Has the South Pole been Neglected?—The Antarctic even more Inhospitable than the Arctic—The Antarctic Summer—Search for the Terra Australis—Early Explorers—Captain Cook’s Discoveries—Watering at Icebergs—The Southern Thule—Smith’s Report—Weddell’s Voyage—Dead Whale Mistaken for an Island—D’Urville’s Adélie Land—Wilkes Land—Voyages of James Ross—High Land Discovered—Deep Beds of Guano—Antarctic Volcanoes—Mounts Erebus and Terror—Victoria Land.
One might well inquire, without a previous knowledge of the reasons, why the South Pole has not received the attention which has been lavished on the North. The fact is that while the Arctic regions do not present many attractions for travel, and certainly even less for residence or settlement, the Antarctic regions are still more unpromising in both particulars. The extreme intensity of Antarctic cold is found to commence at a much higher latitude than in the northern hemisphere. In the Arctic seas large icebergs are rarely found till the 70th parallel of latitude is reached, while stationary fields are met in a still higher latitude. In the South Pacific both occur at from 50° to 60° of southern latitude. The mountains of Cape Horn, of Terra del Fuego, and outlying islands, are covered with perpetual snow quite to their sea-coasts. “This contrast,” say Professor Tomlinson, in one of the few general works we possess on the subject,42 “has been ascribed to the shorter stay which the sun makes in the southern hemisphere than in the northern. But this difference, amounting to scarcely eight days, has been proved to be exactly compensated by the greater nearness of the earth to the sun during the southern than during the northern summer. Another cause must therefore be sought, and as it is a fact that water becomes less heated by the same amount of sunshine than any solid substance, this cause will be found in the vast extent of the Antarctic seas, the total absence of any great surface of land, and the form of the continents which terminate towards the south almost in points, thus opening a free and unencumbered field to the currents from the Polar seas, and allowing them to push forward the icy masses in every direction from the south pole towards the southern and temperate zone.”
The word Antarctic explains itself as that part of the earth opposite to the Arctic.43 Winter in the one corresponds to summer in the other, and vice versâ. When the Arctic circle is delighting in one long summer day, the Antarctic regions are oppressed by the darkest gloom. When we in England are, or should be, enjoying the bright days of midsummer, the southern Polar regions are pitchy dark, while at our Christmas-tide that part of the earth is bathed in floods of sunshine.
It has been seen that our knowledge of the North Polar seas has been largely the result of explorations in search of a north-western or north-eastern passage or strait to the Pacific. The exploration of the Antarctic regions is mainly due to quests after a continent in the southern seas—the Terra Australis incognita of many old geographers. The belief in the existence of such a land can be traced back as far as 1576, when Juan Fernandez is reported to have sailed southward from Chile, and to have arrived after a month’s voyage at a tierra ferme, a charming fertile land inhabited by friendly and almost civilised [pg 277]natives. If the story be not altogether apocryphal, it may possibly have been some part of New Zealand. At the same period there were wild reports in circulation concerning the discovery by Alvaro Mendana de Neyra of some southern islands abounding in silver. That navigator, however, could not find them at all in a later voyage, and perished miserably, with many of his companions, at Egmont, or Santa Cruz Island. His pilot, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, in 1605-6 made a professed voyage in search of the southern continent, his voyage resulting in the discovery of Pitcairn’s Island, the New Hebrides, and other lands, while one of his captains, Luis Vaes de Torres, passed through the strait between Australia and New Guinea now named after him. The first actual approach to the then unknown southern polar lands appears to have been made by one Dirk Gerritz, a Dutchman, in January, 1600. This vessel was in the East India service, and was driven by a gale from the immediate latitude of the Straits of Magellan far to the south, where he discovered a barren, craggy, snow-covered coast, similar to that of Norway. His accounts were discredited, but have since proved to have been accurate enough, and the land is now known as New South Shetland, and has been proved to cross the Antarctic circle. The expeditions of Kerguelen, sent out for the purpose of exploring the southern regions, resulted only in the discovery of the group of islands now known by his name. It is to the celebrated Captain Cook that we owe the earliest careful explorations of the south polar regions.
Late in November, 1772, H.M. ships Resolution and Adventure left the Cape of Good Hope in search of the unknown continent, and early in December of the same year were driven by several gales among and in dangerous proximity to icebergs, one of which is [pg 278]described as flat at its top, about fifty feet in height, and half a mile in circuit. A large number of penguins and other birds were on these bergs, and this was deemed a reason for thinking land near. The ice islands yielded excellent fresh water, large detached lumps being taken on board and the sea water allowed to drain off on deck, when there was hardly a trace of salt perceptible to the taste. Part of it was kept as ice, while a quantity was melted in coppers. Cook said that it was the most expeditious way of watering he had seen. In the middle of February they had fair weather, with clear serene nights, when the beautiful Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights, were seen. “The officer of the watch observed that it sometimes broke out in spiral rays, and in a circular form; then its light was very strong, and its appearance beautiful. He could not perceive that it had any particular direction, for it appeared at various times in different parts of the heavens, and diffused its light throughout the whole atmosphere.” Bad weather followed, making navigation dangerous among the bergs, while it was bitterly cold. A litter of nine pigs was killed a few hours after their birth by the cold, in spite of all the care taken to preserve them. This was in the Antarctic summer, which, however, improved considerably afterwards. Captain Cook was then tempted to advance a few degrees to the south, but soon altered his mind when the weather again changed for the worse.
