Produced by Richard Hulse and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
A BOOK OF
AMERICAN EXPLORERS
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Transcriber’s Notes │ │ │ │ │ │ Punctuation has been standardized. │ │ │ │ Characters in small caps have been replaced by all caps. │ │ │ │ Non-printable characteristics have been given the following │ │ transliteration: │ │ Italic text: --> text │ │ │ │ This book was written in a period when many words had │ │ not become standardized in their spelling. Words may have │ │ multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in │ │ the text. These have been left unchanged unless indicated │ │ with a Transcriber’s Note. │ │ │ │ The symbol ‘‡’ indicates the description in parenthesis has │ │ been added to an illustration. This may be needed if there │ │ is no caption or if the caption does not describe the image │ │ adequately. │ │ │ │ Index references have not been checked for accuracy. │ │ │ │ Footnotes are identified in the text with a number in │ │ brackets [2] and have been accumulated in a single section │ │ at the end of the text. │ │ │ │ Transcriber’s Notes are used when making corrections to the │ │ text or to provide additional information for the modern │ │ reader. These notes are not identified in the text, but have │ │ been accumulated in a single section at the end of the book. │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Illustration: COLUMBUS AT THE MOUTH OF THE ORINOCO.
Young Folks’ Series.
A BOOK OF
AMERICAN EXPLORERS
BY
THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON
AUTHOR OF “YOUNG FOLKS’ HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES,” ETC.
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD
1877
COPYRIGHT.
THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON.
1877.
_Electrotyped and Printed by
Rand, Avery, and Company,
117 Franklin Street,
Boston._
DEDICATION.
TO
GEORGE BARRELL EMERSON,
WITHOUT WHOSE COUNSEL AND WHOSE EFFICIENT KINDNESS THIS HISTORICAL SERIES WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN,
THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY
INSCRIBED.
PREFACE.
IT has always seemed to me that the narratives of the early discoverers and explorers of the American coast were as interesting as “Robinson Crusoe,” and were, indeed, very much like it. This has led me to make a series of extracts from these narratives, selecting what appeared to me the most interesting parts, and altering only the spelling. The grammar is not always correct; but it would be impossible to alter that without changing the style of writing too much: so it has not been changed at all. Wherever it has seemed necessary, I have put a word of my own in brackets [thus]; but all else is the very language of the old writers, or their translators. Whenever any thing has been omitted, great or small, the place is marked by dots.... Some of the hardest words have been explained by footnotes.
One great thing which I have wished my readers to learn is the charm of an original narrative. We should all rather hear a shipwreck described by a sailor who was on board the ship than to read the best account of it afterwards prepared by the most skilful writer. What I most desire is, that those who have here acquired a taste for these old stories should turn to the books from which the extracts are taken, and follow up the study for themselves. Then they can go with renewed interest to the pages of Bancroft and Parkman, or at least to my own “Young Folks’ History,” for the thread on which these quaint narratives may be strung.
The explorers of various nations are represented in this book. There are Northmen, Italians, Englishmen, Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Dutchmen. Where the original narrative was in some foreign language, that translation has been chosen which gives most of the spirit of the original; and Mr. Cabot’s versions of the Norse legends were especially selected for this reason. It seemed proper to begin the book with these; and it is brought down to the time when the Virginia and Massachusetts colonies, with that of the New Netherlands, were fairly planted on the American shore.
Possibly, at some future time, I may recommence with the Massachusetts colonies, and tell their story, down to the Revolution; either in a book of extracts, like this, or in my own words.
T. W. H.
NEWPORT, R.I., March 1, 1877.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
I. THE LEGENDS OF THE NORTHMEN (985‒1008)
1. How the Northmen discovered North America
2. The Voyage of Leif the Lucky
3. Leif finds Vines, and goes back to Greenland
4. Thorvald, Leif’s Brother, goes to Vinland
5. Karlsefni’s Adventures
II. COLUMBUS AND HIS COMPANIONS (1492‒1503)
1. The First Letter from Columbus
2. The Second Voyage of Columbus
3. Columbus reaches the Mainland
4. Columbus at the Mouth of the Orinoco
5. Columbus thinks himself near the Earthly Paradise
6. Daring Deed of Diego Mendez
7. How Diego Mendez got Food for Columbus
8. How Diego Mendez saved Columbus
9. Appeal of Columbus in his Old Age
III. CABOT AND VERRAZZANO (1497‒1524)
1. First News of John and Sebastian Cabot
2. Sebastian Cabot’s Voyage
3. Verrazzano’s Letter to the King
IV. THE STRANGE VOYAGE OF CABEZA DE VACA (1528‒1533)
1. The Strange Voyage
2. Cabeza de Vaca saved by Indians
3. Cabeza de Vaca’s Captivity
4. The Indians of the Gulf of Mexico
5. Cabeza de Vaca’s Escape
V. THE FRENCH IN CANADA (1534‒1536)
1. Cartier’s Visit to Bay of Chaleur
2. Cartier sets up a Cross
3. Cartier ascends the St. Lawrence
4. How the Indians tried to frighten Cartier
5. How Cartier reached Hochelaga, now Montreal
6. The Festivities at Hochelaga
VI. ADVENTURES OF DE SOTO (1538‒1542)
1. How De Soto set sail
2. De Soto attacks the Indians, and finds a Fellow
Countryman
3. The Story of John Ortiz
4. De Soto discovers the Mississippi
5. De Soto’s Vain Attempts to reach the Sea
6. Death and Burial of De Soto
VII. THE FRENCH IN FLORIDA (1562‒1565)
1. Jean Ribaut in Florida
2. Alone in the New World
3. Laudonnière’s Search for the Colonists
4. Capture of Fort Caroline by the Spaniards
VIII. SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT (1583)
IX. THE LOST COLONIES OF VIRGINIA (1584‒1590)
1. The First Voyage to Virginia
2. Visit to an Indian Princess
3. Adventures of the First Virginia Colony
4. The Second English Colony in Virginia
5. Search for the Lost Colony
X. UNSUCCESSFUL NEW ENGLAND SETTLEMENTS (1602‒1607)
1. Gosnold’s Fort at Cuttyhunk
2. Captain Waymouth explores the Penobscot
3. The Popham Colony on the Kennebec
4. Captain Gilbert’s Adventure with Indians
XI. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH (1606‒1631)
1. The Virginia Colony
2. The Colonists
3. Captain Smith’s Capture by Indians
4. Captain Smith and Pocahontas
5. King Powhatan
6. A Virginia Princess
7. An Indian Dance in Virginia
8. Indian Children
9. “The Planter’s Pleasure and Profit”
10. The Glories of Fishing
11. Visit of Pocahontas to London
12. First Buildings of the Virginia Colonists
13. Captain Smith’s Recollections
XII. CHAMPLAIN ON THE WAR-PATH (1609)
XIII. HENRY HUDSON AND THE NEW NETHERLANDS (1609‒1626)
1. Discovery of the Hudson River
2. Indian Traditions of Hudson’s Arrival
3. Hudson’s Last Voyage, and how he was set adrift in
the Ice
4. Dutch Settlement of the New Netherlands
XIV. THE PILGRIMS AT PLYMOUTH (1620‒1621)
1. Sailing of the Pilgrims
2. Miles Standish at Cape Cod
3. The First Encounter
4. The Landing on Plymouth Rock
5. Plymouth Village founded
6. “Welcome, Englishmen!”
