations credible, and their complaints inte- resting. They teazed Ferdinand and Ifabella inceffantly with memorials, containing the detail of their own grievances, and the articles of their charge againil Columbus. Whenever either the king or queen appeared in public, they fur- rounded them in a tumultuary manner, inilfting with importunate clamours for the payment of the arrears due to them, and demanding ven- geance

17° HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

geance upon the author of their fufferings. They infulted the admiral's fons wherever they met them, reproaching them as the offspring of the projector, whofe fatal curiofity had difcovered thofe pernicious regions which drained Spain of its wealth, and would prove the grave of its people. Thefe avowed endeavours of the mal- contents from America to ruin Columbus, were feconded by the fecret, but more dangerous in- finuations of that party among the courtiers, which had always thwarted his fchemes and en- vied his fuccefs and credit h.

Ferdinand was difpofed to liflen, not only with a willing, but with a partial ear, to thefe accu-r fations. Notwithffanding the flattering accounts which Columbus had given of the riches of America, the remittances from it had hitherto been fo fcanty, that they fell far fliort of defray., Ing the expcnce of the armaments fitted out, The glory of the difcovery, together with th< profpect of remote commercial advantages, wi all that Spain had yet received in return for th< efforts which me had made. But time had al- ready diminifhed the firft fenfations of joy which the difcovery of a New World occafioned, and fame alone was not an object to fatisfy the cold Interefled mind of Ferdinand. The nature of commerce was then fo little underflood, that, where immediate gain was not acquired, the hope of diflant benefit, or of flow and moderate returns, wras totally difregarded. Ferdinand confidered Spain, on this account, as having loll by the en- terprife of Columbus, and imputed it to his nufcondudt and incapacity for government, that

£ Life of Columbus, c. %$.

$ coun*

I5OO.] HISTORY 07 AMERICA. I7.I

a country abounding in gold had yielded nothing of value to its conquerors. Even Ifabella, who, from the favourable opinion which (he entertained of Columbus, had uniformly protected him, was fliaken at length by the number and boldnefs of his accufers, and began to fufpect that a difarTec- tion fo general muil have been occafioned by real grievances, which called for redrefs. The bifhop of Badajos, with his ufual animoiity againft Columbus, encouraged thefe fufpicions* and confirmed them.

As foon as the queen began to give way to the torrent of calumny, a refolution fatal to Columbus was taken. Francis de Bovadilla, a knight of Calatrava, was appointed to repair to Hifpaniola, with full powers to inquire into the conduct of Columbus, and, if he mould find the charge of mal-adminiitration proved, to fuper- £ede him, and afTume the government of the iiland. It was impoflible to efcape condemna- tion, when this prepofterous commiffion made it the intereft of the judge to pronounce the perfon whom he was fent to try, guilty. Though Columbus had now compofed all the difTeniions in the iHand ; though he had brought both Spa- niards and Indians to fubmit peaceably to his government ; though he had made fuch effectual provifion for working the mines, and cultivating the country, as would have fecured a confider- able revenue to the king, as well as large profits to individuals, Bovadilla, without deigning to attend to the nature or merit of thofe fervices, difcovered, from the moment that he landed in Hifpaniola, a determined purpofe of treating him as a criminal. He took poffeffion of the ad- miral's

172 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

miral's houfe in St. Domingo, from which its mailer happened at that time to be abfent, and feized his effects, as if his guilt had been already fully proved; he rendered himfelf matter of the fort and of the king's ftores by violence ; he required I all perfons to acknowledge him as fupreme go- vernor ; he fet at liberty the prifoners coniined by the admiral, and fummoned him to appear before his tribunal, in order to anfwer for hh conduct ; tranfmitting to him, together with the fummons, a copy of the royal mandate, by which Columbus was enjoined to yield implicit obedience to his commands.

Columbus, though deeply affected with the ingratitude and injuftice of Ferdinand and Ifa- bella, did not hefitate a moment about his own conduct. He fubmitted to the will of his fove- reigns with a refpectful filence, and repaired di- rectly to the court of that violent and partial judge whom they had authorized to try him. JBovadilla, without admitting him into his pre- fence, ordered him inftantly to be arretted, to b loaded with chains, and hurried on board a mi Even under this humiliating reverfe of fortun the firmnefs of mind which diftingui flies the ch racter of Columbus, did not forfake him. Con fcious of his own integrity, and folacing himfe ■with reflecting upon the great things which h had atchieved, he endured this infult offered t his character, not only with compofure, but wit dignity. Nor had he the confolation of fym pathy to mitigate his fufferings. Bovadilla ha already rendered himfelf fo extremely popular, by granting various immunities to the colony, by liberal donations of Indians to all who applied

for

1500.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 173

for them, and by relaxing the reins of difcipline and government, that the Spaniards, who were moltly adventurers, whom their indigence or crimes had impelled to abandon their native country, exprefled the moft indecent fatisfaction with the difgrace and imprifonment of Colum- bus. They flattered themfelves, that now they mould enjoy an uncontrolled liberty, more fuit- able to their difpofition and former habits of life. Among perfons thus prepared to cenfure the proceedings, and to afperfe the character of Columbus, Bovadilla collected materials for a charge againit him. All accufations, the moll improbable, as well as inconiiflent, were receiv- ed. No informer, however infamous, was rejected. The refult of this inqueft, no lefs indecent than partial, he tranfmitted to Spain. At the fame time, he ordered Columbus, with his two brothers, to be carried thither in fetters ; and adding cruelty to infult, he confined them in different fhips, and excluded them from the comfort of that friendly inter- course which might have foothed their common dillrefs. But while the Spaniards in Hifpaniola viewed the arbitrary and infolent proceedings of Bovadilla with a general approbation* which re- flects difhonour upon their name and country, one man {till retained a proper fenfe of the great a:tions which Columbus had performed, and was touched with the fentiments of veneration and pity due to his rank, his age, and his merit. Alonfo de Vallejo, the captain of the veffel on board which the admiral was confined, as foon. I as he was clear of the ifland, approached his prifoner with great refpect, and offered to releafe .

him

174 HISTORY OF AMERICA. K. II

him from the fetters with which he was unjuitl loaded. " No," replied Columbus, with a ge" nerous indignation, " I wear thefe irons in con* fequence of an order from my fovereigns. They mall find me as obedient to this as to their other injunctions. By their command I have been confined, and their command alone mail fet me at liberty1."

Nov. 23.] Fortunately the voyage to Spain was extremely fhort. As foon as Ferdinand and Ifabella were informed that Columbus was brought home a prifoner, and in chains, they perceived at once what univerfal aftonifhmenfc this event mult occaiion, and what an impref- fion to their difadvantage it mult make. All Europe, they forefaw, would be filled with indignation at this ungenerous requital of a man who had performed actions worthy of the higheit recompenee, and would exclai againfl the injuflice of the nation, to which had been luch an eminent benefactor, as wel as againlt the ingratitude of the princes who reign he had rendered illuftrious. Afhamed their own conduct, and eager not only to ma fome reparation for this injury, but to efface t ftain which it might fix upon their characle they inflantly iffued orders to fet Columbus liberty [Dec. 17], invited him to court, and r mitted money to enable him to appear there in manner fuitable to his rank. When he entere the royal prefence, Columbus threw himfelf a the feet of his fovereigns. He remained fo fome time filent ; the various pafiions whiV

* Life of Columbus, c. 86. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iv. c 8— 11. GomaraHift.c. 513. Oviedo, lib. iii. c. 6.

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Titbli/htd JFeb jz-udoj^fy' Cadi/l PDayics, Strand ' .

1500.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. I75

agitated his mind fupprefiing his power of utter* ance. At length he recovered himfelf, and vin- dicated his conduct in a long difcourfe, pro- ducing the molt fatisfying proofs of his own in- tegrity, as well as good intention, and evidence, no lefs clear, of the malevolence of his enemies, who, not fatisfied with having ruined his for- tune, laboured to deprive him of what alone was now left, his honour and his fame. Ferdinand re- ceived him with decent civility, and Ifabella with tendernefs and refpedt.. They both expreffed their forrow for what had happened, difavowed their knowledge of it, and joined in promifing him protection and future favour. But though they inftantly degraded Bovadilla, in order to re- move from themfelves any fufpicion of having authorized his violent proceedings, they did not reftore to Columbus his jurifdiction and privi- leges as viceroy of thofe countries which he had diicovered. Though willing to appear the avengers of Columbus's wrongs, that illiberal jealoufy which prompted them to inveft Bovadilla with fuch authority as put it in his power to treat the admiral with indignity ftill fubfifted. They were afraid to truft a man to whom they* had been fo highly indebted, and retaining him at court under various pretexts, they ap- pointed Nicholas de Ovando, a knight of the military order of Alcantara, governor of Hif- paniola k.

Columbus was deeply afFe&ed with this new injury, which came from hands that feemed to be employed in making reparation for his pad

k Herrera, dec. I. lib. iv. c. 10— ix. Life of Colum- bus, c. 87,

vol. 1. x fuffer*

1>]G HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3. II.

fufferings. The fenfibility with which great minds feel every thing that implies any fufpicion of their integrity, or that wears the afpe£t of an affront, is exquifite. Columbus had experienced both from the Spaniards ; and their ungenerous conduct exafperated him to fuch a degree, that he could no longer conceal the fentiments which it excited. Wherever he wrentr he carried about with him, as a memorial of their ingratitude, thofe fetters with which he had been loaded. They were conflantly hung up in his chamber, and he gave orders that when he died they fhould be buried in his grave l.

1 50 1.] Meanwhile, the fpirit of difcovery, notwithilanding the fevere check which it had received by the ungenerous treatment of the man, who firft excited it in Spain, continued active and vigorous. [January] Roderigo de Baftidas, a perfon of diflindlion, fitted out two fhips in c partnery with John de la Cofa, who havi ferved under the admiral in two of his voyages, was deemed the moft fkilful pilot in Spain. They iteered directly towards the continent, ar- rived on the coalt of Paria, and proceeding to the weft, difcovered all the coaft of the province now known by the name of Tierra Firme, from Cape de Vela to the gulf of Darien. Not long after Ojeda, with his former afibciate Amerigo Vefpucci, fet out upon a fecond voyage, and being unacquainted with the deftination of Baftidas, held the fame courfe, and touched at the fame places. The voyage of Baftidas was profperous and lucrative, that of Ojeda unfor- tunate. But both tended to increafe the ardour 1 Life of Columbus, c. 36. p. 577.

of

I50I.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. I77

of difcovery ; for in proportion as the Spaniards acquired a more extenfive knowledge of the American continent, their idea of its opulence and fertility increaied m.

Before thefe adventurers returned from their voyages, a fleet was equipped, at the public ex- pence, for carrying over Ovando, the new go- vernor, to Hifpaniola, His prefence there was extremely requilite, in order to flop the incon- fiderate career of Bovadilla, whofe imprudent ad- miniftration threatened the fettlement with ruiiv Confcious of the violence and iniquity of his proceedings againfl Columbus, he continued to make it his fole object to gain the favour and fupport of his countrymen, by accommodating himfelf to their paflions and prejudices. With this view, he eltablifhed regulations, in every point the reverfe of thole which Columbus deemed effential to the profperity of the colony. Initead of the fevere difcipline, neceffary in order to habituate the diffolute and corrupted members of which the fociety was compofed, to the re- ftraints of law and fubordination, he fuffered them to enjoy fuch uncontrolled licence, as en- couraged trie wildefl "exceffes. Inilead of pro- tecting the Indians, he gave a legal fandlion to the oppreffion of that unhappy people. He took the exact number of fuch as lurvived their pall calamities, divided them into dillinct claries, dif- tributed them in property among his adherents, and reduced all the people of the ifland to a (late of complete fervitude. As the avarice of the Spaniards was too rapacious and impatient to try any method of acquiring wealth but that of

,u Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iv. c. u.

t 2 fearching

I78 HISTORY OF AMERICA* B. II.

Searching for gold, this fervitude became as grievous as it was unjuft. The Indians were driven in crowds to the mountains, and compelled to work in the mines by mafters, who impofed their tafks without mercy or difcretion. Labour, fo difproportioned to their ftrength and former - habits of life, wafted that feeble race of men with fuch rapid confumption, as mull have foon ter- minated in the utter extinction of the ancient inhabitants of the country n.

The neceflity of applying a fpeedy remedy to thofe diforders, haftened Ovando's departure. He had the command of the moft refpe&able armament hitherto fitted out for the New World. It confifted of thirty-two mips, on board of which two thoufand five hundred perfons em- barked, with an intention of fettling in the country. [1502] Upon the arrival of the new governor, with this powerful reinforcement to the colony, Bovadilla refigned his charge, and was commanded to return inftantly to Spain, in order to anfwer for his conduft. Roldan, and the other ringleaders of the mutineers, who had been moft active in oppofing Columbus, were required to leave the ifland at the fame time, A proclamation was ifTued, declaring the natives to be free fubje&s of Spain, of whom no fervice was to be exacted contrary to their own incli- nation, and without paying them an adequate price for their labour. With refpect to the Spaniards themfelves, various regulations were made tending to fupprefs the licentious fpirit which had been fo fatal to the colony, and tq

* Herrera, dec* 1. lib. iv. c. 11, &c. Oviedo Hift. lib. iii. c. C. p. Q7» Benzon, Hift. lib. i. c, 12. p. $1.

eftablifh

1502.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 179

eftablifh that reverence for law and order on which fociety is founded, and to which it is in- debted for its increafe and liability. In order to limit the exorbitant gain which private perfons were fuppofed to make by working the mines, an or- dinance was published, directing all the gold to be brought to a public fmelting-houfe, and declaring one half of it to be the property of the crown °. While thefe Heps were taking for fecuring the tranquillity and welfare of the colony which Columbus had planted, he himfelf was engaged in the unpleafant employment of foliciting the fa- vour of an ungrateful court, and, notwithstanding all his merit and fervices, he folicited in vain. He demanded, in terms of the original capitula- tion in one thoufand four hundred and ninety- two, to be reinftated in his office of viceroy over the countries which he had discovered. By a ilrange fatality, the circumftance which he urged in fupport of his claim, determined a jealous monarch to reject it. The greatnefs of his dif- coveries, and the profpeel: of their increafmg value, made Ferdinand confider the conceflions in the capitulation as extravagant and impolitic. He was afraid of entrufting a fubjeel: with the exercife of a jurifdi&ion that now appeared to be fo extremely extenfiye, and might grow to be no lefs formidable. He infpired Ifabella with the fame fufpicions ; and under various pretexts equally frivolous and unjuft, they eluded all Co- lumbus's requifitions to perform that which a folemn compact, bound them to accomplifh. After attending the court of Spain for near two

° Solorzano Politica Indiana, lib. U c. 12. Herrera, dec. i. lib. iv. c. it.

t 3 year*,

ISO HISTORY OF AMERICA* & I

years, as an humble fuitor, he found it impoi fible to remove Ferdinand's prejudices and aj_ prehenfions ; and perceived, at length, that he laboured in vain, when he urged a claim of juftice or merit with an interefled and unfeeling prince.

But even this ungenerous return did not dif- courage him from purfuing the great object which firft called forth his inventive genius, and excited him to attempt difcovery. To open a new paflage to the Eaft Indies was his original and favourite fcheme. This Hill engrofled his thoughts; and either from his own obfervations_ in his voyage to Paria, or from fome obfeure hint of the natives, or from the accounts given by Baftidas and de la Cofa, of their expedition, he conceived an opinion that,beyond the conti- nent of America, there was a fea which extended to the Eaft Indies, and hoped to find fome Itrait or narrow neck of land, by whicli a com- munication might be opened with it and the part of the ocean already known. By a very fortu- nate conjecture, he fuppofed this itrait or ifthmus to be fituated near the gulf of Darien.

Full of this idea, though he was now of an advanced age, worn out with fatigue, and broken with infirmities, he offered, with the alacrity of a youthful adventurer, to undertake a voyage which would afcertain this important point, and perfect the grand fcheme which from the beginning he propofed to accomplifh, Several circumftances concurred in difpofing Ferdinand and Ifabella to lend a favourable ear to this propofal. They were glad to have the pretext of any honourable employment for rt-<

moving

-1502.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. l8l

moving from court a man with whofe demands they deemed it impolitic to comply, and whofe fervices it was indecent to neglect. Though un- willing to reward Columbus, they were not in- fenfible of his merit, and from their experience of his fkill and conduct, had reafon to give credit to his conjectures, and to confide in his fuccefs. To thefe confiderations, a third mull be added of Hill more powerful influence. About this time the Portuguefe fleet, under Cabral, arrived from the Indies ; and, by the richnefs of its cargo, gave the people of Europe a more perfect idea than they had hitherto been able to form, of the opulence and fertility of the eaft. The Portuguefe had been more fortunate in their dis- coveries than the Spaniards. They had opened a communication with countries where induftry, arts, and elegance flourifhed ; and where com- merce had been longer eftabliihed, and carried to greater extent, than in any region of the earth. Their firfl voyages thither yielded imme- diate as well as vafl returns of profit, in com- modities extremely precious and in great requeft. Liibon became immediately the feat of com- merce and wealth ; while Spain had only the ex- pectation of remote benefit, and of future gain, from the weftern world. Nothing, then, could be more acceptable to the Spaniards than Co- lumbus's offer to conducl: them to the eaft, by a route which he expected to be fhorter, as well as lefs dangerous, than that which the Portuguefe had taken. Even Ferdinand was roufed by fuch a profpect, and warmly approved of the under* taking.

But

I§2 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. ir„

But intcrefting as the object of this voyage was to the nation, Columbus could procure only- four fmall barks," the largeft of which did not ex- ceed feventy tons in burden, for performing it. Accuftomed to brave danger, and to engage in arduous undertakings with inadequate force, he did not hefitate to accept the command of this pitiful fquadron. His brother Bartholomew, and his fecond fon Ferdinand, the hiftorian of his actions, accompanied him. He failed fro Cadiz, on the ninth of May, and touched, a ufual, at the Canary iflands ; from thence he pro pofed to have Hood directly for the continent but his largefl veffel was fo clumfy and unfit fo fervice as conftrained him to bear away for Hifpa- i)iola, in hopes of exchanging her for fome fhip of the fleet that had carried out Ovando. When he arrived at St. Domingo [June 29], he found eighteen of thefe mips ready loaded, and on the point of departing for Spain. Columbus immediately acquainted the governor with the deflination of his voyage, and the accident which had obliged him to alter his route, He requefte " permiffion to enter the harbour, not only that he might negotiate the exchange of his fhip but that he might take fhelter during a violent hurricane, of which he difcerned the approach from various prognoftics, which his experience and fagacity had taught him to obferve. On that account, he advifed him likewife to put off fo fome days the departure of the fleet bound for Spain. But Ovando refufed his requeft, and defpifed his counfel. Under circumftances in which humanity would have afforded refuge to a Granger, Columbus was denied admittance into a

country

:

1502.] filSTORY OF AMERICA. l8$

country of which he had difcovered the exiftence and acquired the poffefiion. His falutary warn- ing, which merited the greateft attention, was regarded as the dream of a viiionary prophet, who arrogantly pretended to predict an event beyond the reach of human forefight. The fleet fet fail for Spain. Next night the hurricane came on with dreadful impetuofity. Columbus, aware of the danger, took precautions againft it, and faved his little fquadron. The fleet def- tined for Spain met with the fate which the* rafhnefs and obftinacy of its commanders defend- ed. Of eighteen {hips two or three only ef- caped. In this general wreck perifhed Bova- difia, Roldan, and the greater part of thofe who had been the moft active in perfecuting Colum- bus, and oppreffing the Indians. Together with, themfelves, all the wealth which they had ac- quired by their injuftice and cruelty was {wallowed up. It exceeded in value two hundred thoufand pejbs ; an immenfe fum at that period, andifufli- cient not only to have fcreened them from any fevere fcrutiny into their conduct, but to have fecured them a gracious reception in the Spanifh court. Among the fhips that efcaped, one had on board all the effects of Columbus which had been recovered from the ruins of his fortune. Hifto- rians, (truck with the exact discrimination of cha- racters, as wrell as the jufl diftribution of rewards and punifhments, confpicuous in thofe events, unk verfally attribute them to an immediate interpo- fition of Divine Providence, in order to avenge the wrongs of an injured man, and to punifh the oppreflbrs of an innocent people. Upon the ignorant and fuperftitious race of men, who

were

:

X$4 HISTORY OF AMERICA. K.

were witnefles of this occurrence, it made different impreffion. From an opinion which vulgar admiration is apt to entertain with refpeft to perfons who have diftinguifhed themfelves by their fagacity and inventions, they believed Columbus to be poffeffed of fupernatural powers, and imagined that he had conjured up this dread- ful ilorm by magical arts andincantations, in order to be avenged of his enemies P.

Columbus foon left Hifpaniola [July 14], where he met with fuch an inhofpitable reception, and flood towards the continent. After a tedious and dangerous voyage, he difcovered Guanaia, an ifland not far diflant from the coaft of Honduras. There he had an interview with fome inhabitants of the continent, who arrived in a large canoe. They appeared to be a people more civilized, and who had made greater progrefs in the knowledge of ufeful arts, than any whom he had hitherto difcovered. In return to the inquiries which the Spaniards made, with their ufual eager nefs, co cerning the places where the Indians got t gold which they wore by way of ornamen they diredled them to countries lituated to the weft, in which gold was found in fuch profufion, that it was applied to the moll common ufes. Inftead of fleering in queft of a country fo in- viting, which would have conducted him along the coaft of Yucatan to the rich empire of Mexico, Columbus was fo bent upon his favourite fcheme of finding out the ftrait which he fup- pofed to communicate with the Indian ocean, that he bore away to the eaft towards the gulf of

P Oviedo, lib. iii. c. 7. 9. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. V; ff« I, if Life of Columbus, c. 88.

Darien.

he

S

It,

1502.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 185

Darien. In this navigation he difcovered all the coatt of the continent, from Cape Gracias a Dios, to a harbour which, on account of its beauty and fecurity, he called Porto Bello. He fearched, in vain, for the imaginary ftrait, through which he expected to make his way into an un- known fea ; and though he went on more feveral times, and advanced into the country, he did not penetrate fo far as to crofs the narrow iilhmus which feparates the gulf of Mexico from the great fouthern ocean. He was fo much delight- ed, however, with the fertility of the country, and conceived fuch an idea of its wealth, from the fpecimens of gold produced by the natives, that he refolved to leave a fmall colony upon the river Belem, in the province of Veragtia, under the command of his brother, and to return him- ftlf to Spain [1503], in order to procure what was requifite for rendering the eftablifhment per- manent. But the ungovernable fpirit of the people under his command, deprived Columbus of the glory of planting the iirft colony on the continent of America. Their infolence and ra- pacioufnefs provoked the natives to take arms, and as thefe were a more hardy and warlike race of men than the inhabitants of the iflands, they cut off part of the Spaniards, and obliged the reft to abandon a ftation which was found to be untenable %

This repulfe, the firft that the Spaniards met with from any of the American nations, was not the only misfortune that befel Columbus ; it was followed by a fucceffion of all the difafters to

1 Herrera, dec. I. lib. v. c. 5, &c. Life of Columbus, C. 89, &c. Ovicdoj lib, iii. c. 9.

which

lS6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. ft, I

;

which navigation is expofed. Furious hurricane with violent ftorms of thunder and lightnin threatened his leaky veflels with deftru&ion ; while his difcontented crew, exhaufted with fa- tigue, and deftitute of proviiions, was unwilling or unable to execute his commands. One of his fhips perifhed ; he was obliged to abandon an- other, as unfit for fervice ; and with the two which remained, he quitted that part of the con* tinent which in his anguifh he named the Coaft of Vexation T, and bore away for Hifpaniola. New diftreffes awaited him in this voyage. He was driven back by a violent tempeft from the coaft of Cuba, his fhips fell foul of one another, and were fo much mattered by the (hock, that with the utmoft difficulty they reached Jamaica "June 24], where he was obliged to run them aground, to prevent them from finking. The meafure of his calamities feemed now to be full. He was caft afhore upon an ifland at a coniider- able diftance from the only fettlement of the Spaniards in America. His fhips were ruined beyond the poflibility of being repaired. To convey an account of his fituation to Hifpaniola, appeared impracticable ; and without this it was vain to expect relief. His genius, fertile in re- fources, and moft vigorous in thofe perilous ex- tremities when feeble minds abandon themfelve9 to defpair, difcovered the only expedient which afforded any profpec~t of deliverance. He had recourfe to the hofpitable kindnefs of the natives, who considering the Spaniards as beings of a fuperior nature, were eager, on every occafion, to minifter to their wants. From them he ob-

* La Cofta de los Centrales,

z tained

I503-] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 187

tained two of their canoes, each formed out of the trunk of a iingle tree hollowed with fire, and fo mis-fhapen and awkward as hardly to merit the name of boats. In thefe, which were fit only for creeping along the coaft, or croffing from one fide of a bay to another, Mendez, a Spaniard, and Fiefchi, a Genoefe, two gentlemen particu- larly attached to Columbus, gallantly offered to fet out for Hifpaniola, upon a voyage of above thirty leagues s. This they accomplifhed in ten days, after furmounting incredible dangers, and enduring fuch fatigues, that feveral of the In- dians who accompanied them funk under it, and died. The attention paid to them by the go- vernor of Hifpaniola was neither fuch as their courage merited, nor the diftrefs of the perfons from whom they came required. Ovando, from a mean jealoufy of Columbus, was afraid of al- lowing him to fet foot in the ifland under his government. This ungenerous paflion hardened his heart againft every tender fentiment, which reflection upon the fervices and misfortunes of that great man, or compaflion for his own fel- low-citizens involved in the fame calamities, muft have excited. Mendez and Fiefchi fpent eight months infoliciting relief for their commander and affociates, without any profpect of obtaining it.

During this period, various paffions agitated the mind of Columbus, and his companions in adveriity. At firfl the expectation of fpeedy deliverance, from the fuccefs of Mendez and Fiefchi's voyage, cheered the fpirits of the mofl defponding. After fome time the more timorous began to fufpect that they had mifcarried in • Oviedo, lib. iii. c. 9.

vol. i. u their

l88 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B.

their daring attempt. [1504] At length, ev the moft fanguinc concluded that they had p rifhed. The ray of hope which had broke in. upon them, made their condition appear now more difmal. Defpair* heightened by difappoint- ment, fettled in every brealt. Their laft refource had failed, and nothing remained but the pro- fpedt. of ending their miferable days among naked favages, far from their country and their friends. The feamen, in a tranfport of rage, rofe in open mutiny, threatened the life of Co- lumbus, whom they reproached as the author of all their calamities, feized ten canoes, which he had purchafed from the Indians, and defpifing his remonftrances and entreaties, made off with them to a diflant part of the ifland. At the fame time the natives murmured at the long refidence of the Spaniards in their country. As their induilry was not greater than that of their neighbours in Hifpaniola, like them they found the burden, of fupporting fo many ftrangers to be altogether intolerable. They began to bring in provifions with reludlance, they furnifhed them with a fparing hand, and threatened to withdraw thofe fupplies altogether. Such a refolution mult have been quickly fatal to the Spaniards. Their fafety depended upon the good- will of the In* dians ; and unlefs they could revive the adrmV ration and reverence with which that iimple people had at firft beheld them, deftruftion was unavoid- able. Though the licentious proceedings of the mutineers had, in a great meafure, effaced thofe impreflions which had been fo favourable to the Spaniards, the ingenuity of Columbus fuggefted a happy artifice, that not only redored but

heightened

I5C4.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 189

heightened the high opinion which the Indians had originally entertained of them. By his fkill in aftronomy he knew that there was fhortly to be a total eclipfe of the moon. He affembled all the principal perfons of the diftrict around him on the day before it happened, and, after reproaching them for their ficklenefs in with- drawing their affection and afiiftance from men whom they had lately revered, he told them, that the Spaniards were Servants of the Great Spirit who dwells in heaven, who made and governs the world ; that he, offended at their refufing to fupport men who were the objects of his peculiar favour, was preparing to punifh this crime with exemplary feverity, and that very night the moon fhould withhold her light, and appear of a bloody hue, as a fign of the divine wrath, and an emblem of the vengeance ready to fall upon them. To this marvellous prediction fome of them liflened with the carelefs indifference pe- culiar to the people of America ; others, with the credulous aftonifhment natural to barbarians. But when the moon began gradually to be darkened, and at length appeared of a red co- lour, all were ilruck with terror. They ran with confirmation to their houfes, and returning inflantly to Columbus loaded with provifionst threw them at his feet, conjuring him to inter- cede with the Great Spirit to avert the deftruc- tion with which they were threatened. Colum- bus, feeming to be moved by their entreaties, promifed to comply with their defire. The eclipfe went off, the moon recovered its fplen- dour, and from that day the Spaniards were not only furniflied profufely with provifions, but the v z natives,

:

190 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

natives, with fuperftitious attention, avoided eve thing that could give them offence c.

During thofe tranfa&ions, the mutineers ha made repeated attempts to pafs over to Hifpa- niola in the canoes which they had feized. But, from their own mifconduft, or the violence of the winds and currents, their efforts were all un- fuccefsful. Enraged at this difappointment, they marched towards that part of the ifland where Columbus remained, threatening him with new infults and danger. While they were advancing, an event happened, more cruel and afflicting than any calamity which he dreaded from them. The governor of Hifpaniola, whofe mind was ftill filled with fome dark fufpicions of Columbus, fent a fmall bark to Jamaica, not to deliver his diltreffed countrymen, but to fpy out their con- dition. Left the fympathy of thofe whom he employed mould afford them relief, contrary to his intention, he gave the command of this veffel to Efcobar, an inveterate enemy of Columbus, who adhering to his inftructions with malignant accuracy, caft anchor at fome diftance from the ifland, approached the fhore in a fmall boat, ob- ferved the wretched plight of the Spaniards, de- livered a letter of empty compliments to the ad- miral, received his anfwer, and departed. When the Spaniards firft defcried the veffel ftanding towards the ifland, every heart exulted, as if the long-expected hour of their deliverance had at length arrived ; but when it difappeared fo

fuddenly, they funk into the deepeft dejection and all their hopes died away. Columbus alone,

t Life of Columbus, c. 103. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vi. C* 5> 6. BtnzoRs Hift. lib. i. C, 14.

though

I5°4«] HISTORY OF AMERICA. I9I

though he felt moll fenfibly this wanton infult which Ovando added to his pall neglect, retained fuch compofure of mind, as to be able to cheer his followers. He allured them, that Mendez and Fiefchi had reached Hifpaniola in fafety ; that they would fpeedily procure fhips to carry them off; but as Efcobar's vefTel could not take them all on board, that he had refufed to go with her, becaufe he was determined never to abandon the faithful companions of his dillrefs. Soothed with the expectation of fpeedy deliverance, and I delighted with his apparent generofity in attend- ing more to their prefervation than to his own fafety, their fpirits revived, and he regained their confidence u.

Without this confidence, he could not have refilled the mutineers, who were now at hand. All his endeavours to reclaim thofe defperate men had no effect but to increafe their frenzy. Their demands became every day more extrava- gant, and their intentions more violent and bloody. The common fafety rendered it ne- ceflary to oppofe them with open force. Co- lumbus, who had been long afflicted with the gout, could not take the field. His brother, the adelantado, marched againfl them [May 20]. They quickly met, The mutineers rejected with fcorn terms of accommodation, which were once more offered them, and rufhed on boldy to the attack. They fell not upon an enemy unpre- pared to receive them. In the firfl fhock, feve- ral of their moll daring leaders were /lain. The adelantado, whofe flrength was equal to his

■ Life of ColumbuF, c. 104. . Herreia, dec. l« lib. vi. c 17,

v 3 courage*

I92 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

courage, clofed with their captain, wounded, di armed, and took him prifoner x. At fight of this, the reft fled with a daftardly fear, fuitable to their former infolence. Soon after, they fub- mitted in a body to Columbus, and bound them- felves by the moft folemn oaths to obey all his commands. Hardly was tranquillity re-eftablifh- ed, when the fhips appeared, whofe arrival Co- lumbus had promifed with great addrefs, though he could forefee it with little certainty. With tranfports of joy, the Spaniards quitted an ifland in which the unfeeling jealoufy of Ovando had fuffered them to languifh above a year, expofed to mifery in all its various forms.

When they arrived at St. Domingo [Aug. 13], the governor, with the mean artifice of a vulgar mind, that labours to atone for infolence by fer- vility, fawned on the man whom he envied, and had attempted to ruin. He received Columbus with the moft ftudied refpect, lodged him in his own houfe, and diftinguifhed him with eve mark of honour. But amidft thofe over-acl demonft rations of regard, he could not conceal the hatred and malignity latent in his heart. He fet at liberty the captain of the mutineers, whom Columbus had brought over in chains, to be tried for his crimes, and threatened fuch as had ad- hered to the admiral with proceeding to a judicial inquiry into their conduct. Columbus fubmitted in iilence to what he could not redrefs ; but dif- covered an extreme impatience to quit a country which was under the jurifdi&ion of a man who had treated him, on every occafion, with inhu-

* Life of Columbus, c. 107. Herrera, dec. j. lib. vi. c. II*

inanity

I5°4*] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 10$

manity and injuftice. His preparations were foon finimed, and he fet fail for Spain [Sept. 12], with two fhips. Difafters (imilarto thofe which had accompanied him through life continued to purfue him to the end of his career. One of his veflels being difabled, was foon forced back to St. Domingo ; the other, mattered by violent ftorms, failed feven hundred leagues with jury- mafts, and reached with difficulty the port of St. Lucar [December] K

There he received the account of an event the moll fatal that could have befallen him, and which completed his misfortunes. This was the death of his patronefs queen Ifabella [Nov. 9], in whofe juftice, humanity, and favour, he con- fided as his laft refource. None now remained to redrefs his wrongs, or to reward him for his fervices and fufferings, but Ferdinand, who had fo long oppofed and fo often injured him. To folicit a prince thus prejudiced againft him, was an occupation no lefs irkfome than hopelefs. In this, however, was Columbus doomed to employ the clofe of his days* As foon as his health was in fome degree re-eflablifhed, he repaired to court ; and though he was received there with civility barely decent, he plied Ferdinand with petition after petition, demanding the punifh- ment of his oppreffors, and the reititution of all the privileges bellowed upon him by the capitu- lation of one thoufand four hundred and ninety- two. Ferdinand amufed him with fair words and unmeaning promifes. Inflead of granting his claims, he propofed expedients in order to

y Life of Columbus, c. 108. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vi.

C. 12.

dude

194 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. II.

elude them, and fpun out the affair with fuch apparent art, as plainly difcovered his intention that it fhould never be terminated. The de- clining health of Columbus flattered Ferdinand with the hopes of being foon delivered from an importunate fuitor, and encouraged him to per- fevere in this illiberal plan. Nor was he deceived in his expectations. Difgufted with the ingra- titude of a monarch whom he had ferved with fuch fidelity and fuccefs, exhaulled with the fa* tigues and hardfhips which he had endured, and broken with the infirmities which thefe had brought upon him, Columbus ended his life at Valladolid on the twentieth of May one thou- fand live hundred and (ixf in the fifty-ninth year of his age. He died with a compofure of mind fuitable to the magnanimity which diftinguifhed his chara&er, and with fentiments of piety be* coming that fupreme refpeel: for religion, which he manifefted in every occurrence of his life z.

BOOK III.

•TT7HILE Columbus was employed in his laft * voyage, feveral events worthy of notice hap- pened in Hifpaniola, The colony there, the parent and nurfe of all the fubfequent eftablifhments of Spain in the New World, gradually acquired the form of a regular and profperous fociety.

z Life of Columbus, c. io8* Herrcra, dec* I. lib. vi

c i3> i4» *5« _

The

.

*5°4'] HISTORY OF AMERICA. I95

The humane folicitude of Ifabella to protect the Indians from oppreflion, and particularly the proclamation by which the Spaniards were pro- hibited to compel them to work, retarded, it is true, for fome time, the progrefs of improve- ment. The natives who coniidered exemption from toil as fupreme felicity, fcorned every allure- ment and reward by which they were invited to labour. The Spaniards had not a fufficient number of hands either to work the mines or to cultivate the foil. Several of the firfl colo- iiifts, who had been accuftomed to the fervice of the Indians, quitted the idand, when deprived of thofe inilruments, without which they knew not how to carry on any operation. Many of the new fettlers who came over with Ovando, were feized with the diftempers peculiar to the climate, and in a (hort fpace above a thoufand of them died. At the fame time, the exacting one half of the product of the mines as the royal ihare, was found to be a demand fo exorbitant, that no adventurers would engage to work them upon fuch terms. In order to fave the colony from ruin, Ovando ventured to relax the rigour of the royal edicts. [1505] He made a new diftribution of the Indians among the Spaniards, and compelled them to labour for a ftated time, in digging the mines, or in cultivating the ground ; but, in order to fcreen himfelf from the imputation of having fubjefted them again to fervitude, he enjoined their mailers to pay them a certain fum, as the price of their work. He reduced the royal mare of the gold found in the mines from the half to the third part, arid foon after lowered it to a fifth, at which it long

remained.

I<)6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

remained. Notwithftanding Ifabella's tender concern for the good treatment of the Indians, and Ferdinand's eagernefs to improve the royal revenue, Ovando perfuaded the court to approve of both thefe regulations a.

But the Indians, after enjoying refpite from 1 oppreflion, though during a fhort interval, now ' felt the yoke of bondage to be fo galling, that : they made feveral attempts to vindicate their • own liberty. This the Spaniards confidered as . rebellion, and took arms in order to reduce them to fu ejection. When war is carried on between nations whofe ftate of improvement is in any de- gree^fimilar, the means of defence bear fome pro- portion to thofe employed in the attack ; and in this equal contefl fuch efforts mud be made, fuch talents are difplayed, and fuch paflions roufed, as exhibit mankind to view in a fituatiori \. no lefs ftriking than interefting. It is one of the nobleft functions of hiftory, to obferve and to delineate men at a juncture when their minds are' moil violently agitated, and al" their powers and paffions are called forth. Hen the operations of war, and the itruggles betwe contending ftates, have been deemed by hifto- rians, ancient as well as modern, a capital and important article in the annals of human actions. But in a contefl: between naked favages, and one of the mod warlike of the European na- tions, where fcience, courage, and discipline on one fide, were oppofed by ignorance, timidity, and diforder on the other, a particular detail of events would be as unpleafant as uninftru6tive. If the fimplicity and innocence of the Indians

* Herrera, dec. 1, lib. v. c. 3,

-

15°5-1 HISTORY OF AMERICA. I97

had infpired the Spaniards with humanity, had foftened the pride of fuperiority into compaflion, and had induced them to improve the inhabitants of the New World, inftead of opprefling them, fome fudden ac"ls of violence, like the too rigor- ous chaftifements of impatient inftructors, might have been related without horror. But, un- fortunately, this confcioufnefs of fuperiority operated in a different manner. The Spaniards were advanced fo far beyond the natives of Ame- rica in improvement of every kind, that they viewed them with contempt. They conceived the Americans to be animals of an inferior na- ture, who were not entitled to the rights and privileges of men. In peace, they fubjected them to fervitude. In war, they paid no regard to thofe laws, which, by a tacit convention be- tween contending nations, regulate hoftility, and fct fome bounds to its rage. They con- fidered them not as men fighting in defence of their liberty, but as flaves, who had revolted againft their mailers. Their caziques, when taken, were condemned, like the leaders of ban- ditti, to the moft cruel and ignominious punifh- ments ; and all their fubjects, without regarding the diftinction of ranks eftablifhed among them, were reduced to the fame ft ate of abject flavery. With fuch a fpirit and fentiments were hoftilities carried on againfl the cazique of Higuey, a province at the eaftern extremity of the ifland. This war was occafioned by the perfidy of the Spaniards, in violating a treaty which they had made with the natives, and it was terminated by hanging up the cazique, who defended his

people

,

I9B HISTORY OF AMERICA. B.I

people with bravery fo far fuperior to that of his countrymen, as entitled him to a better fate b.

The conduct of Ovando, in another part of the ifland, was ftill more treacherous and cruel. The province anciently named Xaragua, which extends from the fertile plain where Leogane is now fituated, to the weftern extremity of the ifland, was fubject to a female cazique, named Anacoana, highly refpedfced by the natives. She, from that partial fondnefs with which the women of America were attached to the Europeans, (the caufe of which (hall be afterwards ex- plained,) had always courted the friendship of the Spaniards, and loaded them with benefits. But fome of the adherents of Roldan having fettled in her country, were fo much exafperated at her endeavouring to reilrain their excefles, that they accufed her of having formed a plan to throw off the yoke, and to exterminate the Spaniards. Ovando, though he knew well what little credit was due to fuch profligate men, marched, without further inquiry, towards Xaragua, with three hundred foot and feventy horfemen. To prevent the Indians from taking alarm at this holtile appearance, he gave out that his fole intention was to vifit Anacoana, to whom his countrymen had been fo much indebted, in the moll refpectful manner, and to regulate with her the mode of levying the tribute payable tp the king of Spain. Anacoana, in order to re- ceive this illuilrious guefl with due honour, af- fembled the principal men in her dominions, to the number of three hundred, and advancing at * Herrera, dec. x. lib. vi. c. 9, 10.

^S°S'l HISTORY OF AMERICA* I99

ftie headofthefe, accompanied by a great crowd tf perfons of inferior rank, fhe welcomed Ovando with fongs and dances, according to the mode bf the country, and conducted him to the place rf her residence. There he was feafted for fome lays, with all the kindnefs of iimple hofpitality, and amufed with the games and fpectacles ufual imong the Americans upon occafions of mirth md feftivity. But, amidft the fecurity which :his infpired, Ovando was meditating the deftruc- :ion of his unfufpicious entertainer and her fub- ects ; and the mean perfidy with which he exe- cuted this fchemc, equalled his barbarity in Forming it. Under colour of exhibiting to the Indians the parade of an European tournament, :ie advanced with his troops, in battle array, :owards the houfe in which Anacoana and the chiefs who attended her were affembled. The infantry took pofleffion of all the avenues which led to the village. The horfemen encompafled iht houfe. Thefe movements were the object: :>f admiration without any mixture of fear, un- :il, upon a fignal which had been concerted, the Spaniards fuddenly drew their fwords, andrufhed jpon the Indians, defencelefs, and aftonifhed at an act of treachery which exceeded the concep- tion of undefigning men. In a moment Anaco- ana was iecured. All her attendants were feized and bound. Fire was fet to the houfe ; and, without examination or conviction, all thefe un- happy perfons, the moll llluftrious in their own country, were confumed in the flames. Ana- coana was referved for a more ignominious f ate. She was carried in chains to St. Domingo, and, after the formality of a trial before Spanifh vol. j. x judges,

200 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B.III.

judges, fhe was condemned, upon the evidence of thofe very men who had betrayed her, to be publicly hanged c.

Overawed and humbled by this atrocious treat- ment of their princes and nobles, who were ob- jects of their higheft reverence, the people in all the provinces of Hifpaniola fubmitted, with- out farther reiiftance, to the Spanifh yoke. Upon the death of Ifabella, all the regulations tending to mitigate the rigour of their fervitude were forgotten. The fmall gratuity paid to them as the price of their labour was withdrawn ; and at the fame time the tafks impofed upon them were increafed. [1506] Ovando, with- out any rellraint, diftributed Indians among his friends in the ifland. Ferdinand, to whom the queen had left by will one half of the revenue ariiing from the fettlements in the New World, conferred grants of a fimilar nature upon his courtiers, as the lead expenfive mode of reward- ing their fervices. They farmed out the Indians, of . whom they were rendered proprietors, to their countrymen fettled in Hifpaniola ; and that wretched people, being compelled to labour in order to fatisfy the rapacity of both, the exac- tions of their oppreffbrs no longer knew any bounds. But, barbarous as their policy was, and fatal to the inhabitants of Hifpaniola, it produced, for fome time, very conliderable ef- fects. By calling forth the force of a whole nation, and exerting it in one direction, the work ing of the mines was carried on with amazing

c Oviedo, lib. iii. c. iz. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vi. c. 4* Oviedo, lib. iii. c. 12. Relacion de deftruyc. de las Indias, por Bart, de las Caias, p. 8»

rapidity

I506.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 201

rapidity and fuccefs. During feveral years, the gold brought into the royal fmelting-houfes in Hifpaniola amounted annually to four hundred and fixty thoufand pefos, above a hundred thou- If and pounds fterling ; which, if we attend to the .great change in the value of money iince the be- ginning of the fixteenth century to the prefent times, mud appear a confiderable fum. Vafl for- tunes were created, of a fudden, by fome. Others difiipated in oftentatious profufion, what they acquired with facility. Dazzled by both, new adventurers crowded to America, with the moil eager impatience, to (hare in thofe treasures which had enriched their countrymen ; and, notwith- ftanding the mortality occafioned by the un- Ihealthinefs of the climate, the colony continued I to increafe d.

Ovando governed the Spaniards with wifdom andjuftice, not inferior to the rigour with which he treated the Indians. He eftablifhed equal laws, and, by executing them with impartiality, accuftomed the people of the colony to rever- ence them. He founded feveral new towns in [different parts of the ifland, and allured inhabit- ants to them, by the conceflion of various immu-. pities. He endeavoured to turn the attention of ;the Spaniards to fome branch of induftry more jufeful than that of fearching for gold in the ; mines. Some flips of the fugar-cane having been [brought from the Canary iflands by way of ex- periment, they were found to thrive with fuch i increafe in the rich foil and warm climate to which they were tranfplanted, that the cultiva- tion of them foon became an object of commerce.

a Herrera, dec. 1. lib. y\. c. 18, &c.

x 2 Extenfive

202 HISTORY GV AMERICA. B. III.

Extenfive plantations were begun ; fugar-works, which the Spaniards called ingenious , from the various machinery employed in them, were erect- ed, and in a few years the man u failure of this commodity was the great occupation of the in- habitants of Hifpaniola, and the moft confider- able fource of their wealth c.

