spain and civilization at the beginning of the sixteenth century.

general view—transition from the old to the new civilization—historical sketch of spain—spanish character—spanish society—prominent features of the age—domestic matters—the new world—comparative civilizations and savagisms—earliest voyages of discovery.

how stood this ever changing world four hundred years ago? already asia was prematurely old. ships skirted africa; but, save the northern seaboard, to all but heaven the continent was as dark as its stolid inhabitants. america was in swaddlings, knowing not its own existence, and known of none. europe was an aged youth, bearing the world-disturbing torch which still shed a dim, fitful light and malignant odor.

societies were held together by loyalty to civil and ecclesiastical rulers; not by that co?peration which springs from the common interests of the people. unhallowed were all things real; divine the unsubstantial and potential. beyond the stars were laid out spiritual cities, and under foot the hollow ground was dismal with the groans of the departed. regions 2 of the world outlying the known, were tenanted by sea-monsters, dragons, and hobgoblins. european commerce crept forth from walled towns and battlemented buildings, and peradventure, escaping the dangers of the land, hugged the shore in open boats, resting by night, and trembling amid-ships by day. learning was chiefly confined to the clergy. feudalism as a system was dead, but its evils remained. innumerable burdens were heaped upon the people by the dominant classes who gave them little protection in return. upon the most frivolous pretexts the fruits of their industry were seized and appropriated by their masters. it was a praiseworthy performance for a hundred thousand men to meet and slay each other to gratify the whim of a state minister or a king's concubine. then came a change, and by reason of their revised ptolemies, their antipodal soundings, and new geographies, their magnetic needles, printing machines, and men-killing implements, learning began to revive, and the people began in some faint degree to think for themselves.

under the shifting sands of progress truth incubates, and the hatched ideas fashion for themselves a great mind in which they may find lodgment; fashion for themselves a tongue by which to speak; fashion for themselves a lever by which to move the world.

transitional epoch.

the epoch of which i speak rested upon the confines of two civilizations, the old and the new. it was a transition period from the dim twilight of the dark age to the brightness of modern thought; from an age of unquestioning faith to one of curiosity and scepticism. it was a period of concretions and crystallizations, following one of many rarefactions; religion was embracing science; astrology was merging into astronomy; magic into physics; alchemy into chemistry. saltpetre was superseding steel in warfare; feudalism having fulfilled its purpose was being displaced by monarchical power; intercourse was springing 3 up between nations, and international laws were being made. even the material universe and the realms of space were enlarging with the enlargement of mind. two worlds were about that time unveiled to spain, an oriental and an occidental; by the capture of constantinople ancient greek and latin learning was emancipated, and the christian religion became settled as the faith of europe; while toward the west, the mists of the ages lifted from the ocean, and, as if emerging from primeval waters, a fair new continent ripe for a thousand industries stood revealed.

this was progress indeed, and the mind, bursting its medi?val fetters, stood forth and took a new survey. with the dawn of the sixteenth century there appeared a universal awakening throughout christendom. slumbering civilization, roused by the heavy tread of marching events, turned from royal prison-houses of learning, and beheld with wonder and delight the unfolding of these new mysteries. the dust and cobwebs of the past, which had so long dimmed the imagination, were disturbed by an aggressive spirit of inquiry. the report of exploding fallacies reverberated throughout europe; and as the smoke cleared away, and light broke in through the obscurity, there fell as it were scales from the eyes of the learned, and man gazed upon his fellow-man with new and strange emotions. for centuries men's minds had been chained to the traditions of the past; thought had traveled as in a treadmill; philosophy had advanced with the face turned backward; knight-errantry had been the highest type of manhood, and christianity, like its founder, had been made to bear the sins of the many. while its friends claimed for it all the virtues of mankind, its enemies charged it with all the vices. the first efforts of scholastics in their exposition of these new appearances was to square the accumulative information of the day with the subtleties of the schools and the doctrines and dogmas of the past. the source of all knowledge and the foundation 4 of all science were claimed to be in the holy scriptures and in the tenets of the church. any conception, or invention, or discovery that might pass unscathed these two touchstones was denominated truth, though human reason could not grasp it. likewise, any stray fact which by these tests failed satisfactorily to account for itself, was pronounced false, though human reason declared it true.

i do not mean to say that all darkness and nescience were swept away in a breath, or that knowledge fell suddenly on mankind like an inspiration; it was enough for some few to learn for the first time of such a thing as ignorance. although the change was real and decisive, and the mind in its attempt to fathom new phenomena was effectually lured from the mystic pages of antiquity, there yet remained enough and to spare of ignorance and credulity. searchers after the truth yet saw as through a glass darkly; the clearer vision of face to face could be attained only by slow degrees, and often the very attempt to scale the prison-house walls plunged the aspirant after higher culture yet deeper into the ditch; but that there were any searchings at all was no small advance. shackles were stricken off, but the untutored intellect as yet knew not the use of liberty; a new light was flashed in upon the mental vision, but the sudden glare was for the moment bewildering, and not until centuries after was the significance of this transitional epoch fully manifest. it may be possible to exaggerate the importance of this awakening; yet how exaggerate the value to western europe of greek literature and the revival of classic learning, of the invention of printing, or the influence for good or evil on spain of her new world discoveries?

rightly to understand the condition of education in spain in the fifteenth century, we must remember that mental training and not the acquisition of knowledge was the object of education, and as the object to be attained differed greatly from that which we are 5 now seeking, so the result was proportionately different. the tendency of education in the fifteenth century was toward a more determined reliance and belief in authority and in revelation; the tendency of education in the nineteenth century is toward inquiry and scepticism. as to the comparative value of these results there are of course many differences of opinion, and i shall not discuss them here. we may be sure, however, that in whatsoever direction human mind is trained by other human mind, there is ever present and underlying all activities inexorable progress, an eternal unfolding into ever fairer proportions of all that is best and noblest in mankind.

spanish history.

our history dates from spain, at the time when castile and aragon were the dominant power of europe. before entering upon the doings, or passing judgment upon the character, of those whose fortunes it is the purpose of this work to follow into the forests of the new world, let us glance at the origin of the spaniards, examine the cradle of their civilization, and see out of what conditions a people so unlike any on the globe to-day were evolved.

far back as tradition and theory can reach, the iberians, possibly of turanian stock, followed their rude vocations, hunting, fishing, fighting; guarded on one side by the pyrenees, and on the others by the sea. next, in an epoch to whose date no approximation is now possible, the celts came down on spain, the first wave of that aryan sea destined to submerge all europe. under the celtiberians, the fierce and powerful compound race now formed by the union of iberian and celt, broken indeed into various tribes but with analogous customs and tongues, spain first became known to the civilized world. then came the commercial and colonizing ph?nician and planted a settlement at cádiz. after them the carthaginians landed on the eastern shore of the peninsula and founded carthago nova, now cartagena. the power 6 of the carthaginians in spain was broken by the scipios, in the second punic war, toward the close of the third century b. c.; and yet, says ticknor, "they have left in the population and language of spain, traces which have never been wholly obliterated."

the romans, after driving out the carthaginians, attacked the interior celtiberians, who fought them hard and long; but the latter being finally subjugated, all hispania, save perhaps the rugged north-west, was divided into roman provinces, and in them the language and institutions of rome were established. forced from their hereditary feuds by the iron hand of their conquerors, the celtiberians rapidly increased in wealth and numbers, and of their prosperity the empire was not slow to make avail. from the fertile fields of spain flowed vast quantities of cerealia into the granary of rome. the gold and silver of their metal-veined sierras the enslaved spaniards were forced to produce, as they in succeeding ages wrung from the natives of the new world the same unjust service. the introduction of christianity, about the middle of the third century, brought upon the adherents of this religion the most cruel persecutions; which, however, instead of destroying it but rooted it the more firmly. some say, indeed, that saint paul preached at saragossa, and planted a church there; however this may be, it was not until the conversion of constantine that christianity became the dominant religion of the peninsula.

the fifth century opens with the dissolution of the empire of the romans, for the barbarians are upon them. over the pyrenees, in awful deluge, sweep suevi, alani, vandals, and silingi. the suevi, in a. d. 409, take possession of the north-west, now galicia; the alani seize lusitania, to-day portugal; and the vandals and silingi settle vandalusia, or andalusia, the latter tribe occupying seville. blighted by this barbaric whirlwind, civilization droops; the 7 arts and sciences introduced by the romans fall into disgrace; the churlish conquerors will have none of them; and the culture of ancient greece and rome, turning toward its original seat, flees the inhospitable west and takes refuge in the capital of the eastern empire, which thereafter becomes the depository of the wrecks of classic learning. in their dilemma the romanized indigenes call to their help the less uncouth visigoths. in 427 the vandals pass into africa. between 455 and 584 the visigoths conquer the romans and subjugate the suevi; so that now their kingdom stretches from the bank of the loire to gibraltar. thus to the latin is added the gothic element; the latin language, corrupted as it had become, gains upon, or rather for the most part holds its original advantage over the gothic tongue, and becomes the basis of the modern castilian, with such grammatical simplifications as the northern taste renders necessary.

advent of the moors.

still the great peninsula seethes and bubbles like a caldron over the furnace-fires of its progressional unrest. two centuries of contentions between states, and between kings and nobles, aggravated by the usual convulsions incident to elective monarchies, suffice to bring upon them a new foe. the crescent of islam, resting on mecca and threatening at once the bosporus and the pillars of hercules, flames suddenly out at its western horn over fated spain. at algeciras, near gibraltar, in 711, in great force, the mauritanian arabs, or moors, effect a landing, invited thither by count julian, commander of andalusia, in revenge for the violation of his daughter by rodrigo, last of the gothic kings. routing the visigoths in the battle of jerez de la frontera, in five swift years the saracens are masters of all save the mountainous north-west; and penetrating aquitania, the kingdom of the franks is prevented from falling into their hands only by the decisive victory won by charles martel at tours in 732. an emirate 8 under the caliphate of bagdad is established at córdova, and multitudes of syrian and egyptian mahometans flock to spain. thus pressed, to the rugged mountains of asturias, under pelayo, one of their national heroes, flee such christians as will not submit. there the wreck of the visigothic kingdom takes refuge; there stubborn patriots rally and nurse their nationality betimes in the caves of the pyrenees, waiting opportunity to deliver their country from the yoke of the hated infidel. in 755 abdurrahman, the last caliph of the dynasty of ommiades, having escaped the massacre of damascus, wrests spain from the hands of the abbassides and founds the caliphate of córdova, which then formed one of the four great divisions of the prophet's dominions. moorish kings now take the place of moorish emirs, and thus is governed córdova till 1238, and granada till 1492.

meanwhile the mahometans ruled mildly and well. the native christians living among them kept their religion, churches, and clergy, as well as their laws and tribunals except in cases involving capital punishment, or where a mahometan was a party in the suit. the usual consequences of race-contact followed; over wide tracts arabic became the common language, and so remained even after moslem power had fallen. as late as the fourteenth century public acts in many parts of spain were written in arabic. as the result of this intermixture, there was the linguistic medley called lingua franca, a composite of arabic, gothic, latin, hebrew, and gallic, with the romance, or corrupted latin of spain, united with the limousin, the language of the gay science spoken in languedoc and provence, as a base. out of this came the castilian, which after undergoing various modifications settled into the spanish language, leaving it substantially in its present form, though refined and polished by subsequent centuries of civilization. it was not, however, until near the reign of alfonso x., 1252-1282, long after the 9 christians had emerged from the mountains and had mingled with the reconquered indigenes, that the castilian became perfectly established as a written, settled, and polite language. nor were the consequences of arabic occupation confined to language; they tinged the whole life of the nation.

the spaniards who under pelayo had taken refuge in the mountains of asturias, in 716 founded a small government called the kingdom of oviedo. there the seeds of liberty, trampled by adversity, took root, and from the patriot soil arose a nation that spread its branches wide over the land. gradually the christian kingdoms enlarged. first galicia, then, two hundred years later, leon and castile were added to the little empire. the latter part of the tenth century the kingdoms of leon, castile, and navarre, held the northern extremity of the peninsula, while all the rest was under the dominion of the caliphate of córdova.

the eight-century war.

and now, emerged from the mountain fastnesses whither they had fled before this southern swarm of turbaned infidels, the sturdy christians press heavily on their foe. inch by inch, each step counting a century, they fight their way from the pyrenees back to granada. assuming the title of caliph, abdurrahman iii. defeats the christians at zamora on the douro, but is in turn repulsed, in 938, at simancas. in vain the mahometans call to their aid the almoravides of morocco; their race upon the peninsula is run. as portions of the country are wrested from them, lands are awarded to notable christian leaders, who at intervals pause in their holy crusade, and fall to warring on each other; and by these intestine brawls more christian blood is spilt than by all the cimiters of the saracens. at such times the infidels might turn and make the christians an easy prey; but centuries of opulence, and, except along their northern border, of inaction, have sapped their strength and left them 10 nerveless. it is the old story alike of peoples, sects, and individuals; discipline, begotten by necessity, engenders strength, which fattened by luxury swells to weakness.

the beginning of the eleventh century finds the christians occupying about half the peninsula, that is to say the kingdoms of leon, castile, aragon, navarre, and portugal. leon was but another name for the kingdom of oviedo, or asturias, the birthplace of spanish nationality. castile—roman, castella; arabic, ardo-l-koláa, land of castles, so called from the castillos, or forts, built there—though destined eventually to absorb all the kingdoms of the peninsula, was at first a republic, consisting of a few small towns or fortified castles, which had united for mutual protection from both mahometans and contentious christian brethren. in 1037 leon was united by ferdinand i., called the great, to castile; and from its central position, and the strength arising from perpetual vigilance, the new kingdom gradually widened and added to its dominions, until eventually all the kingdoms of the peninsula were united under the banner of castile. navarre belonged to a french count, whose successor drove the saracens from the territory adjacent on the south-west, and founded the kingdom of aragon.

in 1085 the cid, a castilian chieftain, born at búrgos, and famous in poetry, romance, and war, seized toledo, and overran valencia; in 1118 alfonso of aragon wrested saragossa from the moors. portugal, hitherto a province of castile, assumed the title of kingdom in 1139. finally the four kingdoms of the north, together with portugal, formed a league against the infidels, and in a great battle fought in the sierra morena, near tolosa, in 1212, mahometan power in spain was effectually broken. in this decisive engagement the christian confederates were commanded by alfonso iii. of castile, who never rested till the followers of the prophet 11 were driven from the central plateau. to the kingdom of castile, ferdinand iii., 1217-1252, annexed jaen, córdova, and seville, which with difficulty were held by his son alfonso x., surnamed the wise—a better scholar than soldier, as we see. alfonso xi. was succeeded by pedro el cruel, who died in 1369.

spain's grandeur.

a succession of singularly brilliant events, culminating in the empire of charles v., brought spain, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, to the front rank among european powers. the marriage of ferdinand and isabella, which in 1479 united the crowns of aragon and castile; the conquest of granada in 1492, terminating eight centuries of almost continuous warfare; the discovery of america the same year; the annexation of naples in 1503, and of navarre in 1512, after the union of spain and the netherlands in the marriage of juana, daughter of ferdinand and isabella, with philip the fair, son of the emperor maximilian i., and father of charles v., all coming in quick succession, form a train of important incidents unparalleled in the history of nations. before the death of philip ii. in 1598, the empire of spain extended to every part of the globe—portugal, conquered by the duke of alva in 1580; sicily and sardinia, artois and franche comté, the balearic and canary islands; in africa—melilla, ceuta, oran, and tunis; in asia—the moluccas and the philippine islands, together with several settlements elsewhere; beside a large part of the two americas, which alone comprised about one fifth of the world.

but nations like men must die. the full measure of prosperity had been meted out to spain, and now she must lay it down—such is the inexorable law of progress. it was the very irony of autocracy, that one man should rule half the world! spain's pyramid of greatness, which assumed such lofty proportions during the reign of their catholic majesties, culminated during the reigns of their immediate successors. a long line 12 of ambitious and able princes had raised the empire to a giddy height; but with an illiterate and non-progressive populace, no sooner did the rulers become incompetent than the nation fell in pieces. in the height of his grandeur spain's grandest monarch surfeited of success and abdicated; and with the death of his son philip the glory of the empire departed. then might her epitaph be written—nine centuries of steady growth—a long and lusty youth, more than falls to the lot of most nations—and in three brief centuries more she rose, and ripened, and rotted.

it is not with death, however, but life, we have to do. intellectual sparks were lighting up the dark corners of the earth, and a series of brilliant epochs began with the reign of ferdinand and isabella—modern golden ages they might be called. the golden age of spain, dating from 1474 to 1516, was followed by germany's golden age, which was during the reign of charles v., 1519-1558. then came england with the reign of elizabeth, 1558-1603; then france under louis xiv. and louis xv., 1640-1740; russia under peter the great, 1672-1725; and prussia under frederick the great, 1740-1786. during this time european civilization was bursting its narrow confines and encircling the hitherto unknown world in every direction.

measurements of character.

the spaniards we would know and judge. we shall judge them, even though we know them not. we love to judge our fellows, and to think how much better are we than they. little attention we give it, though it is a self-evident proposition, that to judge a people by any other standard than that to which they have been taught to conform is to do them great injustice. if we may believe psychology, thought, in its higher phases, develops only with the development of language; the conceptions of the mind can not rise much higher than forms of speech will enable it to express. apply this postulate to the measure of 13 character, and the corollary is, that to interpret fairly, we must restrict our imagination to such ideas, our mind to such beliefs, and our tongue to such formulas as belong to those we judge. this, however, is no easy matter. in the present age of intellectual progress and changing activity, when old delusions are being rapidly dispelled by science, and new discoveries are constantly opening new channels to distinction, it is almost impossible to place ourselves within the narrow limits of medi?val restrictions, in which thought and opinion were not allowed to germinate, but were passed unchanged from one generation to another. "it often happens," as john stuart mill remarks, "that the universal belief of one age of mankind—a belief from which no one was, nor, without an extra effort of genius or courage, could at that time be, free—becomes so palpable an absurdity, that the only difficulty then is to imagine how such a thing can ever have appeared credible." not only were the church dogmas of the middle age accepted as truth, but at that time to hold opinions antagonistic to established creeds was seldom so much as deemed possible.

from the foregoing premises it clearly follows, that rightly to measure the character of those who carried european civilization into the wilds of america, we must, in so far as we may, divest ourselves of the present, and enter into the spirit of their times. we must fix in our minds the precise epoch in the history of human progress to which the discovery of this new world belongs. we must roll up four brilliant centuries of the scroll of science, cloud nine tenths of the world in obscurity, throw a spell upon the ocean; then wall the imagination within the confines of this narrow horizon and conceive the effect. we must know something, not alone of national polities and the attitude of kings, but we must enter the society of individuals, and study the impulses of the people. we must call up the inscrutable past, surround ourselves with those influences that give the stamp to character and the 14 color to creed. we must familiarize ourselves with scenes familiar to the people we discuss; we must walk their streets, look through their eyes, think their thoughts; we must personate them and practically construe them. we should fill our breast with the aspirations that impelled them, our imagination with the fears that restrained them, and feel those subtle forces which for generations had been developing intellect and moulding opinion. we should dare even to gain access to their domestic and religious penetralia, to invade the sanctity of the hearth and altar, to sound the hidden chords of domestic life, to walk softly through vaulted aisles and convent corridors, bending the ear to catch the whisperings of the confessional; we should enter with the monk his cloister-cell, with the gallant the presence of his lady-love, and learn whence the significance and whither the tendency of their strange conceits. if, at the outset, with the political position, we also thus firmly grasp their inner social life, much that were otherwise enigmatical or suspicious appears in a clearer light; and we can then behold their chivalrous but cruel deeds with the same charity in which we hope posterity may shroud our own enormities. thus only may we be led to understand the various processes by which this phase of civilization was evolved.

the configuration and climate of the peninsula assist in giving variety to the character of its inhabitants. the interior is one vast table-land, higher than any other plateau in europe, being from two to three thousand feet above the level of the sea. on either side precipitous mountain ranges interpose between the table-land and the shores, and through these numerous streams thread their way. the table-land is for the most part dry and treeless, hot in summer and cold in winter; asturias is wet and wooded; the valleys of the guadalquivir, douro, ebro, tagus, and other rivers, are in places quite fertile. in the 15 southern provinces of andalusia and murcia, autumn and winter are mild and pleasant, and spring is surpassingly lovely; but the solano which during summer blows from the heated plains of africa is intolerable to any but the acclimated. from the snow-clad pyrenees the piercing blasts of winter sweep over leon, castile, and estremadura, at the north protracting the long winter and making cold and humid the spring, and arrive at the middle provinces stripped of their moisture, but not of their raw unwelcome chilliness.

during the eleven convulsive centuries preceding our epoch we have seen mix and agglutinate the several ingredients of spanish character—iberian, celt, ph?nician; roman, goth, and moor, all contributing their quota. christian, infidel, and jew, with their loves and hates, season the mass; and thus society becomes an olla podrida, and spain presents the anomalous race of the world.

in different provinces different race-elements preponderate, that of rome tincturing the whole more strongly than any other. under analysis these several social ingredients may be easily detected. by comparison with strabo, arnold traces many of the social characteristics of the spaniards back to the iberians. "the grave dress, the temperance and sobriety, the unyielding spirit, the extreme indolence, the perverseness in guerilla warfare, and the remarkable absence of the highest military qualities ascribed by the greek and roman writers," he affirms, "are all more or less characteristic of the spaniards of modern times. the courtesy and gallantry of the spaniard to women has also come down to him from his iberian ancestors."

so in the volatile, dark-haired celt, where reckless courage and indifference to human life reached their height, where quick perception and ready wit supplied the place of sober thought and logical deductions, where man was courageous and changeable, and 16 woman was at once fickle, chaste, and passionate—in these fierce barbarians we see a multitude of traits handed by them to their descendants. of ph?nician and iberian influence, traces are seen in their skill in scientific mining; of gothic, in their comparatively liberal forms of government, their attachment to military display, and in their good faith, integrity, and morality—would these latter had been a trifle more gothic; of roman, in their love of ecclesiastical forms, church and state loyalty, in their stately dignity and sobriety of deportment; of arab, in their hatred of work, their love of freedom, their religious enthusiasm, their tactics in war, and in their language, poetry, art, and architecture. some of these terms appear paradoxical, but human nature, in its ingredients, is ever paradoxical. in the spanish language brace discovers that the principal "terms for agriculture and science are latin; for the church, latin or greek; for arms, riding, and war, teutonic; and for arts and plants in southern spain, arabic." from the north and east and south the boldest of the nations had congregated on this frontier peninsula, waiting the outburst which, after a thousand years of fermentation, broke over its western slope.

buckle, in support of a theory referring the origin of character to physical causes, ascribes the superstition of spain to famine and disease, to earthquakes and the awe-producing phenomena of wild scenery; their fickleness he attributes to climate, the heat and dryness in spain interrupting labor and leading to desultory habits; their love of romance and adventure he traces to pastoral life, which prevailed to the neglect of agriculture during the moorish invasion.

evolution of the spanish nation.

the fall of granada left the peninsula occupied essentially as follows: in the north and west were the descendants of goths and celts who, unmolested by roman or moor, retained in a measure their ancestral characteristics. low of stature, thick-set and awkward, as strong and as hairy almost as bears, the 17 men of asturias and galicia, of leon and biscay, century after century come and go, living as their fathers lived, neither better nor worse, caring nothing for arab or dutchman, and little even for the spanish kings; proud as ever of pelayo, of the mountains that cradled spanish liberty, of their great antiquity, which they boast as greater than that of any living nation; superstitious, irritable, and impetuous, but honest, frank, and sincere; implacable as enemies, but faithful as friends. their boast is that never have they been subdued by moor. their chiefs were of the ancient gothic blood, blue blood they called it, not being tainted with arabic like that of their darker southern neighbors; of such material were early founded the kingdoms of leon and castile.

on their eastern side was the kingdom of navarre, founded by the counts of the french marches. though at one time these two sections had been united, the usual partition of heritage had soon dismembered them. portugal, an offshoot of castile, was permanently separated; aragon, founded by navarre, became also independent. upon the eastern seaboard the people of catalonia and valencia, though diluted with the limousin element, yet retain traces of their foreign relationships. "of the modern evidences of race in the different provinces," says brace, "travellers tell us that in valencia the people resemble both their keltiberian and carthaginian ancestors, being cunning, perfidious, vindictive, and sullen. the burning sun has tanned their skin dark and aided to form in them an excitable and nervous temperament; they have, too, the superstitious tendencies that characterize the people of a hot climate. the valencian women are fairer than the men, and are conspicuous for their beauty of form. they wear the hair and the ornaments of the head after the old romish style. the catalan is rude, active and industrious, a good soldier, and fond of his independence, resembling both kelts and iberians in his 18 covetous, bold, cruel, and warlike character. the aragonese are two children of the goths in their force of will, their attachment to constitutional liberties, and their opposition to arbitrary power."

the tall, tough, agile eastern mountaineer presents as marked a contrast to the stubby asturian as does the sparkling andalusian to the grave castilian. for a long time the people of andalusia were semi-moorish in their character. there, where the soft air of africa comes fresh from the mediterranean, had dwelt the dusky, graceful arab; worshipping mahomet as the castilian worshipped christ, and regarding his christian and jewish neighbors with as little affection as either jew or christian regarded him. scattered along the banks of the guadalquivir, and in separate quarters of many towns of southern spain, were bands of that anomalous race, the gypsies. short, dark, ugly, with long, coarse, wavy hair, mixing with other men as light and darkness mix, they plied their trade of buying, stealing, and selling. during the latter part of the war they occupied themselves in bringing horses from africa and selling them to moors or christians.

in the mountain fastnesses of toledo there yet lived a remnant of silingi stock, known as almogávares, who had never bent knee to infidel; who, throughout the long contest which waged on every side of them, had kept green their liberty and their faith—a christian oasis in the broad pagan desert. there, too, a broken band of the chosen israel, now fairly launched upon their eternal wanderings, found a momentary resting-place. before the arrival of the visigoths, it is said, a colony of hebrews planted themselves near toledo, and by their industry and superior financial ability, became at length the royal bankers, and notwithstanding bitter prejudices, they rose high in influence, even to the honor of having their daughters enrolled among the king's mistresses.

thus for a time the several parts of the peninsula 19 differ widely in language, manners, and institutions; but at length, by wars and political combinations, race-barriers are broken down, and opposing clanships welded by an intenser hatred for some common enemy. the south through its mediterranean trade soonest attains eminence, but warlike castile subsequently acquires predominance. meanwhile the masses retain their old ways better than their leaders. the nobility, and frequenters of courts, mingling more with the world, adopt the fashions of courts, and change with their changes. the inhabitants of the border provinces feel the influences of the war comparatively little; upon the great central plateau, however, there meet and mix almost all the stocks and creeds of the then known world. aryan and semite; roman, goth, and mauritanian; mahometan, christian, and jew; planting and plucking, building up and tearing down, fattening and starving, fighting and worshipping and burning—the whole table-land of spain turned into a battle-arena of the nations, into a world's gladiatorial show; its occupants alternately marrying and battling, moslem with christian, moslem with moslem, christian with christian, christian and moslem uniting now against christian and now against moslem, while the slaughter of jew, heretic, and gypsy fills the interlude. so pass centuries; and from this alembic of nations is distilled the tall, symmetrical, black-haired, bright-eyed, sharp-featured castilian and estremaduran.

results of intermixtures.

out of this heterogeneous medley of opposing qualities we have now to draw general characteristics.

in demeanor the spaniard is grave, punctilious, reserved with strangers, jealous of familiarity or encroachment on his dignity; but among his acquaintances, or with those who are ready to recognize what he conceives to be his due, he throws off restraint, and becomes an agreeable companion and a firm friend. while impatient and resentful of fancied 20 slights, he is easily won by kindness, and is always dazzled by skill in arms and personal valor.

in disposition he is serious almost to melancholy, firm to stubbornness, imperturbable, lethargic, inert, moody; yet when roused there breaks forth the deepest enthusiasm and the most ungovernable passion. so punctilious is his sense of honor, so zealous and truthful is he in his friendships, so affectionate and humane in all his private relations, that at one time the term spanish gentleman was synonymous with everything just, generous, and high-minded throughout europe. in intellect he is contemplative rather than profound, apt in emergencies, but lacking breadth and depth. in habits he is temperate and frugal, easily satisfied, indolent. to live without work is his ideal of enjoyment. dissoluteness and intemperance can not be ranked among his vices, nor do travellers place hospitality in his list of virtues. there is no such word as rowdy in his vocabulary. turbulent from imposition he may be, and after injury vengeful; but brawler, disturber of peace and social order, he is not. though taciturn, he is deep in feeling; in his love of country he is provincial rather than national. though hard to be driven he is easily led; acting collectively, officially, he is given to venality, when personally thrown upon his honor he is scrupulous and trusty.

in manners the spaniard is proverbial for high breeding, courtesy, and decorum. whether beggar or courtier, his politeness seldom deserts him. "dios guarde á usted," may god protect you; "vaya usted con dios, caballero," god be with you, sir; are the usual valedictions. in reply to the importunities of a beggar the cavalier exclaims, "perdone usted, por dios, hermano," for the love of god excuse me, my brother. to the highest noble and to the meanest peasant the greeting is the same. sedate, sober-minded, reserved, the spaniard is but the modified result of his several exemplars. "all spaniards," 21 remarks ford, "are prodigal to each other in cheap names and titles of honor; thus even beggars address each other as se?or y caballero, lord and knight. the most coveted style is excelencia, your excellency." nicknames are common. no one rises to distinction without carrying with him one or more appellations significant of the skill or occupation of his early days.

castilian pride and politeness.

the castilian has less ingenuity in mechanics, less skill in trade, less taste, less delicacy of perception, than the italian, but far more pride, firmness, and courage; a more solemn demeanor, and a stronger sense of honor.

every spaniard of whatever class considers himself a caballero, a well-born and christian gentleman, the superior of most, the equal of any, the inferior of none. profuse in proffers of kindness, he is no less slow to fulfil them than to accept favors from others. he is very vain; vain of personal appearance, vain of his ancestry, his breeding; vain of his ignorance and superstition; proud of many things he should be ashamed of, and ashamed of nothing. thieving was never prominent as a national vice. as a rule spaniards are too proud to steal; the impulse of wounded affection or injured pride nerves the arm that strikes, oftener than the desire for plunder.

the old german cosmographer sebastian munster quaintly writes, basel, 1553: "the spaniards have good heads, but with all their studying they learn but little, for after having half learned a thing they think themselves very wise, and in their talk try to show much learning which they do not possess." comparing them with the french, the same chronicler says: "the frenchmen are taller, but the spaniards more hardy. in war, the spaniards are deliberate, and the french, impetuous. the french are great babblers, but the spaniards can well keep a secret. the french are joyous and light of thought; they like to live well; but the spaniards are melancholy, 22 serious, and not given to carousing. the french receive their guests friendlily and treat them well, but the spaniards are cross to strangers, so that one must go from house to house in search of entertainment. the cause of this is that spaniards have travelled little, and do not like to spend their money for food."

in castile, more than elsewhere, was seen the perfect central type, which in its earlier stages was so remarkable for practical sagacity, for an insight into causes and motives, and skill in the adaptation of means to ends. in the wars of the new world, affirms macaulay, "where something different from ordinary strategy was required in the general, and something different from ordinary discipline of the soldier, where it was every day necessary to meet by some new expedient the varying tactics of a barbarous enemy, the spanish adventurers, sprung from the common people, displayed a fertility of resource, and a talent for negotiation and command, to which history scarcely affords a parallel." it must be borne in mind, however, that the new world adventurer was not always a national type.