XV. THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY (1629‒1631)
1. Voyage of the Massachusetts Colonists
2. The Puritans in Salem Harbor
3. The Four Elements in New England
4. A Sea-Adventure of the Puritans
5. Governor Winthrop’s Night out of Doors
6. The Privations of the Puritans
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
DESIGNED AND ENGRAVED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF GEORGE T. ANDREW.
1. Columbus at the Mouth of the Orinoco
2. A Norse Ship
3. Esquimau Boat
4. Dutch Man-of-War
5. Reception of Columbus by Ferdinand and Isabella
6. Fleet of Columbus
7. Ship of the Fifteenth Century
8. Portrait of Verrazzano
9. Verrazzano in Newport Harbor
10. Indians making Canoes
11. Cabeza de Vaca building the Boat
12. Portrait of Jacques Cartier
13. Cartier raising a Cross on the St. Charles River
14. Indians trying to frighten Cartier
15. Portrait of De Soto
16. Landing of De Soto
17. Burial of De Soto
18. Indians in Canoe
19. Ribaut’s Pillar decorated by Indians
20. Fort Caroline
21. Portrait of Menendez
22. Indian Village in Virginia
23. Baptism of First Child in Virginia
24. The Explorers looking at the Tree
25. Palisaded Town
26. Gosnold’s Fort
27. Captain Weymouth sailing up the Penobscot
28. Portrait of James I.
29. Old Print of Smith’s Capture
30. Facsimile Illustration of Pocahontas saving the Life of Smith
31. Indian Dance
32. Cod-Fishing
33. Portrait of Pocahontas
34. Portrait of Champlain
35. Champlain on the War-Path
36. Hudson in the Highlands
37. Indians on Board “The Half-Moon”
38. Settlement on the Hudson River
39. Delph’s Haven
40. “The Mayflower” in Provincetown
41. Portrait of Governor Winslow
42. Sword of Standish
43. Sunday on Clark’s Island
44. Landing of Mary Chilton
45. Meeting of Captain Standish and Massasoit
46. Governor Carver’s Chair
47. Portrait of Francis Higginson
48. Governor Endicott
49. First Church in Salem
50. Old Planter’s House at Salem
51. Portrait of Governor Winthrop
52. Famine among the Pilgrims
BOOK I.
THE LEGENDS OF THE NORTHMEN.
(A.D. 985‒1008.)
THESE extracts are taken from two Icelandic works called Tháttr Eireks Rauda (the piece about Eirek the Red) and Graenlendinga Thátt (the piece about the Greenlanders). These passages were translated by J. Elliot Cabot, Esq., and were published in “The Massachusetts Quarterly Review” for March, 1849.
It is now the general belief of historians, that these legends are mainly correct; and that the region described as Vinland was a part of the North-American Continent. Beyond this we do not know. The poet Whittier has written thus of these early explorers, in his poem called “The Norsemen:”――
“What sea-worn barks are those which throw
The light spray from each rushing prow?
Have they not in the North Sea’s blast
Bowed to the waves the straining mast?
Their frozen sails the low, pale sun
Of Thule’s night has shone upon;
Flapped by the sea-wind’s gusty sweep,
Round icy drift and headland steep.
Wild Jutland’s wives and Lochlin’s daughters
Have watched them fading o’er the waters,
Lessening through driving mist and spray,
Like white-winged sea-birds on their way.
Onward they glide; and now I view
Their iron-armed and stalwart crew:
Joy glistens in each wild blue eye
Turned to green earth and summer sky:
Each broad, seamed breast has cast aside
Its cumbering vest of shaggy hide:
Bared to the sun, and soft warm air,
Streams back the Norseman’s yellow hair.
I see the gleam of axe and spear;
The sound of smitten shields I hear,
Keeping a harsh and fitting time
To Saga’s chant and Runic rhyme.”
THE LEGENDS OF THE NORTHMEN.
I.――HOW THE NORTHMEN DISCOVERED NORTH AMERICA.
[About the year 860, a Danish sailor named Gardar was driven upon the shores of Iceland, after which that island was settled by a colony from Norway. About a hundred years later, Greenland was settled from Iceland; Eirek the Red being the first to make the voyage. With him went one Heriulf, whose son Biarni had been in the habit of passing every other winter with his father, and then sailing on distant voyages. Then happened what follows.]