It was not till the 31st of January, 1775, on the same voyage, that Cook, who had become “tired of these high southern latitudes, where nothing was to be found but ice and thick fogs,” made a discovery of land. They had been sailing over a sea strewed with ice, when the fog lifting, three rocky islets of considerable elevation disclosed themselves at a distance of three or four miles, one terminating in a lofty peak like a sugar-loaf. It was named Freezeland Peak. To the east of this a high coast, with lofty snow-clad summits, appeared, and soon another broken coast-line came in sight, to which the name of Southern Thule was given, as it was the most southerly land yet discovered. Other coasts, promontories, and mountains, soon came in view, which Cook tells us had land apparently between them, leading him to the conclusion that the whole was connected. Prudence forbade him venturing nearer the coast. The reader must remember that his were not the days of steam.
New land appeared next morning, with outlying islands, named the Candlemas Isles in honour of the day on which they were discovered. The whole of the new land was named Sandwich Land, and was supposed to be either a group of islands, or the point of a continent. Cook firmly believed in a tract of land near the Pole as the source of most of the icebergs in those seas, but did not attempt a further exploration.
It was not till the year 1819 that the commander of the brig William, Mr. William Smith, sailing south-east from the latitude of Cape Horn, noted in latitude 62° 30′ S. and longitude 60° W., an extensive snow-covered land, on the coasts of which seals were abundant. As he was bound with a cargo to Valparaiso, he could not follow up his discovery; but on arrival at that port informed H.B.M. Consul, Captain Sheriff, of the fact he had ascertained, and that gentleman dispatched Mr. Edward Barnsfield, master of the frigate Andromache, to explore the new-found land. It was found to consist of a group of islands, numbering twelve, with innumerable rocky islets between them. There was little doubt that it was a part of the same land sighted by Gerritz more than two centuries before, and now known as the South Shetlands. They were further explored in 1820 by Mr. [pg 279]Weddell, whose crews obtained an immense number of sea-elephants and fur seals. These islands are nearly inaccessible, being ice-bound, while almost any part of them, other than perpendicular cliffs, is perpetually snow-covered. There are a few small patches of straggling grass where there is any soil, and a moss similar to that found in Iceland. In 1821 other additions were made to our knowledge of islands adjacent to the South Shetlands by Captains Powell and Palmer, the latter an American, and by the Russian navigator, Bellinghausen, who reached a very southern point. They are respectively known as Trinity, Palmer’s, and Alexander’s Lands. A voyage in 1822 has importance, as it led to valuable results, in a commercial point of view. The brig Jane, of Leith, Captain Weddell, with a crew of twenty-two officers and men, accompanied by a cutter, set sail in September of that year on a voyage to the South Seas for the purpose of procuring fur seals. At the beginning of January, 1823, the vessels first came in sight of the land of the high southern latitude, and the next day reached the South Orkneys. The tops of the islands mostly terminated in craggy peaks, and looked almost like the mountain tops of a sunken land. Proceeding southward, they one evening passed very close to an object which appeared like a rock. The lead was immediately thrown out, but no bottom could be found. It turned out to be a dead whale, very much swollen, floating on the surface. Weddell obtained at South Georgia a valuable cargo. From the sea-elephant no less than 20,000 tons of oil were obtained in a few seasons, the cargoes always including a large number of fur sealskins. American sealers also took large cargoes of these skins to China, where they sold for five or six dollars a skin. The Island of Desolation, described by Cook, was also a source of great profit. “This is a striking, but by no means uncommon example of the commercial advantage to be derived from voyages of discovery.” In 1830, Captain Biscoe, commanding the sealing brig Eliza Scott, made the discovery of another range of islands, since named after him. In 1839, Captain Balley, in a ship belonging to Messrs. Enderby, the owners of the last-named vessel, discovered land in latitude 66° 44′ S., which was in all probability a portion of the same territory sighted by Wilkes and D’Urville a year afterwards. Thus, while America and France claim the honour of having discovered an “Antarctic continent,” Balley seems to have forestalled them. It is extremely doubtful whether the patches of land seen by these explorers can be considered to form a great southern continent.44
D’Urville, after describing the “lanes” of tall icebergs by which his ship was enclosed and impeded, states that they sighted land, some few miles off, with prominent peaks 3,000 feet and upwards in height, and surrounded with coast ice. Some boats were sent off to make magnetic observations, and one of the officers succeeded in landing on a small rocky islet, on which the tricolour flag was unfurled. Not the smallest trace of vegetable life could be discovered. Numerous fragments of the rock itself were carried off as trophies. Close at hand were eight or ten other islets. The land thus discovered was named Adélie Land (after Admiral D’Urville’s wife). A projecting cape, which had been seen early in the day, was called Cape Discovery, and the islet on which the landing was effected was named Point Geology.
[pg 280]Wilkes describes his discoveries in similar terms to those of previous explorers already mentioned. Stones, gravel, sand, mud, &c., were noted on a low iceberg, proving the existence of land somewhere about, but it must be borne in mind that a landing on anything but ice was not effected.