graham declares that "the history of the expeditions which terminated in the conquest of mexico and peru displays, perhaps, more strikingly than any other portion of the records of the human race, what amazing exertions the spirit of man can prompt him to attempt, and sustain him to endure." and again—"the masses," says ford, who has studied them well, "the least spoilt and the most national, stand like pillars amid ruins, and on them the edifice of spain's greatness must be reconstructed." "all the force of europe," exclaims peterborough, "would not be sufficient to subdue the castiles with the people against it."

reverence for antiquity.

so great is their reverence for antiquity, that they appear to live almost as much in the past as in the present. age is synonymous with wisdom; the older the habit or opinion, the more worthy of belief it is. 23 innovation they abhor as dangerous; the universe of knowledge stands already revealed; there is nothing more to learn. their premises they know to be sound, their conclusions correct, their beliefs true; what necessity then for further troubling themselves? children in everything but teachableness, with themselves and their traditions they are content. their education is finished. this is the most hopeless form of ignorance. their legends they carefully preserve, old-time customs they love to practise, and they dwell with devoted enthusiasm on the exploits of their ancestors. to this day, twelve centuries after the occurrence, the peasantry of asturias are divided between the descendants of those who aided the patriot pelayo against the moors, and those who did not—the latter being stigmatized as vaqueros; while the andalusian morisco keeps alive the story of granada's grandeur, and dreams of moslem warriors, of abencerrage knights, and the restoration of former greatness. so strong is the influence of tradition and dead ancestry.

speaking of the quality of firmness, and tenacity of purpose, says bell, "so obstinate is the spaniard, and in some provinces so remarkably self-willed, that the inhabitants of one part of spain make a jest of the others on that account. thus the obstinate biscayan is represented as driving a nail into the wall with his head, whilst the still more obstinate aragonian is figured in the same act and attitude, but with the point of the nail turned outward!" with the poniard at his throat, many a prostrate foe will die rather than yield, and as surely will the victor plunge in the fatal weapon if the cry for quarter be not quickly uttered. in andalusia there was a fashion prevalent among duellists, when determined to fight their quarrel to the end, of firmly binding together, below the elbows, the left arms of the combatants; then, with knives in their right hands, they fought until one or both were dead. 24

notwithstanding their excessive loyalty to their rulers, their love of antiquity and hatred of change; and notwithstanding the oppression of their princes, the condition of the lower classes in spain at the close of the fifteenth century was far above that of the same class in any other european country. this was owing, not to any special consideration on the part of their political or ecclesiastical rulers, but to that greatest of scourges, war.

while the rulers were absorbed in conquering, and in keeping themselves from being conquered, except within the immediate battle-arena the people were left much alone. besides, armies must have supplies, and producers were held in esteem by the military consumers.

inequalities of power and wealth, unless arrested by extrinsic causes, ever tend to wider extremes. in spain, the increase of wealth in the hands of priests and princes was checked by long-continued war. the products of the country must be used to feed the soldiery, and the power of the nobility must be employed against the common enemy. there was neither the time nor the opportunity to grind the people to the uttermost. though the war bore heavily upon the working classes, it proved to them the greatest blessing; while the masses elsewhere throughout europe were kept in a state of feudalistic serfdom, the necessity of spain being for men rather than for beasts, elevation followed. further than this, race-contact, and the friction attending the interminglings of courts and camps, tended in some degree towards polishing and refining society. "since nothing makes us forget the arbitrary distinctions of rank," says hallam, "so much as participation in any common calamity, every man who had escaped the great shipwreck of liberty and religion in the mountains of asturias was invested with a personal dignity, which gave him value in his own eyes and those of his country. it is probably this sentiment transmitted 25 to posterity, and gradually fixing the national character, that had produced the elevation of manner remarked by travellers in the castilian peasant."

caste and social strata.

and yet there were caste and social stratification enough. the stubborn manliness of the lower orders did not make them noble. royalty alone was divine. the nobles loved money, yet for them to traffic was disgraceful. the ecclesiastic, whose calling placed him on a plane distinct from these, aside from his religious teachings, stood out as the earnest advocate of honest labor. work was well enough for moor, and jew, and indian; but he whose line of fighting ancestors had not beginning within the memory of man, must starve rather than stain his lineage by doing something useful.

the several social strata, moreover, were jealously kept distinct. the first distinction was that which separated them from foreigners. in the days of c?sar and cicero, rome was master of the world; rome was the world; were any not of rome they were barbarians. so it was with spaniards. to be of castile was to be the most highly favored of mortals; to be a spaniard, though not a castilian, was something to be proud of; to be anything else was most unfortunate.

the next distinction was between the spaniard of pure blood and the christianized native of foreign origin. in the eyes of the castilian baptism could not wholly cleanse a moor or jew. moriscos the church might make; heretics the inquisition might reconstruct; but all spain could not make from foreign material a christian spaniard of the pure ancient blood. about foreign fashions, foreign inventions, foreign progress, foreign criticism, they cared nothing. and probably nowhere in modern times was this irrational idea of caste carried to such an absurd extent as in the new world. children of spanish parentage, born in america, were regarded socially as inferior to children of the same 26 parents who happened to be born in spain. to be born a spanish peasant was better than hidalgo, or cavalier, with american nativity; for at one time the former, on migrating to america, was entitled by virtue of that fact to the prefix 'don.' under the viceroys native mexicans, though of pure castilian ancestry, were too often excluded from the higher offices of church and state; and this notwithstanding that both canonical and civil law, if we may believe betancur y figueroa, provided that natives should be preferred in all ecclesiastical appointments from the lightest benefice to the highest prelacy. "but notwithstanding such repeated recommendations," says robertson, "preferment in almost every different line is conferred on native spaniards." mr ward, english consul at mexico in 1825-7, affirms that "the son, who had the misfortune to be born of a creole mother, was considered as an inferior, in the house of his own father, to the european book-keeper or clerk, for whom the daughter, if there were one, and a large share of the fortune were reserved. 'eres criollo y basta;' you are a creole and that is enough, was a common phrase amongst the spaniards when angry with their children." truly it was a good thing in those days to be at once 'of christ' and 'of spain.' it was positively believed by some that blood flowed in accordance with the majesty of law, and that the quality of one was inferior to the quality of another. the blood of the indian was held as scarcely more human than the blood of beasts, and was often shed as freely.

then, too, there was a distinction between the profession of arms and all other professions. following republican rome again, the education of no man aspiring to a public career was complete until he had served as a soldier. no one can truthfully charge the spaniards of the sixteenth century with lack of courage. military skill was the highest type of manhood. of danger they made a plaything, not only 27 in their wars but in their sports. life was dull unless brightened by blood.

in aragon the barons were limited to a few great families who traced their descent from twelve peers, called ricos homes de natura. although obliged to attend the king in his wars, in every other respect they were independent. they were themselves exempt from taxation and punishment, and held absolute authority over the lives and property of their vassals. the next lower order of nobility in aragon was called infanzones, corresponding to the hidalgos of castile. the caballeros, or knights, were the immediate followers of the ricos homes, and were possessed of important privileges.

in la mancha the peasantry were of a quality different from those sent by castile and estremadura to the new world. quintana writes of them, "he who travels through la mancha will see the scaffold before he sees the town. they are lazy, dirty, quarrelsome, and never suffer from hunger, for when they wish to become the owners of anything they take it;" and remarks another, "they live on parched garbanzos, and pass the winter lying on their bellies like reptiles in the sun." see murillo's matchless pictures.

jews and moors.

another class and race, broken fragments of which we have before encountered, secured more rest in spain than elsewhere, yet from a different cause. homeless israel in the arab found a friend. not that the mahometans loved the jews, but because the christians hated them, was their condition made so tolerable in spain under saracen rule. then, and until their expulsion, they occupied an important position, being the chief money-handlers, merchants, and bankers. overcome in their dislike for each other by a more bitter hatred against their common enemy, the jews and moors lived upon terms somewhat approaching equality. the jews surpassed their moorish masters in wealth, and were but little inferior to them in arts and letters. they were not 28 only usurers, but husbandmen, artisans, and doctors. as christian domination extended southward, this comparatively happy state of the spanish jews disappeared. under pretext of justice, their moneys were wrested from them by the nobles; indeed, if too stubborn they were not unfrequently put to death; and with the capitulation of granada and the loss of their moorish allies, the condition of the jews became pitiable in the extreme. two incidents of the crowning of pope john xxiii., in 1410, as related by monstrelet, give us a tolerably fair idea of the feelings entertained toward the jews. in his progress through rome, these people presented him with a manuscript copy of the old testament. he, "having examined it a little, threw it behind him, saying, 'your religion is good, but this of ours is better.'" and again, "there were before and behind him two hundred men-at-arms, each having in his hand a leathern mallet, with which they struck the jews in such wise as it was a pleasure to see."

with such an example the condition of the jews grew more serious. as for the spaniards, they bettered the instruction, as was sufficiently proved by their expulsion-edict of march, 1492—an edict forbidding unbaptized jews to be found within the limits of spain at the end of four months; an edict allowing them in that time to sell their property, but forbidding them at the end of that time "to carry away with them any gold, silver, or money whatsoever;" "an edict," says the catholic historian, lafuente, "that condemned to expatriation, to misery, to despair, and to death, many thousands of families born and bred in spain."

in almost every medi?val town there was a jewish district, in which, says m. depping, their historian, "jews like troops of lepers were thrust away and huddled together into the most uncomfortable and most unhealthy quarters of the city, as miserable as it was disgusting;" or, as paul lacroix describes it, 29 "a large enclosure of wretched houses, irregularly built, divided by small streets with no attempt at uniformity. the principal thoroughfare is lined with stalls, in which are sold not only old clothes, furniture, and utensils, but also new and glittering articles." within their prescribed limits, all their necessities were supplied, and a dirt-begrimed prison-like synagogue usually occupied the center. but even in these wretched places they were often subjected to cruelties the most severe and sickening. terrible as were the indignities heaped upon this unfortunate people it must not be supposed that they were wholly unprovoked, or that all the forbearance was on the part of the sufferers. opinions on these questions are widely divergent, and i refer to them here only to show more clearly the condition of europe at the time of which i write.

the charge of cruelty.

the spaniards of the sixteenth century have been called a cruel people; and so they were. yet they were no more cruel than other nations of their day, and no more cruel relatively, according to the progress of humanity, than are we to-day. time evolves in many respects a more refined civilization, but the nature of man changes not. individuals may be less beastly; society may be regulated more by law and less by passion; between nations in their wars and diplomacy there may be less systematic torture, less unblushing chicanery; but the world has yet to find a weightier right than might. i fail to discover in america, by catholic spaniards or heathen savages, deeds more atrocious than some committed in india and china within the century by protestant england, the world's model of piety and propriety; and yet the treatment of indians in north america by the people of great britain has been far more just and humane than their treatment by the people of the united states.

before such a charge as that of excessive cruelty can be made good against a people, there are several things to be considered. and first the motive. the 30 surgeon who amputates a limb to save a life is not called cruel. now the spaniards were the spiritual surgeons of their day. nine tenths of all their cruelties were committed under the conviction that what they did was in the line of duty, and that to refrain from so doing would have been no kindness. though with the experience of the past and by the clearer light of the nineteenth century we conclude that these convictions were false, and though we contemplate them with horror and condemn the acts which resulted from them as barbarous, yet it is almost superfluous to say that with their teachings and surroundings we should have been the same. the inherent qualities of human nature seem to be changed but little if at all by the cultivation and development of mind. secondly, the quality of cruelty is not pronounced, but relative. there are cruelties of the heart, of the sensibilities, no less cruel than bodily tortures. the age of savagism is always cruel. cruelty springs from ignorance rather than from instinct. childlike and thoughtless things, things tender by instinct, are cruel from disingenuous perversity. a clouded, unreasoning, unreasonable mind, even when hiding beneath it a tender heart, begets cruelty; while a sterner disposition, if accompanied by a clear, truth-loving intellect, delights in no injustice—and cruelty is always unjust. this is why, if it be true as has been charged, that notwithstanding boys are more cruel than girls, women are more cruel than men. children, women, and savages are cruel from thoughtlessness; though the cruel boy may be very tender of his puppy, the cruel woman of her child, the cruel savage of his horse. even the moralities and intellectual refinements of that day were not free from what would seem to us studied and unnecessary cruelty. i will cite a few instances of european cruelty, not confined to spaniards, which will show not only that spain was not more cruel than other nations, but that the savages of america were not 31 more cruel than the europeans of their day. both tortured to the uttermost where they hated, even as men do now; the chief difference was, the europeans, being the stronger, could torture the harder. civilization changes, not the quantity of cruelty, but the quality only.

the barbarisms of europe.

"c?sar borgia," writes sebastiano de branca in his diary, about the year 1500, "c?sar borgia was the cruelest man of any age." to serve his purposes he did not hesitate to use poison and perjury. he was treacherous, incestuous, murderous, even keeping a private executioner, michilotto, to do his bidding. louis xi. of france, and other princes, kept a court assassin. the fifteenth century was lurid with atrocities. rodrigo lenzuoli, the father, lucretia, the daughter, and c?sar, the son, comprised the borgia trio, distinguished no less for their intellect, beauty, wealth, and bravery, than for their craft, lust, treachery, and cruelty. says lecky: "philip ii. and isabella the catholic inflicted more suffering in obedience to their consciences than nero or domitian in obedience to their lusts."

in 1415 john huss was burned for his religion, and in 1431 joan of arc for her patriotism. in like manner perished thousands of others. mahomet ii., disputing with the venetian artist gentile bellini as to the length of john the baptist's neck after decollation, called a slave, and striking off his head with one blow of his cimeter, exclaimed: "there! did not i say yours is too long?"

princes made bloodshed a pastime. edward iv. put to death a tradesman for perpetrating a pun; caused a gentleman to be executed for speaking against a favorite; and condemned his own brother to death in a fit of petulance. in an interview between this same edward of england and the king of france, the monarchs were brought together in huge iron cages, each distrustful of the other. louis xii. confined ludovico sforza, duke of milan, in an iron 32 cage for ten years, and until his death. this was a punishment common at that time in italy and spain. pedro el cruel is charged by hallam with having murdered his wife and mother, most of his brothers and sisters, many of the castilian nobility, and multitudes of the commonalty.

the church tolerated the persecution of its enemies, believing it was for the glory of god. nor was this idea confined to spain or to the fifteenth century, for we find in england and even in america that persecutions for conscience' sake, with all the cruelties that refined civilization could devise existed at the opening of the present century; nor indeed is the world yet completely emancipated from this thraldom.

yet the spaniards, i say, were bad enough. the cruelties following the capitulation of málaga, in 1487, were more befitting fiends than a man and woman who prided themselves in the title of catholic king and queen.

since the establishment of the inquisition, religious persecutions had become but too gratifying to the national taste. on this occasion at málaga, the apostate moors were first caught and burned. twelve apostate christians were then fastened to stakes in an open place and made the barbarous sport of spanish cavaliers, who, mounted on fleet horses, hurled at their naked bodies pointed reeds while rushing past at full speed. this was continued until the torn and bleeding flesh of their victims was filled with darts, and the wretched sufferers expired under the most excruciating torments. then, of the rest of the moorish prisoners, three divisions were made; one for the redemption of christian captives, one to be distributed among the victors as slaves, and one to be publicly sold into slavery.

spanish knights returned from their incursions against the moors with strings of turbaned heads hanging from their saddle-bows, which, as they passed along, they threw to the boys in the streets, in order 33 to inspire their youthful minds with hatred to the foes of their religion.

from making slaves of prisoners of war, a traffic in human flesh springs up. a slave-trade association was formed in portugal in 1443. gonzalez brought slaves to seville; columbus sent to spain a cargo of indian slaves in 1495; in 1503 the enslavement of american indians was authorized by ferdinand and isabella; and in 1508 the african slave-trade unfolded in all its hideous barbarity. the slave-trade, however, was tolerated by these sovereigns from mistaken kindness, rather than from cruelty. it was to shield the indian, who died under the infliction of labor, that isabella permitted the importation of africans into the colonies.

civilized tortures.

cruelty was a prominent wheel in the machinery of government, as well as in religious discipline. torture was deemed inseparable from justice, either as preparatory to trial to elicit a confession of guilt, or as part of an execution to increase the punishment. hippolite de marsilli, a learned jurisconsult of bologna, mentioned fourteen ways of inflicting torture, which are given by lacroix. among them were compressing the limbs with instruments or cords; the injection of water, vinegar, or oil; application of hot pitch; starvation; placing hot eggs under the armpits; introducing dice under the skin; tying lighted candles to the fingers which were consumed with the wax, and dropping water from a great height upon the stomach. josse damhoudere mentioned thirteen modes of execution or punishment—fire, the sword, mechanical force, quartering, the wheel, the fork, the gibbet, dragging, spiking, cutting off the ears, dismembering, hogging, and the pillory. every country had its peculiar system of torture.

in 1547 english vagrants were branded with a v and enslaved for two years. should the unfortunate attempt escape, a hot s was burned into the flesh and he was a slave for life. a second attempted 34 escape was death. in those days wife-whipping was a common and respectable domestic discipline; culprits in the pillory and stocks were stationed in the marketplace where all the people might strike them; prisoners were stripped of their clothes, confined in filthy dungeons half filled with stagnant water, and there not unfrequently left to starve, while slimy reptiles crawled over the naked body, or drove their poisonous fangs into the quivering flesh.

the sports of the spaniards we now regard as cruel, as ours will be regarded four hundred years hence. although delighting in games, in pantomimic dance, in fencing, wrestling, running, leaping, hunting, hawking, with the gentler pastime of song and guitar, the more popular amusements were cock-fights, dog and bull fights, bull and bear fights, bear and dog fights, enjoyed alike by high and low, by women, boys, and men, by laity and clergy. sometimes fighters would enter the arena blindfolded and engage in deadly encounter. yet how much more cruel were these sports than modern horse-racing, cock-fighting, dog-fighting, prize-fighting, rope-walking, lion-taming, steeple-chases, to say nothing of the more gentlemanly cruelty of raising foxes to be hunted, and worried, and finally torn in pieces by dogs, let posterity judge. i do not say that the sixteenth-century sports of spain were not more cruel than the english sports of to-day. i think they were. but that spaniards were inherently more cruel, that is to say, that their hearts were more wickedly wanton, their sympathies more inhumane, or that they enjoyed a more ardent pleasure in inflicting pain upon others than men do now, i do not believe. the spaniards were a nation of soldiers, and soldiers are necessarily cruel. men go to war to hurt the enemy, not to be kind to him. unquestionably the effect of bull-fights, like the gladiatorial shows of imperial rome, was debasing, tending to excite a love of the bloody and terrible, and to render insipid 35 tamer and more refined amusements. this to them was a misfortune, although the repulsive sport did foster a spirit of courage and endurance.

the corrida de toros, bull-run, or bull-fight, the national sport of spain, is a relic of moorish chivalry, yet no less spanish than arabic; for the institution as it exists in spain is found neither in africa nor in arabia. originally, as in the ancient tournament, in the sport engaged only cavaliers, or gentlemen, in whom were combined such skill and strength that the head of a bull was sometimes stricken off by a single blow of the montante. since which time the tournament has degenerated into a prize-ring, and the chivalrous bull-fight which in principle was a display of courage combined with skill in horsemanship, and in the use of the lance, has become a sort of dramatic shambles, where the actors are low-born and mercenary professionals.

spanish domestic life.

the home life of the spaniard, which pictures his softer shades of character, and shows the more delicate tracings of his mental and moral sensibilities, must not be disregarded. there alone we shall see him as he is, stripped of the paraphernalia attending his appearance before men, with the intents and purposes of heart and mind laid open before us.

we have noticed how the genius of the mahometan clung to the soil long after he was driven away; to this day southern spain is more arabic than gothic. the towns of andalusia—of which cádiz, with its whitewashed antiquity and its streets and walls clean as a taza de plata, is the key; and seville, radiant with sunny gardens and glittering towers, is the pride—consist of narrow, tortuous streets walled by moorish mansions enclosing cool courts. shutterless windows, through which half-muffled lovers whisper soft nothings to bar-imprisoned se?oritas, open without; fresh young love and musty antiquity thus mingling in harmonious contrast. then, favored by the 36 voluptuous air of spring, or broiling beneath the enervating heat of summer, are granada, córdova, and málaga, where glory and shame, heroic virtue and unblushing vice, erudition and ignorance, christianity and paganism were so blended that the past and present seem almost one. as if proud of their moorish origin, these cities of southern spain battle with time, and hold in fast embrace the shadows of departed grandeur. the better class of moorish houses are yet preserved; and the otherwise unendurable heat of this so-called oven of spain is rendered supportable by the narrow, crooked streets—so narrow, indeed, that in some of them vehicles can not pass each other—and by the irregular, projecting stories of the terrace-roofed houses.

though widely separate in their religious systems much there is alike in the national characteristics of these grave and haughty sheiks and the spaniards. to both were given conquest, wealth, and opportunity. both struggled blindly and bravely, sinking into national decay and corruption, which closed in around them like a pestilence. but in their religion there was no doubt a difference. one was sensual, the other spiritual. in one were the seeds of progress, of intellectual culture, and of all those enlightenments and refinements which make men more fit to dominate this earth. and though the allah akbar echoes from the receding hosts who worship god and his prophet, yet its mission is fulfilled. where now is the might of mauritania? where the power and pride that caused egypt to dream again of the days of the pharaohs and the ptolemies? syria and palestine are desolate, bedouinized. to bagdad remains but the memory of ancient splendor; her palaces are heaps. no more the good haroun al raschid walks her streets; no more the universities of kufa and bassora, samarcand and balkh enlighten the world. the sons of hagar have had their day; their work is done. what spain and her colonies now are need not here be told. 37

dwellings and furniture.

every spanish town has its plaza, great square, or public market-place, which every day presents a busy scene. thither in early morning resort the improvident—though not specially lazy—common people for their daily supply of food. then there is the paseo, or public promenade, or, as it is more frequently called, the alameda, from álamo, poplar, a beautiful walk, shaded on either side by trees. there may be seen every pleasant day after the siesta, or midday sleep, groups of either sex, and all classes, high and low, rich and poor, walking to and fro, chatting, smoking, flirting, drinking in health and content and merriment with the cool, delicious evening air; while ladies in carriages and cavaliers on curveting steeds occupy and enliven the roadway.

numberless kinds of dwellings obtain in various parts, conspicuous among which are the asturian caverns, the subterranean abodes of la mancha, the forts of castile, and the moorish palaces of andalusia. stone, hewn and unhewn, is the material employed in mountainous districts; adobe, or sun-dried brick, with thatched roof, upon the plains. a common class of architecture is a windowless parallelogram divided into two rooms, one for the family, and the other for the cattle, the attic being used as a barn. houses of this kind are built in one and two stories. an out-house for stores, which is also used as a sleeping-place for the women, perched on pillars eight feet high, sometimes stands adjacent. across one end of the family room, which, of necessity, is used for all domestic purposes, extends a fire-place, ten or fifteen feet in length and six feet in depth, over which is a large bell-shaped chimney extending out into the middle of the room. this style of building might be elaborated, wings added, or the form changed. tiled roofs are common, and overhanging eaves. some houses are of three or four stories; others run out long and low upon the ground. more pretentious dwellings are often in the form of a hollow square, 38 with a patio and garden within. of such are convents with cloisters, and over them ranges of corridors and rooms.

among the upper classes the apartments of the lady consist of an antechamber, or drawing-room, a boudoir, a bed-room, a dressing-room, and an oratory. the drawing-room is furnished with tapestry hangings on which are represented battles and biblical scenes—war and religion even here; polished oak or mahogany high-backed chairs, clumsy, and elaborately carved; in the corners of the room triangular tables on which stand heavy silver or gold candlesticks with sperm candles, the light from which is reflected by small oval venetian mirrors, in fantastically wrought gold or silver frames; cupboards with glass doors for plate, etc. in the boudoir is a toilet-table before venetian mirrors profusely draped in handsome lace; a book-case, work-table, arm-chairs, sacred paintings and family portraits; in the sleeping-room, a tall heavy bedstead with damask or velvet curtains, a crucifix—the image of silver or gold, and the cross of ivory—with a little basin of holy water near it, a priedieu and prayer-book; in the dressing-room a wardrobe, and all necessary toilet appliances; in the oratory an altar, a crucifix, two or more priedieux, and, if mass is said, as is often the case in the houses of the great or wealthy, images of saints by the masters, with all the accompanying ornaments of devotion.

the dwellings of southern spain, large and small, lean toward the arabic in architecture—arabic decorations, with second-story balconies; the rooms rich in carved ceilings, wainscoting, and arabesque; the entrance from the street in city houses being through a vestibule and an ornamented iron-grated gate. during the summer, when the sun's rays strike like poisoned darts, the family live for the most part in the patio. there upon the marble pavement, beside the cooling fountain, and amidst fragrant orange, 39 palm, and citron trees, visitors are received, chocolate drank, and cigarettes smoked. there too they dance to the music of the guitar, play cards, and take their siesta.

to oriental customs may be attributed the jealous privacy by which the women of spain were guarded by husbands and fathers. besides her natural weakness, woman was yet inferior, inept, characterless, not to be trusted. the fortress-like houses of the better sort, which are scattered all over the table-land of the peninsula, with their spacious inner court and iron-barred windows, were so arranged that the part occupied by the female members of the household was separate from the more public rooms of the men. this precinct was unapproachable by any but the most intimate friend or invited guest. their domestic policy, like every other, was suspicious and guarded.

this is further illustrated by the mode of entering a house, which also shows the effect of centuries of warfare upon manners. in outer doors, and in those of distinct floors, and apartments, was inserted a small grate and slide. on knocking, the slide moved back, and at the grating appeared the lustrous, searching eyes of the inmate. "quien es?" who is it? was the salutation from within. "gente de paz." peaceful people, was the reply.

women and dress.

extreme sensitiveness with regard to dress characterizes spaniards of the better sort, and rather than appear in public unbecomingly attired, they remain hidden at home, only stealing out for necessities at nightfall, or perhaps in the early morn, and then back to their home for the day. in this we see a strong mixture of pride and bienséance, in which there is more sensitiveness than sense. but man can not live by reason alone. he who in this factitious world is guided only by the instincts of a sound mind, regardless of the frivolities of fashion, of convenance, indifferent to his neighbor's ideas of propriety, and to any taste 40 except his own, commits a mistake. though he alone is wise, and all the world fools, yet of necessity he must become foolish, else he is not wise.

males, in their costume, were the birds of gay plumage at the beginning of the sixteenth century. so fantastically clad was the english nobleman in his laced doublet and open gown, that he was scarcely to be distinguished from a woman. in the time of charles v. courtiers dressed in bright colors, but with his sombre son philip, all was black—black velvet trimmed with jet; and stiff—stiff collars, and stiff black truncated cone hats, with brim scarcely an inch wide, in place of the soft slouchy sombrero.

the mantilla and capa.

the national and characteristic garment of both sexes in spain for about three centuries was, for the outer covering, the capa, or cloak, of the cavalier, and the mantilla of the lady. in the reign of charles v. the former was a short cape, and the latter simply a head-dress; but with time both enlarged until one reached below the knee, and the other below the waist. some writers give to these garments a remote antiquity. they point to ancient coins where iberia is represented as a veiled woman, and ignoring sex claim that to the iberians the romans gave the toga, and that for fifteen centuries the fashion continued. others deny such connection. it is undoubtedly true that the capa of the sixteenth century was much shorter than the cloak of to-day, being a cape rather than a cloak, and not at all resembling the roman toga. sebastian franc in his weltbuch, tübingen, 1534, writes: "their women wear a curious dress around the neck; they have an iron band to which are fastened bent prongs reaching over the head, over which, when they desire it, they draw a cloth for the protection of the head, and this they hold to be a great ornament." to the men and women of spain this garment is as the shell to the turtle; within it, though on a crowded thoroughfare, they may at any moment retire from the world, and 41 ensconce themselves within themselves. the cavalier with a peculiar fling, utterly unattainable by a foreigner, throws the skirt over the breast and shoulder so as to partially or completely hide the face according to his pleasure. on the way to and from church the lady's face is covered; and the gallant sighing for a glimpse of features divinely fair, is obliged to enter the sanctuary, hide behind a column near the altar; then as one female after another approaches, kneels, and unveils, he may feast his eyes on the faces before him. the mantilla serves as a bonnet, veil, and shawl; formerly it was but an oblong piece of cloth, with velvet or lace border; later a lace veil was added as part of it; and now the spanish female face is becoming more and more visible in public.

the capa is indispensable to the spaniard; it fits his nature like a glove, and is almost a part of him. it may be worn over a rich dress, or it may conceal rags or nakedness; it may cover a noble, generous heart, or a multitude of sins. hidden beneath it, in secret the wearer may work out his purpose, though in the market-place. it keeps out the cold; it may hide the assassin's dagger; it serves as a disguise in love intrigues, and is a grateful protection from importunate creditors. twisted round the left arm, it is a shield; at night, it is a bed; and with a sword, capa y espada, it not unfrequently constitutes the entire earthly possessions of the haughty, poverty-stricken cavalier. whatever be the character or condition of the wearer, dignity is lent him by its ample folds, and comeliness by its graceful drapery. it is an unpardonable breach of decorum for a muffled cavalier to address a person, or for any one to speak to him while so muffled. politeness teaches him to throw open to his friend both his garment and his heart, that it may be plain that no concealed weapon is in the one, or malice in the other. a son dare not speak to his own father when his face is covered by his cloak. 42

the peasantry flaunted the gayest and most picturesque attire on holiday occasions; the majo, a rustic beau, wore a figured velvet waistcoat with square velvet buttons, and brilliant with colored ribbons; embroidered stockings, silver-buckled shoes, and a colored capa thrown gracefully over the left shoulder. the dress of fígaro in the play, is that of an andalusian dandy. the costume of valencia is more asiatic, or asiatic-antique it might be called, partaking somewhat, as it does, of the ancient greek costume—wide linen drawers, linen shirt, hempen sandals, footless stockings, wide red woollen belt, gay velvet jacket with silken sash, with a colored capa over all. the long hair is bound by a silken band in the form of a turban. the female peasant dress is no less showy; a red velvet bodice, with scarlet or purple petticoat, all profusely embroidered, a gay-colored square-cut mantilla fastened by a silver brooch, with chains and jewels and colored stones according to the purse of the wearer.

various costumes.

the ordinary peasant dress of estremadura consists of wide cloth knee-breeches, closely resembling those of the moors, a gabardine of cloth or leather, and cloth leggings. the men wear the hair long. the women have a fashion of putting on a great number of petticoats; the rustic belles of zamarramala, a village of estremadura, manage to carry from fourteen to seventeen. in andalusia the men have short jackets ornamented with jet or steel beads, knee-breeches, and highly ornamented leathern leggings; the women wear short embroidered and flounced petticoats, and a moorish sleeveless jacket embroidered with gold or silver and laced in front. asturian peasants have wooden shoes with three large nails in the soles, which keep them from the ground; leathern shoes they frequently carry in their travels, and to and from church, under their arms, or on their heads, putting them on just before entering the village or church. the women wear ear-rings 43 and necklaces of glass imitation of coral; a handkerchief, folded triangularly, covers the head; at funerals, a large black mantle is worn. the castilians wear sandals, called abarcas, tied to the ankle by narrow strips of rawhide. the estremadurans wear a hat, very broad-brimmed; the catalonians, a red phrygian cap; the valencians, a kind of greek cap; the asturians, a three-cornered black or dark blue cap with velvet facings; the biscayans, a flat red woollen cap; the andalusians, a turban-like hat, or a silk handkerchief. in aragon, as well as in some of the southern provinces, the broad-brimmed slouching sombrero obtains. hats were invented by a swiss, pansian, in 1404, and a spaniard first manufactured them in london in 1510. jews in spain were obliged to wear yellow hats; in germany bankrupts, in like manner, were required to wear hats of green and yellow.