THAT same summer (985 or 986) came Biarni with his ship to Eyrar (Iceland), in the spring of which his father had sailed from the island. These tidings seemed to Biarni weighty, and he would not unload his ship. Then asked his sailors[1] what he meant to do. He answered, that he meant to hold to his wont,[2] and winter with his father; “and I will bear for Greenland, if you will follow me thither.” All said they would do as he wished. Then said Biarni, “Imprudent they will think our voyage, since none of us has been in the Greenland Sea.”
Illustration: A NORSE SHIP.
Yet they bore out to sea as soon as they were bound,[3] and sailed three days, till the land was sunk.[4] Then the fair wind fell off, and there arose north winds and fogs, and they knew not whither they fared; and so it went for many days. After that, they saw the sun, and could then get their bearings. Then they hoisted sail, and sailed that day before they saw land; and they counselled with themselves what land that might be. But Biarni said he thought it could not be Greenland. They asked him whether he would sail to the land, or not. “This is my counsel, to sail nigh to the land,” said he. And so they did, and soon saw that the land was without fells,[5] and wooded, and small heights on the land; and they left the land to larboard, and let the foot of the sail look towards land.[6] After that, they sailed two days before they saw another land. They asked if Biarni thought this was Greenland. He said he thought it no more Greenland than the first; “for the glaciers are very huge, as they say, in Greenland.” They soon neared the land, and saw that it was flat land, and overgrown with wood.[7] Then the fair wind fell. Then the sailors said that it seemed prudent to them to land there; but Biarni would not. They thought they needed both wood and water. “Of neither are you in want,” said Biarni; but he got some hard speeches for that from his sailors. He bade them hoist sail, and so they did; and they turned the bows from the land, and sailed out to sea with a west-south wind three days, and saw a third land; but that land was high, mountainous, and covered with glaciers.[8] They asked then if Biarni would put ashore there; but he said he would not, “for this land seems to me not very promising.” They did not lower their sails, but held on along this land, and saw that it was an island; but they turned the stern to the land, and sailed seawards with the same fair wind. But the wind rose; and Biarni bade them shorten sail, and not to carry more than their ship and tackle would bear. They sailed now four days, then saw they land the fourth. Then they asked Biarni whether he thought that was Greenland, or not. Biarni answered, “That is likest to what is said to me of Greenland; and we will put ashore.” So they did, and landed under a certain ness[9] at evening of the day. And there was a boat at the ness, and there lived Heriulf, the father of Biarni, on this ness; and from him has the ness taken its name, and is since called Heriulfsness. Now fared[10] Biarni to his father, and gave up sailing, and was with his father whilst Heriulf lived, and afterwards lived there after his father.
II.――THE VOYAGE OF LEIF THE LUCKY.
[After Biarni had reached the Greenland settlement, and told his story, he was blamed for not having explored these unknown lands more carefully; and Leif the Lucky bought Biarni’s vessel, and set sail with thirty-five companions, to see what he could discover.]
(A.D. 999.) First they found the land which Biarni had found last. Then sailed they to the land, and cast anchor, and put off a boat, and went ashore, and saw there no grass. Mickle[11] glaciers were over all the higher parts; but it was like a plain of rock from the glaciers to the sea, and it seemed to them that the land was good for nothing. Then said Leif, “We have not done about this land like Biarni, not to go upon it: now I will give a name to the land, and call it Helluland (flat-stone land).”[12] Then they went to their ship. After that they sailed into the sea, and found another land, sailed up to it, and cast anchor; then put off a boat, and went ashore. This land was flat, and covered with wood and broad white sands wherever they went, and the shore was low. Then said Leif, “From its make[13] shall a name be given to this land; and it shall be called Markland (Woodland).”[14] Then they went quickly down to the vessel. Now they sailed thence into the sea with a north-east wind, and were out two days before they saw land; and they sailed to land, and came to an island that lay north of the land; and they went on to it, and looked about them in good weather, and found that dew lay upon the grass;[15] and that happened that they put their hands in the dew, and brought it to their mouths, and they thought they had never known any thing so sweet as that was. Then they went to their ship, and sailed into that sound that lay between the island and a ness[16] which went northward from the land, and then steered westward past the ness. There were great shoals at ebb-tide; and their vessel stood up;[17] and it was far to see from the ship to the sea. But they were so curious to fare to the land, that they could not bear to bide till the sea came under their ship, and ran ashore where a river flows out from a lake. But, when the sea came under their ship, then took they the boat, and rowed to the ship, and took it up into the river, and then into the lake, and there cast anchor, and bore from the ship their skin-cots,[18] and made their booths.
Afterwards they took counsel to stay there that winter, and made there great houses. There was no scarcity of salmon in the rivers and lakes, and larger salmon than they had before seen. There was the land so good, as it seemed to them, that no cattle would want fodder for the winter. There came no frost in the winter, and little did the grass fall off there. Day and night were more equal there than in Greenland or Iceland.... But when they had ended their house-building, then said Leif to his companions, “Now let our company be divided into two parts, and the land kenned;[19] and one half of the people shall be at the house at home, but the other half shall ken the land, and fare not further than that they may come home at evening, and they shall not separate.” Now so they did one time. Leif changed about, so that he went with them (one day) and (the next) was at home at the house. Leif was a mickle[20] man and stout, most noble to see, a wise man, and moderate in all things.
III.――LEIF FINDS VINES, AND GOES BACK TO GREENLAND.