The prudent endeavours of Ovando, to pro- mote the welfare of the colony, were powerfully feconded by Ferdinand. The large remittances which he received from the New World opened his eyes, at length, with refpec"l to the im- portance of thofe difcoveries, which he had hitherto affected to undervalue. Fortune, and his own addrefs, having now extricated him out of thofe difficulties in which he had been in- volved by the death of his queen [1507], and by his difputes with his fbn-in-law about the government of her dominions f, he had full leifure to turn his attention to the affairs of America. To his provident fagacity, Spain is indebted for many of thofe regulations which gradually formed that fyftem of profound, but jealous policy by which (he governs her dominions in the New World. He erected a court, diftinguifhed by the title of the Cnfa de Contrataciony or Board of Trade, compofed of perfons eminent for rank and abi- lities, to whom he committed the adminiftration of American affairs. This board aflembled re- gularly in Seville, and was inverted with a diftincl: and extenfive jurifdi&ion. He gave a regular form to ecclefiaftical government in America, by nominating archbifhops, bifhops, deans, toge-

e Oviedo, lib. iv. c. 8.

f Hill, of the Reign of Charles V. Yohii. pi 7, Ac.

ther

I5°7'l HISTORY OF AMERICA, 20J

ther with clergymen of fubordinate ranks, to take charge of the Spaniards eftablifhed there, as well as of the natives who mould embrace the Chriftian faith. But, not withltan ding the ob- fequious devotion of the Spanifh court to the papal fee, fuch was Ferdinand's folicitude to prevent any foreign power from claiming juris- diction, or acquiring influence, in his new do- minions, that he referved to the crown of Spain the fole right of patronage to the benefices in America, and ftipulated that no papal bull or mandate mould be promulgated there, until it was previously examined and approved of by his council. With the fame fpirit of jealoufy, he prohibited any goods to be exported to Ame- rica, or any perfon to fettle there, without a fpecial licence from that council g.

But notwithstanding this attention to the police and welfare of the colony, a calamity impended which threatened its diflblution. The original inhabitants, on whofe labour the Spaniards in Hifpaniola depended for their profperity, and even their exiftence, wafted fo faft, that the ex- tinction of the whole race feemed to be inevitable. When Columbus difcovered Hifpaniola, the number of its inhabitants was computed to be at lead a million h. They were now reduced to fixty thoufand in the fpace of fifteen years. This confumption of the human fpecies, no lefa amazing than rapid, was the effecl: of feveral con- curring caufes. The natives of the American iflands were of a more feeble conftitution than the inhabitants of the other hemifphere. They

« Herrera, dec. I. lib. vi. c. 19, 20. * Ibid, dect i« lib. x. c> iz,

x 3 could

1©4 History op America. s. hi.

could neither perform the fame work, nor en- dure the fame fatigue, with men whofe organs were of a more vigorous conformation, Tke liftlefs indolence in which they delighted to pais their days, as it was the effect of their debility, contributed likewife to increafe it, and rendered them, from habit as well as conflitution, inca- pable of hard labour. The food on which they iubfifted afforded little nourifhment, and they Were accuftomed to take it in fmall quantities, not fufficient to invigorate a languid frame, and render it equal to the efforts of active induftry. The Spaniards, without attending to thofe pe- culiarities in the conftitution of the Americans, impofed tafks upon them, which, though not greater than Europeans might have performed with eafe, were fo difproportioned to their ftrength, that many funk under the fatigue, and ended their wretched days. Others, prompted by impatience and defpair, cut fhort their own lives with a violent hand. Famine, brought on by compelling fuch numbers to abandon the cul- ture of their lands, in order to labour in the jhlnes, proved fatal to many. Difeafes of various kinds, fome oCcafioned by the hardships to which they were expofed, and others by their inter- courfe with the Europeans, who communicated fo them fome of their peculiar maladies, com- pleted the defolation of the ifland. The Spaniards being thus deprived of the inftruments which they were accuftomed to employ, found it im- poffible to extend their improvements, or even to carry on" the works which they had already be- gun. [1508] In order to provide an immediate remedy for an evil fo alarming, Ovando pro-

pofed

I^OH.] HISTORY OF AMERICA, 20$

pofcd to tranfport the inhabitants of the Lucayo iflands to Hifpaniola, under pretence that they might be civilized with more Facility, and in- ilru&ed to greater advantage in the Chriltian re- ligion, if they were united to the Spanifh colony, and placed under the immediate inflection of the mifiionaries fettled there. Ferdinand, deceived by this artifice, or willing to connive at an a£l of violence which policy reprefented as necefTary, gave his afient to the propofal. Several veffels were fitted out for the Lucayos, the com- manders of which informed the natives, with whofe language they were now well acquainted, that they came from a delicious country, in which. the departed anceftors of the Indians re- fided, by whom they were fent to invite their defcendants to refort thither, to partake of the blifs enjoyed there by happy fpirits. That fimple people liflened with wonder and credu- lity ; and, fond of vifiting their relations and friends, in that happy region, followed the Spaniards with eagernefs. By this artifice, above forty thoufand were decoyed into Hifpaniola, to fhare in the fufferings which were the lot of the inhabitants of that ifland, and to mingle their groans and tears with thofe of that wretched race of men1.

The Spaniards had, for fome time, carried on their operations in the mines of Hifpaniola with fuch ardour as well as fuccefs, that thefe feemed to have engroffed their whole attention. The fpirit of difcovery languifhed ; and, fince the laft voyage of Columbus, no enterprife of

1 Herrera, dec. I. lib* \lu c. 3* Oviedo, lib. Iii. c. 6* Camara Hill. c. 41*

any

loS HISTORY OF AMERICA, B. III.

ftny moment had been undertaken. But as the decreafe of the Indians rendered it impoffible to acquire wealth in that ifland with the fame ra- pidity as formerly, this urged fome of the more adventurous Spaniards to fearch for new coun- tries, where their avarice might be gratified with more facility. Juan Ponce de Leon, who commanded under Ovando in the eaftern diftrift of Hifpaniola, pafied over to the ifland of St. Juan de Puerto Rico, which Columbus had <lifcovered in his fecond voyage, and penetrated into the interior part of the country. As he found the foil to be fertile, and expected, from fome fymptom8, as well as from the information of the inhabitants, to difcover mines of gold in the mountains, Ovando permitted him to at- tempt making a fettlement in the ifland. This was eafily effected by an officer eminent for con- duel: no lefs than for courage. In a few years Puerto Rico was fubjeclced to the Spaniih go- vernment, the natives were reduced to fervitude ; and, being treated with the fame inconfiderate rigour as their neighbours in Hifpaniola, the race of original inhabitants, worn out with fatigue and fufFerings,. was foon exterminated k,

About the fame time, Juan Diaz de Solis, in conjunction with Vincent Yanez Pinzon, one of Columbus's original companions, made a voyage to the continent. They held the fame courfe which Columbus had takeq, as far as to the ifland of Guanaios ; but, {landing from thence to the well, they discovered a new and extenfive province, afterwards known by the name of

k Heirera, 4ec. i. lib. vii. c. 1—4. Gomara Hift. c. 44. JUlacion de B. de las Cafas, p. iot

Yucatan,

I508.] HISTORY OF AMERICA* 20?"

Yucatan, and proceeded a confiderable way along the coail of that country1. Though nothing memorable occurred in this voyage, it deferves notice, becaufe it led to difcoveries of greater importance. For the fame reafon, the voyage of Sebaftian de Ocampo mull be mentioned. By the command of Ovando, he failed round Cuba, and firft difcovered with certainty, that this country, which Columbus once fuppofed to be a part of the continent, was a large ifland m.

This voyage round Cuba was one of the laft occurrences under the adminiftration of Ovando. Ever fince the death of Columbus, his fon Don Diego had been employed in foliciting Ferdinand to grant him the offices of viceroy and admiral in the New World, together with all the other immunities and profits which defcended to him by inheritance, in confequence of the original capitulation with his father. But if thefe dig- nities and revenues appeared fo confiderable to Ferdinand, that, at the expence of being deemed unjuft as well as ungrateful, he had wrefted them from Columbus, it is not furprifing that he (hould be unwilling to confer them on his fon. Accordingly, Don Diego wafted two years in incefiant but fruitlefs importunity. Weary of this he endeavoured at length to obtain, by a legal fentence, what he could not procure from the favour of an interefted monarch. He com- menced a ;fuit againft Ferdinand before the coun- cil which managed Indian affairs, and that court, with integrity which reflects honour upon its

1 Herrera, dec. T. lib. vi. c. 17. u\ Ibid. dec. i. tyb. .vii. c. 1.

proceed-

208 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

proceedings, decided againft the king, and fuf- tained Don Diego's claim of the viceroyalty, together with all the other privileges ftipulated in the capitulation. Even after this decree, Ferdinand's repugnance to put a fubjecl: in poflefiion of fuch extenfive rights, might have thrown in new obftacles, if Don Diego had not taken a ftep which intereiled very powerful per- fons in the fuccefs of his claims. The fentence of the council of the Indies gave him a title to a rank fo elevated, aud a fortune fo opulent, that he found no difficulty in concluding a marriage with Donna Maria, daughter of Don Ferdinand de Toledo, great commendator of Leon, and brother of the duke of Alva, a nobleman of the firlt rank, and nearly related to the king. The duke and his family efpoufed fo warmly the caufe of their new ally, that Ferdinand could not refill their folicitations, [1509] He recalled Ovando, and appointed Don Diego his fuc- ceflor, though, even in conferring this favour, he could not conceal his jealoufy ; for he al- lowed him to affume only the title of governor, not that of viceroy, which had been adjudged to belong to him n..

Don Diego quickly repaired to Hifpaniola, attended by his brother, his uncles, his wife, whom the courtefy of the Spaniards honoured with the title of vice- queen, and a numerous retinue of perfons of both fexes, born of good families. He lived with a fplendour and magnificence hitherto unknown in the New World ; and the family of Columbus feemecl now to enjoy the honours and rewards due to his inventive genius,

a Henera, dec. i. lib. vii. c. 4, &c.

*5°9-] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 209

of which he himfelf had been cruelly defrauded. The colony itfelf acquired new luitre by the acceflion of fo many inhabitants, of a different rank and character from molt of thofe who had hitherto migrated to America, and many of the moll illuftrious families in the Spanifh fet- tlements are defcended from the perfons who at that time accompanied Don Diego Co- lumb

us

No benefit accrued to the unhappy natives from this change of governors. Don Diego was not only authorized by a royal edicl: to con- tinue the repartimientos, or diitrib.ution of Indians, but the particular number which he might grant to every perfon, according to his rank in the colony, was fpecified. He availed himfelf of that permiflion, and foon after he landed at St. Domingo, he divided fuch Indians as were ftill unappropriated, among his relations and attendants p.

The next care of the new governor was to comply with an inflru&ion which he received from the king, about fettling a colony in Cu- bagua, a fmall ifland which Columbus had dis- covered in his third voyage. Though this bar- ren fpot hardly yielded fubfiftence to its wretched inhabitants, fuch quantities of thofe oyfters which produce pearls were found on its coaft, that it did not long efcape the inquifitive avarice of the Spaniards> and became a place of con- fiderable refort. Large fortunes were acquired by the fifhery of pearls, which was carried on with extraordinary ardour. The Indians, ef-

° Oviedo, lib. iii. c. t. P Recopilacion de Leycs,

lib, vi. tit. S. 1. i, 2. Herrera, dec, i. lib. vii. c. io

pecially

5JO HLSTORV OF AMERICA. E. !II>

pecially thofe from the Lucayo iflands, were compelled to dive for them ; and this dangerous and unhealthy employment was an additional calamity, which contributed not a little to the extinction of that devoted race 3.

About this period, Juan Diaz de Solis and Pinzon fet out, in conjunction, upon a fecond voyage. They flood directly fouth, towards the equinoctial line, which Pinzon had formerly crofled, and advanced as far as the fortieth de- gree of fouthern latitude. They were aflonifhed to find that the continent of America flretched on their right hand, through all this vail ex- tent of ocean. They landed in different places, to take pofTeflion in name of their fovereign ; but though the country appeared to be extremely fertile and inviting, their force was fo fmall, having been fitted out rather for difcovery than making fettlements, that they left no colony be- hind them. Their voyage ferved, however, to give the Spaniards more exalted and adequate ideas with refpect to the dimenfions of this new quarter of the globe r.

Though it was about ten years finee Co- lumbus had discovered the main land of Ame- rica, the Spaniards had hitherto made no fet- tlement in any part of it. What had been fo long neglected was now ferioufly attempted, and with considerable vigour, though the plan for this purpofe was neither formed by the crown, nor executed at the expence of the nation, but carried on by the enterprifing fpirit of private adventurers. This fcheme took its rife from

3 Herrera, dec. I. Jib. vii. c. 9. Gomara Hift. c. 78. 'Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vii. c. 9.

Alonfo

I569O HISTORY OF AMERICA. fit

Alonfo de Ojeda, who had already made two Voyages as a difcoverer, by which he acquired Confiderable reputation, but no wealth. But his character for intrepidity and conduct eafily procured him affociates, who advanced the mo- ney requifite to defray the charges of the expe- dition. About the fame time, Diego de Nicu- effa, who had acquired a large fortune in Hif- paniola, formed a fimilar defign. Ferdinand en- couraged both ; and though he refufed to ad- vance the fmalleft fum, was extremely liberal of titles and patents. He erecled two govern- ments on the continent, one extending from Cape de Vela to the gulf of Darien, and the other from that to Cape Gracias a Dros, The former was given to Ojeda, the latter to' Nicu- effa. Ojeda fitted out a fhip and two brigan- tines, with three hundred men ; NicuefTa, fix veffels, with feven hundred and eighty men. They failed about the fame time from St. Do- mingo for their rcfpe£fcive governments. In order to give their title to thofe countries fome appearance of validity, feveral of the moil emi-

inent divines and lawyers in Spain were employed to prefcribe the mode in which they mould take poifeffion of them s. There is not in the hiftory of mankind any thing more lingular or extra- vagant than the form which they devifed for this purpofe. They inftru&ed thofe invaders, as foon as they landed on the continent, to de- clare to the natives the principal articles of the' Chriilian faith ; to acquaint them, in particular, with the fupreme jurifdiction of the pope over all the kingdoms of the earth ; to inform them 8 Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vn. c. 15, VOL. I. X of

21Z KISTORV OF AMERICA. 1\. Ill,

of the grant which this holy pontiff had made of their country to the king of Spain ; to re- quire them to embrace the doctrines of that reli- gion which the Spaniards made known to them my and to fubmit to the fovereign whofe authority they proclaimed. If the natives refufed to com- ply with this requifition, the terms of which muft have been utterly incomprehenfible to un- inflructed Indians, then Ojeda and NicuefTa were authorifed to attack them with fire and fword ; to reduce them, their wives and children, to a Hate of fervitude ; and to compel them by force to recognize the jurifdi&ion of the church, and the authority of the monarch, to which they would not voluntarily fubjecl: themfelves*.

As the inhabitants of the continent could not at once yield affent to doctrines too refined for their uncultivated underflandings, and explained to them by interpreters imperfedly acquainted with their language ; as they did not conceive how a foreign prielt, of whom they had never heard, could have any right to difpofe of their country, or how an unknown prince mould claim juriidiction over them as his fubjects; they fiercely oppoftd the new invaders of their terri- tories. Ojeda and NicuefTa endeavoured to effect by force what they could not accomplifh by per- fuafion. The contemporary writers enter into a very minute detail in relating their tranfa&ions ; but as they made no difcovery of importance, nor eflablifhed any permanent fettlement, their adventures are not entitled to any coniiderable place in the general hiftory of a period, where Tomuntic valour, flruggling with incredible

1 See Not* XXIII.

hard-

f5°9*l HISTORY OF AMERICA. fclj

hardfhips, diflinguifh every effort of the Spanifh arms. They found the natives in thofe coun- tries of which they went to alTume the govern- ment, to be of a character very different from that of their countrymen in the iflands. They were fierce and warlike. Their arrows were dipped in a poifon fo noxious, that every wound was followed with certain death. In one en- counter they flew above feventy of Ojeda's fol- lowers, and the Spaniards, for the firft time, were taught to dread the inhabitants of the New World. NicuelTa was oppofed by people equally refolute in defence of their poiTeffions. Nothing could foften their ferocity. Though the Spa- niards employed every art to footh them, and to gain their confidence, they rcfufed to hold any intercourse, or to exchange any friendly office, with men whofe refidencc among them they coniidered as fatal to their liberty and in- dependence. [1510] This implacable enmity of the natives, though it rendered an attempt to eftablifh a fettlement in their country extremely difficult as well as dangerous, might have been furmounted at length by the perfeverance of the Spaniards, by the fuperiority of their arms, and their fkill in the art of war. But every difafter which can be accumulated upon the unfortunate, combined to complete their ruin. The lofs of their fhips by various accidents upon an unknown coaft, the difeafes peculiar to a climate the molt noxious in all America, the want of provifions, unavoidable in a country imperfectly cultivated, diiTenfion among themfelves, and the incelTant hoitilities of the natives, involved them in a fuc- ceilion of calamities, the bare recital of which y 2 itrikes

214 HISTORY OF AMERICA, B. III?

ilrikes one with horror. Though they received two confiderable reinforcements from Hifpaniola, the greater part of thofe who had engaged in this unhappy expedition, perifhed, in lefs than a year, in the moll extreme mifery. A few who furvived, fettled as a feeble colony at Santa Maria el Antigua, on the gulf of Darien, under the command of Vafco Nugnez de Balboa, who, in the moll defperate exigencies, difplayed fuch courage and conduct, as firft gained the confi- dence of his countrymen, and marked him out as their leader in more fplendid and fuccefsful un- dertakings. Nor was he the only adventurer in this expedition who will appear with luftre irj more important fcenes. Francifco Pizarrp was one of Ojeda's companions, and in this fchool of adverfity acquired or jmproved the talents which fitted him for the extraordinary actions which he, afterwards performed. Hernan Cortes, whofe name became Hill more famous, had likewife en- gaged early in this enterprife, which roufed all the active youth of Hifpaniola to arms ; but the good fortune that accompanied him in his fubfequent adventures? interpofed to fave him from the diftafters to which his companions were expofed. fie was taken ill at St. Domingo be- fore the departure of the fleet, and detained there by a tedious indifpofition u.

Notwithstanding the unfortunate ifTue of this expedition, the Spaniards were not deterred from engaging in new fchemes of a fimilar nature. When wealth is acquired gradually by the per-

« Herrer2, dec. I. lib. vii. c. n, &c. Gomara Hift. c 57> 5S> 59* Benzon Hift. lib. i. cap. 19— 23. P. Martyr, tjecad. 122.

fevering

I5I0.] HISTORY OF AMERICA* 2I£

fevering hand of induftry, or accumulated by the flow operations of regular commerce, the means employed are fo proportioned to the end attain- ed, that there is nothing to ftrike the imagina- tion, and little to urge on the active powers of the mind to uncommon efforts. But when large fortunes were created almoft inflantaneoufly ; when gold and pearls were procured in exchange for baubles ; when the countries which produced thefe rich commodities* defended only by naked favages, might be feized by the firft bold invader ; objects fo lingular and alluring, roufed a wonder- ful fpirit of enterprife among the Spaniards, who rivfhed with ardour into this new path that was opened to wealth and diliinclion. While this fpirit continued warm and vigorous, eveiy at- tempt either towards difcovery or conqueft was applauded, and adventurers engaged in it with emulation. The paffion for new undertakings, which chara&erifes the age of difcovery in the latter part of the fifteenth and beginning of the Sixteenth century, would alone have been fuffi- cient to prevent the Spaniards from flopping fhort in their career- But circumstances peculiar to Hifpaniola at this juncture, concurred with it in extending their navigation and conquefls. The rigorous treatment of the inhabitants of that ifland having almoft extirpated the race, many of the Spanifh planters, as I have already ob- served, finding it impoflible to carry on their works with the fame vigour and profit, were obliged to look out for fettlements in fomc country where people were not yet wafted by oppreffion. Others, with the inconfiderate levity natural to men upon whom wealth pours in with y 3 a fud-

2l6 H?8T0RY OF AMERICA. B. UU

a fudden flow, had fquandered in thoughtlefs prodigality, what they acquired with eafe, and were driven by neceffity to embark in the moil defperate fchemes, in order to retrieve their affairs. From $11 thefe caufes, when Don Diego Colum- bus prppofed [15U] to conquer the ifland of Cu- ba, and to eftablilh a colony there, many perfons of- chief distinction in Hifpaniola engaged with ala- crity in the meafure. He gave the command of the troops deftined for that fervice to Diego Velaf- cruez, one of his father's companions in his fe- cond voyage, and who, having been long fettled in Hifpaniola, had acquired an ample fortune, with fuch reputation for probity and prudence, that he feemed to be well qualified for conduct- ing an expedition of importance. Three hundred men were deemed fufficient for the conqueft of an ifland of above feven hundred miles in length, and filled with inhabitants. But they were of the fame unwarlike character with the people of Hifpaniola. They were not only intimidated by the appearance of their new enemies, but un- prepared to refift them. For though, from the time that the Spaniards took poffeilion of the adjacent ifland, there was reafon to expect a defcent on their territories, none of the fmall communities into which Cuba was divided, had cither made any proviiion for its own defence, or had formed any concert for their common fafety. The only obftruction the Spaniards met with was. from Hatuey, a cazique, who had fled from Hif* paniola, and had taken poiTeifion of the eallern extremity of Cuba. He flood upon the defenfive at their firit landing, and endeavoured to drive them back to their fhips. His feeble troops,

however^

)$H.'] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 217

Jiowever, were foon broken and difperfed ; and, he himfelf being taken prifoner, Velafquez, according to the barbarous maxim of the Spa- niards, coniidered him as a flave who had taken arms againil his mailer, and condemned him to the flames. When Hatuey was fattened to the flake, a Francifcan friar labouring to convert him, promifed him immediate admittance into the joys of heaven, if he would embrace the Chriftian faith, " Are there any Spaniards," fays he, after fome paufe, " in that region of " blifs which you defcribe ?" — " Yes," replied the monk, " but only fuch as are worthy an4 " good." — " The bell of them," returned the indignant cazique, " have neither worth nor i* goodnefs 5 I will not go to a place where I " may meet with one of that accurfed racex." This dreadful example of vengeance flruck the people of Cuba with fuch terror, that they fcarcely gave any oppqfition to the progrefs of their invaders ; and Velafauez, without the lofs of a man, annexed this extfcnfive and fertile iiland to the Spanifh monarchy -y.

The facility with which this important conquefl was completed, ferved as an incitement to other undertakings. Juan Ponce de Leon, having acquired both fame and wealth by the reduction of Puerto Rico, was impatient to engage in fome new enterprife. He fitted outthree mips at his own expence, for a voyage of difcovery [i5i2]]> ancj Jris reputation foon drew together a refpe&able body of followers. He directed his courfe towards the Lucayo iflands ; and after touching at feveral

x B. delas Cafas, p. 40. y Herrera, dec. J* lib. i*.

p. 2> 3> &c. OviedQ, lib, xvii. c« 3. j>. 1751.

Of

2 IS HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

of them, as well as of the Bahama ifles, he flood to the fouth-weft, and difcovered a country hi- therto unknown to the Spaniards, which he called Florida, either becaufe he fell in with it on Palm Sunday, or on account of its gay and beautiful appearance. He attempted to land in different places, but met with fuch vigorous oppofition from the natives, who were fierce and warlike, as convinced him that an increafe of force was requiiite to effect a fettlement. Satisfied with having opened a communication with a new country, of whofe value and importance he con- ceived very fanguine hopes, he returned to Puerto Rico, through the channel now known by the name of the Gulf of Florida.

It was not merely the paffion of fearching for new countries that prompted Ponce de Leon to undertake this voyage r he was influenced by one of thofe vilionary ideas, which at that time often mingled with the fpirit of difcovery, and rendered it more active. A *adition prevailed among the natives of Puerto Rico, that in the ifle of Bimini, one of the Lucayos, there was a fountain of fuch wonderful virtue as to renew the youth, and recal thevvigour of every perfon who bathed in its falutary waters. In hopes of finding this grand reftorative, Ponce de Leon and his follow- ers ranged through the iflands, fearching, with fruitlefs folicitude and labour, for the fountain, which was the chief object of their expedition. That a tale fo fabulous fhould gain credit among fimple uninflru&ed Indians is not furprifmg. That it fhould make any impreflion upon art enlightened people appears, in the prefent age, altogether incredible. The fad, however, is

certain ;

i;i2.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 2ig,

certain ; and the moll authentic Spanifh hiflor rians mention this extravagant fally of their cre- dulous countrymen. The Spaniards, at that period, were engaged in a career of adhyity .which gave a romantic turn to their imagination, and daily prefentcd to them Grange and marvel- lous objedts, A New World was opened to their yiew. They vifited iflands and continents, of whofe exiftence mankind in former ages had no conception. In thofe delightful countries nature feemed to affume another form : every tree and plant and animal was different from thofe of the ancient hemifphere. They feemed to be trank ported into enchanted ground ; and, after the wonders which they had feen, nothing, in the warmth and novelty of their admiration, appeared to them fo extraordinary as. to be beyond belief. Jf the rapid fucceffion of new and {hiking fcenes made fuch impreffion even upon the found undemanding of Columbus, that he bpafted of having found the feat of Paradife, it will not ap* pear itrange that Ponce de Leon mould dream of difcovering the fountain of youth ?.

Soon after the expedition to Florida, a dis- covery of much greater importance was made in another part of America. Balboa having been raifed to the government of the fmall colony at Santa Maria in Darien, by the voluntary fuf- frage of his affociatesa was fo extremely defirous to obtain from the crown a confirmation of their cledion, that he difpatched one of his officers

■ P. Martyr, decad. p. 202. Enfayo Chronol. para la Hift. de la Florida, por D. Gab. Cardenas, p. 1. Oviedo, lib. xvl. c. 11. Herrera, dec. I. lib. ix. 0 Ji Hift. de I4 Conq. de la Florida, par Garc. de la Vega, lib. i. c. 3.

18

220 HISTORY OF AMERICA. b. IIT.

to Spain^ in order to folicit a royal commiffion, which might mveft him with a legal title to the fupreme command. Confcious, however, that he could not exped fuccefs from the patronage or Ferdinand's minifters, with whom he was un- conne&ed, or from negociating in a court to the arts of which he was a ltranger, he endeavoured to merit the dignity to which he afpired, and aimed at performing fome fignal fervice that would fecure him the preference to every com- petitor. Full of this idea, he made frequent in- roads into the adjacent country, fubdued feveral of the caziques, and colle&ed a confiderable quantity of gold, which abounded more in that part of the continent than in the iflands. In one of thofe excurfions, the Spaniards contended with iuch eagernefs about the diviiion of fome gold, that they were at the point of proceeding to ads of violence againftone another. A young cazique, who was prefent, aftonifhed at the high value which they fet upon a thing of which he did not dilcern the ufc, tumbled the gold out of the balance with indignation; and, turning to the Spaniards, " Why do you quarrel (lays he) about fuch a trifle i If you are fo paffionately fond of gold, as to abandon your own country, and to difturb the tranquillity of diftant nations for its fake, I will condud you to a region where the metal which feems to be the chief objed of your admiration and defire, is fo com- mon that the meaneft utenfils are formed of it**' Tranfported with what they heard, Balboa and his companions inquired eagerly where this happy country lay, and how they might arrive at it. He informed them that at the diftance

of

I5T2-3 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 22T

of fix fans, that is of fix days journey towards the fou th, they fhould difcover another ocean, near to which this wealthy kingdom was fit u- ated ; but if they intended to attack that power- ful Hate, they mull affemble forces far fuperior in number and llrength to thofe with which they now appeared a.

This was the iirft information which the Spa- niards received concerning the great fouthern ocean, or the opulent and exteniive country known afterwards by the name of Peru. Balboa had now before him objects fuited to his bound- lefs ambition, and the enterprifing ardour of his genius. He immediately concluded the ocean which the cazique mentioned, to be that for which Columbus had fearched without fuccefs in this part of America, in hopes of opening a more direct communication with the Earl Indies ; and he conjectured that the rich territory which had been defcribed to him, mull be part of that van; and opulent region of the earth. Elated with the idea of performing what fo great a man had attempted in vain ; and eager to accomplifh a difcovery which he knew would be no lefs ac- ceptable to the king than beneficial to his country, lie was impatient until he could fet out upon this enterprife, in comparifon of which all his former exploits appeared inconfiderable. But previous arrangement and preparation were re- quiiite to enfure fuccefs. He began with court- ing and fecuring the friendfhip of the neighbour- ing caziques. He fent fome of his officers to Hifpaniola with a large quantity of gold, as a

a Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ix. c. 2. Gomara, c. 60. P. Martyr, decad. p. 149.

proof

222 HISTORY OT AMERICA. TS. lit.'

proof of his pall fuccefs, and an earneft of his fu- ture hopes. By a proper dillribution of this, they fecured the favour of the governor, and allured volunteers into the fervice. A confider- able reinforcement from that ifland joined him, and he thought himfelf in a condition to attempt the difcovery.

The ifthmus of Darien is not above fixty miles in breadth ; but this neck of land, which binds together the continents of North and South America, is flrengthened by a chain of lofty mountains ftretching through its whole extent, which render it a barrier of folidity fufficient to refill the impulfe of two oppofite oceans. The mountains are covered with forefts almoft inac- ceffible. The valleys in that moift climate, where it rains during two-thirds of the year, arc marfhy, and fo frequently overflowed, that the inhabitants find it neceffary, in many places, to build their houfes upon trees, in order to be elevated at fome diftance from the damp foil, and the odious reptiles engendered in the putrid waters b. Large rivers rufh down with an inw petuous current from the high grounds. In a* region thinly inhabited by wandering favages,- the hand of induftry had done nothing to miti- gate or correcl: thofe natural difadvantages. To march acrofs this unexplored country, with-no other guides but Indians, whofe fidelity could be little trufled, was, on all thofe accounts, the boldelt enterprife on which the Spaniards had hitherto ventured in the New World. But the intrepidity of Balboa was fuch as diftinguifhed him among his countrymen, at a period when every adven-

5 P. Martyr, decad. p. 158,

turer

I513.] HISTOfcV OF AMERICA. 21%

turer was confpicuous for daring courage [1513]. Nor was bravery his only merit ; he was prudent in conduct, generous, affable, and poffeffed of thofe popular talents which, in the moll defperate undertakings, infpire confidence and fecure at- tachment. Even after the junction of the vo- lunteers from Hifpaniola, he was able to mufter only an hundred and ninety men for his expe- dition. But they were hardy veterans, inured to the climate of America, and ready to follow him through every danger. A thoufand Indians attended them to carry their provifions ; and to complete their warlike array, they took with them feveral of thofe fierce dogs, which were no lefs formidable than destructive to their naked enemies.

Balboa fet out upon this important expedition en the firft of September, about the time that the periodical rains began to abate. He pro- ceeded by fea, and without any difficulty, to the territories of a cazique whofe friendship he had gained ; but no fooner did he begin to advance into the interior part of the country, than he was retarded by every obilacle, which he had reafon to apprehend, from the nature of the territory, or the difpofition of its inhabitants. Some of the caziques, at his approach, fied td the mountains with all their people, and carried off or deftroyed whatever could afford fubfiftence to his troops. Others collected their fubjectd, in order to oppofe his progrefs, and lie quickly perceived what an arduous undertaking it was, to conduct fuch a body of men through hoftile nations, acrofs fwamps and rivers, and woods, which had never been paffed but by ftraggliag

vol. 1. % Indians*

224 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. Ill*

Indians. But by {haring in every hardfhip with the meanefl foldier, by appearing the foremoft to meet every danger, by promifing confidently to his troops the enjoyment of honour and riches fuperior to what had been attained by the moft fuccefsful of their countrymen, he infpired them with fuch enthuiiaftic refolution, that they fol- lowed him without murmuring. When they had penetrated a good way into the mountains, a powerful cazique appeared in a narrow pafs, with a numerous body of his fubje&s, to obftruft their progrefs. But men who had furmounted fo many ob (lacks, defpifed the oppofition of fucji feeble enemies. They attacked them with impe- tuofity, and having difperfed them with much eafe and great (laughter, continued their march. Though their guides had reprefented the breadth of the ilthmus to be only a journey of fix days, they had already fpent twenty-five in forcing their way through the woods and mountains. Many of them were ready to fink under fuch uninterrupted fatigue in that fultry climate, feveral were taken ill of the dyfentery and other difeafes frequent in that country, and all became impatient to reach the period of their labours an< fufferings. ' At length the Indians aiTured them, that from the top of the next mountain they mould difcover the ocean which was the object of their wifhes. When, with infinite toil, they had climbed up the greater part of that ileep afcent, Balboa commanded his men to halt, anc advanced alone to the fummit, that he might be the firft who fhould enjoy a fpe&acle which he had fo long defired. As foon as he beheld th

o — — " --„_— _ — _

South Sea ftretching in endlefs profpect below

him.

Vol I fOffC 2?A '.

Tui>ty?icdrd?fiij0oj, bt> CadM &JPavic*r, Straw/ .

J5I3O HISTORY OF AMERICA. 225

him, he fell on his knees, and lifting up his hands to Heaven, returned thanks to God, who had conducted him to a difcovery fo beneficial to his country, and fo honourable to himfelf. His followers, obferving his tranfports of joy, ruOied forward to join in his wonder, exultation, and gratitude. They held on their courfe to the ihore with great alacrity, when Balboa advancing up to the middle in the waves with his buckler and fword, took poflefTion of that ocean in the name of the king his mailer, and vowed to defend it, with thefe arms, againft all his enemies c.

That part of the great Pacific or Southern Ocean, which Balboa firft difcovered, Hill retains the name of the Gulf of St. Michael, which he gave to it, and is fituated to the eafl of Panama. From feveral of the petty princes, who governed in the diitric~T.s adjacent to that gulf, he extorted provifions and gold by force of arms. Others fent them to him voluntarily. To thefe accept- able prefents, fome of the caziques added a confiderable quantity of pearls ; and he learned from them, with much fatisfaclion, that pearl oyfters abounded in the fea which he had newly difcovered.

Together with the acquisition of this wealth, which fcrved to footh and encourage his follow- ers, he received accounts which confirmed his fanguine hopes of future and more extenfive bene* fits from the expedition. All the people on the coaft of the South Sea concurred in informing him that there was a mighty and opulent king-

c Herrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. 1, &c. Gomaia, c. 62, &c. P.Maitvr, dccad. p. 205, &c.

% z dom

22$ HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

dom fituated at a confiderable diftance towards the fouth-ealt, the inhabitants of which had tame animals to carry their burdens. In order to give the Spaniards an idea of thefe, they drew upon the fand the figure of the Llamas or fheep, afterwards found in Peru, which the Peruvians had taught to perform fuch fervices as they defcribed. As the Llama, in its form, nearly refembles a, camel, a beait of burden deemed peculiar to Afia, this circumitance, in conjunction with the difcovery of the pearls, an- other noted production of that country, tended to confirm the Spaniards in their miitaken theory with refpecl: to the vicinity of the New World to the Eait Indies d.

But though the information which Balboa received from the people on the coaft? as well as his own conjectures and hopes, rendered him extremely impatient to vifit this unknown coun- try, his prudence retrained him from attempt- ing to invade it with an handful of men, ex- haufted by fatigue, and weakened by difeafes e. He determined to lead back his followers, at pre- fent, to their fettlement at Santa Maria in Darien, and to return next feafon with a force more ade- quate to fuch an arduous enterprife. In order to acquire a more extenftve knowledge of the iilhmus, he marched back by a different route, which he found to be no lefs dangerous and difficult than that which he had formerly taken. But to men elated with fuccefs, and animated with hope, nothing is in furmoun table. Balboa ^turned to Santa Maria [15 14], from which he Jiad been abfent four months, with greater glory

? Herrera, dec. 1. lib. 10. c, 2. 3 See Note XXIV.

and

1514'] HISTORY 0£ AMERICA. 22J

and more treafure than the Spaniards had acquired in any expedition in the New World. None of Balboa's officers diftinguifhed themlelves more in this fervice than Francifco Pizarro, or aflllted with greater courage and ardour in opening a communication with thofe countries, in which he was deftined to act foon a moll illullrious part f.

Balboa's firft care was to fend information to Spain of the important difcovery wliich he had made ; and to demand a reinforcement of a thou- fand men, in order to attempt the conqueft of that opulent country, concerning which he had received fuch inviting intelligence. The firft account of the difcovery of the New World hardly occafioned greater joy, than the unex- pected tidings that a paffage was at laft found to the great Southern Ocean. The communication with the Eaft Indies, by a courfe to the weftward of the line of demarcation, drawn by the pope, feemed now to be certain. The vaft wealth which flowed into Portugal from its fettlements and conquefts in that country, excited the envy and called forth the emulation of other ftates. Ferdinand hoped now to come in for a (hare in this lucrative commerce, and in his eagernefs to obtain it, was willing to make an effort beyond what Balboa required. But even in this exertion, his jealous policy, as well as the fatal antipathy of Fonfeca, now bifhop of Burgos, to every man of merit who diftinguifhed himftlf in the New World, were confpicuous. Notwithftanding Balboa's recent fervices, which marked him out

f Herrera, dec. I. lib. x. c4 3—6. Gomara, c. 64. P. Martyr, dec. p. 229, &c.

1$ as

%%% HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. Hit

as the mod proper perfon to finifh that great undertaking which he had begun, Ferdinand was fo ungenerous as to overlook thefe, and to ap- point Pedrarias Davila governor of Darien. He gave him the command of fifteen flout veflels, and twelve hundred foldiers. Thefe were fitted put at the public expence, with a liberality which Ferdinand had never difplayed in any former armament deftined for the New World ; and fuch was the ardour of the Spaniih gentlemen to follow a leader who was about to conduct them to a country, where, as fame reported, they had only to throw their nets into the fea and draw put gold s, that fifteen hundred embarked on board the fleet, and if they had not been re- Grained, a much greater number would have en- gaged in the fervice h.

Pedrarias reached the gulf of Darien without any remarkable accident, and immediately fent fome of his principal officers afhore to inform Balboa of his arrival, with the king's commiffion, to be governor of the colony. To their altonifh- ment, they found Balboa, of whole great ex* ploits they had heard fo much, and of whofe opulence, they had formed fuch high ideas, clad in a canvas jacket, and wearing coarfe hempen fandals ufed only by the meaneft peafants, em- ployed, together with fome Indians, \n thatching his own hut with reeds. Even in this fimple garb, which correfponded fo ill with the ex* pe&ations and wifhes of his new guefts, Balboa received them with dignity. The fame of his difcpveries had drawn fo many adventurers from

* Herrera, dec. I. lib. x. c. 14. h J bid. dec. j. lib. x. €, 6, 7. P. Martyr, dec. p. 177. 296,

the

Iyl^B HTSTORY OF AMERICA. 22£

the iflands, that he could now mufter four hun- dred and fifty men. At the head of thofe daring veterans, he was more than a match for the forces which Pedrarias brought with him. But though his troops murmured loudly at the injuftice of the king in fuperfeding their commander, and complained that Grangers would now reap the fruits of their toil and iuccefs, Balboa fubmitted with implicit obedience to the will of his fove- reign, and received Pedrarias with all the defer- ence due to his character K

Notwithstanding this moderation, to which Pedrarias owed the peaceable porTefiion of his government, he appointed a judicial inquiry to be made into Balboa's conduct, while under the command of NicuefTa, and impofed a confiderable fine upon him, on account of the irregularities of which he had then been guilty. Balboa felt fenfibly the mortification of being fubjected to trial and to punifhment in a place where he had fo lately occupied the firft itation. Pedrarias could not conceal his jealoufy of his fuperior merit ; fo that the refentment of the one, and the envy of the other, gave rife to diffenfions extremely detrimental to the colony. It was threatened with a calamity flill more fatal. Pe- drarias had landed in Darien at a moll unlucky time of the year [July], about the middle of the rainy feafon, in* that part of the torrid zone where the clouds pour down fuch torrents as are unknown in more temperate climates k. The village of Santa Maria was feated in a rich plain, environed with marfhes and woods. The con-*

* Herrera, dec. l. lib. x. c. 13, 14. * Richard Hift. Nsuurelle de TAir, torn, i, p. $04.

ftitutioi^

2JO HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

ftitution of Europeans was unable to withftand the pellilential influence of fuch a fituation, in a climate naturally fo noxious, and at a feafon fo peculiarly unhealthy. A violent and deftructive malady carried off many of the foldiers who accompanied Pedrarias. An extreme fcarcity of provifions augmented this diftrefs, as it rendered it impoflible to find proper refrefhment for the fick, or the necefTary fuftenance for the healthy K In the fpace of a month, above fix hundred per- fons periihed in the utmoll mifery. Dejection and defpair fpread through the colony. Many principal perfons folicited their difmiilion, and were glad to relinquifh all their hopes of wealth, in order to efcape from that pernicious region. Pedrarias endeavoured to divert thofe who re- mained from brooding over their misfortunes, by finding them employment. With this view, he fent feveral detachments into the interior parts of the country, to levy gold among the natives, and to fearch for the mines in which it was produced. Thofe rapacious adventurers, more attentive to prefent gain than to the means of faci- litating their future progrefs, plundered without diftindlion wherever they marched. Regardlefs of the alliances which Balboa had made with feveral of the caziques, they llripped them of every thing valuable, and treated them, as well as their fubje&s, with the utmoil infolence and cruelty. By their tyranny and exactions, which Pedrarias, either from want of authority or of inclination, did not reftrain, all the country from the gulf of Darien to the lake of Nicaragua was defolated, and the Spaniards were incon-

1 Herrera, dec. i. lib.x. c. 14. P. Martyr, dec. p. 272.

fiderately

I514O HISTORY OF AMERICA. 23I

fiderately deprived of the advantages which they might have derived from the friendfhip of the natives, in extending their conquefls to the South Sea. Balboa, who faw with concern that fuch ill-judged proceedings retarded the execu- tion of his favourite {cheme, fent violent remon- fcrances to Spain againfl the imprudent govern- ment of Pedrarias, which had ruined a happy and flourifhing .colony. Pedrarias, on the other hand, accufed him of having deceived the king, by magnifying his own exploits, as well as by a falfe reprefentation of the opulence and value of the country m.

Ferdinand became fenfible at length of his imprudence in fuperfeding the moft active and experienced officer he had in the New World, and, by way of compenfation to Balboa, ap- pointed him adelantado, or lieutenant-governor of the countries upon the South Sea, with very extenfive privileges and authority. At the fame time he enjoined Pedrarias to fupport Balboa in all his operations, and to confnlt with him con- cerning every meafure which he himfelf purfued. [15 15] But to effect fuch a fudden tranlition from inveterate enmity to perfect confidence, exceeded Ferdinand's power. Pedrarias con- tinued to treat his rival with neglect ; and Bal- boa's fortune being exhaufted by the payment of his fine, and other exactions of Pedrarias, he could not make fuitable preparations for taking pofleflion of his new government. At lengthy by the interpolation and exhortations of the bifhop

m Kerrera, dec. I. lib. x. c. 15. dec. 2. c. 1, &c. Comara, c. 66. P. Martyr, dec. 3. c. 10. Kelacion «c £. .de las Cafas, p. 12.

2$Z HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

of Darien, they were brought to a reconciliation; and, in order to cement this union more firmly, Pedrarias agreed to give his daughter in marriage to Balboa. [15 16] The firft effed of their concord was, that Balboa was permitted to make feveral fmall incurfions into the country. Thefe he conducted with fuch prudence, as added to the reputation which he had already acquired. Many adventurers reforted to him, and, with the countenance and aid of Pedrarias, he began to prepare for his expedition to the South Sea. In order to accomplifh this, it was necefTary to build vefTels capable of conveying his troops to thofe provinces which he purpofed to invade. [15 1 7] After furmounting many obftacles, and enduring a variety of thofe hardmips which were the portion of the conquerors of America, he at length flnifhed four fmali brigantines. In thefe, with three hundred chofen men, a force fuperior to that with which Pizarro afterwards undertook the fame expedition, he was ready to fail towards Peru, when he received an unex- pected meflage from Pedrarias n. As his recon- ciliation with Balboa had never been cordial, the progrefs which his fon-in-law was making revived his ancient enmity, and added to its rancour. He dreaded the profperity and elevation of a man whom he had injured fo deeply, He ful- pe&ed that fuccefs would encourage him to aim at independence upon his jurifdi6tion ; and fo violently did the paflions of hatred, fear, and jealoufy operate upon his mind, that, in order to gratify his vengeance, he fcrupled not to defeat an enterprife of the greateft moment to his _w Herrera, dec. 2. lib. i. c. 3. Jib. ii. c. 11. 13. 21.

country.

I517*3 HISTORY OF AMERICA* 233

country. Under pretexts which were falfe, but plaufible, he defired Balboa to poflpone his voyage for a fhort time, and to repair to Acla, in order that he might have an interview with him. Balboa, with the unfufpicious confidence of a man confcious of no crime, inftantly obeyed the fummons ; but as foon as he entered the place, he was arretted by order of Pedrarias, whole im- patience to fatiate his revenge did not fuffer him to languifh long in confinement. Judges were immediately appointed to proceed to his trial. An accufation of dilloyalty to the king, and of an intention to revolt againil the governor, was preferred againft him. Sentence of death was pronounced ; and though the judges who paffed it, feconded by the whole colony, interceded warmly for his pardon, Pedrarias continued in- exorable ; and the Spaniards beheld, with afto- nifhment and forrow, the public execution of a man whom they univerfally deemed more ca- pable than any who had borne command in America, of forming and accomplifhing great defigns °. Upon his death, the expedition which he had planned was relinquished. Pedrarias, not- withftanding the violence and injuftice of his pro- ceedings, was not only fcreened from punifhment by the powerful patronage of the bifliop of Burgos and other courtiers, but continued in power. Soon after, he obtained permiflion to remove the colony from its unwholefome flation of Santa Maria to Panama, on the oppofite fide of the ifthmus ; and though it did not gain much in point of healthfulnefs by the change, the commodious fituation of this new fettle*

tt Herrera, dec. 2, lib. ii. c. 21, 22.

ment

234 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. in,

inent contributed greatly to facilitate the fubfe- quent conquefts of the Spaniards in the ex- tenfive countries iituated upon the Southern Ocean P.