the general costume of a spanish nobleman consisted of a silk gabardine, with sleeves close-fitting at the wrist but puffed and slashed between the elbow and shoulder so as to show the fine linen shirt beneath; chamois-skin doublet, thick but flexible; silk hose, and silk trowsers slashed; long bell-shaped boots with golden spur-supporters; broad, polished leathern belt, from which hung a long sword on the left side, and a long dagger in a leathern or velvet scabbard on the right; a round, soft, broad-brimmed beaver hat, with an ostrich-feather fastened by a diamond brooch on the side or in front; a cape or cloak embroidered or laced with gold or silver thread, fastened with cord and tassel, and worn hanging from the left shoulder, or thrown around the body so as to cover part of the face. within doors, the cloak was laid aside; a velvet doublet was substituted for the leathern one; and instead of boots, shoes of leather or velvet, slashed over the toes, were worn. the dress of the lady was a heavy, flowing brocade or velvet skirt, open in front, displaying an underdress 44 of light silk or satin; a chemisette with slashed sleeves; a stomacher with long ends hanging in front, and a velvet sleeveless jacket laced with gold or silver cord. the breast was covered with lace, and the neck and shoulders were bare, except when covered by the toca, a kind of head-dress, out of which by elongation grew the characteristic mantilla. her shoes were of velvet, her stockings of silk or wool; from the waist on the right side hung a reticule, a silver or gold whistle for calling servants, and a poniard. her due?a wore a black skirt, and a large black mantle completely covering the head, face, and shoulders down to the waist. swords formed no part of domestic dress prior to the fifteenth century.

black was the color of the church, certain clerical orders excepted. those of the learned professions wore black. the ladies usually attended church in black, and indeed were sometimes seen in sombre hues upon the alameda. black robes and a canoe-shaped hat covered the basque priest; and the friar, sackcloth and gray, bound round the waist with a twisted cord. alguaciles, or constables, followed the ancient cavalier costume—broad-brimmed hat, black cloak, short knee-breeches, black stockings, silver-buckled shoes, vandyke ruffles, and white lace collar. this in the basque provinces only. friars appeared in a hooded robe, extending to the ankles, over woollen breeches and jacket. a cord was tied round the waist from which hung a rosary. hempen or leathern shoes were worn, and by some orders broad hats. the robe of the friar was of coarse wool; that of the clergyman serge, with a cloak, low leathern shoes with buckle, black stockings, knee-breeches, a white collar, and a black hat with broad brim turned up at the sides. the robes of vicars, parish curates, and other church dignitaries were of silk. the franciscan's robe was of a yellowish gray color, the dominican's white, the carmelite's reddish gray, the 45 capuchin's silver gray, the jesuit's black. the bishop's color was violet, the cardinal's red or purple.

domestic routine in spain, with allowances for class, season, and locality, was substantially as follows. the noble or wealthy master of a household was served before rising with chocolate, which service was called the desayuno. he then rose and dressed; after which, kneeling before the crucifix, he said a prayer; then he proceeded to the avocations of the day, taking las once, or the eleven o'clock luncheon of cake and wine, either at home or at the house of a friend, or wherever he happened to be. after a twelve or one o'clock dinner came the siesta. at five o'clock there was to be eaten the merienda, consisting of chocolate, preserved fruit, and ices; and between nine and eleven, supper. in the private chapel of the grandees mass was said. the middle class usually attended church about sunrise; after which breakfast, and at noon dinner.

excessive religious training.

the religious training of children was excessive. at daybreak the angelus was recited, then to chapel or church to mass, after which the child might breakfast; at noon angelus and dinner; after the siesta vespers at church, and rosary at home; at six o'clock angelus and chocolate; prayers at eight; supper at nine; after which more prayers and to bed. the child was expected to attend all these devotions, the night prayer perhaps excepted, the youngest children being sent to bed after the rosary. and this not alone sunday, but every day.

a national dish, centuries old, common to spain and all spanish countries, called the olla podrida, constitutes a staple food with almost all classes. it is made of meat and vegetables boiled together, but usually served in two dishes, and its constituents depend upon the resources of the cook, for everything eatable is put into it that can be obtained. beef, mutton, pork, and fowl; beans, peas, potatoes, 46 onions, cabbage, and garlic; the water in which the mess is boiled is served as soup with rice or bread, and the two courses constitute the whole of every meal of the lower classes. on the tables of the wealthy, after the olla podrida, fish, roast meats, and a profuse dessert of sweetmeats, jellies, preserves, and bonbons are served. the andalusians make a salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, green-peppers, chiccory, with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and stale bread, which with them is a staple dish, called gazpacho.

it was a gluttonous, sensual age, that of the century preceding our epoch; but from these vices spain was probably more free than any other civilized nation of europe. there the discipline of war absorbed the attention which elsewhere was given to luxurious living. we find nothing in spain such as we are told about in england, where the households of the great were composed of brawling retainers, ill-mannered clowns, and riotous serving men and women who terminated many a feast with bloodshed; where guests snatched and scrambled for food, gorging themselves with whatever they could lay hands on; where drunken broils were of daily occurrence, and the master of the household was not unfrequently obliged to sheath his sword in the body of some contumacious servant grown dangerous by the unbridled license in which he had been indulged.

what shall we say of the monks and cardinals now grown fat from the well filled coffers of the church? with their wealth in some instances they had grown sensuous and extravagant. their cupboards were loaded with rich viands, in which they freely indulged; and their tables were surrounded by musicians and all the luxuries and delicacies the world could contribute. not to the faults of the few, however, would we call too much attention, but to the virtues of the many; for during these dark years of ignorance and voluptuousness the church was planting 47 and watering the seeds of the sanctity of marriage and domestic life in spain, and surrounding the family altar with so many safeguards among her people, that the long ages since have not sufficed to dispel nor destroy them. the wealthy families of spain had their court jesters, but coarse buffoonery or indecent jests were seldom tolerated.

food and filthiness.

two persons often ate from one plate, using their fingers for forks. a sheath-knife, or dagger, which they carried upon the person, served to cut the food. among the first books printed in venice was a folio volume on cookery, issued in 1475. in the english metrical stans puer ad mensam, following wright, the guest is told to "bring no knyves unskoured to the table;" in other words, his sheath knife should be clean, and he is also informed that polite persons will not pick their teeth with it while at table. it was considered a breach of good manners to blow the nose with the same fingers used in conveying food to the mouth. hats were worn by the men, and head-dresses by the women, on all domestic occasions. in france, the metrical contenances de table, or manual of table manners, shows but little more refinement there than elsewhere. among other directions the reader is told first to examine his seat whether it be clean:

"enfant, prens de regarder peine

sur le siege où tu te fierras,

se aucune chose y verras

qui soit deshonneste où vilaine."

he is forbidden to spit upon the table while at dinner:

"ne craiche par dessus la table

car c'est chose desconvenable."

or to spurt water from his mouth into the basin used in common by the company:

"quant tu bouche tu laveras

ou bacin point ne cracheras."

48

or leave sops in his wine glass:

"se tu fais souppes en ton verre

boy le vin ou le gette à terre."

but by implication he may spurt and throw remnants on the floor, as much as he pleases.

even in their use of tobacco, of which they are excessively fond, the spaniards are temperate. though they smoke it almost constantly, it is in such small quantities, and in so mild a form, that tobacco does them less injury than it inflicts on many other nations. it was the custom to carry a daily supply wrapped in a lettuce or cabbage leaf to preserve it moist. the cigarette was prepared for smoking by taking a small quantity of tobacco, finely cut, rolling it in a piece of corn-husk or paper, and lighting with flint, steel, and punk. though the tobacco may be strong, prepared in this way the effect is less injurious than when rolled in larger quantities into a cigar, or cut from a plug and smoked from a pipe or chewed.

noble youths of both sexes were accustomed, to serve a sort of apprenticeship for a number of years in the king's household. in like manner the sons and daughters of gentlemen served in the houses of the nobility, and common people in the houses of gentlemen, that each might be benefited by the knowledge and refinement of his superior.

spaniards, as i have said, are called inhospitable; but this charge must be taken with allowance. every phase of human nature has its generous quality; locked in every heart is a wealth of kindliness which opens to him who holds the key. by nature these people are reserved, suspicious. they carry no window in their breast. in their domestic affairs they are specially reticent before strangers. their wives and daughters they hide away; their troubles they cover within the ashes that preserve them; their sensibilities shrink from cold contact with the world. if some find certain spaniards at given 49 periods inhospitable, others at other times and places find them very generous. in early times inns were not common in spain, and we are told that in certain places every private house had its guest's quarters consisting of one or more rooms according to the opulence of the owner. to this apartment every stranger of whatsoever degree was welcome. there he lived as long as he pleased, fed and cared for by the host; and—you may call it pride—if through poverty provisions grew scarce, the family would undergo the greatest privation rather than the guest should suffer want, or be forced to hasten his departure. furthermore all was free; to offer pay for entertainment was deemed an insult, though a present might be given and accepted.

amusements.

while called a melancholy people, amusement appeared at times to be the life of the nation. royalty and religion at rest, peace here and hereafter secured, there was nothing more of life than to enjoy it. to labor when one might repose; to sigh when one might sing; to undergo the pains of culture when sweet pleasure temptingly proposed a holiday—ah no! fools attempt to better their condition and make it worse. let those who need improving scour themselves; we know enough.

so lazily lapped in stupidity, beside their feast-days and bull-fights, their passions and passion-plays, they lolled upon the greensward and danced to tambourine and castanets, and wrestled, and ran races; they fenced, fought, played cards, shook dice, and enlivened home monotony by all sorts of games and gymnastic exercises. dancing was carried to such excess as to lead to dissoluteness and occasional death, even as it does to-day. the dances of the peasantry in many instances bear a striking resemblance to those of the native races of america. in asturias, men, and sometimes men and women, form a circle joining hands by the little finger. a leader sings in plaintive 50 monotone a description of some spanish feat of arms prior to the eleventh century, or of a tournament of later days, or of some unhappy love adventure, or of a thrilling incident in the conquest of america. at the end of every strophe, all sing in chorus the refrain which sometimes terminates in an invocation, as for example, may saint peter be with me! may the magdalen protect us! the dance is a long step forward, and two short steps backward and laterally to the right, so that the circle keeps constantly moving in that direction, meanwhile keeping time to the music with arms as well as feet. these dances take place on sunday afternoons, and on feast-days, and when the priest is present men and women are separated in the dance. the fandango, danced by two persons with castanets to the music of the guitar, is peculiar to the south of spain.

between the eras proper of tournaments and bull-fights, a species of tilting called correr la sortija was greatly in vogue. a gold finger-ring was suspended by a thread from the top of a pole, and at it charged the cavalier with lance in rest and horse at full speed. the smallness of the object, its constant motion, and its proximity to the pole rendered it an exceedingly difficult feat to accomplish.

cards and dice were at this time in the height of their fascination. every class, age, profession, and sex were filled with a passion for gambling—a most levelling vice, at this juncture, bringing in contact noble and commoner, knight and squire, women, servants, and trades-people. an english poet about the year 1500 thus laments the degeneracy of the nobles:

"before thys tyme they lovyd for to juste,

and in shotynge chefely they sett ther mynde;

and ther landys and possessyons now sett they moste,

and at cardes and dyce ye may them ffynde."

from her low estate of medi?val drudge or plaything, woman was lifted by the exaltation of the 51 virgin,—lifted too high by chivalry; then fell too low with the sensual reaction. finally, after many waverings, she rises again, and in the more favored spheres takes her rightful place beside her lord, his confidant and equal. at the time of which i write, however, she was less respected than now, and hence less respectable; less trusted, and consequently less trustworthy. her virtue, fortified by bolts and bars at home, was watched by servants abroad. falling into the customs of the invaders during moslem domination, castilian ladies became more and more retired, until the dwelling was little better than a nunnery. the days of tournaments, and jousts, and troubadours were over, and indifference succeeded chivalric sentimentality.

female chastity.

seldom has spanish society been conspicuous for its high moral tone. female chastity was an abstract quality, the property of the father or husband, rather than an inherent virtue for the safe-keeping of which the female possessor was responsible. the master of a household exercised sovereign authority therein, claiming even the power of life and death over the members of his family. he was addressed in the third person as 'your worship;' sons dare not cover their head, cross their legs, or even sit in his presence unless so directed; daughters were betrothed without their knowledge, and to men whom they had never seen; the selection of a husband rested entirely with the father, and the daughter had only to acquiesce. female decorum and purity were placed under espionage. a due?a kept guard over the wife and daughter at home, and closely followed at their heels whenever they stepped into the street. ladies, closely veiled, marched solemnly to church, preceded by a rodrigon, or squire, with cushion and prayer-book, and followed by a due?a. at service, her place was in front, and men took up their station behind her. teach woman first that she is inferior, next that she is impotent; add to this intellectual inanity 52 and implied moral unaccountability, and you have a creature ripe for wickedness.

this excess of caution defeated its own purpose. women, left much alone within their cloister-like homes, waited not in vain for opportunity. the gay mistress could often too easily win over her attendant, and make of her due?a a go-between; yet if we may believe the record, infidelity was rare, and for two reasons. first, woman in her seclusion escaped many temptations; and secondly, a wholesome fear, the certainty that vengeance, swift and sure, would follow the offence, resulting in the death of one or both offenders, placed a curb on passion. females of the lower classes, left alone to take care of their virtue as best they might, with faces open and actions free, were less given to transgression than their wealthier sisters.

lewd women could not testify in criminal cases. respectable women were permitted to testify, but the judge was obliged to wait on them at their homes, as they were not allowed to attend court. learning to write was discouraged in females, as they could then have it in their power to scribble love-letters to their gallants. queen isabella did much to elevate and purify both religion and morals. the court of enrique iv., her predecessor, has been described as but little better than a brothel, where "the queen, a daughter of portugal, lived openly with her parasites and gallants, as the king did with his minions and mistresses." maids of honor were trained courtesans, and the noblemen of the court occupied their time in illicit amours and love intrigues. from the king on his throne to his lowest subject, all who could afford it kept a mistress.

ware states that within a century the widows of madrid were "compelled to pass the whole first year of their mourning in a chamber entirely hung with black, where not a single ray of the sun could penetrate, seated on a little mattress with their legs 53 always crossed. when this year was over, they retired to pass the second year in a chamber hung with grey." this savagism is paralleled by the thlinkeets of alaska, who at certain times confine women in a little kennel for six months, giving them one a size larger for the second six months; likewise by the tacullies of new caledonia, who make the widow carry the deceased husband's ashes upon her back in a bag for one or two years.

european society in general.

a glance at english and french society shows us, however, that the character of the spanish women of this epoch compared favorably with that of their northern sisters. though perhaps no chaster than the french, they were not street-brawlers like the english women. these latter, we are told, from whom the men would separate themselves in their debauches, would likewise assemble at the public house, drink their ale, talk loudly and lewdly, and gossip, swear, and fight. in a religious play of the period, representing the deluge, noah, when ready to enter the ark, seeks his wife, and finds her carousing with her gossips at the public drink-house.

"young ladies, even of great families," says wright, "were brought up not only strictly but even tyrannically by their mothers, who kept them constantly at work, exacted from them almost slavish deference and respect, and even counted upon their earnings." a mother in those days was accounted a little severe who beat her daughter "once in the week, or twice, and sometimes twice a day," and "broke her head in two or three places," or still worse, permitted her to "speak with no man, whosoever come."

witness the wooing of matilda of flanders by william the conqueror. having had the audacity to refuse him, the noble suitor entered her home, seized her long tresses, dragged her about the floor, struck her; then flinging her from him, he spurned her with his foot. matilda at once accepted him, 54 saying: "he must be a man of courage who dare beat me in my father's palace."

pedro el cruel, king of castile and leon, about the middle of the fourteenth century held good, and commanded, under heavy penalties, that no one of the laboring classes, man or woman, who was able to work, should be found begging. he fixed the day's wage of every class with the most punctilious exactitude. shoemakers, tailors, armorers, and others who worked by the job, had a definite price attached to the making of every article. a shoe of such and such leather, made after such a fashion, with a double or single sole; a cloak, lined or unlined; a weapon of an ordinary, or of a superior temper and finish—each article in its fabrication was to cost just so much and no more.

it was an age of interference in the affairs of men, the strong against the weak. it was in these trade regulations, and in sumptuary laws, the superstition of political economy and social statics, that the science of ignorance culminated. it was then that learned men threw dust into the air, cast a cloud about their own intellect, and labored hard to inculcate the principles of nescience into the minds of men. in england the number of servants a nobleman might have was fixed by law, as was also costume, and the number of courses at dinner. soup and two dishes legally constituted a frenchman's dinner in 1340.

ferdinand and isabella were, perhaps, the most parentally inclined of all. no affair, religious, moral, political, judicial, economical, literary, industrial, mechanical, or mercantile could escape their attention. from the regulation and organization of the high councils, and of the civil and ecclesiastical tribunals, to the ordinances for the leather-dressers and cloth-shearers; from the decrees concerning the universities and the literary and scientific bodies, to the orders that prescribed the weight of horseshoes; from the general laws on commerce and 55 navigation, to those which fixed the expenditure at weddings and baptisms, and the amount of wax to be burned at funerals; from the highest interests and rights of religion and of the throne, down to the most humble and mechanical industries—all were considered, legislated upon, and seen to by their catholic majesties, with infinite pains and vigilance. in 1510, thinking the colonists of espa?ola too fond of ostentation and extravagance, ferdinand issued a proclamation, forbidding them to wear rich silks, brocades, or gold or silver lace. owners of vessels, in times of peace, were forced to engage at fixed prices in perilous voyages of discovery or commerce.

sumptuary laws.

in england it appears that the dress of the men commanded the special attention of their rulers. spaniards made men and women alike to feel the iron heel of sumptuary legislation; while the english, in laws of nearly coincident date, for the most part omitted the sex. by distinctive qualities, edward iv., 1461-1483, regulated the dress of his people—from the royal cloth-of-gold down to the two-shillings-a-yard, and under, cloth of the laboring classes; but, if we may believe sanford, he took care to exempt his women subjects from the provisions of this act, save only the wives of the two-shillings-a-yard boor, who might be expected to have other things to attend to.

the continental ladies, it appears, could flaunt it bravely upon occasion, at least in france and flanders. for through these countries crusaded, in 1428, thomas conecte, a carmelite friar, preaching against the evils of the age, or what he considered as such. among these, dress held a place, and many other things not generally condemned at present. his manner of going to work was peculiar, and is pretty well described by monstrelet.

in his audiences he always separated the men from the women by a cord, "for he had observed some sly doings between them while he was preaching." having 56 taken these wise precautions, he was accustomed earnestly to admonish his hearers "on the damnation of their souls and on pain of excommunication, to bring to him whatever backgammon-boards, chessboards, nine-pins, or other instruments for games of amusement they might possess." right bitterly would he then attack the luxurious apparel of ladies of rank; especially the monstrous head-gear which was in fashion at that time; all of which bred trouble, as may readily be imagined, and produced no good results.

we see the same style of preaching indulged in by the wesleys in england and whitefield and others in america at different times, and ever with the same lack of practical results. the most costly jewelry, the finest apparel, grand houses and free living are as conspicuous among the followers of these self-sacrificing and conscientious men as among the members of any other church, or among those who are not members of any church. and if the pious carmelite friar failed in his crusade against fine clothes, free living, and monstrous head-gear among the spanish of the fifteenth century, so have more modern crusaders failed in similar attempts in later times.

this then was spain and spanish character, as nearly as i have been able to picture them in the short space allotted, at or prior to the dawn of the sixteenth century. we have found spaniards the noblest race on earth at that time; their men brave, their women modest. before them opened a career more brilliant than the world has ever seen before or since. to follow them in some parts of that career is the purpose of these volumes.

we have found these people after all not so very different from ourselves—more loyal than we, but more ignorant; more religious, but more superstitious; 57 more daring, but more reckless; more enthusiastic, but more chimerical. they were endowed with the virtues and vices of their age, as we are with the virtues and vices of ours. they were sincere in their opinions, and honest in their efforts; but we have the advantage of them by four centuries of recorded experiences. our knowledge, our advantages, are superior to theirs; do we make superior use of them? spain lighted a hemisphere of dark waters, brought forth hidden islands and continents, and presented half a world to the other half. with all our boasted improvement, have we done more?

it is the custom of historical commentators to praise and to blame ad libitum. this is right if it be done judiciously. we should praise discreetly, and blame with steadiness. but there is really little to praise or to blame in history, and most of it that is done is simply praising or blaming the providence of progress. would you blame the spanish people for being ignorant, submissive, and cruel? they were as god and circumstances made them. would you blame their king and princes for domineering them? they were as the people and circumstances made them. the people were indignant if their rulers did not impose upon them. says grenville, writing in his memoirs so late as 1818: "the regent drives in the park every day in a tilbury, with his groom sitting by his side; grave men are shocked at this undignified practice."

meanwhile, amidst the many so-called spirits which in this epoch hovered over man, the spirit of discovery was not the least potent. curiosity, the mother of science, became the mother of new worlds; gave birth to continents, islands, and seas; gave form and boundary to earth. over the sea, the mists of the dark age had rested with greater density even than on land. the aurora of progress now illumined the western horizon as of old it did the eastern. hitherto the great ocean, beyond a few leagues from 58 shore, was a mystery. as may be seen depicted on ancient charts, it was filled, in the imaginations of navigators, with formidable water-beasts and monsters, scarcely less terrible than those that ?neas saw as he entered the mouth of hades:

"multaque pr?terea variarum monstra ferarum:

centauri in foribus stabulant, scyll?que biformes,

et centumgeminus briareus, ac belua lern?

horrendum stridens, flammisque armata chim?ra,

gorgones harpyi?que et forma tricorporis umbr?."

ancient geographers affirmed that the heat of the torrid zone was intolerable, that men and ships entering it would shrivel. this belt of consuming heat presented an impenetrable barrier between the known and the unknown.

what wonder that intellect was stunted, civilization dwarfed, restricted as was human knowledge to the narrow grave-like walls of western europe! no sooner were these ancient boundaries burst, and the black and dreadful fog-banks which lay upon primeval ocean pierced, than fancy, like a freed bird, bounded forth, swept the circumference of the earth, soared aloft amid the stars, and dared even to ask of religion a reason.

europe and america.

one glance westward. on either side of an unswept sea, a sea of darkness it was called by those that feared it, there rested at the opening of this history two fair continents, each unknown to the other. one was cultivated; its nations were well advanced in those arts and courtesies that spring from accumulated experiences; the other, for the most part, unmarred by man, lay revelling in primeval beauty, fresh as from the creator's hand. the leaven of progress working in one, brought to its knowledge the existence of the other; the sea of darkness with its uncouth monsters was turned into a highway, and civilized europe stood face to face with sylvan america. this world newly found was called the 59 new world; though which is the new and which the old; which, if either, peopled the other, is yet undetermined. one in organism and in the nature human, the people of the two worlds were in color, customs, and sentiment several. the barbarous new world boasted its civilizations, while the civilized old world disclosed its barbarisms; on mexican and peruvian highlands were nations of city-builders as far superior in culture to the islanders and coast-dwellers seen by columbus, as were the european discoverers superior to the american highlanders. of probable indigenous origin, this lesser civilization shows traces of high antiquity; even the ruder nations of the north leave far behind them absolute primevalism.

i do not say with some that in america were seen in certain directions marks of as high culture as any in europe. there were no such marks. but this unquestionably is true; that, as in europe, we here find that most inexplicable of phenomena, the evolution of civility; man's mental and spiritual necessities, like his physical wants, appear everywhere the same. the mind, like the body, craves nutriment, and the dimmed imprisoned soul a higher sympathy; hence we see men of every clime and color making for themselves gods, and contriving creeds which shall presently deliver them from their dilemma. the civilizations of america, unlike well-rooted saplings of egypt, greece, and rome, were sensitive-plants which collapsed upon the first foreign touch, leaving only the blackness of darkness; hence it was the wild tribes, far more than the cultivated nations, that influenced the character of subsequent american societies.

in her civil and religious polities america was every whit as consistent as europe. neither was altogether perfect or wise; and we wonder at the blindness and stupidity of one as of the other. although we could catch but a glimpse of the americans before they vanished, yet we might see that 60 intellect was not stationary, but growing, and that society was instinct with intelligent and progressional activity.

comparative religions.

in their religions the americans paralleled the rest of mankind. every religion derives its form and color from the mind of the worshippers, so that by their gods we may know them. from elevated natures emanate chaste and refined conceptions of the deity; from brutish natures coarse conceptions. christianity is the highest and purest of all religions; but if we study the moral precepts of the foremost american nations, we shall see that in many respects they were not far behind, and were indeed in some instances in advance of christianity. true, the aztecs practised human sacrifice, with all its attendant horrors; but what were the religious wars, the expulsion of jews, the slaughter of infidels, the burning of heretics, but human sacrifice? moreover, while we turn in horror from the sacrificial stone of the aztecs, where the human victims were treated as gods and whence their souls were sent direct to paradise, yet we find among them little of that most infamous of crimes—persecution for opinion's sake; nor yet do we read of their ingenuity being taxed for the contrivance of engines of the most excruciating torture, as we do in the history of christianity. tortures which, while killing the body, it was believed consigned the soul to eternal agonies.

there was little in the social or political systems of europe of which the counterpart could not be found in america; indeed, the economical, social, and political condition of every civilization finds its counterpart in every other civilization; and there were institutions then existing in america at whose feet europe might have sat with benefit.

american aboriginals.

among the wilder tribes we find prevalent the patriarchal state, with its hundreds of languages and theologies; a slight advance from which are those associations of families banded for safety, thus presenting 61 a state of society not unlike that of european feudalism. from this point, every quality and grade of government presents itself until full-blown monarchy is attained, where a sole sovereign becomes an emperor of nations with a state and severity equal to that of the most enlightened. the government of the nashua nations, which was monarchical and nearly absolute, denotes no small progress from primordial patriarchy.

like their cousins of spain and england, the sovereigns of mexico had their elaborate palaces, with magnificent surroundings, their country residence and their hunting-grounds, their botanical and zoological gardens, and their harems filled with the daughters of nobles, who deemed it an honor to see them thus royally defiled. there were aristocratic and knightly orders; nobles, plebeians, and slaves; pontiffs and priesthoods; land tenures and taxation; seminaries of learning, and systems of education, in which virtue was extolled and vice denounced; laws and law courts of various grades, and councils and tribunals of various kinds; military orders with drill, engineer corps, arms, and fortifications; commerce, caravans, markets, merchants, pedlers, and commercial fairs, with a credit system, and express and postal facilities.

they were not lacking in pleasures and amusements similar to those of the europeans, such as feasts with professional jester, music, dancing; and after dinner the drama, national games, gymnastics, and gladiatorial combats. they were not without their intoxicating drink, delighting in drunkenness while denouncing it. their medical faculty and systems of surgery they had, and their burial-men; also their literati, scholars, orators, and poets, with an arithmetical system, a calendar, a knowledge of astronomy, hieroglyphic books, chronological records, public libraries, and national archives.

the horoscope of infants was cast; the cross was 62 lifted up; incense was burned; baptism and circumcision were practised. whence arose these customs so like those of their fellow-men across the atlantic, whom they had never seen or heard of?

the conquerors found all this when they entered the country. they examined with admiration the manufactures of gold, silver, copper, tin, and lead, wrought to exquisite patterns with surprising skill. they gazed with astonishment on huge architectural piles, on monumental remains speaking louder than words; on temples, causeways, fountains, aqueducts, and light-houses, surrounded as they were with statues and intricate and costly stone carvings. they found that the americans made cloth, paper, pottery, and dyes, and were proficient in painting. their mosaic feather-work was a marvel.

there are many points of interest, well worth examination, which i have not space here properly to mention. the interested reader, however, will find all material necessary to careful comparison in my native races of the pacific states. he will there find described conditions of society analogous to feudalism and chivalry; he will find municipal governments, walled towns, and standing armies. there were legislative assemblies similar to that of the cortes, and associations not unlike that of the holy brotherhood. to say that trial by combat sometimes occurred is affirming of them nothing complimentary; but upon the absence of some european institutions they were to be congratulated.

although living lives of easy poverty, the wild tribes of america everywhere possessed dormant wealth enough to tempt the cupidity alike of the fierce spaniard, the blithe frenchman, and the sombre englishman. under a burning tropical sun, where neither meat nor clothing was essential to comfort, the land yielded gold, while in hyperborean forests where no precious metals were discovered the richest peltries abounded; so that no savage in all this northern continent 63 was found so poor that grasping civilization could find nothing to rob him of.

when europe undertook the mastery of america, she found the people, as a rule, ready to be friendly. some at first were startled into the seizure of their arms, the first impulse of the wild man on meeting anything strange being to defend himself. but their fears were easily allayed, their confidence easily gained, and their pledges of good faith were usually to be depended upon.

comparative characteristics.

the variations between them and their brethren across the atlantic were less of kind than of quality. they were more children than wild beasts. physically they were complete, but mentally they were not fully developed. their minds were not so broad, nor so strong or subtle as those of white men. their cunning partook more of brute instinct than of civilized artifice. there was mind-power enough, but it lacked shape and consistency. they were naturally no more blood-thirsty, or cruel, or superstitious than their conquerors, but their cruelty and superstitions were of coarser, cruder forms. the american aboriginal character has been greatly misconstrued, and is to-day but imperfectly understood.

the chief difference, or cause of difference, between the people of europe and the more advanced nations of america, it seems to me, lay in the ignorance of some few things, apparently insignificant in themselves, yet mighty enough to revolutionize christendom; such as the use of iron, gunpowder, and movable types. the absence of horses, and other of the more useful domestic animals, was also a disadvantage.

after reading of the europeans of that day it is irony to call the americans revengeful or cruel. where is it possible to find more strongly developed those qualities which civilization most condemns than among civilized nations—the same, only refined? so blind 64 are we to our own faults, so quick to see and condemn the faults of our weak and defenceless neighbor!

catalogue crime and place the white beside the red. seldom was the indian treacherous until he had been deceived. the indians tortured their prisoners; so did the white men, hunting them with bloodhounds, enslaving them, branding them with hot irons, beating and roasting them, making them work in the mines until death relieved them by thousands, butchering wives and children because the husband and father dared strike a blow in their defence. it is well to call them brutal in warfare when the white man so quickly adopts their most brutal customs; it is well to call them beasts of prey, when the white man crosses the ocean to prey upon those very beasts which he pretends to slur.

in speaking of the indians, it has become the custom wilfully to misapply terms. if a tribe resist an injury, it is called an outbreak; if successful in war, it is a massacre; if successful in single combat, it is a murder. thus soldiers speak to cover the disgrace of defeat, and thus reports are made by men who regard not decency in speaking of a savage, to say nothing of fairness. it is enough that we have exterminated this people, without attempting to malign them and exalt our own baseness. what should we do were a foreign power to come in ships to our shore and begin to slaughter our animals, to stake off our land and divide it among themselves? we should drive them away if we were able; but if we found them the stronger, we should employ every art to destroy them, and in so doing regard ourselves as patriots performing a sacred obligation. this is the indians crime; and in so doing we call him cunning, revengeful, hateful, diabolical. but the white man brings him blankets, it may be said, brings him medicine, tells him of contrivances, teaches him civilization. these things are exactly what the savage does not want, and what he is much better off without. 65 the white man's comforts kill him almost as quickly as do his cruelties; and the teachings of christ's ministers are abhorrent if they are coupled with the examples of lecherous and murderous professors of christianity.

these, however, were by no means all that white men gave the indian. we might enumerate alcohol, small-pox, measles, syphilis, and a dozen other disgusting adjuncts of civilization of which the savage before knew nothing. can savagism boast greater achievements? white men have killed fifty indians where indians have killed one white man, and this, notwithstanding that nine tenths of all injuries inflicted have been perpetrated by white invaders. a thousand indian women have been outraged by men whose mothers had taught them the lord's prayer, where one white woman has been injured by these benighted heathen. at any time in the history of america i would rather take my chances as a white woman among savages, than as an indian woman among white people.