An attempt on the part of Captain (afterwards Sir James) Ross to establish magnetic observations in the southern hemisphere was unsuccessful, but resulted in a discovery of importance. On January 11th, 1841, land was sighted, rising in lofty snow-covered peaks, the elevation of some of which was stated to be from 12,000 feet to 14,000 feet. Various peaks were named after Sabine and other distinguished philosophers who had advocated the cause of the expedition. With some difficulty they landed on an island, on which they planted our flag, and drank a toast to the health of the Queen and Prince Albert. It was named Possession Island. There was no vegetation, but “inconceivable myriads of penguins completely and densely covered the whole surface of the island, along the ledges of the precipices, and even to the summits of the hills, attacking us,” says Ross, “vigorously as we waded through their ranks, and pecking at us with their sharp beaks, disputing possession; which, together with their loud coarse notes, and the insupportable stench from the deep bed of guano, which had been forming for ages, and which may at some period be valuable to the agriculturists of our Australasian colonies, made us glad to get away again, after having loaded our boats with geological specimens and penguins.” Whales were very numerous; thirty were counted at one time in various directions.
Further south the interesting discovery was made of an active volcano, a mountain 12,400 feet altitude, emitting flame and smoke at the time. It was named after the Erebus, one of the vessels employed, while a second volcano, scarcely inferior in height to the first-named, was called Mount Terror, after our staunch old friend the vessel which so well withstood the ice in Sir George Back’s expedition. “On the afternoon of the 28th,” says Ross, “Mount Erebus was observed to emit smoke and flame in unusual quantities, producing a most grand spectacle; a volume of dense smoke was projected at each successive jet with great force, in a vertical column, to the height of between 1,500 and 2,000 feet above the mouth of the crater, when, condensing first at its upper part, it descended in mist or snow, and gradually dispersed, to be succeeded by another splendid exhibition of the same kind in about half an hour afterwards, although the intervals between the eruptions were by no means regular. The diameter of the columns of smoke was between two and three hundred feet, as near as we could measure it; whenever the smoke cleared away, the bright red flame that filled the mouth of the crater was clearly perceptible; and some of the officers believed they could see streams of lava pouring down its sides until lost beneath the snow, which descended from a few hundred feet below the crater, and projected its perpendicular icy cliff several miles into the ocean.”
The whole of the land traced to the seventy-ninth degree of latitude was named Victoria Land. Ross “restored to England the honour of the discovery of the southernmost known land,” which had previously belonged to Russia, as won twenty years before by the intrepid Bellinghausen. A second and a third visit was made by Ross, on the latter of which he made some discoveries of minor importance.
[pg 281]An Important Epoch in the History of Discovery—King John II. of Portugal and his Enterprises—Diaz the Bold—Ventures out to Sea—Rounds the Cape—Ignorant of the Fact—The Cape of Storms—King John re-christens it—Columbus and the Narrative of his Son—His Visit to Portugal—Marriage—An un-royal Trick—Sends his Brother to England—His Misfortune—Columbus in Spain—A prejudiced and ignorant Report—The One Sensible Ecclesiastic—Again Repulsed—A Friend at Court—Queen Isabella Won to the Cause—Departure of the Expedition—Out in the Broad Atlantic—Murmurs of the Crews—Signs of Land—Disappointment—Latent Mutiny—Land at Last—Discovery of St. Salvador—Cuba—Natives Smoking the Weed—Utopia in Hispaniola—Columbus Wrecked—Gold Obtained—First Spanish Settlement—Homeward Voyage—Storms and Vows—Arrival in Europe—Triumphant Reception at Barcelona.
The Arctic and Antarctic voyages, purposely kept together and followed to their latest developments, having been described, we now go back to the most interesting and important period in the world’s history, geographically considered. In little less than a dozen years three of the grandest discoveries in geography were made. First, the discovery of a passage round the Cape of Good Hope, the sea-portal to the Indian Ocean, the Orient generally, Australasia (not, indeed, then discovered, or even dreamt of), and the innumerable islands of the various Eastern Archipelagos. Next, the passage of the Atlantic ocean to the far west, the discovery of the West Indies and the New World. Last, and not least, in its ultimate bearings on the prosperity of Great Britain, the passage by sea direct to India—its conquest and settlement by the Portuguese. What other epoch can boast so much accomplished in a time so brief?
To King John of Portugal are we indebted for the first of these great discoveries. He fitted out a small squadron under Bartholomew Diaz, a knight of the royal household, to attempt the passage by sea to India, after endeavouring to learn all that was then known about that [pg 282]country. For this important enterprise Diaz was supplied with two small caravels of fifty tons each, accompanied by a still smaller vessel, or tender, to carry provisions. The preparations being completed, he sailed in the end of August, 1486, steering directly to the southward.
“We have,” says Clarke, “no relation of the particulars of this voyage, and only know that the first spot on which Diaz placed a stone pillar, in token of discovery and possession, was at Sierra Parda, in about 24°, 40′ S., which is said to have been 120 leagues further to the south than any preceding navigator. According to the Portuguese historians, Diaz sailed boldly from this place to the southward, in the open sea, and never saw the land again until he was forty leagues to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, which he had passed, without being in sight of land.” Here he came in sight of a bay on the coast, which he called Angra de los Vaqueros, or Bay of Herdsmen, from observing a number of cows grazing on the land. From this place Diaz continued his voyage eastwards, to a small island or rock in the bay, which is now called Algoa, on which he placed a stone cross, or pillar, as a memorial of his progress, and named it on that account Santa Cruz, or El Pennol de la Cruz.