ONE evening it chanced that a man was wanting of their people; and this was Tyrker, the Southerner.[21] Leif took this very ill; for Tyrker had been long with his parents, and loved Leif much in his childhood. Leif now chid his people sharply, and made ready to fare forth to seek him, and twelve men with him. But when they had gone a little way, there came Tyrker to meet them, and was joyfully received. Leif found at once that his old friend was somewhat out of his mind: he was bustling and unsteady-eyed, freckled in face, little and wizened in growth, but a man of skill in all arts. Then said Leif to him, “Why wert thou so late, my fosterer,[22] and separated from the party?” He talked at first a long while in German, and rolled many ways his eyes, and twisted his face; but they skilled not what he said. He said then in Norse, after a time, “I went not very far; but I have great news to tell. I have found grape-vines and grapes.”――“Can that be true, my fosterer?” quoth Leif. “Surely it is true,” quoth he; “for I was brought up where there is no want of grape-vines or grapes.” Then they slept for the night; but in the morning Leif said to his sailors, “Now we shall have two jobs: each day we will either gather grapes, or hew grape-vines, and fell trees, so there will be a cargo for my ship;” and that was the counsel taken. It is said that their long boat was filled with grapes. Now was hewn a cargo for the ship; And when spring came they got ready, and sailed off; and Leif gave a name to the land after its sort, and called it Vinland (Wine-Land). They sailed then afterwards into the sea, and had a fair wind until they saw Greenland, and the fells[23] under the glaciers.... After that he was called Leif the Lucky. Leif was now both well to do and honored....
Now there was a great talk about Leif’s Vinland voyage; and Thorvald, his brother, thought the land had been too little explored. Then said Leif to Thorvald, “Thou shalt go with my ship, brother, if thou wilt, to Vinland.”[24]
IV.――THORVALD, LEIF’S BROTHER, GOES TO VINLAND.
NOW Thorvald made ready for this voyage with thirty men, with the counsel thereon of Leif, his brother. Then they fitted out their ship, and bore out to sea (A.D. 1002): and there is nothing told of their voyage before they came to Vinland, to Leif’s booths; and they laid up their ship, and dwelt in peace there that winter, and caught fish for their meat. But in the spring, Thorvald said they would get ready their ship, and send their long-boat, and some men with it, along to the westward of the land, and explore it during the summer. The land seemed to them fair and woody, and narrow between the woods and the sea, and of white sand. There were many islands and great shoals. They found neither man’s abode nor beast’s; but, on an island to the westward, they found a corn-shed of wood. More works of men they found not; and they went back, and came to Leif’s booths in the fall. But the next summer fared Thorvald eastward with the merchant-ship, and coasted to the northward. Here a heavy storm arose as they were passing one of two capes, and drove them up there, and broke the keel under the ship; and they dwelt there long, and mended their ship. Then said Thorvald to his companions, “Now will I that we raise up here the keel on the ness,[25] and call it Keelness;”[26] and so they did.
After that, they sailed thence, and coasted to the eastward, and into the mouths of the firths[27] that were nearest to them, and to a headland that stretched out. This was all covered with wood: here they brought the ship into harbor, and shoved a bridge on to the land, and Thorvald went ashore with all his company. He said then, “Here it is fair, and here would I like to raise my dwelling.” They went then to the ship, and saw upon the sands within the headland three heights; and they went thither, and saw there three skin-boats, and three men under each. Then they divided their people, and laid hands on them all, except one that got off with his boat. They killed these eight, and went then back to the headland, and looked about them there, and saw in the firth some heights, and thought they were dwellings. After that there came a heaviness on them so great that they could not keep awake; and all slumbered. Then came a call above them, so that they all awoke. Thus said the call, “Awake, Thorvald, and all thy company, if thou wilt keep thy life; and fare thou to thy ship, and all thy men, and fare from the land of the quickest.”[28] Then came from the firth innumerable skin-boats, and made toward them.
Thorvald said then, “We will set up our battle-shields, and guard ourselves the best we can, but fight little against them.” So they did, and the Skraelings[29] shot at them for a while, but then fled, each as fast as he could. Then Thorvald asked his men if any of them was hurt: they said they were not hurt. “I have got a hurt under the arm,” said he; “for an arrow flew between the bulwarks and the shield under my arm; and here is the arrow, and that will be my death. Now I counsel that ye make ready as quickly as may be to return; but ye shall bear me to the headland which I thought the likeliest place to build. It may be it was a true word I spoke, that I should dwell there for a time. There ye shall bury me, and set crosses at my head and feet, and call it Krossanes[30] henceforth.” Greenland was then Christianized; but Eirek the Red had died before Christianity came thither.
Now Thorvald died; but they did every thing according as he had said, and then went and found their companions, and told each other the news they had to tell, and lived there that winter, and gathered grapes and vines for loading the ship. Then in the spring they made ready to sail for Greenland, and came with their ship to Eireksfirth, and had great tidings to tell to Leif.
V.――KARLSEFNI’S ADVENTURES.
[Karlsefni, a rich Norwegian, came to Greenland, staid at Leif’s house, married a wife, and was finally persuaded to bring a colony of sixty men and five women to Vinland.]
THIS agreement made Karlsefni and his seamen, that they should have even handed[31] all that they should get in the way of goods. They had with them all sorts of cattle, as they thought to settle there if they might. Karlsefni begged Leif for his house in Vinland; but he said he would lend him the house, but not give it. Then they bore out to the sea with the ship, and came to Leif’s booths, hale and whole, and landed there their cattle. There soon came into their hands a great and good prize; for a whale was driven ashore, both great and good; then they went to cut up the whale, and had no scarcity of food. The cattle went up into the country; and it soon happened that the male cattle became wild and unruly. They had with them a bull. Karlsefni had wood felled, and brought to the ship, and had the wood piled on the cliff to dry. They had all the good things of the country, both of grapes, and of all sorts of game and other things.
Illustration: ESQUIMAU BOAT.