significations of progress.

brethren by procreation, but by destiny foes, as we behold them there the so-called new and old thus so strangely brought together, naturally enough we ask ourselves, whence came the one, and whither tends the other? whence came these dusky denizens of the forest, and for how many thousands of ages has the feeble light of their intelligence struggled with the darkness, dimly flickering, now gathering strength, now falling back into dense obscurity; how long and in what manner has the divine spark thus wrestled with its environment? and whither tends this fierce flame of human advancement which just now bursts its ancient boundaries, sweeps across the sea of darkness, absorbs all lesser lights, and dazzles and consumes a hemisphere of souls? more especially, when we look back toward what we are accustomed to call the beginning, and mark the steady advance of knowledge, the ever-increasing power of 66 mind; when we consider the progress of even the last half century, and listen to the present din and clatter of improvement, do we raise our eyes to the future and ask, whither tends all this? whither tends with so rapidly accelerating swiftness this self-begetting of enlightenment, this massing of human acquirements; whither tends this perpetually increasing domination of the intellectual over the material? within the past few thousand years we have seen our race emerge from barbarism, and notwithstanding the inherent tendency to evil ever present in our natures, we have seen mankind put on civilization and accept for their faith christianity, the purest and highest type of religion. we have seen nations cease somewhat their hereditary growlings, and brutal blood-sheddings, and mingle as brethren; we have seen wavy grain supplant the tangled wildwood, gardens materialize from the mirage, and magnificent cities rise out of the rocky ground. thus we have seen the whole earth placed under tribute, and this mysterious reasoning intelligence of ours elevating itself yet more and more above the instincts of the brute, and asserting its dominion over nature; belting the earth with an impatient energy, which now presses outward from every meridian, widening its domain as best it may toward the north and toward the south, building equatorial fires under polar icebergs. all this and more from the records of our race we have seen accomplished, and yet do see it; civilization working itself out in accordance with the eternal purposes of omnipotence, unfolding under man's agency, yet independent of man's will; a subtile, extraneous, unifying energy, stimulated by agencies good not more than by agencies evil, yet always tending in its results to good rather than to evil; an influence beyond the reach or cognizance of man, working in and round persons and societies, turning and overturning, now clouding the sky with blackness and dropping disorder on floundering humanity, but only to be followed by a yet more fertilizing sunshine; laying 67 waste and building up, building up by laying waste, civilizing as well by war and avarice as by good-will and sweet charity, civilizing as surely, if not as rapidly, with the world of humanity struggling against it, as with the same human world laboring for it.

slowly rattles along the dim present, well-nigh buried in its own dust; it is only the past that is well-defined and clear to history.

summary of geographical knowledge and discovery from the earliest records to the year 1540.

before entering upon the narration of events composing this history, it seems to me important, in order as well properly to appreciate the foregoing introduction as to gain from succeeding chapters something more than gratified curiosity, that an exposition of early voyages should be given,—acting powerfully as they did on evolving thought and material development, giving breadth and vigor to intellect, enthusiasm to enterprise, and in elevating and stimulating that commercial spirit which was eventually to depose kings, exalt the people, strip from science its superstitions, from religion its cabalistic forms, and by its associations, its negotiations, its adventurous daring, its wars, its alliances, and its humanizing polities, to break the barriers of ancient enmity and bring together in common brotherhood all the nations of the earth.

therefore, i now propose to give a chronological statement of every authentic voyage of discovery made beyond the mediterranean prior to 1540, while doubtful and disputed voyages will be discussed according to their relative importance. i shall notice, moreover, such books and charts relating to america as were produced during this period, with fac-similes of the more important maps, to illustrate, at different dates, the progress of discovery. it is my purpose, so far as possible, in the very limited space allowed, to state fairly the conclusions of the best writers on every important point.

one word as to the authorities consulted in the preparation of this summary. of books relating to america, published prior to 1540, there are in all about sixty-five; only twenty-five, however, contain original information; twenty-three are general cosmographical works with brief sections on america compiled from the original twenty-five; while seventeen merely mention the new world or its discoveries, and are therefore of no value in this connection. of the forty-eight containing matter more or less important, there are over two hundred editions, the earliest of which only, in most instances, will be mentioned, and that without extensive bibliographical notes. these books and charts i notice in chronological order under dates of their successive appearance.

the subject of early voyages has been so frequently and so thoroughly discussed by able modern writers that it is unnecessary, and indeed impracticable 68 in so condensed an essay, to refer to ancient authorities alone, and prove everything from the beginning. i shall therefore, besides the spanish historians peter martyr, oviedo, las casas, gomara, herrera, and the standard collections of ramusio, gryn?us, purchas, and hakluyt, freely use the works of later writers according to their relative worth. and of these last mentioned i epitomize the following. historia del nuevo-mundo, escribíala d. juan baut. mu?oz, tom. i.—all ever published—en madrid, 1793, contains a clear well-written prologo, or essay, on the first three voyages of columbus with minor mention of contemporary discoveries. an account is also given of the author's labors in beginning the large and invaluable collection of documents completed and published by martin fernandez de navarrete, coleccion de los viages y descubrimientos que hicieron por mar los espa?oles desde fines del siglo xv., 5 vols. 4to, madrid, 1825-37. this collection of navarrete's is without doubt the most valuable work on the subject of early american voyages, and the foundation of all that followed; containing as it does the original spanish, latin, and portuguese texts of the more important spanish and portuguese expeditions from 1393 to 1540—the latin and portuguese done into spanish—together with over five hundred original documents from the spanish archives, with extensive and generally impartial notes by the editor. for a biographical sketch of this author see chapter iii. of this volume. washington irving's life and voyages of christopher columbus and his companions, published in london, 1828-31 (edition used, that of new york, 1869, 3 vols.), is an able and elegant abridged translation of navarrete, and of la historia de el almirante d. christoval colon, by his son fernando colon, in barcia, historiadores primitivos, tom. i., madrid, 1749. alexander von humboldt's examen critique de l'histoire de la géographie du nouveau continent, et des progrès de l'astronomie nautique aux 15ème et 16ème siècles, 5 vols. 8vo, paris, 1836-9, is a most exhaustive digest of materials furnished by navarrete and the older historians, illustrated with the results of the author's personal investigations. the work embraces two treatises; first, the causes which led to the discovery of america; second, facts relating to columbus and vespucci, with the dates of geographic discoveries. humboldt's abhandlung über die ?ltesten karten, printed as an introduction to ghillany, geschichte des seefahrers ritter martin behaim, nuremberg, 1853, of which i have only a manuscript english translation, is an essay as well on the naming of america as on early maps. another important treatise is that of j. g. kohl, die beiden ?ltesten general-karten von america, weimar, 1860, of nearly two hundred large folio pages on the earliest manuscript and printed maps, two of the former, dated 1527 and 1529, accompanying the work, reproduced in chromo-lithographic fac-simile. the same author has produced other works on the subject, the most important being a history of the discovery of the east coast of north america, published in collections of the maine historical society, 2d series, vol. i., portland, 1869. this contains reduced copies of twenty-three early maps, and is perhaps the most complete work existing, so far as the northern coasts are concerned, giving comparatively little attention to more southern voyages. kunstmann, die entdeckung amerikas, munich, 1859, is a careful compilation of ninety-six imperial quarto pages, with copious notes and references, 69 written to accompany a collection of thirteen large chromo-lithographic reproductions of manuscript maps preserved in the academy of sciences at munich, and generally known as the munich atlas. herr kunstmann treats chiefly of the atlantic islands, with special reference to the connection between the discoveries of spaniards and northmen. major's life of prince henry of portugal, london, 1868, is the best authority for portuguese voyages as well as for the revival of maritime enterprise in the fifteenth century. stevens' historical and geographical notes on the earliest discoveries in america, 1453-1530, new haven, 1869, was written originally as an introduction to a book by the author's brother on his proposed interoceanic communication via tehuantepec. it is a concise statement of the whole matter, presenting some of its phases in a practically new light. varnhagen, le premier voyage de amerigo vespucci, vienna, 1869, must not be omitted as the chief support of a theory on vespucci's voyages which nearly concerns the first discovery of our pacific states territory proper. rafn, antiquitates american?, hafni?, 1837, is the source of nearly all our knowledge of the discoveries of the northmen in america in the tenth and following centuries; and de costa, the pre-columbian discovery of america, albany, 1868, presents an english translation of the same icelandic sagas in which the enterprises of the northmen are recorded. the cartografía mexicana of orozco y berra, published by the mexican geographical society, contains, as its title indicates, a mention of early maps in chronologic order; and the mapoteca colombiana of urric?chea, london, 1860, is another important contribution of similar nature. there should be mentioned the excellent review given in the first volume of bryant's history of the united states, which has appeared since this summary was written; and i might present quite a list of papers read before the various learned societies of europe and america on different topics connected with this subject in late years, none of them i believe materially affecting my conclusions.

the above form but a small portion of the works devoted wholly or in part to the subject, but they are believed to contain all the material necessary for even a more detailed statement than my purpose demands.

adventures of the ancients.

of the voyages of the ancients, properly so called, that is, of such as preceded the fall of the roman empire at the end of the fourth century, i shall here say little. these maritime expeditions, confined for the most part to the mediterranean, though extending for some distance along the coasts of the indian and atlantic oceans, with occasional voyages designedly or accidentally prolonged to more distant islands, and it may be continents, come down to us through antique histories, cosmographies, and poems, so mixed with vague hypothetical and mythological conceptions, that the most searching investigation is often unable to separate fact from fable. there are multitudes of classic and medi?val legends adopted by tasso, pulci, and other italian poets, such, for example, as that which makes the greek wanderer ulysses the pioneer of western adventure, which in a sober treatise are scarcely worthy of mention. turning to the dawn his vessel's poop, this son of laertes, it is said, passed gibraltar, the bound ordained by hercules not to be overstepped by man, and, as dante tells us, sailed for the happy isles of 70 the unknown atlantic, unrestrained by son, or father, or even penelope's ever-weaving web of love.

a little journey was a wonderful exploit before the time of christ—instance the immortal fame achieved by hanno, the carthaginian, in visiting the west coast of africa, b. c. 570; by herodotus, in making the excursion of egypt and india, b. c. 464-456; by pytheas, in his voyage to the british isles, b. c. 340; by nearchus, in descending the indus, b. c. 326; by eudoxus, in his attempt to sail round africa, b. c. 130; by c?sar, in undertaking the conquest of gaul, b. c. 58; by strabo, in penetrating asia some thirty or forty years later. after the christian era pausanias, a roman, in 175 wrote a guide-book of greece; fa hian, a chinese monk, went westward into india in the year 400 or thereabout; cosmas indicopleustes travelled in india a century and a half later and wrote a book to prove the world square, and the universe an oblong coffer; arculphe wrote of the holy land about 650; an englishman, willibald, made the tour of southern europe and palestine, setting out from southampton in 721; in 851 went soliman from persia to the china sea. so it has been said.

indeed, the writings of herodotus indicate that, over two thousand years before dias and vasco da gama, africa was circumnavigated by a fleet of ph?nician ships sent by pharaoh necho down the red sea with orders to return to egypt by way of the pillars of hercules. a persian, sataspes, endeavored to accomplish the voyage from the other direction, but failed. plato's island of atlantis, founded by the god neptune, was of great size, "larger than asia and libya together, and was situated over against the straits now called the pillars of hercules." the climate and soil were so good that fruits ripened twice every year. there were metals, with elephants and other animals in abundance. upon a mountain was a beautiful city with gold and ivory palaces, having gardens and statues. unfortunately in time the sea swallowed up this island, so that it could scarcely have been america.

the prophecy of quetzalcoatl.

so far as these voyages and strange tales concern the possible knowledge of america by the ancients, i have already discussed them in my native races of the pacific states. therein is mentioned a theory which has found many advocates, and to which i will again briefly allude in this place. it is that at the beginning of the christian era america was visited by the apostle st thomas. he was accompanied by a number of fellow-laborers in the ministry, who preached the gospel and planted the christian religion in america. the theory is ably advocated in the excellent work of rev. w. gleeson, the history of the catholic church in california. the principal arguments advanced may be briefly stated as follows: first, that the whole tenor of scripture teaching is in favor of the supposition that the gospel was preached to all the world from the beginning, rather than after the lapse of several centuries. second, that at a date fixed by mexican hieroglyphics as a little before the middle of the first century after christ, a celebrated personage, certainly the most remarkable in mexican mythology, came from the north. he is represented as a white man, with flowing beard, clad in a long white robe, adorned with red crosses, head uncovered, and a staff in his 71 hand. this was the quetzalcoatl, whom the mexicans afterward worshipped, and whose return was so anxiously looked for by them. see torquemada, monarq. ind. third, that to him popular tradition ascribes the worship paid to the cross, the practice of confession, and in a word all the customs found on the arrival of the spaniards to be nearly identical with those of the christian religion. veytia, hist. ant. de mexico. fourth, that the name quetzalcoatl is synonymous with that of st thomas. see native races, v. 26. fifth, that quetzalcoatl promised on his departure to return at some future day with his posterity and resume the possession of the empire, and that day was looked forward to with general confidence, prescott's conq. mex., and that a general feeling prevailed at the time of montezuma that the period of his return had arrived. veytia, hist. ant. mex. sixth, that there were at the convent of nijapa, in the province of oajaca, hieroglyphs containing all the principal doctrines of the christian religion, and the coming of the apostle to the country. id.

sahagun, who wrote at the time of the conquest, speaks of the general belief in this prophecy, and assures us that on the arrival of the spaniards they repeatedly offered them divine honors, believing that their god quetzalcoatl had returned. conq. mex., i. chap. iii.

"it is then undeniably true," says gleeson, catholic church in cal., 185, "that a popular tradition existed in the country respecting a prophecy made by quetzalcohuatl, in which was foretold the future arrival of whites on the coast; and this, while it proves the reality of the man, and his character as a teacher of religion, also proves the still more important and appreciable fact of his being a christian, and of western origin; for, it was clearly set forth in the prophecy, that the persons who should come would be whites, and of the same religion as he. the time also seems to have been specified by the apostle, if we are to judge by the expression that they were expecting him every day. and, indeed, boturini assures us that the time mentioned in the mexican hieroglyphics was that in which the christians arrived. the year ce acatl was that foretold by quetzalcohuatl, and in that year the spaniards landed in the country." on ancient voyages and cosmography see also humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. pp. 125-206.

it is the results of ancient voyages, the point of geographical knowledge attained by ancient civilization in its most advanced stage and by it bequeathed to the dark age, and not the voyages themselves, with which we have to do at present. this knowledge is found for the most part embodied in the system of ptolemy, the alexandrian geographer of the second century, whose works became the standard text-books, and holding their prominence for fourteen hundred years were not superseded as late as the sixteenth century, but were republished from time to time, with additions, setting forth the results of new discoveries. in this manner twenty-one editions appeared during the first half of that century. nor was even ptolemy the originator of this prolonged system. one hundred and fifty years before him was the greek geographer strabo, who gave descriptions of countries and peoples, fixing his localities usually by itinerary distances; and to this work of strabo's, ptolemy added a century and a half of progress, and determined 72 his localities by astronomical observation. the work of pomponius mela, the roman geographer who wrote probably somewhat later than strabo, is regarded as no improvement on that of his predecessor.

ptolemy's world was nearly all in the north temperate zone, embracing about fifty degrees of latitude and one hundred and twenty of longitude. the fortunate isles, now called the canaries, were known to ptolemy, and by him used as a western limit or first meridian. this, and as a nucleus of poetic myths, seem to have been their only use; as mu?oz says, hist. del nuevo mundo, p. 30: "fuera de este uso apenas aprovecharon sino para entretenir ociosas imaginaciones con fábulas de poetas." the eastern limit was vaguely located in the region beyond the ganges; actually in about 100° east longitude. on the south were included the african coasts of the mediterranean and red sea, with the southern coasts of arabia and india proper—the term india being then applied indefinitely to all eastern lands, including even parts of africa—thus fixing the southern bound at about 30° north latitude in the west, and 10° in the east. northward the limit may be placed a little above 60°, within which falls the southern part of the scandinavian peninsula, then supposed to be an island, and also the island of thule, the location of which is disputed, some claiming it to have been iceland, others the faroe islands, and others the shetland islands. but ptolemy's latitudes were all some ten degrees too far north, while in his longitudes he went still further astray; since, reckoning from the canaries as his first meridian, he made his last meridian 180°, when it should have been 120°, and thus by narrowing half the circumference of the globe some sixty degrees he made the world nearly one third less than it really is. authorities differ, however, as to what were ptolemy's ideas. but more of this hereafter. on the opposite page is a map in which the world as known in these times is left white, the shaded portions being the result of subsequent discoveries down to the last half of the fifteenth century. a map of ptolemy's world, reduced to its true proportions, may be seen in goselin, recherches sur la géographie systématique et positive des anciens, tom. iv., paris, 1813.

the world; the white part as known at the end of the fourth century, the lightly shaded portions as known at the end of the fifteenth.

within these limits, then, geographical knowledge was confined at the end of the fourth century; limits not sharply defined, but indefinite and wavering according to ages, to the directions of conquest, and to distances from mediterranean centres. beyond these limits was a realm of darkness peopled by strange beings, creatures of poetic fancy or crude conjecture. just as the wonder-land of homer to contemporaneous eastern greeks, was italy, with its strange waters inhabited by very strange beasts, and sicily, and neighboring isles, where were the satyrs, and the gigantic one-eyed cyclops eating milk and mutton and men, so to later teachers were the strange seas beyond. on the north was an impenetrable region of eternal ice; on the south, an equatorial zone of burning heat; a barrier of frost on the one side and of fire on the other, both equally uninhabitable to the european man, and cutting off all communication with possible habitable lands elsewhere. the burning zone, however, seems to have been a popular idea, rather than a part of the system taught by ptolemy, who, indeed, held that africa extended south-east and north-east toward the eastern parts of asia, making of the indian ocean an immense gulf not connected with the atlantic on the 74 west. strabo and other geographers who preceded ptolemy gave africa approximately its correct shape; traditions of its circumnavigation even were kept alive, in spite of ptolemy's theory, influencing geographic thought not a little during the fifteenth century. irving is of opinion, columbus, vol. iii. p. 440, that modern authors consider the knowledge of the ancients concerning africa much less extensive than has been generally supposed; but major, prince henry, p. 89 et seq., accepts a circumnavigation of africa in the seventh century b. c., and also hanno's voyage far down the african coast, placing the date of the latter 570 b. c. among the philosophers of western europe no definite hypotheses appear to have been advanced as to the extent of land beyond the known region; as to the ideas of the arabs and buddhist priests concerning the matter it is difficult to determine. see kohl's hist. discov., p. 149; draper's intellectual development, p. 451, new york, 1872. beyond the fortunate isles to the west stretched a mare tenebrosum, or sea of darkness, as early writers express it, separating the known western coast from the far unknown east. in this dark sea tradition planted islands at various points, reiterating the fact of their existence so often that names and locations were finally given them on maps, though the islands themselves have never yet been found. except these fabulous islands, there was little thought of land between the coasts of europe and asia. compare maps in this volume; also george bancroft's history of the united states, vol. i. p. 6, boston, 1870; d'avesac, in nouvelles annales des voyages, 1845, tom. cv. p. 293; tom. cvi. p. 47.

to sum up the geographical knowledge of the ancients, we have first, the sphericity of the earth surmised, although its size was vaguely conceived and underrated; secondly, the positive knowledge of europeans limited to the unshaded portion of the map on page 73; thirdly, divers theories respecting the conformation of southern africa; fourthly, a mare oceanum stretching westward to the unknown asiatic shore, with hypothetical islands intervening, and expressed opinions that this sea was navigable, and that possibly india might be reached by sailing westward. these ideas, vague as they seem, were held only by the learned few; the world of the ignorant reached scarcely beyond the horizon of their actual experience. not until long after its actual circumnavigation, in the sixteenth century, was the popular mind able to grasp the idea of the earth's sphericity.

we come now to medi?val times, when from the fifth to the fifteenth century the cosmographical as well as all other knowledge of the ancients lay well-nigh dormant; to the people a land of darkness as well as a sea, though in some few colleges and convents these things were thought of. "ces ténèbres," says humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. p. 59, "s'étendaient sans doute sur les masses; mais, dans les couvens et les colléges quelques individus conservaient les traditions de l'antiquité." upon this world of darkness light first broke from the far north, the voyages of the scandinavians from the ninth to the twelfth centuries being the aurora borealis of maritime discovery. these northmen, as in their expeditions danes, norwegians, and swedes were indiscriminately called, by their warlike propensities made themselves known and feared along the shores of europe at an early date; 75 but their western discoveries were known only to themselves; at all events, no trace of distant voyages to the west are found in the records of their neighbors. it is only quite recently that the sagas of the northmen were brought to the attention of european scholars; and when the danish bishop, müller, published his bibliography of the sagas, 3 vols., copenhagen, 1817-1820, these narratives were held to be more fiction than fact. even so late a writer as george bancroft, history of the united states, vol. i. pp. 5, 6, says that the story of colonization by the northmen "rests on narratives, mythological in form, and obscure in meaning; ancient, yet not contemporary," and that "no clear historic evidence establishes the natural probability that they accomplished the passage." irving, columbus, vol. iii. pp. 432-5, considers the matter "still to be wrapped in much doubt and obscurity." both of these authors, however, seem to have considered only the evidence presented by malte-brun and forster. since their time proofs beyond question have established the authenticity of these voyages of the northmen. the sagas on american discoveries are preserved in the archives at copenhagen, with a collection of other historical data, reaching down to the fourteenth century, the date of their completion. it is true that they deal somewhat in the marvellous—they would not be authentic else, written at that time—but they contain tales no more wonderful or monstrous than the writings of more southern nations. see an account of the copenhagen documents and the examination of their authenticity in de costa's pre-columbian discov. am., pp. i-lx. two nearly contemporary ecclesiastical histories—that of adam of bremen, 1073, and ordericus vitalis, about 1100—describe briefly the western lands of the northmen. further reference, kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 32; rafn, antiquitates am., p. 337; kohl's hist. discov., p. 76.

the northmen and their sagas.

vague notions were not wanting of communication with america before the time of the northmen, but these, whatever they were, are now to us pure speculation and may be omitted here. passing over a general movement by which before the middle of the ninth century the northmen appear to have broken through their former bounds, and to have extended their plundering raids in all directions, taking possession of the shetland and faroe islands and even of the north of britain, we come to the first definite adventure westward.

[a. d. 860-4.] two bold men, naddod and gardar, in one of their coast-island cruises, were driven from their course to the north-west and discovered iceland, called by one snowland, and by the other gardar island. kohl, hist. discov., p. 61, dates both voyages 860; forster gives 861 to naddod's; other authors place the former in the year 860, and the latter in 864.

[874.] ingolf made a settlement in iceland at a point still called by his name. other immigrants followed, and a flourishing colony was founded. the northmen found on the island irish priests, who had come there at a time not definitely known, but who immediately abandoned the country to the new settlers. within twenty years thereafter iceland was fairly well inhabited. de costa, pre-columbian discov. am., pp. xxii-iv., makes the date a. d. 875.

[876.] one gunnbj?rn, an icelandic colonist, is reported to have seen accidentally, 76 from a distance, the coast of greenland. kohl dates this voyage 877.

[982-6.] eric the red, banished from iceland for murder in 982, sailed west, found land, remained there three years, and returned, naming the country greenland to attract settlers. in 985, or 986, he sailed again with a larger force, this time founding a settlement to which other adventurers resorted. of the first voyage kohl makes no mention.

[983.] one of the sagas contains a report by an irish merchant that one are marson was carried in a storm to whiteman's land "in the western ocean, opposite vinland, six days' sail west of ireland." rafn thinks this may have been that part of america in the vicinity of florida; others make it the azores. there are also vague reports of later voyages to the same land by bj?rn asbrandson in 999, and by gudleif in 1027. in the present stage of investigation the proof is insufficient to establish an irish pre-scandinavian discovery of america.

[990.] in this year, or, as de costa makes it, in 986, biarne, sailing from iceland in search of his father, who had previously gone to greenland, was carried far to the south-west, to within sight of land, undoubtedly america, which he coasted north-east for several days and returned to greenland. three points particularly noticed on the new coast are conjectured by kohl to have been cape cod, nova scotia, and newfoundland.

[1000.] leif, son of eric the red, sailed from greenland south-west in search of the lands seen by biarne, reached the same in reverse order, landing probably at newfoundland, which he named helluland (stony land); nova scotia, he called markland (woodland); and passing round cape cod, made a settlement, named after himself, leifsbudir, at some point on narragansett bay. he called this country vinland from the fact that vines were found there, and the name was afterwards applied to the whole region extending northward to markland. in the spring of 1001 leif returned to greenland with a cargo of grapes and wood.

[1002-5.] thorwald, another of eric's sons, sailed with one vessel to vinland, where leif had landed, and lived there through the winter by fishing. early in 1003 he explored the country westward in boats, and in the spring of 1004 doubled cape cod, naming it kialarnes (ship's nose), and perished in a battle with the skraellings, or indians, at some point on the shore of massachusetts bay. his companions spent the winter at leifsbudir and returned to greenland in 1005.

[1008.] in the spring of 1008 thorfinn karlsefne sailed from greenland with three vessels to helluland—which name was applied not only to newfoundland but to the region north of that point—and thence along the coast to nova scotia, and to cape cod. here the party divided, thorhall, the hunter, in attempting to explore northward, being driven by a storm to ireland, while thorfinn spent the winter farther south near leifsbudir, where a son was born to him. after an unsuccessful search for thorhall by one vessel, a third winter was spent in vinland, and in 1011 thorfinn returned to greenland, leaving perhaps a small colony. de costa, pre-columbian discov. am., pp. 48-76, makes the date of this voyage 1007-10.

[1012.] helge, finboge, and eric's daughter freydisa, who had before 77 visited america with her husband, sailed to vinland, and such as were not killed in the internal dissensions of the party returned to greenland in 1013. the records of this expedition are very slight. de costa's date is 1011-12.

[1035.] adam of bremen speaks of frisian or german navigators who about the year 1035 landed on an island beyond iceland, where the inhabitants were of great size, and were accompanied by fierce dogs—perhaps the eskimos.

[1121.] after the expeditions that have been mentioned, concerning each of which the sagas contain one or more accounts, no farther regular reports have been preserved; but various voyages are briefly alluded to in different records, as though trips to the new regions of vinland were no longer of sufficient rarity to be specially noticed. such allusions refer to voyages made in 1121, 1285, 1288, 1289, 1290, and 1357. after 1357 no more is heard of the western lands. the settlements were gradually abandoned both in vinland and greenland, as the power of the northmen declined, and so far as can be known, even their memory was buried in the unread records of former greatness. on scandinavian discoveries, besides rafn and de costa, see kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 32; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 61-85 and 478; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. ii. pp. 88-128; abstract of rafn, in journal lond. geog. soc., 1838, vol. viii. pp. 114-29.

decline of scandinavian discovery.

thus after this play of northern lights upon the western horizon for four or five centuries, enterprise in that direction languished, and finally the sea of darkness lapsed into its primeval obscurity. nevertheless the deeds of the scandinavians must have become more or less known to other parts of europe, for the spirit of uneasiness which sent these northmen across their western waters sent them also—particularly the danes—eastward in the holy crusades. it would be well for the student to examine the works of adam of bremen, and ordericus vitalis, who beside these pre-columbian voyages describe also the crusades. moreover, iceland had catholic bishops and was therefore in communication with rome, where the discoveries of the northmen must have been known. rafn, antiquitates am., pp. 283, 292, and de costa, pre-columbian discov. am., pp. 106-109, give translations from scandinavian archives of contemporaneous descriptions of the earth in which these new world discoveries of the northmen are included. sailing charts and maps of the new discoveries must have been drawn by the northmen, for although none of them were preserved, yet in torf?us, gr?nlandia antiqua, hauni?, 1706, made by icelandic draughtsmen in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and in ptolemy's geography, edition of 1482, is information of certain things contained in no other charts of the period extant, which must therefore have been partially compiled from scandinavian sources.

it is not to be supposed that the northmen imagined that they had found a new continent; very naturally to them greenland, helluland, markland, and vinland were but the western continuation of europe. it is to this belief, as well as to the prevailing apathy and skepticism of the age concerning matters beyond the reach of positive knowledge, that the strange fact of the loss of all trace of these discoveries is due.

the exact results of these ancient expeditions, and their influence on the subsequent revival of maritime enterprise, form a difficult and as yet undecided 78 point in the discussion of this subject. kunstmann gives particular attention to this matter, and attaches more importance to northern voyages and their connection with later expeditions than most other authors; still it has not yet been proved that prince henry, toscanelli, or columbus in the fifteenth century had any knowledge of north-western discoveries.

[1096-1271.] the crusades—as expeditions, but chiefly for their results—deserve a brief mention in this connection. when in the seventh century palestine passed from christian to mahometan hands, in which possession it has remained with but temporary interruptions to the present time, christian pilgrimages to the holy city for a few centuries were allowed, and to some extent protected. by successive changes of dynasty, however, power was transferred from the arab to the turkish branch of the mahometans, so that in the eleventh century christian pilgrims were cruelly oppressed, and hindered from their pious visits to the tomb of christ. roused at first by the exhortations of peter the hermit, italy, france, england, and germany sent armies of the undisciplined and fanatical rabble to avenge the insults to their faith, and wrest the holy city from the power of barbarian heretics. from the eleventh to the thirteenth century nine expeditions were undertaken eastward in the prosecution of this work. jerusalem was several times taken and retaken, but finally the crescent was successful in resisting the encroachments of the cross, and the crusades failed in their visionary purpose. still the continued migration of vast multitudes, from different nations through strange and distant lands, contributed much to increase popular knowledge of the world, to arouse fresh interest in regions hitherto little known, and to excite curiosity respecting the countries still further to the east. meanwhile, commerce received an impetus from the work of furnishing supplies to the crusaders; so that these expeditions are included by modern writers as prominent among the causes which led to the coming revival of civilization.

[1147.] during the twelfth century few maritime expeditions are reported deserving of notice. at some not very clearly defined date before 1147, eight arabs, the almagrurins, are said to have sailed thirty-five days south-west from lisbon with the intention of exploring the sea of darkness. at the end of the thirty-five days they found and named an isle of sheep, and twelve days farther south reached another island peopled by red men. they are said to have found there a man who spoke arabic. upon the whole the claim to a discovery of any part of america in this voyage should be slight. if the voyage be authentic, the land reached was perhaps the canary islands; some say those of cape verde.

[1160-73.] benjamin de tudela, a spanish jew, travelled for thirteen years in india, bringing back considerable information respecting chinese tartary and the islands of the indian ocean. d. benjamini, itinerarium ex versione montani, antwerp, 1575; itinerarium d. benjaminis, leyden, 1633; travels of benjamin, son of jonas, london, 1783.

[1170.] in this year is placed the reported voyage of madoc, a welsh prince, who, sailing to the west and north from ireland, landed on an unknown shore. he afterward returned to this new country with ten ships 79 with the intention of colonizing, but was never again heard of. this voyage rests on very slight authority, but has claimed importance by reason of reports, long believed, of the existence in various parts of america of welsh-speaking indian tribes. these reports, like scores of others referring the americans to european relationships, proved groundless. to say the least, the voyage of madoc must be considered doubtful. the most ancient discouery of the west indies by madoc the sonne of owen guyneth, prince of north-wales, in the yeere 1170; taken out of the history of wales, in hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 1.