During thefe tranfa&ions in Darien ["15 15], the hiftory of which it was proper to carry on ia an uninterrupted tenour, feveral important events occurred with refpect to the difcovery, "the con- quell, and government, of other provinces in the New World. Ferdinand was fo intent upon opening a communication with the Molucca or Spice Iflands by the welt, that, in the year one thoufand five hundred and fifteen, he fitted out two (hips at his own expence, in order to at- tempt fuch a voyage, and gave the command of them to £ian Diaz de Solis* who was deemed one of the mod ikilful navigators ia Spain. He Hood along the coail of South America, and on the firft of January one thou- fand dwe hundred and fixteen, entered a river which he called Janeiro, where an extenfivc commerce is now carried on.- From thence he proceeded to a fpacious bay, which he fuppofed to be the entrance into a ftrait that communi- cated with the Indian Ocean ; but upon advan- cing farther, he found it to be the mouth of Rio de Plata, one of the vail rivers by which the fouthern continent of America is watered* In endeavouring to make a defeent in this country, De Solis and feveral of his crew were ilain by the natives, who, in fight of the mips, cut their bodies in pieces, roafted and devoured them. Difcouraged with the lofs of their com- mander, and terrified at this (hocking fpectacle, the

p Jierrera, dec. 2. lib. iv. c. u

fur*

I5X7*] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 2J^

furviving Spaniards fet fail for Europe, without aiming at any farther difcovery *. Though this attempt proved abortive,, it was not without be- nefit. It turned the attention of ingenious men1 to this courfe of navigation, and prepared the way for a more fortunate voyage* by which, a few years pofterior to this period, the great de- fign that Ferdinand had m view was accom- plifhed.

Though the Spaniards were thus actively em- ployed in extending their difcoveries and fettle- ments in America, they ftill confidered Hifpa- niola as their principal colony, and the feat of government, Don Diego Columbus wanted neither inclination nor abilities to have rendered the members of this colony, who were moft im- mediately under his jurifdiction, profperous and happy. But he was circumfcribed in all his operations by the fufpicious policy of Ferdinand, who on every occalion, and under pretexts the moft frivolous, retrenched his privileges, and en- couraged the treafurer, the judges, and other fubordinate officers, to counteradl his meafures, and to difpute hrs authority. The moft valuable prerogative which the governor pofTefTed, was that of diftributing Indians among the Spaniards fettled in the Hland. The rigorous fervitude of t ho fe unhappy men having been but little miti- gated by all the regulations in their favour, the power of parcelling out fuch neceflary inftru- ments of labour at pleafure, fecured to the go- vernor great influence in the colony. In order to ftrip him of this, Ferdinand created a new office, with the power of diftributing the In-

* Herrera, dec. 2. lib. i. C 7. P. Martyr, decad. p. 317.

vol. i. a A dians*.

236 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

dians, and beftowed it upon Rodrigo Albu- querque, a relation of Zapata, his confidential. , minifier. Mortified with the injuftice, as well • as indignity, of this invafion upon his rights, in a point fo eflential, Don Diego could no longer remain in a place where his power and confe- ■■{ quence were almofl annihilated. He repaired to Spain with the vain hopes of obtaining re- drefs r. Albuquerque entered upon his office ' with all the rapacity of an indigent adventurer, impatient to amafs wealth. He began with taking the exacl: number of Indians in the ifland, and found, that from fixty thoufand, who, in the year one thoufand five hundred and eight, furvived after all their fufFerings, they were now reduced to fourteen thoufand. Thefe he threw into feparate diviiions or lots, and beftowed them - upon fuch as were willing to purchafe them at the higheft price. By this arbitrary diftribution feveral of the natives were removed from their original habitations, many were taken from their ancient mailers, and all of them fubjefted to heavier burdens, and to more intolerable labour, in order to reimburfe their new proprietors. \ Thofe additional calamities completed the mifery, and haftened on the extinction of this wretched and innocent race of men s.

The violence of thefe proceedings, together with the fatal confequences which attended them, not only excited complaints among fuch as thought themfelves aggrieved, but touched the hearts of all who retained any fentiments of humanity. From the time that ecclefiaftics

r Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ix. e. 5. lib. x. c. 12. * Herrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. 12.

2 were

. *

I517.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 237

were fent as inftru£tors into America, they per- ceived that the rigour with which their country- men treated the natives, rendered their miniftry altogether fruitlefs. The miflionaries, in con- formity to the mild fpirit of that religion which they were employed to publifh, early remon- ftrated again it the maxims of the planters with refpect to the Americans, and condemned the repartlmienfoS) or di/lributionr, by which they were given up as flaves to their conquerors, as no lefs contrary to natural juftice and the pre- cepts of Chriftianity, than to found policy. The Dominicans, to whom the inflru&ion of the Americans was originally committed, were moil vehement in teftifying againft the repartu mientos. In the year one thoufand live hundred and eleven, Montefino, one of their moft emi-» nent preachers, inveighed againft this practice in the great church at St. Domingo, with all the impetuofity of popular eloquence. Don Diego Columbus, the principal officers of the colony, and all the laymen who had been his hearers, complained of the monk to his fupe- riors ; but they, inftead of condemning, ap- plauded his docVine, as equally pious and fea* ibnable. The Francifcans, influenced by the fpirit of oppofition and rivalihip which fubfifts between the two orders, difcovered fome incli- nation to take part with the laity, and to ef- poufe the defence of the repartimientos. But as they could not with decency give their avowed approbation to a fyftem of oppreflion, fo repug- nant to the fpirit of religion, they endeavoured to palliate what they could not juftify, and al- leged, in excufe for the conduct of their coun- A a z trymen,

frjS HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

try men, that it was impofiible to carry on any improvement in the colony, unlefs the Spaniards pofFefTed fuch dominion over the natives, that they could compel them to labour c.

The Dominicans, regardlefs of fuch political and interefted confederations, would not relax in any degree the rigour of their fentiments, and even refufed to abfolve, or admit to the facrament, fucn °f their countrymen as continued to hold the natives in fervitude u. Both parties applied to the king for his decifion in a matter of fuch importance. Ferdinand empowered 3 committee of his privy-council, affiiled by fome of the mod eminent civilians and divines in Spain, to hear the deputies fent from Hifpaniola in fupport of their refpe&ive opinions. After a long difcufiion, the fpeculative point in con- troverfy was determined in favour of the Do- minicans, the Indians were declared to be a free people, entitled to all the natural rights of men ; but, notwithftanding this decifion, the reparti- mientos were continued upon their ancient foot- ing x. As this determination admitted the prin- ciple upon which the Dominicans founded their ppinion, they renewed their efforts to obtain relief for the Indians with additional boldnefs and zeal. At length, in order to quiet the polony, which was alarmed by their remonftrances and cenfures, Ferdinand iflued a decree of his privy council [15 13], declaring, that after mature confideration of the apoftolic bull, and other titles by which the crown of Callile claimed

t Herrera, dec. I. lib. viii. c. 11. Oviedo, lib. ill- c. 6. p. 97. u Oviedo, lib. iii. c. 6. p. 97.

* Herrera, dec. 1. lib. viii. c. 12. lib, ijc. c. 5.

a right

1517-] history of America. 239

a right to its poflefllons in the New World, the fervitude of the Indians was warranted both by the laws of God and of man ; that unlefs they were fubje&ed to the dominion of the Spaniards, and eompelled to refide under their infpe&ion, it would be impofiible to re- claim them from idolatry, or to inftrudl them in the principles of the Chriftian faith ; that no farther fcruple ought to be entertained concern- ing the lawfulnefs of the repariimientos, as the king and council were willing to take the charge of that upon their own confciences ; and that therefore the Dominicans, and monks of other religious orders, mould abftain, for the future, from thofe invectives, which, from an excefs of charitable but ill-informed zeal, they had uttered againfl that practice y.

That his intention of adhering to this decree might be fully underftood, Ferdinand conferred new grants of Indians upon feveral of his cour- tiers*. But in order that he might not feem altogether inattentive to the rights of humanity, he publifhed an edicTt, in which he endeavoured to provide for the mild treatment of the Indians under the yoke to which he fubjected them ; he regulated the nature of the work which they Ihould be required to perform, he prefcribed the mode in which they mould be clothed and fed, and gave directions with refpeel: to their in- ftrudlion in the principles of Chriftianity a.

But the Dominicans, who, from their experi- ence of what was part, judged concerning the future, foon perceived the inefficacy of thofe

y Herrera, dec. i. lib. ix. c. 14. * See No? e XXV. * Herrera, dec. 2. lib* ix. c. 14.

A A 3 pro-

%<\S HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. Ill*

provifions, and foretold, that as long as it was the intereft of individuals to treat the Indians with rigour, no public regulations could render their fervitude mild or tolerable. They confidered it as vain to watte their own time and ftrength in attempting to communicate the fublime truths of religion to men, whofe fpirits were broken, and their faculties impaired by opprefiion. Some of them, in defpair, requefted the permiflion of their fuperiors to remove to the continent, and to purfue the object of their million among fuch of the natives as were not hitherto corrupted by the example of the Spaniards, or alienated by their cruelty from the Chriflian faith. Such as remained in Hifpaniola continued to remonftrate, with decent firmnefs, againlt the fervitude of the Jndians b.

The violent operations of Albuquerque, the new diftributor of Indians, revived the zeal of the Dominicans agairift the repartlmientost and called forth an advocate for that oppreffed people, who pofreffed all the courage, the talents, and activity requifite in fupporting fuch a defperate caufe. This was Bartholomew de las Cafas, a native of Seville, and one of the clergymen fent out with Columbus in his fecond voyage to Hifpaniola, in order to fettle in that ifland. He early adopted the opinion prevalent among ecclefiaftics, with refpect to the unlaw- fulnefs of reducing the natives to fervitude ; and that he might demonftrate the fincerity of his conviction, he relinquished all the Indians who had fallen to his own fhare in the divilion of the

£ Hen-era, dec. i. lib. ix. c. 14. Touroru Hift. Gener. «& TAmerique, torn, u p. 253,

inha?

I5I70 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 24I

inhabitants among their conquerors, declaring that he mould ever bewail his own misfortune amd guilt, in having exercifed for a moment this impious dominion over his fellow-creatures c. From that time, he became the avowed patron of the Indians ; and by his bold interpofitions in their behalf, as well as by the refpedfc due to his abilities and character, he had often the merit of fetting fome bounds to the excefles of his countrymen, He did not fail to remonllrate warmly againft the proceedings of Albuquerque, and, though he foon found that attention to his own intereft rendered this rapacious officer deaf to admonition, he did not abandon the wretched people whofe caufe he had efpoufed. He in- ftantly fet out for Spain, with the moil fan- guine hopes of opening the eyes and foftening the heart of Ferdinand, by that ftriking picture of the oppreflion of his new fubjects, which he would exhibit to his view d.

15 1 6.] He eafily obtained admittance to the king, whom he found in a declining Hate of health. With much freedom, and no lefs elo- quence, he reprefented to him all the fatal ef* fects of the repartimientos in the New World, boldly charging him with the guilt of having authorised this impious meafure, which had brought mifery and deftrudtion upon a numerous and innocent race of men, whom Providence had placed under his protection. Ferdinand, whofe

c Fr. Aug. Davila Padilla Hift; de la Fundacion de la Provincia de St. Jago de Mexico, p. 303, 304. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. 12. d Herrera, dec. 1* lib. *. c. 12.

Dec. 2. lib. i. c. Il« Davila Padilla Htf*. p. 304.

mind

2^2 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. Ill,

■mind as well as body was much enfeebled by his diftemper, was greatly alarmed at this charge of impiety, which at another juncture he would have defpifed. He liftened with deep compunc- , tion to the difcourfe of Las Cafas, and promifed to take into ferious confideration the means of redrefling the evil of which he complained. But death prevented him from executing his refolution. Charles of Auftria, to whom all his crowns devolved, refided at that time in his paternal dominions in the Low-Countries. Las Cafas, with his ufual ardour, prepared immedi- ately to fet out for Flanders, in order to occupy the ear of the young monarch, when cardinal Ximenes, who, as regent, afiumed the reins of government in Caflile, commanded him to defift from the journey, and engaged to hear his com-, plaints in perfon.

He accordingly weighed the matter with at- tention equal to its importance $ and as his im- petuous mind delighted in fchemes bold and un- common, he foon fixed upon a, plan which alto- m'fhcd the miniilers, trained up under the formal and cautious adminiftration of Ferdinand. With- out regarding either the rights of Don Diego Columbus, or the regulations eilabliflied by the late king, he refolved to fend three perfons to America as iuperintendants of all the colonies there, with authority, after examining all circum- ilances on the fpot, to decide finally with refpe& to the point in queftion. It was a matter of deliberation and delicacy to choofe men qualified for fuch an important ftation. As all the laymen fettled in America, or who had been confulted in the adminiflration of that department^ had given

their

I5I7'D HISTORY OF AMERICA. - 243

their opinion that the Spaniards could not keep poffeflion of their new fettlements, unlefs they were allowed to retain their dominion over the Indians, he faw that he could not rely on their impartiality, and determined to commit the trull to ecclefiallics. As the Dominicans and Fran- cifcans had already efpoufed oppofite fides in the controverfy, he, from the fame principle of impar- tiality, excluded both thefe fraternities from the commiflion. He confined iiis choice to the monks of St. Jerome, a fmall, but xefpe&able order in Spain. With the afiiilance of their general, and in concert with Las Cafas, he foon pitched upon three perfons whom he deemed equal to the charge. To them he joined Zuazo, a private lawyer of diftinguifhed probity, with unbounded power to regulate all judicial pro- ceedings in the colonies. Las Cafas was ap- pointed to accompany them, with the title of protector of the Indians e.

To veil fuch extraordinary powers, as might at once overturn the fyilem of government eita- bliftied in the New World, in four perfons, who, from their humble condition in life, were little entitled to poflefs this high authority, ap- peared to Zapata, and other miniilers of the late king, a meafure fo wild and dangerous, that they refufed to iflue the difpatches neceffary for carrying it into execution. But Ximenes was not of a temper patiently to brook oppofition to any of his fchemes. He fent for the refractory miniilers, and addreifed them in fuch a tone, that in the utmoil conilernation they obeyed his orders f. The fuperintendants, with their aifo-

5 Herrera, dec. 2. lib. ii. c. 3. f Id. ibid. c. 6.

ciate

244 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. lit.

elate Zuazo, and Las Cafas, failed for St. Do- mingo. Upon their arrival, the firil act of their authority was to fet at liberty all tlie Indians who had been granted to the Spaniih courtiers, or to any perfon not refiding in America. This, together with the information which had been received from Spain concerning the object of the commifiion, fpread a general alarm. The colo- nifts concluded that they were to be deprived at once of the hands with which they carried on their labour, and that, of confequence, ruin was unavoidable. But the fathers of St. Jerome pro* ceeded with fuch caution and prudence, as foon diffipated all their fears. They difcovered, in every ftep of their conduct, a knowledge of the world, and of affairs, which is feldom acquired in a cloifter ; and difplayed a moderation as well as gentlenefs flill more rare among perfons trained up in the folitude and auflerity of a monaftiq life. Their ears were open to information from every quarter, they compared the different ao* counts which they received, and, after a mature confideraticn of the whole, they were fully fatisfied thatthe Hate of the colony rendered it impoflible to adopt the plan propofed by Las Cafas, and recommended by the cardinal. They plainly perceived that the Spaniards fettled m America were fo few in number, that they could neither work the mines which had been opened, nor cultivate the country ; that they depended for effecting both, upon the labour of the natives, and if deprived of it, they mull inftantly relin- quifh their conquefls, or give up all the advantages which they derived from them ; that no allure- ment wati fo powerful as to furmount the natura

averiion

I517.] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 245

averfion of the Indians to any laborious effort, and that nothing but the authority of a matter could compel them to work ; and if they were not kept conftantly under the eye and difcipline of a fuperior, fo great was their natural liftlefT- nefs and indifference, that they would neither attend to religious inftru&ion, nor obferve thofe rites of Chriftianity which they had been already taught. Upon all thofe accounts, the fuper- intendants found it neceflary to tolerate the re- partirmmtosy and to fuffer the Indians to remain under fubje&ion to their Spanifh mailers. They ufed their utmoft endeavours, however, to pre- vent the fatal effe&s of this eftablifhment, and to fecure to the Indians the confolation of the beft treatment compatible with a flate of fervitude. For this purpofe. they revived former regulations, they prefcribed new ones, they neglected no cir- cumttance that tended to mitigate the rigour of the yoke ; and by their authority, their exam- pie, and their exhortations, they laboured to infpire their countrymen with fentimentsof equity and geutlenefs towards the unhappy people upon whofe induftry they depended. Zuazo, in his department, feeonded the endeavours of the fuperintendants. He reformed the courts of juitice, in fuch a manner as to render their de- cifions equitable as well as expeditious, and in- troduced various regulations which greatly im- proved the interior police of the colony. The fatisfa&ion which his conduct, and that of the fuperintendants gave, was now univerfal among the Spaniards fettled in the New World, and all admired the boldnefs of Ximenes, in having de- parted from the ordinary path of bufinefs^ in

forming

246 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

forming his plany as well as his fagacity, in pitching upon perfons, whofe wifdom, mode- ration, and difmtereilednefs rendered them wor- thy of this high truil 9.

Las Cafas alone was diffatisfied. The pru- dential confiderations which influenced the fuper^ intendants, made no impreflion upon him. He regarded their idea of accommodating their con- duel: to the ftate of the colony, as the maxim of an unhallowed timid policy, which tolerated what was unjuft, becaufe it was beneficial. He con- tended, that the Indians were by nature free, and, as their prote&or, he required the fuper- intendants not to bereave them of the eommon privilege of humanity. They received his moll virulent remonftrances without emotion, but ad- hered firmly to their own fyflem. The Spanifh planters did not bear with him fo patiently, and were ready to tear him in pieces for infilling in a requifition fo odious to them. Las Cafas, in order to fcreen himfelf from their rage, found it neceflary to take fhelter in a convent ; and per- ceiving that all his efforts in America were fruitlefs, he. foon fet out for Europe, with a fixed refolution not to abandon the protection of a people whom he deemed to be cruelly opprefled h.

Had Ximenes retained that vigour of mind with which he ufually applied to bufinefsy Las Cafas mull have met with no very gracious recep- tion upon his return to Spain. But he found the cardinal languifhing under a mortal diflem- per, and preparing to refign his authority to the

« Herrera, dec. 2. lib, ii. c. 15. Remefal Hift. Gener» lib. ii. c. 14, 15, 16. ft Herrera, dec. 2. lib. ii. c. ■ i_6»

young

*5!7«] HISTORY OF AMERICA, 2tf

young king, who was daily expeded from the Low-Countries. Charles arrived, took poffeffion ! of the government, and, by the death of Xime- nes, loll a minifter, whofe abilities and integrity entitled him to dired his affairs. Many of the Flemifh nobility had accompanied their fbvereiga to Spain. From that warm prediledion to his countrymen, which was natural at his age, he confulted them with iefped to all the tranfao tions in his new kingdom, and they, with an indifcreet eagernefs, intruded themfelves into every bufinefs, and feized almoft every depart- ment of adminiftration *. The diredipn of American affairs was an objed too alluring to efcape their attention. Las Cafas obferved their growing influence, and though projectors are ufuallytoo fanguine to condud their fchemes with much dexterity, he poffeffed a buttling in- defatigable activity, which fometimes accomplices its purpofes with greater fuccefs, than the moil exquifite difcernment and addrefs. He courted the Flemifh minifters with afTiduity. He repre- fented to them the abfurdity of all the maxims hitherto adopted with refped to the government of America, particularly during the adminiftra- tion of Ferdinand, and pointed out the deteds of thofe arrangements which Ximenes had intro- duced. The memory of Ferdinand was odious to the Flemings. The fuperior virtue and abili- ties of Ximenes had long been the objedof their envy. They fondly wiihed to have a plauiible pretext for condemning the meafures, both of the monarch and of the minifter^ and of reflecting fome difcredit on their political wifdom. The 1 Hift. of Charles V. vol. U. p. 50. vol. i. fc b friend*

248 HISTORY OF AMERICA. S. Ilf.

friends of Don Diego Columbus, as well as the Spanifh courtiers, who had been dhTatisfied with the cardinal's administration, joined Las Cafas in? cenfuring the fcheme of fendingfuperintendants to America. This union of fo manyinterefts andpaf- fions was irrefiftible ; and, in confequence of it, the fathers of St. Jerome, together with their aflb- ciate Zuazo, were recalled. Roderigo de Figu- •eroa, a lawyer of fome eminence, was appointed chief judge of the ifland, and received inftruc-* tions, in compliance with the requeft of Las Cafas, to examine once more, with the utmoil attention, the point of controverfy between him and the people of the colony, with refpeel: to the treatment of the natives y and m the mean time to do every thing in his power to alleviate their fufferings, and prevent the extinction of the race *•

This was all that the zeal of Las Cafas could procure, at that juncture, in favour of the In- dians. The impoflibilky of carrying on any improvement in America, unlefs the Spanifh planters could command the labour of the na- tives, was an infuperable objection to his plan of treating them as free fubjects. In order to> provide fome remedy for this, without which he found it was in vain to mention his fcheme, Las Cafas propofed to purchafe a fufficient number of negroes from the Portuguefe fettlements oft the coaft of Africa, and to tranfport them to America, in order that they might be employed as flaves in working the mines and cultivating the ground. Gne of the firft advantages which the Portuguefe had derived from their difcoveries

1 Kerrera, dec. 2. lib. ii. c. 16. J$* 3rt« lib. iii. c.7, 8% 2 in

I517O HISTORY OF AMERICA. 24^

in Africa, arofe from the trade in flaves. Va- rious circumftances concurred in reviving this odious commerce, which had been long aboliflied in Europe, and which is no lefs repugnant to the feelings of humanity, than to the principles of religion. As early as the year one thoufand five hundred and three, a few negro flaves had been fent into the New World k. In the year one thoufand five hundred and eleven, Ferdinand per- mitted the importation of them in greater num- bers *. They were found to be a more rob u ft and hardy race than the natives of America. They were more capable of enduring fatigue, more patient under fervitude, and the labour of one negro was computed to be equal to that of four Indians m. Cardinal Ximenes, however, when folicited to encourage this commerce, pe- remptorily rejected the propoiition, becaufe he perceived the iniquity of reducing one race of men to flavery, while he was confulting about the means of reftoring liberty to another n. But Las Cafas, from the inconfiftency natural to men who hurry with headlong impetuofity towards a favourite point, was incapable of making this diilin&ion. While he contended earneftly for the liberty of the people born in one quarter of the globe, he laboured to enflave ihe inhabitants of another region ; and in the warmth of his zeal to fave the Americans from the yoke, pro- nounced it to be lawful and expedient to impofe one ftill heavier upon the Africans. Unfortu- nately for the latter, Las Cafas's plan was

k Herrera, dec. 1. lib. V. c. 12. * lb. lib. viii c. 9.

•* lb. lib. ix. c. 5. n lb. dec. 2. lib. ii. c. 8.

b li 2 adopted.

%$0 HISTORY OF AMERICA, B. III.

adopted. Charles granted a patent to one of his Flemifti favourites, containing an exclufive right of importing four thoufand negroes into America. The favourite fold his patent to fome Oenoefe merchants for twenty-five thoufand ducats, and they were the find who brought into a regular form that commerce for flaves between Africa and America, which has fmce been carried on to fuch an amazing extent °.

15 1 8.] But the Genoefe merchants, conduct- ing their operations, at firft, with the rapacity of monopolies, demanded fuch an high price for negroes, that the number imported into Hif- paniola made no great change upon the ftate of the colony. Las Cafas, whofe zeal was no lefs inventive than indefatigable, had recourfe to an- other expedient for the relief of the Indians. He obferved, that mod of the perfons who had fet« tied hitherto in America were failors and foldiers employed in the difcovery or conqueft of the country ; the younger fons of noble families, allured by the profpecr. of acquiring fudden wealth ; or defperate adventurers, whom their indigence or crimes forced to abandon their native land. Inflead of fuch men, who were diflblute, rapacious, and incapable of that fober perfevering induflry which is requifite in form- ing new colonies, he propofed to fupply the fet- tlements in Hifpaniola and other parts of the New World with a fufficient number of labourers and hufbandmen, who mould be allured by fuitable premiums to remove thither. Thefe, as they were accuflomed to fatigue, would be able to perform the work, to which the Indians, from

0 Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ii. c. ao.

the

I5l7»l HISTORV OF AMERICA. 2$l

the feeblenefs of their conftitution, were unequal, and might foon become ufeful and opulent citi- zens. But though Hifpaniola flood much in need of a recruit of inhabitants, having beea viiited at this time with the fmall-pox, which fwept off almoft all the natives who had fur- vived their long-continued oppreflion, and though Las Cafas had the countenance of the Flemifh minifters, this fcheme was defeated by the bifhop of Burgos, who thwarted all his proje&s P.

Las Cafas now defpaired of procuring any relief for the Indians in thofe places where the Spaniards were already fettled. The evil was become fo inveterate there, as not to admit of a cure. But fuch difcoveries were daily making in the continent, as gave an high idea both of its extent and populoufnefs. In all thofe vail regions there was but one feeble colony planted ; and except a fmall fpot on the ifthmus of Darien, the natives Hill occupied the whole country. This opened a new and more ample field for the humanity and zeal of Las Cafas, who flattered himfelf that he might prevent a pernicious fyitem from being introduced there, though he had failed of fuccefs in his attempts to overturn it, where it was already eftablifhed. Full of this idea, he applied for a grant of the unoccupied country, llretching along the fea-coaft from the gulf of Paria to the weftern frontier of that pro- vince now known by the name of Santa Martha. He propofed to fettle there with a colony com- pofed of hufbandmen, labourers, and ecclefiaf- tics. He engaged, in the fpace of two years, to civilize ten thoufand of the natives, and to

9 Herrcra, dec. a. lib.ii. c. *x«

s 3 3 inftruft

*$l HISTORY OF AMERICA, B. HI.

inftrucT; them fo thoroughly in the arts of focial life, that, from the fruits of their induflry, an annual revenue of fifteen thoufand ducats fhould arife to the king. In ten years he expected that his improvements would be fo far advanced, as to yield annually fixty thoufand ducats. He ftipu- lated, that no failor or foldier fhould ever be per- mitted to fettle in this diftridt ; and that no Spaniard whatever fhould enter it without his permifllon. He even projected to clothe the people whom he took along with him in fome diflinguifhing garb, which did not refembje the ISpanifh drefs, that they might appear to the natives to be a different race of men from thofe who had brought fo many calamities upon their country *?. From this fcheme, of which I have traced only the great lines, it is manifefl that Las Cafas had formed ideas concerning the method of treating the Indians, fimilar to thofe by which the Jefuits afterwards carried on their great operations in another part of the fame continent. He fuppofed that the Europeans, by availing themfelves of that afcendant which they poffeffed in confequence of their fuperior progrefs in fci cnce and improvement, might gradually form the minds of the Americans to relifh thofe comforts of which they were' deflitute, might train them to the arts of civil life, and render them capable of its functions.

But to the bifhop of Burgos and the council of the Indies this projecl: appeared not only chi- merical, but dangerous in a high degree. They deemed the faculties of the Americans to be naturally fo limited, and their indolence fo ex-

J Herrera, dec. 2. lib, iv. c. 2.

ceflive-i

I51?'] HISTORY OF AMERICA, 2$$

ceflive, that every attempt to inftrud or to im- prove them would be fruitlefs. They contended, that it would be extremely imprudent to give the command of a country extending above a thoufand miles along the coaft, to a fanciful prefumptuous. enthnfiaft, a ftranger to the affairs of the world, and unacquainted with the arts of government. Las Cafas, far from being difcouraged with a repulfe, which he had reafon to exped, had re- courfe once more to the Flemifh favourites, who zealoufly patronized his fcheme, merely becaufe k had been rejected by the Spaniih minifters. They prevailed with their mailer, who had lately been raifed to the Imperial dignity, to refer the confideration of this meafure to a feleft number of his privy-counfellors ; and Las Cafas haying excepted againft the members of the council of the Indies, as partial and interefted, they were all excluded. The decifion of men chofen by recommendation of the Flemings, was perfe&ly conformable to their fentiments. They warmly approved of Las Cafas's plan ; and gave orders for carrying it into execution, but reftri&ed the territory allotted him to three hundred miles along the coaft of Cumana, allowing him, how- ever, to extend it as far as he pleafed towards the interior part of the country r.

This determination did not pafs uncenfured. Almoft every perfon who had been in the Weft Indies exclaimed againft it, and fupported their opinion fo confidently, and with fuch plaufible reafons, as made it advifable to paufe and to review the fubjed more deliberately, Charles

r Gomara Hift. Gener. c. 77. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. iv.

c. 3. Oviedo, lib. xix, c. 5. .

hnnlelr,

254 HISTORY OF AMERICA. E. Ill

himfelf, though accuftomed, at this early period of his life, to adopt the fentiments of his mi- niilers, with fuch fubmiffive deference as did not promife that decifive vigour of mind which dif- tinguifhed his riper years, could not help fuf- pedting that the eagernefs with which the Fle- mings took part in every affair relating to Ame- rica, flowed from fome improper motive, and began to difcover an inclination to examine in perfon into the ftate of the queflion concerning the character of the Americans, and the proper manner of treating them. An opportunity of making this inquiry with great advantage foon occurred [June 20]. Quevedo, the bifhop of Darien, who had accompanied Pedrarias to the continent in the year one thoufand five hundred and thirteen, happened to land at Barcelona, where the court then refided. It was quickly known, that his fentiments concerning the talents and difpofition of the Indians differed from thofe of Las Cafas ; and Charles naturally concluded that by confronting two refpeftable perfons, who, daring their refidence in America, had full leifure to obferve the manners of the people whom they pretended to defcribe, he might be able to dif- cover which of them had formed his opinion with the greateft difcernment and accuracy.

A day for this folemn audience was appoint- ed. The emperor appeared with extraordinary pomp, and took his feat on a throne in the great hall of the palace. His principal courtiers attended. Don Diego Columbus, admiral of the Indies, was fummoned to be prefent. The bi- fhop of Darien was called upon iirfl to deliver his opinion. He, in a ihort difcourfe, lamented

the

!

IjI7%] HISTORY OF AMERICA, 1$$

the fatal defolation of America, by the extin&ion of fo many of its inhabitants ; he acknowledged that this muft be imputed, in fome degree, to the excefii ve rigour and inconfiderate proceedings of the Spaniards ; but declared, that all the people of the New World, whom he had feen either in the continent or in the iflands, appeared to him to be a race of men marked out, by the inferiority of their talents, for fervitude, and whom it would be impoffible to inilruft or im- prove, unlefs they were kept under the continual infpection of a matter. Las Cafas, at greater length, and with more fervour, defended his own fyftem. He rejefted with indignation^ the idea that any race of men was born to fervitude, as irreligious and inhuman. He averted, that the faculties of the Americans were not naturally defpicable, but unimproved ; that they were ca-r pable of receiving inftru&ion in the principles of religion, as well as of acquiring the induftry and arts which would qualify them for the various offices of focial life ; that the mildnefs and timi- dity of their nature rendered them fo fubmifiive and docile, that they might be led and formed with a gentle hand. He profefled, that his in- tentions in propofing the fcheme now under con- fideration were pure and difinterefted ; and though, from the accomplifhment of his defigns, ineftimable benefits would refult to the crowu of Caftile, he never had claimed, nor ever would receive, any recompence on that account.

Charles, after hearing both, and confulting with his minifters, did not think himfelf fuffi-. ciently informed to eftablifh any general arrange- ment with refped to the ftate of the Indians ^

but

256 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

but as he had perfect confidence in the integrity of Las Cafas, and as even the bifhop of Darien admitted his fcheme to be of fuch importance, that a trial fhould be made of its effects, he iffued a patent [1520], granting him the diftrict in Cumana formerly mentioned, with full power to eftablifh a colony there according to his own plan s.

Las Cafas pufhed on the preparations for his voyage with his ufual ardour. But, either from his own inexperience in the conduct of affairs, or from the fecret oppofition of the Spanifh no- bility, who univerfally dreaded thefuccefs of an inftitution that might rob them of the induftrious and ufeful hands which cultivated their eftates, his progrefs in engaging hufbandmen and labour- ers was extremely flow, and he could not prevail on more than two hundred to accompany him to Cumana.

Nothing, however, could damp his zeal. With this (lender train, hardly fufficient to take pof- feflion of fuch a large territory, and altogether unequal to any effectual attempt towards civiliz- ing its inhabitants, he fet fail. The firil place at which he touched was the ifland of Puerto Rico. There he received an account of a new obftacle to the execution of his fcheme, more infuperable than any he had hitherto encounter- ed. When he left America in the year one thoufand five hundred and fixteen, the Spaniards had little intercourfe with any part of the con- tinent, except the countries adjacent to the gulf of Darien. But as every fpecies of internal in-

8 Herrera, dec. a. lib. iv. c. 3, 4, 5. Argenfola Annales <TAragon, 74. 97. RemifalHift. Gener* lib. ii. c. 19, 20.

duftry

I517O HISTORY OF AMERrCA.' 257

duftry began to flagnate in Hifpaniola, when, by the vapid decreafe of the natives, the Spaniards were deprived of thofe hands with which they had hitherto carried on their operations, this prompted them to try various expedients for fupplying that lofs. Coniiderable numbers of negroes were imported ; but, on account of their exorbitant price, many of the planters could not afford to purchafe them. In order to procure flaves at an eafier rate, fome of the Spaniards in Hifpaniola fitted out veffels to cruize along the coaft of the continent. In places where they found tbemfelves inferior in ftrength, they traded with the natives, and gave European toys in exchange for the plates of gold worn by them as ornaments ; but, wherever they could furprife or overpower the Indians, they carried them off by force, and fold them as flaves *„ In thofe predatory excurfions, fuch atrocious a&s of violence and cruelty had been commit- ted, that the Spanifh name was held in detefta- tion all over the continent. Whenever any fhips appeared, the inhabitants either fled to the woods, or rufhed down to the more in arms, to repel thofe hated difturbers of their tranquillity* They forced fome parties of the Spaniards to retreat with precipitation ; they cut off others ; and in the violence of their refentment againft the whole nation, they murdered two Dominican; mifiionaries, whofe zeal had prompted them to fettle in the province of Cumana u. This out- rage againft perfons revered for their fanc~T.ity> excited fuch indignation among the people of

1 Herrera, dec. 3. lib ii. c. 3, tt Ov4edo Hilt. lib. xix. c. 3.

Hifpaniola*

258 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

Hifpaniola, who, notwithstanding all their licen- tious and cruel proceedings, were poflefled with a wonderful zeal for religion, and a fuperflitious refpect for its minifters, that they determined to inflict exemplary punifhment, not only upon the perpetrators of that crime, but upon the whole race. With this view, they gave the command of live mips and three hundred men to Diego Ocampo, with orders to lay wafte the country of Cumana with fire and fword, and to tranfport all the inhabitants as flaves to Hifpaniola. This armament Las Cafas found at Puerto Rico, in its way to the continent ; and as Ocampo refufed to defer his voyage, he immediately perceived that it would be impoffible to attempt the execu- tion of his pacific plan in a country deltined to be the feat of war and defolation x.

In order to provide againfl the effects of this unfortunate incident, he fet fail directly for St. Domingo [12th April], leaving his followers cantoned out among the planters in Puerto Rico. From many concurring caufes, the reception which Las Cafas met with in Hifpaniola was very unfavourable. In his negotiations for the relief of the Indians, he had cenfured the con- duct of his countrymen fettled there with fuch honefl feverity as rendered him univerfally odious to them. They confidered their own ruin as the inevitable confequence of his fuccefs. They were now elated with hope of receiving a large recruit of flaves from Cumana, which mull be relinquifhed if Las Cafas were aflifled in fettling his projected colony there. Figueroa, in confe- rence of the inftructions which he had received

* Herrera, dec. »• lib. ix. c. 8, 9.

ill

1$l'Ji'] HISTORY OF AMERICA* 2$9

in Spain, had made an experiment concerning the capacity of the Indians, that was reprefented as decifive againft the fyftem of Las Cafas. He collected in Hifpaniola a good number of the natives, and fettled them in two villages, leaving them at perfect liberty, and with the uncon- trolled direction of their own actions. But that people, accuftomed to a mode of life extremely different from that which takes place wherever civilization has. made any confiderable progrefs, were incapable of affuming new habits at once. De- jected with their own misfortunes as well as thofe of their country, they exerted fo little induftry in cultivating the ground, appeared fo devoid of folicitude or forefight in providing for their own wants, and were fuch ilrangers to arrangement in conducting their affairs, that the Spaniards pronounced them incapable of being formed to live like men in focial life, and conlidered them as children, who mould be kept under the per- petual tutelage of perfons fuperior to themfelves in wifdom and fagacity ?.

Notwithstanding all thofe circumftances, which alienated the perfons in Hifpaniola to whom Las Cafas applied from himfelf and from his meafures, he, by his activity and perfevcrance, by fome conceffions, and many threats, obtained at length a fmall body of troops to protect him and his colony at their firft landing. But upon his return to Puerto Rico, he found that the difeafes of the climate had been fatal to feveral of his people ; and that others having got em- ployment in that ifland, refufed to follow him. With the handful that remained, he fet fail and

* Henera, dec. 2. lib. x% c. 5. . vol. i, c c landed

20*0 HISTORY OF AMERICA* B* HI.

landed in Cumana. Ocampo had executed his commiifion in that province with fuch barbarous rage, having maiTacred many of the inhabitants, fent others in chains to Hifpaniola, and forced the reft to fly for fhelter to the woods, that the people of a fmall colony, which he had planted at a place which he named Toledo, were ready to perifh for want in a defolated country. There, however, Las Cafas was obliged to fix his refi- dence, though deferted both by the troops ap- pointed to protect him, and by thofe under the command of Ocampo, who forefaw and dreaded the calamities to which he muft be ex- pofed in that wretched flation. He made the beft provifion in his power for the fafety and fub- fillence of his followers ; but as his utmoft efforts availed little towards fecuring either the one or the other, he returned to Hifpaniola, in order to folicit more effe&ual aid for the prefervation of men, who from confidence in him had ventured into a poft of fo much danger. Soon after his departure, the natives, having difcovered the feeble and defencelefs ftate of the Spaniards, affembled fecretly, attacked them with the fury natural to men exafperated by many injuries, cut off a good number, and compelled the reft to fly in the utmoft confternation to the ifland of Cubagua. The fmall colony fettled there, on account of the pearl fifhery, catching the panic with which their countrymen had been feized, abandoned the ifland, and not a Spaniard remained in any part of the continent, or adjacent iflands, from the gulf of Paria to the borders of Darien. Aftonifhed at fuch a fucceflion of difafters, Las Cafea was afhamed to fhcw his face after this

fatal

I517O HISTORY OF AMERICA. 26t

fatal termination of all his fplendid fchemes. He fhut himfelf up in the convent of the Do- minicans at St. Domingo, and foon after afTumed the habit of that order z.

Though the expulfion of the colony from Cumana happened in the year one thoufand five hundred and twenty-one, I have chofen to trace the progrefs of Las Cafas's negotiations from their firit rife to their final iffue without interrup- tion. His fyftem was the objec\ of long and attentive difcuflion ; and though his efforts in behalf of the oppreffed Americans, partly from his own rafhnefs and imprudence, and partly from the malevolent oppoiition of his adverfaries, were not attended with that fuccefs which he promifed with too fanguine confidence, great praife is due to his humane activity, which gave rife to various regulations that were of fome benefit to that unhappy people. I return now to the hiftory of the Spanifh difcoveries, as they occur in the order of time a.

Diego Velafquez, who conquered Cuba in the year one thoufand five hundred and eleven, ilill retained the government of that ifland, as the deputy of Don Diego Columbus, though he feldom acknowledged his fuperior, and aimed at rendering his own authority altogether independ- ent b. Under his prudent adminiflration, Cuba became one of the moft flourifhing of the Spa- nifh fettlements. The fame of this allured thi-

z Herrera, dec. 2. lib. x. c. 5. dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 3, 4, 5. Oviedo Hift. lib. xix. c. 5. Gomara, c. 77. Davila Pa- dilla, lib. i. c. 97. Remifal Hift. Gen. lib. xi. c. 22, 23,

a Herrera, dec. 2, lib. x. c. 5. p. 329.

* Ibid. lib. ii, c. 19.

c c 2 thcr

%6l HISTORY OF AMERICA, B. Ill,

ther many perfons from the other colonies, in hopes of finding either fome permanent eftablifh* mcnt or fome employment for their activity. As Cuba lay to the weft: of all the iflands occu* pied by the Spaniards, and as the ocean, which llretches beyond it towards that quarter, had not hitherto been explored, thefe circumftances naturally invited the inhabitants to attempt new difcoveries. An expedition for this purpofe, in which activity and refolution might conduct to fudden wealth, was more fuited to the genius of the age, than the patient induftry requifite in clearing ground, and manufacturing fugar. In-» ftigated by this fpirit, feveral officers, who had ferved under Pedrarias in Darien, " entered into an aflbciation to undertake a voyage of difcovery. They perfuaded Francifco Hernandez Cordova, an opulent planter in Cuba, and a man of did tinguifhed courage, to join with them in the ad- venture, and chofe him to be their commander! Velafquez not only approved of the defign, but aflifted in carrying it on. As the veterans from Parien were extremely indigent, he and Cordova advanced money for purchaling three fmall vef- fels, and furnifhing them with every thing requi* fite either for traffic or for war. A hundred and ten men embarked on board of them, and failed from St. Jago de Cuba on the eighth of February one thoufand five hundred and feventeen. By the advice of their chief pilot, Antpnio Alaminos, who had ferved under the firft admiral Columbus, they flood directly weft, relying on the opinion' of that great navigator, who uniformly main- tained that a wefterly courfe would lead to the inoit important difcoveries.

On

i

15*7-1 HISTORY OF AMERICA. *CJ

On the twenty-nrft day after their departure" from St. Jago, they faw land, which proved to be Cape Catoche, the eaftern point of that large peninfula projecting from the continent of Ame- rica, which {till retains its original name of Yucatan. As they approached the more, five canoes came off full of people decently clad in cotton garments ; an aftonifhing fpe&acle to the Spaniards, who had found every other part of America poffcffed by naked favages. Cordova endeavoured by fmall prefents to gain the good- will of thefe people. They, though amazed at the ftrange objects now prefented for the firft time to their view, invited the Spaniards to vifit their habitations, with an appearance of cordi- ality. They landed accordingly, and as they advanced into the country, they obfcrved with new wonder fome large houfes built with ftone. But they foon found that, if the people of Yu- catan had made progrefs in improvement beyond their countrymen, they were likewife more artful and warlike. For though the cazique received Cordova with many tokens of friendfhip, he had potted a confiderable body of his fubje&s in am- bufh behind a thicket, who, upon a fignal given by him, ruihed out and attacked the Spaniards with great boldnefs, and fome degree of martial order. At the lirlt flight of their arrows, fif- teen of the Spaniards were wounded ; but the In- dians were (truck with fuch terror by the fudden explofion of the fire-arms, and fo furprifed at the execution done by them, by the crofs-bows, and by the other weapons of their new enemies, that they fled precipitately. Cordova quitted a country where he had met with fuch a fierce c c 3 reception,

f64 HISTORY OF AMERICA, B. Ill,

reception, carrying off two prifoners, together with the ornaments of a fmall temple, which he plundered in his retreat.

He continued his courfe towards the weft, without lofing fight of the coaft, and on the fixteenth day arrived at Campeachy, There the natives received them more hofpitably ; but the Spaniards were much furprifed, that on all the extenfive coaft along which they had failed, and which they imagined to be a large ifland, they had not obferved any river c. As their water began to fail, they advanced, in hopes of finding a fupply ; and at length they difcovered the mouth of a river at Potonchan, fome leagues beyond Campeachy.

Cordova landed all his troops in order to pro* tec~l the failors while employed in filling the cafks ; but notwithftanding this precaution, the natives rufhed down upon them with fuch fury, and in fuch numbers, that forty-feven of the Spaniards were killed upon the fpot, and one man only of the whole body efcaped unhurt. Their commander, though wounded in twelve different places, directed the retreat with prefence of mind equal to the courage with which he had led them on in the engagement, and with much difficulty they regained their (hips. After this fatal repulfe, nothing remained but to haften back to Cuba with their mattered forces. In their paffage thither they fuffered the moft ex- quifite diftrefs for want of water, that men wounded and fickly, fhut up in fmall veffels, and cxpofed to the heat of the torrid zone, can be fuppofed to endure. Some of them, finking

f See Not* XXVL

tinder

I5*7»] history of America, 265

finder thefe calamities, died by the way ; Cor- dova, their commander, expired foon after they landed in Cuba d.