It would appear that Diaz was still unconscious that he had long reached and overpassed the extreme southern point of Africa, and was anxious to continue his voyage still farther. But the provisions on board his two caravels were nearly exhausted, and the victualling tender under the command of his brother was missing. The crews of the caravels became exceedingly urgent to return, lest they should perish with famine. With some difficulty he prevailed on the people to continue their course about twenty-five leagues further on, as he felt exceedingly mortified at the idea of returning to his sovereign without accomplishing the discovery on which he was bent. They accordingly reached the mouth of a stream now known by the name of Great Fish River.
From this river, the extreme boundary of the present voyage, Diaz commenced his return homewards, and discovered, with great joy and astonishment, on their passage back, the long-sought-for and tremendous promontory, which had been the grand object of the hopes and wishes of Portuguese navigation during seventy-four years, ever since the year 1412, when the illustrious Don Henry first began to direct and incite his countrymen to the prosecution of discoveries along the western shores of Africa. At this place Diaz erected a stone cross in memory of his discovery; and owing to heavy tempests, which he experienced off the high table-land of the Cape, he named it Cabo dos Tormentos, or Cape of Storms; but the satisfaction which King John derived from this memorable discovery, on the return of Diaz to Portugal, in 1487, induced that sovereign to change this inauspicious appellation for one of more happy omen, and he accordingly ordered that it should in future be called Cabo de bon Esperança, or Cape of Good Hope, the title which it has ever since retained.
Soon after the discovery of The Cape—by which shorter name it is now pre-eminently distinguished—Diaz fell in with the victualler, from whom he had separated nine months before. Of nine persons who had composed the crew of that vessel, six had been murdered by the natives of the West Coast of Africa, and Fernand Colozzo, one of the three survivors, died of joy on again beholding his countrymen. Diaz and his companions were, of course, honourably received by their sovereign, after a voyage of such unprecedented length and unusual success. And now to the second of the great discoveries of this epoch, which, chronologically considered, follows that of Diaz.
[pg 283]In the long list of honoured names who have made geographical discovery their aim, none shines with a greater effulgence than that of Columbus, and although in his old age he was disgracefully ignored and even maltreated, succeeding times have done full justice to his memory. The present writer has gone to the fountain source for his information; the whole of the narrative to follow is taken from the history written by his son, Don Ferdinand Columbus. It would be easy, from the many popular biographies written by well-known authors, to compile a more fanciful and readable story, but some, at least, of these writers have not strictly adhered to facts, but have wandered somewhat into the region of the imagination. The account given to the world by the son of the great navigator was compiled from the original letters and documents, from actual information obtained direct, and from personal observation.
The narrative of Don Ferdinand commences amusingly. He avers that many would have him prove a highly honourable descent for the admiral his father, and because on his arrival in Portugal he had assumed the name of Colon,45 prove that he had come in direct line from Junius Colonus, who brought Mithridates a prisoner to Rome, or from the two illustrious Coloni, who gained a great victory over the Venetians. The son is, however, candid, and says, “that however considerable they (his progenitors) may once have been, it is certain that they were reduced to poverty and want through the long wars and factions in Lombardy. I have not been able to discover in what way they lived; though in one of his letters the admiral asserted that his ancestors and himself had always traded by sea.”46 Don Ferdinand glories in his father as one of the people, who had risen to his high estate by reason of honourable merit. But however poor, he found means to leave his native city, Genoa, and study astronomy, geometry, and cosmography, at the University of Pavia. He is believed to have gone to sea at as early an age as fourteen. The date of his birth is uncertain, but is believed to have been in 1447. Besides voyaging constantly in the Mediterranean, he, as elsewhere recorded, made a northern voyage of some importance. He distinctly states that “In February, 1467, I sailed an hundred leagues beyond Thule, or Iceland.”
In his person Columbus was “above the middle stature, and well shaped, having rather a long visage, with somewhat full cheeks, yet neither fat nor lean. His complexion was very fair with delicately red cheeks, having fair hair in his youth, which became entirely grey at thirty years of age. He had a hawk nose, with fair eyes. In his eating and drinking, and in his dress, he was always temperate and modest. In his demeanour he was affable to strangers, and kind and condescending to his domestics and dependents, yet with a becoming modesty and dignified gravity of manner, tempered with easy politeness.” His regard for religion was strict and sincere, and he had a great abhorrence of profane language. In a word, Columbus was one of nature’s truest gentlemen.
His son states that the reason for his visit to Portugal “arose from his attachment to a famous man of his name and family, named Columbus, long renowned on the sea as [pg 284]commander of a fleet against the infidels.” He must have commanded a goodly fleet, for while Christopher Columbus was with him he took four large Venetian galleys, after a desperate fight. The vessel in which Columbus was, took fire, and he had to leap into the water and make for the land, two leagues distant. He was an excellent swimmer, and, by the aid of a floating oar, he succeeded in landing on the coast near Lisbon. This was his first introduction to that city. Here he married a lady of good family, Donna Felipa Moniz. Her mother was the widow of Perestrello, one of the captains who had re-discovered Madeira, and she put at the disposal of Columbus all the charts and journals left by her husband, from which he learned much of the discoveries made by the Portuguese. It was at this time that he began to think seriously of attempting a passage to the Indies by the westward.
