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The Discovery of America Vol. 1 (of 2) / with some account of Ancient America and the Spanish Conquest cover

The Discovery of America Vol. 1 (of 2) / with some account of Ancient America and the Spanish Conquest

Chapter 2: ILLUSTRATIONS.
By John Fiske
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About This Book

The work interweaves two complementary themes: a survey of indigenous American societies and a narrative of European voyages and conquests. It reconstructs social institutions such as clans, phratries, and communal houses, comparing them to Old World forms to trace stages of social evolution, while also reviewing navigational theories, ancient voyages, and geographic ideas like the five zones and antipodes. The account details practical maritime hazards and the encounters between Europeans and complex American civilizations during the Spanish conquests, and it advocates archaeological inquiry and the preservation of native cultures as vital to understanding human development.

CHAPTER IV.
THE SEARCH FOR THE INDIES.
EASTWARD OR PORTUGUESE ROUTE.

  • Question as to whether Asia could be reached by sailing around Africa 295
  • Views of Eratosthenes 296
  • Opposing theory of Ptolemy 297
  • Story of the Phœnician voyage in the time of Necho 298-300
  • Voyage of Hanno 300, 301
  • Voyages of Sataspes and Eudoxus 302
  • Wild exaggerations 303
  • Views of Pomponius Mela 304, 305
  • Ancient theory of the five zones 306, 307
  • The Inhabited World, or Œcumene, and the Antipodes 308
  • Curious notions about Taprobane (Ceylon) 309
  • Question as to the possibility of crossing the torrid zone 309
  • Notions about sailing "up and down hill" 310, 311
  • Superstitious fancies 311, 312
  • Clumsiness of ships in the fifteenth century 312
  • Dangers from famine and scurvy 313
  • The mariner's compass; an interesting letter from Brunetto Latini to Guido Cavalcanti 313-315
  • Calculating latitudes and longitudes 315
  • Prince Henry the Navigator 316-326
  • His idea of an ocean route to the Indies, and what it might bring 318
  • The Sacred Promontory 319
  • The Madeira and Canary islands 320-322
  • Gil Eannes passes Cape Bojador 323
  • Beginning of the modern slave-trade, 1442 323
  • Papal grant of heathen countries to the Portuguese crown 324, 325
  • Advance to Sierra Leone 326
  • Advance to the Hottentot coast 326, 327
  • Note upon the extent of European acquaintance with savagery and the lower forms of barbarism previous to the fifteenth century 327-329
  • Effect of the Portuguese discoveries upon the theories of Ptolemy and Mela 329, 330
  • News of Prester John; Covilham's journey 331
  • Bartholomew Dias passes the Cape of Good Hope and enters the Indian ocean 332
  • Some effects of this discovery 333
  • Bartholomew Columbus took part in it 333
  • Connection between these voyages and the work of Christopher Columbus 334

CHAPTER V.
THE SEARCH FOR THE INDIES.
WESTWARD OR SPANISH ROUTE.