Notwith [landing the difailrous conclufion of this expedition, it contributed rather to animate than to damp a fpirit of enterprife among the Spaniards, They had discovered an extenfive country, fituated at no great diftance from Cuba* fertile in appearance, and pofTefTed by a people fir fuperior in improvement to any hitherto known in America. Though they had carried on little commercial intercourfe with the natives, they had brought off fome ornaments of gold, not considerable in value, but of fingular fabric, Thefe circumftances, related with the exaggera- tion natural to men defirous of heightening the merit of their own exploits, were more than fnfficient to excite romantic hopes and expect- ations. Great numbers offered to engage in a new expedition. Velafquez, folicitous to dif- tinguiflr himfelf by fome fervice fo meritorious as might entitle him to claim the government of Cuba independent of the admiral, not only encouraged their ardour, but at his own expence fitted out four mips for the voyage *Two hundred and forty volunteers, among whom were feveral per- form of rank and fortune, embarked in this en- terprife. The command of it was given to Juan de Grijalva, a young man of known merit and courage, with inftru&ions to obferve attentively the nature of the countries which he fhould dif-

6 Herrera, dec. 2. lib. ii. 0.17,1?. Hiftotv Verdadera dela Conquifta de la Nueva Efpana porBernal Diaz del Caf- tiilo, cap. 1—7. Oviedo, lib.xvii. c 3. Gomara, c. 52. P. Martyr de Infulis nuper inventis, p. 329.

cover,

265 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

eover, to barter for gold, and, if circumftances were inviting, to fettle a colony in fome proper ftation. He failed from St. Jago de Cuba on the eighth of April one thoufand five hundred and eighteen. The pilot Alaminos held the fame courfe as in the former voyage ; but the violence of the currents carrying the mips to the fouth, the firft land which they made was the ifland of Cozumel, to the eaft of Yucatan. As all the inhabitants lied to the woods and mountains at the approach of the Spaniards, they made no long Hay there, and without, any remarkable occurrence they reached Potonchan on the oppO- fite fide of the peninfula. The defire of avenging their countrymen who had been flain there, con- curred with their ideas of good policy, in prompt- ing them to land, that they might chailife the Indians of that diflricl with fuch exemplary rigour, as would ftrike terror into all the people around them. But though they difembarked all their troops, and carried aihore fome field- pieces, the Indians fought with fuch courage, that the Spaniards gained the victory with difficulty, and were confirmed in their opinion that the inhabitants of this country would prove more formidable enemies than any they had met with in other parts of America. From Poton- chan, they continued their voyage towards the weft, keeping as near as poffible to the more, and calling anchor every evening, from dread of the dangerous accidents to which they might be expofed in an unknown fea. During the day, their eyes were turned continually towards land, with a mixture of furprife and wonder at the beauty of the country, as well as the novelty of

the

J5l8,} HISTORY OF AMERICA, 267

the objects which they beheld. Many villages were Scattered along the coaft, in which they could diftinguifh houfes of Hone that appeared white and lofty at a diftance. In the warmth of their admiration, they fancied thefe to be cities adorned with towers and pinnacles ft and one of the foldiers happening to remark that this country refembled Spain in its appearance, Gri-* jalva, with univerfal applaufe, called it New Spain, the name which Hill diflinguifhes this, extenfive and opulent province of the Spani/h erjlt pire in America e. They landed in a river which the natives called Tabafco [June 9], and the fame of their victory at Potonchan having reached this place, the cazique not only received them amir cably, but beftowed prefents upon them of fuch value, as confirmed the high ideas which the Spaniards had formed with refpect to the wealth and fertility of the country. Thefe ideas were railed ftill higher by what occurred at the place where they next touched, This was consider- ably to the weft of Tabafco, in the province fince known by the name of Guaxaca. There they were received with the refpecl: paid to fuperior beings. The people perfumed them as they landed, with incenfe of gum copal, and prefented to them as offerings the choiceft delicacies of their country. They were extremely fond of trading with their new vifitants, and in fix days the Spaniards obtained ornaments of gold* of curious workmanfliip, to the value of fifteen; thoufand pefos, in exchange for European toys of fmall price. The two prifoners whom Cor- dova had brought from Yucatan, had hitherto

f See Note 2£XVH.

ferve4

268 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. III.

ferved as interpreters ; but as they did not under- ftand the language of this country, the Spaniards learned from the natives by iigns, that they were fubjects of a great monarch called Montezuma, whofe dominion extended over that and many other provinces. Leaving this place, with which he had fo much reafon to be pleafed, Grijalva continued his courfe towards the weft. He landed on a fmall ifland [June 19], which he named the Ifle of Sacrifices, becaufe there the Spaniards beheld, for the firft time, the horrid fpectacle of human vidlims, which the barbarous fuperftition of the natives offered to their gods. He touched at another fmall ifland, which he called St. Juan de Ulua. From this place he difpatched Pedro de Alvarado, one of his officers; to Velafquez, with a full account of the im- portant difcoveries which he had made, and with all the treafure that he had acquired by traffick- ing with the natives. After the departure of Alvarado, he himfelf, with the remaining veffels, proceeded along the coaft as far as the river Panuco, the country ftill appearing to be well peopled, fertile, and opulent.

Several of Grijalva's officers contended, that it was not enough to have difcovered thofe de- lightful regions, or to have performed, at their different landing-places, the empty ceremony of taking poffeffion of them for the crown of Caf- tile, and that their glory was incomplete, unlef3 they planted a colony in fome proper ftation, which might not only fecure the Spanifh nation a footing in the country, but, with the rein- forcements which they were certain of receiving, might gradually fubject the whole to the do- minion

IGI&] HISTORY OF AMERICA. 269

minon of their fovercign. But the fquadron had now been above five months at fea ; the greater! part of their provifions was exhaufted, and what remained of their ftores fo much cor- rupted by the heat of the climate, as to be al- moft unfit for ufe ; they had loft fome men by death ; others were fickly ; the country was crowded with people who feemed to be intelli- gent as well as brave ; and they were under the government of one powerful monarch, who could bring them to a& againft their invaders with united force. To plant a colony under fo many circumftances of difadvantage, appeared a fcheme too perilous to be attempted. Gnjalva, though poffeffed both of ambition and courage, was dcftitute of the fuperior talents capable of forming or executing fuch a great plan. He judged it more prudent to return to Cuba, having fulfilled the purpofe of his voyage, and accom- plished all that the armament which he com- mmded enabled him to perform. He returned to St. Tago de Cuba on the twenty-fixth of Octo- ber, from which he had taken his departure about fix months before f.

This was the longeil as well as the molt luo cefsful voyage which the Spaniards had hitherto made in the New World. They had difcovered that Yucatan was not an iiland as they had fup- pofed, but part of the great continent of Ame- rica. From Potonchan they had purfued their courfe for many hundred miles along a coaft formerly unexplored, ftretching at firft towards the weft, and then turning to the north ; all the

< Herrera, dec. II. lib. iii. c I, 2. 9, 10. Bernal Diaz, c, E. 17. Qviedo Hift, lib, xvii. c, 9. 20. Gomara, c. 49-

country

270 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. lit.

country which they had difcovered appeared to be no lefs valuable than extenfive. As foon as Alvarado reached Cuba, Velafquez, tranfported with fuccefs fo far beyond his moil fanguine expectations, immediately difpatched a perfon of confidence to carry this important intelligence to Spain, to exhibit the rich productions of the countries which had been difcovered by his means, and to folicit fuch an increafe of autho- rity as might enable and encourage him to at- tempt the conquefl of them. Without waiting for the return of his meflenger, or for the arrival of Grijalva, of whom he was become fo jealous or diftruilful that he refolved no longer to em- ploy him, he began to prepare fuch a powerful armament, as might prove equal to an enterprife of fo much danger and importance.

But as the expedition upon which Velafquez was now intent, terminated in conquefls of "greater moment than what the Spaniards had hitherto atchieved, and led them to the know- ledge of a people, who, if compared with thofe tribes of America with whom they were hitherto acquainted* may be confidered as highly civil- ized ; it is proper to paufe before we proceed to the hiftory of events extremely different from thofe which we have already related, in order to take a- view of the ftate of the New World when firft difcovered, and to contemplate the policy and manners of the rude uncultivated tribes that occupied all the parts of it with which the : Spaniards were at this time acquainted.

IS. If. HISTORY OF AMERICA* 2j)i

BOOK IV.

npWENTY-six years had elapfed fi nee Columbus •*■ conduced the people of Europe to the New World. During that period the Spaniards had made great progrefs in exploring its various regions. They had vifited all the iflands fcattered in different clutters through that part of the ocean which flows in between North and South America. They had failed along the eaftern coafl of the continent from the riveiDe la Plata to the bottom of the Mexican gulf, and had found that it.ftretched without interruption through this vaft portion of the globe. They had dis- covered the great Southern Ocean, which open- ed new profpects in that quarter. They had acquired fome knowledge of the coafl: of Florida, which led them to obferve the continent as it ex- tended in an oppofite direction ; and though they pufhed their difcoveries no farther towards the north, other nations had vifited thofe parts which they neglected. The Englifh, in a voyage, the motives and fuccefs of which ihall be related in another part of this Hiflory, had failed along the coaft of America from Labrador to the con- fines of Florida ; and the Portuguefe, in quell of a fhorter pafTage to the Eaft Indies, had ven- tured into the northern feas, and viewed the fame regions a. Thus, at the period where I have chofen to take a view of the ftate of the New- World, its extent was known almoft from its northern extremity to thirty -five degrees fouth

* JHevrera, dec. x. lib. yi. c. i£». VOL.1. DD Of

&>]2 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV.

of the equator. The countries which ftretch from thence to the fouthern boundary of Ame- rica, the great empire of Peru, and the inteiior ftate of the extenfive dominions fubject to the fovereigns of Mexico, were frill undiscovered. ,

When we contemplate the New World, the firft circumftance that ftrikes us is its immenfe extent* It was not a fmall portion of the earth, fo inconfiderable that it might have efcaped the observation or refearch of former ages, which Columbus difcovered. He made known a new fiemifphere, larger than either Europe, or Afia, or Africa, the three noted divifioiisS of the ancient continent, and not much inferior in dimenfions to a third part of the habitable globe.

America is remarkable not only for its mag- nitude, but for its pofition. It Itretches from the northern polar circle to a high fouthern latitude, above fifteen hundred miles beyond the : fartheft extremity of the old continent on that fide of the line. A country of fuch extent pafTes through all the climates capable of becom- ing the habitation of man, and fit for yield* ing the various productions peculiar either to the temperate or to the torrid regions of the earth.

Next to the extent of the New World, the grandeur of the objects which it prefents to view is mod apt to ftrike the eye of an obferver. Na* ture feems here to have carried on her operations ypon a larger fcale, and with a bolder hand, an4 I to have diilinguifhed the features of this country by a peculiar magnificence. The mountains of I America are much Superior in height to thofe in the other divifions of the globe. Even the

plain

3. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 2J$

plain of Quito, which may be confidered as the bafe of the Andes, is elevated farther above the fea than the top of the Pyrenees. This ftupen- dous ridge of the Andes, no lefs remarkable for extent than elevation, rifes in different places more than one third above the Pike of Teneriffe, the higheft land in the ancient hemifphere. The Andes may literally be faid to hide their heads in the clouds ; the ftorms often roll, and the thunder burlts below their fummits, which, though expofed to the rays of the fun in the centre of the torrid zone, are covered with ever* lafting fnows b.

From thefe lofty mountains' defcend rivers, proportionably large, with which the ftreams in the ancient continent are not to be compared* either for length of courfe, or the vail body of water which theyroll towards the ocean. The Ma- ragnon, the Orinoco, the Plata in SouthAmerica, the Miffiflippi and St. Laurence in North Ame- rica, flow in fuch fpacious channels, that, long before they feel the influence of the tide, they refemble arms of the fea rather than rivers of frefh water c.

The lakes of the New World are no lefs con- fpicuous for grandeur than its mountains and rivers. There is nothing in other parts of the

flobe which refembles the prodigious chain of tkes in North America. They may properly be termed inland feas of frefh water ; and even thofe of the fecond or third clafs in magni- tude, are of larger circuit (the Cafpian Sea ex- cepted) than the greatell lake of the ancient continent. * Sec Note XXVIII. c See Note XXIX.

S02 The

374 History of America. b. iv.

The New World is of a form extremely fa- vourable %to commercial "mtercourfe. Wben a continent is formed, like Africa, of one van: folid mafs, unbroken by arms of the fea pene- trating into its interior parts, with few large rivers, and thofe at a confiderable diftance from each other, the greater part of it feems deilined to remain for ever uncivilized, and to be debarred from any active or enlarged communication with the reft of mankind. When, like Europe, a continent is opened by inlets of the ocean of great extent, fuch as the Mediterranean and Baltic ; or when, like Afia, its coaft is broken by deep bays advancing far into the country, fuch as the Black Sea, the gulfs of Arabia, of Perfia, of Bengal, of Siam, and of Leotang ; when the furrounding feas are filled with large and fertile iilands, and the continent itfelf wa- tered with a variety of navigable rivers, thofe regions may be faid to pofTefs whatever can facilitate the progrefs of their inhabitants 111 commerce and improvement. In all thefe re- fpecfcs America may bear a comparifon with the other quarters of the globe. The gulf of Mext jco, which flows in between North and South America, may be confidered as a Mediterranean fea, which opens a maritime commerce with all the fertile countries by which it is encircled. The iilands lcattered in it are inferior only to thofe in the Indian Archipelago, in number, in magnitude, and in value. As we ftretch along the northern divifion of the American hemi- fphere, the Bay of Ghefapeak prefents a fpa- cious inlet, which conduces the navigator far into the interior parts of provinces no lefs fertile

than

t. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 2J $

than extenfive ; and if ever the progrefs of cul- ture and population fhall mitigate the extreme rigour of the climate in the more northern dif- tri&s of America, Hudfon's Bay may become as fubfervient to commercial intercourfe in that quarter of the globe, as the Baltic is in Europe. The other great portion of the New World is encompaffed on every fide by the fea, except one narrow neck, which feparates the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean ; and though it be not opened by fpacious bays or arms of the fea, its interior parts are rendered acceflible by a number of large rivers, fed by fo many auxiliary ltreams, flowing in fuch various directions, that, almoft. without any aid from the hand of induftry and art, an inland navigation may be carried on through all the provinces from the river De la Plata to the gulf of Paria. Nor is this bounty of Nature Confined to the fouthern divifion of America ; its northern continent abounds no lefs in rivers which are navigable almoft to their fources, and by its immenfe chain of lakes provifion is made for an inland communication, more extenfive and commodious than in any quarter of the globe. The countries ftretching from the gulf of Darien on one fide, to that of California on the other, which form the chain that binds the two parts of the American continent together, are not deftitute of peculiar advantages. Their coaft on one fide is warned by the Atlantic Ocean, on the other by the Pacific. Some of their rivers flow into the former, fome into the latter, and fecure to them all the commercial benefits that may refult from a communication with both.

But what moil diftinguifhes America from

other parts of the earth, is the peculiar temper-

d d 3 ature

Z*]6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B, IT*

ature of its climate, and the different laws to which it. is fubjecl: with refpeft to the diftribu- tion of heat and cold. We cannot determine with precifion the portion of heat felt in any part of the globe, merely by meafuring its diftanee from the equator. The climate of a country is affected, in fome degree? by its elevation above the fea, by the extent of continent, by the na- ture of the foil, the height of adjacent mountains* and many other circumflances. The influence of thefe, however, is, from various eaufes, lefs con- fiderable in the greater part of the ancient con- tinent ; and from knowing the pofition of any. country there, we can pronounce with greater certainty, what will be the warmth of its climate, and the nature of its productions.

The maxims which are founded upon obfer- vation of our hemifphere will not apply to the other. In the New World, cold predominates. The rigour of the frigid zone extends over half of thofe regions, which mould be temperate by their pofition. Countries where the grape and the fig mould ripen, are buried under fnovv one half of the year ; and lands iituated in the fame parallel with the moil fertile and beft cultivated provinces in Europe, are chilled with perpetual frofts, which almofl deftroy the power of vegeta- tion d. As we advance to thofe parts of Ame-? rica which lie in the fame parallel with provinces, of Afia and Africa, blefTed with an uniform en- joyment of fuch genial warmth as is moll friendly to life and to vegetation, the dominion of cold continues to be felt, and winter reigns, though during a fhort period, with extreme feverity. If \ye proceed along the American continent into d See Note XXX..

S,IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. *77

the torrid zone, we {hall find the cold prevalent in the New World extending itfelf alfo to this region of the globe, and mitigating the ex- cefs of its fervour. While the negro on the coaft of Africa is fcorched with unremitting heat, the inhabitant of Peru breathes an air equally- mild and temperate, and is perpetually fhaded under a canopy of grey clouds, which intercepts the fierce beams of the fun, without obftru&ing his friendly influence6. Along the eaftern coait of America, the climate, though more fimilar to that of the torrid zone in other parts of the earth, is nevertheless confiderably milder than in thofe countries of Afia and Africa which lie in the fame latitude. If from the fouthern tropic we continue our progrefs to the extra*, mity of the American continent, we meet with frozen feas, and countries horrid, barren, and fcarcely habitable for cold, much fooner than in the north ?.

Various caufes combine in rendering the cli- mate of America fo extremely different from of the ancient continent. Though the utmoft extent of America towards the north be not yet difcovered, we know that i% advances much nearer to the pole than either Europe or Alia. Both thefe have large feas to the north, which are open during part pf the year; and even when covered with ice, the wind that blows over them is lefs intenfely cold than that which blows over land in the fame high latitudes. But in

e Voyage de Ulloa, torn. i. p. 453. Anfon's Voyage, p. 184. f Anfon's Voyage, p. 74; and Voyage de

Qairos, chez Hirt. de Gen. des Voyages, torn. xiv. p. 83. Richard Hift, Natur, de TAir, tf, 305; &c«

America

27$ HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV«

America the land ftretches from the river St. Lawrence towards the pole, and fpreads out immenfely to the weft. A chain of enormous mountains, covered wTith fnow and ice, runs through all this dreary region. The wind, in palling over fuch an extent of high and frozen land, becomes fo impregnated with cold, that it acquires a piercing keennefs, which it retains in its progrefs through warmer climates, and is not entirely mitigated until it reach the Gulf of Mexico. Over all the continent of North America, a north-wefterly wind and exceflive cold are fynonimous terms. Even in the moil fultry weather, the moment that the wind veers to that quarter, its penetrating influence is felt in a tranfition from heat to cold, no lefs violent than fudden. To this powerful caufe we may afcribe the extraordinary dominion of cold, and its violent inroads into the fouthern provinces in that part of the globe s.

Other caufes, no lefs remarkable, diminifh the active power of heat in thofe parts of the American continent which lie between the tropics. In all that portion of the globe, the wind blows in an invariable direction from eaft to weft. As this wind holds its courfe acrofs the ancient continent, it arrives at the countries which ft retch along the weft em mores of Africa, inflamed with all the fiery particles which it hath collected from the fultry plains of Alia, and the burning fands in the African deferts. The coaft of Africa is, accordingly, the region of the earth which feels the moft fervent heat, and is

* Charlevoix Hilt, de Nov, Fr. ill* J 65. Hift. generalc Voyages, torn. xv. % J 5, &c.

expofed

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 279

cxpofed to the unmitigated ardour of the torrid zone. But this fame wind which brings fuch an acceflion of warmth to the countries lying be- tween the river of Senegal and Cafraria, traverfes the Atlantic Ocean, before it reaches the Ame- rican fliore. It is cooled in its paflage over this vail body of water, and is felt as a refrefhing gale along the coafl of Brafilh, and Guiana, rendeiing thefe countries, though among the warmer! in America, temperate, when compared with thofe which lie oppofite to them in Africa K As this wind advances in its courfe acrofs Ame- rica, it meets with immenfe plains, covered with impenetrable forefls, or occupied by large rivers, marfnes, and ftagnating waters, where it can recover no confiderable degree of heat. At length it arrives at the Andes, which run from north to fouth through the whole continent. In palling over their elevated and frozen fummits, it is fo thoroughly cooled, that the greater part of the countries beyond them hardly feel the ardour to which they feem expofed by their fituation k. In the other provinces of America, from Tierra Ferme weftward to the Mexican empire, the heat of the climate is tempered, in fome places, by the elevation of the land above the fea, in others, by their extraordinary hu- midity, and in all, by the enormous mountains Scattered over this tract. The iflands of Ame- rica in the torrid zone are either fmall or mountainous, and are fanned alternately by re- frefhing fea and land breezes.

ft See Note XXXI. * See Note XXXII.

* Acofta Hift. Novi Orbis, lib. ii. c. 11. Buffon Hift> Naturelle, &c. torn. ii. 512, &c, ix. 107, &c. Ofb3rn'6 Collect, of Voyages, ii. p. 868.

The

38o HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV,

The caufes of the extraordinary cold towards trie fouthern limits of America, and in the feas beyond it, cannot be afcertained in a manner equally fatisfying. It was long fuppofed that a vaft continent, diftinguifhed by the name of Terra Auflralis Incognita, lay between the fouthern extremity of America and the Antarctic pole. The fame principles which account for the ex- traordinary degree of cold in the northern re- gions of America, were employed in order to explain that which is felt at Cape Horn and the adjacent countries. The immenfe extent of the fouthern continent, and the large rivers which it poured into the ocean, were mentioned and admitted by philofophers as caufes fufficient to occafion the unufual fenfation of cold, and the Hill more uncommon appearances of frozen feas in that region of the globe. But the imaginary- continent to which fuch influence was afcribed, having been fearched for in vain, and the fpace which it was fuppofed to occupy having been found to be an open fea, new conjectures muft be formed with refpect to the caufes of a tem- perature of climate, fo extremely different from that which we experience in countries removed at the fame diitance from the oppofite pole1.

After contemplating thofe permanent and characterise qualities of the American conti- nent, which arife from the peculiarity of its fituation, and the difpofition of its parts, the next object that merits attention is its condition when firil difcovered, as far as that depended upon the induftry and operations of man. The effects of human ingenuity and labour are more

t See Note XXXIII.

extenfive

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 2§t

cxtenfive and confiderable, than even our own vanity is apt at firft to imagine. When we fur- vey the face of the habitable globe, no fmall part of that fertility and beauty which we afcribe to the hand of nature, is the work of man. His efforts, when continued through a fucceffion of ages, change the appearance and improve the qualities of the earth. As a great part of the ancient continent has long been occupied by na- tions far advanced in arts and induftry, our eye is accuftomed to view the earth in that form which it affumes when rendered fit to be the refidence of a numerous race of men, and to fupply them with nourifhment.

But in the New World, the ftate of mankind was ruder, and the afpect of nature extremely different. Throughout all its vaft regions, there were only two monarchies remarkable for extent of territory, or diftinguifhed by any progrefs in improvement. The reft of this continent was pofTefTed by fmall independent tribes, defti- tute of arts and induftry, and neither capable to correct the defects, nor defirous to meliorate the condition of that jrart of the earth allotted to them for their habitation. Countries, occu- pied by fuch people, were almoft in the fame ftate as if they had been without inhabitants. Immenfe forefts covered a great part of the un- cultivated earth ; and as the hand of induftry Jiad not taught the rivers to run in a proper channel, or drained off the ftagnating water, many of the moft fertile plains were overflowed with inundations, or converted into marfhes. la the fouthern provinces, where the warmth of the fun, the moifture, oi the climate, and the

fertility

2$2 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV".

fertility of the foil, combine in calling forth the moll vigorous powers of vegetation, the woods are fo choked with its rank luxuriance, as to be almoft impervious, and the furface of the ground is hid from the eye under a thick covering of fhrubs and herbs and weeds. In this ftate of wild unaffifted nature, a great part of the large provinces in South America, which extend from the bottom of the Andes to the fea, Hill remain. The European colonies have cleared and culti- vated a few fpots along the coaft, but the origi- nal race of inhabitants, as rude and indolent as ever, have done nothing to open or improve a country, poffefling almoft every advantage of fituation and climate. As we advance towards the northern provinces of America, nature con- tinues to wear the fame uncultivated afpec~t, and in proportion as the rigour of the climate in- creafes, appears more defolate and horrid. There the forefts, though not encumbered with the fame exuberance of vegetation, are of im- menfe extent ; prodigious marines overfpread the plains, and few marks appear of human ac- tivity in any attempt'^P cultivate or embellifh the earth. No wonder that the colonies fent from Europe were aflonifhed at their firft en- trance into the New World. It appeared to them wafte, folitary, and uninviting. When the Englifh began to fettle in America, they termed the countries of which they took pof- feflion, The Wilder nefs. Nothing but their eager expectation of finding mines of gold, could have induced the Spaniards to penetrate through the woods and marmes of America, where, at every ftep, they obferved the extreme difference

between

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 283

between the uncultivated face of Nature, and that which it acquires under the forming hand of induftry and art m.

The labour and operations of man not only improve and embelliih the earth, but render it more wholefome, and friendly to life. When any region lies neglected and dellitute of culti- vation, the air ftagnates in the woods, putrid exhalations arife from the waters ; the furface of the earth, loaded with rank vegetation, feels not the purifying influence of the fun or of the wind ; the malignity of the diflempers natural to the climate increafes, and new maladies no lefs noxious are engendered. Accordingly, all the provinces of America, when firfl difcovered, were found to be remarkably unhealthy. This the Spaniards experienced in every expedition into the New World, whether deftined for con- quell or fettlement. Though by the natural conflitution of their bodies, their habitual tem- perance, and the perfevering vigour of their minds, they were as much formed as any people in Europe for active fervice in a fultry climate, they felt feverely the fatal and pernicious qua- lities of thofe uncultivated regions through which they marched, or where they endeavoured to plant colonies. Great numbers were cut off by the unknown and violent difeafes with which they were infected. Such as furvived the de- finitive rage of thofe maladies, were not ex- empted from the noxious influence of the cli- mate. They returned to Europe, according to the defcription of the early Spanifh hiftorians, feeble, emaciated, with languid looks, and com-

« See Not* XXXIV. vol. 1. e e plexions

284 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV.

plexions of fuch a fickly yellow colour, as indi- cated the unwholefome temperature of the countries where they had reiided n.

The uncultivated ftate of the New World affected not only the temperature of the air, but the qualities of its productions. The principle of life feems to have been lefs active and vigor- ous there, than in the ancient continent. Not- withstanding the vaft extent of America, and the variety of its climates, the different fpecies of animals peculiar to it are much fewer in pro- portion, than thofe of the other hemifphere. In the iflands, there were only four kind of qua- drupeds known, the largeft of which did not ex- ceed the lize of a rabbit. On the continent, the variety was greater ; and though the individuals of each kind could not fail of multiplying ex- ceedingly, when almoft unmolefted by men, who neither fo numerous, nor fo united in fo- ciety, as to be formidable enemies to the animal creation, the number of diftinc~t fpecies rnuft itili be confidered as extremely fmall. Of two hun- dred different kinds of animals fpread over the face of the earth, only about one third exifted in America, at the time of its difcovery". Na- ture was not only lefs prolific in the New World, but flie appears like wile to have been lefs vigor- ous in her productions. The animals originally belonging to this quarter of the globe appear to be of an inferior race, neither fo robuft, nor fo fierce, as thofe of the other continent. Ame- rica gives birth to no creature of fuch bulk as

1 n Gom*ra Hift. c. 20.' 22. Oviedo Hift. lib. ii. c, 13.. lib. v. c. 10. P. Mart. Epift. 545. Decad. p, 176. • Buffon Hift. Naturelle, torn, ix, p. $6;

to

B. IV.' HISTORY OF AMERICA, 2$f

to be compared with the elephant or rhinoceros, or that equals the lion and tiger in ilrength and ferocity P. The Tapyr of Brafil, the largeft quadruped of the ravenous tribe in the New World, is not larger than a calf of fix months old. The Puma and Jaguar, its fierceft beafts of prey, which Europeans have inaccurately de- nominated lions and tigers, poffefs neither the undaunted courage of the former, nor the ravenous cruelty of the latter 1. They are inac- tive and timid, hardly formidable to man, and often turn their backs upon the leaft appearance of refiHance r. The fame qualities in the climate of America which ftinted the growth, and en- feebled the fpirit, of its native animals, have proved pernicious to fuch as have migrated into it voluntarily from the other continent, or have been tranfported thither by the Europeans 8. The bears, the wolves, the deer of America, are not equal in flze to thofe of the Old World *. Moll of the domeftic animals, with which the Europeans have flored the provinces wherein they fettled, have degenerated with refpect either to bulk, or quality, in a country whofe temperature and foil feem to be lefs favourable to the ftrength and perfection of the animal cre- ation u.

p See Note XXXV. <1 Buffbn Hift. Natur. torn.

ix» p, S7. Margravii Hift. Nat. Brafil, p. 229.

r Buffbn Hift. Natur. ix. 13. 203. Acofta Hift. lib. iv. c. 34.. Pifonis Hift. p. 6. Herrera, dec. 4. lib. iv. c. 1. lib. x. c. 13. s Churchill, v. p 691. Ovalle Relat.

of Chili, Church, iii. p. 10. Sommario de Oviedo, c. 14 — 22. Voyage du Des Marchais, iii. 299. * Buffoa

Hilt. Natur. ix. 103. Kalm's Travels, i. 102. Bier. Voy. de France Equinox, p. 339. u See Notje XXXVI. E E 2 ThlS

286 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. It.

The fame caufes, which checked the growth and the vigour of the more noble animals, were friendly to the propagation and increafe of rep- tiles and infects. Though this is not peculiar to the New World, and thofe odious tribes, .nourifhed by heat, moifture, and corruption, in- feft every part of the torrid zone ; they multiply falter, perhaps, in America, and grow to a more monftrous bulk. As this country is, on the whole, lefs cultivated, and lefs peopled, than the other quarters of the earth, the active prin- ciple of life waftes its force in productions of this inferior form. The air is often darkened with clouds of infects, and the ground covered with mocking and noxious reptiles. The country around Porto-Bello fwarms with toads in fuch multitudes, as hide the furface of the earth. At Guyaquil, fnakes and vipers are hardly lefs nu- merous. Carthagena is infeiled with numerous Hocks of bats, which annoy not only the cattle but the inhabitants x. In the iflands, legions of ants have, at different times, confumed every vegetable production /, and left the earth en- tirely bare, as if it had been burnt with lire. The damp foreits, and rank foil of the countries on the banks of the Orinoco and Maragnon, teem with almolt every ofrenlive and poifonous creature, which the power of a fultry fun can quicken into lifez.

The birds of the New World are not diilin guifhed by qualities fo confpicuous and charac

x Voyage de Ulloa, torn. i. p. 89. Id. p. 147. Herrera,

dec. 11. lib. iii. c. 3. 19. v See Note XXXVII.

2 Voyage de Condamine, p. 167. Gumilla, iii. 120, &c.

Kift. Gener. des Voyages, xiv. 317. Dumont Mcmoires fur

la Louiiiane, i. iq8. Sommario de Oviedo, c. 52 — 62.

teriitical

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 287

teriftical, as thofe which we have obferved in its quadrupeds. Birds are more independent of man, and lefs affected by the changes which his induftry and labour make upon the ftate of the earth. They have a greater propenfity to mi- grate from one country to another, and can gratify this inftinct of their nature without dif- iiculty or danger. Hence the number of birds common to both continents is much greater than that of quadrupeds ; and even fuch as are pe- culiar to America nearly refemble thofe with which mankind were acquainted in fimilar regions of the ancient hemifphere. The American birds of the torrid zone, like thofe of the fame climate in Afia and Africa, are decked in plumage, which dazzles the eye with the beauty of its colours ; but Nature, fatisfied with clothing them in this gay drefs, has denied mod of them that melody of found, and variety of notes, which catch and delight the ear. The birds of the temperate climates there, in the fame manner as in our continent, are lefs fplendid in their ap- pearance, but, in compenfation for that defect, they have voices of greater compafs, and more melodious. In fome diftridts of America, the unwholefome temperature of the air feems to be unfavourable even to this part of the creation. The number of birds is lefs than in other countries, and the traveller is flruck with the amazing folitude and filence of its forefts a. It is remarkable, however, that America, where

a Bourguer Voy. au Perou, 17. Chanvalon Voyage a la Martinique, p. 96. Warren Defcript. Surinam. Ofborn's Colled, ii. 924. Lettres Edif. xxiv. p. 339. Charlev. Hift. «lc la Nouv. France, iii. 155.

223 the

2$8 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B, I

•

the quadrupeds are fo dwarfifh and daftardly, fhould produce the Condor, which is entitled to pre-eminence over all the flying tribe, in bulk, in ftrength, and in courage b.

The foil, in a continent fo extenfive as Ame- rica, muft, of courfe, be extremely various. In each of its provinces, we find fome diftinguifhing peculiarities, the defcription of which belongs to thofe who write their particular hiftory. In general, we may obferve, that the moifture and cold, which predominates fo remarkably in all parts of America, muft have great influence upon the nature of its foil ; countries lying in the fame parallel with thofe regions which never feel the extreme rigour of winter in the ancient continent, are frozen over in America during a great part of the year. Chilled by this intenfe cold, the ground never acquires warmth fuflicient to ripen the fruits, which are found in the cor- refponding parts of the other continent. If we wifh to rear in America the productions which abound in any particular diitricTfc of the ancient ■world, we muft advance feveral degrees nearer to the line than in the other hemifphere, as it requires fuch an increafe of heat to counterba- lance the natural frigidity of the foil and cli- mate c. At the Cape of Good Hope, feveral of the plants, and fruits peculiar to the countries within the tropics, are cultivated with fuccefs ; whereas, at St. Auguftine, in Florida, and Charles-Town, in South Carolina, though con- fiderably nearer the line, they cannot be brought

b Voyage de Ulloa, i. 363. Voyage de Condamine, 175, Euffbn Hift. Nat. xvi. 184. Voyage du Des Marchais, iii. 3*0. « See Note XXXV1JI,

to

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 289

to thrive with equal certainty d. But, if allow- ance be made for this diverfity in the degree of heat, the foil of America is naturally as rich and fertile as in any part of the earth. As the country was thinly inhabited, and by a people of little induftry, who had none of the domeftic animals, which civilized nations rear in fuch vaft numbers, the earth was not exhaufted by their confumption. The vegetable productions, to which the fertility of the foil gave birth, often remained untouched, and being fuffered to cor- rupt on its furface, returned with increafe into its bofom e. As trees and plants derive a great part of their nourifhment from air and water, if they were not deftroyed by man and other ani- mals, they would render to the earth more, perhaps, than they take from it, and feed rather than impoverish it. Thus the unoccupied foil of America may have gone on enriching for many ages. The vaft number as well as enormous fize of the trees in America, indicate the ex- traordinary vigour of the foil in its native Hate. When the Europeans firft began to cultivate the New World, they were aftonifhed at the luxuriant power of vegetation in its virgin mould ; and in feveral places the ingenuity of the planter is ftill employed in diminifhing and wafting its fuperfluous fertility, in order to bring it down to a ftate fit for profitable culture f.

Having thus furveyed the ftate of the New World at the time of its difcovery, and con-

d See Note XXXIX. e Button Hift. Natur. i. 242. Kalm, i. 151. f Charlevoix, Hift. de Nouv. Fran,

iii. 405. Voyage du Des Marchais, iii. 229. Lery ap de Bry, part iii. p. 174. Sec Not* XL.

fidered

2<)0 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV.

fidered the peculiar features and qualities which diftinguiih and chara&erife it, the next inquiry that merits attention is, How was America peopled ? By what courfe did mankind migrate from the one continent to the other ? and in what quarter is it mod probable that a commu- nication was opened between them ?

We know with infallible certainty, that all the human race fpring from the fame fource, and that the descendants of one man, under the protection, as well as in obedience to the com- mand of Heaven, multiplied and replenifhed the earth. But neither the annals nor the traditions of nations reach back to thofe remote ages, in which they took pofTefiion of the different countries., where they are now fettled. We cannot trace the branches of this firft family, or point out with certainty the time and manner in which they divided and fpread over the face of the globe. Even among the moil enlightened people, the period of authentic hiftory is ex- tremely ihort, and every thing prior to that is fabulous or obfcure. It is not furprifing, then, that the unlettered inhabitants of America, who have no folicitude about futurity, and little cu- riofity concerning what is paft, ihould be alto* gether unacquainted with their own original. The people on the two oppohte coads of Ame- rica, who occupy thofe countries in America which approach neareft to the ancient continent, are fo remarkably rude, that it is altogether vain tofearch among them for fuch information as might dis- cover the place from whence they came, or the auceilors of whom they are defcended?. What-

s Venega's Hilt, of California, i. 6o#

ever

*. iv. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 20,1

ever light has been thrown on this fubjec"t, is de- rived, not from the natives of America, but from the inquifitive genius of their conquerors.

When the people of Europe unexpectedly dif- covered a New World, removed at a ^ vaft diitance from every part of the ancient continent which was then known, and filled with inhabit- ants whofe appearance and manners differed re- markably from the reft of the human fpecies, the queilion concerning their original became natu- rally an object of curiofity and attention. The theories and fpeculations of ingenious men with refpeft to this fubjeft, would fill many volumes * but are often fo wild and chimerical, that I mould offer an infult to the underftanding of my readers, if I attempted either minutely to enu- merate or to refute them. Some have prefump- tuoufly imagined, that the people of America were not the offspring of the fame common pa- rent with the reft of mankind, but that they formed a feparate race of men, diftinguifhable by peculiar features in the conftitution of their bodies, as well as in the characteriftic qualities of their minds. Others contend, that they are defcended from fome remnant of the antediluvian inhabitants of the earth, who furvived the deluge, which fwept away the greateft part of the hu* man fpecies in the days of Noah; and pre- pofteroufly fuppofe rude, uncivilized tribes, fcattered over an uncultivated continent, to be the moft ancient race of people on the earth. There is hardly any nation from the north to the fouth pole, to which fome antiquary, in the ex* travagance of conje&ure, has not afcribed the honour of peopling America. The Jews, the

Canaanites,

292 HISTORY OF AMERICA B. IV.

Canaanites, the Phoenicians, the Carthagenians,. the Greeks, the Scythians in ancient times, are fuppofed to have fettled in this weftern world. The Chinefe, the Swedes, the Norwegians, the Welfh, the Spaniards, are faid to have fent co-> lonies thither in later ages, at different periods, and on various occafions. Zealous advocates {land forth to fupport the refpective claims of thofe people ; and though they reft upon no better foundation than the cafual refemblance of fome cuftoms, or the fuppofed affinity between a few words in their different languages, much erudition and more zeal have been employed, to little purpofe, in defence of the oppofite fy items. Thofe regions of conjecture and con- troverfy belong not to the hiitorian. His is a more limited province, confined to what is eftablifhed by certain or highly probable evi- dence. Beyond this I mall not venture, in offering a few obfervations, which may contri- bute to throw fome light upon this curious and much agitated queftion.

1. There, are authors who have endeavoured by mere conjectures to account for the peopling of America. Some have fuppofed that it was originally united to the ancient continent, and disjoined from it by the fhock of an earthquake, or the irruption of a deluge. Others have ima- gined, that fome veffel being forced from its courfe by the violence of a weiterly wind, might be driven by accident towards the American coaft, and have given a beginning to population in that defolate continent11. But with refpect h Parfon's Remains of Japhet, p. 240. Ancient Univerf. Kift. vol. xx. p. 164* P. Feyjoo Teatro Critico, torn. v. p. 304,55c. Acofta Hift. Moral. Novi Orbis, lib. i. c. 16, 19.

to

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 293

to all thofe fyftems, it is vain either to reafon or inquire, becaufe it is impoflible to come to any deciiion. Such events as they fuppole are barely poflible, and may have happened. That they ever did happen, we have no evidence, either from the clear teltimony of hifiory, or from the obfcure intimations of tradition.

2. Nothing can be more frivolous or uncertain than the attempts to difcover the original of the Americans, merely by tracing the refemblance between their manners and thoie of any particular people in the ancient continent. If we fuppofe two tribes, though placed in the moft remote regions of the globe, to Jive in a climate nearly of the fame temperature, to be in the fame ilate of fociety, and to refemble each other in the de- gree of their improvement, they mull feel the fame wants, and exert the fame endeavours to fupply them. The fame objects will allure, the fame paflions will animate them, and the fame ideas and fentiments will arife in their minds. The character and occupations of the hunter in America mull be little different from thofe of an Afiatic, who depends for fubiiftence on the chace. A tribe of favages on the banks of the Danube muft nearly refemble one upon the plains warned by the Miffifrppi. Inftead then of pre- fuming from this fimilarity, that there is any affinity between them, we mould only conclude, that the difpofition and manners of men are formed by their fituation, and arife from the ft ate of fociety in which they live. The moment that begins to vary, the character of a people muft change. In proportion as it advances in im- provement^ their manners refine, their powers

and

294 HISTORY OF AMERICA* B. IV.

and talents are called forth. In every part of the earth the progrefs of man hath been nearly the fame, and we can trace him in his career from the rude fimplicity of favage life, until he attains the induftry, the arts, and the elegance of polifhed fociety. There is nothing wonder- ful then in the fimilitude between the Americans and the barbarous nations of our continent. Had Lafitau, Garcia, and many other authors, at- tended to this, they would not have perplexed a fubject which they pretend to illuilrate, by their fruitlefs endeavours to eftablifh an affinity between various races of people in the old and new continents, upon no other evidence than fuch a refemblance in their manners as neceffarily arifes from the fimilarity of their condition. There are, it is true, among every people, fome cuftoms, which, as they do not flow from any natural want or delire peculiar to their iituation, may be denominated ufages of arbitrary inltitu- tion. If between two nations fettled in remote parts of the earth, a perfect agreement with re- fpecl: to any of thefe mould be difcovered, one might be led to fufpecl: that they were connected by fome affinity. If, for example, a nation were found in America that confecrated the feventh day to religious worfhip and reft, we might juftly fuppofe that it had derived its knowledge of this ufage, which is of arbitrary inftitution, from the Jews. But, if it were difcovered that another nation celebrated the firft appearance of every new moon with extraordinary demonftrations of joy, we mould not be entitled to conclude that the obfervation of this monthly feitival was borrowed from the Jews, but ought to confider

)

fi. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 29$

it merely as the expreffion of that joy which is natural to man on the return of the planet which guides and cheers him in the night. The in- ilances of cuftoms, merely arbitrary, common to the inhabitants of both hemifpheres, are, indeed, fo few and fo equivocal, that no theory concern- ing the population of the New World ought to be founded upon them.

3. The theories which have been formed with refpect to the original of the Americans, from obfervation of their religious rites and practices, are no lefs fanciful, and deflitute of folid foundation. When the religious opinions of any people are neither the refult of rational inquiry, nor derived from the inftru&ions of revelation, they mull needs be wild and extravagant. Bar- barous nations are incapable of the former, and have not been bleffed with the advantages arifing from the latter. Still, however, the human mind, even where its operations appear moft wild and capricious, holds a courfe fo regular, that in every age and country the dominion of particular pafilons will be attended with fimilar effe&s. The favage of Europe or America, when filled with fuperftitious dread of invifible beings, or with inquifitive folicitude to pene- trate into the events of futurity, trembles alike with fear, or glows with impatience. He has recourfe to rites and practices of the fame kind, in order to avert the vengeance which he fuppofes to be impending over him, or to divine the fecret which is the objecl: of his curiofity. Accordingly, the ritual of fuperfti- tion, in one continent, feems, in many par- ticulars, to be a tranfcript of that eftablifhed in

vol. 1. f f the

2C}G HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV.

the other, and both authorife ilmilar inflitutions, fometimes fo frivolous as to excite pity, Come* times fo bloody and barbarous as to create horror. But without fuppoiing any confanguinity between fuch diitant nations, or imagining that their reli- gious ceremonies were conveyed by tradition from the one to the other, we may afcribe this uniformity, which in many initances feems very amazing, to the natural operation of fuperitition and enthufjafm upon the weaknefs of the human mind. 4. We may lay it down as a certain principle :n this inquiry, that America was not peopled by any nation of the ancient continent, which had made coniiderable progrefs in civilization. The inhabitants of the New World were in a flate of fociety fo extremely rude, as to be un- acquainted with thofe arts which are the fird effays of human ingenuity in its advance towards improvement. Even the moil cultivated nations of America were llrangers to many of thofe fimple inventions, which were almoil coeval with fociety in other parts of the world, and were known in the earliefl periods of civil life with which we have any acquaintance. From this it is manifeit, that the tribes which originally mi* grated to America, came off from nations which mud have been no lefs barbarous than their pofterity, at the time when they were iiril dis- covered by the Europeans. For, although the elegant and refined arts may decline or perifh, amidft the violent (hocks of thofe revolutions and difafters to which nations are expofed, the necelTary arts of life, when once they have been introduced among any people, are never loft. None of the viciffitudes in human affairs aftecl

thefe,

3. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 297*

thefc, and they continue to be pracUfed as long* as the race of men exifts. If ever the ufe of iron had been known to the favages of America, or to their progenitors, if ever they had em- ployed a plough, a loom, or a forge, the utility of thofe inventions would have preferved them, and it is impoflible that they mould have been abandoned or forgotten. We may conclude then, that the Americans fprung from fome people, who were themfelves in fuch an early and unimproved flage of fociety, as to be unac- quainted with all thofe neceffary arts, which, continued to be unknown among their pofterity, when flrft vifited by the Spaniards.

5. It appears no %lefs evident that America was not peopled by any colony from the more fouthern nations of the ancient continent. None of the rude tribes fettled in that part of our hemifphere can be fuppofed to have vifited a country fo remote. They poffeffed neither en- terprife, nor ingenuity, nor power, that could prompt them to undertake, or enable them to perform, fuch a diflant voyage. That the more civilized nations in Aha or Africa are not the progenitors of the Americans is manifeft, not only from the obfervations which I have already made concerning their ignorance of the mod fimple and neceffary arts, but from an additional circumftance. Whenever any people have ex- perienced the advantages which men enjoy, by their dominion over the inferior animals, they can neither fubfift without the nourifhment which thefe afford, nor carry on any considerable ope- ration independent of their miniftry and labour. Accordingly, the firft care of the Spaniards, f f 1 when

298 HISTORY OP AMERICA. B. IV.

when they fettled in America, was to flock it with all the domeftic animals of Europe ; and if, prior to them, the Tyrians, the Carthaginians, the Chinefe, or any other polifhed people, had taken poffefiion of that continent, we mould have found there the animals peculiar to thofe regions of the globe where they were originally feated. In all America, however, there is not one animal, tame or wild, which properly belongs to the warm, or even the more temperate conn- tries of the ancient continent. The camel, the dromedary, the horfe, the cow, were as much unknown in America, as the elephant or the lion. From which it is obvious, that the people who firft fettled in the weftern world did not iflue from the countries where thofe animals abound, and where men, from having been long accuftomed to their aid, would naturally confider it, not only as beneficial, but as indifpenfably neceffary to the improvement, and even the pre* fervation, of civil fociety.

6. From- confidering the animals with which America is ftored, we may conclude that the neareft point of contact between the old and new continents is towards the northern extremity of both, and that there the communication was opened, and the intercourfe carried on between them. All the extenfive countries in America which lie within the tropics, or approach near to them, are filled with indigenous animals of various kinds, entirely different from thofe in the correfponding regions of the ancient conti- nent. But the northern provinces of the New World abound with many of the wild animals which are common in fuch parts of our hemi-

fphere

•B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA, 299

fphere as lie in a fimilar fituation. The bear, the wolf, the fox, the hare, the deer, the roe- buck, the elk, and feveral other fpecies frequent the forefts of North America, no lefs than thofe in the north of Europe and Alia h. It feems to be evident then, that the two continents approach each other in this quarter, and are either united, or fo nearly adjacent, that thefe animals might pafs from the one to the other.