After the first winter came the summer; then they saw appear the Skraelings, and there came from out the wood a great number of men. Near by were their neat-cattle; and the bull took to bellowing, and roared loudly, whereat the Skraelings were frightened, and ran off with their bundles. These were furs and sable-skins, and skin-wares of all kinds. And they turned toward Karlsefni’s booths, and wanted to get into the house; but Karlsefni had the doors guarded. Neither party understood the other’s language. Then the Skraelings took down their bags, and opened them, and offered them for sale, and wanted, above all, to have weapons for them. But Karlsefni forbade them to sell weapons. He took this plan: he bade the women bring out their dairy-stuff[32] for them; and, so soon as they saw this, they would have that, and nothing more. Now this was the way the Skraelings traded: they bore off their wares in their stomachs. But Karlsefni and his companions had their bags and skin-wares, and so they parted. Now hereof is this to say, that Karlsefni had posts driven strongly round about his booths, and made all complete. At this time Gudrid, the wife of Karlsefni, bore a man-child, and he was called Snorri. In the beginning of the next winter the Skraelings came to them again, and were many more than before; and they had the same wares as before. Then Karlsefni said to the women, “Now bring forth the same food that was most liked before, and no other.” And, when they saw it, they cast their bundles in over the fence.... [But one of them being killed by one of Karlsefni’s men, they all fled in haste, and left their garments and wares behind.] “Now I think we need a good counsel,” said Karlsefni; “for I think they will come for the third time in anger, and with many men. Now we must do this: ten men must go out on that ness,[33] and show themselves there; but another party must go into the wood, and hew a place for our neat-cattle when the foe shall come from the wood; and we must take the bull, and let him go before us.” But thus it was with the place where they thought to meet, that a lake was on one side, and the wood on the other. Now it was done as Karlsefni had said. Now came the Skraelings to the place where Karlsefni had thought should be the battle; and now there was a battle, and many of the Skraelings fell.
There was one large and handsome man among the Skraelings; and Karlsefni thought he might be their leader. Now one of the Skraelings had taken up an axe, and looked at it a while, and struck at one of his fellows, and hit him, whereupon he fell dead; then the large man took the axe, and looked at it a while, and threw it into the sea as far as he could. But after that they fled to the wood, each as fast as he could; and thus ended the strife. Karlsefni and his companions were there all that winter; but in the spring Karlsefni said he would stay there no longer, and would fare to Greenland. Now they made ready for the voyage, and bare thence much goods, namely, grape-vines and grapes and skin-wares. Now they sailed into the sea, and came whole with their ships to Eireksfirth, and were there that winter.
Illustration: DUTCH MAN-OF-WAR.
BOOK II.
COLUMBUS AND HIS COMPANIONS.
(A.D. 1492‒1503.)
Illustration: RECEPTION OF COLUMBUS BY FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
The following passages are taken from “Select Letters of Christopher Columbus,” published by the Hakluyt Society, London, 1847, pp. 1‒17, 20‒22, 27, 33‒36, 40‒42, 114‒121, 129‒138, 200‒202, 205‒210, 214‒225. These letters were translated by R. H. Major, Esq., of the British Museum.
COLUMBUS AND HIS COMPANIONS.
I.――THE FIRST LETTER FROM COLUMBUS.
[This letter was written on board ship, by Columbus, March 14, 1493, “to the noble Lord Raphael Sanchez, Treasurer to their most invincible Majesties, Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Spain.” It was written in Spanish, but the original is supposed to be lost. Latin translations of it were made and published in different cities; and a poetical translation was made in Italian, and was sung about the streets of Italy.]
KNOWING that it will afford you pleasure to learn that I have brought my undertaking to a successful termination, I have decided upon writing you this letter to acquaint you with all the events which have occurred in my voyage, and the discoveries which have resulted from it. Thirty-three days after my departure from Cadiz, I reached the Indian Sea,[34] where I discovered many islands, thickly peopled, of which I took possession, without resistance, in the name of our most illustrious Monarch, by public proclamation and with unfurled banners. To the first of these islands, which is called by the Indians Guanahani, I gave the name of the blessed Saviour (San Salvador), relying upon whose protection I had reached this as well as the other islands. To each of these I also gave a name, ordering that one should be called Santa Maria de la Concepcion; another, Fernandina; the third, Isabella; the fourth, Juana; and so with all the rest respectively. As soon as we arrived at that, which, as I have said, was named Juana,[35] I proceeded along its coast a short distance westward, and found it to be so large, and apparently without termination, that I could not suppose it to be an island, but the continental province of Cathay.[36] Seeing, however, no towns or populous places on the seacoast, but only a few detached houses and cottages, with whose inhabitants I was unable to communicate, because they fled as soon as they saw us, I went further on, thinking, that, in my progress, I should certainly find some city or village.
At length, after proceeding a great way, and finding that nothing new presented itself, and that the line of coast was leading us northwards, I resolved not to attempt any further progress, but rather to turn back, and retrace my course to a certain bay that I had observed, and from which I afterwards despatched two of our men to ascertain whether there were a king or any cities in that province. These men reconnoitred the country for three days, and found a most numerous population, and great numbers of houses, though small, and built without any regard to order; with which information they returned to us. In the mean time, I had learned from some Indians whom I had seized, that that country was certainly an island; and therefore I sailed towards the east, coasting to the distance of three hundred and twenty-two miles, which brought us to the extremity of it: from this point I saw lying eastwards another island, fifty-four miles distant from Juana, to which I gave the name of Española.[37]...
All these islands are very beautiful, and distinguished by a diversity of scenery. They are filled with a great variety of trees of immense height, and which I believe to retain their foliage in all seasons; for when I saw them they were as verdant and luxuriant as they usually are in Spain in the month of May,――some of them were blossoming, some bearing fruit, and all flourishing in the greatest perfection, according to their respective stages of growth, and the nature and quality of each: yet the islands are not so thickly wooded as to be impassable. The nightingale and various birds were singing in countless numbers, and that in November, the month in which I arrived there....