  • Sources of information concerning the life of Columbus; Las Casas and Ferdinand Columbus 335
  • The Biblioteca Colombina at Seville 336, 337
  • Bernaldez and Peter Martyr 338
  • Letters of Columbus 338
  • Defects in Ferdinand's information 339, 340
  • Researches of Henry Harrisse 341
  • Date of the birth of Columbus; archives of Savona 342
  • Statement of Bernaldez 343
  • Columbus's letter of September, 1501 344
  • The balance of probability is in favour of 1436 345
  • The family of Domenico Colombo, and its changes of residence 346, 347
  • Columbus tells us that he was born in the city of Genoa 348
  • His early years 349-351
  • Christopher and his brother Bartholomew at Lisbon 351, 352
  • Philippa Moñiz de Perestrelo 352
  • Personal appearance of Columbus 353
  • His marriage, and life upon the island of Porto Santo 353, 354
  • The king of Portugal asks advice of the great astronomer Toscanelli 355
  • Toscanelli's first letter to Columbus 356-361
  • His second letter to Columbus 361, 362
  • Who first suggested the feasibleness of a westward route to the Indies? Was it Columbus? 363
  • Perhaps it was Toscanelli 363, 364
  • Note on the date of Toscanelli's first letter to Columbus 365-367
  • The idea, being naturally suggested by the globular form of the earth, was as old as Aristotle 368, 369
  • Opinions of ancient writers 370
  • Opinions of Christian writers 371
  • The "Imago Mundi" of Petrus Alliacus 372, 373
  • Ancient estimates of the size of the globe and the length of the Œcumene 374
  • Toscanelli's calculation of the size of the earth, and of the position of Japan (Cipango) 375, 376
  • Columbus's opinions of the size of the globe, the length of the Œcumene, and the width of the Atlantic ocean from Portugal to Japan 377-380
  • There was a fortunate mixture of truth and error in these opinions of Columbus 381
  • The whole point and purport of Columbus's scheme lay in its promise of a route to the Indies shorter than that which the Portuguese were seeking by way of Guinea 381
  • Columbus's speculations on climate; his voyages to Guinea and into the Arctic ocean 382
  • He may have reached Jan Mayen island, and stopped at Iceland 383, 384
  • The Scandinavian hypothesis that Columbus "must have" heard and understood the story of the Vinland voyages 384, 385
  • It has not a particle of evidence in its favour 385
  • It is not probable that Columbus knew of Adam of Bremen's allusion to Vinland, or that he would have understood it if he had read it 386
  • It is doubtful if he would have stumbled upon the story in Iceland 387
  • If he had heard it, he would probably have classed it with such tales as that of St. Brandan's isle 388
  • He could not possibly have obtained from such a source his opinion of the width of the ocean 388, 389
  • If he had known and understood the Vinland story, he had the strongest motives for proclaiming it and no motive whatever for concealing it 390-392
  • No trace of a thought of Vinland appears in any of his voyages 393
  • Why did not Norway or Iceland utter a protest in 1493? 393
  • The idea of Vinland was not associated with the idea of America until the seventeenth century 394
  • Recapitulation of the genesis of Columbus's scheme 395
  • Martin Behaim's improved astrolabe 395, 396
  • Negotiations of Columbus with John II. of Portugal 396, 397
  • The king is persuaded into a shabby trick 398
  • Columbus leaves Portugal and enters into the service of Ferdinand and Isabella, 1486 398-400
  • The junto at Salamanca, 1486 401
  • Birth of Ferdinand Columbus, August 15, 1488 401
  • Bartholomew Columbus returns from the Cape of Good Hope, December, 1487 402, 403
  • Christopher visits Bartholomew at Lisbon, cir. September, 1488, and sends him to England 404
  • Bartholomew, after mishaps, reaches England cir. February, 1490, and goes thence to France before 1492 405-407
  • The duke of Medina-Celi proposes to furnish the ships for Columbus, but the queen withholds her consent 408, 409
  • Columbus makes up his mind to get his family together and go to France, October, 1491 409, 410
  • A change of fortune; he stops at La Rábida, and meets the prior Juan Perez, who writes to the queen 411
  • Columbus is summoned back to court 411
  • The junto before Granada, December, 1491 412, 413
  • Surrender of Granada, January 2, 1492 414
  • Columbus negotiates with the queen, who considers his terms exorbitant 414-416
  • Interposition of Luis de Santangel 416
  • Agreement between Columbus and the sovereigns 417
  • Cost of the voyage 418
  • Dismay at Palos 419
  • The three famous caravels 420
  • Delay at the Canary islands 421
  • Martin Behaim and his globe 422, 423
  • Columbus starts for Japan, September 6, 1492 424
  • Terrors of the voyage:—1. Deflection of the needle 425
  • 2. The Sargasso sea 426, 427
  • 3. The trade wind 428
  • Impatience of the crews 428
  • Change of course from W. to W. S. W 429, 430
  • Discovery of land, October 12, 1492 431
  • Guanahani: which of the Bahama islands was it? 432
  • Groping for Cipango and the route to Quinsay 433, 434
  • Columbus reaches Cuba, and sends envoys to find a certain Asiatic prince 434, 435
  • He turns eastward and Pinzon deserts him 435
  • Columbus arrives at Hayti and thinks it must be Japan 436
  • His flag-ship is wrecked, and he decides to go back to Spain 437
  • Building of the blockhouse, La Navidad 438
  • Terrible storm in mid-ocean on the return voyage 439
  • Cold reception at the Azores 440
  • Columbus is driven ashore in Portugal, where the king is advised to have him assassinated 440
  • But to offend Spain so grossly would be imprudent 441
  • Arrival of Columbus and Pinzon at Palos; death of Pinzon 442
  • Columbus is received by the sovereigns at Barcelona 443, 444
  • General excitement at the news that a way to the Indies had been found 445
  • This voyage was an event without any parallel in history 446

CHAPTER VI.
THE FINDING OF STRANGE COASTS.