7. The actual vicinity of the two continents is fo clearly eftablimed by modern difcoveries, that the chief difficulty with refpec~t. to the peopling of America is removed. While thofe immenfe regions, which ftretch eaftward from the river Oby to the fea of Kamchatka were unknown, or imper fe&ly explored, the north- eaft extremities of our hemifphere were fuppofed to be fo far diftant from any part of the New World, that it it was not eafy to conceive how any communication mould have been carried on between them. But the Ruffians, having fub- Je&ed the weflern part of Siberia to their em- pire, gradually extended their knowledge of that vail country, by advancing towards the eaft into unknown provinces. Thefe were difcovered by hunters in their excurfions after game, or by foldiers employed in levying the taxes, and the court of Mofcow eftimated the importance ^ of thofe countries only by the fmall addition which they made to its revenue. At length Peter the Great afcended the Ruffian throne. His en- lightened, compvehenfive mind, intent upon every circumltance that could aggrandize his empire* or render his reign illuflrious, difcerned confe- rences of thofe difcoveries, which had efcaped * Buffim Hift. Nat. 5x. p. 97, &c%

f f 3 tke

300 HISTORY OF AMERICA. T>. It.

the obfervation of his ignorant predecefTors. He perceived, that in proportion as the regions of Afia extended towards the eaft, they mull approach nearer to America ; that the communi- cation between the two continents, which had long been fearched for in vain, would probably be found in this quarter, and that by opening it, fome part of the wealth and commerce of the weftern world might be made to flow into his dominions by a new channeL Such an objeft fuited a genius that delighted in grand fchemes. Peter drew up inftru&ions with his own hand for profecuting this defign, and gave orders for car- rying it into execution K

His fucceflbrs adopted his ideas, and purfued his plan. The officers whom the Ruffian court employed in this fervice, had to flruggle with fo many difficulties, that their progrefs was ex* tremely flow. Encouraged by fome faint tra- ditions among the people of Siberia, concerning a fuccefsful voyage in the year one thoufand fix hundred and forty-eight, round the north-eait. promontory* of Afia, they attempted to follow the fame courfe. VefTels were fitted out, with this view, at different times, from the rivers L.ena and Kolyma ; but in a frozen ocean, which nature feems not to have deftined for naviga- tion, they were expofed to many difafters, with-* out being able to accomplifh their purpofe. No vcffel fitted out by the Ruffian court ever doubled this formidable cape k ; we are indebted for what is known of thofe extreme regions of Afia, to the difcoveries made in excurfions by land.

1 Muller Voyages ct Decouvertes par les Ruffes, torn. i. P» 4> 5- Hl< * See Not* XLI.

In

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 301

In all thofe provinces an opinion prevails, that there are countries of great extent and fertility, which lie at no confiderable diftance from their own coafts. Thefe the Ruffians imagined to be part of America ; and feveral circumftances con- curred not only in confirming them in this belief, but in perfuading them that fome portion of that continent could not be very remote. Trees of various kinds, unknown in thofe naked regions of Afia, are driven upon the coaft by an eallerly wind. By the fame wind, floating ice is brought thither in a few days ; flights of birds arrive annually from the fame quarter ; and a tradition obtains among the inhabitants, of an intercourfe formerly carried on with fome countries fituated to the eaft,

After weighing all thefe particulars, and com- paring the pofition of the countries in Alia which had been difcovered, with fuch parts in the north -weft of America as were already known, the Ruffian court formed a plan, which would have hardly occurred to a nation lefs accuflomed to engage in arduous undertakings, and to con- tend with great difficulties. Orders were iffued to build two veffels at the fmall village of Ochotz, fituated on the fea of Kamchatka, to fail on a voyage of difcovery. Though that dreary un- cultivated region furnifhed nothing that could be of ufe in conftru&ing them, but fome larch trees ; though not only the iron* the cordage, the fails, and all the numerous articles requisite for their equipment, but the provifions for vic- tualling them were to be carried through the immenfe deferts of Siberia, down rivers of diffi- cult navigation, and along roads almoft impaff-

ablea

J02 HISTORY OF AMERICA. ISl IV.

able, the mandate of the fovereign, and the per- feveranee of the people, at lafh furmounted every obftacle. Two veffels were fmifhed, and, under the command of the captains Behring andTfchi* rikow, failed from Kamchatka [June 4, 1741], in queft of the New World, in a quarter where it had never been approached. They fhaped their courfe towards the eaft ; and though a ftorm foon Separated the veffels, which never re- joined, and many difafters befel them, the ex« pe&ations from the voyage were not altogether fruftrated. Each of the commanders difcovered land, which to them appeared to be part of the American continent ; and, according to their obfervations, it feems to be fituated within a few degrees of the north-weft coaft of California. Each fet fome of his people afhore ; but in one place the inhabitants fled as the Ruffians approached ; in another, they carried off thofe who landed, and deftroyed their boats. The violence of the weather, and the diftrefs of their crews, obliged both captains to quit this inhofpitable coaft. In their return they touched at feveral iflands, which ftretch in a chain from eaft to weft be- tween the country which they had difcovered and the coaft of Afia. They had fome intercourse with the natives, who feemed to them to refemble the North Americans. They prefented to the Ruffians the calumet, or pipe of peace, which is a fymbol of friendfhip univerfal among the people of North America, and an ufage of arbitrary inftitution, peculiar to them.

Though the iflands of this New Archipelago have been frequented ftnce that time by the Ruf- fian hunters, the court.of St. Peterfburgh, during

a pe-

S. IT. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 303

& period of more than forty years, feems to have lelinquifhed every thought of profecuting dif- coveries in that quarter. But in the year one thoufand feven hundred and fixty-eight, it was unexpectedly refumed. The fovereign, who had been lately feated on the throne of Peter the Great, pofiefTed the genius and talents of her jlluftrious predeceffor. During the operations cf the moll arduous and extenfive war in which the Ruffian empire was ever engaged, fhe formed fchemes and executed undertakings, to which inore limited abilities would have been incapable ©f attending but amidft the leifure of pacific times. A new voyage of difcovery from the eaitern extremity of Alia was planned, and cap- tain Krenitzin and lieutenant Levafheff wrere appointed to command the two vefTels fitted out for that purpofe. In their voyage outward they held nearly the fame courfe with the former pavigators, they touched at the fame iflands, obferved their fituation and productions more carefully, and difcovered feveral new iflands, with which Behring and Tfchirikow had not fallen in. Though they did not proceed fo far to the eaft as to revifit the country which Behring and Tfchirikow fuppofed to be part of the American continent, yet, by returning in a courfe confider- ably to the north of theirs, they corrected fome capital miftakes into which their predeceffors had fallen, and have contributed to facilitate the progrefs of future navigators in thofe feas h

Thus the poflibility of a communication be- tween the continents in this quarter refts no longer upon mere conjecture, but is eftablifhed

1 See Note XLII.

by

304 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV*

by undoubted evidence m. Some tribe, or fome families of wandering Tartars, from the reftlefs fpirit peculiar to their race, might migrate to the neareft iflands, and, rude as their knowledge of navigation was, might, by palling from one to the other, reach at length the coaft of Ame- rica, and give a beginning to population in that continent. The diftance between the Marian or Ladrone iflands and the neareft land in Afia, is greater than that between the part of America which the Ruffians difcovered, and the coaft of Kamchatka ; and yet the inhabitants of thofe iflands are manifeftly of Aflatic extract. If, not- withstanding their remote fituation, we admit that the Marian iflands were peopled from our continent, diilance alone is no reafon why we mould hefitate about admitting that the Ame- ricans may derive their original from the fame fource. It is probable that future navigators in thofe feas, by fleering farther to the north, may find that the continent of America ap- proaches Hill nearer to Afia, According to the information of the barbarous people who inhabit the countiy about the north-eaft promontory of Afia, there lies, off the coaft, a fmall ifland, to which they fail in lefs than a day. From that they can defcry a large continent, which, ac- cording to their defcriptiou, is covered, with forefts, and poffeffed by people whofe language they do not underftand n. By them they are fupplied with the fkins of martens, an animal unknown in the northern parts of Siberia, and which is never found but in countries abounding

ni Muller'S Voyages, torn. i. p. 248, &c. 267. 276. n Muller's Voyages & Decouv. i. 166.

with

:

B. ir. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 30$

with trees. If we could rely on this account, we might conclude, that the American continent

• isfeparated from ours only by a narrow ftrait, and all the difficulties with refped to the com-

• munication between them would vanifh. What could be offered only as a conjeaure when this Hiitory was firft publifhed is now known to be certain. The near approach of the two conti- nents to each other has been difcovered and traced in a voyage undertaken upon principles fo pure and fo liberal, and condu&ed with fo

much profeffional Ml, as refied luftre upon the reiVn of the fovereign by whom it was planned, and do honour to the officers entrufted with the execution of it °.

It is likewife evident from recent diicovenes, that an intercourfe between our continent and America might be carried on with no lefs facility from the north-weft extremities of Europe. As early as the ninth century [A. D. 830], the Norwegians difcovered Greenland, and planted colonies there. The communication with that country, after a long interruption, was renewed in the laft century. Some Lutheran and Mo- ravian miffionaries, prompted by zeal for pro- pagating the Chriftian faith, have ventured to fettle in this frozen and uncultivated region P. To them we are indebted for much curious in- formation with refped to its nature and inhabit- ants. We learn, that the north-well coalt or. Greenland is feparated from America by a very narrow ftrait ; that, at the bottom of the bay

o See Note XLI1I. * Crantz' Hift. of Greenl.

i. 242. 244. Prevot Hift. Gen. des Voyages, torn. xv. 152, not. (96). .nto

3©6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B.I?.

into which this ftrait conduces, it is highly pro* bable that they are united <i ; that the inhabit- ants of the two countries have fome intercourfc with one another ; that the Efquimaux of Ame- rica perfectly refemble the Greenlanders in their afpecr., drefs, and mode of living; that fome failors, who had acquired the knowledge of a few words in the Greenlandifh language, report- ed that thefe were underftood by the Efqui- maux; that, at length [A. D. 1764], a Moravian miffionary, well acquainted with the language of Greenland, having vifited the country of the Efquimaux, Tound, to his aftoniihment, that they fpoke the fame language with the Green- landers, that they were in every refpect the fame people, and he was accordingly received and entertained by them as a friend and a bro- ther r.

By thcfe decifive facts, not only the confan- guinity of the Efquimaux and Greenlanders is eitablifhed, but the poflibility of peopling Ame- rica from the north of Europe is demon fixated. If the Norwegians, in a barbarous age, when fcience had not begun to dawn in the north of Europe, poffelfed fuch naval flcill as to open a communication with Greenland, their ancellors as much addicted to roving by fea, as the Tar- tars are to wandering by land, might, at fome more remote period, accomplifh the fame voyage, and fettle a colony there, whofe defcendants might, in progrefs of time, migrate into America. But if, inllead of venturing to fail directly from their own coaft to Greenland, we fuppofe that the Norwegians held a more cautious courfe,

<l Eggede, p. 2, 3. » Crams' Hift. of Greenl, p. 261, 262.

i

8. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 307

and advanced from Shetland to the Feroe Iflands, and from them to Iceland, in all which they had planted colonies, their progrefs may have been fo gradual, that this navigation cannot be con- fidered as cither longer or more hazardous, than thofe voyages which that hardy and enterprifing race of men is known to have performed in every age.

8. Though it be poflible that America may have received its iirft inhabitants from our con- tinent, either by the north-weft of Europe or the north-eaft of Afia, there feems to be good reafon for fuppofing that the progenitors of all the American nations, from Cape Horn to the fouthern confines of Labrador, migrated from the latter rather than the former. The Efqui- maux are the only people in America, who, in their afpedt. or character, bear any refemblance to the northern Europeans. They are mani- feltly a race of men, diftindt. from all the nations of the American continent, in language, in dif- pofition, and in habits of life. Their original, then, may warrantably be traced up to that fource, which I have pointed out. But, among all the other inhabitants of America, there is fuch a ftriking limilitude in the form of their bodies, and the qualities of their minds, that, notwith- standing the diverfities occafioned by the influ- ence of climate, or unequal progrefs in improve- ment, we muft pronounce them to be defcended from one fource. There may be a variety in the (hades, but we can every where trace the fame original colour. Each tribe has fomethmg pe- . culiar which diftinguifhes it, but in all of thiro. we difcern certain features common to the whole

vol. 1. g G race.

308 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3. IV,

race. It is remarkable, that in every peculiarity, whether in their perfons or difpofitions, which characterise the Americans, they have fome re- femblance to the rude tribes fcattered over the north-eaft of Afia, but almoft none to the nations fettled in the northern extremities of Europe. We may, therefore, refer them to the former origin, and conclude that their Afiatic progeni- tors, having fettled in thofe parts of America, where the Ruffians have discovered the proximity of the two continents, fpread gradually over its various regions. This account of the progrefs of population in America coincides with the tra- ditions of the Mexicans concerning their own origin, which, imperfect as they are, were pre- ferved with more accuracy, and merit greater credit, than thofe of any people in the New World. According to them, their anceilors came from a remote country, fituated to the north-weft of Mexico. The Mexicans point out their various ftations as they advanced from this, into the interior provinces, and it is precifely the fame route which they mult have held, if they had been emigrants from Alia. The Mexicans, in defcribing the appearance of their progenitors, their manners and habits of life at that period, exactly delineate thofe of the rude Tartars, from whom I fuppofe them to have fprung r.

Thus have I finifhed a difquifition which has been deemed of fo much importance, that it would have been improper to omit it in writing

r Acofta Hift. Nat. & Mor. lib. vii. c. 2, &c. Garcia Origen de Jos Indios, lib. v. c. 3, Torquemada Monar. Ind. lib. i. c. 2, &c. Boturini Benaduci Idea de una Hilt, de la Amer. Septentr. § xvii, p. 127.

the

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 30<X

the hiftory of America. I have ventured to in- quire, but without prefuming to decide. Satif- fied with offering conjectures, I pretend not to eftablifh any fyflem. When an invefligation is, from its nature, fo intricate and obfcure, that it is impofSble to arrive at conclufions which are certain, there may be fome merit in pointing out fuch as are probable s.

The condition and character of the American nations, at the time when they became known to the Europeans, deferve more attentive con- fideration, than the inquiry concerning their original. The latter is merely an object of curi- ofity, the former is one of the moll important as well as inftrudlive refearches which can occupy the philofopher or hiftorian. In order to com- plete the hiftory of the human mind, and attain to a perfect knowledge of its nature and ope- rations, we muft contemplate man in all thofe various fituations wherein he has been placed. We mull follow him in his progrefs through the different ftages of fociety, as he gradually ad- vances from the infant ftate of civil life towards its maturity and decline. We muft obferve, at each period, how the faculties of his understand- ing unfold ; we muft attend to the efforts of his adive powers, watch the various movements of deiire and affection, as they rife in his breaft, and mark whither they tend, and with what ardour they are exerted. The philofophers and hiftorians of ancient Greece and Rome, our guides in this as well as every other difquifition, had only a limited view of this fubjecl:, as they had

s Memoires fur 1* Louifiane, par Dumont, torn, i,'

gg z hardly

JIO HISTORY OF AMERICA, E. IV.

hardly any opportunity of furveying man in his rudeft and molt early Hate. In all thofe regions of the earth with which they were well acquaint- ed, civil fociety had made considerable advances, and nations had finifhed a good part of their career before they began to obferve them. The Scythians and Germans, the rudeft people of whom any ancient author has tranfmitted to us an authentic account, poffeffed flocks and herds, had acquired property of various kinds, and, when compared with mankind in their primitive Hate, may be reckoned to have attained to a great degree of civilization.

But the difcovery of the New World enlarged the fphere of contemplation, and prefented na- tions to our view, in ftages of their progrefs, much lefs advanced than thofe wherein they have been pbferved in our continent. In America, man appears under the rudeft form in which we can conceive him to fubfift. We behold com- munities juft beginning to unite, and may exa- mine the fentiments and actions of human beings in the infancy of focial life, while they feel but imperfectly the force of its ties, and have fcarcely relinquifhed their native liberty. That Hate of primaeval fimplicity, which was known in our continent only by the fanciful defcription of poets, really exifted in the other. The greater part of its inhabitants were ftrangers to induftry and labour, ignorant of arts, imperfectly ac- quainted with the nature of property, and en- joying almoft without reftriction or con- troul the bleffings which flowed fpontaneoufly from the bounty of nature. There were only two nations in tin's vail continent which had

emerged

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3IT

emerged from this rude ftate, and had made any confiderable progrefs in acquiring the ideas, and adopting the inflitutions, which belong to po- lifhed focieties. Their government and manners will fall naturally under our review in relating the difcovery and conqueft of the Mexican and Peruvian empires ; and we ihall have there an opportunity of contemplating the Americans in the ftate of highefl improvement to which they ever attained.

At prefent, our attention and refearches mail be turned to the fmall independent tribes which occupied every other part of America. Among thefe, though with fome diverfity in their cha- racter, their manners, and inflitutions, the ftate of fociety was nearly fimilar, and fo extremely rude, that the denomination of Savage may be applied to them all. In a general hiilory of America, it would be highly improper to de- fcribe the condition of each petty community, or to inveftigate every minute circumftance which contributes to form the character of its members. Such an inquiry would lead to details of immea- furable and tirefome extent. The qualities be« longing to the people of all the different tribes have fuch a near refemblance, that they may be painted with the fame features. Where any cir- cumftances feem to conftitute a diverfity in their character and manners worthy of attention, it; will be fufficient to point thefe out as they occur, and to inquire into the caufe of fuch peculiarities.

It is extremely difficult to procure fatisfying

and authentic information concerning nations

while they remain uncivilized. To difcover their

G g 3 true

312 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV.

true character under this rude form, and to felect the features by which they are diflinguifh- ed, requires an obferver pofTefTed of no lefs im- partiality than difcernment. For, in every ftage of fociety, the faculties, the fentiments and de- fires of men are fo accommodated to their own fcate, that they become ftandards of excellence to themfelves, they affix the idea of perfection and happinefs to thofe attainments which re- femble their own, and wherever the objects and enjoyments to which they have been accuitomed are wanting, confidently pronounce a people to be barbarous and miferable. Hence the mutual contempt with which the members of communis ties, unequal in their degrees of improvement, regard each other. Polifhed nations, confcious of the advantages which they derive from their knowledge and arts, are apt to view rude nations with peculiar fcorn, and, in the pride of fupe- riority, will hardly allow either their occupa- tions, their feelings, or their pleafures, to be worthy of men. It has feldom been the lot of communities, in their early and unpolifhed ftate, to fall under the obfervation of perfons endow*- ed with force of mind fuperior to vulgar preju- dices, and capable of contemplating man, under whatever afpecl: he appears, with a candid and difcerning eye.

The Spaniards, who firil vifited America, and who had opportunity of beholding its various tribes while entire and unfubdued, and before any change had been made in their ideas or man- ners by intercourfe with a race of men much ad- vanced beyond them in improvement, were far from pofTefling the qualities requifite for observ- ing

B.VI. HISTORY OF AMERICA. $1$

fatg the flriking fpeftacle prefented to their view. Neither the age in which they lived, nor the nation to which they belonged, had made fuch progrefs in true fcience, as infpires enlarged and liberal fentiments. The conquerors of the New World were moftly illiterate adventurers, deftitute of all the ideas which mould have directed them in contemplating objects, fo extremely different from thofe with which they were acquainted. Surrounded continually with danger, or ftrug- gling with hardfhips, they had little leifure, and lefs capacity, for any fpeculative inquiry. Eager to take poffeffion of a country of fuch extent and opulence, and happy in finding it occu- pied by inhabitants fo incapable to defend it, they haftily pronounced them to be a wretched order of men, formed merely for fervitude ; and were more employed in computing the pro- fits of their labour, than in inquiring into the operations of their minds, or the reafons of their cuftoms and inftitutions. The perfons who pene- trated at fubfequent periods into the interior provinces, to which the knowledge and devalua- tions of the firfl conquerors did not reach, were generally of a fimilar character ; brave and enter- prifmg in an high degree, but fo uninformed as to be little qualified either for obferving or de- fcribing what they beheld.

Not only the incapacity, but the prejudices of the Spaniards, render their accounts of the people of America extremely defective. Soon after they planted \ colonies }m their new con- quefts, a difference in opinion arofe with refpecl to the treatment of the natives. One party, folicitous to render their fervitude perpetual,

reprefented

3^4 HISTORY OF AMERICA, B. IV.

reprefented them as a brutifh, obftinate race, incapable either of acquiring religious knowledge, or of being trained to the functions of focial life. The other, full of pious concern for their converfion, contended that, though rude and ignorant, they were gentle, affectionate, docile, and by proper inftructions and regulations might be formed gradually into good Chriftians and ufeful citizens. This controverfy, as I have already related, was carried on with all the warmth which is natural, when attention to in- tereft on the one hand, and religious zeal on the other, animate the difputants. Mod of the laity cfpoufed the former opinion ; all the ecclefiaftics were advocates for the latter ; and we fhall •uniformly find that, accordingly as an author belonged to either of thefe parties, he is apt to magnify the virtues or aggravate the defects of the Americans far beyond truth. Thofe repug- nant accounts increafe the difficulty of attaining a perfect knowledge of their character, and rentier it neceffary to perufe all the defcriptions of them by Spanifh writers with diflruft, and to receive their information with fome grains of allow- ance.

Almoft two centuries elapfed after the difco- very of America, before the manners of its in- habitants attracted, in any conliderable degree, the attention of philofophers. At length, they difcovered that the contemplation of the con- dition and character of the Americans in their original ftate, tended to complete our knowledge of the human fpecies, might enable us to fill up a confiderable chafm in the hiflory of its progrefsj and lead to fpeculations no lefs curious Z than

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 315

than important. They entered upon this new field of iludy with great ardour ; but, inftead of throwing light upon the fubject, they have con- tributed, in fome degree, to involve it in addi- tional obfcurity. Too impatient to inquire, they haftened to decide ; and began to ere£t fy Items, when they mould have been fearching for facts on which to eftablifh their foundations. Struck with the appearance of degeneracy in the human fpecies throughout the New World, and afto- nifhed at beholding a vail continent occupied by a naked, feeble, and ignorant race of men, fome authors of great name have maintained, that this part of the globe had but lately emerged from the fea, and become lit for the refidence of man ; that every thing in it bore marks of a recent original ; and that its inhabitants, lately called into exiflence, and ftill at the beginning of their career, were unworthy to be compared with the people of a more ancient and improved continent '. Others have imagined, that, under the influence of an unkindly climate, which checks and enervates the principle of life, man never attained in America the perfection which belongs to his nature, but remained an animal ot an inferior order, defective in the vigour of his bodily frame, and deftitute of fenfibility, as well as offeree, in the operations of his mind". In oppofition to both thefe, other philosophers have fuppofed that man arrives at his higheft dignity and excellence long before he reaches a ftate of refinement ; and, in the rude fimplicity of favage life, difplays an elevation of fentiment, and in-

* M. de Buffbn Hift. Nat. iii. 484, &c. ix. 103. 114. J M. de P. Recheifhes Philof. iux les Americ. paffim.

dependence

Jl6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3. IV.

dependence of mind, and a warmth of attach, ment, for which it is vain to fearch among the members of polifned focieties x. They feem to confider that as the moll perfect ftate of man which is the leafl civilized. They defcribe the manners of the rude Americans with fuch rap- ture, as if they propofed them for models to the reft of the fpecies. Thefe contradictory theories have been propofed with equal confidence, and uncommon powers of genius and eloquence have been exerted, in order to clothe them with an appearance of truth.

As all thofe circumftances concur in rendering an inquiry into the ftate of the rude nations in America intricate and obfcure, it is neceffary to carry it on with caution. When guided in our researches by the intelligent obfervations of the few philosophers who have vifited this part of the globe, we may venture to decide. When obliged to have recourfe to the fuperficial remarks of vulgar travellers, of failors, traders, buccaneers, and miflionaries, we muft often paufe, and, com- paring detached facts,, endeavour to difcover what they wanted fagacity to obferve. Without indulging conjecture, or betraying a propenfity to either fyftem, we muft ftudy with equal care to avoid the extremes of extravagant admiration, or of fupercilious contempt for thofe manners which we defcribe.

In order to conduct this inquiry with greater accuracy, it fhould be rendered as fimple as pof- fible. Man exifted as an individual before he became the member of a community ; and the qualities which belong to him under his former

* M. RoufTeaij.

capacity

I

,.*. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3T7

capacity mould be known, before we proceed to examine thofe which arife from the latter relation. This is peculiarly neceffary in ih- veftigating the manners of rude nations. Their political union is fo incomplete, their civil infti- ilutions and regulations fo few, fo fimple, and of fuch flender authority, that men in this ftate ought to be viewed rather as independent agents, than as members of a regular fociety. The cha- racter of a favage refults almoft entirely from his fentiments or feelings as an individual, and is but little influenced by his imperfect fubjectioa to government and order. I mail conduct my refearches concerning the manners of the Ame- ricans in this natural order, proceeding gra- dually from what is fimple to what is more complicated.

I mall confider, I. The bodily conftitution of the Americans in thofe regions now under re- view. II. The qualities of their minds. III. Their domeftic Hate. IV. Their political ftate and in- flitutions. V. Their fyftem of war, and public fecurity. VI. The arts with which they were acquainted. VII. Their religious ideas and in- ftitutions. VIII. Such lingular detached cuftoms as are not reducible to any of the former heads. IX. I fhall conclude with a general review and eftimate of their virtues and defects.

I. The bodily conftitution of the Americans, — The human body is lefs affected by climate than that of any other animal. Some animals are confined to a particular region of the globe, and cannot exift beyond it ; others, though they may be brought to bear the injuries of a climate foreign to them, ceafe to multiply when carried

out

318 HISTORY OF 2U1ERICA. B. IT.

out of that diilrid which Nature deflined to be their man lion. Even fuch as feem capable of being naturalized in various climates, feel the ef- fect of every remove from their proper itation, and gradually dwindle and degenerate from the vigour and perfection peculiar to their fpecies. Man is the only living creature whofe frame is at once fo hardy and fo flexible, that he caa fpread over the whole earth, become the inhabitant of every region, and thrive and multiply under every climate. Subject, however, to the general law of nature, the human body is not entirely ex- empt from the operation of climate ; and when expofed to the extremes either of heat or cold, its iize or vigour diminifhes.

The firft appearance of the inhabitants of the New World, filled the difcoverers with fuch af- tonifhment, that they were apt to imagine them a race of men different from thofe of the other hemifphere. Their complexion is of a reddifh brown, nearly refembling the colour of copper >". The hair of their heads is always black, long, coarfe, and* uncurled. They have no beard, and -every part of their body is perfectly fmooth. Their perfons are of a full iize, extremely flraight and well proportioned z. Their features are re- gular, though often diilorted by abfurd endea- vours to improve the beauty of their natural form, or to render their afpeel: more dreadful to their enemies. In the iflands, where four-footed animals were both few and fmall, and the earth yielded her productions almoft fpontaneoufly, the eonftitution of the natives, neither braced by

? Oviedo Somario, p. 46, D. Life of Columbus, c. 24^ a See Not* X.LIV.

the

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 319

the active exercifes of the chace, nor invigorated by the labour of cultivation, was extremely feeble and languid. On the continent, where the forefts abound with game of various kinds, and the chief occupation of many tribes was to purfue it, the human frame acquired greater firmnefs. Still, however, the Americans were more remarkable for agility than llrength. They refembled beads of prey, rather than animals formed for labour a. They were not only averfe to toil, but incapable of it ; and when roufed by force from their native indolence, and com- pelled to work, they funk under tafks which the people of the other continent would have performed with eafeb. This feeblenefs of con- flitution was univerfal among the inhabitants of thofe regions in America which we are furvey- ing, and may be confidered as chara&eriftic of the fpecies there c.

The beardlefs countenance and fmooth (kin of the American feems to indicate a defect of vigour, occafioned by fome vice in his frame. He is deftitute of one fign of manhood and of llrength. This peculiarity, by which the inha- bitants of the New World are diftinguifhed from the people of all other nations, cannot be attributed, as fome travellers have fuppofed, to their mode of fubfiftence d. For though the food of many Americans be extremely iniipid, as they are altogether unacquainted with the ufe

a See Note XLV. b Oviedo Som. p. 51, C. Voy.

de Correal, ii. 138. Wafer's Description, p. 131.

c B. Las Cafas Brev. Relac. p. 4. Torquem. Monar. i. 580. Oviedo Somario, p. 41. Hiftor, lib. iii. c, 6. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ix. c. 5. Simon, p. 41.

d Charlev. Hift. de Nouv. Fr. iii. 310. VOL. I. • H H of

320 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV.

of fait, rude tribes in other parts of the earth have fublifted on aliments equally iimple, with- out this mark of degradation, or any apparent fymptom of a diminution in their vigour.

As the external form of the Americans leads us to fufpecl: that there is fome natural debility in their frame, the fmallnefs of their appetite for food has been mentioned by many authors as a confirmation of this fufpicion. The quan- tity of food which men confume varies according to the temperature of the climate in which they live, the degree of activity which they exert* and the natural vigor of their conilitutions. Under the enervating heat of the torrid zone, and when men pafs their days in indolence and eafe, they require lefs nourifhment than the ac- tive inhabitants of temperate or cold countries. But neither the warmth of their climate, nor their extreme lazinefs, will account for the un- common defect of appetite among the Ameri- cans. The Spaniards were aftonifhed with ob- ferving this, not only in the iilands, but in fe- veral parts of the continent. The conltitutional temperance of the natives far exceeded, in their opinion, the abflinence of the moft mortified hermits e; while, on the other hand, the appe- tite of the Spaniards appeared to the Americans infatiably voracious ; and they affirmed, that one Spaniard devoured more food in a day than was fufficient for ten Americans f*

A proof of fome feeblenefs in their frame, Hi more finking, is the infeniibility of the Ame- ricans to the charms of beauty, and the power

1 * Kamufio, iii. 304, F. 306, A» Simon Conquifta, &( j>. 39. Hakluyt, iii. 468. 508. f Hertera, dec.

lib. ii. €. 16.

of

3. IV* HISTORY OF AMERICA. 32I

of love. That paflion which was deflined to perpetuate life, to be the bond of foeial union, and the fource of tendernefs and joy, is the molt ardent in the human breaft. Though the perils and hardfhips of the favage ftate, though excef- five fatigue, on fome occafions, and the difficulty at all times of procuring fubfiilence, may feem to be adverfe to this paffion, and to have a ten- dency to abate its vigour, yet the rudeft nations iu every other part of the globe feem to feel its influence more powerfully than the inhabitants of the New World. The negro glows with all the warmth of ^delire natural to his climate ; and the moft uncultivated Afiatics difcover that fenlibility, which, from their fituation on the globe, we mould expect them to have felt. But the Americans are, in an amazing degree, llrangers to the force of this firft inftincl: of na- ture. In every part of the New World the natives treat their women with coldnefs and in- difference. They are neither the objects of that tender attachment which takes place in civil- ized fociety, nor of that ardent defire confpi- cuous among rude nations. Even in climates where this paflion ufually acquires its greatefl: vigour, the favage of America views his female with difdain, as an animal of a lefs noble fpecies. He is at no pains to win her fa- vour by the afliduity of courtihip, and ftill lefs folicitous to preferve it by indulgence and gen- tlenefs &. Miflionaries themselves, notwithitand-

B Hennepin Mceurs des Sauvages, 32, &c. Rochefort Hift. deslfles Antilles, p. 461. Voyage de Coreal, ii. 141. Ramufio, iii. 309. F. Lozano Defer, del Gran Chaco, 71. Falkner's Defer, of Patagon. p. 125. Letters di P. Cataneo ap. Muratori II Chriitian* Felice, i. 305*

HH2 ing

$22 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B.

ing the aufterity of monaftic ideas, cannot refrain from exprefling their aftonifhment at the dif- paffionate coldnefs of the American young men in their intercourfe with the other fex h. Nor is this referve to be afcribed to any opinion which they entertain with refpect to the merit of female chaftity. That is an idea too refined for favage, and fuggefted by a delicacy of fentiment and affection to which he is a flranger.

But in inquiries concerning either the bodily or mental qualities of particular races of men, there is not a more common or more feducing error, than that of afcribing to a fingle caufe, thofe chara&eriftic peculiarities, which are the effect of the combined operation of many caufes. The climate and foil of America differ, in fo many refpedts, from thofe of the other hemifph ere, and this difference is fo obvious and linking, that philofophers of great eminence have laid hold on this as fumcient to account for what is peculiar in the conftitution of its inhabitants. They reft on phyfical caufes alone, and confider the feeble frame and languid defire of the Ame- ricans, as confequences of the temperament of that portion of the globe which they occupy. But the influences of political and moral caufes ought not to have been overlooked. Thefe operate with no lefs effect than that on which many philofophers reft as a full explanation of the fingular appearances which have been mentioned. Wherever the ftate of fociety is fuch as to create many wants and deiires, which cannot be fatisfied without regular exertions of induflry, the body accuftomed to labour becomes robuft h Chanvalon. p. ex. Lettr. Edif. torn. xxiv. 318. Tertre, iU 377. Venegas, i. 81. Ribas Hill, de ios Triumf. p. Ji.

anq!

3. iy. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 323

and patient of fatigue. In a more fimple fate, where the demands of men are fo^ few and fo moderate, that they may be gratified, almoft without any effort, by the ipontaneous produ&ions of nature, the powers of the body are not called forth, nor can they attain their proper ftrength. The natives of Chili and of North-America, the two temperate regions in the New World, who live by hunting, may be deemed an active and vigorous race, when com- pared with the inhabitants of the ifles, or of thofe parts of the continent where hardly any labour is requifite to procure fubfiftence. The exertions of a hunter are not, however, fo re- gular, or fo continued, as thofe of perfons em- ployed in the culture of the earth, or in the various arts of civilized life, and though his agility may be greater than theirs, his ftrength is on the whole inferior. If another diredion were given to the a&ive powers of man in the New World, and his force augmented by exer- cife, he might acquire a degree of vigour which he does not in his prefent ftate ^ poifefs. The truth of this is confirmed by experience. Where- ever the Americans have been gradually ac- cuftomed to hard labour, their conftitutions be- come robuft, and they have been found capable of performing fuch tafks, as feemed not only to exceed the powers of fuch a feeble frame as ha* been deemed peculiar to their country, but to equal any effort of the natives, either of Africa or of Europe K

The fame reafoning will apply to what ha* beea obferved concerning their flender demand 1 See Note XLVI.

H H 3 *»*

3^4 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. *V.

for food. As a proof that this fhould be afcribed as much to their extreme indolence, and often total want of occupation, as to any thing pecu- liar in the phyfical ilrucfure of their bodies, it has been obierved, that in thofe difiricts, where the people of America are obliged to exert any unufual effort of activity, in order to procure fubfiftence, or wherever they are employed in fever e labour, their appetite is not inferior to that of other men, and, in fome places, it has ftruck obfervers as remarkably voracious k.

The operation of political and moral caufes is Hill more confpicuous, in modifying the de- gree'of attachment between the fexes. In a ilate of high civilization, this paflion, inflamed by reftraint, refined by delicacy, and cherifhed by fafhion, occupies and engroffes the heart. It Is no longer a fimple inftincl: of nature ; fentiment heightens the ardour of defire, and the moll tenr tier emotions of which our frame is fufceptible, footh and agitate the foul. This description, however, applies only to thofe, who, by their fituation, are exempted from the cares and la- bours of life. Among perfons of inferior order, who are doomed by their condition to inceffant toil, the dominion of this paflion is lefs vio- lent ; their folicitude to procure fubfiftence, and to provide for the firft demand of nature, leaves little" leifure for attending to its fecond call. But if the nature of the intercourfe between the lexes varies fo much in perfons of different rank in polifhed focieties, the condition of man, while he remains uncivilized, muft occafion a va-

k Gumiila, ii. 12. 70. 247. Lafitau, i. 515. Ovalle Church, ii. 81. Muratori, i. 295,

nation

B, IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3?$

riation ftill more apparent. We may well Cup- pofe, that amidft the hardfhips, the dangers and the fimplicity of favage life, where fubfift- ence is always precarious, and often fcanty, where men are almolt continually engaged in the purfuit of their enemies, or in guarding againft their attacks, and where neither drefs nor re- ferve are employed as arts of female allurement, that the attention of the Americans to their women would be extremely feeble, without im- puting this folely to any phyfical defect or degra- dation in their frame.

It is accordingly obferved, that in thofe coun- tries of America, where, from the fertility of the foil, the mildnefs of the climate, or fome farther advances which the natives have made in improvement, the means of fubfiftence are more abundant, and the hardfhips of favage life are lefs feverely felt, the animal paflion of the fexes becomes more ardent. Striking examples of this occur among fome tribes feated on the banks of great rivers well flored with food, among others who are mailers of hunting-grounds abounding fp much with game, that they have a regular and plentiful fupply of nourifhment with little labour. The fuperior degree of fecu- rity and affluence which thefe tribes enjoy, is followed by their natural effects. The paffions implanted in the human frame by the hand of Nature acquire additional force ; new taftes and defires are formed ; the women, as they are more valued and admired, become more attentive to drefs and ornament; the men, beginning to feel how much of their own happinefs depends upon them, no longer difdain the arts of winning

their

3^6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV*

their favour and affe&ion. The intercourfe of the fexes becomes very different from that which takes place among their ruder countrymen ; and as hardly any reflraint is impofed on the gratification of defire, either by religion, or laws, or decency, the diffolution of their man- ners is exceffive1.

Notwithstanding the feeble make of the Americans, hardly any of them are deformed, or mutilated, or defective in any of their fenfes. All travellers have been flruck with this cir- cumftance, and have celebrated the uniform fymmetry and perfection of their external figure. Some authors fearch for the caufe of this ap- pearance in their phyfical condition. As the parents are not exhaufted or over-fatigued with hard labour, they fuppofe that their children aie born vigorous and found. They imagine, that in the liberty of favage life, the human body, naked and unconfined from its earlleft age, prefer ves its natural form ; and that all its limbs and members acquire a julter proportion, than when fettered with artificial reflraints, which flint its growth, and diftort its fhape m. Something, without doubt, may be afcribed to the operation of thefe caufes ; but the true reaions of this apparent advantage, which is common to all favage nations, lie deeper, and are clofely interwoven with the nature and ge- nius of that ftate. The infancy of man is fo long and fo helplefs, that it is extremely dif- ficult to rear children among rude nations. Their means of fubfiflence are not only fcanty,

1 Biet 389. Charley. Hi. 423. Dumont Mem, fur Louiiiane, i. 155. • Pii'o, p. 0.

2 but

B, IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 327

but precarious. Such as live by hunting mutt range over extenfive countries, and fhift often from place to place. The care of children, as well as every other laborious talk, is devolved upon the women. The dillreffes and hardfhips of the favage life, which are often fuch as can hardly be fupported by perfons in full vigour, mud be fatal to thofe of more tender age, Afraid of undertaking a tafk fo laborious, and of fuch long duration, as that of rearing their offspring, the women, in fome parts of America, procure frequent abortions by the ufe of cer- tain herbs, and extinguifh the iirfl: fparks of that life which they are unable to cherim n. Senfible that only ftput and well-formed children Jiave force of conftitution to llruggle through fuch an hard infancy, other nations abandon or deitroy fuch of their progeny as appear feeble pr defective, as unworthy of attention °. Even when they endeavour to rear all their children without diftindt-ion, fo great a proportion of the whole number perifhes under the rigorous treat- ment which mult be their lot in t^e favage Hate, that few of thofe who laboured under any original frailty attain the age of manhood P. Thus, in polifhed focieties, where the means of fubfiftencc are fecured with certainty, and acquired with eafe ; where the talents of the mind are often of more importance than the powers of the body ; children are preferved notwithstanding their defects or deformity, and grow up to be ufe-

n Ellis's Voyage to HudforVs Bay, 198. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. ix. c. 4. ° Gumilla Hift. ii. 234. Techo's

#iit. of Paraguay, Sec. Churchill's Collect, vi. Io8,

** Creuxii Hilt. Can?d. p. 57,

ful

328 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV.

ful citizens. In rude nations, fuch perfons arc cither cut off as foon as they are born, or be- coming a burden to themfelves and to the com- munity, cannot long protract their lives. But in thofe provinces of the New World where, by the ellablifhment of the Europeans, more regular provilion has been made for the fubfillence of its inhabitants, and they are reilrained from laying violent hands on their children, the Americans are fo far from being eminent for any fuperior perfection in their form, that one mould rather fufpect fome peculiar imbecility in the race, from the extraordinary number of individuals who are deformed, dwarfifh, mutilated, blind, or deafs.

How feeble foever the conftitution of the Americans may be, it is remarkable, that there is lefs variety in the human form throughout the New World, than in the ancient continent. When Columbus and the other difcoverers flrfl vifited the different countries of America which lie within the torrid zone, they naturally ex- pected to find people of the fame complexion with thofe in the correfponding regions of the other hemifphere. To their amazement, how- ever, they difcovered that America contained no negroes r ; and the caufe of this fingular ap- pearance became as much the object of curiofity, as the fact itfelf was of wonder. In what part or membrane of the body that humour relides which tinges the complexion of the negro with a deep black, it is the bufinefs of anatomifts to inquire and defcribe. The powerful operation of heat appears manifeftly to be the caufe which

4 Voyage de Ulloa, i. 232. f P. Martyr, dec. p. 71.

produces

•

5. If. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 32(J

produces this firiking variety in the human fpecies. All Europe, a great part of Afia, and the temperate countries of Africa, are inhabited by men of a white complexion. All the torrid zone in Africa, fome of the warmer regions ad- jacent to it, and feveral countries in Afia, are filled with people of a deep black colour. If we furvey the nations of our continent, making our progrefs from cold and temperate coun- tries towards thofe parts which are expofed to the influence of vehement and unremitting heat, we mall find, that the extreme whitenefs of their fkin foon begins to diniinifh ; that its colour deepens gradually as we advance ; and after pafling through all the fucceffive gradations of (hade, terminates in an uniform unvarying black. But in America, where the agency of heat is checked and abated by various caules, which I have already explained, the climate feems to be deftitute of that force which pro- duces fuch wonderful effects on the human frame. The colour of the natives of the torrid zone, in America, is hardly of a deeper hue than that of the people in the more temperate parts of their continent. Accurate obfervers. who had an opportunity of viewing the Ameri- cans in very different climates, and in provinces far removed from each other, have been liruck with the amazing fimilarity of their figure and afpec\ s.

But though the hand of Nature has deviated fo little from one ftandard in fafhioning the human form in America, the creation of fancy hath been various and extravagant. The fame

J See No t« XL VII.

fables

330 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV

fables that were current in the ancient continent have been revived with refpect to the New World, and America too has been peopled with human beings of monftrous and fantaftic appear- ance. The inhabitants of certain province* were defcribed to be pigmies of three feet high thofe of others to be giants of an enormous fize. Some travellers publifhed accounts of people with only one eye, others pretended to have difcovered men without heads, whofe eyes and mouths were planted in their breafls. The variety of Nature in her productions is in- deed, fo great, that it is prefumptuous to fet bounds, to her fertility, and to reject indiscrimi- nately every relation that does not perfectly ac- cord with our own limited observation- and ex- perience. But the other extreme, of yielding a halty afTent, on the flightell evidence, to what- ever has the appearance of being ftrange and marvellous, is itill more unbecoming a philo- fophical inquirer, as, in every period, men are more apt to be betrayed into error, by their weaknefs in believing too much, than by their arrogance in believing too little. In propor- tion as fcience extends, and nature is examined with a difcerning eye, the wonders which amufed ages of ignorance difappear. The tales of credulous travellers concerning America are forgotten ; the monfters which they defcribe have been Searched for in vain ; and thofe pro- vinces where they pretend to have found inha- bitants of fingular forms, are now known to be pofTeffed by people nowife different from the other Americans.

Though thofe relations may, without difcuf- fipn, be rejected as fabulous, there are other

accounts

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 33I

accounts of varieties in the human fpecies in fomc parts of the New World, which reft upon better evidence, and merit more attentive examination. This variety has been particularly obferved in three different diftricts. The firft of thefe is fituated in the ifthmus of Darien, near the centre of America. Lionel Wafer, a traveller poiTeiTed of more curiofity and intelligence than we mould have expected to find in an afTociate of Bucca- neers, difcovered there a race of men few in number, but of a fingular make. They are of low ftature, according to his description, of a feeble frame, incapable of enduring fatigue. Their colour is a dead milk white ; not refem- bling that of fair people among Europeans, but without" any tincture of a blufh or fanguine com- plexion. Their fkin is covered with a tine hairy- down of a chalky white, the hair of their heads, v their eye-brows, and eye-lafhes, are of the fame hue. Their eyes are of a fingular form, and fo weak, that they can hardly bear the light of the fun ; but they fee clearly by moon-light, and are moft active and gay in the night ". No race fimilar to this has been difcovered in any other part of America. Cortes, indeed, found fome perfons exactly refembling the white people of Darien, among the rare and monltrous animals which Montezuma had collected w. But as the power of the Mexican empire extended to the provinces bordering on the ifthmus of Darien, they were probably brought thence. Singular as the appearance of thofe people may be, they can- not be confidered as conftituting a diftinct fpecies.

u Wafer Defcript. of Ifth. ap. Dampier, iii. p. 346. w Cortes ap, Ramuft Hi. p. 241, £•

vol. i. i 1 Among

:;

les

332 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 15. IV,

Among the negroes of Africa, as well as t natives of the Indian iilands, nature fometimes- produces a fmall number of individuals, with all the characteriitic features and qualities of the white people of Darien. The former are called Albinos by the Portuguefe, the latter Kackerlahs by the Dutch. In Darien the parents of thofe Whites are of the fame colour with the other natives of the country ; and this obfervation ap- plies equally to the anomalous progeny of the negroes and Indians. The fame mother who produces fome children of a colour that does not belong to the race, brings forth the reft with the complexion peculiar to her country x. One con- clufion may then be formed with refpecl: to the people defcribed by Wafer, the Albinos and the Kackerlakes ; they are a degenerated breed, not a feparate clafs of men ; and from fome difeafe or defect of their parents, the peculiar colour and debility which mark their degradation are trans- mitted to them. As a decifive proof of this, it has been obferved, that neither the white people of Darien, nor the Albinos of Africa, propagate their race : their children are of the colour and temperament peculiar to the natives of their refpeclive countries *".