None of them,[38] as I have already said, are possessed of any iron; neither have they weapons, being unacquainted with, and, indeed, incompetent to use, them; not from any deformity of body――for they are well formed,――but because they are timid, and full of fear. They carry, however, in lieu[39] of arms, canes dried in the sun, on the ends of which they fix heads of dried wood sharpened to a point: and even these they dare not use habitually; for it has often occurred, when I have sent two or three of my men to any of the villages to speak with the natives, that they have come out in a disorderly troop, and have fled in such haste, at the approach of our men, that the fathers forsook their children, and the children their fathers.
This timidity did not arise from any loss or injury that they had received from us; for, on the contrary, I gave to all I approached whatever articles I had about me, such as cloth, and many other things, taking nothing of theirs in return: but they are naturally timid and fearful. As soon, however, as they see that they are safe, and have laid aside all fear, they are very simple and honest, and exceedingly liberal with all that they have, none of them refusing any thing he may possess when he is asked for it, but, on the contrary, inviting us to ask them. They exhibit great love towards all others in preference to themselves: they also give objects of great value for trifles, and content themselves with very little, or nothing, in return. I, however, forbade that these trifles and articles of no value――such as pieces of dishes, plates and glass, keys, and leather straps――should be given to them, although, if they could obtain them, they imagined themselves to be possessed of the most beautiful trinkets in the world. It even happened that a sailor received for a leather strap as much gold as was worth three golden nobles; and for things of more trifling value offered by our men, especially newly coined blancas,[40] or any gold coins, the Indians would give whatever the seller required; as, for instance, an ounce and a half or two ounces of gold, or thirty or forty pounds of cotton; with which commodity they were already acquainted.
Thus they bartered, like idiots, cotton and gold for fragments of bows, glasses, bottles, and jars; which I forbade, as being unjust, and myself gave them many beautiful and acceptable articles which I had brought with me, taking nothing from them in return. I did this in order that I might the more easily conciliate them, that they might be led to become Christians, and be inclined to entertain a regard for the king and queen, our princes, and all Spaniards; and that I might induce them to take an interest in seeking out, and collecting, and delivering to us, such things as they possessed in abundance, but which we greatly needed.
They practise no kind of idolatry, but have a firm belief that all strength and power, and indeed all good things, are in heaven, and I had descended from thence with these ships and sailors; and under this impression was I received after they had thrown aside their fears. Nor are they slow or stupid, but of very clear understanding; and those men who have crossed to the neighboring islands give an admirable description of every thing they observed: but they never saw any people clothed, nor any ships like ours.
On my arrival at that sea, I had taken some Indians by force from the first island that I came to, in order that they might learn our language, and communicate to us what they knew respecting the country; which plan succeeded excellently, and was a great advantage to us; for in a short time, either by gestures and signs, or by words, we were enabled to understand each other. These men are still travelling with me, and, although they have been with us now a long time, they continue to entertain the idea that I have descended from heaven; and on our arrival at any new place they publish this, crying out immediately with a loud voice to the other Indians, “Come! come and look upon beings of a celestial race;” upon which both women and men, children and adults, young men and old, when they got rid of the fear they at first entertained, would come out in throngs, crowding the roads to see us, some bringing food, others drink, with astonishing affection and kindness.
Each of these islands has a great number of canoes, built of solid wood, narrow, and not unlike our double-banked boats in length and shape, but swifter in their motion: they steer them only by the oar. These canoes are of various sizes; but the greater number are constructed with eighteen banks[41] of oars: and with these they cross to the other islands, which are of countless number, to carry on traffic with the people. I saw some of these canoes that held as many as seventy-eight rowers. In all these islands there is no difference of physiognomy, of manners, or of language; but they all clearly understand each other.... There are in the western part of the island two provinces which I did not visit: one of these is called by the Indians Anam, and its inhabitants are born with tails.[42]...
Finally, to compress into few words the entire summary of my voyage and speedy return, and of the advantages derivable therefrom, I promise, that, with a little assistance afforded me by our most invincible sovereigns, I will procure them as much gold as they need, as great a quantity of spices, of cotton, and of mastic, which is only found at Chios, and as many men for the service of the navy, as their Majesties may require. I promise, also, rhubarb, and other sorts of drugs, which I am persuaded the men whom I have left in the aforesaid fortress have found already, and will continue to find. I myself have tarried nowhere longer than I was compelled to do by the winds, except in the city of Navidad, while I provided for the building of the fortress, and took the necessary precautions for the perfect security of the men I left there. Although all I have related may appear to be wonderful and unheard of, yet the results of my voyage would have been more astonishing, if I had had at my disposal such ships as I required....
Thus it has happened to me in the present instance, who have accomplished a task to which the powers of mortal man have never hitherto attained; for, if there have been those who have anywhere written or spoken of these islands, they have done so with doubts and conjectures; and no one has ever asserted that he has seen them, on which account their writings have been looked upon as little else than fables. Therefore let the king and queen, our princes and their most happy kingdoms, and all the other provinces of Christendom, render thanks to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who has granted us so great a victory, and such prosperity. Let processions be made, and sacred feasts be held, and the temples be adorned with festive boughs. Let Christ rejoice on earth, as he rejoices in heaven, in the prospect of the salvation of the souls of so many nations hitherto lost. Let us also rejoice, as well on account of the exaltation of our faith, as on account of the increase of our temporal prosperity, of which not only Spain, but all Christendom, will be partakers.
Such are the events which I have briefly described.
Farewell. Christopher Columbus, Admiral of the Fleet of the Ocean.
LISBON, the 14th of March.
II.――SECOND VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS.
[This description is taken from a letter by Dr. Chanca, physician to the fleet of Columbus, to the authorities of Seville, Dr. Chanca’s residence.]
ON the first Sunday after All Saints, namely, the 3d of November [1493], about dawn, a pilot of the ship “Capitana” cried out, “The reward! I see the land!” The joy of the people was so great, that it was wonderful to hear their cries and exclamations of pleasure. And they had good reason to be delighted; for they had become so wearied of bad living, and of working the water out of the ships, that all sighed most anxiously for land....