[1246 et seq.] in the middle of the thirteenth century the desire to extend christianity was encouraged by rumored conversions already made in the dominions of the mogul, and especially by the report of a powerful christian monarch, prester john, who had reigned somewhere in the interior of asia. this report led to the sending of several priests as missionaries to the far east. carpini in 1246, and ascelino in 1254, italian franciscans, penetrated to the region now known as chinese turkestan. about the same time, 1253 according to hakluyt, rubruquis, also a franciscan, from brabant, traversed the central asiatic deserts. he was the first to present a definite idea of the position of tartary and cathay. a notice of his travels was given in the writings of roger bacon in 1267. toward the end of this century odorico, of the same order, visited persia, india, and finally china, remaining three years in peking. viaggio del beato frate odorico di porto maggiore del frivli fatto nell'anno mcccxviii (half a century later than above), in ramusio, tom. ii., fol. 254. see also hakluyt's voy., vol. i. pp. 21-117; vol. ii. pp. 39, 53; navarrete, col. viages, tom. i. pp. ix. x.

venetian and genoese expeditions.

[1250-95.] nicolo and maffio polo, venetian brothers, left venice in 1250 on a trading trip north-eastward. passing north of the caspian sea, they spent three years at bokhara, and afterward in 1265, proceeded to the court of kublai khan at kemenfu in chinese tartary, whence they returned in 1269, intrusted with a mission to the pope. in 1271 they again set out, taking with them marco, son of nicolo. they revisited the tartar court, where they spent seventeen years, and returned by sea down the chinese and indian coasts to ormuz in persia and thence overland to constantinople, reaching venice in 1295. marco seems to have been a great favorite at the eastern court, where he was intrusted with missions in all directions. by means of his own travels and by reports of the natives from all sections whom he met, he gained an extensive knowledge of china and adjoining countries, including the numerous islands of the coast, chief among which was zipangu, or japan. from his memoranda, he afterwards wrote in prison, a full account of his eastern travels, which was copied and widely circulated in manuscript. see hakluyt society, divers voyages, introd., p. lii., london, 1850, for an account of printed editions of polo's work. its authenticity and general reliability are now admitted, though doubtless errors have been multiplied by copyists. this journey of marco polo was by far the most important, for revising geography, of any undertaken during the middle ages. from this time the coasts of asia were laid down on maps and described with tolerable accuracy by cosmographers. de i viaggi di messer marco polo, gentil 'hvomo venetiano, in ramusio, tom. ii. fol. 2-60; 80 marco polo de veniesia de le meravegliose cose del mondo, venice, 1496; marci pauli veneti de regionibus orientalibus libri tres, cologne, 1671.

the venetians were the most enterprising navigators of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. they reached england at an early date,—estancelin, recherches, pp. 114-16, paris, 1832—and not improbably extended their commercial operations still farther north, iceland being at the time a flourishing republic with catholic bishops. kohl's hist. discov., pp. 92-4. no details however are preserved of any particular one of these voyages, nor of such as may have been directed toward cape non, the southern limit of oceanic navigation. some time during this century a moor, ibn fatimah, was driven by storms from cape non down past cape blanco, and his adventure was recorded in an arabian geography.

[1291.] doria and vivaldi, genoese, undertook a voyage down the african coast with a view of reaching india, and were last heard of at a place called gozora. on this voyage, which rests on several authorities, has been founded a claim that the italians preceded the portuguese in passing cape bojador. major, prince henry, pp. 99-110, concludes from an examination of all the documents that there are no grounds for this claim, although admitting the voyage and its purpose, in fact everything but its success. gozora was probably cape non. kohl regards this expedition as uncertain. one of the documents gives the date as 1281; from which circumstance kohl and humboldt erroneously make of it two voyages. d'avesac, in nouvelles annales des voyages, 1845, tom. cviii. p. 45, has the date 1285. mu?oz, hist. nuevo mundo, pp. 30-1, speaks of genoese expeditions and the rediscovery of the canaries during this century.

[1306.] on a map made by the venetian sanuto in 1306, africa is represented as surrounded by the sea, but there is no evidence that the geography of that region is derived from any actual observations. the map simply shows one of the two theories then held respecting the shape of southern africa.

[1332 et seq.] sir john mandeville, an english physician, between 1332 and 1366, travelled in eastern parts, including the holy land, india, and china. on his return he wrote in three languages an account of his adventures, with descriptions of the countries visited. see hakluyt soc., divers voy., introd. p. xliii. his work corroborates that of marco polo, and although full of exaggerations, and probably tampered with by copyists in respect to adventures and anecdotes, "yet," says irving, "his accounts of the countries which he visited have been found far more veracious than had been imagined." purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. iii. pp. 128-38; travels of sir john mandeville, london, 1725.

[1341 et seq.] as we have seen, the canaries were known to the ancients, and made by ptolemy the western limit of the world; but subsequently they were nearly forgotten until rediscovered and visited, perhaps several times, toward the middle of the fourteenth century, by the portuguese. there is a definite account of one of these voyages. two vessels were sent there by the king of portugal in 1341, and nearly all the islands of the group visited, but no settlement was made. before this, luis de la cerda represented to the pope the existence of such islands, and received by a bull of 81 lordship of them, with the title of prince of fortune. the king of portugal claimed in 1345 to have sent out previous expeditions to the islands. the project of cerda proved a failure and no colony was founded. voyages to the canaries became quite frequent before the end of the century. galvano, discoveries, london, 1862; and in collection of curious voyages, london, 1812, p. 10; mu?oz, hist. nuevo mundo, pp. 30-1; kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 1-4. major, prince henry, pp. 139-45, dates the bull 1334.

[1346.] in august, 1346, jaime ferrer, a catalan navigator, sailed from majorca in the mediterranean to search down the african coast for the rujaura, or river of gold, and never was heard from. this is proved by a document in the genoese archives, and by an inscription on a catalan map of 1375. major shows this to have been an expedition in search of an unknown or imaginary river of gold, whose supposed existence rested on ancient traditions that a branch of the nile flowed into the atlantic, and which belief was strengthened by the gold brought from guinea by the arabs. humboldt understands this rujaura to have been the rio d'ouro below cape bojador, an inlet named later by the portuguese; and he also states that ferrer actually reached that point; but of this there seems to be no evidence.

[1351 et seq.] the azores appear to have been discovered by the portuguese early in this half century, appearing on a map of 1351. there is however no account of the voyage by which this discovery was made, although there is a tradition of a greek who was there cast away in 1370. on a genoese map of the same date the madeira group is shown, having probably been discovered by portuguese ships under genoese captains early in the fourteenth century.

[1364.] by villault de bellefond, relation des costes d'afrique, paris, 1669, it is stated that the dieppese in 1364 made a voyage round cape verde, and far beyond, establishing trading-posts, which were repeatedly visited in the following years. on this account, repeated by many writers—estancelin, recherches, p. 72; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. p. 285—is founded the french claim of having preceded the portuguese in passing cape bojador and occupying the gold coast. major, prince henry, pp. 117-33, maintains by strong proofs that this voyage rests on no good authority, and that the french occupation of that coast is of much later date.

the zeni.

[1380.] nicolo zeno, a venetian, sailing northward for england, was driven in a storm still farther north, and landed on some islands in possession of the northmen, which he named friesland, but which are supposed to have been the faroe group. kindly received by the people, he sent to venice for his brother, and both spent there the rest of their lives, making frequent excursions to neighboring islands, and gaining a knowledge of other more distant lands known to the northmen, including two countries called drogeo and estotiland, lying to the southward of greenland, which countries the frieslanders claimed once to have visited. nicolo died in 1395, and antonio in 1404, after writing an account of their adventures, which, with a chart, he sent to a third brother, carlo. the manuscript was preserved by the family and first published under the title dei commentarii del viaggio in persia, etc., venezia, 1558. after passing the ordeal of criticism the work is generally accepted as a faithful report of actual occurrences, though embellished, like 82 all writings of the time, with fable. dello scoprimento dell' isola frislanda eslanda, en grovelanda, et icaria, in ramusio, tom. ii. fol. 230-4; hakluyt's voy., vol. iii. pp. 121-8; bos, leben der see-helden, pp. 523-7; cancellieri, notizie di colombo, pp. 48-9; lelewel, géog. du moyen age, tom. iii. pp. 74 et seq. irving, however, columbus, vol. iii. pp. 435-40, sees in this voyage only another of "the fables circulated shortly after the discovery of columbus, to arrogate to other nations and individuals the credit of the achievement," while zahrtmann, remarks on the voy. to the northern hemisphere, ascribed to the zeni of venice, in journal of the geog. soc., vol. v. pp. 102-28, london, 1835, claims that the whole account is a fable.

the chart by the brothers zeni, published with the manuscript, is of great importance as the first known map which shows any part of america. it contains internal evidences of its own authenticity, one of which is that greenland is much better drawn than could have been done from other or extraneous sources even in 1558. i give from kohl's fac-simile a copy of the map, omitting a few of the names.

zeno's chart, drawn about 1390.

there can be little doubt that the countries marked estotiland, drogeo, and icaria—possibly nova scotia, new england, and newfoundland—owe their position on this chart to the actual knowledge of america, obtained either by a fishing-vessel wrecked there, as stated by the zeni, or from a tradition preserved since the time of the northmen. the lines of latitude and longitude were not on the original manuscript chart, but were added by the editors in 1558. lelewel, géog. du moyen age, tom. iii. pp. 79-101, bruxelles, 1852; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 97-106. 83

at an unknown date, probably near the end of the thirteenth century, robert machin, an englishman, eloped with a lady in his own vessel from bristol. he steered for france, but was driven by a tempest to the island of madeira, where both died. some of the crew escaped to the african coast, where they were taken prisoners, but afterward were redeemed by the spaniards, to whom one of them related the discovery of madeira, his account leading to its rediscovery. major concludes, "that henceforth the story of this accidental discovery of madeira by machin must be accepted as a reality," but the date cannot be fixed. that of 1344 often assigned to the voyage results from a misreading of galvano. beside galvano, discov., pp. 58-9, see purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. ii. p. 1672; the voyage of macham, an english man, wherein he first of any man discovered the iland of madera, in hakluyt, vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 1; curious and ent. voy., p. 13; major's prince henry, p. 67; kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 4.

[1402.] at the beginning of the fifteenth century, jean de betancourt with a company of norman adventurers conquered lanzarote, one of the canary islands. he afterward became tributary to the crown of castile, and by the aid of the spanish government obtained possession of other islands of the group, establishing there a permanent colony. mu?oz, hist. del nuevo mundo, pp. 30-33; peter martyr, dec. i. cap. i., gives the date 1405; galvano, discov., p. 60; kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 6; pinkerton's col. voy., vol. xvi. pp. 808-15.

prince henry of portugal.

we enter now a new epoch in maritime discovery. hitherto, if we exclude the voyages of the northmen, there had been no attempt worthy the name of systematic ocean exploration. in the words of major, "the pathways of the human race had been the mountain, the river, and the plain, the strait, the lake, the inland sea," but now a road is open through the trackless ocean, "a road replete with danger, but abundant in promise." portugal, guided by the genius of prince henry the navigator, was the first to shake off the lethargy which had so long rested on europe. for some time past the portuguese had been gradually eclipsing the italians in maritime enterprise; but not until a prince leaves the pleasures of youth for the perils of the sea, throwing his life into the cause with all the ardor of a devotee, does ocean navigation become anything more than private commercial speculation, with now and then some slight aid from governments. true, others had undertaken the voyage round africa, but portugal was perhaps the first to make it. as d'avesac remarks, nouvelles annales des voy., 1846, tom. cx. p. 161: "les portugais ne s'y engagèrent point les premiers; mais seuls ils y persevérèrent, et les premiers ils atteignirent le but." born in the year 1394, at a time when under his father, john, portugal was already casting wistful glances over the sea of darkness, prince henry devoted his early life to geographical studies and his later life to discovery. leaving the pomp and luxury of his father's court, he removed to the coast of algarve, and from the dreary headland of sagres let fly his imagination along the unknown shores of africa. drawing to him such young noblemen as were willing to share his labors, he established a school of navigation, giving special care to the study of cartography and mathematics. the geographical position of his native land was to the 84 portuguese, in regard to oceanic adventure, not unlike that of the italians in regard to mediterranean navigation. several causes united to inspire this prince with so noble an ambition. he desired to promote geographical science; to test the theories and traditions of the day; to know the truth concerning the disputed question of the form and extent of southern africa; to turn the flow of riches, the gold and spices and slaves of india, from italy into his own country. nor was this last stimulant lessened by the fact that of late, by reason of mahometan encroachments on christian dominions, the old avenues of eastern traffic via the caspian sea and persian gulf, or by the red sea and caravans across the deserts, were yearly becoming more insecure, and this too at a time when the taste for eastern luxuries was constantly increasing. yet other incentives were christian rivalry and christian zeal. spain had carried the cross to the canaries; rumors kept coming in of prester john and his christian kingdom, now supposed to be in africa instead of in asia. prince henry moreover was grand master of the order of christ, and it behooved him to be stirring. navarrete, col. de viages, tom. i. p. xxvi.; mu?oz, hist. nuevo mundo, pp. 33-4.

[1415.] prince henry began his voyages along the coast of africa about the year 1415, at which time jo?o de trasto was sent with vessels to the canaries. it was henry's custom to despatch an expedition almost every year, endeavoring each time to advance upon the last, and so finally attain the end of the mystery—whereat the nobles grumbled not a little about useless expense. obviously progress southward at this rate was very slow, and many years elapsed before cape bojador was passed and unknown seas were entered. major's prince henry, pp. 64-65.

[1416-28.] meanwhile pedro, henry's brother, travelled extensively, journeying through the holy land, visiting rome, babylon, and even england. fortunately he found at venice a copy of marco polo's work, and brought it home to prince henry. galvano's discov., pp. 66-7; kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 11, 12.

[1418.] gonzalez and vaz, who were sent this year by prince henry on the regular annual expedition, were driven from their course and rediscovered porto santo. galvano, discov., pp. 62-4; kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 11, 12; curious and ent. voy., pp. 14, 15.

[1419.] nicolo di conti, venetian, spent twenty-five years in india, mangi, and java, returning in 1444, and confirming many of polo's statements. discorso sopra il viaggio di nicolo di conti venetiano, in ramusio, tom. i. fol. 373. twice in 1419, if we may credit navarrete, col. de viages, tom. i. p. xxvi., did prince henry's ships pass seventy leagues beyond cape non.

[1420.] gonzalez again embarks from portugal intending to plant a colony, and guided by one morales, a survivor of machin's voyage, rediscovered madeira. navarrete, col. de viages, tom. i. pp. xxvi-vii.; major's prince henry, pp. 73-7; kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 13; galvano's discov., pp. 63-4; aa, naaukeurige versameling, tom. i. pt. ii. p. 16. on a certain map dated 1459 is a cape supposed to be good hope, with the statement that in 1420 an indian junk had passed that point from the east; but for this no authority is given. 85

1431.] the formigas and santa maría islands of the azore group were this year discovered by cabral. kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 15, makes the date august 15, 1432. for details of the discovery and settlement of all the eastern atlantic islands, see idem, pp. 1-25.

[1434-6.] gil eannes, after an unsuccessful attempt in the preceding year, succeeded in 1434 in doubling cape bojador for the first time. mu?oz, hist. nuevo mundo, p. 34, makes the date 1433, and navarrete, col. de viages, tom. i. p. xxvii., 1423. in 1435 eannes with baldaya passed fifty leagues beyond the cape, and in 1436 baldaya advanced to a point fifty leagues beyond the inlet since known as rio d'ouro.

the slave-trade.

[1441-8.] for several years after the successful doubling of cape bojador, no new attempt of importance is recorded, but in 1441 the voyages were renewed, and in the next eight years the exploration was pushed one hundred leagues below cape verde. prior to 1446 fifty-one vessels had traded on the african coast, nearly one thousand slaves had been taken to portugal, and the discoveries in the azores had been greatly extended. by these explorations prince henry had exploded the theory of a burning zone impassable to man, and of stormy seas impeding all navigation; his belief that africa might be circumnavigated was confirmed; and he had obtained from the pope a grant to the crown of portugal of lands he might discover beyond cape bojador to the indies inclusive.

[1455-6.] according to ramusio, viaggi, tom. i. p. 105, alvise cadamosto, a venetian, the first of his countrymen as he claims to sail down the new coast, made a voyage for prince henry to the gambia river below cape verde. this expedition derives its importance not from the limit reached, where others had preceded him, but from his numerous landing points, careful observations, and the detailed account published by the voyager himself in la prima navigazione, etc., vicenza, 1507; also in ramusio, viaggi, tom. i. pp. 104-15. this explorer touched at porto santo, madeira, the canaries, cape blanco, senegal, budomel, cape verde, and the gambia river.

[1457.] cadamosto claims, la seconda navigazione, in ramusio, viaggi, tom. i. pp. 116-20, to have made a second voyage, during which he discovered the cape verde islands; but major, prince henry, pp. 278-88, shows that such a voyage was not made in that year, if at all.

[1460.] diogo gomez discovered the cape verde islands, and their colonization was effected during the following years. major, prince henry, pp. 288-99, publishes the original account for the first time in english. prince henry died in november of this year. major's prince henry, p. 303; kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 19. irving, columbus, vol. i. p. 30, fixes this date 1473; and galvano, discov., p. 14, says 1463.

[1461.] the spirit of discovery and the thirst for african gold and slaves had become too strong to receive more than a temporary check in the death of its chief promoter. in the year following prince henry's death a fort was built on the african coast to protect the already extensive trade, and in 1461 or 1462 pedro de cintra reached a point in nearly 5° north, being over six hundred miles below the limit of cadamosto's voyage. la nauigation del capitan pietro di sintra portoghese, scritta per meser aluise da ca da mosto, in ramusio, tom. i. fol. 119. 86

[1469-89.] in 1469 fernam gomez rented the african trade from the king of portugal for a term of five years, and during that time pushed his explorations under santarem and escobar to cape st catherine in 2° south, first crossing the equator in 1471. under jo?o ii., who succeeded alfonso v. in 1481, the traffic continued, and in 1489 diogo cam reached a point in 22°, over two hundred leagues below the congo river, planting there a cross which is said to be yet standing. martin behaim, the mathematician and cosmographer, accompanied cam on this voyage, and an error or interpolation in schedel, registrum, etc., nuremberg, 1493, gave rise to the unfounded report that they sailed west and discovered america. humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. pp. 257, 283, 292, 309; major's prince henry, pp. 325-38; navarrete, col. de viages, tom. i. p. xl.; harrisse, bibliotheca americana vetustissima, p. 40; galvano's discov., pp. 74-6; otto, in am. phil. soc., vol. ii., 1786.

we enter now the columbian epoch proper, to which, as we have seen, the enterprises of prince henry and the portuguese were precursory. about 1484, christopher columbus having proposed a new scheme of reaching india by sailing west, the king of portugal surreptitiously sent a vessel to test his theory, which, after searching unsuccessfully for land westward, returned to the cape verde islands. mu?oz, hist. nuevo mundo, pp. 53-4 et al. columbus had resided in portugal since 1470, and had made several trips in portuguese ships down the african coast, in the course of which he is supposed to have first conceived his new project. indignant at the conduct of the portuguese king, columbus left for spain. colon, hist. del almirante, in barcia, hist. prim., tom. i. pp. 9-10; translation in pinkerton's col. voy., vol. xii. pp. 1-16; and in kerr's col. voy., vol. iii. pp. 1-242.

in 1486 bartolomeu dias sailed round cape good hope and continued his voyage to great fish river on the south-east coast, from which point he was compelled to return on account of the murmurs of his men. the cape, now for the first time doubled by europeans, was seen and named by him on his return. in 1487 king jo?o sent two priests, covilham and payva, to travel in the east, in the hope of gathering more definite information respecting prester john and his famous christian kingdom. prester john they did not find, but covilham in his wanderings reached sofala on the east coast of africa in about 20° south latitude, being the first of his countrymen to sail on the indian ocean. at sofala he learned the practicability of the voyage which dias had actually accomplished a little before, and a message to that effect was immediately sent to the king. major's prince henry, pp. 339-42; navarrete, col. de viages, tom. i. p. xl-i; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. pp. 230 et seq.; galvano's discov., pp. 77-8.

from this time to the great discovery of 1492, few expeditions remain to be mentioned. it must not be forgotten, however, that by this time trading voyages were of ordinary occurrence all along the eastern atlantic coast and its adjoining islands from scandinavia to guinea. a lively commerce was carried on throughout this century between bristol and iceland, and in the words of kunstmann, substantiated by older authorities, "a bull of nicolas iv. to the bishops of iceland, proves that the pope in 1448 was intimately acquainted with matters in greenland." it seems incredible 87 that during all this intercourse with northern lands, no knowledge of america was gained by southern maritime nations, yet so far as we know there exists no proof of such knowledge.

[1476.] john of kolno, or szkolny, is reported to have made a voyage in the service of the king of denmark in 1476, and to have touched on the coast of labrador. the report rests on the authority of wytfliet, descriptionis ptolemaic? augmentum, lovanii, 1598, fol. 188, supported by a single sentence, "tambien han ydo alla hombres de noruega con el piloto iuan scolno," in gomara, hist. gen. de las indias, anvers, 1554, cap. xxxvii. fol. 31; by a similar sentence in herrera, hist. gen., madrid, 1601, dec. i. lib. vi. cap. xvi., in which the name is changed to juan seduco; and by the inscription, jac scolvus groetland, on a country west of greenland on a map made by michael lok in 1582, fac-simile in hakluyt soc., divers voy., p. 55. according to kohl, hist. discov., pp. 114-15, this voyage is considered apocryphal by danish and norwegian writers. lelewel, géog. du moyen age, p. 106, regards the voyage as authentic, and kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 45-8, attaches to it great importance as the source of all the voyages to the north which followed. humboldt, exam. crit., tom. ii. pp. 152-4, gives but little attention to the voyage, and confesses his inability to decide on its merits: "je ne puis hasarder aucun jugement sur cette assertion de wytfliet."

[1477.] in this year columbus, whom we first find with the portuguese traders on the african coast, sailed northward, probably with an english merchantman from bristol, to a point one hundred leagues beyond thule, in 73° north. colon, hist. del almirante in barcia, tom. i. p. 4; mu?oz, hist. nuevo mundo, pp. 43-7; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. p. 272. he probably visited iceland, although he gives the latitude incorrectly, taking it very likely from ancient geography rather than his own observations.

[1482.] according to kunstmann, the edition of ptolemy this year, ptolom?i cosmographia, ulm?, 1482, lib. viii., contains a map that includes greenland, and must have been compiled from northern sources.

[1488.] desmarquets, mémoires chronologiques, etc., dieppe, 1785, tom. i. pp. 92-8, states that one cousin sailed from dieppe early in 1488, stood off further from land than other voyagers had done, and after two months reached an unknown land and a great river, which he named the maragnon. was this the mara?on in south america? he then sailed south-eastward and discovered the southern point of africa, returning to dieppe in 1489. the discovery was kept secret, but cousin made a second voyage round the cape and succeeded in reaching india. major, besides pointing out some inconsistencies in this account, shows that m. desmarquets "could commit himself to assertions of great moment which are demonstrably false." he is not good authority for so remarkable a discovery not elsewhere recorded.

the columbian epoch.

before striking out with columbus in his bold venture to the west, let us sum up what we have learned thus far and see where we stand. first, the geographical knowledge of the ancients was restricted to a parallelogram extending north-west and south-east from the atlantic to the indian ocean, comprising one hundred and twenty degrees east and west by fifty degrees 88 north and south; circumscribe this knowledge with legendary stories and hypothetical and traditional beliefs concerning the regions beyond; then add a true theory of the earth's sphericity, though mistaken as to its size. this is all they knew, and this knowledge they committed to the dark age, during which time it was preserved, and, indeed, little by little enlarged, as we have seen. during the latter part of the fifteenth century, particularly, a powerful impulse had been given to discovery, especially toward the south; so that now the limits of the ancients were moved eastward at least forty degrees, to the eastern coasts and islands of asia, chiefly by the travels of marco polo and sir john mandeville. toward the south, the true form of africa had been ascertained, and its coasts had been explored by the portuguese, except a space of about fifteen degrees on the south-west. northward the old limit had been advanced but slightly, but within this limit much information had been gained by actual navigation about regions only vaguely described by ptolemy. westward, in what was still a sea of darkness, great discoveries had been made by the northmen, but their results were now practically lost; while toward the south, several important groups of islands had been added to the known world. see map on page 73, where the regions added during this period are lightly shaded. and now, within the old bound the world is much better known than at the beginning of the period, and many minor geographical errors of the ancients have been corrected by the crusaders, and others who attempted on a smaller scale to extend the catholic faith, as well as by commercial travellers in distant lands. again, by the influx of mahometans into europe during five or six centuries, eastern luxuries had been introduced to an extent hitherto unknown, and had in fact become necessities in christian courts, thus making the india trade the great field of commercial enterprise even by the tedious and uncertain overland routes where middle-men absorbed the profits, and rendering the opening of other and easier routes an object of primary importance. the almost exclusive possession of trade via the old routes by the italians, furnished an additional motive to other european nations for explorations by sea. the art of printing, recently invented, facilitated the diffusion of learning, so that it was impossible for the world ever again to lapse into the old intellectual darkness. the astrolabe, the foundation of the modern quadrant, had been adapted by a meeting of cosmographers in portugal to the observation of latitudes by the sun's altitude, and thus the chief obstacle to long sea-voyages was removed. the polarity of the magnet had long been known, but the practical adaptation of the magnetic needle to purposes of navigation occurred about the beginning of the fourteenth century. the mariner's compass, however, only attained its highest purpose toward the close of the fifteenth century, when the sea of darkness was traversed. but before this, the greatest impediments to ocean navigation had been overcome by voyages actually made through the aid of the new inventions. beside the coasts brought to light by these voyages, they had done much to dispel the old superstitions of burning zones, impassable capes, and unnavigable seas.

real and imaginary islands.

we have seen that, as a result either of the poetic fancy or of the actual discovery of the ancients, various islands were traditionally located in the atlantic. most of them undoubtedly owed their existence to the natural 89 tendency of man to people unknown seas with fabulous lands and beings, "il est si naturel à l'homme de rêver quelque chose au-delà de l'horizon visible," observes humboldt. for a full account of the history and location of these islands, "dont la position est encore plus variable que le nom," and the important part played by them in ancient and middle-age geography, see humboldt, exam. crit., tom. ii. pp. 156-245, and kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 6 et seq., and 35-37. in the fifteenth century, with the revival of maritime enterprise, came a renewal and multiplication of the old fables. monastic scholars, by their continued study of the old writers, by their attempts to reconcile ancient geography with fabulous events in the lives of the saints, and by their inevitable tendency to exaggeration, had contributed largely to their preservation. still, throughout the preceding period, the belief in the existence of such islands had been vague and hypothetical; but when the actual existence of numerous islands in the western ocean was proved, and the canary, madeira, azore, and cape verde groups were discovered and explored, the old ideas were naturally revived and confirmed, and with them rose a desire to rediscover all that had been known to the ancient voyagers. the reported wonders of the fabulous isles, having on them great and rich cities, were confidently sought in each newly found land, and not appearing in any of them, the islands themselves were successively located farther and farther to the west, out in the mysterious sea, to be surely brought to light by future explorations.

and of a truth, this wondrous western empire was subsequently brought to light; peoples and cities were found, but beyond the limits within which the wildest dreams of their discoverers had ever placed them. on this foundation not a few speculators build a theory that america was known to the ancients. the chief of the hypothetical isles were san brandan, antilia, and the island of the seven cities; their existence was firmly believed in, and they were definitely located on maps of the period. san brandan is said to have been visited by the saint whose name it bears in the sixth century. it was at first located far north and west of ireland, but gradually moved southward until at the time of columbus' first voyage it is found nearly in the latitude of cape verde. to the inflamed imagination mirage is solid earth, or sea, or a beautiful city; an island which was long supposed to be visible from madeira and the canaries had something to do with the location of this island of the saint, and of the others.

antilia, and the island of seven cities, according to behaim's map, are identical. see page 93 this volume; also a reputed letter of toscanelli, about the existence of which humboldt thinks there may be some doubt. the only tangible point in the traditionary history is the migration of seven bishops, driven from the peninsula by the moorish invasion in the eighth century, who took refuge there and built the seven cities. the history and location of this island of the seven cities in the fifteenth century are similar to those of san brandan island. galvano says a portuguese ship was there in 1447. brazil, bracie, or berzil, was another of these wandering isles, whose name has been preserved and applied to a rock west of ireland, to one of the azore islands, and to a country in south america. this name has been the theme of much discussion, which, so far as i know, leads to no 90 result beyond the fact that the name of a valuable dye-wood known to the ancients was afterward applied to lands known or conjectured to produce such woods. humboldt, exam. crit., tom. ii. pp. 214-45; kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 7-10, and 35 et seq. kunstmann attaches greater geographical importance to the fabulous isles than humboldt, connecting them in a manner apparently not quite clear to himself with the previous discoveries of the northmen. thus stood facts and fancies concerning the geography of the world, when the greatest of discoverers arose and achieved the greatest of discoveries.

although in the chapters following i speak more at length of the deeds of the genoese and his companions, yet in order to complete this summary it is necessary to mention them here. i shall attempt no discussion concerning the country, family, date of birth, or early life of christopher columbus. for the differences of opinion on these points, with numerous references, see harrisse, bibliotheca americana vetustissima, new york, 1866, p. 2 et seq. born somewhere in italy, probably genoa, about 1435, he received something more than a rudimentary education, went to sea at the early age of fourteen, and in 1470, which is about the date of his coming to portugal, had already an extensive experience in the navigation of the mediterranean, and was skilled in the theory as well as the practice of his profession. we have already seen him with the portuguese on the african coast, and with the english in iceland. in fact, before his first voyage westward in 1492, he was practically acquainted with all waters then navigated by europeans.

the promptings which urged forward this navigator to the execution of his great enterprise may be stated as follows: the success of the portuguese in long voyages down the african coast suggested to his mind, soon after 1470, that if they could sail so far south, another might sail west with the same facility and perhaps profit. says his son: "estando en portugal, empe?ó à congeturar, que del mismo modo que los portugueses navegaron tan lejos al mediodia, podria navegarse la buelta de occidente, i hallar tierra en aquel viage." colon, hist. del almirante, in barcia, tom. i. p. 4; edition of venetia, 1709, pp. 22-3; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. p. 12; navarrete, col. de viages, tom. i. p. lxxix; herrera, hist. gen., dec. i. lib. i. cap. 1-7. his ardent imagination once seized with this idea, every nook and corner of geographical knowledge was searched for evidence to support his theory. by intercourse with other navigators he learned that at different times and places along the western coasts of europe and africa, objects apparently from unknown western lands had been washed ashore, suppositionally by the wind, really by the gulf stream or other oceanic currents. humboldt, exam. crit., tom. ii. p. 249. though well aware of existing rumors of islands seen at different times in the western ocean, it was not upon these, if any such there were, that he built his greatest anticipations of success. in the writings of the ancients he found another stimulant. filled with fervent piety and superstitious credulity, he pored over every cosmographical work upon which he could lay his hands, as well the compilations of antiquated notions, such as the imago mundi of pierre d'ailly, or the more modern travels of marco polo and 91 sir john mandeville. colon, hist. del almirante, in barcia, tom. i. p. 4 et seq.; major's prince henry, pp. 349, 352; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. pp. 46, 60; kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 74-6.

evolution of the grand conception.