Columbus first laid his plans before Prince John of Portugal, who lent a favourable ear, but on account of the large expenses connected with his expedition to the Guinea Coast, which had not hitherto been crowned with any great success, could not promise immediate action. Later, by the advice of one Doctor Calzadilla, in whom he reposed great confidence, the King of Portugal resolved to attempt secretly the discovery which Columbus had proposed. Accordingly, a caravel was fitted out under pretence of carrying supplies to the Cape Verd Islands, with private instructions to sail to the west. Those sent on the expedition had little knowledge or enterprise, and after vaguely wandering about the Atlantic some time, returned to the Cape Verde Islands, laughing at the undertaking as [pg 285]ridiculous and impracticable. “When,” says the son, “this scandalous underhand dealing came to my father’s ears, he took a great aversion to Lisbon and the Portuguese nation.” Little wonder, one would think! His wife was now dead, and he resolved to repair to Castile with his little son. Lest, however, the Spanish sovereign might not consent to his proposals, he determined to send his brother, Bartholomew Columbus, from Lisbon, to make similar proposals to the King of England. Bartholomew was experienced in seamanship, and understood the construction of charts, globes, and nautical instruments. On the voyage he had the misfortune to be taken by pirates, who stripped him and the rest of the ship’s company of everything of value. Poor Bartholomew arrived in England in poverty and sickness. Undaunted by his misfortunes, he commenced making and selling charts, in order to recruit his finances. After much loss of time, he, in February, 1480, presented a map of his own construction, and the proposals of his brother, to the king, who became very favourably inclined towards the project; and ordered an invitation to be sent to Columbus, desiring him to come to England forthwith. But, alas! England was fated not to have the services of this great navigator. “Providence,” says Ferdinand, “had determined that the advantage of this great discovery should belong to Castile; and by this time my father had gone upon his first voyage.”
About the end of the year 1484 the admiral stole away privately from Lisbon, as he was afraid of detention. The king had by this time come somewhat to his senses, and it is asserted that he was desirous of renewing the conferences with Columbus. But he did not use much diligence, and thereby missed his last grand opportunity. Columbus next addressed himself to their Catholic Majesties of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, then at Cordova. His affable manners and evident knowledge soon gained him a hearing; but as their Majesties considered that a matter of such importance required to be learnedly investigated, it was referred to the prior of Prado, afterwards Archbishop of Granada, who was to obtain the assistance of some cosmographers, and report on its practicability. The report they presented was unfavourable to the enterprise. Some thought Columbus presumptuous in expecting to accomplish that which skilful sailors of all nations had not done, although several thousand years had elapsed since the creation of the world. Others said that the world was of such prodigious size, that they questioned whether he would reach the Indies that way in three years. Others used the powerful argument that if they sailed round the world down from Spain, they would never get up again! No ship could climb up-hill! The ecclesiastics quoted St. Augustine, to the effect that the antipodes were an impossibility, and that no one could go from one hemisphere to another. Ignorance and credulity triumphed for the time, but not for long.
[pg 286]Columbus was not to be beaten. He followed the court to Seville, and was again repulsed. He resolved to write to the King of France, and, if unsuccessful there, follow his brother to England. But at this juncture he acquired the friendship of the father guardian of the monastery of Rabida, who, believing in his schemes, earnestly entreated him to postpone his departure, saying that, as he was confessor to the Queen, he was resolved to try his influence. All honour to Father Perez, the one sensible ecclesiastic of his nation! A fresh conference was held, but the demands of Columbus were deemed too high, and again the matter fell to the ground. The admiral settled his affairs, and prepared to leave for France.
He had actually started on his journey, when an officer was despatched after him to induce him to return. The queen had at last listened to the good counsels of Santangel (comptroller of the royal disbursements), who had before shown himself a friend to Columbus. He had pointed out to her majesty that the sum of money required was small, and that she was missing an opportunity that might redound greatly to the honour of her reign, and the credit of which now some foreign monarch would reap. From comparative apathy Isabella rose to enthusiasm, and the treasury being pretty well exhausted by the war with Granada, she offered to pawn her jewels in order to raise the necessary funds. Santangel immediately replied that there was no occasion for this, and that he himself would readily advance his own money in such a service.
All the conditions which the admiral required having been conceded, he set out from Granada on May 21st, 1492, for Palos, that seaport having been bound by the Crown to furnish two caravels. Columbus fitted these and a third vessel with all speed. His own ship was the St. Mary; the second, named the Pinta, was commanded by Martin Alonso Pinzon; and the third, the Nina, by the latter’s brother, Vincent Yanez Pinzon. The united crews comprised a force of ninety men. Columbus set sail on this, his first voyage in the service of Portugal, on the 3rd of August, 1492, making direct for the Canaries.