The fecond diilrict that is occupied by in- habitants differing in appearance from the other people of America, is fituated in a high northern latitude, extending from the coaft of Labrador towards the pole, as far as the country is habit- . able. The people fcattered over thofe dreary

* Margrav. Hift. Rer. Nat. Braf. lib. viii. c. 4. y Wafer, p. 348. Demanet Hift. de I'Afrique, ii. 234. Recherch, Philof, fur les#Amcr. ii. i, &c. Note XLVIil.

regions,

*. IV. HISTORY Or AMERICA* 333

regions, are known to the Europeans by the name of Efquimaux* They themfelves, with that idea of their own fuperiority, which confoles the rudeft and nioft wretched nations, affume the name of Keralit or Men. They are of a middle fize, and robuft, with heads of a difproportioned bulk, and feet as remarkably fmall. Their complexion, though fwarthy, by being conti- nually expofed to the rigour of a cold climate, inclines to the European white, rather than to the copper colour of America, and the men have beards which are fometimes bumy and long ym From thefe marks of diftin&ion, as well as from one Hill lefs equivocal, the affinity of their lan- guage to that of the Greenlanders, which I have already mentioned, we may conclude, with fome degree of confidence, that the Efqui- maux are a race different from the reft of the Americans.

We cannot decide with equal certainty con- cerning the inhabitants of the third diftric~t, fitu- ated at the fouthern extremity of America. Thefe are the famous Patagonians, who, during ■two centuries and a half, have afforded a fubjecl: of controverfy to the learned, and a object of wonder to the vulgar. They are fappofed to be one of the wandering tribes, which occupy that vaft, but leaft known region of America, which extends from the river De la Plata to the Straits of Magellan. Their proper ftation is in that part of the interior country which lies on the banks of the river Negro ; but in the hunting

y Ellis Voy. to Hudf. Bay, p. 131. 139. De la Potherie, torn. i. p. 79. Wales7 journ. of a Voy. co Churchill River. ]Phil. Tt&{. vol. lx. 109,

I j z feafon

334 History of America. b. iv,

feafon they often roam as far as the ftraits which feparate Tierra del Fuego from the main-land, The firit accounts of this people were brought to Europe by the companions of Magellan z, who defcribed them as a gigantic race, above eight feet high, and of ftrength in proportion to their enormous fize. Among feveral tribes of animals, a difparity in bulk, as confiderable, may be obferved. Some large breeds of horfes and dogs exceed the more diminutive races in ftature and ftrength, as far as the Patagonian is fuppofed to rife above the ufual ftandard of the human body. But animals attain the highefl perfection of their fpecies, only in mild climates, or where they find the moll nutritive food in greatefl abundance. It is not then in the uncultivated wafte of the Magellanic regions, and among a tribe of improvident favages, that we mould expect to find man, poffeffing the highefl: ho- nours of his race, and diftinguifhed by a fupe- riority of fize and vigour, far beyond what he has reached in any other part of the earth. The moft explicit and unexceptionable evidence is requifite, in order to eftablifh a facl: repugnant to thofe general principles and laws, which feetn to affect the human frame in every other inftance, and to decide with refpe£t to its nature and quali- ties. Such evidence has not hitherto been pro- duced. Though feveral perfons, to whofe tefti- mony great refpe6l is due, have vifited this part of America fince the time of Magellan, and have fiad interviews with the natives ; though fome have affirmed, that fuch as they faw were of gigantic ftature, and others have formed the

f Falkner's Defcription of Patagonia, p. 102.

fame

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 335

fame conclufion from meafuring their footfteps, or from viewing the fkeletons of their dead ; yet their accounts vary from each other in fo many efTential points, and are mingled with fo many circumftances manifeftly falfe or fabulous, as detract much from their credit. On the other hand, fome navigators, and thofe among the moll eminent of their order for difcernment and ac- curacy, have afTerted that the natives of Pata- gonia, with whom they had intercourfe, though ftout and well-made, are not of fuch extraordinary fize as to be diftinguifhed from the reft of the human fpecies a. The exiftence of this gigantic race of men feems, then, to be one of thofe points in natural hiftory, with refpeft to which a cautious inquirer will hefitate, and will choofe to fufpend his affent until more complete evi- dence (hall decide, whether he ought to admit a fact, feemingly inconiiftent with what reafon and experience have discovered concerning the ftruc- ture and condition of man, in all the various fltuations in which he has been obferved.

In order to form a complete idea with refpecl to the constitution of the inhabitants of this and the other hemifphere, we mould attend not only to the make and vigour of their bodies, but con- fider what degree of health they enjoy, and to what period of longevity they ufuaily arrive. In the fnnplicity of the favage ftate, when man is not oppreifed with labour, or enervated by lux- ury, or difquieted with care, we are apt to imagine that his life will flow on almoll un- troubled by difeafe or fuffering, until his days be terminated, in extreme old age, by the gradual

• See Note XL1X.

1 1 3 decays

336 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. If*

decays of nature. We find, accordingly, among the Americans, as well as among other rude peo- ple, perfons, whofe decrepit and fhrivelled form fee*ms to indicate an extraordinary length of life. But as moft of them are unacquainted with the art of numbering, and all of them as forgetful of what is paft, as they are improvident for what is to come, it is impoflible to afcertain their age, with any degree of preciiion b. It is evident, that the period of their longevity muft vary confiderably, according to the diver- fity of climates, and their different modes of fub- fiftence. They feem, however, to be every where exempt from mapy of the diftempers which afflict polifhed nations. None of the maladies, which are the immediate offspring of luxury, j ever viiited them ; and they have no names in their languages by which to diftinguifh this nu- merous train of adventitious evils.

But, whatever be the fituation in which man is placed, he is born to fuffer ; and his difeafes, in the favage flate, though fewer in number, are, like thofe of the animals whom he nearly re- fembles in his mode of life, more violent, and more fatal. If luxury engenders and nourifhes diftempers of one fpecies, the rigour and dif- trefTes of favage life bring on thofe of another. As men, in this ilate, are wonderfully improvi- dent, and their means of fubfiflence precarious, they often pafs from extreme want to exuberant plenty, according to the viciffitudes of fortune in the chace, or in confequence of the various degree of abundance with which the earth af-

* Ulloa Notic. Ametic 323. Bancroft Nat, Hifr. of Guiana, 334.

fords

5. IV. HISTORY OP AMERICA. 337

fords to them its productions, in different feafons. Their inconfiderate gluttony in the one fituation, and their fevere abitinence in the other, are equally pernicious. For, though the human conflitution may be accuftomed by habit, like that of animals of prey, to tolerate long famine, and then to gorge voracioufly, it is not a little affe&ed by fuch fudden and violent traniitions. The ftrength and vigour of favages are, at fome feafons, impaired by what they fuffer from fear- city of food ; at others they are afflicted with diforders arifing from indigeilion and a fuper- fluity of grofs aliment. Thefe are fo common, that they may be confidered as the unavoidable confequence of their mode of fubfifting, and cut off confiderable numbers in the prime of lifef They are likewife extremely fubjec\ to consump- tions, to pleuritic, afthmatic, and paralytic dif- orders c, brought on by the immoderate hard- ihips and fatigue which they endure in hunting and in war ; or owing to the inclemency of the feafons to which they are continually ex- pofed. In the favage ftate, hardfhips and fatigue violently affault the conftitution. In polifhed focieties, intemperance undermines it. It is not eafy to determine which of them operates with moil fatal effect, or tends mod to abridge human life. The influence of the former is certainly moll extenfive. The pernicious confequences of luxury reach only a few members in any community, the diflreffes of favage life are felt by all. As far as I can judge, after very minute inquiry, the general period of human life is

c Charlcv. N. Fr. iii. 364. Lafitau, ii. 360. De la Po» ♦iheiie, ii. 37.

fhorter

J3& HISTORY OF AMERICA, B. IV.

fhorter among favages, than in well-regulated and induftrious focieties.

One dreadful malady, the fevereft fcourge, with which, in this life, offended Heaven chaftens the indulgence of criminal deiire, feems to have been peculiar to the Americans. By communicating it to their conquerors, they have not only amply avenged their own wrongs, but by adding this calamity to thofe which formerly embittered hu- man life, they have, perhaps, more than counter- balanced all the benefits which Europe has de- rived from the difcovery of the New World. This diftemper, from the country in which it firft raged, or from the people by whom it was fuppoftd to have been fpread over Europe, has been fometimes called the Neapolitan, and fome- times the French difeafe. At its firft appear- ance, the infection was fo malignant, its fymp- toms fo violent, its operation fo rapid and fatal, as to baffle all the efforts of medical fkill. Aftonifhment and terror accompanied this un» known affliction in its progrefs, and men began to dread the extinction of the human race by fuch a cruel vifitation. Experience, and the in- genuity of phyficians, gradually difcovered reme- dies of fuch virtue as to cure or to mitigate the evil. During the courfe of two centuries and a half, its virulence feems to have abated con- fiderably. At length, in the fame manner with the leprofy, which raged in Europe for fome centuries, it may wafte its force and difappear j and in fome happier age, this weftern infection, like that from the Eaft, may be known only by defcription d.

? Sec Note L<

II. After

Pi. it. History of America. 339

II, After confiderlng what appears to be peculiar in the bodily conftitution of the Ame- ricans, our attention is naturally turned towards the powers and qualities of their minds. As the individual advances from the ignorance and imbecility of the infant ftate, to vigour and ma- turity of underftanding, fomething fimilar to this may be obferved in the progrefs of the fpecies. With refpedt. to it, too, there is a period of infancy, during which feveral powers of the mind are not unfolded, and all are fee- ble and defective in their operation. In the early ages of fociety, while the condition of man is fimple and rude, his reafon is but little exer- cifed, and his defires move within a very narr row fphere. Hence arife two remarkable cha* racteriftics of the human mind in this Hate. Its intellectual powTers are extremely limited ; its emotions and efforts are few and languid. Both thefe diftinctions are confpicuous among the rudeft and moft unimproved of the American tribes, and conftitute a linking part of their defcription.

What, among polifhed nations, is called fpe- culative reafoning or refearch, is altogether uiir known in the rude Hate of fociety, and never becomes the occupation or amufement of the human faculties, until man be fo far improved as to have fecured, with certainty, the means of fubfiftence, as well as the poffeflion of leifure and tranquillity. The thoughts and attention of a favage are confined within the fmall circle of objects, immediately conducive to his preferva- tion or enjoyment. Every thing beyond that, efcapes his obfervation, or is perfectly indif- ferent

340 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3. IV*

ferent to him. Like a mere animal, what is be- fore his eyes interefts and affects him ; what is out of fight, or at a diftance, makes little im- preflion e. There are feveral people in America whofe limited understandings feem not to be capable of forming an arrangement for futurity ; neither their folicitude nor their forefight ex- tend fo far. They follow blindly the impulfe of the appetite which they feel, but are entirely regardlefs of diftant confequences, and even of thofe removed in the lead degree from imme* diate apprehenrion. While they highly prize fuch things as ferve for prefent ufe, or minifter to prefent enjoyment, they fet no value upoij thofe which are not the object of fome imme- diate want f. When, on the approach of the evening, a Caribbee feels himfelf difpofed to go to reft, no confideration will tempt him to fell his hammoc. But, in the morning, when he is Tallying out to the bufinefs or paftime of the day, he will part with it, for the flighted toy that catches his fancy s. At the clofe of win- ter, while the impreffion of what he has fuffered from the rigour of the climate is frefh in the mind of the North American, he fets himfelf with vigour to prepare materials for erecting a com- fortable hut to protect him againil the incle- mency of the fucceeding feafon ; but as foon as the weather becomes mild, he forgets what is paft, abandons his work, and never thinks of it

c UJJoa Noticias Americ. 222. f Venegas Hift. of

palif. i. 66. Supp. Church. Coll. v. 693. Borde Defer, des Caraibes, p. 16. Ellis Voy. 194.. £ Labat Voy-

ages, ii, 114, 1 1 5, Tertre, ii. 385?

more

•

fc# jv- HISTORY OF AMERICA* 34t

ipore,. until the return of cold compels him, when too late, to refume it h.

If in concerns the moil interefting, and feem- ingly the moft fimple, the reafon of man, while rude and deftitute of culture, differs fo little from the thoughtlefs levity of children, or the improvident inftind of animals, its exertions in father diredions cannot be very confiderable. The objefts towards which reafon turns, and the difquifitions in which it engages, mud de- pend upon the {late in which man is placed, and are fuggefled by his neceffities and defires. Difquifitions, which appear the moft neceffary and important to men in one flate of fociety, never occur to thofe in another. Among civil- ized nations, arithmetic, or the art of number- ing, is deemed an effential and elementary fcience, and in our continent, the invention and ufe of k reaches back to a period fo remote as is be- yond the knowledge of hiftory. But among favages, who have no property to eftimate, no hoarded treafures to count, no variety of ob- lefts or multiplicity of ideas to enumerate, arith- metic is a fuperfluous and ufelefs art. Accord- ingly, among fome tribes in America it feems to be quite unknown. There are many who can- not reckon farther than three ; and have no denomination to diftinguifh any number above it *. Several can proceed as far as ten, others to twenty. When they would convey an idea of any number beyond thefe, they point to the hair of their head, intimating that it is equal

* Adair's Hiit. of Amer. Indians, 417. | Condam.

p. 67. Stadius ap. de Bry, ix. i»8. Lery. ibid. 251. feict. 16a, Uttr. Edif. *y 3H» . to

i

342 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. I

to them, or with wonder declare it to be * great that it cannot be reckoned T. Not only the Americans* but all nations, while extremely rude, feem to be unacquainted with the art of computation z. As foon, however, as they ac- quire fuch acquaintance or connection with a3L variety of objects, there is frequent occafion to combine or divide them, their knowledge of num- bers increafes, fo that the ilate of this art among any people may be confidered as one ftandard, by which to eftimate the degree of their im- provement. The Iroquois, in North -America, as they are much more civilized than the rude inhabitants of Brafil, Paraguay, or Guiana, have likewife made greater advances in this refpeft ; though even their arithmetic does not extend' beyond a thoufand, as in their petty tranfaclions they have no occafion for any higher number a. The Cherokee, a lefs confiderable nation on the fame continent, can reckon only as far as a hun- dred, and to that extent have names for the feveral n ..mbers ; the fmaller tribes in their neighbour- hood can rife no higher than ten b.

In other refpe&s, the exercife of the under- ftanding among rude nations is ftill more limited. The firft ideas of every human being muft be fuch as he receives by the fenfes. But, in the mind of man, while in the favage Hate, there feem to be hardly any ideas but what enter by

y Dumont Louif. i. 187. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. fii. c. 3. Biet. 396. Borde,6. z This is the cafe with the

Greenlanders, Crantz, 1. 225. and with Kamchatkadales, M. TAbbe Chappe, III- 17. a Charlev. Nouv. Franc,

iii. 402. b Adair's Hi ft. of Amer. Indians, 77. See

Note LI,

this

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 34$

this avenue. The objects around him are pre- ' fented to his eye. Such as may be fubfervient to his ufe, or can gratify any of his appetites, attract his notice ; he views the reft without curiofity or attention. Satisfied with confider- ing them under that fimple mode, in which they appear to him as feparate and detached, he nei* ther combines them fo as to form general claffes, nor contemplates their qualities apart from the fubjeel: in which they inhere, nor bellows a thought upon the operations of his own mind concerning them. Thus, he is unacquainted with all the ideas which have been denominated univerfal9 or abjlrad, or of reflection. The range of his underltanding mull, of courfe, be very confined, and his reafoning powers be em- ployed merely on what is fenfible. This is fo remarkably the cafe with the ruder nations of America, that their languages (as we fhall after- wards find) have not a word to exprefs any thing but what is material or corporeal. TiW, Jpace9 fubj}ance> and a thoufand other terms which re- brefent abllraft and univerfal ideas, are altoge- ther unknown to them c. A naked favage, cowering over the fire in his miferable cabin, or ilretched under a few branches which afford him a temporary fhelter, has as little inclination as capacity for ufelefs fpeculation. His thoughts extend not beyond what relates to animal life, and when they are not directed towards fome of its concerns, his mind is totally inactive. In fituations where no extraordinary effort either of ingenuity or labour is requifite, in order ta iatisfy the fimple demands of nature, the powers

* Condam. p. 54* VOL. I. i; K of

344 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3. IV.

of the mind are fo feldom roufed to any exertion, that the rational faculties continue almoll dor- mant and unexercifed. The numerous tribes fcattered over the rich plains of South-America, the inhabitants of fome of the iflands, and of feveral fertile regions on the continent, come under this defcription. Their vacant counte- nance," their flaring unexprefllve eye, their lifllefs inattention, and total ignorance of fubje&s, which feem to be the firil which fhould occupy the thoughts of rational beings, made fuch im- prefhon upon the Spaniards, when they firft be- held thofe rude people, that they confidered them as animals of an inferior order, and could not believe that they belonged to the human fpecies d. It required the authority of a papal bull to counteract this opinion, and to convince them that the Americans were capable of the fundions, and entitled to the privileges of hu- manity6. Since that time, perfons more en- lightened and impartial than the difcoverers or conquerors of America, have had an opportunity of contemplating the moil favage of its in- habitants, and they have been aflonifhed and humbled, with obferving how nearly man, in this condition, approaches to the brute creation. But in feverer climates, where fubfiftence cannot be procured with the fame eafe, where men mull unite more clofely, and ad with greater concert, neceflity calls forth their talents, and fharpens their invention, fo that^ the intelle&ual powers are more exercifed and improved. The North-American tribes and the natives of Chili,

d Herrera, dec. 2. lib. ii. c. 15. c Torquem. Mon. Ind. in. 198.

wh

,

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA, 34£

who inhabit the temperate regions in the two great diftricts of America, are people of culti- vated and enlarged understandings, when viewed in comparifon Avith fome of thofe feated in the iflands, or on the banks of the Maragnon and Orinoco. Their occupations are more various, their fyftem of policy, as well as of war, more complex, their arts more numerous. But, even among them, the intellectual powers are extremely limited in their operations, and unlefs when turned directly to thofe objects which in- tereil: a favage, are held in no eftimation. Both the North- Americans and Chilefe, when not en- gaged in fome of the functions belonging to a warrior or hunter, loiter away their time in thoughtlefs indolence, unacquainted with any other fubject worthy of their attention, or capable of occupying their minds f. If even among them, reafon is fo much circumfcribed in its ex- ertions, and never arrives, in its higheit attain- ments, at the knowledge of thofe general prin- ciples and maxims, which ferve as the foundation of fcience, we may conclude, that the intellec- tual powers of man in the favage ftate are deftitute of their proper object, and cannot ac- quire any confiderable degree of vigour and en* largement.

From the fame caufes, the active efforts of the mind are few, and, on moll: occafions, lan- guid. If we examine into the motives which roufe men to activity in civilized life, and prompt them to perfevere in fatiguing exertions of their ingenuity or ftrength, we mall find that they arift chiefly from acquired wants and ap- f Lafitau, ii. 2.

g k 3 petite*

346 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV.

petite.s. Thefe are numerous and importunate ; they keep the mind in perpetual agitation, and, in order to gratify them, invention mufl be always on the ftretch, and induftry muft be incefiantly employed. But the defires of fimple nature are few, and where a favourable climate yields almoftY fpontaneouily what fuffices to gratify them, they fcarcely ftir the foul, or excite any violent emotion. Hence the people of feveral tribes in America wafte their life in a liftlefs indolence. To be free from occupation, feems to be all the enjoyment towards which they afpire. They will continue whole days ftretched out in then? hammocs, or feated on the earth in perfect idle- nefs, without changing their pofture, or raifing their eyes from the ground, or uttering a fmgle words.

Such is their averfion to labour, that neither the hope of future good, nor the apprehenfion of future evil, can furmount it. They appear equally indifferent to both, difcovering little folicitude, and taking no precautions to avoid the one, or to fecure the other. The cravings of hunger may roufe them ; but as they devour, with little dis- tinction, whatever will appeafe its inftindtive de- mands, the exertions which thefe occafion are of fhort duration. Deftitute of ardour, as well as variety of defire, they feel not the force of thofe powerful fprings which give vigour to the movements of the mind, and urge the pa- tient hand of induftry to perfevere in its efforts. Man, in fome parts of America, appears in a form fo rude, that we can difcover no effects of his activity, and the principle of underitanding

s Boguer Voy. au Perou, 102. Borde, 15.

which

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 347

which fhould direct it, Teems hardly to be un- folded. Like the other animals, he has no fixed refidence ; he has erected no habitation to fhelter him from the inclemency of the weather ; he has taken no meafures for fecuring certain fubfiftence ; he neither fows nor reaps ; but roams about as led in fearch of the plants and fruits which the earth brings forth in fuc- cefilon ; and in quell of the game which he kills in the forefts, or of the fifh which he catches in the rivers.

This defcription, however, applies only to fome tribes. Man cannot continue long in this ftate of feeble and uninformed infancy. He was made for induftry and action, and the powers of his nature, as well as the necefiity of his condition, urge him to fulfil his deftiny. Ac- cordingly, among moil of the American na- tions, efpecially thofe feated in rigorous climates, fome efforts are employed, and fome previous precautions are taken, for fecuring fubfiftence. The career of regular induftry is begun, and the laborious arm has made the firft eflays of its power. Still however the improvident and flothful genius of the favage ftate pre- dominates. Even among thofe more improved tribes, labour is deemed ignominious and de- grading. It is only to work of a certain kind that a man will deign to put his hand. The greater part is devolved entirely upon the women. One half of the community remains inactive while the other is opprefied with the multitude and variety of its occupations. Thus their induftry is partial, and the forefight which k k 3 regulates

34-8 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3. IV.

regulates it, is no lefs limited. A remarkable inftance of this occurs in the chief arrangement with refpecl: to their manner of living. They depend for their fubfiftence, during one part of the year, on fifliing ; during another, on hunt- ing ; during a third, on the produce of their agriculture. Though experience has taught them to forefee the return of thoie various fea- fons, and to make fome provifion for the re- fpeclive exigencies of each, they either want fagacity to proportion this provifion to their con- fumption, or are fo incapable of any command over their appetites, that, from their inconfider- ate wafte, they often feel the calamities of famine as feverely as the rudefl of the favage tribes. What they fuller one year does not augment their induftry, or render them more provident to prevent ilmilar diftreffes h. This inconfiderate thoughtleffnefs about futurity, the effecl: of ig- norance and the caufe of floth, accompanies and characterizes man in every llage of favage life * ; and by a capricious iingularity in his operations, he is then leaft folicitous about fupplying his wants, when the means of fatisfying them are moft precarious, and procured with the grcateft difficulty K

III. After viewing the bodily conftitution of the Americans, and contemplating the powers of their minds, we are led, in the natural order of inquiry, to confider them as united together

h Charlev. N. Fr. iii. 338. Lettr. Edif. 23. 298. Defcript. of N. France, Oiborn's Colled, ii. 880. De la Potherie, ii. 63. * Bancroft's Nat, Hift. of Guiana,

3*6. 333. k Sec Note LIJ.

ill

\

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. S49

in fociety. Hitherto our refearchcs have been confined to the operations of underftandmg refpefting themfelves, as individuals, now they will extend to the degree of their fallibility and affection towards their fpecies.

The domeftic ftate is the firft and molt fimple form of human affociation. The union of the fexes, among different animals, is of longer or fhorter duration in proportion to the eafe or dif- ficulty of rearing their offspring. Among thofe tribes where the feafon of infancy k fhort, and the young foon acquire vigour or agility, no per- manent union is formed. Nature commits the care of training up the offspring to the mother alone, and her tendernefs, without any other af- fiftance, is equal to the tafk. But where the ftate of infancy is long and helplefs, and the joint afiiduity of both parents is requifite in tending their feeble progeny, there a more intimate con- nexion takes place, and continues until the pur- pofe of nature be accomplifhed, and the new race grow up to full maturity. As the infancy of man is more feeble and helplefs than that of any other animal, and he is dependent, during a much longer period, on the care and forefight of" his parents, the union between hufband and wife came early to be confidered not only as a folemn, but as a permanent contraft. A general ftate of pro- mifcuous intercourfe between the fexes never exifted but in the imagination of poets. In the infancy of fociety, when jmen, deftituteof arts and induftry, lead a hard precarious life, the rearing of their progeny demands the at- tention and efforts of both parent* : and if their

union

350 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. IV.

union had not been formed and continued with this view, the race could not have been preferved* Accordingly, in America, even among the rudeft tribes, a regular union between human d and wife was univerfal, and the rights of marriage were underflood and recognized. In thofe dif- tri&s where fubfiftence was fcanty, and the difficulty of maintaining a family was great, the man confined himfelf to one wife. In warmer and more fertile provinces, the facility of pro- curing food concurred with the influence of climate, in inducing the inhabitants to increafe the number of their^ wives1. In fome countries, the marriage union fubfifted during life ; in others, the impatience of the Americans under reftraint of any fpecies, together with their na- tural levity and caprice, prompted them to dif- folve it on very flight pretexts, and often without aligning any caufe m.

But in whatever light the Americans confidered the obligation of this contract, either as per- petual, or only as temporary, the condition of women was equally humiliating and miferable. Whether man has been improved by the progrefs of arts and civilization in fociety, is a queftion, which, . in the wantonnefs of deputation, has been agitated among philofophers. That women are indebted to the refinements of polifhed man- ners for a happy change in their flate, is a point

1 Lettr. Edif. 23. 318. Lafitau Mceurs, i. 554. Lery ap. de Bry, iii 234. Journal de Grillet et Bechamel, p. 88.

m Lafitau, i. 580- Joutel Journ. Hiftor. 345. Lozano Defer, del Gran Chaco, 70. Hennepin Mceurs des Sauvagea, p. 30. 33.

which

*B. IT." • HISTORY OF AMERICA, 35I

which can admit of no doubt. To dcfpife and to degrade the female fex, is the characterise of the favage ftate in every part of the globe. Man, proud of excelling in ftrength and in cou- rage, the chief marks of pre-eminence^ among- rude people, treats woman, as an inferior, with difdain. The Americans, perhaps from that coldnefs and infenlibility which has been confidered as peculiar to their conllitution, add neglect and harfhnefs to contempt. The moil intelligent travellers have been llruck with this inattention of the Americans to their women, It is not, as I have already obferved, by a . ftudied difplay of tendernefs and attachment, that the American endeavours to gain the heart of the woman whom he wiihes to marry. Mar- riage itfelf, inftead of being an union of af- fection and interefls between equals, becomes, among them, the unnatural conjunction of a mailer with his fb.ve. It is the obfervation of an author, whofe opinions are defervedly of great weight, that wherever wives are pur- chafed, their condition is extremely depreffed n. They become the property and the flaves of thofe who buy them. In whatever part of the globe this cuftom prevails, the obfervation holds. In countries where refinement has made fome pro- grefs, women, when purchafed, are excluded from fociety, fhut up in fequeftered apartments, and kept under the vigilant guard of their matters. In ruder nations, they are degraded to the meaneft functions. Among many people of America, the marriage contract is properly a purchafe.

u Sketches of Hilt, of Man, i. 184,

The

...

352 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

The man buys his wife of her parents. Though unacquainted with the ufe of money, or with fuch commercial tranfa&ions as take place in more improved fociety, he knows how to give an equivalent for any object which he defires to pofTefs. In fome places, the fuitor devotes his fervice for a certain time to the parents of the maid whom he courts ; in others he hunts for them occaiionally, or aflilts in cultivating their fields, and forming their canoes ; in others, he offers prefents of fuch things as are deemed moil valuable on account of their ufefulnefs or rarity °. In return for thefe, he receives his wife ; and this circumitance, added to the low eftimation of wo- men among favages, leads him to confider her as a female fervant whom he has purchafed, and whom he has a title to treat as an inferior. In all unpoliih- cd nations, it is true, the functions in domeilic ccconomy, whiich fall naturally to the (hare of women, are fo many, that they are fubjected to hard labour, and muft bear more than their full portion of the common burden. But in Ame- rica their condition is fo peculiarly grievous, and their deprefllon fo complete, that fervitude is a name too mild to defcribe their wretched Hate. A wife, among moil tribes, is no better than a beail of burden, deilined to every office of labour and fatigue. While the men loiter out the day in iloth, or fpend it in amufement, the women are condemned to inceflant toil. Taiks are impofed upon them without pity, and fervices are received without complacence or

° Lafitau Mceurs, &c. i. 560, &c. Charlev. iii. 285, &c. Hsrrera, dec. 4. lib. iv. c. 7. Dumonr, ii. 156.

gratitude.

B. iv. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 353

gratitude P. Every circumftance reminds women of this mortifying inferiority. They mufl ap- proach their lords with reverence; they mud regard them as more exalted beings, and are not permitted to eat in their prefence % There are diftri&s in America where this dominion is fo grievous, and fo fenfibly felt, that fome women, in a wild emotion of maternal tendernefs, have deftroyed their female children in their infancy, in order to deliver them from that intolerable bondage to which they knew they were doomed1-. Thus the firft inftitution of fociaHife is per- verted. That Hate of domeftic union towards which nature leads the human fpecies, in order to foften the heart to gentlenefs and humanity, is rendered fo unequal, as to eftablifh a cruel diftindion between the fexes, which forms the one to be harfh and unfeeling, and humbles the other to fervility and fubje&ion.

It is owing, perhaps, in fome meafure, to this ftate of depreflion, that women in rude nations are far from being prolific5. The vigour of their conltitution is exhaufted by exceflive fatigue, and the wants and diftrefles of favage life are fo numerous, as to force them to take various precautions in order to prevent too rapid an increafe of their progeny. Among wandering tribes, or fuch as depend chiefly upon hunting

p Tertre, ii. 382. Borde Relat. des Moeurs des Caraibes, p. 2r. Biet.357. Condamine, p 113. Fermin. i. 79.

Q Gumilla, i. 153. Barrere, 164. Labat Voy. 11. 78. Chanvalon, 51. Tertre, ii. 300. # * Gumilla, 11.

233. 238. Herrera, dec. 7, lib. ix. c. 4,

s Lafitau, i. 590. Charlevoix, hi. 304.

for

354 HISTORY OF AMERICA. E. I

for fubfiftence, the mother cannot attempt to rear a fecond child, until the firft has attained fuch a degree of vigour as to be in fome meafure independent of her care. From this motive, it is the univerfal practice of the American women to fuckle their children during feveral years1; and as they feldom marry early, the period of their fertility is over, before they can finifh the long but neceffary attendance upon two or three children u. Among fome of the lead polifhed tribes, whofe induftry and forefight do no extend fo far as to make any regular provifion for their own fubfiftence, it is a maxim not to burden themfelves with rearing more than two children x ; and no fuch nu- merous families, as are frequent in civilized focieties, are to be found among men in the favage ftate?. When twins are born, one of them commonly is abandoned, becaufe the mother is not equal to the tafk of rearing bothz. When ti mother dies while fhe is nurfing a child, all hope of preferving its life fails, and it is buried together with her in the fame grave a. As the parents are frequently expofed to want by their own im-

1 Herrera, dec. 6. lib. i. c. 4.

u Charlev. iii. 303. Dumont Mem. fur Louifiane, ii. 270. Denys Hift. Natur. de l'Amerique, &c. ii. 365. Charlev. H/ft. de Parag. ii. 422. x Techo's

Account of Paraguay, &c. Church. Collect, vi. 108. Lett. Bdif. 24. 200. Lozano Defer. 92. y MaccleurY

Journal, 63. z Lett. Edif. x. 200. See

Note LIII. a Charlev. iii. 368. Lett. Edif. x.

200. P. Melch. Hernandez Memor. de Cheriqui. Colbert, Collect. Orig. Pap. i.

provident

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 355

provident indolence, the difficulty of fuflaining their children becomes fo great, that it is not uncommon to abandon or deftroy themb. Thus their experience of the difficulty of training up an infant to maturity, amidft the hardfhips of favage life, often ftifles the voice of nature among the Americans, and fuppreffes the ftrong emotions of parental tendernefs.

But, though neceffity compels the inha- bitants of America thus to fet bounds to the increafe of their families, they are not deficient in affection and attachment to their offspring. They feel the power of this inftindt in its full force, and as long as their progeny continue feeble and helplefs, no people exceed them in tendernefs and care c. But in rude nations, the dependence of children upon their parents is of fhorter continuance than in polifhed focieties. When men mull be trained to the various func- tions of civil life by previous difcipline and edu- cation, when the knowledge of abilrufe fciences muft be taught, and dexterity in intricate art* mufl be acquired, before a young man is pre- pared to begin his career of action, the atten- tive feelings of a parent are not confined to the years of infancy, but extend to what is more remote, the eflablifhment of his child in the world. Even then, his folicitude does not ter- minate. His protection may (till be requifite, and his wifdom and experience ilill prove ufeful guides. Thus a permanent connexion is formed ; parental tendernefs is exercifed, and filial refpect re- turned, throughout the whole courfe of life,

b Venega's Hift. of Californ. i. 82. ■ Gu nulla, i. 211. Diet. 390. ?0L. 1* LI But

356 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B. ivjf

But in the fimplicity of the favage Hate, the affection of parents, like the inftinfiivfl fondnefs of animals, ceafes almoft entirely as foon as their offspring attain maturity. Little inftruction fits them for that mode of life to which they are deftined. The parents, as if their duty were accomplifhed, when they have conducted their children through the helplefs years of infancy, leave them afterwards at entire liberty. Even in their tender age, they feldcm advife or admonifh, they never chide or chaf- tife them. They fuffer them to be abfolute. mailers of their own actions d. In an American hut, a father, a mother, and their pofterity, live together like perfons affembled by accident, without' feeming to feel the obligation of the duties mutually arifmg from this connection0 As filial love is not cherifhed by the continu- ance of attention or good offices, the recollection of benefits received in early infancy is too faint to excite it, Confcious of their own liberty, and impatient of reftraint, the youth of America are accuftomed to act as if they were totally independent. Their parents are not objects of greater regard than other perfons. They treat them always with neglect, and often with fuch harfhnefs and infolence, as to fill thofe who have been witneffes of their conduct with horror f.

d Charlev. iii. 272. Biet. 390. Gumilla, i. 212. Lafitau, i. 602. Creuxii Hifr. Canad. p. 71. Fernandez, Relac. Hilt de los Chequit. 33. e Charlev. Hift.

N. Fr. iii. 273. f Gumilla, i. 212. 'Tertre, ii.

376. Charlev. Hift. de N. France, iii. 309. Charley. Hift. de Parag. i. it 5. Lozano, Defcript. del Gran Chaco, p. 68. ioo, ioi. Fernand. Relac. Hiftor. de los Chequit.

.Thus

B. IV. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 357

Thus the ideas which feem to be natural to man in his favage ftate, as they refult neceflarily from his circumftances and condition in that period of his progrefs, affect the two capital relations in domeftic life. They render the union between hufband and wife unequal. They fhorten the duration, and weaken the force, of the connexion between parents and children.

ll2 NOTES

NOTES

AND

ILLUSTRATIONS,

NOTE I. p. 7.

''jpYRE was fituated at fuch a diftance from the Ara- •*- bian Gulf, or Red Sea, as made it impracticable to convey commodities from thence to that city by land carriage. This induced the Phenicians to render themfelves matters of Rhimcrura, or Rhinocolura, the rjeareft port in the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. They landed the cargoes which they purchafed in Arabia, Ethiopia, and India, at Elath, the fafefl harbour in the Red Sea towards the North. Thence they were carried by land to Rhinocolura, the diftance not being very con- fiderable 5 and being refhippe i in that port, were tranf- ported to Tyre, and distributed over the world. Strabon. Geo.zr. Edit. Cafaub. lib. xvi. p. ua8. Diodor. Sicul. Biblioth. Hiaor.Edit.Weffelingi, lib, I. p. 70,

NOTE II. p. 11,

The Periplus Hannonis is the only authentic monu- ment of the Carthaginian (kill in naval affairs, and one of the moft curious fragments tranfmitted to us by an» tiquity. The learned and induftrious Mr. Dodwell, in a diflertation prefixed to the Periplus of Hanno, in the edition of the Minor Geographers, published at Oxford, endeavours to prove that this is a fpurious work, the composition of fome Greek, who aflfumed Hanno's name. But M.de Monteftjuieu, in his PEfprit des Loix, liv, xxi.

I L 3 C 8.

3^0 KOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

c. 8. and M. de Bougainville, in a diflertation published, tom.xxvi. of the Memoires de l'Academie des Infcrip- tions, &c. have eftablifhed its authenticity by arguments which to me appear unanfwerable. Ramuiio has ac- companied his translation of this curious voyage with a differtation tending to illuftrate it. Racolte de V?, aSgi* V°J» L P» H2. M. de Bougainville has, with great learning and ability, treated the fame fubjecl. It appears that Hanno, according to the mode of ancient naviga- tion, undertook this voyage in fmall vefTels/fo conftruct- cd, that he could keep clofe in with the coaft. He failed from Gades to the ifland of Cerne in twelve days. This is probably what is known to the moderns by the name of the ifle of Arguim. It became the chief ftation of the Carthaginians on that coafl: ; and M. de Bougain- ville contends, that the citterns found there are monu- ments of the Carthaginian power and ingenuity. Pro- ceeding from Cerne, and ftill following the winding of the coaft, he arrived, in feventeen days, at a promon- tory which he called The Weft Horn, probably Cape Palmas. From this he advanced to another promon- tory, which he named The South Horn, and which is manifeftly Cape de Tres Puntas, about five degrees north of the line. All the circumftahces contained in the fliort abftract of his journal, which is handed down to us, concerning the appearance and ftate of the countries on tiie coaft of Africa, are confirmed and illuftrated by a comparifon with the accounts of modern navigators, Even thofe circumftances, which, from their feeming improbability, have been produced to invalidate the cre- dibility of his relation, tend to confirm it. He obferves, that in the country to the fouth of Cerne, a profound tilence reigned through the day j but during the night innu- merable fires were kindled along the banks of the rivers, and the air refounded with the noife of pipes and drums, and cries of joy. The fame thing, as Ramufio obferves, ftill takes place. The excefiive heat obliges the negroes to take fhelter in the woods, or in their houfes, during the day. As foon as the fun fets, they fally out, and by torch-light enjoy th» pleafure of mufic and dancing,

in

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 36t

!n which they fpend the night. Ramuf. i. 113. F. In another place, he mentions the fea as burning with torrents of fire. What occurred to M. Adanfon, on-tne fame coaft, may explain this: "As foon," fays he " as the fun dipped beneath the horizon, and night overfpread the earth with darknefs, the fea lent us its friendly light. While the prow of our vefifel ploughed the foaming furges, it feemed to fet them all on fire. Thus we failed in a luminous inclofure, which fur- rounded us like a large circle of rays, from whence darted in the wake of the ftiip a long ftream of light. Voy. to Senegal, p. 176. This appearance of the fea obferved by Hunter, has been mentioned as an argument againft the authenticity of the Periplus. It is, however, a phenomenon very common in warm climates. Capt. Cook's Second Voyage, vol. i. p. 15- The Periplus of Hanno has been tranfiated, and every point with refpett to it has been illuftrated with much learning and in- eenuity in a work publiflied by Don Pedr. Rodrig. Cam- pomanes, intitled, Antiguedad maritima de Cartago, con ei Periplo de fu General Hannon traducido e llluf- trado. Mad. 1736. 40.

NOTE III. p. 12.

Long after the navigation of the Phenicians and of Eudoxus round Africa, Polybius, the moft intelligent and beft informed hiftorian of antiquity, and particularly I diftinguifhed by his attention to geographical refearches, affirms, that it was not known, in his time, whether Africa was 'a continued continent, flretching to the fouth, or whether it was encompaflTed by the fea. Po- lybii Hift. lib. ill- Pliny the naturalift afierts, that there can be no communication between the foutherri and northern temperate zones. Plinii Hift. Natur. edit, in ufum Delph. 4to. lib. ii. c. 68. If they had given full credit to the accounts of thofe Voyages, the former could not have entertained fuch a doubt, the latter could not have delivered fuch an opinion. Strabo mentions the voyage of Eudoxus, but treats it as a ■ fabulous

g62 NOTES AMD ILLUSTRATIONS.

fabulous tale, lib. 11. p. 1555 and, according to his account of it, no other judgment can be formed with refpeft Jto it, Strabo feems not to have known any thing with certainty concerning the form and ftate of the fouthern parts of Africa. Geogr. lib. xvii. p. 11 80. Ptolemy, the mod inquifitive and learned of all the an- cient geographers, was equally unacquainted with any part of Africa fituated a few degrees beyond the equi- noctial line ; for he fuppofes that this great continent was not furrounded hy the fea, but that it ftretcbed, without interruption, towards the fouth pole : and he fo far miftakes its true figure, that he defcribes the conti- nent as becoming broader and broader as it advanced towards the fouth. Ptolemaei Geogr. lib. iv. c. 9, BrU etii Parallela Geogr. veteris et novae, p. 86.

NOTE IV, p, x8.

A fact, recorded by Strabo, affords a very ftrong and lingular proof of the ignorance of the ancients with refpefl to the fituation of the various parts of the earth. When Alexander marched along the banks of the Hy- dafpes and Acefine, two of the rivers which fall into the Indus, he obferved that there were many crocodiles in thofe rivers,' and that the country produced beans of the- fame fpecies with thofe which were common in Egypt. From thefe circumttances, he concluded that he had difcovered the fource of the Nile, and prepared a fleet to fail down the Hydafpes to Egypt. Strab. Geogr. Jib. xv. p. 1 010. This amazing error did not arife from any ignorance of geography peculiar to that monarch ; for we are inforrned by Strabo, that Alexander applied with particular attention in order to acquire the know- ledge of this fcience, and had accurate maps or defcrip- ticns of the countries through which he marched, X*ib. ii. p. 120. But in his age, the knowledge of the Greeks did not extend beyond the limits of the Med;* ^rranean.

%

KOTSS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 363

NOTE V. p. 19.

As the flux and reflux of the fea is remarkably great at the mouth of the river Indus, this would render the phenomenon more formidable to the Greeks. Varen Geogr. vol.i. p. %Sl*

NOTE VI. p. 22.

It is probable that the ancients were feldom induced to advance fo far as the mouth of the Ganges, either by motives of curiofity, or views of commercial advantage. In confequence of this, their idea concerning the pofition of that great river was very erroneous. Ptolemy places; that branch of the Ganges which he diftinguifhes by the name of the Great Mouth, in the hundred and forty - fixth degree of longitude from his firft meridian in the Fortunate Wands. But its true longitude, computed from that meridian, is now determined by aftronomical obfervations to be only a hundred and five degrees. ^ A geographer fo eminent muft have been betrayed into an error of this magnitude by the imperfection of the information which he had received concerning thofe diftant regions 5 and this affords a ftriking proof of the intercourfe with them being extremely rare. With re- fpeft to the countries of India beyond the Ganges, his intelligence was ftill more defeftive, and his errors more enormous. I (hall have occafion to obferve in another place, that he has placed the country of the Seres, or China, no lefs than fixty degrees farther eaft than its true pofition. M. d'Anville, one of the moft learned and intelligent of the modern geographers, has fet this matter in a clear light, in two differtations published in Mem. de 1* Academ. des Infcript. &c. torn, xxxiw P- 573.604.

NOTE VII. p. 23,

It is remarkable, that the difcoveries of the ancients were made chiefly by land ; thofe of the moderns are

carried

364 2<0TES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

carried on chiefly by fea. The progrefs of conqueft led to the former, that of commerce to the latter. It is a judicious obfervation of Strabo, that the conquells of Alexander the Great made known the Eaft, thofe of the Romans opened the Weft, and thofe of Mithridates king of Pontus the North, Lib. i. p. 26. When dif- covery is carried on by land alone, its progrefs mull be flow, and its operations confined. When it is carried on only by fea, its fphere may be more extenfive, and its advances more rapid ; but it labours under peculiar defects. Though it may make known the pofuion of different countries, and afcertain their boundaries as far as thefe are determined by the ocean, it leaves us in ignorance with refpeft to their interior ftate. Above two centuries and a half have elapfed fince the Euro- peans failed round the fouthern promontory of Africa, and have traded in moft of its ports 5 but, in a con- fiderable part of that great continent, they have done little more than furvey its coafts, and mark its capes and harbours. Its interior regions are in a great mea- fure unknown. The ancients, who had a very imper- fect knowledge of its coafts, except where they are warned by the Mediterranean or Red Sea, were accuf- tomed to pene.trate into its inlancj provinces, and, if we may rely on the teftimony of Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, had explored many parts of it now altogether unknown. Unlefs both modes of difcovery be united, the geographical knowledge of the earth muft remain incomplete and inaccurate,

NOTE VIII. p. 27.