On the morning of the aforesaid Sunday, we saw lying before us an island;[43] and soon on the right hand another appeared: the first was high and mountainous, on the side nearest to us; the other flat, and very thickly wooded. As soon as it became lighter, other islands began to appear on both sides; so that on that day there were six islands to be seen lying in different directions, and most of them of considerable size. We directed our course towards that which we had first seen; and, reaching the coast, we proceeded more than a league in search of a port where we might anchor, but without finding one. All that part of the island which we could observe appeared mountainous, very beautiful, and green even up to the water, which was delightful to see; for at that season there is scarcely any thing green in our own country. When we found that there was no harbor there, the admiral decided that we should go to the other island, which appeared on the right, and which was at four or five leagues distance: one vessel, however, still remained on the first island all that day, seeking for a harbor, in case it should be necessary to return thither. At length, having found a good one, where they saw both people and dwellings, they returned that night to the fleet, which had put into harbor at the other island;[44] and there the admiral, accompanied by a great number of men, landed with a royal banner in his hands, and took formal possession in behalf of their Majesties....
On this first day of our landing, several men and women came on the beach up to the water’s edge, and gazed at the boats in astonishment at so novel a sight; and, when a boat pushed on shore to speak with them, they cried out, “Tayno, tayno!” which is as much as to say, “Good, good!” and waited for the landing of the sailors, standing by the boat in such a manner that they might escape when they pleased. The result was, that none of the men could be persuaded to join us; and only two were taken by force, who were secured, and led away....
Another day, at the dinner-hour, we arrived at an island[45] which seemed to be worth finding; for, judging by the extent of cultivation in it, it appeared very populous. We went thither, and put into harbor, when the admiral immediately sent on shore a well-manned barge to hold speech with the Indians, in order to ascertain what race they were, and also because we considered it necessary to gain some information respecting our course; although it afterwards plainly appeared that the admiral, who had never made that passage before, had taken a very correct route. But, since doubtful questions ought always by investigation to be reduced as nearly to a certainty as possible, he wished that communication should be held with the natives at once; and some of the men who went in a barge leaped on shore, and went up to a village, whence the inhabitants had already withdrawn, and hidden themselves. They took in this island five or six women and some boys, most of whom were captives, like those in the other island. We learned from the women whom we had brought with us, that the natives of this place also were Caribbees. As this barge was about to return to the ships with the capture which they had taken, a canoe came along the coast, containing four men, two women, and a boy; and, when they saw the fleet, they were so stupefied with amazement, that for a good hour they remained motionless at the distance of nearly two gunshots from the ships. In this position they were seen by those who were in the barge, and also by all the fleet. Meanwhile, those in the barge moved towards the canoe, but so close in shore, that the Indians, in their perplexity and astonishment as to what all this could mean, never saw them until they were so near that escape was impossible; for our men pressed on them so rapidly, that they could not get away, although they made considerable effort to do so.
When the Caribbees saw that all attempt at flight was useless, they most courageously took to their bows, both women and men: I say most courageously, because they were only four men and two women, and our people were twenty-five in number. Two of our men were wounded by the Indians, one with two arrow-shots in his breast, and another with one in his side; and if it had not happened that they carried shields and wooden bucklers, and that they got near them with the barge, and upset their canoe, most of them would have been killed with their arrows. After their canoe was upset, they remained in the water, swimming and occasionally wading――for there were shallows in that part,――still using their bows as much as they could; so that our men had enough to do to take them: and, after all, there was one of them whom they were unable to secure till he had received a mortal wound with a lance, and whom, thus wounded, they took to the ships. The difference between these Caribbees and the other Indians, with respect to dress, consists in their wearing their hair very long; while the others have it clipped irregularly, and paint their heads with crosses and a hundred thousand different devices, each according to his fancy, which they do with sharpened reeds. All of them, both the Caribbees and the others, are beardless; so that it is a rare thing to find a man with a beard. The Caribbees whom we took had their eyes and eyebrows stained, which I imagine they do from ostentation, and to give them a more formidable appearance....
The country[46] is very remarkable, and contains a vast number of large rivers, and extensive chains of mountains, with broad open valleys; and the mountains are very high. It does not appear that the grass is ever cut throughout the year. I do not think they have any winter in this part; for near Navidad (at Christmas) were found many birds’-nests, some containing the young birds, and others containing eggs. No four-footed animal has ever been seen in this or any of the other islands, except some dogs of various colors, as in our own country, but in shape like large house-dogs; and also some little animals, in color, size, and fur like a rabbit, with long tails, and feet like those of a rat. These animals climb up the trees; and many who have tasted them say they are very good to eat.[47] There are not any wild beasts. There are great numbers of small snakes, and some lizards, but not many; for the Indians consider them as great a luxury as we do pheasants: they are of the same size as ours, but different in shape. In a small adjacent island, close by a harbor called Monte Christo, where we staid several days, our men saw an enormous kind of lizard,[48] which they said was as large round as a calf, with a tail as long as a lance, which they often went out to kill; but, bulky as it was, it got into the sea, so that they could not catch it. There are, both in this and the other islands, an infinite number of birds like those in our own country, and many others such as we had never seen. No kind of domestic fowl has been seen here, with the exception of some ducks in the houses in Zuruquia: these ducks were larger than those of Spain, though smaller than geese,――very pretty, with tufts on their heads, most of them as white as snow, but some black.
III.――COLUMBUS REACHES THE MAINLAND.
[From his narrative of his third voyage, 1498.]
I THEN gave up our northward course, and put in for the land. At the hour of complines[49] we reached a cape, which I called Cape Galea,[50] having already given to the island the name of Trinidad; and here we found a harbor, which would have been excellent, but that there was no good anchorage. We saw houses and people on the spot; and the country around was very beautiful, and as fresh and green as the gardens of Valencia in the month of March....