The day after leaving, the rudder of the Pinta broke loose, and, after being repaired as well as they were able at sea, the fastenings gave way a second time. Alonzo Pinzon was more than suspected of having caused this damage purposely, as he had endeavoured to avoid proceeding on this voyage before the expedition left Spain. Having again repaired the rudder, they continued the voyage, and successfully came to an anchor at the Canaries on August 12th. The admiral tried in vain to obtain another vessel for Pinzon. At length the Pinta having been patched up, the little squadron set sail. “Now,” says Ferdinand, “losing sight of land, and stretching out into utterly unknown seas, many of the people expressed their anxiety and fear that it might be long before they should see land again; but the admiral used every endeavour to comfort them, with the assurance of soon finding the land he was in search of, and raised their hopes of acquiring wealth and honour by the discovery.” He purposely under-stated the distance made each day, in order to make his people believe that they were not so far from Spain after all; but he carefully recorded the true reckoning in private. On September 12th they discovered in the water the trunk of a large tree; and the people in the Nina, a few days later, observed a heron flying over them, and also a smaller bird. Next, a quantity of yellowish-green sea-weed was observed floating in the water; a small lobster and a number of tunny fish were also [pg 287]noted. These signs of approaching land raised hopes which were not immediately fulfilled; and the crews, being utterly unacquainted with the seas they now traversed, seeing nothing but water and sky, began to mutter among themselves. Later, a number of seagulls and small land birds were seen, the latter settling sometimes in the rigging. Again, a vast floating field of sea-weed was encountered. These appearances gave some assurances of comfort to the men at times; but when the weeds became thick enough to partially impede the progress of the vessels, they became terrified, lest the fabled fate of St. Amaro in the frozen seas, whose vessel could neither move forward nor backward, might be theirs. “Wherefore they steered away from those shoals of weeds as much as they could.”
On the 23rd a brisk WNW. gale, favourable for their course, arose, and on the same day a turtle-dove, a land fowl, and other birds, were seen. The more these tokens were observed, and found not to be followed by the anxiously-looked-for land, the more the crews rebelled; cabals were formed, of which the admiral was only partially aware. “They represented that they had already sufficiently performed their duty in adventuring further from land and all possibility of succour than had ever been done before, and that they ought not to proceed on the voyage to their manifest destruction.” They growlingly remarked that Columbus was a foreigner, who desired to become a great lord at their expense, that he had no favour at court, and that the most learned men had scorned his ideas as visionary and absurd. Some even went so far as to propose cutting the Gordian knot by throwing him overboard. Poor Columbus! He had enough to do, sometimes expostulating and sometimes threatening, and always in danger of a mutiny upsetting all his grand projects. Nor were matters improved on September 25th, when Pinzon, whose vessel was near, shouted out to the admiral, “Land! land, sir! let not my good news miscarry!” Next morning the supposed land resolved itself into sea-clouds.
During the following days the men caught some fish “with gilt backs” with the aid of a line, and numerous birds were observed. Still Columbus persisted in a westerly course, although many on board, thinking that the birds were flying from one unseen island to another, wished him to deviate. About sunrise on Sunday, October 7th, some signs of land appeared to the westward, “but being imperfect, no person would mention the circumstance. This was owing to fear of losing the reward of thirty crowns yearly for life which had been promised by their Catholic majesties to whoever should first discover land; and to prevent them calling out ‘land! land!’ at every turn without just cause, it was made a condition that whoever said he saw land should lose the reward if it were not made out in three days, even if he should afterwards actually prove the first discoverer.” Those on the Nina, however, forgot this provision, and fancying they saw land, fired a gun and hoisted their colours. This time also they were disappointed, but derived some comfort by observing great flights of large fowl and other birds going from the west towards the south-west.
It would have been impossible for the admiral to have much longer withstood the spirit of mutiny which was fast gaining ground, “but,” says the narrative of Ferdinand, “it pleased God that, in the afternoon of Thursday the 11th of October, such manifest tokens of being near the land appeared that the men took courage and rejoiced at [pg 288]their good fortune as much as they had been before distressed.” From the St. Mary a rush was seen to float past, and one of those green fish which are never found far from rocks. Some of the other men noted in the water a branch of a thorn, with red berries, a curiously-carved stick, and other plain indications of being close to land. After the evening prayer, Columbus made a speech to the men, in which “he reminded them of the mercy of God in having brought them so long a voyage with such favourable weather, and in comforting them with so many tokens of a successful issue to their enterprise.” As the admiral was in his cabin that night about ten o’clock he believed that he saw a light on shore; he called two of the men, one only of whom could perceive it. It was again seen by the admiral and the sailor, but only for a very brief space of time. “Being now very much on their guard,” says the narrative, “they still held on their course until about two in the morning of Friday the 12th of October, when the Pinta, which was always far ahead, owing to her superior sailing, made the signal of seeing land, which was first discovered by Roderick de Triana at about two leagues from the ship. But the thirty crowns a year were afterwards granted to the admiral, who had seen the light in the midst of darkness, a type of the spiritual light he was the happy means of spreading in these dark regions of error. Being now so near land, all the ships lay to; every one thinking it long till daylight, that they might enjoy the sight they had so long and anxiously desired.”47
When daylight arrived, the newly-discovered land was perceived to consist of a flat island, without hills, but well timbered. It was evidently well populated, for the beach was covered with people, who showed every sign of wonder at the sight of the ships, which, says Ferdinand, “they conceived to be some unknown animals.” The admiral and his commanders, each in their own boat, with their colours flying, went ashore, where, on arrival, they fell on their knees, and thanked God for his merciful kindness and for their happy discovery of the new land. Columbus then took formal possession of the island in the name of their Catholic majesties.