The notion of the ancients concerning fuch an ex- ceflive degree of heat in the torrid zone, as rendered it uninhabitable, and their perfifting in this error long after they began to have fome commercial intercourse with feveral parts of India lying within the tropics, muft appear fo lingular and abfurd, that it may not be I Unacceptable to fome of my readers to produce evidence tff their holding this opinion, and to account for the

apparent

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 365

apparent inconfiftence of their theory with their expe- rience. Cicero, who had bellowed attention upon every part of philofophy known to the ancients, feems to have believed that the torrid zone was uninhabitable, and, of confequence, that there could be no intercourfe be- tween'the northern and fouthern temperate zones. He introduces Africanus thus addrelfing the younger Sci- pio : " You fee this earth encompafied, and as it were bound in by certain zones, of which, two, at the greateft diitance from each other, and fuftaining the oppoiite poles of heaven, are frozen with perpetual cold ; the middle one, and the largeft of all, is burnt with the heat of the fun j two are habitable, the people in the fouthern one are antipodes to us, with whom we have no con- nection." Sommum Sclpioms^ c. 6- Geminus, a Greek philofopher, contemporary with Cicero, delivers the fame doctrine, . not in a popular work, but in his Etrxyuyt) itf <paivousvct, a treatife purely fcientifk. 44 When we fpeak," fays he, " of the fouthern tem- perate zone, and its inhabitants, and concerning thofe who are called antipodes, it mud be always understood,* that we have no certain knowledge or information con- cerning the fouthern temperate zone, whether it be in- habited or not. But from the fpherical figure of the earth, and the courfe which the fun holds between the tropics, we conclude that there is another zone, fituated to the fouth, which enjoys the fame degree of tempera- ture with the northern one which we inhabit." Cap. xiii. p. 31. ap. Petavii Opus de Doclr. Tempor. in quo Ura- nologium five Syftemata var. Auctorum. Amft. 1705, vol. lii. The opinion of Pliny the naturaliit, with refpect to both thefe points, was the fame : " There are five, divifions of the earth, which are called zones. All that portion which lies near to the two oppofite poles is op-, preffed with vehement cold, and eternal froft. There, -unbleft with the afpedt of milder ftars, perpetual dark- nefs reigns, or at the utmoft a feeble light reflected from, furrounding fnows. The middle of the earth, in which is the orbit of the fun, is fcorched and burnt up with flames and fiery vapour. Between thefe torrid and

frozen

366 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

frozen diftri&s lie two other portions of the earth, which are temperate ; but, on account of the burning region interpofed, there can be no communication between them. Thus Heaven has deprived us of three parts of the earth." Lib. ii. c. 68. Strabo delivers his opinion to the fame effect, in terms no lefs explicit: <e The portion of the earth which lies near the equator, in the torrid zone, is rendered uninhabitable by heat." Lib. ii. p. 154. To thefe I might add the authority of many other refpeclable philofophers and hiftorians of antiquity.

In order to explain the fenfe in which this doctrine was generally received, we may obferve, that Parme- nides, as we are informed by Strabo, was the firft who divided the earth into five zones, and he extended the limits of the zone which he fuppofed to be uninhabitable on account of heat, beyond the tropics. Ariftotle, as we learn likewife from Strabo, fixed the boundaries of the different zones in the fame manner as they are de- fined by modern geographers. But the progrefs of dif- covery having gradually demonftrated that feveral re- gions of the earth which lay within the tropics were not only habitable, but populous and fertile, this induced later geographers to circumfcribe the limits of the torrid zone. It is not eafy to afcertain with precifion the boundaries which they allotted to it. From a paflage in Strabo, who, as far as I know, is the only author of antiquity from whom we receive any hint concerning tills fubjeel, I mould conjecture, that thofe who calcu- lated according to the meafurement of the earth by Eratofthenes, fuppofed the torrid zone to comprehend near fixteen degrees, about eight on each fide of the equator 5 whereas fuch as followed the computation of Pofidonius allotted about twenty»four degrees, or fome- what more than twelve degrees on each fide of the equator to the torrid zone. Strabo, lib. ii. p. 151. According to the former opinion, about two- thirds of that portion of the earth which lies hetween the tropics was confidered as habitable 5 according to the latter, about one half of it. With this reftriclion, the doctrine

of

.NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 367

of the ancients concerning the torrid zone appears lefs abfurd ; and we can conceive the reafon of their afiert- ing this zone to be uninhabitable, even after they had opened a communication with feveral places within the tropics. When men of fcience fpoke of the torrid zone, they confidered it as it was limited by the definition of geographers to fixteen, or at the utmoft to twenty-four degrees ; and as they knew almoft nothing of the countries nearer to the equator, they might ftill fuppofe them to be uninhabitable. In loofe and popular difcourfe, the name of the torrid zone continued to be given to all that portion of the earth which lies within the tropics. Cicero feems to have been unacquainted with thofe ideas of the later geographers, and adhering to the divifion of Parmenides, defcribes the torrid zone as the largeft of the five. Some of the ancients rejecled the notion con- cerning the intolerable heat of the torrid zone as a po- pular error. This, we are told by Plutarch, was the fentiment of Pythagoras, and we learn from Strabo, that Eratorlhenes and Polybius had adopted the fame opinion, lib. ii. 154- Ptolemy feems to have paid no regard to the ancient doctrine and opinions concerning the torrid zone.

NOTE IX. p. 47.

Tke court of inquifition, which effectually checks a fpirit of liberal inquiry, and of literary improvement, wherever it is eftablimed, was unknown in Portugal in the fifteenth century, when the people of that kingdom began their voyages of difcovery. More than a century elapfed, before it was introduced by John III. whofe reign commenced A. D. 1511.

NOTE X. p. 56.

An inftance of this is related by Hakluyt, upon the

authority of the Portuguefe hiftorian Garcia de Refende.

Some Englifh merchants having refolved to open a

trade with the coaft of Guinea, John II. of Portugal dif-

vol. 1. m m patched

36& NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

patched ambafiadors to Edward IV. in order to lay before him the right which he had acquired by the Pope's bull to the dominion of that country, and to requeft of him to prohibit his fubje&s to profecute their intended voyage. Edward was fo much fatisfied with the exclu- sive title of the Portuguefe, that he itfued his orders in the terms which they defired. Hackluyt, Navigations, Voyages, and Traffics of the Englifh, vol. ii. part ii.

tt0^ • The time of Columbus's death may be nearly afcer- tained by the following circumftances. It appears from the fragment of a letter, addreffed by him to Ferdinand and Ifabella, A. D. 1 50 1 , that he had, at that time, been engaged forty years in a fea*faring life. In another letter, he informs them, that he went to fea at the age of fourteen 5 from thofe facts it follows, that he was born A. D. 144 7. Life of Chrift. Columbus, by his fort Don Ferdinand. Churchill's Collection of Voyages, vol. ii. p. 484) 485.

.NOTE XII. p. 73.

The fpherical figure of the earth was known to the ancient geographers. They invented the method, (till in ufe, of computing the longitude and latitude of differ- ent places. According to their dodrine, the equator, I or imaginary line which encompafTes the earth, contained three hundred and fixty degrees $ thefe they divided into twenty-four parts, or hours, each equal to fifteen de- grees. • The country of the Seres or Sinte, being the fartheft part of India known to the ancients, was fup«* pofed, by Marinus Tyrius, the moft eminent of the ancient geographers before Ptolemy, to be fifteen hours, or two hundred and twenty-five degrees to the eaft of the firft meridian, pafiing through the Fortunate Ifiands. Ptolemsei Geogr. lib. i. c. 11. If this fuppofition was well-founded, the country of the Seres, or China, was only nine hours, or one hundred and thirtyfive degrees

welt

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 369

weft from the Fortunate or Canary Iflands 5 and the navigation, in that direction, was much fhorter than by the courfe which the Portuguefe were purfuing. Marco Polo, in his travels, had defcribed countries, particularly the ifland of Cipango or Zipangri, fuppofed to be Japan, considerably to the eaft of any part of Afia known to the ancients. Marcus Paulus de Region. Oriental, lib. ij. c. 70. lib. iii. c. *. Of courfe, this country, as it extended further to the eaft, was ftill nearer to the Canary Iflands. The conditions of Columbus, though drawn from inaccurate obfervations, were juft. If the fuppofitions of Marinus had been well founded, and if the countries which Marco Polo vifited had been fitu- ated to the eaft of thofe whofe longitude Marinus had ascertained, the proper and neareft courfe to the Eaft Indies muft have been to fteer directly weft. Herrera, dec. i . lib. i. c. 2. A more extenfive knowledge of the globe has now difcovered the great error of Ma/inus, in iupppfing China, to be fifteen hours, or two hundred and twenty-five degrees eaft from the Canary Iflands, and that even Ptolemy was miftaken, when he reduced the longitude of China to twelve hours, or one hundred and eighty degrees. The longitude of* the weftern frontier of that vaft empire is feven hours, or one hundred and fifteen degrees from the meridian of the Canary Iflands. But Columbus followed trje light which his age afforded, and relied upon the authority of writers, who were, at that time, regarded as the inftructors and guides of man- Kind in the fcience of geography.

NOTE XIII. p. 95.

As the Portuguefe, in making their difcoveries, did not depart far from the coaft of Africa, they concluded that birds, whofe flight they obferved with great atten- tion, did not venture to any confiderable diftance from land. In the infancy of navigation, it was not known, that birds often ftretched their flight to an immenfe dis- tance from any fhore. In failing towards the Weft- Jndian iflands, birds are often feen at the diilance of two m m z hundred

37Q NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS'.

hundred leagues from the neareft coaft. Sloane's Nat. Hift. of Jamaica, vol. i. p. 30. Catefby faw an owl at fea, when the (hip was fix hundred leagues diftant from land. Nat. Hift. of Carolina, pref. p. 7. Hift. Naturelle de M. BurTon, torn, xvi* p, 32. From which it appears, that this indication of land, on which Columbus feems to have relied with fome confidence, was extremely uncertain. This obfervation is confirmed by Capt. Cook, the moft extenfive and experienced navigator of any age or nation. " No one yet knows (fays he) to what diftance any of the oceanic birds go to fea ; for my own part, I do not believe that there is one in the whole tribe that can be relied on in pointing out the vicinity of land.** Voyage towards the South Pole, vol. i. p. 275.

NOTE XIV. p. 106.

In a letter of the admiral's to Ferdinand and Ifabella, he defcribes one of the harbours in Cuba, with all the enthufiaftic admiration of a difcoverer.— " I difcovered a river which a galley might eafily enter; the beauty of it induced me to found, and I have found from five to eight fathoms of water. Having proceeded a consider- able way up the river, every thing invited me to fettle there. The beauty of the river, the clearnefs of the water, through which I could fee the fandy bottom, the multitude of palm trees of different kinds, the talleft and fineft I had feen, and an infinite number of other large and flourifhing trees, the birds, and the verdure of the plains, are fo wonderfully beautiful, that this country excels all others as far as the day furpaflfes the night in brightnefs and fplendour, fo that, I often faid, that it would be in vain for me to attempt to give your highnefles a full account of it, for neither my tongue nor my pen could come up to the truth ; and indeed I am fo much amazed at the fight of fuch beauty, that I know fiot how to defcribe it." Life of Columb. c. 30.

, NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, 37I

NOTE XV. p. m.

The account which Columhus gives of the humanity and orderly behaviour of the natives on this occafion is very finking. " The king (fays he, in a letter to Ferdinand and Ifabella) having been informed of our misfortune, exprefTed great grief for our lofs, and im- mediately fent aboard all the people in the place in many large canoes $ we foon unloaded the /hip of every thing that was upon deck, as the king gave us great afMance : he himfelf, with his brothers and relations,, took all poflible care that every thing ftiould be properly ^<3one, both aboard and on fhore. And, from time tp time, he fent fome of his relations weeping, to beg of me not to be dejected, for he would give me all that lit had. I can affure your highneffes, that fo much care would not have been taken in fecuring our effects in any part of Spain, as all our property was put together in one place near his palace, until the houfes which he wanted to prepare for the cuftody of it, were emptied. He immediately placed a guard of armed men, who watched during the whole night, and thofe on fliore lamented as if they had been much interefted in our Jofs. The people are fo affe&ionate, fo tradable, and fo peaceable, that I fwear to your highnefies, that there is not a better race of men, nor a better country in the world. They love their neighbour as themfelves; their converfation is the fweeteft and mijdeft in the world, cheerful, and always accompanied with a fmile. And although it is true that they go naked, yet your highnefies may be affured that they have many very commendable cuftoms ; the king is ferved with great ftace, and his behaviour is fo decent, that it is pleafant to fee him, as it is likewife to obferve the wonderful memory which thefe people have,, and their defire of knowing every thing, which leads them to inquire into its caufes and .effects. " Life of Columbus, c. 31. It is probable, that the Spaniards were indebted for this officious atten- tion to the opinion which the Indians , entertained of . them as a fuperior order of beings, m m 3

372 notes And illustrations. NOTE XVI. p. 118.

Every monument of fuch a man as Columbus is valuable. A letter which he wrote to Ferdinand and Ifabella, defcribing what pafied on this occafion, ex- hibits a mod ftriking picture of his intrepidity, his humanity, his prudence, his public fpirit, and courtly addrefs. " I would have been lefs concerned for this misfortune, had I alone been in danger, both becaufe my life is a debt that I owe to the Supreme Creator, j and becaufe I have at other times been expofed to the mod imminent hazard. But what gave me infinite grief and vexation was, that after it had pleafed our Lord to give me faith to undertake this enterprife, in which I had now been fo fuccefsful, that my opponents would have been convinced, and the glory of your high- hefies, and the extent of your territory increafed by 3 me j it fhould pleafe the Divine Majefty to flop all by my death. All this would have been more tolerable, had it not been attended with the lofs of thofe men whom I had carried with me, upon promife of the greateft pro- fperity, who feeing themfelves in fuch diftrefs, curfed not only their, coming along with me, but that fear and awe of me, which prevented them from returning as they often had refolved to have done. But befides all this, my forrovv Was greatly increafed, by recollecting , that I had left my two fons at fchool at Cordova, defti- tute of friends, in a foreign country, when it could no't in all probability be known that I had done fuch fer- vices as might induce your highnefles to remember them. And though I comforted myfelf with the faith that our Lord would not permit that, which tended fo much to the glory of his church, and which I had brought ' about with fo much trouble, to remain imperfect, yet I confidered, that on account of my fins, it was his will to deprive me of that glory, which I might have at* tained in this world. While in this confufed ftate, t thought on the good fortune which accompanies your highnefles, and imagined, that although I mould perifh, and the veifd be loft, it was pofiible that you might j

fomehow

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 373

fomehow come to the knowledge of my voyage, and the fuccefs with which it was attended. For that reafon I wrote upon parchment with the brevity which the fnu- ation required, that I had difcovered the lands which I promifed, in how many days I had done it, and what courfe I had followed. I mentioned the goodnefs of the country, the character of the inhabitants, and that your rughnefTes fubjetts were left in pofieflion of all that I had difcovered. Having fealed this writing, I addreffed it to your highnefles, and promifed a thoufand ducats to any perfon who mould deliver it fealed, fo that if any "foreigners found it, the promifed reward might prevail on them not to give the information to another. I then caufed a great calk to be brought to me, and wrapping "up the parchment in an oiled cloth, and afterwards in a cake of wax, I put it into the caik, and having ftopt it well, I call it into the fea. All the men believed that it was fome a& of devotion. Imagining that this might never chance to be taken up, as the (hips ap- proached nearer to Spain, I made another packet like the firft, and placed it at the top of the poop, fo that if the (hip funk, the calk remaining above water might be committed to the guidance of fortune.'*

NOTE XVII. p. i2i.

Some Spanifh authors, with the meannefs of national jealoufy, have endeavoured to detract from the glory of Columbus, by inimuating that he was led to the dif- covery of the New World, not by his own inventive or enterpriiing genius, but by information which he had received. According to their account, a veffel having been driven from its courfe by eafterly winds, was car- ried before them far to the weft, and landed on the coaft of an unknown country, from which it returned with difficulty ; the pilot and three failors being the only perfons who furvived the diftrerTes which the crew fuf- fered, from want of provifions, and fatigue in this long Voyage. In a few days after their arrival, all the four died ; but the pilot having been received into the houfe

of

374 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

of Columbus, his intimate friend, difclofed to him, be fore his death, the fecret of the difcovery which he had accidentally made, and left him his papers containing a journal of the voyage, which ferved as a guide to Co- lumbus in his undertaking. Gomara, as far as I know, is the firft author who published chis rtory, Hift. c. 13, Every circumrtance is dertitute of evidence to fupport it. Neither the name of the veflel nor its deftination is known. Some pretend that it belonged to one of the fea-port towns in Andalufia, and was failing either to the Canaries, or to Madeira $ others, that it was a Bif- cayner in its way to England ; others, a Portuguefe fhip trading on the coaft of Guinea. The name of the pilot is alike unknown, as well as that of the port in which he landed on his return. According to fome, it was in Portugal ; according to others, in Madeira, or the Azores. The year in which this voyage was made is no k(s uncertain. Monfon's Nav. Trafts. Churchill, iii. 371. No mention is made of this pilot or his dif- coveries, by And. Bernaldes, or Pet. Martyr, the con- temporaries of Columbus. Herrera, with his ufual judg- ment, partes over it in filence. Oviedo takes notice of this report, but confiders it as a tale fit only to amufe the vulgar. Hift. lib. ii. c. 2. As Columbus held his courfe directly weft from the Canaries, and never varied it, fome later authors have fuppofed, that this uniformity is a proof of his being guided by fome previous informa- tion. But they do not recollect the principles on which he founded all his hopes of fuccefs, that by holding a wefterly courfe, he muft certainly arrive at thofe regions of the eaft defcribed by the ancients. His firm belief of his own fyftem led him to take that courfe, and to pur- fue it without deviation.

The Spaniards are not the only people who have called in queftion Columbus's claim to the honour of having difcovered America. Some German authors afcribe this honour to Martin Behaim, their countryman. He was of the noble family of the Behaims of Schwartz! bach, citizens of the firft rank in the Imperial town of Nuremberg. Having ftudied under the celebrated

John

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 375

John Muller, better known by the name of Regiomon- tanus, he acquired fuch knowledge of cofmography, as excited a defire of exploring thofe regions, the fituation and qualities of which he had been accuftomed, under that able matter, to inveftigate and defcribe. Under the patronage of the duchefs of Burgundy he repaired to Lifbon, whither the fame of the Portuguefe difcoveries invited all the adventurous fpirits of the age. There, as we learn from Herman Schedel, of whofe Chronkon Mun- di a German translation was printed at Nuremberg A. D. 1493, his merit as a cofmographer raifed him, in conjunaion with Diego Cano, to the command of a fquadron fitted out for difcovery in the year 1483. In that voyage, he is faid to have difcovered the kingdom ; of Congo. He fettled in the ifland of Fayal, one of the Azores, and was a particular friend of Columbus. Her- rera, dec. 1. lib. i. c.a. Magellan had a terreftrial globe made by Behaim, on which he demonftrated the courfe that he purpofed to hold in fearch of the com- munication with the South Sea, which he afterwards difcovered. Gomara Hift. c. 19. Herrera, dec. 11, lib. ii. c. 19. In the year 1492, Behaim vifited his relations in Nuremberg, and left with them a map drawn with his own hand, which is ftill preferved among the archives of the family. Thus far the ftory of Martin Behaim feems to be well authenticated ; but the account of his having difcovered any part of the New World ap- pears to be merely conjectural.

In the nrft edition, as I had at that time hardly any knowledge of Behaim but what 1 derived from a frivo- lous Diflertation de vero Novi Orbis Inventore, published at Francfort, A. D. 1714, by Jo. Frid. Stuvenius, I was induced, by the authority of Herrera, to fuppofe that Behaim was not a native of Germany ; but from more full and accurate information, communicated to me by the learned Dr. John Reinhold Forfter, I am now fatif- fied that I was miftaken. Dr. Forfter has been likewife fo good as to favour me with a copy of BehainVs rhapf, as publifhed by Doppelmayer in his account of the Ma- thematicians and Artifts of Nuremberg. From this

map*

$76 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

ipap, the imperfection of cofmographical knowledge at that period is manifeft. Hardly one place is laid down in its true fituation. Nor can I difcover from it any reafon to fuppofe that Behaim had the Jeaft knowledge of any region in America. He delineates, indeed, an ifland to which he gives the name of St. Brandon. This, it is imagined, may be fome part of Guiana, fuppofed at firft to be an ifland. He places it in the fame latitude with the Cape Verd ifles, and I fufpeft it to be an ima- ginary ifland which has been admitted into fome an- cient maps on no better authority than the legend of the Irifli St. Brandon or Brendan, whofe ftory is fo childiflily fabulous as to be unworthy of any notice* Girald. Cambrienfis ap, Miflingham Florilegium San<5io» rum, p, 427.

The pretentions of the Welfli to the difcovery of America feem not to reft on a foundation much more folid. In the twelfth century, according to Powell, a difpute having arifen among the fons of Owen Cuyneth, king of North-Wales, concerning the fuccef- fion to his crown, Madoc, one of their number, weary of this contention, betook himfelf to fea in queft of a more quiet fettlement. He fleered due weft, leaving Ireland to the north, and arrived in an unknown country, which appeared to him fo defirable, that he returned to Wales, and carried thither feveral of his adherents and companions. This is faid to have hap- pened about the year 1170, and after that, he and his colony were heard of no more. But it is to be obferv- ed, that Powell, on whofe teftimony the authenticity pf this ftory refts, published his hiftory above four centuries from the date of the event which he relates. Among a people as rude and as illiterate as the Welfli at that period, the rnempry of a tranfa&ion fo remote muft Jiave been very imperfectly preferved, and would require to be confirmed by fome author of greater credit, and nearer to the sera of Madoc's voyage than Powell. Later antiquaries have indeed appealed to the teftimony of Meredith ap Rhees, a Welfli bard, who died A. D. 147 7. JSfut he too lived at fuch a diftance of time frorn the

event,

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 377

event, that he cannot be confidered as a witnefs of much more credit than Powell. Beildes, his verfes, published by Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. I. convey no information, but that Madoc, difiatisfied with his domeftic fituation, employed himfelf in fearching the ocean for new pof- feffions. But even if we admit the authenticity of Pow- ell's ftory, it does not follow that the unknown country which Madoc difcovered by (leering weft, in fuch a courfc as to leave Ireland to the north, was any part of Ame- rica. The naval (kill of the Welfh in the twelfth cen- tury was hardly equal to fuch a voyage. If he made any difcovery at all, it is more probable that it was Madeira, or fome other of the weftern ifles. The affi- nity of the Welfh language with fome dialetfs fpoken in America, has been mentioned as a circumftance which confirms the truth of Madoc's voyage. But that affi- nity has been obferved in fo few initances, and in fome of thefe is fo obfeure, or fo fanciful, that no conclufion can be drawn from the cafual refemblance of a fmall number of words. There is a bird, which, as far as is vet known, is found only on the coafts of South Ame- rica, from Port Defire to the Straits of Magellan. It is diitinguifhed by the name of Penguim This word in the Welfh language fignifies Whitehead. Almoft all the authors who favour the pretenfions of the Welfh to the difcovery of America, mention this as an irrefragable proof of the affinity of the Welfh language with that fpoken in this region of America. But Mr. Pennant, who has given a fcientific defcription of the penguin, obferves, that all the birds of this genus have black heads, *' fo that we mud refign every hope (adds he) founded on this hypothecs of retrieving the Cambrian race in the New World." Philof. Tranfacl. vol. Iviii. p. 91, &c. Befide this, if the Welfh, towards the clofe of the twelfth century, hed fettled in any part of Ame- rica, fome remains of the Chriftian doctrine and rites muft have been found among their defcendants, when they were difcovered about three hundred years pofte- rior to their migration } a period fo (hort, that, in the courfe of it> we cannot well fuppofe that all European

ideas

378 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

ideas and arts would be totally forgotten. Lord Lyttel- ton, in his notes to the fifth book of his Hiftory of Henry II. p. 371. has examined what Powell relates concerning the difcoveries made by Madoc, and invali- dates the truth of his ftory by other arguments of great weight.

The pretentions of the Norwegians to the difcovery of America, feem to be better founded than thofcof the Germans or Welfh. The inhabitants of Scandinavia were remarkable in the middle ages for the boldnefs and extent of their maritime excursions. In S74, the Nor- wegians difcovered, and planted a colony in Iceland. In 982, they difcovered Greenland, and eftabliihed fettlements there* From that, fome of their navigators proceeded towards the weft, and difcovered a country more inviting than thofe horrid regions with which they were acquainted. According to their reprefentation, this country was fandy on the coafts, but in the inte- rior parts level and covered with wood, on which ac- count they gave it the name of Helic-land, and Mart- land, and having afterwards found fome plants of the vine which bore grapes, they called it Win-land. The credit of this ftory refts, as far as I know, on the au- thority of the 'fagay or chronicle of king Olaus, com- pofed by Snorro Sturlonides, or Sturlufons, published by Perinfkiold at Stockholm A. D. 1697. As Snorro was born in the year 1:79, his chronicle might be compiled about two centuries after the event which he relates. His account of the navigation and difcoveries of Blora9 and his companion Lief, is a very rude confufed tale, p. 104, no. 326. It is impoffible to cifcover from him, what part of America it was in which the Norwegians landed. According to his account of the length of the days and nights, it muft have been as far north as the fifty -eighth degree of latitude, on fome part of the coait of Labradore, approaching near to the entry of Hud- son's Straits. Grapes, certainly, are not the production of that country. Torfeus fuppofes that there is an error in the text, by rectifying of which, the place where the Norwegians landed may be fuppofed to be

fnuated

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 379

fituatcd in latitude 490. But neither is that the region of the vine in America. From perufing Snorro's tale, I fhould think that the iituation of Newfoundland corre- fponds beft with that of the country difcovered by the Norwegians. Grapes, however, are not the produc- tion of that barren ifhnd. Other conjectures are men- tioned by M. Mallet, Introd. a l'Hift. de Dennem. 175, &c. I am not fufficiently acquainted with the literature of the north, to examine them. It feems manifeft, that if the Norwegians did difcover any part of America at that period, their attempts to plant colonies proved unfuccefsful, and all knowledge of it was foon loft.

NOTE XVIII. p. 123.

Peter Martyr, ab Angleria, a Milanefe gentle* man, refiding at that time in the court of Spain, whofe letters contain an account of the transactions of that period, in the order wherein they occurred, defcribes the fentiments with which he himfelf and his learned correspondents were affected, in very ftriking terms. " Pne laetitia profiluifie te, vixque a lachrymis pras gau- dio temperaffe, quando literas adfpexifli meas quibus, de antipodum orbe latenti hactenus, te certiorem feci, mi fuaviflime Pomponi, infinuarti. Ex tuis ipfe Uteris colligo, quid fenferis. Senfifti autem, tantique rem fecifti, quanti virum fumma doctrina infignitum decuit. Quis namque cibus fublimibus praeftari poteft ingeniis, illo fuavior ? quod condimentum gratius ? A me facio conjecluram, Beari fentio fpiritus meos, quando accitos ailoquor prudentes aliqucs ex his qui ab ea redeunt provincia. Implicent animos pecuniarum cumulis au- gendis miferi avari, libidinibus obfeceni ; noftras nos mentes, poftquam Deo pleni aliquando fuerimus, con- templando, hujufcemodi rerum notitia demulciamus.,, Epift. 1^2. Pomponio Laeto.

NOTE XIX. p. 135.

So firmly were men of fcience, in that age, perfuaded

that the countries which Columbus had difcovered wera

vol, 1. fl.fl connected

3§0 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

connected with the Eaft Indies, that Bernaldes, the Cura de los Palacios, who feems to have been no incon- siderable proficient in the knowledge of cofmography, contends that Cuba was not an ifland, but a part of the j continent, and united to the dominions of the Great Khan. This he delivered as his opinion to Columbus himfelf, who was his gueft for fome time on his return from his fecond voyage ; and he fupports it by feveral arguments, moftly founded on the authority of Sir John ■ Mandeville. MS. penes me, Antonio Gallo, who was fecretary to the magistracy of Genoa towards the clofe of the fifteenth century, published a Ihort account of th< navigations and difcoveries of his countryman Colum- bus, annexed to his Opufcula Hiftorica de rebus popul; Genuenfis j in which he informs us from letters of Co- lumbus which he himfelf had feen, that it was liis opinion, founded upon nautical obfervations, that one of the iflands he had difcovered was diftant only twe hours or thirty decrees from Cattigara, which, in the charts of the geographers of that age, was laid down, upon the authority of Ptolemy, lib. vii. c, 3. as the moft eafterly place in Afia. From this he concluded, that if fome unknown continent did not obftruct th< navigation, there muft be a fhort and eafy accefs, b) holding a wefterly courfe, to this extreme region of th< laft. Muratori Scriptores Rer, Italicarum, vol. xxiii. p. 304.

NOTE XX. p. 141.

Bernaldes, the Cura or Re&or de los Palacios, contemporary writer, fays, that five hundred of thefe captives were fent to Spain, and fold publicly in Seville as flaves 5 but that, by the change of climate and theii inability to bear the fatigue of labour, they all died in 2 ihort time. MS. penes me.

NOTE XXI. p. 154.

Columbus feems to have formed fome very fingula opinions concerning the countries which he had no

difcovered

:

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 381

discovered. The violent fwell and agitation of the waters on the coaft of Trinidad led him to conclude this to be the higheft part of the terraqueous globe, and he imagined that various circumftances concurred in proving that the fea was here vinbly elevated, Having adopted this erroneous principle, the apparent beauty of the country induced him to fall in with a notion of Sir John Mandeville, c. 102. that the terreftrial paradife was the higheft land in the earth ; and he believed that he had been fo fortunate as to difcoverthis happy abode. Nor ought we to think it ftrange that a perfon of fo much fagacity mould be influenced by the opinion or reports of fuch a fabulous author as Mandeville. Columbus anp! the other difcoverers were obliged to follow fuch guides as they could find ; and it appears from feveral pafTages in the manufcript of Andr, Bernaldes, the friend of Co,- Jumbus, that no incopfiderable degree of credit was given to the teftimony of Mandeville in that age. Ber«? fialdes frequently quotes him, and always with refpe#t

NOTE XXII. p. 166,

It is remarkable, that neither Gomara nor Oviedo, the mod ancient Spanifli hiftorians of America, nor Herrera, confider Ojeda, or his companion Vefpucci, as the firft difcoverers of the continent of America. They uniformly afcribe this honour to Columbus. Some have fuppofed that national refentment againft Vefpucci, for deferring the fervice of Spain, and entering into that of Portugal, may have prompted thefe writers to conceal the actions which he performed. But Martyr and Ben- zoni, both. Italians, could not be warped by the fame prejudice. Martyr was a contemporary author j he refided in the court of Spain, and had the heft oppor- tunity to be exa&ly informed with refpecl: to all public tranfaclions ; and yet, neither in his Decads, the firft general hiftory publifhed of the New World, nor in his Epiftles, which contain an account of all the remarkable events of his time, does he afcribe to Vefpucci the ho- nour of having firft difcovered the continent. Benzoni N N % wen$

382 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

went as an adventurer to America in the year r 54. 19 and refided there a confiderable time. He appears to have been animated with a warm zeal for the honour of Italy, his native country, and yet does not mention the exploits and difcoveries of Vefpucci. Herrera, who compiled his general hiftory of America from the moft authentic records, not only follows thofe early writers, but accufes Vefpucci of falfifying the dates of both the voyages which he made to the New World, and of con- founding the one with the other, in order that he might arrogate to himfelf the glory of having difcovered the continent. Hen dec, 1. lib. iv, c. 2. He afifcrts, that a judicial inquiry into this matter by the royal nfcai, it was proved by the teftimony of Ojeda himfelf, that he touched at Hifpaniola when returning to Spain from his firft voyage; whereas Vefpucci gave out that they re- turned direclly to Cadiz from the coaft of Paria, and touched at Hifpaniola only in their fecond voyage ; and that he had finimed the voyage in five months ; where- as, according to Vefpucci's account, he had employed feventeen months in performing it. Viaggio primo de Am. Vefpucci, p. 56. Viag. fecundo, p. 45. Herrera gives a more full account of this inqueft in another part of his Decads, and to the fame effect. Her. dec. 1. lib. vii. c. 5. Columbus was in Hifpaniola when Ojeda arrived there, and had by that time come to an agree- ment with Roldan, who oppofed Ojeda's attempt to excite a new infurreclion, and, of confequence, his voyage muft have been pofterior to that of the admiral. Life of Columbus, c. 84. According to Vefpucci's ac- count, he fet out on his firft voyage May 10th, I497« Viag. primo, p. 6. At that time Columbus was in the court of Spain preparing for his voyage, and feems to have enjoyed a confiderable degree of favour. The affairs of the New World were at this juncture under the direction of Antonio Torres, a friend of Columbus. It is not probable, that at that period a commitfion would be granted to another perfon, to anticipate the admiral, by undertaking a voyage which he himfelf intended to perform. Fonfeca, who patronized Ojeda, and granted

the

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. j8j

the licence for his voyage, was not recalled to court, and reinftated in the direction of Indian affairs, until the death of prince John, which happened September I497, P. Martyr, Ep. 182, feveral months poflerior to the time at which Vefpucci pretends to have fet out Upon his voyage. A life of Vefpucci was publifhed at Florence by the Abate Bandini, A. D. 1 745, 4to. It is a work of no merit, written with little judgment, and lefs candour. He contends for his countryman's title to the difcovery of the continent with all the blind zeal of national partiality, but produces no new evidence to fupport it. We learn from him that Vefpucci's account of his voyage was publifhed as early as the year 1510, and probably fooner. Vita di Am. Vefp, p. 52. At what time the name of America came to be firft given to the New World, is not certain.

NOTE XXIII. p. 212.

The form employed on this occasion ferved as a model to the Spaniards in all their fubfequent conquefts in America. It is fo extraordinary in its nature, and gives us fuch an idea of the proceedings of the Spa- niards, and the principles upon which they founded their right to the extenfive dominions which they ac- quired in the New World, that it well merits the atten- tion of the reader. " I Alonfo de Ojeda, fervant of the moft high and powerful kings of Caftile and Leon, the conquerors of barbarous nations, their mefTenger and captain, notify to you and declare, in as ample form as I am capable, that God our Lord, who is one and eternal, created the heaven and the earth, and one man and one woman, of whom you and we, and all the men who have been or mall be in world, are defcend- ed.- But as it has come to pafs, through the number of generations during more than five thoufand years, that they have been difperfed into different parts of the world, and are divided into various kingdoms and pro- vinces, becaufe one country was not able to conrain t^em, nor could they have found in one the means of tf N 3 fubfift-

3^4 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

fubfiftence and prefervation 5 therefore God our Lord gave the charge of all thofe people to one man, named St. Peter, whom he conftituted the lord and head of all the human race, that all men, in whatever place they are born, or in whatever faith or place they are edu- cated, might yield obedience unto him. He hath fuh- jecled the whole world to his jurifdiction, and com- manded him to eftablifh his refidence in Rome, as the mod proper place for the government of the world. He likewife promifed and gave him power to eftablifh his authority in every other part of the world, and to judge and govern all Chriftians, Moors, Jews, Gentiles, and all other people, of whatever fed or faith they may be. To him is given the name of Pope, which fignifies admirable, great father and guardian, becaufe he is the father and governor of all men. Thofe who lived in the time of this holy father obeyed and acknowledged him as their lord and king, and the fuperior of the univerfe* The fame has been obferved with refpecl to them who, fince his time, have been chofen to the pontificate. Thus it now continues, and will continue to the end of the world.

" One of thefe pontiffs, as lord of the world, hath made a grant of thefe iflands, and of the Tierra Firme of the ocean fea, to the catholic kings of Caflile, Don Ferdinand and Donna Ifabella, of glorious memory, and their fucceflbrs, our fovereigns, with all they con- tain, as is more fully exprefTed in certain deeds pafTed upon that occafion, which you may fee if you defire it. Thus his majefty is king and lord of thefe iflands, and of the continent, in virtue of this donation 5 and, as king and lord aforefaid, moft of the iflands to which his title hath been notified, have recognifed his majefty, and now yield obedience and fubjeclion to him as their lord, voluntarily and without refiftance 5 and inftantly as foon as they received information, they obeyed the religious men fent by the king to preach to them, and to inftrucl them in our holy faith 5 and all thefe, of their own freewill, without any recompence or gratuity, became Chriftians, and continue to be foj and his

majefty

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 385

majefty having received them gracioufly under his pro- tection, has commanded that they mould be treated in the fame manner as his other fubjects and vaflals. You are bound and obliged to act in the fame manner. Therefore I now entreat and require you to confider attentively what I have declared to you ; and that you may more perfectly comprehend it, that you take fuch time as is reafonable, in order that you may acknow- ledge the church as the fuperior and guide of the uni- verfe, and likewife the holy father called the pope, in his own right, and his majefty by his appointment, as king and fovereign lord of thefe iflands, and of the Tierra Firme ; and that you confent that the aforefaid holy fathers mail declare and preach to you the doctrines above mentioned. If you do this, you act well, and perform that to which you are bound and obliged ; and his majefty, and I in his name, will receive you with love and kindnefs, and will leave you, your wives arid children, free and exempt from fervitude, and in the enjoyment of all you porTefs, in the fame manner as the inhabitants of the iflands. Befides this, his majefty will beftow upon you many privileges, exemptions, and re- wards. But if you will not comply, or malicioufly delay to obey my injunction, then, with the help of God, I will enter your country by force, I will carry on war againft you with the utmoft violence, I will fubject you to the yoke of obedience to the church and the king, I will take your wives and children, and will make them flaves, and fell or difpofe of them ac» cording to his majefty's pleafure; I will feize your goods and do you all the mifchief in my power, as re- bellious fubjects, who will not acknowledge or fubmit to their lawful fovereign. And I proteft, that all the bloodftied and calamities which (hall follow are to be imputed to you, and not to his majefty, or to me, or the gentlemen who ferve under me j and as I have now made this declaration and requisition unto you, I require the notary here prefent to grant me a certificate of this, fubfcribed in proper form/' Herrera, dec. 1. lib. viu p. 14.

386 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

NOTE XXIV. p. 226.

Balboa, in his letter to the king, obferves, that of the hundred and ninety men whom he took with him, there were never above eighty fit for fervice at one time. So much did they fuffer from hunger, fatigue, and fick- nefs. Herrera, dec, I, lib. x. c. 16. P. Mart. decad. 226,

NOTE XXV. P. 239.

Fonseca, bifhop of Palencia, the principal direclor ©f American affairs, had eight hundred Indians in pro- perty ; the commendator Lope de Conchillos, his chief afToaatein that department, eleven hundred ; and other favourites had confiderable numbers. They fent over- feers to the iflands, and hired out thofe flaves to the planters, Herr. dec. 1. lib. ix. c. 14. p. 325.

NOTE XXVI. p. 264.

Though America is more plentifully fupplied with water than the other regions of the globe, there is no river or ftream'of water in Yucatan. This peninfula projects from the continent a hundred leagues, but, where broadeft, does not extend above twenty-five leagues. It is an extenfive plain, not only without mountains, but almoft without any inequality of ground. The inhabitants are fupplied with water from pits, and wherever they dig them, find it in abundance. It is probable, from all thofe circumftances, that this country was formerly covered by the fea. Herrerae Defcriptio India? Occidentalis, p. 14. J-Jjftoire Naturelle, par M, de Buffon, torn. i. p. 593,

NOTE XXVII. p. 267.

M, Clavigero cenfures me for having reprefented the Spaniards who failed with Cordova and Grijalva, as fancying, in the warmth of their imagination, that they

faw

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 387

faw cities on the coaft of Yucatan adorned with towers and cupolas. I know not what translation of my hif- tory he has confulted, (for his quotation from it is not taken from the original,) but I never imagined that any building erected by Americans could fugged the idea of a cupola or dome, a ftru&ure which their utmoft (kill in arthitecture was incapable of rearing. My words are, that they fancied the villages which they faw from their fhips " to be cities adorned with towers and pinacles."" By pinacla I meant fome elevation above the reft of the building ; and the paflage is translated almoft literally from Herrera, dec. 2. lib. iii. c. 1. In almoft all the accounts of new countries given by the Spanifh difco- verers in that age, this warmth of admiration is con- fpicuous ; and led them to defcribe thefe new objects in the moft fplendid terms. When Cordova arid his com- panions firft beheld an Indian village of greater mag- nitude than any they had beheld in the iflands, they dig- nified it by the name of Grand Cairo, B. Diaz. C 2. From the fame caufe Grijalva and his afTociates thought the country along the coaft of which they held their courfe, entitled to the name of New Spain.

NOTE XXVIII. p. 273.

The height of the moft elevated point in the Pyrenees is, according to M. Caffini, fix thoufand fix hundred and forty-fix feet. The height of the mountain Gemmi, in the Canton of Berne, is ten thoufand one hundred and ten feet. The height of the Peak of TenerifFe, according to the meafurement of P. Feuille, is thirteen thoufand one hundred and feventy- eight feet. The height of Chimborazzc, the moft elevated point of the Andes, is twenty thoufand two hundred and eighty feet; no lefs than feven thoufand one hundred and two feet above the higheft mountain in the ancient conti- nent. Voyage de D. Juan Ulloa, Obfervatiojis Aftron. et Phyfiq. torn. ii. p. 114. The line of congelation on Chimborazzo, or that part of the mountain which is covered perpetually with fnow, is no lefs than two thoufand four hundred feet from its fummit. Prevot. Hift. Gener. des Voyages, vol. xiii. p. 636-

388 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

NOTE XXIX. p. 273.

As a particular defcription makes a Wronger impref- fion than general alTertions, I (hall give one or Rio de la Plata by an cye-witnefs, P. Cattaneo, a Modenefe Jefuit, who landed at Buenos Ayres in 1749, anc' t'ius reprefents what he felt when fuch new objects were flrft prefented to his view. " While I refided in Europe, and read in books of hiftory or geography that the mouth of the river De la Plata was an hundred and fifty miles in breadth, Iconfidered it as an exaggeration, becaufe in this hemifphere we have no example of fuch vait rivers. When I approached its mouth, I had the moil vehement defire to afcertain the truth with my own eyes 5 and I have found the matter to be exactly as it was reprefented. This I deduce particularly from one circumftance : when we took our departure from ftlonte Video, a fort fityated more than a hundred miles from the mouth of the river, and where its breadth is considerably diminifhed, we failed a complete day before we difcovered the land on the oppcfite bank of the river ; and when we were in the middle of the channel, we could not difcern land on either fide, and faw nothing but the fk'y and water, as if we had been in fome great ocean. Indeed, we fhould have taken it to be fea, if the frefli water of the river, which was turbid like the Po, had not fatistied us that it was a river. Moreover, at Buenos Ayres, another hundred miles up the river, and where it is ftill much narrower, it is not only im- pofTible to difcern the oppofite coaft, which is indeed very low and flat 5 hut one cannot perceive the houfes or the tops of the fteeples in the Portuguefe fettlement at Colonia on the other fide of the river." Lettera prima, published by Muratori, II Chriftianefimo Felice, &c. i. p. 257.

!

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 389

NOTE XXX. p. 276.

Newfoundland, part of Nova Scotia and Canada, are the countries which lie in the fame parallel of lati- tude with the kingdom of France j and in every part of thefe the water of the rivers is frozen during winter to> the thicknefs of feveral feet 3 the earth is covered witti fnow as deep ; almoft all the birds fly, during that fea- fon, from a climate where they could not live. The country of the Elkimaux, part of Labrador, and the countries on the fouth of Hudfon's Bay, are in the fame parallel with Great Britain ; and yet in all thefe the cold is fo intenfe, that even the induftry of Europeans his not attempted cultivation.

NOTE XXXI. p. 279.

Acosta is the firft philofopher, as far as I know, who endeavoured to account for the different degrees of heat in the old and new continents, by the agency of the winds which blow in each. Hift. Moral. Sec. lib. ii. and iii. M. de Button adopts this theory, and has noc only improved it by new obfervations, but has employed his amazing powers of defcriptive eloquence in embel- lifhing and placing it in the moft ftriking light. Some remarks may be added, which tend to illuftrate more fully a doctrine of much importance in every inquiry concerning the temperature of various climates.

When a cold wind blows over land, it muft in its paffage rob the furface of fome of its heat. By means of this, the coldnefs of the wind is abated. But if it continue to blow in the fame direction, it will come, by degrees, to pais over a furface already cooled, and will fuffer no longer any abatement of its own keen- ttefs. Thus as it advances over a large tract of land, it brings on all the feverity of intenfe froft.

Let the fame wind blow over an extenfive and deep fea j the fuperficial water muft be immediately cooled to a certain degree, and the wind proportionally warm- ed.

39° NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

cd. But the fuperficial and colder water becoming fpecifically heavier than the warmer water below it defcends 5 what is warmer fupplies its place, which, as it comes to be cooled in its turn, continues to warm the air which partes over it, or to diminish its cold. This change of the fuperficial water, and fucceffive afcent of that which is warmer, and the confequent fucceffive abatement of coldnefs in the air, is aided by the agita- tion caufed in the fea by the mechanical action of the wind, and alfo by the motion of the tides. This will go on, and the rigour of the wind will continue to di- minish until the whole water is fo far cooled, that the water on the furface is no longer removed from the ac- tion of the wind, faft enough to hinder it from being arretted by froft. Whenever the furface freezes, the wind is no longer warmed by the water from below, and it goes on with undiminished cold.

From thofe principles may be explained the feverity of winter frofts in extenfive continents 3 their mildnefs in fmall iflands j and the fuperior rigour of winter in thofe parts of North America with which we are beft acquainted. In the north-weft parts of Europe, the feverity of winter is mitigated by the welt winds, which ufually blow in the months of November, Decem- ber, and part of January.

On the other hand, when a warm wind blows over land, it heats the furface, which muft therefore ceafe to abate the fervour of the wind. But the fame wind blowing over water, agitates it, brings up the colder water from below, and thus is continually lofing forne- what of its own heat.

: But the great power of the fea to mitigate the heat of the wind or air palling over it, proceeds from the following circumftance, that on account of the tranfpa- rency of the fea, its furface cannot be heated to a great degree by the fun's rays $ whereas the ground, fubjecled to their influence, very foon acquires great heat. When, therefore, the wind blows over a torrid continent, it is foon raifed to a heat almoft intolerable : but during its paffage over an extenfive ocean, it is gradually cooled ;

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 39 1

fo that on its arrival at the fartheft fliore, it is again fit for refpiration.

Thofe principles will account for the fultry heats of large continents in the torrid zone ; for the mild climate of iflands in the fame latitude; and for the fuperior warmth in fummer which large continents, fituated in the temperate or colder zones of the earth, enjoy, when com- pared with that of iflands. The heat of a climate depends not only upon the immediate effect of the fun's rays, but on their continued operation, on the effect which they have formerly produced, and which remains for fome time in the ground. This is the reafon why the day is warmeft. about two in the afternoon, the fummer warmeft about the middle of July, and the winter coldeft about the middle of January.