the result of these studies was a complete acquaintance with the geographical knowledge of the day, with the greater part of what i have thus far epitomized, the doings of the northmen excepted. from all this he knew of the earth's sphericity; he believed that the larger part of the world's surface was dry land; that the land known to ptolemy extended over at least 180 degrees, or half the circumference of the globe, that is, from the canaries to the ganges; he knew that by later travels the eastern limit of geographical knowledge had been moved much farther east, even to cathay; he believed that far out in the ocean lay the island of zipangu; he knew that some eight or ten degrees had been added on the west by the discovery of the azores; he believed that at most only one third of the circumference remained to be navigated; that this space might naturally contain some islands available as way stations in the voyage; that the explorations in the east were very indefinite, and consequently asia might, and probably did, extend farther east than was supposed; that ptolemy's figures were not undisputed—marino making the distance from the canaries to the ganges 225 degrees instead of 180, while another geographer, alfragano, by actual measurement, made each degree about one sixth smaller than ptolemy, thus reducing the size of the earth, and with it the remaining distance to india; that several ancient writers—see quotations from aristotle, strabo, seneca, et al., in humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. pp. 38, 61, 98 et seq.—had pronounced the distance to india very short, and had affirmed that it might be navigated in a few days; and finally that other scholars, as toscanelli, had arrived at the same conclusions as himself, possibly before himself. cartas de pablo toscanelli, físico florentin, á cristobal colon y al canónigo portugues fernando martinez, sobre el descubrimiento de las indias, in navarrete, tom. ii. pp. 1-4; mu?oz, hist. nuevo mundo, pp. 48-9. see also, on columbus' motives, irving's columbus, vol. i. pp. 42-51, and vol. ii. p. 148; mu?oz, hist. nuevo mundo, pp. 45-7; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. ii. pp. 324-9; stevens' notes, p. 28; major's prince henry, pp. 347-52; kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 74. many of these conclusions were erroneous, being founded on an incorrect idea of longitude; but this reduction of the earth's size was an error most fortunate for discovery, inasmuch as with a correct idea of the distance to be traversed, and with no suspicion of an intervening continent, such an expedition as that of the genoese would not have been undertaken at the time.

such were the ideas and aspirations of columbus before his undertakings; later in life a theologic mysticism took possession of his mind, and his success was simply a fulfillment of divine prophecy in which cosmographical realities went for nothing. see cartas de don cristobal colon, in navarrete, tom. i. p. 330.

all attempts to diminish the glory of columbus' achievement by proving a previous discovery whose results were known to him have signally failed. the reports of mysterious maps which have been claimed to have prompted his enterprise evidently amount to nothing in view of the fact that columbus never suspected the existence of any new countries, yet that he saw maps 92 of the world, including the asiatic coasts, can not be doubted. the case of the pilot sanchez, said to have died in the house of columbus, and to have told him of lands he had seen toward the west, if true, is likewise of little moment as touching the honor due to columbus, for many men were confident of having seen such lands from the canaries and other islands, and several voyages had been made in search of them, all of which was certainly known to columbus. the story of sanchez was started by oviedo, who gives no authority or date for the event; it was repeated generally with disapproval by other historians, until revived by garcilaso de la vega with date and details; but his date, 1484, is ten years after columbus is known to have proposed his scheme to the portuguese government. columbus originated no new theory respecting the earth's form or size, though a popular idea has always prevailed, notwithstanding the statements of the best writers to the contrary, that he is entitled to the glory of the theory as well as to that of the execution of the project. he was not in advance of his age, entertained no new theories, believed no more than did prince henry, his predecessor, or toscanelli, his contemporary; nor was he the first to conceive the possibility of reaching the east by sailing west. he was however the first to act in accordance with existing beliefs. the northmen in their voyages had entertained no ideas of a new world, or of an asia to the west. to knowledge of theoretical geography, columbus added the skill of a practical navigator, and the iron will to overcome obstacles. he sailed west, reached asia as he believed, and proved old theories correct.

there seem to be two undecided points in that matter, neither of which can ever be settled. first, did his experience in the portuguese voyages, the perusal of some old author, or a hint from one of the few men acquainted with old traditions, first suggest to columbus his project? in the absence of sustaining proof, the statement of the son fernando that the father should be credited with the reconception of the great idea, goes for little. second, to what extent did his voyage to the north influence his plan? there is no evidence, but a strong probability, that he heard in that voyage of the existence of land in the west. it is hardly possible that no tradition of markland and vinland remained in iceland, when but little more than a hundred years had passed since the last ship had returned from those countries, and when many persons must have been living who had been in greenland. if such traditions did exist, columbus certainly must have made himself acquainted with them. still his visit to the north was in 1477, several years after the first formation of his plan, and any information gained at the time could only have been confirmatory rather than suggestive. both humboldt and kunstmann think that even if he ever heard of the discoveries of the northmen—which is thought probable by the latter—this knowledge would not have agreed with, nor encouraged, his plans. kohl, hist. discov., pp. 115-20, believes that such a knowledge would have been the strongest possible confirmation of his idea of the nearness of asia and europe, in which opinion i concur. the idea of draper, hist. int. develop., p. 446, that had columbus known of the northern discoveries he would have steered farther to the north, seems of no weight, since he sought not the northern but the southern parts of india. 93

first voyage of columbus.

what columbus had to contend with at this juncture was not, as i have said, old doctrines oppugnant to any new conception, but the ignorance of the masses, who held no doctrine beyond that of proximate sense, which spread out the earth's surface, so far as their dull conceptions could reach, in one universal flatness; and the knowledge of courts, whence alone the great discoverer could hope for support, was but little in advance of that of the people. then the church, with its usual firmness and conservatism, was against him. the monks, who were then the guardians of learning, knew, or might have known, all that prince henry, columbus, and other earnest searchers had ascertained regarding the geography of the earth; but what were science and facts to them if they in any wise conflicted with the preconceived notions of the fathers, or with church dogmas? "ii est vrai," says humboldt, "que les scrupules théologiques de lactance, de st. chrysost?me et de quelques autres pères de l'eglise, contribuèrent à pousser l'esprit humain dans un mouvement rétrograde." and again, the african expeditions of the portuguese had not on the whole been profitable or encouraging to other similar undertakings, and the financial condition of most european courts was not such as to warrant new expenses. portugal, more advanced and in better condition to embark in new enterprises than any other nation, now regarded the opening of her route to india via the cape of good hope an accomplished fact, and therefore looked coldly on any new venture. nor were the extravagant demands of columbus with respect to titles and authority over the new regions of asia which he hoped to find, likely to inspire monarchs, jealous of their dignities, with favor toward a penniless, untitled adventurer. passing as well the successive disappointments of columbus in his weary efforts to obtain the assistance necessary to the accomplishment of his project, as his final success with queen isabella of castile, let us resume our chronological summary.

martin behaim's globe, 1492.

94

[1492.] shortly before the sailing of columbus, the learned astronomer martin behaim, of nuremberg, constructed a globe showing the whole surface of the earth as understood by the best geographers of the time. this globe has been preserved, and i present a fac-simile of the american hemisphere published in ghillany, geschichte des seefahrers ritter martin behaim, nürnberg, 1853. the entire globe may be seen in jomard, les monuments de la géographie, no. xv., paris, 1854. a section of the globe is given by irving, columbus, vol. i. p. 53 (see also id., p. 135), by london geog. soc. journal, 1848, vol. xviii. p. 76; and a copy from ghillany, with some of the names omitted, may be found in kohl's hist. discov., p. 147, map no. iv.

the chart by which the voyage of columbus was made is supposed to have been a copy of behaim's globe, which indeed may be regarded as the exponent of geographical conceptions, those of columbus as well as those of the learned men and practical navigators of the day. by an inscription on the original, the asiatic coast is known to have been laid down from marco polo, and to the islands of antilia and san brandan are joined other inscriptions giving their history as i have before indicated. sailing from palos on the 3d of august, 1492, with one hundred and twenty men in three vessels commanded by himself and the two brothers pinzon, columbus was at last fairly launched on the sea of darkness. after a detention of three weeks at the canaries, he sailed thence the 6th of september; marked, not without alarm, the variation of the needle on the 30th of september; and on the 12th of october discovered san salvador, or cat island.

so far all was well; all was as the bold navigator had anticipated; all accorded with current opinions, his own among the number; he had sailed certain days, had accomplished a certain distance, and had reached triumphantly one of the numerous islands mentioned by marco polo, and, god willing, would soon find the larger island of zipangu. alas for mathematical calculations, for that other third of the earth's circumference; alas for the intervening continent and broad pacific sea, which baffled the great discoverer to the day of his death!

passing over the cruise through the bahamas, or marco polo's archipelago of seven thousand islands, in which the discoverers touched successively at concepcion, exuma (fernandina), and isla larga (isabela), we find columbus sailing from the last-mentioned island on the 24th of october for zipangu, with the intention of proceeding thence to the main-land, and presenting his credentials to the great khan.

touching at the mucaras group, columbus arrived at zipangu, which was none other than the island of cuba, on the 28th of october, and gave to the island, in place of its barbarous appellation, the more christian name of juana. cruising along the northern shore of cuba, in frequent converse with the natives, he soon learned that this was not zipangu, was not even an island, but was the veritable asiatic continent itself, for so his fervid mind interpreted the strange language of this people. unfortunately he could not find the khan; after diligent search he could find no great city, nor any imperial court, nor other display of oriental opulence such as were described by marco polo and sir john mandeville—only naked barbarians and thatched huts; so after advancing west beyond savana la 95 mar, the discoverers returned to the eastern end of cuba, visiting on the way the group el jardin del rey. postponing the exploration of the coast toward the south-west, columbus returned eastward and followed the northern coast of espa?ola, turning off on his way to discover the tortugas, and arriving at la navidad, where he built a fort and left a colony of thirty-nine men. now, espa?ola, and not cuba as he had at first supposed, was the true zipangu; for the main-land of china could not by any possibility be the island of japan; and in this belief columbus sailed for spain on the 16th of january, reaching the azores on the 18th of february, and arriving at palos the 15th of march, 1493. primer viage de colon, in navarrete, tom. i. pp. 1-197; purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. i. booke ii. pp. 10-13; sammlung aller reisebeschreibungen, tom. xiii. p. 10; napione and de conti, biografia colombo, pp. 305-36; peter martyr, dec. i. cap. i.; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. i. pp. 21-31, 46-55; colon, hist. del almirante, in barcia, tom. i. pp. 13-38; irving's columbus, vol. i. pp. 124-289; vol. iii. pp. 447-68; major's prince henry, pp. 356-7; west-indische spieghel, p. 10; cancellieri, notizie di colombo, pp. 66-76.

[1493.] just before reaching the azores, columbus wrote on shipboard two letters describing his voyage, one under date of the 15th of february, and the other of the 14th of march. the manuscript of one, with copies printed in spain probably during this same year, are yet preserved. of the other, both the original manuscript and spanish copies, if any were printed, are lost; but of a latin translation, six editions are extant, supposed to have been printed in 1493, in france and in italy, under the title epistola christofori colom, or de insulis inventis, etc. a poetical paraphrase of the same letter appeared the same year as dati, questa e la hystoria, etc., florence, 1493, and four other works of this year contain slight allusions to columbus. seven or eight editions of columbus' letters appeared in different forms during the next forty years. both letters may be found with spanish translations in the first volume of navarrete's collection. for the bibliographical notices of this sketch i have depended chiefly on harrisse, bib. am. vet., as the latest and most complete essay on early american books, notwithstanding the few blunders that have subjected it to so much ridicule. i shall not consider it necessary to repeat the reference with each notice, as harrisse's work is arranged chronologically.

papal bull of partition.

as soon as columbus had explained to ferdinand and isabella the nature of his important discovery, the spanish sovereigns applied to the pope for the same grants and privileges respecting lands discovered, and to be discovered, in the west, that had before been granted the portuguese in the south and east. his holiness, accepting the spanish statements that the concessions demanded did not in any way conflict with previous grants to the portuguese, by bull of may 2, 1493, ceded to spain all lands which might be discovered by her west of a line drawn from pole to pole, one hundred leagues west of the azores; the portuguese to have all new lands east of the same line. it is obvious that his holiness fixed this line arbitrarily, without a thought of the position or importance of the corresponding meridian at the antipodes. this opposite meridian, according to the idea of longitude entertained at the time, would fall in the vicinity of india proper; and the portuguese, besides their natural jealousy of this new success of spain, feared that 96 the western hemisphere thus given to her rival might include portions of their indian grants. hence arose much trouble in the few following years between the two courts. see infra.

amidst the enthusiasm following his success columbus had no difficulty in fitting out another expedition. embarking from cádiz september 25, 1493, with seventeen vessels and over 1,200 men, among whom were alonso de ojeda and juan de la cosa, el almirante, or the admiral, as columbus was now called, touched at the canaries, discovered dominica the 3d of november, and guadalupe a few days later; thence sailing north-west through the caribbean archipelago, he occasionally landed and gave names to islands. resting two days at puerto rico, he reached the coast of espa?ola on the 22d of november, and on the 27th anchored off the port of navidad. the settlement established at this place in the previous voyage had totally disappeared; the colonists as is supposed falling victims to internal dissensions and general excesses. a new city called isabela was then founded at another port of this island, and ojeda was sent inland to explore the country. after a short absence he returned, reporting the country rich in gold. on the second of february, 1494, twelve vessels, with specimens of the people and products of the country, were despatched for spain under antonio de torres. by this departure was also sent a request for immediate supplies. recovering from a serious illness, columbus checked a revolt among his people on the 24th of april, built a fort in the interior, and then sailed to explore the main coast of asia—as he supposed, but in truth cuba—south-westward from the point where he left it on his first voyage. following the south coast of cuba the admiral at length reached the vicinity of philipina, or cortés bay, where the shore bends to the southward. this to him seemed conclusive proof that it was indeed the main-land of asia which he was coasting. the statements of the natives who said that cuba was in fact an island, but that it was so large that no one had ever reached its western extremity, confirmed him in his belief—since one might question the knowledge of a boundary which no one had ever reached and from which no one had ever come. the theory of the age was thus made good, and that was sufficient; so columbus brought all his crew, officers and men, before the notary, and made them swear that the island of cuba was the continent of asia—an act significant of methods of conversion in those days. he even proposed to continue the voyage along the coast to the red sea, and thence home by way of the mediterranean, or, better still, round the cape of good hope, to meet and surprise the portuguese; but his companions thought the supplies insufficient for so long a voyage, and the admiral was persuaded to postpone the attempt.

returning therefore to espa?ola, on the way back columbus discovered and partially explored jamaica, isla de pinos, and the small islands scattered to the southward of cuba, arriving at isabela on the 4th of september. there he found matters in a bad way. the colony, comprising a motley crew of lawless adventurers, ever ready to attribute success to themselves and ill-fortune to their governor, trumped up numerous complaints which caused the admiral no little trouble. margarite, to whom had been given a command for an expedition inland, had revolted and sailed with several ships for spain. 97 open war had been declared with the natives, and the colonists were hard pressed; but the admiral's presence and ojeda's impetuous bravery soon secured order. meanwhile two arrivals inspired the colonists with fresh courage; that of bartolomé colon, brother of the admiral, with three ships, and that of torres, with four vessels laden with supplies. with the gold that had been accumulated, and specimens of fruits and plants, and five hundred natives as slaves, torres was sent back to spain, accompanied by diego colon, whose mission was to defend his brother's interests at court. the pacification of the natives was then completed, and heavy taxes were imposed upon them. in october, 1495, arrived juan de aguado, sent by the king to ascertain the facts concerning charges against the admiral. this man, in place of executing his commission fairly, only stirred up the accusers of columbus to greater enmity—which quality of justice well accorded with the temper of his master ferdinand. on account of these troubles, as well as from the discovery of a new gold mine, which proved beyond question that espa?ola was the ancient ophir of king solomon, columbus decided to return to spain. so leaving his brother, bartolomé, in command as adelantado, or lieutenant-governor, he sailed with aguado, on the 10th of march, in two caravels, carrying 225 spaniards and thirty natives. touching at marigalante, and guadalupe, he arrived at cádiz june 11, 1496. segundo viage de cristobal colon, in navarrete, tom. i. pp. 198-241; colon, hist. del almirante, in barcia, tom. i. pp. 42-73; peter martyr, dec. i. cap. 2-4; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. i. pp. 31-5; napione and de conti, biografia colombo, pp. 331-50; irving's columbus, vol. i. pp. 338-497; vol. ii. pp. 1-87; major's prince henry, p. 358; humboldt's exam. crit., tom. iv. p. 217; cancellieri, notizie di colombo, pp. 93-9. the letters which columbus sent to spain by torres in february, 1494, if ever printed, are lost; but in syllacio, ad sapi?tissim? ... de insulis, etc., pavia, 1494 or 1495, appeared certain letters from spain to the author of this work, describing the second voyage of columbus.

[1494.] thus during the absence of columbus on his second voyage we have seen the ocean route between spain and espa?ola six times navigated; first, by the fleet of twelve vessels sent back to spain by the admiral under antonio de torres; second, by bartolomé colon, who followed his brother to espa?ola with three ships; third, by margarite, who revolted and left espa?ola during the absence of columbus in cuba; fourth, by torres in command of four vessels from spain with supplies for the colony; fifth, by the return of the same four ships to spain with gold and slaves; and sixth, by juan de aguado with four ships from spain in august, 1495.

reparation of the world.

with the division of the world by pope alexander vi., portugal was not satisfied. the world was thought to be not so large then as now, and one half of it was not enough for so small a kingdom which had boasted so great a navigator as prince henry. it was not their own side, but the other side, that troubled the portuguese, fearing as they did that the opposite meridian threw into spain's half a part or the whole of india. so spain and portugal fell to quarrelling over this partition by his holiness; and the matter was referred to a commission, and finally settled by the treaty of tordesillas in june, 1494, which moved the line 270 leagues farther west. about the location of 98 this line of demarcation, and its effect on brazil, and the moluccas, much has been written, though little has been said as to the motive that prompted portugal in making this change. the fact is, that at a time when the spice islands were but vaguely known, and the existence of brazil not even suspected, it is impossible to conceive why portugal desired to change the partition line from 100 leagues to 370 leagues west of the azores; for the change could only diminish the possessions of portugal in india by 270 leagues, as in truth it did, including the moluccas in the loss, and gaining in return 270 leagues of open atlantic sea! true, there proved to be an accidental gain of a part of brazil, but there could have been no idea at the time that this partition line cut through any eastern portion of lands discovered by columbus to the west. in whatever light we imagine them to have regarded it, there is still an unexplained mystery. the pacific ocean was unknown; between the discoveries of spain and portugal, so far as known, all was land—india. by carrying the partition line westward, portugal may have thought to find some western land; at all events, it is generally believed that the effect of the partition in the antipodes was not well considered; that the only point in question was the right of making discoveries in the western ocean, and that the treaty of tordesillas was decided in favor of spain—portugal being forced to yield the main point, but insisting on the change of partition in order to give her more sea-room. on the other hand it may be claimed that the antipodes, of which they knew so little, were the avowed object of all the expeditions sent out by both parties. see the original bull and treaty in navarrete, col. de viages, tom. ii. pp. 28, 130; also prescott's ferdinand and isabella, vol. ii. pp. 173-83; calvo, recueil complet des traités, paris, 1862, tom. i. pp. 1-36; purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. i. booke ii. pp. 13-15; curious and ent. voy., p. 20; cancellieri, notizie di colombo, p. 183.

italy, and especially venice, as we have seen, was the first of the european states to display in any marked degree in medi?val times that commercial spirit so early and so well developed in the ph?nicians. portugal caught the flame under john the great, 1385-1433, and led the van of a more daring discovery and exploration by conquests on the north-west coast of africa. simultaneously prince henry was sending expeditions farther down the western coast of africa, and among the islands of the atlantic. his country reaped the reward in 1486, when the discovery of the cape of good hope opened her a way by sea to hindostan, and to the commerce of the orient, and gave at the same time the death-blow to venetian ascendancy in that market.

but spain, as chance would have it, did not lag far behind her sister kingdom. the fact of the great navigators, columbus and vespucci, being italians, and yet having to seek assistance of spain, sufficiently indicates in what direction the swing of maritime power was tending. the astronomical schools of córdova, seville, and granada had well prepared spain for the application of astronomy to navigation, and the long internal wars had bred those bold and enduring spirits who alone are fitted to conduct with success great enterprises of certain danger and uncertain result.

it is claimed by some that john and sebastian cabot made their first voyage 99 and discovered newfoundland in 1494. the claim rests on a statement of the spanish ambassador to england in a letter dated july 25, 1498, to the effect that during the past seven years several vessels had been sent each year from bristol in search of brasil and the islands of the seven cities, and on an inscription on sebastian cabot's map of 1544, which states that land was first discovered by the cabots on june 24, 1494. d'avesac, letter on the voyages of john and sebastian cabot, in kohl, pp. 506-7. but other authors consider the map—even if made by cabot, which is extremely doubtful—insufficient authority to prove such a voyage.

[1495.] at the solicitation of the brothers pinzon and other navigators, a license was granted april 10, 1495, permitting any native-born spaniard to make private voyages for trade and discovery from cádiz to the western india; such expeditions to be under the inspection of government, one of whose officials was to accompany each vessel to ensure the payment to the crown of one tenth of the profit of the voyage. for this document in full, see navarrete, col. de viages, tom. ii. p. 165. see also humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. pp. 356 et seq. whether any one actually took advantage of this license before its repeal—which was on june 2, 1497, at the instigation of columbus—is a disputed point of some importance in connection with certain doubtful expeditions to be considered hereafter.

[1496.] pedro alonso ni?o sailed from cádiz june 17, 1496, just after the return of columbus, in command of three vessels laden with supplies for the colony at espa?ola.

amerigo vespucci.

[1497.] amerigo vespucci, a florentine navigator, claims to have set sail from cádiz with four vessels in the service of the king of spain on the tenth, or twentieth, of may, 1497. in what capacity he accompanied the expedition, or who was its commander, he does not state, but says that he was chosen by the king to go with the expedition. "me ad talia investiganda in ipsam societatem elegit." sailing south-south-west to the canaries, 280 leagues from lisbon, he remained there eight days, and then sailed west-one-quarter-south-west 1,000 leagues in twenty-seven, or thirty-seven, days, to a point on the main-land in 16° north and 75° west of the canaries—that is to say, on the coast of central america near cape gracias á dios. this must have been about the 1st of july, some days perhaps after cabot's landing farther north, which was the 24th of june. the spaniards went ashore in boats, but the natives were too timid to trade; so that continuing their voyage for two days north-west in sight of the flat coast, they reached a more secure anchorage, established friendly relations with the people, and found some traces of gold. the ships then followed the coast for several days, to a port where was found a village built over the water like venice, and there fought with the natives (of tabasco?); sailed eighty leagues along the coast to a region of many rivers (pánuco?), where they were kindly received by people of a different language, and made a journey of eighteen leagues inland, visiting many towns. this province was called by the inhabitants lariab, and is situated in the torrid zone, near the tropic of cancer, in 23° north. again they started, pursued a north-west course and frequently anchored, sailing thus 870 leagues, until after thirteen 100 months, that is to say in june, 1498, they reached "the best harbor in the world" (port of cape ca?averal?), in 28° 30', where they resolved to repair their ships for the return voyage. there they remained thirty-seven days, and when about to depart, the natives complained of certain cannibals who came each year from an island 100 leagues distant to attack them. the spaniards, in return for their kindness, promised to avenge their wrongs. accordingly they sailed north-east and east to a group of islands, some of which were inhabited (bermudas?); landing at one of them called ity, they defeated the cannibals, and made 250 prisoners, with a loss of one man killed and twenty-two wounded. returning, they arrived at cádiz october 15, 1499, with 222 prisoners, who were sold as slaves. the above is the account given by vespucci in a letter written in 1504, according to the edition adopted as authentic and original by varnhagen, le premier voyage de amerigo vespucci, who believes that vicente ya?ez pinzon and juan diaz de solis were the commanders. this voyage is not generally regarded as authentic; and a long and complicated discussion has arisen on the question whether the account given is to be regarded as true, as wholly a fabrication, or as belonging to a subsequent voyage and accidentally or intentionally dated back two years. as this voyage, if actually made as claimed by m. varnhagen, would be the first to touch the territory which i denominate the pacific states, i find it necessary to give in this place the leading points in the discussion. in what may be called the standard authorities on american discovery, such as navarrete, humboldt, and others, is found fully presented the question of the authenticity of vespucci's voyage, always, however, under the supposition that the land claimed to have been visited was the coast of paria. the theory of m. varnhagen, that that region must be sought in north america, reopens the question and introduces some new features which cannot be passed by unnoticed in this connection. without entering upon the somewhat complicated bibliography of vespucci's narrations, or taking up the question of his claims in the matter of naming america, i shall attempt to state briefly, and as clearly as i am able, the arguments for and against the authenticity of a voyage, in which perhaps is involved the question of the first post-scandinavian discovery of the north american continent.

the disputed voyage of vespucci.

besides vespucci's own statement, in a letter written in 1504, no contemporary document has been found which mentions such an expedition, though most diligent search for such documents has been made in the spanish archives by partisans and opponents of the florentine's claim. this absence of confirmatory documents is the more noticeable as the expedition was made under royal patronage. in another and previously written letter describing his second voyage in 1499, vespucci not only makes no mention of this voyage, but even excuses his long silence by saying that nothing had occurred worth relating. true, a short letter of one vianello, dated 1506, published by humboldt, mentions a voyage to which no date is given, made by vespucci in company with juan de la cosa. m. varnhagen supposes this to have been the voyage in question, and a large river discovered at the time to have been the mississippi; but, beside the fact that there is no reason for attributing the date of 1497 rather than any other to this voyage, vianello's letter, 101 with two others, published by harrisse, indicates a much later date for the expedition with juan de la cosa.

moreover, not only is there a want of original records, but contemporary historians are silent respecting this expedition; the first mention by later writers being a denial of its authenticity when it was thought to conflict with the admiral's claims as discoverer of the continent. yet, on the supposition of a voyage to the north american coast, there are some passages in the historians peter martyr, oviedo, gomara, and herrera, which point more or less definitely to an exploration of the gulf of honduras before 1502. peter martyr, dec. i. cap. vi., writing before 1508, says that many claim to have sailed round cuba; and later, dec. i. cap. x., he mentions a report that pinzon and solis had explored the coast of honduras, giving, however, no dates. oviedo, hist. gen., tom. ii. p. 140, says positively that the gulf of honduras was discovered not by columbus, but by pinzon and solis, and that before the former discovered the amazon, or the latter the rio de la plata, that is to say before 1499. gomara, hist. de las indias, fol. 63, states that pinzon and solis are said by some to have explored the coast of honduras three years before columbus, which would make it in 1499. herrera, hist. gen., dec. iv. lib. viii. cap. iii., says that the gulf of honduras was named hibueras from the gourds found floating in its waters by the first spaniards who sailed along the coast. to m. varnhagen, this it may be random remark of herrera is proof positive that as columbus did not enter or name the gulf, he was not the first spaniard who sailed along the coast. whatever weight may be attached to these passages from the historians, in proving a voyage to north america previous to that of the admiral, such evidence is manifestly increased by the fact that the date of the voyage attributed to pinzon and solis seems to rest entirely on the statement of herrera, hist. gen., dec. i. lib. vi. cap. xvi., who describes the expedition with other events under the date of 1506. yet in the testimony in the lawsuit hereinafter to be mentioned, it is implied, though not expressly stated, that the voyage was after that of columbus, since special pains was taken by the king to prove the coast explored by pinzon to be distinct from that discovered by the admiral. another point is that in this same testimony the name 'caria' is given to a place visited during pinzon's voyage, and for this name vespucci's 'lariab' may possibly be a misprint.

humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. pp. 59, 267, 272-4, repeatedly states it as an undeniable fact that vespucci was employed in spain in fitting out the vessels for the third voyage of columbus, up to the date of the sailing of the expedition, may 30, 1498, and consequently could not himself have sailed in may or any other month of 1497. he makes this statement on the authority of documents collected by mu?oz. harrisse, bib. am. vet., p. 57, states, also on the authority of mu?oz, that from april, 1497, to may 30, 1498, vespucci was "constantly travelling from seville to san lúcar." vespucci is known to have succeeded juanoto berardi, who died in december, 1495, in a contract to fit out vessels for the spanish government, and to have received money on account of that contract on the 12th of january, 1496. irving, with access to the documents of mu?oz, says that four caravels fitted out by vespucci sailed february 3, 1496, but were driven back; and he speaks of 102 no evidence of his presence in spain in 1497 or 1498. navarrete, relying on the same mu?oz documents—which consist of extracts from the books of expenses of indian armadas in the casa de contratacion in seville—gives no date to the sailing and wreck of the four vessels mentioned by irving, but implies that the event took place before berardi's death. after speaking of the receipt of money on the 12th of january, 1496, he states that vespucci "went on attending to everything until the armada was despatched from san lúcar." col. de viages, tom. iii. p. 317. he does not state that the fleet thus fitted out was that in which columbus sailed in 1498. mu?oz in the printed portion of his work is silent on the subject. varnhagen, vespuce et son premier voy., p. 18, argues that humboldt had no authority whatever for applying navarrete's statement respecting the armada despatched from san lúcar to the admiral's fleet, that statement having probably been his authority, and not the original documents of mu?oz; and that the four vessels whose fitting-out vespucci personally superintended were much more probably those in which he himself sailed and made the voyage in question. varnhagen furthermore thinks that the death of berardi furnished a reasonable motive for the resolution formed by vespucci to visit the indies, and a favorable opportunity for carrying out his resolution. if it can be proved that vespucci was in spain in 1497 and 1498, of course the question of his claimed voyage admits of no farther discussion; but if humboldt's only authority be his interpretation of navarrete's statement, even if the interpretation be not unnatural or improbable, the matter must still be considered doubtful until the original mu?oz documents are produced.

the silence of contemporary documents respecting vespucci's voyage carries the greater weight from the fact that there are special reasons for the existence of such documents, if the voyage had been actually made. in 1508 a suit was begun by diego colon against the spanish crown for the government of certain territory claimed by virtue of the discovery of paria by his father, the admiral. the suit continued to 1513, and every effort was made by the crown to prove a previous discovery of the coast in question; hundreds of witnesses were examined, and their testimony has been preserved and published in navarrete's collection. in this suit vespucci was not summoned as a witness, although much of the time in royal employ, having held the office of piloto mayor from 1508 to his death in 1512. no claim was advanced for his discovery, although the voyage is stated to have been made under royal patronage, and by proving its authenticity the crown would have gained its object. indeed, vespucci's name is only mentioned once in all the testimony, and that as having accompanied alonso de ojeda in his voyage of 1499. that no one of the many witnesses examined knew of vespucci's voyage in 1497, if it were a fact, is hardly possible. not only were the witnesses silent on the florentine's expedition, but many of them, including ojeda, affirmed that paria was first discovered by columbus, and next afterward by ojeda himself. now as vespucci accompanied ojeda, the latter would surely have known of any previous discovery by vespucci, and as ojeda was not friendly to columbus he certainly would have made the fact known. moreover, the admiral's charts and sailing-directions were followed by ojeda in his voyage, which would hardly have been done with a 103 skilful pilot like vespucci on board, and one who had visited the coast before. true, this last point would have little weight if the coast of paria was not the region visited by vespucci, while the other points would be little if at all affected by the theory that north america was the coast explored. no other spanish voyage to the new region was neglected; indeed, to have so completely disregarded vespucci's expedition, it must be supposed that the king not only knew exactly what region he explored, but had a positive conviction that said region was entirely distinct from paria; and we have seen that no such definite opinion was held at the time, but on the contrary, special pains was taken to prove that the new regions were "all one coast." when it is considered that vespucci's voyage, that is the voyage of pinzon and solis, was mentioned in the testimony, the failure to summon the piloto mayor appears all the more remarkable. what more efficient witness could have been brought forward? thus the silence of the testimony in this suit on the question under discussion, must be deemed something more than mere negative proof, as it is termed by m. varnhagen. this gentleman also notes that only one witness mentions that vespucci accompanied ojeda in 1499; but he does not note that the presence of vespucci on ojeda's ships was of no importance to either party in the suit, while a previous discovery by him was of the very greatest importance to the crown.