The next day I set sail in the same direction, in search of a harbor where I might repair the vessels, and take in water, as well as improve the stock of provisions which I had brought out with me. When we had taken in a pipe of water, we proceeded onwards till we reached the cape; and there finding good anchorage, and protection from the east wind, I ordered the anchors to be dropped, the water-cask to be repaired, a supply of water and wood to be taken in, and the people to rest themselves from the fatigues which they had endured for so long a time. I gave to this point the name of Sandy Point (Punta del Arenal).
All the ground in the neighborhood was filled with footmarks of animals, like the impression of the foot of a goat; but, although it would have appeared from this circumstance that they were very numerous, only one was seen, and that was dead. On the following day a large canoe came from the eastward, containing twenty-four men, all in the prime of life, and well provided with arms, such as bows, arrows, and wooden shields. They were all, as I have said, young, well-proportioned, and not dark black, but whiter than any other Indians that I had seen,――of very graceful gesture and handsome forms, wearing their hair long and straight, and cut in the Spanish style. Their heads were bound round with cotton scarfs elaborately worked in colors, which resembled the Moorish head-dresses. Some of these scarfs were worn round the body, and used as a covering in lieu of trousers. The natives spoke to us from the canoe while it was yet at a considerable distance; but none of us could understand them. I made signs to them, however, to come nearer to us; and more than two hours were spent in this manner: but if, by any chance, they moved a little nearer, they soon pushed off again.
I caused basins and other shining objects to be shown to them to tempt them to come near; and, after a long time, they came somewhat nearer than they had hitherto done; upon which, as I was very anxious to speak with them, and had nothing else to show them to induce them to approach, I ordered a drum to be played upon the quarter-deck, and some of our young men to dance, believing the Indians would come to see the amusement. No sooner, however, did they perceive the beating of the drum, and the dancing, than they all left their oars, and strung their bows, and, each man laying hold of his shield, they commenced discharging their arrows at us; upon this the music and dancing soon ceased, and I ordered a charge[51] to be made from some of our cross-bows: they then left us, and went rapidly to the other caravel,[52] and placed themselves under its poop. The pilot of that vessel received them courteously, and gave to the man who appeared to be their chief a coat and hat; and it was then arranged between them that he should go to speak with him on shore. Upon this the Indians immediately went thither, and waited for him; but, as he would not go without my permission, he came to my ship in the boat, whereupon the Indians got into their canoe again, and went away, and I never saw any more of them, or of any of the other inhabitants of the island.
When I reached the Point of Arenal, I found that the Island of Trinidad formed with the land of Gracia,[53] a strait of two leagues width from east to west; and, as we had to pass through it to go to the north, we found some strong currents which crossed the strait, and which made a great roaring, so that I concluded there must be a reef of sand or rocks, which would preclude our entrance: and behind this current was another and another, all making a roaring noise like the sound of breakers against the rocks. I anchored there, under the said Point of Arenal, outside of the strait, and found the water rush from east to west with as much impetuosity as that of the Guadalquiver at its conflict with the sea; and this continued constantly day and night, so that it appeared to be impossible to move backwards for the current, or forwards for the shoals.
IV.――COLUMBUS AT THE MOUTH OF THE ORINOCO.
[ ‡ See Frontispiece for illustration.]
IN the dead of night, while I was on deck, I heard an awful roaring that came from the south towards the ship. I stopped to observe what it might be, and I saw the sea rolling from west to east, like a mountain as high as the ship, and approaching by little and little. On the top of this rolling sea came a mighty wave, roaring with a frightful noise; and with all this terrific uproar were other conflicting currents, producing, as I have already said, a sound as of breakers upon the rocks. To this day I have a vivid recollection of the dread I then felt, lest the ship might founder under the force of that tremendous sea; but it passed by, and reached the mouth of the before-mentioned passage, where the uproar lasted for a considerable time. On the following day I sent out boats to take soundings, and found that in the strait, at the deepest part of the embouchure,[54] there were six or seven fathoms of water, and that there were constant contrary currents,――one running inwards, and the other outwards. It pleased the Lord, however, to give us a favorable wind; and I passed through the middle of the strait, after which I recovered my tranquillity. The men happened at this time to draw up some water from the sea, which, strange to say, proved to be fresh. I then sailed northwards till I came to a very high mountain, at about twenty-six leagues from the Punta del Arenal: here two lofty headlands appeared,――one towards the east,[55] and forming part of the Island of Trinidad; and the other on the west,[56] being part of the land which I have already called Gracia. We found here a channel[57] still narrower than that of Arenal, with similar currents, and a tremendous roaring of water: the water here also was fresh.
Illustration: FLEET OF COLUMBUS.
Hitherto I had held no communication with any of the people of this country, although I very earnestly desired it. I therefore sailed along the coast westwards; and, the farther I advanced, the fresher and more wholesome I found the water; and, when I had proceeded a considerable distance, I reached a spot where the land appeared to be cultivated.... I then anchored at the mouth of a river; and we were soon visited by a great number of the inhabitants, who informed us that the country was called Paria, and that farther westward it was more fully peopled. I took four of these natives, and proceeded on my westward voyage; and, when I had gone eight leagues farther, I found on the other side of a point, which I called the Needle,[58] one of the most lovely countries in the world, and very thickly peopled. It was three o’clock in the morning when I reached it; and, seeing its verdure and beauty, I resolved to anchor there, and communicate with the inhabitants. Some of the natives came out to the ship in canoes, to beg me, in the name of their king, to go on shore. And, when they saw that I paid no attention to them, they came to the ship in their canoes in countless number; many of them wearing pieces of gold on their breasts, and some with bracelets of pearl on their arms.
V.――COLUMBUS THINKS HIMSELF NEAR THE EARTHLY PARADISE.