The forefts which cover America, and hinder the fun-beams from heating the ground, are a great caufe of the temperate climate in the equatorial parts. The ground, not being heated, cannot heat the air; and the leaves, which receive the rays intercepted from the ground, have not a mafs of matter fufficient to abforh heat enough for this purpofe. Betides, it is a known' fact, that the vegetative power of a plant occafions % perfpiration from the leaves in proportion to the heac to which they are expofed 5 and, from the nature of evaporation, this perfpiration produces a cold in the leaf proportional to the perfpiration. Thus the effect of the leaf in heating the air in contact with it, is pro- digioufly diminished. For thofe obfervations, which throw much additional light on this curious fubject, I am indebted to my ingenious friend, Mr. Robifon, pro- fefibr of natural philofophy in the univerfity of Edin- burgh.

NOTE XXXII. p. 279*

The climate of Brafil has been defcribed by two emi- nent naturalifts, Pifo and Margrave, who obferved it with a philofophical accuracy, for which we fearch in vain in the accounts of many other provinces in Ame-

vol. I. 00 ric*«

392 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

rica. Both reprefent it as temperate and mild, when compared with the climate of Africa. They afcribe this chiefly to the refreshing wind which blows continually from the fea. The air is not only cool, but chilly through the night, infomuch, that the natives kindle fires every evening in their huts. Pifo de Medicina Brafilienfi, lib. i. p. i, &c. Margravius Hiftor. Re rum Natural. Brasilia?, lib. viii. c. 3. p. 264. Nieuhoff, who resided long in Brafil, confirms their defciiption. Churchill's Collection, vol. ii. p. 26. Gumilla, who was a missionary many years among the Indians upon the river Oronoco, gives a similar defcription of the temperature of the climate there. Hist, de POrenoque, torn. i. p. 26. P. Acugna felt a very considerable de- gree of cold in the countries on the banks of the river Amazons. Relat. vol. ii. p. 36. M. Biet, who lived a considerable time in Cayenne, gives a fimilar account cf the temperature of that climate, and afcribes it to the fame caufe. Voyage de la France, Equinox, p. 330. Nothing can be more different from thefe defcriptions than that of the burning heat of the African coaft given by M. Adanfon. Voyage to Senegal, paflim.

NOTE XXXIII. p. 280.

Two French frigates were fent upon a voyage of difcovery in the year 1739. In latitude 44.0 fouth, they began to feel a considerable degree of cold. In latitude 48°, they met with iflands of floating ice. Hiftoire des Navigations aux Teries Auftrales, torn. ii. ^56, &c. Dr. Halley fell in with ice in la:itude 590. Id. torn. i. p. 47. Commodore Byron, when on the coaft of Patagonia, latitude 500 33' fouth, on the fif- teenth of December, which is midfummer in that part of the globe, the twenty-firft of December- being the longed day there, compares the climate to that of England in the middle of winter. Voyages by Hawkef- worth, i. 25. Mr. Banks having landed on Terra del Fuego, in the Bay of Good Succefs, latitude 53°, on the fzxteenth of January, which corresponds to- the

month

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 39J

month of July in our hemifphere, two of his attendants died in one night of extreme cold, and all the party were in the moft imminent dinger of perifhing. Id. ii. 51, 52. By the fourteenth of March, correfponding to September in our hemifphere, winter was fet in with rigour, and the mountains were covered with fnow. Ibid. 72. Captain Cook, in his voyage towards the South pole, furnimes new and ftriking inftances of the extraordinary predominance of cold in this region of the globe. " Who would have thought (fays he) that an ifland, of no greater extent than feventy leagues in cir- cuit, fituated between the latitude of 540 and 550, mould in the very height of fummer be, in a manner, wholly covered, many fathoms deep, with frozen fnow ; but more efpecially the S. W. coaft ? The very fummlts of the lofty mountains were cafed with fnow and ice 5 but the quantity that lay in the valleys is incredible ; and at the bottom of the bays, the coaft was terminated by a wall of ice of considerable height.'* Vol. ii. p. 217.

In fome places of the ancient continent, an extraordi- nary degree of cold prevails in very low latitudes. Mr. Bogle, in his embafiy to the court of the Delai Lama, pafled the winter of the year 1774 at Chamnanning, in latitude 3 1° 39/ N. He often found the thermometer in his room twenty nine degrees under the freezing point by Fahrenheit's fcale ; and in the middle of April the ftanding waters were all frozen, and heavy ihowers of fnow frequently fell. The extraordinary elevation of the country feems to be the caufe of this exceflive cold. In travelling from Indoftan to Thibet, the afcent to the fummit of the Boutan Mountains is very great, but the defcent on the other fide is not in equal proportion. . The kingdom of Thibet is an elevated region, extremely bare and defolate. Account of Thibet, by Mr. Stewart, read in the Royal Society, p. 7. The extraordinary cold in low latitudes in America cannot be accounted for by the fame caufe. Thofe regions are not remarkable for elevation. Some of them are countries, depreflfed and level.

00a The

394 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

The moft obvious and probable caufe of the fuperior degree of cold, towards the fouthem extremity of Ame- rica, feems to be the form of the continent there. Its breadth gradually decreafes as it ftretches from St. An- tonio fouthwards, and from the bay of St. Julian to the Straits of Magellan its dimensions are much contracted. On the eaft and weft fides, it is warned by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. From its fouthem point it is pro- bable that a great extent of fea, without any confiderable trad of land, reaches to the Antarctic pole. In which- ever of thefe directions the wind blows, it is cooled be- fore it approaches the Magellanic regions, by pafiing over a vaft body of water, nor is the land there of fuch extent that it can recover any confiderable degree of heat in its progrefs over it. Thefe circumftances con- cur in rendering the temperature of the air in this dif. trict of America, more fimilar to that of an infular, than to that of a continental climate, and hinder it from ac- quiring the fame degree of fummer heat with places in Europe and Afia, in a correfponding northern latitude. The north wind is the only one that reaches this part of America, after blowing over a great continent. But from an attentive furvey of its pofition, this will be found to have a tendency, rather to diminim than aug- ment the degree of heat. The fouthern extremity of America is properly the termination of the immenfe ridge of the Andes, which ftretches nearly in a direct line from north to fouth, through the whole extent of the continent. The moft fultry regions in South America, Guiana, Brafil, Paraguay, and Tucuman, lie many de- grees to the eaft of the Magellanic regions. The level country of Peru, which enjoys the tropical heats, is fituated confiderably to the weft of them. The north wind then, though it blows over Jand, does not bring to the fouthern extremity of America an increafe of heat collected in its paffage over torrid regions $ but before it arrives there, it muft have fwept along the fummits of the Andes, and comes impregnated with the cold of that frozen region.

Though

I

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 39?

Though it be now demonftrated that there is no fouthern continent in that region of the globe which it was fuppofed to occupy, it appears to be certain from Captain Cook's difcoveries, that there is a large traft of land near the fouth pole, which is the fource of moft of the ice fpread over the vaft fouthern ocean. Vol. ii. p. 130. 239, &c. Whether the influence of this remote frozen continent may reach the fouthern extremity of America, and affec"l its climate, is an inquiry not un- worthy of attention,

NOTE XXXIV. p. 283.

M. Condamine is one of the lateft and moft accu- rate obfervers of the interior ftate of South America " After defcending from the Andes (fays he), one be- holds a vaft and uniform profpeft of water and verdure, and nothing more. One treads upon the earth, but does not fee it ; as it is fo entirely covered with luxu- riant plants, weeds, and fhrubs, that it would require a considerable degree of labour to clear it, for the fpace of a foot.** Relation abrege d'un Voyage, &c. p. 48. One of the Angularities in the forefts is a fort of ofiers, or withs, called bejucos by the Spaniards, Hams by the French, and nibbes by the Indians, which are ufually employed as ropes in America. This is one of the para- fitical plants, which twifts about the trees it meets with, and rifing above their higheft branches, its tendrils de- fcend perpendicularly, ftrike into the ground, take root, rife up around another tree, and thus mount and defcend alternately. Other tendrils are carried obliquely by the wind, or fome accident, and form a confufion of inter- woven cordage, which refembles the rigging of a ftiip. Bancroft, Nat. Hift. of Guiana, 99. Thefe withs are often as thick as the arm of a man. lb. p. 75. M. Bouguer's account of the forefts in Peru perfectly re- fembles this description. Voyage au Peru, p. 16. Oviedo gives a rlmilar description of the forefts in other parts of America. Hift. lib. ix. p. 144. D. The coun- try of the Moxos is fo much overflowed, that they are 003 obliged

39& tfOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS*

obliged to reiide on the fummit of fome ruing ground during fome part oi the year, and have no communi- cation with their countrymen at any diftance, Lettres itdifiantes, torn. x. p. 187. Garcia gives a. full and juft <Jefcription of the rivers, lakes, woods, and marfhes in thofe countries of America which lie between the tro- pics. Origen de los Indios, lib. ii. c. 5. § 4, 5. Th$ incredible hardships to which Goncalez Pizarro was ex- pofed in attempting to march into the country to the carl of the Andes, convey a very ftriking idea of that part of America in its original uncultivated ftate. Gar- cil. de la Vega, Royal, Comment, of Peru, part ii. fcook. iii. c. 2 — 5.

NOTE XXXV. p. 285.

The animals of America feem not to have beei always of a fize inferior to thofe in other quarters of the globe. From antlers of the moofe-deer which hav< been found in America, it appears to have been ar animal of great fize. Near the banks of the Ohio, considerable number of bones of an immenfe magnitud( have been found. The place where this difcovery ha* been made lies about one hundred and ninety miles be- low the junction of the river Scioto with the Ohio, is about four miles diftant from the banks of the latter, on the fide of the marfti called the Salt Lick. The bones lie in vail quantities about five or fix feet under ground, and the ftratum is vifible in the bank on the edge of the Lick. 'Journal of Colonel George Croglan, MS. penes r/ie. This fpot feems to be accurately laid down by Evans in his map. Thefe bones muft have belonged to animals of enormous bulk ; bur. naturalifts being ac- quainted with no living creature of fuch fize, were at firil inclined to think that they were mineral fubrtances. Upon receiving a greater number of fpecimens, and after inspecting them more narrowly, they are new allowed to be the bones of an animal. As the elephant is the larger!: known quadruped, and the tufks which •ivere found nearly refembled, b;th in form, and quality,

the

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 397

the tufks of an elephant, it was concluded that the car- cafes depoiited on the Ohio were of that fpecies. But Dr. Hunter, one of the perfons of our age beft qualified to decide with refpedt to this point, having accurately examined feveral parcels of tuflcs, and grinders, and jaw- bones, fern from the Ohio to London, gives it as his opinion, that they did not belong to an elephant, but to fome huge carnivorous animal of an unknown fpe- cies. Phil. Tranfacl. vol. lviii. p. 34. Bones of the fame kind, and as remarkable for their fize, have been found near the mouths of the great rivers ©by, Jeni- feia, and Lena, in Siberia. Stralhrenberg, Defcript. of North and Eaji Parts of Europe and jijia, p. 4.0*, &c. The elephant feems to be confined in his range to the torrid zone, and never multiplies beyond it. In fuch cold regions as thofe bordering on the frozen fea, he could not live. The exiftence of fuch large animals in Ame- rica might open a wide field for conjecture. The more we contemplate the face of nature, and confider the variety of her productions, the more we muft be fatif- fied that aftoniftiing changes have been made in the terraqueous globe by convulfions and revolutions, of which no account is preferved in hiflory.

NOTE XXXVI. P. 285.

This degeneracy of the domeftic European animals in America may be imputed to fome of thefe caufes. In the Spanim fettlements, which are fituated either within the torrid zone, or in countries bordering upon it, the increafe of heat, and diverfity of food, prevent Iheep and horned cattle from attaining the fame fize as in Europe. They feldom become fo fat, and their fleih is not fo juicy, or of fuch delicate flavour. In North America, where the cHmate is more favourable, and fimilar to that of Europe, the quality of the grafles which fpring up naturally in their pafture-grounds is not good. Mitchell, p. 151. Agriculture is ftill fo much in its infancy, that artificial food for cattle is not raifed in any quantity. During a, winter, long in many.

provinces,

398 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

provinces, and rigorous in all, no proper care is taken of their cattle. The general treatment of their horfes and horned cattle is injudicious and harm in all the Englifli colonies. Thefe circumftances contribute more, perhaps, than any thing peculiar in the quality of the climate, to the degeneracy of breed in the horfes, cows, and flieep, of many of the North American provinces.

NOTE XXXV1L p. 286.

In the year 1518, the ifland of Hifpaniola was af- flicted with a dreadful vifitation of thofe deftruc"tive in- fects, the particulars of which Herrera defcribes, and mentions a lingular inftance of the fuperrtition of the Spanim planters. After trying various methods of ex- terminating the ants, they refolved to implore protec- tion of the faints ; but as the calamity was new, they were at a lofs to find out the faint who could give them the moft effectual aid. They caft lots in order to dif- cover the patron whom they mould invoke. The lots decided in favour of St. Saturninus. They celebrated his feftival with great folemnity, and immediately, adds the hiftorian, the calamity began to abate. Herrera, dec. 2. Jib. iii. c. 15. p. 107.

NOTE XXXVIII. p. 288.

The author of Recherches Philofophiques fur les Americains fuppofes this difference in heat to be equal to twelve degrees, and that a place thirty degrees from the equator in the old continent, is as warm as one fituated eighteen degrees from it in America, torn, i, p. 11. Dr. Mitchell, after obfervations carried on du- ring thirty years, contends that the difference is equal to fourteen or fifteen degrees of latitude. Piefent State, &c. p. 257.

NOTE XXXIX. p. 289.

Januar-y 3d, 1765, Mr. Bertram, near the head of St. John's river in Eaft Florida, obferved a frofi fo in-

tenfe,

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 399

tenfe, that in one night the ground was frozen an inch thick upon the banks of the river. The limes, citrons, and banana trees, at St. Auguftin, were deftroyed. Bertram's Journal, p. 20. Other inftances of the ex- traordinary operations of cold in the fouthern provinces of North America are collected by Dr. Mitchell. Prefent State, p. 206, &c. February 7th, 1747, the froft at Charleftown was fo intenfe, that a perfon having car- ried two quart bottles of hot water to bed, in the morning they were fplit to pieces, and the water con- verted into folid lumps of ice. In a kitchen, where there was a fire, the water in a jar in which there was a large live eel, was frozen to the bottom. Almoft all the orange and olive trees were deftroyed. Defcriptioa of South Carolina, 8vo. Lond. 1761*

NOTE XL. p. 289.

A remarkable inftance of this occurs in Dutch Guiana, a country every where level, and fo low, that during the rainy feafons it it ufually covered with water near two feet in height. This renders the foil fo rich, that on the furface, for twelve inches in depth, it is a ftratum of perfect manure, and as fuch has been, tranfported to Barbadoes. On the banks of the Efie- quebo, thirty crops of ratan canes have been raifed fucceffively, whereas in the Weft Indian iflands not more than two is ever expected from the richeft land. The expedients by which the planters endeavour to di- minish this exceflive fertility of foil are various. Ban- croft, Nat. Hift. of Guiana, p. 10, &c.

NOTE XLI. p. 300.

Muller feems to have believed, without fufficient evidence, that the Cape had been doubled, torn, i, p. 11, &c. ; and the Imperial Academy of St. Peterf- burgh give fome countenance to it, by the manner in which Tfcbukofjkoi-tws is laid down in their charts. But I am afiured, from wndoubtcd authority, that no Ruffian

vetiel

400 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

veflel has ever failed round that cape, and as the country of Tfcbutki is not fubject to the Ruffian empire, it is very imperfectly known.

NOTE XLII. p. 503.

Were this the place for entering into a long and intricate geographical difquifnion, many curious ob- fervations might arife from comparing the accounts of the two Ruffian voyages, and the charts of their refpec- tive navigations. One remark is* applicable to both. We cannot rely with abfolute certainty on the pofition which they affign to feveral of the places which they vifned. The weather was fo extremely foggy, that they feldom faw the fun or ftars, and the pofition of the iflands and fuppofed continents was commonly deter- mined by reckoning, not by obfervation. Behring and Tfchirikow proceeded much farther towards the eaft than Krenitzin. The land difcovered by Behring, which he imagined to be part of the American continent, is in the 236th degree of longitude from the firfl meri- dian in the ifle of Ferro, and in 580 28' of latitude. Tfchirikow came upon the fame coaft in longit. 24 1°, lat. 560. Muller, i, 248, 249. The former muM have advanced 60 degrees from the Port of Petropawlowfki, from which he took his departure, and the latter 65 degrees. But from the chart of Krenitzin's voyage, it appears that he did not fail farther towards the eaft than the 208th degree, and only 32 degrees from Petro- pawlowfki. In 1 741, Behring and Tfchirikow, both in going and returning, held a courfe which was mortly to the fouth of that chain of iflands, which they difcover- ed 5 and obferving the mountainous and rugged afpeel: of the head -lands which they defcried towards the north, they fuppofed them to be promontories belong- ing to fome part of the American continent, which, as they fancied, ftretched as far fouth as the latitude $6. In this manner they are laid down in the chart published by Muller, and likewife in a manufcript chart drawn by U mate of Behring's fhip, communicated to me by Mr.

Profetfbr

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 40!

Profeflbr Robifon. But in 1769, Krenitzin, after wintering in the ifland Alaxa, flood Co far towards the north in his return, that his courfe lay through the middle of what Bearing and Tfchirikow had fuppofed to be a continent, which he found to be an open fea, and that they had miftaken rocky ifles for the head-lands of a continent. It is probable, that the countries dif- covered in 174 J, towards the eaft, do not belong to the American continent, but are only a continuation of the chain of iflands. The number of volcanos in this region of the globe is remarkable. There are feveral in Kamchatka, and not one of the iflands, great or fmall, as far as the Ruffian navigation extends, is with- out them. Many are actually burning, and the moun- tains in all bear parts of having heen once in a ftate of eruption. Were I difpofed to admit fuch conjectures as have found place in other inquiries concerning the peo- pling of America, I might fuppofe that this part of the earth, having manifeftly fuffered violent convulsions from earthquakes and volcanos, an ifthmus, which may have formerly united Afia to America, has been broken, and formed into a clufter of iflands by the mock.

It is Angular, that at the very time the Ruffian naviga- tors were attempting to make difcoveries in the north- weft of America, the Spaniards were profecuting the fame defign from another quarter. Jn 1769, two fmall veffiels failed from Loretto in California to explore the coafts of the country to the north of that peninfula. They advanced no farther than the port of Monte Rey in latitude 36. But, in feveral fucceffive expeditions fitted out from the port of St. Bias in New Galicia, the Spaniards have advanced as far as the latitude 58. Ga- acta de Madrid March 19, and May 14, 1776. But as thw journals of thofe voyages have not yet been publish- ed, 1 cannot compare their progrefs with that of the Ruffians, or fhew how near the navigators of the two nations have approached to each other. It is to be hoped, that the enlightened minifler who has now the direction of American affairs in Spain, will not with- hold this information from the public.

402' NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

NOTE XLIII. p. 305.

Our knowledge of the vicinity of the two continents of Afia and America, which was very imperfect when I publifhed the hiftory of America in the year 1777, is now complete. Mr. Coxe's Account of the Ruffian Dif- coveries between Afia and America, printed in the year 1780, contains many curious and important facts with refpect to the various attempts of the Ruffians to open a communication with the New World. The hiftory of the great voyage of difcovery, begun by Captain Cook in 1776, and completed by Captains Clerk and Gore, publi/hed in the year 1780, communicates all the information that the curiofity of mankind could defire with regard to this fubject.

At my requeft, my friend Mr. Playfair, profefibr of mathematics in the univerfity of Edinburgh, has com- pared the narrative and charts of thofe illullrious navi- gators, with the more imperfect relations and maps of the Ruffians. The refult of this comparifon I commu- nicate in his own words, with much greater confidence in his fcientific accuracy than I could have ventured to place in any obfervations which I myfelf might have made upon the fubject.

" The difcoveries of Captain Cook in his laft voyage have confirmed the conclufions which Dr. Robertfon had drawn, and have connected together the facts from which they were deduced. They have now ren* dered it certain that Behring and Tfchirikow touched on the coaft of America in 174I. The former difco- vered land in lat. 5S0 28', and about 2360 eaft from Ferro. He has given fuch a defcription of the bay in which he anchored, and the high mountain to the weft- ward of it, which he calls St. Elias, that though the account of his voyage is much abridged in the Englifh tranflation, Captain Cook recognized the place as he failed along the weftern coaft of America in the year 1778. The ifle of St. Hermogenes, near the mouth of Cook's river, Schumagins Ifles on the coaft of Alafhka, and Foggy Ifle, retain in Captain Cook's chart the names 2 which

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 40J

which they had received from the Ruffian navigator. Cook's Voy. vol. ii. p. 34.7.

" Tfchirikow came upon the fame coaft about %° 30' further fouth than Behring, near the Mount Edgecumbe of Captain Cook.

" With regard to Krenitzin, we learn from Coxe's Account of the Ruffian Difcoveries, that he failed from the mouth of the Kamtchatka river with two fhips in the year 1768. With his own fhip he reached the: ifland Oonolafhka, in which there had been a Ruffian fettlement fince the year 1762, where he wintered pro- bably in the fame harbour or bay where Captain Cook afterwards anchored. The other (hip wintered at Alafh- ka, which was fuppofed to be an ifland, though it be in facl a part of the American continent. Krenitzin, accordingly, returned without knowing that either of his mips had been on the coaft of America j and this is the more furprifing, becaufe Captain Cook has in- formed us that Alafhka is underftood to be a great continent both by the Ruffians and the natives at Oonolafhka.

" According to Krenitzin, the fhip which had win- tered at Alamka had hardly failed 3 a0 to the eailward of the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul in Kamtchat- ka 5 but, according to the more accurate charts of Cap- tain Cook, it had failed no lefs than 3 70 17' to the eaftward of that harbour. There is nearly the fame miftake of 50 in the longitude which Krenitzin affigns to Oonolafhka. It is remarkable enough, that in the chart of thofe feas, put into the hands of Captain Cook by the Ruffians on that ifland, there was an error of the fame kind, and very nearly of the fame extent.

" But what is of moft confequence to be remarked on this fubject is, that the difcoveries of Captain Cook have fully verified Dr. Robertfon's conjecture, ' that it is probable that future navigators in thofe feas, by fleering farther to the north than Behring and Tfchiri- kow or Krenitzin had done, may find that the con- tinent of America approaches ftill nearer to that of

vol. i, pp Afia.*

404 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

Ana,* Vol. ii. p. 44. It has accordingly been found that thefe two continents, which in the parallel of 5 $c>, or that of the (buthern extremity of Alafhka, are about four hundred leagues afunder, approach continually to one another as they ftretch together toward the north, until, within lefs than a degree from the polar circle, they are terminated by two capes, only thirteen leagues dirtant. The ealt cape cf Afia is in latitude 66° 6', and in longitude 190° xV eaft from Greenwich ; the weftenr extremity of America, or Prince of Wales Cape, is in latitude 650 4'./, and in longitude p 910 45'. Nearly in the middle of the narrow ftrait (Behring's Strait) which feparates thefe capes, are the two iflands of St. Diomede, from which both continents may be (cen. Captain King informs us, that as he was failing through this ftrait July 5, 1779, the fog having cleared away, he enjoyed the pleafure of feeing from the fhip the conti- nents of Afia and America at the fame moment, toge- ther with the iflands of St. Diomede lying between them. Cook's Voy. vol. iii. p. 244.

" Beyond this point the ftrait opens towards the Arctic Sea, and the coafts of Afia and America diverge fo faft from .one another, that in the parallel of 690 they are more than one hundred leagues afunder. lb. p. 277. To the fouth of the ftrait there are a number of iflands, Clerke's, King's, Anderfon's, &c. which, as well asthofeof St. Diomede, may have facilitated the migrations of the natives from the one continent to the other. Captain Cook, however, on the authority of the Ruffians at Oonolafhka, and for other good rea- fons, has diminished the number of iflands which had been inferred in former charts of the northern Archi- pelago. He has alfo placed Alafhka, or the promontory which ftretches from the continent of America S. W. towards Kamtchatka, at the diftsnce of five degrees of longitude farther from the coaft of Afia than it was reckoned by the Ruffian navigators.

" The geography of the Old and the New World is therefore equally indebted to the difcoveries made in this memorable voyage , and as many errors have been

corrected,

KOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 40£

corre&ed, and many deficiencies fupplied by means of thefe difcoveries, (o the accuracy of fome former obfer- vations has been eftablifhed. The bafis of the map of the Ruffian empire, as far as regarded Kamtchatka, and the country of the Tfchutzki, was the pofition of four places, Yakutfli, Ochotz, Bolcherelk, and Petropaw- Jowfld, which had been determined by the aftronomer Krafiilnicow in the year 174.4. Nov. Coment. Petrop. vol, iii. p. 465, &c. But the accuracy of his observa- tions was contefted by M. Engel, and M. Robert de Vaugondy ; Coxe Append, i. No. 2. p. 267. 27*. ; and the former of thefe geographers ventured to take away no lefs than 28 degrees from the longitude, which, on the faith of Krafiilnicow's observations, was affigned to the eaftern boundary of the Ruffian empire. With how little reafon this was done, will appear from con- sidering that our Hritim navigators, having determined the portion of Petropawlowflci by a great number of very accurate obfervations, found the longitude of that port 15S0 4.3' E. from Greenwich, and its latitude 53° >'j agreeing, the flrft to lefs than feven minutes, and the fecond to lefs than half a minute, with the cal- culations of the Ruffian aftronomer : a coincidence which, in the fituation of fo remote a place, does not leave an uncertainty of more than four Englifh miles, and which, for the credit of fcience, deferves to be particularly remarked. The chief error in the Ruffian maps has been in not extending the boundaries of that empire Efficiently towards the eaft. For as there was nothing to connect the land of the Tfchutzki and the north-eaft point of Afia with thofe places whereof the pofition had been carefully afcertained, except the im- perfect accounts of Behring's and Synd's voyages, con- siderable errors could not fail to be introduced, and that point was laid down as not more than X30 2' eaft of the meridian of Petropawlowfki. Coxe App. i. No. 1. By the obfervations of Captain King, the difference of Jongitude between Petropawlowlki and the Eaft Cape is 310 9/ j that is 8° 7' greater than it was fuppofed to to be by the Ruffian geographers.'* — It appears from f n Cook's

406 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

Cook's and King's Voy. iii. p. 272. that the continents of Aria and America are ufually joined together by ice daring winter. Mr. Samweil confirms this account of his fuperior officer. *' At this place, viz. near the latitude of 66° N. the two coafts are only thirteen leagues afunder, and about midway between them lie two iflands, the diftance from which to either fhore is fhort of twenty miles. At this place, the natives of Afia could find no difficulty in parting over to the oppo- fite coaft, which is in figqt of their own. That in a courfe of years fuch an event would happen, either through defign or accident, cannot admit of a doubt. The canoes which we faw among the Tfchutzki were capable of performing a much longer voyage ; and, however rude they may have been at fome diftant pe- riod, we can fcarcely fuppofe them unequal to a paffage of fix or feven leagues. People might have been carried over by accident on floating pieces of ice. They might alfo have travelled acrofs on fledges or on foot ; for we have reafon to believe that the ftrait is entirely frozen over in the winter; fo that during that feafon, the continents, with refpect to the communication between them, may be confidered as one land.'* Letter from Mr. Samweil, Scots Magazine for 1788, p. 604. It is probable that this interefting portion of geographical knowledge will, in the courfe of a few years, receive farther improvement. Soon after the publication of Captain Cook's laft voyage, the great and enlightened fovereign of Ruffia, attentive to every thing that may contribute to extend the bounds of fcience, or to render it more accurate, formed the plan of a new voyage of difcovery, in order to explore thofe parts of the ocean lying between Afia and America, which Captain Cook did not vifit, to examine more accurately the iflands which ftretch from one continent almoft to the other, to furvey the north-eaft coaft of the Ruffian empire, from the mouth of the Kovyma, or Kolyma, to the North Cape, and to fettle, by aftronomical obfervations, the pofition of each place worth notice. The conduct of this important enterprize is committed to Captain Bil-

lingsj

1

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 407

lings, an Englifh officer in the Ruffian fervice, of whofe abilities for that ftation it will be deemed the heft evi- dence, that he accompanied Captain Cook in his laft voyage. To render the expedition more extenfively ufeful, an eminent naturalift is appointed to attend Cap- tain Billings. Six years will be requifite for accom- plishing the purpofes of the voyage. Coxe Supplement to Ruflian Difcoveries, p. 27, &c.

NOTE XLIV. p. 318.

Few travellers have had fuch opportunity of obferv- ing the natives of America, in its various diftricls, as Don Antonio Ulloa. In a work lately published by him, he thus defcribes the characteriftical features of the race : 4( A very fmall forehead, covered with hair towards its extremities, as far as the middle of the eyebrows 5 little eyes ; a thin nofe, fmall and bending towards the upper lip ; the countenance broad ; the ears large ; the hair very black, lank, and coarfe ; the limbs well turned, the feet fmall, the body of juft proportion 5 and altogether fmooth and free from hair, until old age, when they acquire fome beard, but never on the cheeks. " Noticias Americanas, &c. p. 307. M. le chevalier de Pinto, who refided feveral years in a part of America which Ulloa never vifited, gives a (ketch of the general afpect of the Indians there. " They are all of copper colour, with fome diverfity of made, not in proportion to their diftance from the equator, but according to the degree of elevation of the territory which they inhabit. Thofe who live in a high country are fairer than thofe in the marmy low lands on the coaft. Their face is round, farther removed, perhaps, than that of any people from an oval mape. Their forehead is fmall, the ex- tremity of their ears far from the face, their lips thick, their nofe flat, their eyes black, or of a chefnut colour, fmall, but capable of difcerning objects at a great dif- tance. Their hair is always' thick and fleek, and with- out any tendency to curl. They have no hair on any part of their body but the head. At the firft afpeft, a r v 3 fouthern

408 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

fouthern American appears to be mild and innocent, but on a more attentive view, one difcovers in his countenance fomething wild, diftruftful, and fallen." MS. penes me. The two portraits drawn, by hands very different from thofe of common travellers, have a near refemblance. •

NOTE XLV. p. 319.

Amazing accounts are given of the perfevering fpeed of the Americans. Adair relates the adventures of a Chikkafah warrior, who run through woods and over mountains, three hundred computed miles, in a day and a half and two nights. Hift. of Amer. Ind. 396.

NOTE XLVI. p. 323.

M. God in le Jeune, who refided fifteen years among the Indians of Peru and Quito, and twenty years in the French colony of Cayenne, in which there is a conftant intercourfe with the G alibis and other tribes on the Orinoco, obferves, that the vigour of conftitu- tion among the Americans is exactly in proportion to their habits of labour. The Indians, in warm climates, fuch as thofe on the coafts of the South Sea, on the river of Amazons, and the river Orinoco, are not to be compared for ftrength with thofe in cold countries 5 and yet, fays he, boats daily fet out from Para, a Por- tuguefe fettlement on the river of Amazons, to afcend that river againft the rapidity of the ftream, and with the fame crew they proceed to San Pablo, which is eight hundred leagues diftant. No crew of white people, or even of negroes, would ,be found equal to a tafk of fuch perfevering fatigue, as the Portuguefe have ex- perienced, and yet the Indians, being accuitomed to this labour from their infancy, perform it. MS. penes me.

NOTE XLVIL p. 329.

Don Antonio Ulloa, who vifited a great part of Peru and Chili, the kingdom of New Granada, and

feveral

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 409

feveral of the provinces bordering on the Mexican gulf, while employed in the fame fervice with the French mathematicians during the fpace of ten years, and who afterwards had an opportunity of viewing the North-Americans, afTerts, M that if we have feen one American, we may be faid to have feen them all, their colour and make are fo nearly the fame/* Notic. Americanas, p. 308. A more early obferver, Pedro de Cieca de Leon, one of the conquerors of Peru, who had likewife traverfed many provinces of America, affirms, that the people, men and women, although there is fuch a multitude of tribes or nations as to be almoft innumerable, and fuch diverfity of climates, ap- pear neverthelefs like the children of one father and mother. Chronica del' Peru, parte i. c. 19. There is, no doubt, a certain combination of features, and peculiarity of afpect, which forms what may be called a European or Afiatic countenance. There muft likewife be one that may be denominated American, common to the whole race. This may be fuppofed to ftrike the traveller at flrft fight, while not only the various fhades which diftinguifh people of different regions, but the peculiar features which difcriminate individuals, efcape the notice of a transient obferver. But when perfons who had refided fo long among the Americans concur in bearing teftimony to the fimilarity of their appearance in every climate, we may conclude that it is more remark- able than that of any other race. See likewife Garcia Origen de los Indies, p. 54. 34*. Torquemada Mo- narch. Indiana, ii. 571.

NOTE XLVIII. p. 332.

M. i»e chevalier de Pinto obferves, that in the interior parts of Brafil, he had been informed that Come perfons refembling the white people of Darien hav® been found j but that the breed did not continue, and their children became like other Americans. This race, however, is very imperfectly known. MS. t-tnct me.

4IO NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS*

NOTE XLIX. p. 335.

The teftimonies of different travellers, concerning the Patagonians, have been colle&ed and ftated with a confiderable degree of accuracy by the author of Re- cherches Philofophiques, &c. torn. i. 281, &c. iii. 181, fee. Since the publication of his work, feveral naviga- tors have vifited the Magellanic regions, and, like their predeceflfors, differ very widely in their accounts of its inhabitants. By Commodore Byron and his crew, who failed through the Straits in 1764, the common fize of the Patagonians was eftimated to be eight feet, and many of them much taller. Phil. Tranfact. vol. Ivii. p. 78. By Captains Wallis and Carteret, who actually meafured them in 1766, they were found to be from fix feet to fix feet five and feven inches in height. Phil. Tranf. vol. lx. p. 22. Thefe, however, feem to have been the very people whofe fize had been rated fo high in the year 1764; for feveral of them had beads and red baize of the fame kind with what had been put aboard Captain Wallis's (hip, and he naturally concluded that they had got thefe from Mr. Byron. Hawkefw. i. In 1767 they wer"e again meafured by M. Bougainville, whofe account differs little from that of Captain Wallis. Voy. 129. To thefe I mall add a teftimony of great weight. In the year 1762, Don Bernardo Ibagnez de Echavarri accompanied the Marquis de Valdelirios to Buenos Ayres, and refided there feveral years. He is a very intelligent author, and his reputation for veracity unimpeached among his countrymen. In fpeaking of the country towards the fouthern extremity of Ame- rica, " By what Indians," fays he, *€ is it poffeffed ? Not certainly by the fabulous Patagonians, who are fuppofed to occupy this diftridt. I have from many eye-witneffes, who have lived among thofe Indians, and traded much with them, a true and accurate de- fcription of their perfons. They are of the fame ftature with Spaniards, I never faw one who rofe in height two varas and two or three inches,1' u e. about 80 or

81.33*

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 4U

8r.312 inches Englifh, if Echavarri makes his compu- tation according to the -vara of Madrid. This agrees nearly with the meafurement of Captain Wallis. Reyno Jefuitico, 238. Mr. Falkner, who refided as a miflion- ary forty years in the fouthern parts of America, fays, " that the Patagonians, or Puelches, are a large-bodied people ; but I never heard of that gigantic race which others have mentioned, though I have feen perfons of all the different tribes of fouthern Indians." Introd. p. 26. M. Dobrizhofrer, a Jefuit, who refided eighteen 3 ears in Paraguay, and who had feen great numbers of the various tribes which inhabit the countries fituated vpon the Straits of Magellan, confirms, in every point, the teftimony of his brother-mifiionajy Falkner. Do- brizhoffer enters into fome detail with refpecT: to the opinions of feveral authors concerning the ftature of the Patagonians. Having mentioned the reports of fome early travellers with regard to the extraordinary fize of fome bones found on that coaft, which were fuppofed to be human ; and having endeavoured to <hew that thefe bones belonged to fome large marine or land animal, he concludes, « de hifce offibus crede quicquid libuerit, dummodo, me fuafore, Patagones pro gigantibus deiinas hahere." Hiftoria de Abiffonibus, vol. ii. p. 19, &c.

NOTE L. p. 338,

Antonio Sanchez Ribeiro, a learned and in- genious phyfician, publifaed a diflertation in the year 1765, in which he endeavours to prove, that this dif- eafe was not introduced from America, but took its rife in Europe, and was brought on by an epidemical and malignant diforder. Did I choofe to enter into a diC quifnion on this fubjeft, which I mould not have men- tioned, if it had not been intimately connefted with this part of my inquiries, it would not be difficult to point out fome miftakes with refped to the fads upon which he founds, as well as fome errors in the confequences which he draws from them. The rapid communication

of

412 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

of this difeafe from Spain over Europe, feems however to refemble the progrefs of an epidemic, rather than that of a difeafe tranfmitted by infection. The flrft mention of it is in the year 1493, anc* Def°re tne year 1497 it had made its appearance in moft countries of Europe, with fuch alarming fymptoms as rendered it necefiary for the civil magiftrate to interpofe, in order to check its career. — Since the publication of this work, a fecond edition of Dr. Sanchez's DifTertation has been communicated to me. It contains feveral additional facts in confirmation of his opinion, which is fupported with fuch plaufible arguments, as render it a fubjecT: of inquiry well deferving the attention of learned phyficians.

NOTE LI. p. 342.

The people of Otaheite have no denomination for any number above two hundred, which is fufficient for their transactions. Voyages, by Hawkefwortb, ii. zz%.

NOTE LIL p. 348.

As the view which I have given of rude nations is extremely different from that exhibited by very refpecl- able authors, it may be proper to produce fome of the many authorities on which I found my defcription. The manners of the favage tribes in America have never been viewed by perfons more capable of obferving them with difcernment, than the philofophers employed by France and Spain, in the year 1735, to determine the figure of the earth. M, Bouguer, D. Antonio d'Ul- loa, and D, Jorge Juan, refided long among the natives of the leaft civilized provinces in Peru. M. de la Con- damine had not only the fame advantages with them for obfervation, but, in his voyage down the Maragnon, he had an opportunity of infpedting the ftate of the various nations feated on its banks, in its vail courfe acrofs the continent of South America. There is a wonderful refemblance in their representation of the

chara&er

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 413

character of the Americans. H They are all extremely indolent," fays M. Bouguer, " they are ftupid, they pafs whole days fitting in the fame place, without moving, or fpeaking a fingle word. It is not eafy to deferibe the degree of their indifference for wealth, and all its advantages. One does not well know what motive to propofe to them, when one would perfuade them to perform any fervice. It is vain to offer them money j they anfwer, that they are not hungry." Voyage au Perou, p. 102. " If one confiders them as men, the nanownefs of their underftanding feems to be incom- patible with the excellence of the foul. Their imbe- cility is fo vifible, that one can hardly form an idea of them different from what one has of the brutes* Nothing difturbs the tranquillity of their fouls, equally infenfible to difafters and to profperity. Though half- naked, they are as contented as a monarch in his mod fplendid array. Riches do not attract them in the fmalleft degree, and the authority or dignities to which they may afpire are fo little the objects of their ambition, that an Indian will receive with the fame indifference the office of a judge (Alcade) or that of a hangman, if deprived of the former and appointed to the latter* Nothing can move or change them. Intereft has no power over them, and they often refufe to perform a fmall fervice, though certain of a great recompence. Fear makes no impreflion upon them, and refpect as little. Their difpofition is fo Angular that there is no method of influencing them, no means of roufing them from that indifference, which is proof againft all the endeavours of the wifeft perfons j no expedient which can induce them to abandon that grofs ignorance, or lay afide that carelefs negligence, which difconcert the pru- dence and difappoint the care of fuch as are attentive to their welfare." Voyage d'Ulloa, torn. i. 335. 356. Of thofe fmgular qualities he produces many extraor- dinary inftances, p- 336~-347- " Infenfibility," fays M. de la Condarnine, M is the bafis of the American character. I leave others to determine, whether this fixould be dignified with the name of apathy, or dif-

graced

4I4 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

graced with that of ftupidity. It arifes, without doubt* from the fmall number of their ideas, which do not ex- tend beyond their wants. Gluttons even to voracity, when they have wherewithal to fatisfy their appetite. Temperate, when neceiTity obliges them to fuch a de- gree, that they can endure want without feeming to defire any thing. Pufillanimous and cowardly to excefs, unlefs when they are rendered defperate by drunkennefs. Averfe to labour, indifferent to every motive of glory, honour, or gratitude ; occupied entirely by the object that is prefent, and always determined by it alone, without any folicitude about futurity j incapable of forefight or of reflection ; abandoning themfelves, when under no reftraint, to a puerile joy, which theyexprefs by frifldng about, and immoderate fits of laughter j without objecT: or defign, they pafs their life without thinking, and grow old without advancing beyond child- hood, of which they retain all the defects. If this de« fcription were applicable only to the Indians in fome provinces of Peru, who are (laves in every refpect but the name, one might believe, that this degree of de- generacy was occasioned by the fervile dependence to which they are reduced 5 the example of the modern Greeks being proof how far fervitude may degrade the human fpecies. But the Indians in the millions of the Jefuits, and the favages who ftill enjoy unimpaired liberty, being as limited in their faculties, not to fay as ftupid as the other, one cannot obferve, without humi- liation, that man, when abandoned to firnple nature, and deprived of the advantages refulting from education and fociety, differs but little from the brute creation. *• Voyage de la Riv. de Amaz. 52, 53. M. de Chanvalon, an intelligent and philofophical obferver, who vifned Martinico in 1 751, and refided there fix years, gives the following defcription of the Caraibs s " It is not the red colour of their complexion, it is not the Singularity of their features, which conftitutes the chief difference between them and us. It is their exceiTive fimplicity ; it is the limited degree of their faculties. Their reafor* is not more enlightened or more provident than tho

inflina

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 41$

faftinft of brutes. The reafon of the moft grofs pea- fants, that of the negroes brought up in the parts of Africa moft remote from intercourfe with Europeans, is fuch that we difcover appearances of intelligence, which, though imperfect, is capable of increafe. But of this the underftanding of Caraibs feems to be hardly fuf- ceptible. If found philofophy and religion did not af- ford us their light, if we were to decide according to the firit impreflion which the view of that people makes upon the mind, we mould be difpofed to believe that they did not belong to the fame fpecics with us. Their ftupid eyes are the true mirrour of their fouls j it ap- pears to be without functions. Their indolence is ex- treme j they have never the leaft folicitude about the moment which is to fucceed that which is prefent.'* Voyage a la Martinique, p. 44, 45. 51. M- de la Borde, Tertre, and Rochefort, confirm this defcription. *' The characleriftics of the Californians," fays P.Vene- gas, u as well as of all other Indians, are ftupidity and infenfibility ; want of knowledge and reflection ; in- conftancy, impetuofity, and blindnefs of appetite ; an exceffive floth, and abhorrence of all labour and fa- tigue ; an exceflive love of pleafure and amufement of every kind, however trifling or brutal ; pufillanimity, and, in fine, a moft wretched want of every thing which conftitutes the real man, and renders him rational, in- ventive, traceable, and ufeful to himfelf and fociety. It is not eafy for Europeans, who never were out of their own country, to conceive an adequate idea of thofe people : for, even in the leaft frequented corners of the globe, there is not a nation fo ftupid, of fuch contracted ideas, and fo weak both in body and mind, as the unhappy Californians. Their underftanding com- prehends little more than what they fee j abftracl ideas, and much lefs a chain of reafoning, being far beyond their power ; fo that they fcarce ever improve their firft ideas, and thefe are in general falfe, or at leaft inade- quate. It is in vain to reprefent to them any future advantages which will refult to them from doing or ab- ftaining from this or that particular immediately pre- voli j. <^o^ fent j

416 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

fent ; the relation of means and ends being beyond the ilretch of their faculties. Nor have they the Jeaft no- tion of purfuing fuch intentions as will procure them- felves fome future good, or guard them againft future evils. Their will is proportional to their faculties, and all their pafiions move in a very narrow fphere. Ambition they have none, and are more defirous of being accounted ftrong than valiant. The objects of ambition with us, honour, fame, reputation, titles, ports, and diftinctions of fuperiority, are unknown among them ; fo that this powerful fpring of action, the caufe of fo much feeming good and real evil in the world, has no power here. This difpofition of mind, as it gives them up to an amazing languor and laffitude, their lives fleeting away in a perpetual inactivity and deteftation of labour, fo it likewife induces them to be attracted by the firft object which their own fancy, or the perfuafion of another, places before them ; and at the fame time renders them as prone to alter their refolutions with the fame facility. They look with indifference upon any kindnefs done them ; nor is even the bare remembrance of it to be expected from them. In a word, the unhappy mortals may be compared to children, in whom the develope- ment of reafon is not completed. They may indeed be called a nation who never arrive at manhood." Hift. of Californ. Engl. Tranfl. i. 64. 67. Mr. Ellis gives a fimilar account of the want of forefight and incon- siderate difpofition of the people adjacent to Hudfon's Bay. Voyage, p. 194, 195.

The incapacity of the Americans is {o remarkable, that negroes from all the different provinces of Africa are obferved to be more capable of improving by in- fraction. They acquire the knowledge of feveral par- ticulars which the Americans cannot comprehend. Hence the negroes, though flaves, value themfelves as a fuperior order of beings, and look down upon the Americans with contempt, as void of capacity and of rational difcernment. Ulloa No tic* Americ. 332, 323.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 417

NOTE LIII. p. 354.

Dobkizhotfer, the laft traveller, I know, who has redded among any tribe of the ruder Americans, has explained fo fully the various reafons which have induced their women to fuckle their children long, and never to undertake rearing fuch as were feeble or dis- torted, and even to deftroy a confiderable number of their offspring, as to throw great light on the obferva- tions I have made, p. 72, 73. Hift. de Abifibnibus, vol. ii. p. 107. 421. So deeply were thefe ideas im- printed in the minds of the Americans, that the Peru- vians, a civilized people, when compared with the bar- barous tribes, whofe manners I am defcribing, retained them j and even their intercourfe with the Spaniards has not been able to root them out. When twins are born in any family, it is dill considered as an ominous event, and the parents have recourfe to rigorous acts of mortification, in order to avert the calamities with which they are threatened. When a child is born with any deformity, they will not, if they can poflibly avoid it, bring it to be baptized, and it is with difficulty they can be brought to rear it. Arriaga Extirpac. de la Idolat. del Peru, p* 32, 33,

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

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