vespucci's voyage further considered.

the date of sailing from cádiz is given by different editions of vespucci's letter as may 10, and may 20, 1497; and of his return as october 1, 15, and 18, 1499. from these dates two difficulties arise; first, the duration of the voyage is stated in the letter to have been eighteen months, while the period between the dates of sailing and return is twenty-nine months; and again, vespucci is known to have sailed with ojeda in may, 1499, that is, five months before he returned from the voyage in question. one way of reconciling the first difficulty is to suppose that the author reckoned time by the florentine method, then common in familiar correspondence, according to which the year began the 25th of march. then in case of a very natural misprint in the original of may for march, the voyage really began in 1498, its duration being thus reduced to nineteen months. a more simple method of removing both difficulties is to suppose a misprint of 1499 for 1498 as the date of the return; this would reduce the time to seventeen months. several later editions have made this change. the edition claimed as original by m. varnhagen has the date 1499 according to his translation, and strangely enough the editor makes no allusion to it in his notes, although in a former pamphlet he speaks of 1498 as the date of the return. i attach very little weight to discrepancies in dates in this relation except as evidence against any intentional deception on the part of vespucci. confusion in dates is common in all relations of the period; and vespucci's letters were written hastily, not for publication, and merely to interest his correspondents by a description of the marvels he had seen in his new world adventures. it may here be stated that the long and bitterly argued question of the rival claims of vespucci and columbus in the matter of naming america has no bearing on the present discussion. there is no evidence that the voyage in question had any influence in fixing the name america; and to pronounce this expedition not authentic has no tendency to weaken vespucci's reputation 104 for honesty, which may now be considered fully established; nor do the arguments against intentional falsification on vespucci's part tend to prove the voyage authentic.

several coincidences between the narratives of this voyage and that of ojeda have led many writers to conclude that both describe the same expedition, the dates having been accidentally or intentionally changed. humboldt, after a careful examination, was convinced that the two voyages were identical. but when we consider that humboldt, navarrete, and irving formed their conclusions without a suspicion of a voyage to north america, and before that question had ever once arisen; that navarrete severely criticises vespucci's narrative as applied to ojeda's voyage; that two of the strongest coincidences—the mention of paria as the coast visited, and the discovery of a town built over the water like venice—have no weight in view of the new theory, since the province is called lariab in the original edition, and that method of building was not uncommon in all the tropical regions of america, it must be admitted that this argument has by itself little force against the authenticity of vespucci's voyage.

the right granted to private individuals by the spanish government in april, 1495, to make voyages of discovery at their own expense, subject to certain regulations, was partially revoked in june, 1497, after vespucci's claimed departure. all authorities agree that during this time such private voyages, or even clandestine expeditions, may have been and probably were made, of which no records have been preserved. it is argued that vespucci's voyage may have been of this number, although claimed to have been made under royal patronage, and by no means clandestine. it is even suggested that the revocation of the right of private navigation, brought about by the influence of columbus, was purposely delayed until after vespucci's departure—all of which proves, if it proves anything, simply that there was nothing to prevent vespucci from making the voyage.

we have seen how certain statements of the old chroniclers may be taken as indicative of a voyage along the central american coast previous to that of columbus. there are also similar indications in some of the early maps. thus juan de la cosa's map representing cuba as an island in 1500 (see page 115 this volume) might be accounted for by such a voyage as vespucci claims to have made. it will be seen hereafter that early maps show some slight traces of a knowledge of florida before its discovery in 1512 (pp. 128-9 this vol.) in the ruysch map of 1508 (p. 126 this vol.) the eastern coast of what seems to be cuba is identified by m. varnhagen with the main-land; in his opinion the inscription at the north point of that coast refers directly to vespucci's expedition, and 'cape s. marci' at the southern point may indicate vespucci's arrival on saint mark's day, especially as his uncle was a priest of the order of st mark. if this appears somewhat far-fetched, perhaps more weight should be attached to the name 'cape doffin de abril' on the southern point of what may be florida on the ptolemy map of 1513 (p. 130 this vol.), for at the end of april vespucci may, according to his narrative, have been at that point. on this matter of an early voyage it may be noted that columbus, striking the coast at guanaja island in 1502 in search of a passage westward, instead of following westward, as he naturally would have done, at 105 least to the head of the gulf of honduras, turned directly east. a knowledge on his part that vespucci had already explored westward and northward without finding a passage, would account for his actions. but they have already been satisfactorily accounted for by the fact that he simply proposed to sail along the sinuosities of the supposed southern coasts of asia to india, rather than to penetrate any intervening continent, whose existence he did not suspect.

conclusions concerning the voyage of vespucci.

in addition to the leading arguments for and against the voyage in question, the following minor points are urged:

it is claimed that the command of such an expedition would not have been given to a foreigner, and vespucci did not become a naturalized citizen of spain until 1505. but on the other hand, if vespucci had rendered no other service to spain than to have accompanied ojeda, he would hardly have received so many favors from the government, especially after having served four years under the king of portugal.

se?or navarrete finds a difficulty in vespucci's claim to have brought back to spain 222 slaves in the few small vessels under his command. vespucci also speaks of ferdinand as king of castile, which it was not customary to do until after isabella's death.

the high opinion held of vespucci during his life by columbus and his zealous friends is of little weight, because the admiral's claim to have discovered the supposed asiatic continent or islands adjacent thereto was undoubted; but the favorable opinions expressed by later writers, especially by fernando colon, writing after america was known to be distinct from asia, tend to prove that the florentine made in his lifetime no claim to a voyage in 1497. yet the publication and circulation of his letter in several languages, uncontradicted for years, would indicate its authenticity, unless it be taken as a sign of carelessness for dates and details so long as they were not supposed to conflict with the admiral's claims. it must also be remembered that the same voyager's second, third, and fourth expeditions have all been disputed and have at last proved authentic.

m. varnhagen applies to vespucci and his men the well-known tradition related by sahagun and others of white men who appeared at pánuco from the east before the coming of the spaniards. he also supposes guerrero, the soldier found by cortés at cozumel, and believed by other authors to have been a survivor with aguilar of valdivia's shipwreck in 1512, to have been left in yucatan by vespucci; but he gives no reason for this belief, except that guerrero had married among the natives, and had adopted many of their customs. by the same writer it is thought much more likely that cape gracias á dios was named by vespucci after a long voyage in search of land, than by columbus after following the coast a few days and taking possession; especially as columbus in his own letter simply mentions his arrival at the cape, the fact of his having given the name coming from other sources.

the events of the voyage, and the description of the coast visited by vespucci as given in his letter, furnish no evidence whatever for or against the authenticity of the expedition; but if it be admitted from outside evidence that the voyage was actually made, and was distinct from that of ojeda, while the narrative has nothing except the occurrence of the name paria in favor 106 of a south american destination, from it may be gathered the following points in support of the theory that a more northern coast was the one explored. the course sailed from the canaries, w. ? sw.; the time thirty-seven days; the distance 1,000 leagues, taking the distance from lisbon to the canaries, 280 leagues, as a scale of measurement; the latitude of the landing 16°, and longitude 75° west of the canaries; and the arrival by sailing up the coast at a province situated in about 23°, and near the tropic of cancer, are worthy of consideration, since a series of blunders such as these is hardly probable. the natives of lariab were of different language from and hostile to the nations passed further south, as the huastecs of the pánuco region are known to have been with respect to the mexicans. moreover, lariab has a slight claim to being a huastec word, since orozco y berra gives three names of places in that language containing an l and ending in ab; but of course this would interfere sadly with the theory that lariab is a misprint of caria. vespucci's description of the natives, criticised by navarrete as incorrect when applied to the people of paria, agrees better, as m. varnhagen thinks, with the aborigines of honduras. other parts of vespucci's vague and rambling descriptions apply well enough to the north american coasts, or in fact to any part of tropical america, north or south.

the application of the narrative to north america is not, however, without its difficulties. vespucci makes no mention of the antilles, through which his course must have led him; perhaps not seeing them by reason of fog; or he had instructions not to concern himself with what the admiral had already discovered. he also refers to a larger work, never published, in which details were to be given. neither does he mention the prominent peninsulas of yucatan and florida, nor the lofty mountain peaks which he would naturally have seen in following the mexican coast. he claims to have sailed north-west from pánuco 870 leagues (over dry land?) to the best harbor in the world. m. varnhagen's explanation of this difficulty is that vespucci simply states incidentally that he left pánuco "tuttavia verso il maestrale" still toward the north-west, not intending to include in this course the whole voyage of 870 leagues. all the windings of the coast and the entering and leaving of many ports or rivers must be taken into account to make up a distance of 870 leagues between pánuco and cape ca?averal; and the latter port would hardly be considered the 'best harbor in the world' except by a great stretch of the imagination, or by a navigator little acquainted with good harbors. the archipelago of ity has generally been supposed to be hayti, but there is probably no reason for the identity beyond the resemblance of names. the bermudas when discovered in 1522 were uninhabited, but this does not prove that they were always so; the spaniards may have returned and captured the people for slaves. indeed the bermudas may have been the archipelago of san bernardo, famous for its fierce carib population, but generally located off the gulf of urabá. it may even have been named by vespucci, for on san bernardo's day, the 20th of august, he was probably there.

thus have i given, and let me hope without prejudice, the arguments for and against this disputed voyage; and from the evidence the reader may draw his own conclusions. to me the proofs seem conclusive that vespucci made no voyage to south america prior to 1499, when he accompanied 107 alonso de ojeda. against a north american expedition the evidence, if less conclusive, is still very strong; since the most that can be claimed in its favor is a probability that the central american coast was visited by some navigator before 1502, and a possibility, though certainly a very slim one, that vespucci accompanied such navigation.

on this voyage see navigationum alberici vesputii epitome, in gryn?us, novus orbis, pp. 122, 155; varnhagen, le premier voyage de vespucci; id., vespuce et son prem. voy.; also in société géog., bulletin, jan. and feb., 1853; harrisse, bib. am. vet., pp. 58-68, and additions, pp. xxvii-viii.; lester and foster's life of vespucius, pp. 93-139; leben der see-helden, p. 24; navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 183-241, 291-3, 309-34; irving's columbus, vol. iii. pp. 395-418; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. v.; major's prince henry, pp. 370-5; kerr's col. voy., vol. iii. p. 342; eerste zee-togt van alonso d'ojeda, en amerikus vesputius, in gottfried, reysen, tom. iii. p. 38; cancellieri, notizie di colombo, pp. 41-7, 257.

cabot and vasco da gama.

[1497.] to continue our chronological summary. following the brilliant success of spain, england was the first nation to attempt discovery to the westward. fully acquainted with the achievements and hypotheses of columbus, having been indeed almost persuaded by him to embrace his beliefs, king henry vii. on the 5th of march, 1496, granted a license to john cabot, a venetian citizen and trader of bristol, to attempt discoveries in that direction.

either from respect for portuguese and spanish rights in the south, or from some vague hints received from the northmen during their trading voyages to iceland, or possibly from a dim idea of the advantages of great-circle sailing, the english determined to attempt reaching india by a northern route. this expedition of cabot's, with perhaps several vessels, sailed from bristol probably in may, 1497; discovered land the 24th of june on the coast of labrador between 56° and 58°; sailed some 300 leagues in a direction not known, but probably northward; and one vessel, the matthew, returned to bristol in august of the same year. no further details of the voyage are known, and those given, which are the conclusions of humboldt, kohl, and stevens, have all been disputed in respect to date, commander, and point of landing. d'avesac, as we have seen (pp. 98-9), insists on a previous voyage in 1494. biddle, memoir of sebastian cabot, london, 1831, p. 42 et seq., claims that sebastian cabot was the commander. robinson, account of discov. in the west, richmond, 1848, pp. 81-93, explains that by a change in the method of reckoning time after 1752, the date should properly read 1498. many authors moreover confound this voyage with a later one. hakluyt's voy., vol. iii. pp. 4-11; galvano's discov., pp. 87-9; viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. pp. 40-1. irving, columbus, vol. ii. p. 316, names but one voyage and regards the accounts as "vague and scanty." see also humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. pp. 279, 313; hakluyt soc., divers voy., pp. lxviii., 19-26; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 121-35; kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 48-53; stevens' notes, pp. 17-19; pinkerton's col. voy., vol. xii. p. 158; bancroft's hist. u. s., vol. i. p. 13.

the portuguese, to complete their discovery of the route to india by way 108 of the cape of good hope, sent out vasco da gama with four ships. sailing from lisbon july 8, 1497, he doubled the cape of good hope the 22d of november, passed the limit reached by dias on the 17th of december, received intelligence of prester john at several points on the eastern coast, and anchored at calicut may 20, 1498. trading somewhat, jealous of everybody, after quarrelling with arabian merchants and failing to make good his arbitrary measures, he thought best to return. accordingly he set sail the 29th of august, passed the cape march 20, 1499, and reached lisbon about the end of august. thus gama was the first to accomplish the grand object of so many efforts, and to reach india by water. his achievement would doubtless have been regarded as the most glorious on record, both to himself and to portugal, had not columbus for spain reached the same continent, as he supposed, farther east several years before. navigatione di vasco di gama, in ramusio, tom. i. fol. 130; galvano's discov., pp. 93-4; navarrete, col. de viages, tom. i. pp. xli.-ii.; major's prince henry, pp. 391-406; voyages, curious and entertaining, p. 103; leben der see-helden, p. 40; notizie di vasquez di gama, in cancellieri, notizie, p. 165.

[1498.] after the return of the cabots in august, 1497, with the news of having discovered the northern regions of cathay, king henry issued a new patent dated february 3, 1498, and, probably in may of the same year, two vessels with 300 men sailed from bristol under command of sebastian cabot. little is known of the voyage, save that he reached the coast of labrador, which he followed northward until at a certain point where the coast trends eastward he found much ice even in july. this northern limit is placed by ramusio at latitude 56°; by gomara, who states that cabot himself gives a much higher latitude, at 58°; by galvano, at above 60°. kohl follows humboldt in the opinion that it was 67° 30', which would place it on the cumberland peninsula. cabot then turned southward and sailed as near shore as possible. the southern limit of this voyage is more indefinite than the northern. in a conversation with peter martyr, prior to 1515, cabot stated that he reached the latitude of gibraltar, and the chronicler adds that he sailed so far west that he had cuba on his left. cabot's remark would place him in latitude 36°, near cape hatteras, while martyr's addition might apply to any locality on the east coast. martyr's statement is the only authority for the supposition by humboldt and others—see exam. crit., tom. i. p. 313, and preface to ghillany—that cabot reached florida. stevens, notes, pp. 17-19 and 35, considers peter martyr's remark as absurd, since it would place cabot near cincinnati. he is satisfied that the southern limit was the gulf of st lawrence, founding this belief on maps of 1500 (see p. 115 this vol.) and 1508 (p. 126 this vol.), 1514, and 1544, the latter said to have been made by cabot himself. that cabot did not reach the southern coast of the united states seems proved by the fact that he was in spain from 1513 to 1524, holding high positions, including that of piloto mayor, while that coast was actually being explored, and he making no claim to a previous discovery. the point reached, therefore, must remain undetermined between cape hatteras, where kohl fixes it, and the gulf of st lawrence, with a strong probability, as i think, in favor of the latter. nothing whatever is known of the route or date of cabot's return. and it is to be remembered that concerning this voyage we have only one contemporary document, which is a letter dated 109 in 1498, stating simply that the expedition was still absent. all additional details are from accounts written after the geography of the new world was better known in consequence of the discovery of the south sea. nothing, then, can be proved by cabot's voyages beyond the discovery of the continent in june, 1497, and the exploration of the coast from the gulf of st lawrence to above 60° in 1498. the statement of asher, life of henry hudson, london, 1860, that cabot "was the first to recognize that a new and unknown continent was lying as one vast barrier between western europe and eastern asia," accepted also by kohl, hist. discov., p. 145, appears to me utterly without foundation. cabot's complaint that a new-found land—that is a land further north and east than any part of asia described by polo—was a barrier to his reaching india, and the fact that on a map made as late as 1544, and doubtfully attributed to him, a separate continent is shown, seem weak authority for according him so important a discovery, especially when other voyagers and geographers, intimate with him and fully acquainted with his discoveries, continued for many years to join those discoveries to the asiatic continent. see, beside references on page 107, peter martyr, dec. iii. cap. vi.; gomara, hist. ind., fol. 31, 115; robertson's hist. amer., book ix.; american antiq. soc., transact., 1865, p. 25 et seq.; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 135-46, 481; stevens' notes, pp. 35, 52; kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 53-4.

third voyage of columbus.

returned from his second voyage, columbus found his popularity waning, and with it the enthusiasm for new discoveries. the voyage had not been profitable, had not been fruitful enough in gold to satisfy the adventurers who accompanied him, and the ghastly faces of the mariners more than counteracted the effect of the specimens of native products exhibited. it was difficult, therefore, to obtain men for a new enterprise. still, notwithstanding the reports of his numerous enemies, the admiral was considerately treated at court, and finally, by the efforts of the queen, six vessels were made ready, and columbus embarked from san lúcar on a third voyage may 30, 1498. this time he determined to steer farther to the south than before, in order to reach, as he supposed, the richer parts of asia. after touching at madeira, porto santo, and the canaries, he divided his fleet, sent three vessels direct to espa?ola, and with the other three reached the cape verde islands the 27th of june. thence he sailed first south-west and west through the region of tropical calms, and then northward to trinidad island, where he arrived the 31st of july. coasting the island on the south, in sight of the main-land, he entered the gulf of paria, landed, and found much gold of an inferior quality, and an abundance of pearls; from which circumstance, that land, which was the northern end of south america, was for some time thereafter known as the pearl coast. passing out by the boca del drago on the 14th of august, he followed the northern coast of paria to the island of cubagua, beginning to suspect meanwhile that the land on his left was the main-land of asia. ill health and the state of his supplies did not permit him to satisfy himself on that point at the time, and consequently he turned his course north-west for espa?ola. on the 30th of august he arrived at the mouth of the river ozema, where he met his brother bartolomé, who informed him of the internal discords and external wars of the colonists. 110 francisco roldan had refused to submit to the admiral's authority, and on the 18th of october five ships were despatched for spain with news of the rebellion. by this departure columbus sent letters and charts describing this pearl coast, as his present south american discoveries which yielded so many gems were called. during the whole year following, peace was maintained among the colonists only by the most humiliating concessions of columbus to roldan and his crew. on the 5th of september, 1499, alonso de ojeda arrived at espa?ola from the pearl coast, whither he had been to take advantage of the discoveries and misfortunes of the admiral.

vessels laden with complaints by and against columbus were despatched for spain in october; needy, ambitious courtiers held king ferdinand's willing ear against him; from his persistent advocacy of indian slave-traffic the friendship of his patron, queen isabella, grew cold; and in july, 1500, francisco de bobadilla was sent to espa?ola with powers to investigate. arrived at santo domingo august 23, the commissioner assumed at once authority, which at most was his right only after careful and conscientious inquiry, seized columbus and his brother, and in october sent them in irons to spain. colon, hist. del almirante, in barcia, tom. i. pp. 74-99; peter martyr, dec. i. cap. vi.-vii.; tercer viage de cristobal colon, in navarrete, tom. i. pp. 242-76; napione and de conti, biografia di colombo, pp. 350-75; cancellieri, notizie di colombo, pp. 99-108, where is given columbus' letter received in spain in december, 1498, but apparently not printed at the time.

during this third voyage, while about the gulf of paria, new visions of the earth's form filled the mind of the great navigator, inflamed as it was by illness and anxiety. the world was indeed for the most part spherical, as had been supposed, but in this great central region on the equator he believed the surface to rise gradually to a great height, making the earth pear-shape with the terrestrial paradise, or birth-place of man, on its apex, the waters and islands visited by him being on the borders of this elevated portion. it is not necessary to enumerate the natural phenomena, scientific writings, and scripture texts with which he confirmed his theory. in his distracted enthusiasm he leaves us somewhat uncertain as to his idea of the situation of this new region with respect to india proper and those parts of asia found by him in a former voyage farther north. if he had supposed it to be simply a southern extension of marco polo's asia, he would not subsequently have sought for a strait or passage to india to the north rather than to the south of this point. gama's successful circumnavigation of africa forbade a revival in the mind of columbus of the old theory of ptolemy, that africa extended east and north so as to enclose the indian ocean like an immense gulf. the admiral's idea, so far as he formed a definite one on the subject, must have been that of a large island, or detached portion of the asiatic continent, occupying very nearly the actual relative position of the australian archipelago, and only vaguely included, if at all, in ancient or medi?val knowledge of the far east. no other conclusion could rationally be drawn from his letters and subsequent actions; and we shall find such an idea of the geography of these parts often repeated in following years. we shall also see how unfortunate it was for the posthumous glory of the great discoverer in the matter of naming the western world, that he did not more clearly specify his idea of this 111 new land—for i believe this was the first suspicion that new lands of any considerable extent existed—and that his account of this and his fourth voyage were not more widely circulated in print.

[1499.] the discovery of the pearl coast, made known in spain in december, 1498, caused several expeditions to be sent out in the following year. these were trading and not exploring voyages, and their commanders had no thought of cosmography, caring little whether paria were the terrestrial paradise or the infernal regions, so that pearls, and gold, and slaves were abundant. no connected journals of these voyages have been preserved, our knowledge of them being derived from statements of the early historians and from testimony in the famous lawsuit with the heirs of columbus, printed in navarrete's collection.

minor expeditions.

the first was that of alonso de ojeda, who, by the influence of bishop fonseca, the admiral's most bitter enemy, obtained a commission to visit the pearl coast, avoiding, however, lands discovered by the portuguese and by columbus prior to 1495. in company with juan de la cosa and amerigo vespucci, ojeda embarked with four vessels from santa maría, near cádiz, on the 20th of may, 1499. sailing by the admiral's charts, he touched at the canaries, and after twenty-four days reached the main-land of south america between 3° and 6° north latitude—that is according to ojeda's testimony; but vespucci's account of what was probably the same voyage brings them first upon the continent further south. this is claimed by varnhagen, examen de quelques points de l'histoire géographique du brazil, paris, 1858, as the first discovery of brazil. following the coast north-west for 200 leagues without landing, but discovering the two great rivers essequebo and orinoco, they landed on trinidad island, the first inhabited coast which they touched, where they traded for pearls and found traces of the admiral who had preceded them. out through the boca del drago, following the coast of paria to the gulf of pearls, or curiana, landing on margarita island, anchoring in the bay of corsarios, they continued from port to port to chichirivichi, where they had a fight with the natives, and spent twenty days in a port near by. ojeda then visited curazao and the gulf of venezuela, where was found a town built over the water like venice. on the 24th of august he discovered lake maracaibo, and afterward followed the coast westward to cape de la vela, whence he directed his course, on the 30th of august, to espa?ola, arriving, as we have seen, september 5, 1499. he finally returned to spain in the middle of june, 1500, the voyage having yielded but a small profit. navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 4-11 and 543-5; major's prince henry, pp. 367-9; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. pp. 195, 220; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. i. p. 76.

the second minor expedition to south america was that of pedro alonso ni?o and cristóbal guerra, similar in its object to that of ojeda. a few days after ojeda's departure they sailed from palos in one vessel with thirty-three men, reaching the main-land farther north, and some fifteen days later than ojeda. they traded on the coast of cumaná for three months, their western limit being the region of chichirivichi, started for home february 13, 1500, and arrived in spain about the middle of april with a large quantity of pearls. peter martyr, dec. i. cap. viii.; gomara, hist. de las indias, fol. 98; 112 navarrete, col. de viages, tom. ii. p. 147; tom. iii. pp. 11-18, 542; irving's columbus, vol. iii. p. 37-42; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. p. 220.

the third expedition of this year was that of vicente ya?ez pinzon, who had commanded a vessel under columbus in 1492. sailing early in december, 1499, from palos with a fleet of four vessels he crossed the equator, and on the 20th of january—peter martyr says the 26th, and irving the 28th of january—discovered land in latitude 8° south, at cape st augustine, which he named santa maría de la consolacion. varnhagen, examen, pp. 19-24, entertains doubts regarding the spot where pinzon first landed, and thinks it quite as likely to have been some cape further north. from this point, wherever it may have been, pinzon followed the coast to the north, touched at various places, discovered the amazon, and in due time reached the gulf of paria. thence he sailed through the boca del drago, arrived at espa?ola on the 23d of june, and returned to spain in september, 1500. this voyage was as disastrous as the preceding one had been profitable. peter martyr states, dec. i. cap. ix., that paria was thought to be a part of asia beyond the ganges. see also de navigatione pinzoni socii admirantis, et de rebus per eum repertis, in gryn?us, novus orbis, p. 119; navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 18-23; major's prince henry, p. 369; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. pp. 313-14; tom. iii. p. 221.

here belongs amerigo vespucci's account of a second voyage made in conjunction with others in the service of the king of spain. departing in may, 1499—some editions of his letters have it 1489—from cádiz and touching at the canaries he steered south-west for nineteen days, sailing in that time 500 leagues to a point on the main-land in latitude 5° south,—from incorrect readings of the originals some editors make him say 800 leagues and latitude 8°—where the days and nights are equal on the 27th of june, at which time the sun enters cancer. thence coasting eastward forty leagues; then north-west to a beautiful island and convenient harbor; and yet eighty other leagues to a secure harbor where he remained seventeen days and gathered many pearls; thence to another port; then to an island fifteen leagues from the main-land; and again to another island, which was called gigantes, where captives were taken; then to a fine bay where the ships were refitted; and finally, after forty-seven days at this last place they sail for antilla, that is espa?ola. two months and two days are spent at antilla, whence on the 22d of july they embark for spain, and reach cádiz september 8, 1500. de secundari? navigatinis cursu, latin text and spanish translation of vespucci's letter in navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 242-62.

it has never been claimed that vespucci attempted discoveries in 1499 as chief in command. the voyage described by him is without doubt that of pinzon or ojeda, although d'avesac, in bulletin de la soc. géog., makes it identical with that of lepe. humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. pp. 200 et seq., by comparing the details decides that it was that of pinzon, and by the same method he concludes that vespucci's first voyage was that under ojeda. as the points of resemblance are slight in either case; as vespucci is known to have accompanied ojeda; as he would have been obliged to return to spain before ojeda in june, 1500, in order to sail with pinzon in december, 1499; and as vespucci describes an astronomical phenomenon which, as humboldt 113 admits, could not possibly have taken place during pinzon's voyage, i am inclined to accept the generally received opinion that ojeda's is the voyage described. "there can now be no doubt that vespucci's voyage in 1499 was identical with that of ojeda." major's prince henry, p. 370; varnhagen, exam., pp. 1-19. navarrete and irving imply that this was the only voyage made by vespucci for the crown of spain. however it may be, for the purposes of this summary the question is of little importance; for there are no disputed points of geographical import depending on the two trading voyages, one of which vespucci attempts to describe; and if there were, his account in the different forms in which it exists is so full of blunders that it could throw but little light upon the subject.

lepe, guerra, and cabral.

the fourth minor expedition of this year was that of diego de lepe, who sailed in less than a month after pinzon—that is near the end of december, 1499—with two vessels. touching main-land below cape st augustine, he observed the south-western trend of the coast below that point; but of his voyage along the shore nothing is known save that he reached the pearl coast. before the 5th of june he had returned to spain. navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 23-4, 553-5; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. pp. 314-15; tom. iv. pp. 221-2.

there are some scattered hints collected in biddle's memoir of sebastian cabot, pp. 91 et seq., of a new expedition in 1499 by the cabots, directed this time to tropical regions. they are not sufficient to render it probable that such a voyage was made, although ojeda reported that he found several englishmen cruising on the pearl coast. viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 41; kohl's hist. discov., p. 145.