And now, these ceremonies concluded, the admiral went off to his fleet, the natives following in canoes, and many indeed swimming off to the vessels. Columbus named the island San Salvador, the title it still bears. As he supposed himself to have landed on an island at the extremity of India, he applied the term Indians to the aborigines he met, and the same has in consequence become general to all the original inhabitants of the New World. The islanders met by Columbus were friendly and gentle, and usually quite nude. They were painted; this they might regard in the light of costume, some, indeed, being coloured from head to foot. They had little or no knowledge of metal [pg 289]weapons, for when shown a naked sword they ignorantly grasped the whole blade, and were severely cut. Their javelins were wood, armed with a piece of fish-bone. Their [pg 290]canoes ranged in size from such as were only capable of holding one person to those built for forty or more men, and were always hollowed in one piece, as among the northern Indians of British Columbia to-day, where canoes are to be seen which will carry fifty to sixty persons and two or three masts with sails. They had very little to offer in exchange for the toys and trinkets which had been provided for use on the expedition, but the avarice of the discoverers was soon excited by the sight of small ornaments of gold among them, with which they parted as readily as with anything else. Gold, in enterprises of discovery, being a royal monopoly, Columbus forbade any traffic in it, except by express permission. Parrots were a prime article of exchange among them, and cotton yarn. If they saw any trifle on board that struck their fancy they were as likely to jump into the sea with it as to offer anything for it, and, on the other hand, the Spaniards, after the manner of explorers, did not hesitate to accept their valuables in exchange for the merest trifles. The Indians would give twenty-five or so pounds of cotton for three Portuguese brass coins not worth a farthing. Enough; the story of their dealings is that of all times. It is scarcely more than twelve years since the writer saw the same kind of thing going on in Northern Alaska among unsophisticated natives. And, after all, “value” is a somewhat indefinite term. The luxuries of some climes are the drugs of others. The poor people met by Columbus highly valued a piece of broken glass or earthenware, because unknown to them, and because the possession of a fragment bestowed a proud distinction. Cannot we see the same kind of thing among the most civilised? The rare and scarce must of necessity be always the most valuable.
Columbus, continuing his voyage, discovered several minor islands. Everywhere he inquired for gold, and everywhere he was informed that it came from the south. He began to hear of an island in that direction named Cuba, which, from the mistaken ideas of geography current at the time, he took for Marco Polo’s famed gold island of Cipango. He determined to proceed there, and eventually seek the mainland of India, which must be within a few days’ sail, and then he would deliver the letters of their Castilian Majesties to the Great Khan, and return triumphantly to Spain. Filled with this magnificent scheme, he set sail. We need not say that he reached neither Cipango, India, nor the Khan; but he did discover Cuba, that beautiful island of the Caribbean Sea long dear to the heart of every consumer of the fragrant weed. Every smoker of a good havana should think of Columbus with deepest gratitude. The Spaniards were struck with astonishment at seeing the natives roll up certain dried herbs, light up one end, and putting the other in their mouth, exhale smoke. Cigars as fresh as these are often smoked in Cuba to this day. Columbus extols the beauty of the verdure and scenery of the island, and states, as a proof of the gigantic nature of some of their trees, that he saw a canoe formed from one trunk capable of carrying 150 people.
While Columbus, on leaving the eastern end of Cuba, was somewhat undetermined which course to take, he descried land to the south-east, gradually increasing to the view, and giving promise of an island of large extent. The Indians on beholding it called out “Bohio” with obvious signs of terror, and implored him not to go near it, as the inhabitants were one-eyed cannibals, fierce and cruel. He, however, sailed closer and closer, till the [pg 291]signs of cultivation and prosperous villages became frequent. At first the natives fled. Even when only three sailors rambled on shore, and encountered a large number, they could not be induced to parley. The sailors at length succeeded in capturing a young female, in a perfectly nude condition, having hanging from her nose only an ornament of gold. Columbus soon soothed her terror, had her clothed, and gave her presents of beads, brass rings, and other trinkets. She was sent on shore accompanied by three Indian interpreters and some of the crew. By this means, and after one of the interpreters had succeeded in overtaking some of the natives, and had assured them that the strangers had descended from the skies mainly for the purpose of making them presents, they were induced to meet the Spaniards, whom they treated with the greatest hospitality, setting before them fruit, fish, and cassava bread. The description of these people given by Columbus to old Peter Martyr represented them as holding a community of goods, “that ‘mine and thine,’ the seeds of all mischief, have no place with them.... They seem to live in the golden world, without toil, living in open gardens, not entrenched with dykes, divided with hedges, or defended with walls. They deal truly one with another, without laws, without books, and without judges. They take him for an evil and mischievous man who taketh pleasure in doing hurt to another.” This must have been Utopia indeed! Alas, as we shall see, the advent of so-called civilisation proved a veritable curse. Columbus named the island Espannola, or Little Spain (Anglicé, Hispaniola). The island is now known as Hayti, or San Domingo.
The people of Hispaniola appeared handsomer to Columbus than any he had yet met. He was at length visited by a young cacique or chief, and the interview was graphically described by Columbus himself in his oration before Ferdinand and Isabella and the court on his return to Spain.