  • The Discovery of America was a gradual process 447, 448
  • The letters of Columbus to Santangel and to Sanchez 449
  • Versification of the story by Giuliano Dati 450
  • Earliest references to the discovery 451
  • The earliest reference in English 452
  • The Portuguese claim to the Indies 453
  • Bulls of Pope Alexander VI. 454-458
  • The treaty of Tordesillas 459
  • Juan Rodriguez Fonseca, and his relations with Columbus 460-462
  • Friar Boyle 462
  • Notable persons who embarked on the second voyage 463
  • Departure from Cadiz 464
  • Cruise among the Cannibal (Caribbee) islands 465
  • Fate of the colony at La Navidad 466
  • Building the town of Isabella 467
  • Exploration of Cibao 467, 468
  • Westward cruise; Cape Alpha and Omega 468-470
  • Discovery of Jamaica 471
  • Coasting the south side of Cuba 472
  • The "people of Mangon" 473
  • Speculations concerning the Golden Chersonese 474-476
  • A solemn expression of opinion 477
  • Vicissitudes of theory 477, 478
  • Arrival of Bartholomew Columbus in Hispaniola 478, 479
  • Mutiny in Hispaniola; desertion of Boyle and Margarite 479, 480
  • The government of Columbus was not tyrannical 481
  • Troubles with the Indians 481, 482
  • Mission of Juan Aguado 482
  • Discovery of gold mines, and speculations about Ophir 483
  • Founding of San Domingo, 1496 484
  • The return voyage to Spain 485
  • Edicts of 1495 and 1497 486, 487
  • Vexatious conduct of Fonseca; Columbus loses his temper 487
  • Departure from San Lucar on the third voyage 488
  • The belt of calms 489-491
  • Trinidad and the Orinoco 491, 492
  • Speculations as to the earth's shape; the mountain of Paradise 494
  • Relation of the "Eden continent" to "Cochin China" 495
  • Discovery of the Pearl Coast 495
  • Columbus arrives at San Domingo 496
  • Roldan's rebellion and Fonseca's machinations 496, 497
  • Gama's voyage to Hindustan, 1497 498
  • Fonseca's creature, Bobadilla, sent to investigate the troubles in Hispaniola 499
  • He imprisons Columbus 500
  • And sends him in chains to Spain 501
  • Release of Columbus; his interview with the sovereigns 502
  • How far were the sovereigns responsible for Bobadilla? 503
  • Ovando, another creature of Fonseca, appointed governor of Hispaniola 503, 504
  • Purpose of Columbus's fourth voyage, to find a passage from the Caribbee waters into the Indian ocean 504, 506
  • The voyage across the Atlantic 506
  • Columbus not allowed to stop at San Domingo 507
  • His arrival at Cape Honduras 508
  • Cape Gracias a Dios, and the coast of Veragua 509
  • Fruitless search for the strait of Malacca 510
  • Futile attempt to make a settlement in Veragua 511
  • Columbus is shipwrecked on the coast of Jamaica; shameful conduct of Ovando 512
  • Columbus's last return to Spain 513
  • His death at Valladolid, May 20, 1506 513
  • "Nuevo Mundo;" arms of Ferdinand Columbus 514, 515
  • When Columbus died, the fact that a New World had been discovered by him had not yet begun to dawn upon his mind, or upon the mind of any voyager or any writer 515, 516

ILLUSTRATIONS.

  •  page
  • Portrait of the author Frontispiece
  • View and ground-plan of Seneca-Iroquois long house reduced from Morgan's Houses and House-Life of the American Aborigines 66
  • View, cross-section, and ground-plan of Mandan round house, ditto 80
  • Ground-plan of Pueblo Hungo Pavie, ditto 86
  • Restoration of Pueblo Hungo Pavie, ditto 88
  • Restoration of Pueblo Bonito, ditto 90
  • Ground-plan of Pueblo Peñasca Blanca, ditto 92
  • Ground-plan of so-called "House of the Nuns" at Uxmal, ditto 133
  • Map of the East Bygd, or eastern settlement of the Northmen in Greenland, reduced from Rafn's Antiquitates Americanæ 160, 161
  • Ruins of the church at Kakortok, from Major's Voyages of the Zeni, published by the Hakluyt Society 222
  • Zeno Map, cir. 1400, ditto 232, 233
  • Map of the World according to Claudius Ptolemy, cir. A. D. 150, an abridged sketch after a map in Bunbury's History of Ancient Geography Facing 265
  • Two sheets of the Catalan Map, 1375, from Yule's Cathay, published by the Hakluyt Society 288, 289
  • Map of the World according to Pomponius Mela, cir. A. D. 50, from Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America 304
  • Map illustrating Portuguese voyages on the coast of Africa, from a sketch by the author 324
  • Toscanelli's Map, 1474, redrawn and improved from a sketch in Winsor's America Facing 357
  • Annotations by Columbus, reduced from a photograph in Harrisse's Notes on Columbus 373
  • Sketch of Martin Behaim's Globe, 1492, preserved in the city hall at Nuremberg, reduced to Mercator's projection and sketched by the author 422, 423
  • Sketch of Martin Behaim's Atlantic Ocean, with outline of the American continent superimposed, from Winsor's America 429
  • Map of the discoveries made by Columbus in his first and second voyages, sketched by the author 469
  • Map of the discoveries made by Columbus in his third and fourth voyages, ditto 493
  • Arms of Ferdinand Columbus, from the title-page of Harrisse's Fernand Colomb 515