When the irons were brought, every one present shrank at the task of putting them on the limbs of the venerable and illustrious prisoners, either from a sentiment of compassion at so great a reverse of fortune, or out of habitual reverence for his person. A wretched cook named Espinosa was the only person found to rivet the fetters. The great navigator conducted himself with the magnanimity which might have been expected. The injustice and ingratitude of the sovereigns alone wounded his spirit, and he bore all his present misfortunes in silence.
Though the Adelantado was at the head of a strong force when summoned to San Domingo, he returned unattended, and was treated as his brother had been. Columbus had expected to have suffered on the scaffold, and was greatly relieved when he found himself conducted on board a caravel commanded by a worthy captain—Alonzo de Villejo—who told him that he had orders to carry him to Spain.
He and his brother embarked, amidst the scoffs and shouts of a miscreant rabble, who took a brutal joy in heaping insult on his venerable head.
Villejo, touched by the sufferings of Columbus, treated him with much respect, and would have relieved him of his shackles, but he answered, “No: their Majesties commanded me to submit to whatever Bobadilla might devise; by their authority he has put upon me these shackles. I will wear them until they direct them to be taken off, and I will preserve them as relics and memorials, as the reward of my services.”
The page of history presents no sadder picture than Columbus in chains crossing the ocean from those lands discovered by his genius, boldness, and perseverance.
The voyage was favourable and of moderate duration. In a short time the ship, with her illustrious prisoner on board, arrived at Cadiz. Columbus a prisoner and in chains produced almost as great a sensation as his triumphant return from his first voyage. A reaction took place, and a strong sympathy was expressed, against which it would have been odious for the Government to contend. The ignominious manner in which Columbus had been treated created murmurs of astonishment at the Court at Grenada, and a letter written by him on board reached the noble-minded Isabella before the document sent home by Bobadilla. She saw how grossly Columbus had been wronged and the royal authority abused, and her heart was filled with mingled sympathy and indignation.
The Queen and Ferdinand instantly sent off to Cadiz, directing that the prisoners should be set at liberty and treated with all distinction; and they wrote a letter to Columbus, expressing their grief at what he had suffered, and inviting him to Court. Conscious of his integrity, his heart was cheered, and he anticipated an immediate restitution of all his rights and dignities.
He appeared in Grenada, not as a disgraced man, but richly dressed, and attended by a noble retinue. He was received with unqualified favour and distinction, and as he beheld tears in the benign eyes of Isabella, he threw himself on his knees, and for some time could not utter a word for the violence of his tears and sobbing. Enabled to speak, he defended himself fully; indeed, the imputations of his enemies had been his best advocate.
Meantime the Pinzons and several other explorers had sailed forth, chiefly in search of pearls and gold.
While we feel indignant at the treatment received by Columbus, we must not forget the miseries of the helpless natives his discoveries had brought within the power of so-called civilised Europeans.
The excellent Las Casas gives a vivid and faithful picture of the tyranny exercised over the Indians by worthless Spaniards; wretches who in their own country had been the vilest of the vile, but had in the New World assumed the tone of grand cavaliers. Over much of their conduct it is necessary to draw the veil. Their very pleasures were attended with cruelty. At the least freak of ill humour they inflicted blows, and lashes, and even death itself, on their helpless slaves.
Such were some of the evils which had sprung up under the rule of Bobadilla. The wrongs of the natives reaching the benevolent heart of Isabella, she urged that a new governor, Don Nicolas de Ovando, should be sent out to supersede him, to inquire into the conduct of Columbus. Ovando shortly afterwards sailed in command of one of the largest fleets that had yet proceeded to the New World.
We should always bear in mind the lofty enthusiastic aspirations which influenced the mind of the great navigator. He had hoped by the wealth he should obtain to win the Holy Sepulchre from the infidels, but more practical schemes soon occupied him. The wealth brought from the East, owing to the discoveries of the Portuguese, aroused him to emulation. He had found a strong current setting westward, through the Caribbean Sea, between the coasts of Paria on the south and Cuba on the north, the latter, as he believed, being a part of the Asiatic continent stretching onwards in the same direction. He believed therefore that there must be a straight opening into the Indian Sea, and, could he discover it, he believed that he should be able to reach India by a far more easy route than any yet followed.
His plan was listened to with attention by the sovereigns, and he was authorised to fit out another armament.
He asked permission to touch at Hispaniola for supplies on the outward voyage, but the sovereigns, knowing that he had many enemies in the island, forbade him doing so. They, however, to soothe his feelings, wrote him a letter dated the 14th of March, 1502, solemnly assuring him that all his dignities should be enjoyed by him and his sons after him, and that they would bestow further honours and rewards upon him and them as well as upon his excellent brothers.
Chapter Seven.
Fourth and last voyage of Columbus—A.D. 1502.
Columbus sails from Cadiz the 9th of May, 1502, in command of four caravels—Reaches Martinico, and steers for San Domingo to change one of his vessels finds Bobadilla about to sail—Refused admission to the port—Warns the Governor of an impending hurricane—Keeps close in with the land—Escapes—Bobadilla’s ship founders—Only one with the treasure of Columbus reaches Spain—Touching at Jamaica, stands across to Bonacca off the coast of Honduras—Visited by a cacique in a large canoe laden with numerous articles—Search for the supposed strait—Goes on shore on the mainland—The natives bring presents—Sails along the coast—Stormy weather continues—Columbus suffers from illness—Fine weather—Off the Mosquito shore—Natives offended at their presents not being accepted—Hostages brought—Frightened at seeing the notary write—Natives carried off as guides—Ships anchor in the Bay of Caribaro—Large quantities of gold seen among the natives—Reaches the coast of Veragua—Hostility of natives—Frightened into friendship—Much gold obtained—Columbus quits the gold region in search of the straits—Hears of the gold region of Ciguere—Anchors in Puerto Bello—Passes Nombre de Dios—Anchors in Cabinet Harbour—The seamen insult the natives, who attack the ships—Put to flight by the guns—Columbus sails in search of the gold-mines of Veragua.
Columbus had reached the age of sixty-eight years when he embarked upon his fourth voyage. His squadron consisted of four caravels, the smallest of fifty tons burden, the largest not exceeding seventy; the crews amounted, in all, to one hundred and fifty men. He had with him his faithful and intrepid brother, Don Bartholomew, and his younger son, Fernando. The squadron sailed from Cadiz on the 9th of May, A.D. 1502, and after touching at Ercilla, on the coast of Morocco, stood away for the Canaries, where it arrived on the 25th of May, on the evening of which day he took his departure for the New World. Without shifting a sail it reached Martinico.
Though prohibited from touching at Hispaniola, one of his vessels was so bad a sea boat that he ventured to steer for San Domingo, in order to change her for another.
Arriving off the river on the 29th of June, he found a fleet with Bobadilla on board, as well as a large amount of treasure and several unhappy Indian captives.
The agent of Columbus had shipped four thousand pieces of gold, recently collected or recovered from Bobadilla, on board one of the caravels.