Having put to sea on the morning of December 24th, at eleven in the evening, Columbus, being very fatigued, retired to his cabin. The sea was calm and the wind light at the time. No sooner had he left than the steersman gave the helm to a grummet,48 and the result was that the current carried the vessel upon a treacherous sandbank. Scarcely had the shock occurred than Columbus and his crew were on deck, but in spite of aid from the other vessel, she speedily became a wreck, and had to be deserted. The admiral immediately sent ashore to the village of the cacique, at some little distance, and that chief with all his people with canoes assisted to unload the unfortunate vessel. “From time to time,” said Columbus, “he sent some of his people to me weeping, to beg me not to be dejected, as he would give me everything he possessed. I assure your highnesses that better order could not have been taken in any port in Castile to preserve our things, for we did not lose the value of a pin.” The Indians about this time brought in some few specimens of gold, worked and in the rough state, and the cacique perceiving that the admiral was much pleased at the sight, said he would order a quantity to be brought from a place called Cibao, where it was abundant. After offering him to eat, he presented him with gold ornaments and masks, in which latter the precious metal formed part of the features.
The chief complained greatly of a nation named the Caribs, who carried off and made [pg 292]slaves of his people, and Columbus, who was impressed with the beauty and productiveness of the island, readily promised to leave some of his people to protect him and form a colony. Cannons had not been very long familiar to Europeans, and we hardly wonder, therefore, that the natives “fell down as if dead” on hearing the reports of those fired by order of the admiral. Finding so much kindness among these people, and as the narrative of his son naïvely remarks, “such strong indications of gold,” he almost forgot his grief at the loss of his vessel. A fort or block-house was immediately erected, and leaving three officers and thirty-six men as garrison, he set sail for Spain.
On February 4th (1493) the vessels were overtaken by a fearful storm. The whole company betook themselves to prayer, and cast lots which of them should go on pilgrimage for the whole crew to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadaloupe, which fell to Columbus. After other pilgrimages had been vowed, and the storm still increasing, “they all made a vow to go barefooted and in their shirts to some church of Our Lady at the first land they might come to.” The admiral, fearing the loss to the world of his discoveries, retired to his cabin to write two brief accounts of them. These were wrapped in wax and enclosed in casks, one of which was thrown into the sea, while the other was placed on the poop of his vessel, in case she should founder. Happily, the storm subsided, and they reached the island of St. Mary, where they were detained by some formalities of the naval etiquette of the day. Leaving St. Mary’s, they encountered a second gale of terrific force, during the continuance of which more vows were made, and the lot again fell to Columbus, “showing,” says his son, “that his offerings were more acceptable than others.” They were driven off the rock of Cintra, and perforce had to anchor in the Tagus. When it was known at Lisbon that the ship was freighted with the people and productions of a new world the excitement was intense, and from morn to night the vessel was thronged with visitors. In an interview with the king, Columbus recited his adventures and discoveries. King John listened with the deepest interest, and for the moment concealed his mortification. Columbus himself was loaded with attentions and allowed to depart for [pg 293]Spain. Great was the agitation and excitement in the little town of Palos, when the well-known vessel of the admiral re-entered their harbour. Most of those who thronged to the shore had relatives or friends on board, and the previous winter had been one of the most severe and stormy within the recollection of the oldest mariners. They awaited the landing of Columbus and his crew, and then accompanied him to the principal church, where solemn thanksgivings were offered, and soon every bell in the village sent forth a joyous peal. His journey to Barcelona was one continued triumph. He was accompanied by several of the native islanders, arrayed in their simple barbaric costume, and decorated with rude collars, bracelets, and ornaments of gold. He exhibited in the principal towns quantities of gold dust, many quadrupeds, and gaily-coloured birds, then unknown in Europe, with numerous specimens of natural productions in the vegetable and mineral kingdoms. It was the middle of April when Columbus reached the Court at Barcelona. The nobility, courtiers, and city authorities, came to the gates to meet him, and escorted him to the royal presence. Ferdinand and Isabella, seated under a superb canopy of state, rose as he approached, and begged him to be seated—unprecedented marks of honour in that proud court. Columbus had triumphed; he had for the time silenced the sneers and cavils and specious arguments of courtiers and ecclesiastics. Prescott49 has well described the interview. In reciting his adventures, “his manner was sedate and dignified, but warmed with the glow of natural enthusiasm. He enumerated the several islands which he had visited, expatiated on the temperate character of the climate, and the capacity of the soil for every variety of agricultural productions.... He dwelt more at large on the precious metals to be found in these islands.... Lastly, he pointed out the wide scope afforded to Christian zeal, in the illumination of a race of men, whose minds, far from being wedded to any system of idolatry, were prepared by their extreme simplicity for the reception of pure and uncorrupted doctrine. This last consideration touched Isabella’s heart most sensibly; and the whole audience, kindled with various emotions by the speaker’s eloquence, filled up the perspective with the gorgeous colouring of their own fancies, as ambition, or avarice, or devotional feeling, predominated in their bosoms. When Columbus ceased, the king and queen, together with all present, prostrated themselves on their knees in grateful thanksgivings, while the solemn strains of the Te Deum were poured forth by the choir of the royal chapel, as in commemoration of some glorious victory.” All kinds [pg 294]of attentions were showered upon him: he was permitted to quarter the royal arms with his own, which consisted of a group of golden islands amid azure billows; and received the substantial gratuity of 1,000 doblas of gold from the royal treasury, besides the premium promised to the person who first descried land. But that which pleased Columbus most were the preparations of the court for further discoveries, on a scale befitting their importance. The complement of the new fleet was originally fixed at 1,200 persons, but was eventually swollen to 1,500, and many who joined were persons of rank and distinction among the royal household. The squadron counted no less than seventeen vessels.