[1500.] in this year cristóbal guerra made a second voyage to the pearl coast with some success, and returned to spain before november 1, 1501. navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 24-5. spain also made preparations to explore the northern lands discovered by the cabots, but without any known results. peschel, geschichte der entd., stuttgart, 1858, p. 316; navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 41-46; biddle's mem. cabot, p. 236; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 192-3. in diccionario universal, apénd., article 'viages,' p. 805, is mentioned a voyage to the pearl coast by alonso velez de mendoza in two vessels. no authorities are given.

the year following the return of gama from his successful voyage to india, pedro alvarez cabral was entrusted with the command of thirteen well-armed vessels, and sent to establish commercial relations with the new countries now made accessible to portuguese enterprise. cabral embarked from lisbon on the 9th of march, 1500; thirteen days later he left behind him the cape verde islands, pursuing a south-westerly course. whether he was driven by storms in this direction, or wished to avoid the calms of the guinea coast, or whether he entertained a hope of reaching some part of the regions recently discovered by the spaniards is not known. certain it is, however, that notwithstanding his having sailed for india, on the 22d of april—humboldt says in february—he found himself on the coast of brazil in about latitude 10° south, leaving a gap probably of some 170 leagues between this point and the southern limit of lepe and pinzon. thence he coasted southward, took formal possession of the land on the 1st of may at 114 porto seguro, and named the country vera cruz, which name soon became santa cruz. cabral immediately sent gaspar de lemos in one of the ships back to portugal with an account and map of the new discoveries. leaving two convicts with the natives of that coast, cabral continued his journey for india on the 22d of may. off the cape of good hope he lost four vessels, in one of which was bartolomeu dias, the discoverer of the cape, and reached calicut on the 13th of september. returning he met at cape verde a fleet, on board of which is supposed to have been amerigo vespucci, and arrived at lisbon july 23, 1501. navigation del capitano pedro alvares, in ramusio, tom. i. fol. 132-9; purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. i. booke ii. pp. 30-1; cancellieri, notizie di colombo, pp. 48-9; navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 45-6, 94-101; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. p. 315; tom. iv. p. 223; tom. v. pp. 53, 61.

the portuguese did not overlook the north while making their important discoveries to the south. two vessels, probably in the spring of 1500, were sent out under gaspar cortereal. no journal or chart of the voyage is now in existence, hence little is known of its object or results. still more dim is a previous voyage ascribed by cordeiro to jo?o vaz cortereal, father of gaspar, about the time of kolno, which, as kunstmann views it, "requires further proof." touching at the azores, gaspar cortereal, possibly following cabot's charts, struck the coast of newfoundland north of cape race, and sailing north discovered a land which he called terra verde, perhaps greenland, but was stopped by ice at a river which he named rio nevado, whose location is unknown. cortereal returned to lisbon before the end of 1500. cancellieri, notizie di colombo, pp. 48-9; kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 57; galvano's discov., pp. 95-6; major's prince henry, p. 374; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 166-8, 174-7. biddle, mem. cabot, pp. 137-261, thinks that cortereal landed south of cape race; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. p. 222, is of the opinion that terra verde was not greenland.

in october of this same year rodrigo de bastidas sailed from cádiz with two vessels. touching the shore of south america near isla verde, which lies between guadalupe and the main-land, he followed the coast westward to el retrete, or perhaps nombre de dios, on the isthmus of darien, in about 9° 30' north latitude. returning, he was wrecked on espa?ola toward the end of 1501, and reached cádiz in september, 1502. this being the first authentic voyage by europeans to the territory herein defined as the pacific states, such incidents as are known will be given hereafter. for references to this voyage, see oviedo, hist. gen., tom. i. p. 76; tom. ii. p. 334, where the date given is 1502; gomara, hist. ind., fol. 67, date of voyage also 1502; viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. pp. 25-8, 545-6; herrera, hist. gen., dec. i. lib. iv. cap. xi.; galvano's discov., pp. 99-100, date of voyage 1503; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. pp. 360-1; tom. iv. pp. 224; voyages, curious and ent., p. 436; churchill's col. voy., vol. viii. p. 375; harris' col. voy., vol. i. p. 270; major's prince henry, pp. 369-70; asiento que hizo con sus majestades católicas rodrigo de bastidas, in pacheco and cárdenas, col. doc. inéd., tom. ii. pp. 362-467; robertson's hist. am., vol. i. p. 159; quintana, vidas de espa?oles célebres, 'balboa,' p. 1.

earliest existing maps.

of the many manuscript maps and charts made by navigators prior to this 115 time none have been preserved. in the year 1500, however, a map of the world was made by the veteran pilot juan de la cosa, who had sailed with columbus on his second voyage, and had accompanied alonso de ojeda to the pearl coast. it is preserved in the royal library of madrid, and shows in a remarkably clear manner all discoveries up to that date. drawn in colors and gold on ox-hide, on a scale of fifteen leagues to the degree, it lays down the parallels of gibraltar and paris, beside the equator and tropic of cancer, and gives a scale at the top and bottom. stevens' notes, p. 16. humboldt first published a copy of the american portion, and the whole, or parts thereof, have been since published or described in lelewel, géog. du moyen age, tom. ii. pp. 109 et seq., atlas, no. 41; sagra, hist. physique et politique de l'?le de cuba, paris, 1838, and atlas; ghillany, geschichte, etc., pref. by humboldt; jomard, monuments de géog., atlas no. xvi., which gives a full-sized fac-simile; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 151-5, 239, plate v., being a copy of the northern part from humboldt with additions from jomard. stevens in his notes, see pp. 11-16, 33, 51, and plate i., produces a photo-lithographic copy of the western hemisphere from jomard. i give a copy of the central portions of the western hemisphere from humboldt, stevens, and kohl.

juan de la cosa's map, 1500.

the upper portion is north america, and the lower south america, between which a continuous coast line remains as yet undiscovered. 116

all the newly found regions are represented as parts of asia, and consequently names are applied only to islands and particular localities. up to this time three portions of the supposed asiatic seaboard have been explored. first, there are the discoveries of the cabots in the north, represented as extending from 'cabo de yngleterra' westward to the flag which bounds the 'sea discovered by the english.' this direct western trend of the coast, most likely laid down from cabot's charts, is one of the strongest evidences that the coast explored by cabot was the northern shore of the gulf of st lawrence. another reason for entertaining such belief is the use of the words mar descubierta por yngleses instead of mare oceanus, thus indicating that it was a sea or gulf and not the open ocean. cosa could not at the time have known the results of cortereal's voyage. on cabot's coast various points are named, but farther to the north-east and to the south-west the line is laid down indefinitely and without names, probably from marco polo. kohl puts the inscription mar descubierta, etc., farther south and west than on the original, and thinks the curve in the coast west of the last flag to be cape cod. then we have in the south the northern coast of south america quite accurately laid down from cape de la vela south-eastward to the limit of pinzon's voyage in 1499; with a nameless coast-line south-east to the locality of cape st augustine. from cape de la vela we have the same imaginary coast-line without names extending westward, as if to meet the line from the north-east; but just at the point where the lines must meet, or be separated by a strait leading to india proper, the non-committal map-maker inserted a picture—indicated by the double dotted lines—thus avoiding the expression of his opinion as to whether the pearl coast was joined to asia, or was detached from the continent. on the original map no attempt is made to show inland topography, although the copies of humboldt and kohl have some lakes and rivers. i have taken the liberty to indicate the indefinite, nameless coasts by a dotted line for greater clearness. the last of the three several explored regions shown by this map are the central islands, cuba, espa?ola, and others discovered by columbus, who was accompanied in at least one of his voyages by the author himself. in this part of the map some difficulty has arisen from the fact that cuba is represented as an island, while columbus is known to have held the opinion that it was a part of the mainland; an opinion, as before stated, which was subscribed to under oath by all his men, including juan de la cosa. on the original, the western part of cuba is cut off by green paint, the conventional sign of terra incognita, which leads stevens to infer that the pilot "did not intend to represent cuba to be an island," but that he only supposed it to be such. this, however, by no means implies that the draughtsman intended to say that cuba was not an island, but rather that he was not certain that it was an island, but only supposed it to be. it will be remembered that the natives affirmed from the first that it was an island, although so large that no one had ever reached its western extremity. this statement, together with his own observations during the voyage, probably caused juan de la cosa to afterward change the opinion to which he had perhaps hastily subscribed at the request of columbus. there can be but little doubt of the authenticity of this map, although stevens considers it has been distorted in the various copies and descriptions. 117 that the author did not himself make any later additions to it is evident from the fact that his own subsequent discoveries are not shown.

[1501.] again king henry of england issues commissions permitting private persons to make discovery at their own expense. so far as known, however, no voyage was effected under this royal encouragement, although it is not improbable that intercourse with newfoundland was continued after cabot's discovery. kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 55; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 185-7; biddle's mem. cabot, p. 228 et seq.; peschel, geschichte der entd., p. 334 et seq.

juan de nova and the cortereals.

the portuguese, more practical in their attempts, push discovery in all directions. juan de nova with four vessels sails from lisbon march 5, 1501, doubles the cape of good hope, and returning reaches lisbon september 11, 1502, having discovered ascension island on the voyage out, and st helena on the return. galvano's discov., pp. 97-8; major's prince henry, p. 413; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. p. 225; tom. v. p. 107. the cape of good hope route to india may now be declared open; voyages thither from this time cannot properly be called voyages of discovery; hence of the frequent subsequent voyages of the portuguese to india i shall make no mention except of such as in some way relate to america. for a summary of these later voyages see major's prince henry, pp. 413-18.

gaspar cortereal this year makes a second voyage to the regions of the north, sailing from belem, near lisbon, may 15, 1501, with two or three vessels, touching probably at some point in newfoundland, and coasting northward some six or seven hundred miles. he does not, however, reach the terra verde of the former voyage on account of ice. one of the vessels—kunstmann says two—returned, arriving at lisbon october 8, 1501; the other with the commander was never afterward heard from. one of the chief objects of this expedition seems to have been the capture of slaves. the name labrador is applied by cortereal to this discovery, "and is perhaps the only permanent trace of portuguese adventure within the limits of north america." bancroft's hist. u. s., vol. i. p. 16; navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. p. 44; major's prince henry, p. 374; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. p. 224; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 169-71; peschel, geschichte der entd., pp. 331 et seq.; biddle's mem. cabot, pp. 237 et seq.

the portuguese also send an expedition to prosecute the discoveries begun by cabral, who has not yet returned from india, but whose discovery of brazil has been reported by lemos. strangely enough no documents exist in the portuguese archives touching this voyage, nor is the name of its commander known, although varnhagen thinks it may have been manuel. it is known as vespucci's third voyage, and its incidents are found only in his letters. the authenticity of this as of his other voyages has been often doubted and denied, and as it is the voyage that resulted in the naming of america, it has given rise to much discussion, into which however i shall not enter. the discussion does not affect the voyage itself, nor the leading facts connected with it, the questions being whether vespucci was in command, which indeed he does not claim to have been; and above all, whether the results of the voyage entitled him to the honor of naming america, which they certainly did not, even had he commanded, from the fact that other 118 navigators had discovered both of the americas before him. navarrete, one of vespucci's most jealous enemies, admits that he visited the coast of brazil in a subordinate capacity in some portuguese expedition; and humboldt, in an essay of 115 pages, effectually defends the veracity of vespucci in his accounts of his voyages, which the distinguished commentator quotes with notes on the variations of different editions.

vespucci was induced to leave seville in order to accompany the fleet, which consisted of three vessels—some editions say ten, some fourteen—and which sailed from lisbon on the 13th of may. passing the canaries without landing, to the african coast and basilica in 14°, probably cape verde, there he remained eleven days. at this place he met cabral's fleet returning from india and learned the particulars of the voyage, including the american discoveries, of which he gives a full account in a letter written at the time under date of june 4, 1501, which is a strong proof of the veracity of his other accounts. see extracts in humboldt, exam. crit., tom. v. pp. 34-44. it is extraordinary that in the several accounts of this meeting the name of vespucci's commander is not mentioned. from cape verde the fleet sailed south-west sixty-seven days and touched the main-land the 17th of august, at a point in 5° south latitude, taking possession for the king of portugal. thence it followed the coast south-east, doubled cape st augustine, and went on in sight of land for 600 leagues to a point in 32° south—according to gomara, 40°; navarrete thinks it could not have been over 26°. having found no precious metals during a voyage of ten months, the portuguese abandoned this coast on the 13th (or 15th) of february, 1502, and after having been driven by storms far to the south-east, and discovering some land whose identity is uncertain—humboldt thinks it was an accumulation of ice, or the coast of patagonia—they reached the coast of ethiopia on the 10th of may, the azores toward the end of july, and lisbon september 7, 1502. vespucci gives full descriptions of the natives of brazil, but these descriptions, together with the numerous conflicting statements, or blunders of the various texts relating to details of the voyage, i pass over as unimportant to my purpose. that vespucci was with a portuguese fleet which in 1501-2 explored a large but ill-defined portion of the brazilian coast, there can be no doubt. gryn?us, novus orbis, pp. 122-30; ramusio, viaggi, tom. i. pp. 139-44; viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. pp. 46, 262-80; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. v. pp. 1-115; major's prince henry, pp. 375-7; galvano's discov., pp. 98-9.

[1502.] miguel cortereal sailed from lisbon may 10, 1502, in search of his brother gaspar, only to share his brother's fate. neither of his two vessels appears to have returned. viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 44; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. p. 226; major's prince henry, p. 374; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 171-2.

it is probable that portuguese fishermen continued their trips more or less to labrador and newfoundland, but if so, no accounts have been preserved. kohl's hist. discov., pp. 187-92; kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 69, 95; herrera, hist. gen., dec. ii. lib. v. cap. iii.

in january, 1502, alonso de ojeda with four vessels departed from cádiz on a second voyage to the pearl coast, with the intention of there establishing 119 a colony. accompanied by garcia de ocampo, juan de vergara, hernando de guevara, and his nephew pedro de ojeda, he touched at the canaries and cape verde islands, and reached the gulf of paria. refitting his vessels, on the 11th of march he set sail and coasted north-westward, touching at various points until he came to a port which he called santa cruz, probably bahía honda, about twenty-five miles east of cape de la vela. during the voyage along the coast the vessels were much of the time separated, following different courses. at santa cruz ojeda found a man who had been left by bastidas, and there he determined to establish his colony. a fort was built, and a vessel sent to jamaica for supplies; but the colony did not prosper. to other troubles were added dissensions among the fiery leaders, and about the end of may ojeda was imprisoned by his companions; the colony was finally abandoned, and its governor brought as a prisoner to espa?ola in september. the few disputed points of this voyage concern only the personal quarrels of ojeda and his fellow-captains. navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 28-39, 168-70, 591 et seq.; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. p. 360; tom. iv. p. 226.

fourth voyage of columbus.

on the eleventh of may, 1502, columbus embarked from cádiz on his fourth and last voyage. refitting at espa?ola, he directed his course westward, discovered terra firma at the guanaja islands, off the north coast of honduras, and sailing southward, followed the shores of the supposed asia to el retrete on the isthmus of darien, where terminated the discovery of bastidas from the opposite direction, whose chart may have been in the admiral's possession. particulars of this voyage are given hereafter. see cuarto y último viage de cristobal colon, in navarrete, tom. i. pp. 277-313; colon, hist. del almirante, in barcia, tom. i. pp. 101-18; gomara, hist. de las indias, fol. 31; peter martyr, dec. iii. cap. iv.; herrera, hist. gen., dec. i. lib. v.-vi.; benzoni, historia del mondo nvovo, venetia, 1572, fol. 28; galvano's discov., pp. 100-1; robertson's hist. am., vol. i. pp. 164-74; burke's european settlements in am., vol. i. pp. 37-45; napione and de conti, biografia colombo, pp. 379-406; laharpe, abrégé, tom. ix. p. 122; acosta, comp. histórico de la nueva granada, cap. i.; navigatio christophori colvmbi, in gryn?us, novus orbis, p. 90, and elsewhere.

since the admiral's discovery, in 1498, of the pearl coast, that is, the extreme northern shore of south america, nothing had occurred to modify his views formed at that time concerning the new regions, except to show that this southern addition of the asiatic continent was much larger than had at first been supposed. his special aim in this fourth voyage was to do what various circumstances had prevented him from doing before, namely, to sail along the eastern and southern coasts of asia to india, passing, of course, through the supposed strait between the main-land and the land of paria. it is certainly extraordinary that this idea entertained by columbus corresponded so closely with the actual conformation of the eastern asiatic coast, and its southern addition of the australian archipelago; that this conformation is so closely duplicated in the american coasts; and that the position of the admiral's hypothetical strait was almost identical with the actual narrowest part of the american continent. columbus followed the coast to the western limit of bastidas' voyage and could find no opening in the shore, 120 either because the ancient chroniclers were faulty in making no mention of this great supposed southern extension of asia, or because the strait had in some way escaped his scrutiny. he therefore abandoned the search, and gave himself up to other schemes, but he never relinquished his original idea, and died, 1506, in the belief that he had reached the coast of asia, and without the suspicion of a new continent. moreover, his belief was shared by all cosmographers and scholars of the time. peter martyr, dec. i. cap. viii.; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. i. p. 26; tom. iv. p. 188; preface to ghillany; major's prince henry, p. 420; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 140, 238-9; draper's int. develop., p. 445; stevens' notes, p. 37.

[1503.] another expedition was sent by portugal in search of the cortereals, but returned unsuccessful. kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 58; peschel, geschichte der entd., p. 334.

according to harrisse, bib. am. vet., pp. 173-4, we have "authentic deeds and depositions proving beyond doubt a french expedition to brazil as early as 1503;" in support of which he refers to de gonneville, mémoires, paris, 1663; de brosses, hist. des navigations, paris, 1756, tom. i. pp. 104-14; revista trimensal, rio de janeiro, tom. vi. p. 412-14; d'avesac, in bulletin de la soc. géog., tom. xiv. p. 172.

in 1503 the portuguese sent a third fleet of six vessels under gonzalo coelho to make farther explorations on the coast of brazil, then called santa cruz, and to sail, if possible, around its southern extremity to india, an idea that seems to have been conceived during the preceding voyage, but which could not then be carried into effect for want of supplies. vespucci commanded one of the vessels, and set out with high hopes of accomplishing great things for his country, his god, and himself. this is known as vespucci's fourth voyage. beyond the account which he gives in his letters, little is known of it except the fact that coelho made such a voyage at the time. the identity of the two expeditions has not been undisputed, but humboldt and major both show that there can be little doubt in the matter. the fleet sailed from lisbon on the 10th of june—vespucci says may—remained twelve or thirteen days at the cape verde islands, and thence sailed south-east to within sight of sierra leone. the navigators were prevented by a storm from anchoring, and so directed their course south-west for 300 leagues to a desert island in about lat. 3° south, supposed to be fernando de noronha, where coelho lost his ship on the 10th of august. vespucci's vessel was separated from the rest for eight days, but afterward joined one of them, and the two sailed south-west for seventeen days, making 300 leagues, and arriving at the bahía de todos os santos. remaining there two months and four days, they followed the coast for 260 leagues to the port now called cape frio, where they built a fort and left twenty-four men who had belonged to the vessel which had been wrecked. in this port, which by vespucci's observations was in lat. 18° south and 35° (or 57°) west of lisbon, they remained five months, exploring the interior for forty leagues; they then loaded with brazil-wood, and after a return voyage of seventy-seven days arrived in lisbon june 28 (or 18), 1504. vespucci believed the other ships of the fleet to have been lost, but after his account was written, coelho returned with two ships; nothing, however, is now known of his movements after the separation. 121 di amerigo vespucci fiorentino, in ramusio, tom, i., lettera prima, fol. 139, lettera secondo, fol. 141, sommario, fol. 141; viages de vespucio, in navarrete, tom. iii. pp. 281-90; southey's hist. brazil, vol. i. p. 20.

divers expeditions.

alfonso de alburquerque sailed from lisbon april 6, 1503, with four vessels for india; but shaping his course far to the south-west, after twenty-four (or twenty-eight) days he reached an island previously discovered by vespucci; thence he touched the main-land of brazil, after which he proceeded around the cape of good hope to india, and returned to lisbon september 16, 1504. viaggio fatto nell'india per giovanni di empoli, in ramusio, tom. i. fol. 158; purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. i. pp. 32-3. bergomas, nouissime historiar? omni?, etc., venetiis, 1503, a book of chronicles published with frequent additions to date, contains, for the first time, in this edition, a chapter on the newly found islands of columbus. in my copy, which is dated ten years later, this chapter is on folio 328. at least nine editions of the work appeared before 1540.

[1504.] soon after the return from his third voyage, vespucci wrote a letter to piero de' medici, setting forth its incidents. this letter, which bears no date, was probably written in corrupt italian, and after circulating to some extent in manuscript, as was the custom at the time, it may have been printed, but no copies are known to exist, and the original is lost. translations were made, however, into latin and german, which appeared in small pamphlet form in at least seventeen different editions before 1507, under the title of mundus novus, or its equivalent. the earliest edition which bears a date is that of 1504, but of the nine issues without date, some undoubtedly appeared before that year. it is probable that other editions have disappeared on account of their undurable form. none of vespucci's other accounts are known to have been printed before 1507.

this same year the libretto de tutta le navigazione del re di spagna is said to have been printed at venice, being the first collection of voyages, and containing, according to the few italian authors who claim to have seen it, the first three voyages of columbus and those of ni?o and pinzon. if authentic, it was the first account of the voyage of columbus to the pearl coast; but no copy is known at present to exist, and its circulation must have been small compared with vespucci's relations. humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. pp. 67-77; harrisse, bib. am. vet., nos. 22-41.

a chart made about 1504 has been preserved which shows portuguese discoveries only. in the north are laid down newfoundland and labrador under the name of 'terra de cortte reall,' and greenland with no name, but so correctly represented as to form a strong evidence that it was reached by cortereal. on the south we have the coast of brazil, to which no name is given; between the two is open sea, with no indication of spanish discoveries. kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 127-8, and munich atlas, no. iii.; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 174-7, plate viii.

with the year 1504 the fishing voyages of the bretons and normans to newfoundland are said to have begun, but there are no accounts of any particular voyage. sobre las navegaciones de los vascongados á los mares de terranova, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 176; viages menores, id., p. 46. kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 69 et seq., makes these trips begin with denys' in 1503. 122

juan de la cosa equipped and armed four vessels, and was despatched in the service of queen isabella of spain, to explore and trade in the vicinity of the gulf of urabá, and also to check rumored encroachments of the portuguese in that direction. all that is recorded of the expedition is that in 1506 the crown received 491,708 maravedís as the royal share of the profits. carta de cristobal guerra, in navarrete, tom. ii. p. 293; carta de la reina, in id., tom. iii. p. 109; real cédula, adicion, id., p. 161. stevens, in his notes, p. 33, gives the date as 1505.

[1505.] alonso de ojeda, with three vessels, made a third voyage to coquibacoa and the gulf of urabá. noticias biográficas del capitan alonso hojeda, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 169.

the letter written by columbus from jamaica july 7, 1503, describing the events of his fourth voyage, is preserved in the spanish archives. if printed, no copies are known to exist, but an italian translation appeared as copia de la lettera, venetia, 1505.

a portuguese map made about 1505 by pedro reinel shapes newfoundland more accurately than the map of 1504, being the first to give the name 'c. raso' to the south-east point; but greenland is drawn much less correctly. kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 125-7; munich atlas, no. i. plate ix. in kohl's hist. discov., pp. 177-9, differs materially from the fac-simile in the munich atlas. see also peschel, geschichte der entd., p. 332; schmeller, ueber einigen der handschriftlichen seekarten, in akademie der wissenschaften, abhandl., tom. iv. pt. i. p. 247 et seq.

[1506.] the bretons under jean denys are said to have explored the gulf of st lawrence, and to have made a map which has not been found. the reports of this and of succeeding voyages northward are exceedingly vague. charlevoix, hist. de la nouvelle france, paris, 1744, tom. i. p. 4; viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 41; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 201-5; kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 69; bancroft's hist. u. s., vol. i. p. 16.

vicente ya?ez pinzon made a second voyage with juan diaz de solis, in which he explored the gulf of honduras, from the guanaja islands, the western limit of columbus' voyage, to the islands of caria on the coast of yucatan, in search of the passage which was still believed to exist between the main continent of asia and the land known as the pearl coast, santa cruz, or, in the latin translations of vespucci, as the mundus novus, or new world. brief mention of this voyage may be found in viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 46, repeated in irving's columbus, vol. iii. p. 52; and humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. p. 228. see also reise des diaz de solis und yanez pinzon, in sammlung aller reisebeschreibungen, tom. xiii. p. 157.

tristan da cunha in a voyage to india, sailing from lisbon march 6, 1506, round cape st augustine, heard of—eut connaissance de—a rio s?o sebasti?o in the province of pernambuco, and discovered the island since called by his name, in 37° 5' south latitude, on his passage to the cape of good hope. galvano does not mention that cunha reached america.

on the 20th of may, 1506, at valladolid, died the great admiral of the western ocean, christopher columbus; whose story, notwithstanding his 123 innumerable historians, is nowhere more fully comprehended than in the simple lines which may be seen to-day upon his tomb:

"por castilla y por leon

nuevo mundo halló colon."

maffei of volterra, commentariorum urbanorum, rome, 1506, a kind of geographical encyclop?dia, contains a section on the loca nuper reperta. five editions are mentioned as having been issued in the years 1510, 1511, and 1530, all but one at paris.

m. varnhagen claims that the original mixed italian text of vespucci's first voyage was printed in florence in 1505 or 1506, and that several copies have been preserved. this is the text used by him in his defense of vespucci. see premier voy., vienna, 1869, and vespucci, son caractère, etc., lima, 1865, in which the letter is reproduced. i find no mention by any other author of such an edition.

[1507.] no voyages are mentioned in this year; but the bibliography of the year is remarkable. montalboddo (or zorzi), paesi nouamente retrouati, et nouo mondo da alberico vesputio, florentino, intitulato, vicentia, 1507, is the second collection of voyages issued, and the first of which any copies at present exist. this work is divided into six books, of which the fourth and fifth relate to america, the fourth being a reproduction of the libretto of 1504, while the fifth is the nouo mondo, or third voyage of vespucci; and its mention in the title shows how important a feature it was deemed in a work of this character. in the following year, besides a new italian edition, there appeared a german translation under the title of ruchamer, newe unbekanthe landte, nuremberg, 1508, and a latin translation, itinerari? portugall?si?, milan, 1508. at least fourteen editions in italian, latin, german, and french appeared before 1530.

the naming of america.

hylacomylus (waldsee-müller), cosmographi? introdvctio ... insuper quatuor americi vespucij nauigationes, deodate (st dié, lorraine), 1507, is the title of a work which appeared four times in the same place and year. it is the first collection of vespucci's four voyages, and generally regarded as the first edition of the first and fourth, although as we have seen m. varnhagen claims an italian edition of the first in 1506. this account of the third voyage is different from that so widely circulated before as mundus novus. three other editions of the work, or of the part relating to vespucci, appeared in 1509 and 1510. in hylacomylus the following passage occurs: "but now that those parts have been more extensively examined, and another fourth part has been discovered by americus (as will be seen in the sequel), i do not see why we should rightly refuse to name it america, namely, the land of americus or america, after its discoverer, americus, a man of sagacious mind, since both europe and asia took their names from women." here we have the origin of the name 'america.' to the northern discoveries of columbus, cabot, and cortereal, on the islands and coast of the supposed asia, no general name was given because those regions were already named india, cathay, mangi, etc., while names were applied by europeans only to particular places on the new coasts. when columbus in 1498 explored the northern coast of south america he had no doubt it was a portion, 124 though probably a detached portion, of asia, and the terms paria and the pearl coast sufficed to designate the region during the succeeding trading voyages. concerning these voyages, only a letter of columbus and a slight account of pinzon's expedition had been printed, apparently without attracting much attention. the voyages of columbus, bastidas, and pinzon along the coast of central america were almost unknown. meanwhile the fame of the great navigator had become much obscured. his enterprises on the supposed asiatic coast had been unprofitable to spain. the eyes of the world were now directed farther south. by the portuguese the coasts of brazil had been explored for a long distance, proving the great extent of this south-eastern portion of the supposed asia, whose existence was not indicated on the old charts, and which certainly required a name. these portuguese explorations and their results were known to the world almost exclusively by the letter of vespucci so often printed. to the latin translation of the letter, the name mundus novus had been applied, meaning not necessarily a new continent, but simply the newly found regions. the name 'america' suggested itself naturally, possibly through the influence of some friend who was an admirer of vespucci, to the german professor of a university in lorraine, as appropriate for the new region, and he accordingly proposed it. having proposed it, his pride and that of his friends—a clique who had great influence over the productions of the german press at that period—was involved in securing its adoption. no open opposition seems to have been made, even by the portuguese who had applied the name 'santa cruz' to the same region; still it was long before the new name replaced the old ones. in later years, when america was found to be joined to the northern continent, and all that great land to be entirely distinct from asia, the name had become too firmly fixed to be easily changed, and no effort that we know of was made to change it. later still some authors, inadvertently perhaps, attributed the first discovery to vespucci. this aroused the wrath of las casas and others, and a discussion ensued which has lasted to the present time. see list of partisans on both sides in harrisse, bib. am. vet., pp. 65-7. mu?oz and navarrete insist that vespucci was an impostor, but others, headed by humboldt, have proved conclusively that the name 'america' was adopted as the result of the somewhat strange combination of circumstances described, without any intentional wrong to columbus. this conclusion is founded chiefly on the following reasons, namely: the honor to vespucci resulted chiefly from his third voyage in 1501, and not from his first voyage in 1497, which last mentioned is the only one possible to have claimed precedence over columbus in the discovery of the continent. furthermore, neither columbus nor vespucci ever suspected that a new continent had been found; and to precede cabot in reaching asia, vespucci, even if relying on his first voyage, must have dated it somewhat earlier in 1497 than he did; while to precede columbus he must have dated it before 1492, when, as they both believed, columbus had touched asia at cuba. then, again, there is no evidence whatever that vespucci ever claimed the honor of discovery. he was on intimate terms with the admiral and his friends, and is highly spoken of by all, especially by fernando colon, who was extremely jealous in every particular which might affect his father's honor. moreover, it is certain that vespucci did not himself propose the 125 name 'america;' it is not certain that he even used the term mundus novus or its equivalent in his letters; and it is quite possible that he never even knew of his name being applied to the new world, since the name did not come into general use until many years after his death, which occurred in 1512. the most serious charge which in my opinion can be brought against vespucci is neglect—perhaps an intentional deception for the purpose of giving himself temporary prominence in the eyes of his correspondent—in failing to name the commanders under whom he sailed; and with exaggeration and carelessness in his details. but it is to be remembered that his writings were simply letters to friends describing in familiar terms the wonders of his voyages, with little care for dry dates and names, reserving particulars for a large work which he had prepared, but which has never come to light. "after all," says irving, "this is a question more of curiosity than of real moment ... about which grave men will continue to write weary volumes, until the subject acquires a fictitious importance from the mountain of controversy heaped upon it." cancellieri, notizie di colombo, pp. 41-8; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. and v., and preface to ghillany; navarrete, col. de viages, tom. i. p. cxxvi.; major's prince henry, pp. 380-8; kohl's hist. discov., p. 496; harrisse, bib. am. vet., pp. 65-6; d'avesac, martin hylacomylus, paris, 1867; mu?oz, hist. nuevo mundo, p. x.; stevens' notes, pp. 24, 35, 52 et seq.; viages de vespucio, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 183; carta del excmo. sr. vizconde de santarem, in navarrete, tom. iii. pp. 309-34. ludd, speculi orbis, strasburg, 1507, adopts waldsee-müller's suggestion so far as to speak of the 'american race,' or people, gentis americi. major, prince henry, pp. 380-8, explains the connection between this and other works of the time influenced by the st dié clique. see also stevens' notes, p. 35.

[1508.] pinzon and solis, with pedro ledesma as pilot, were sent by spain for the third time to search southward for the strait which they, as well as columbus and bastidas, had failed to find farther north and west. sailing from san lúcar june 29, 1508, they touched at the cape verde islands, proceeded to cape st augustine, and followed the coast south-west to about 40° south latitude, returning to spain in october, 1509. viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 47. kohl, die beiden ?ltesten karten von am., p. 110, joins this voyage to the preceding one of 1506.

another of the uncertain french voyages to newfoundland is reported to have taken place in 1508, under the command of thomas aubert, from dieppe. viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 41; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 203-5.

in 1508 the governor of espa?ola sent sebastian de ocampo to explore cuba. he was the first to sail round the island, thus proving it such, as juan de la cosa probably imagined it to be eight years earlier. aa, naaukeurige versameling, tom. vi. p. 1; herrera, hist. gen., dec. i. lib. vii. cap. i.; stevens' notes, p. 35.

books and maps of the period.

ptolemy, in hoc opere h?c continentvr, geographi? cl. ptolem?i, rome, 1508, is said to be the first edition of this work which contains allusions to the new world. other editions of ptolemy, prepared by different editors, with additional text and maps, and with some changes in original matter, appeared in 1511, 1512, 1513, 1519, 1520, 1522, 1525, 1532, and 1535. the edition first 126 mentioned contains, in addition to the preceding one of 1507, fourteen leaves of text and an engraved map by johann ruysch—the first ever published which includes the new world. copies have been printed by lelewel in his géog. du moyen age, atlas; by santarem, in his recherches, paris, 1842, atlas; and by humboldt, kohl, and stevens. i have taken the annexed copy from the three last mentioned authorities, omitting some of the unimportant names.

map by johann ruysch, 1508.

this map follows closely that of juan de la cosa in 1500, but illustrates more clearly the geographical idea of the time. the discoveries of cabot, whom ruysch is supposed to have accompanied, as well as those of cortereal in the north, of greenland, labrador, and newfoundland, are laid down with tolerable accuracy; and the rest of the supposed asiatic coast as in behaim's globe is taken from marco polo. in the centre we have the lands discovered by columbus, and the old fabulous island of antilia restored. to 'spagnola' (espa?ola) is joined an inscription stating the compiler's belief that it was identical with zipangu, or japan. western cuba is cut off by a scroll, instead of by green paint as in the map of juan de la cosa, with an inscription to the effect that this was the limit of spanish exploration. ruysch, having as yet no knowledge of ocampo's voyage performed during this same year, evidently entertained the same idea respecting cuba that was held by juan de la cosa, but did not venture to proclaim it an island. in the south, the new world is shown under the name 'terra sanct? crucis sive mvndvs novvs.' an open sea separates the new world from asia, showing that ruysch did not know of the unsuccessful search for this passage by columbus, bastidas, and pinzon. it is worthy of remark that the name america is not used by this countryman of hylacomylus. humboldt thinks that he had not seen the cosmographi? introdvctio, but had read some other edition of vespucci's third 127 voyage. exam. crit., tom. ii. pp. 5, 9; tom. iv. p. 121, and preface to ghillany. see also kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 136-7; harrisse, bib. am. vet., pp. 107-8; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 156-8; stevens' notes, pp. 31-2.

occupation of tierra firme.

[1509.] stimulated by the admiral's gold discoveries at veragua, which had been corroborated by subsequent voyages. king ferdinand of spain determined to establish colonies on that coast. the region known as tierra firme was to that end divided into two provinces, of which alonso de ojeda was appointed governor of one, and diego de nicuesa of the other. ojeda sailed from espa?ola november 10, 1509, and nicuesa soon followed. their adventures form an important part of early central american history, and are fully related in the following chapters. during the succeeding years frequent voyages were made back and forth between the new colonies, jamaica, cuba, and espa?ola, which are for the most part omitted here as not constituting new discoveries. peter martyr, dec. ii. cap. i.; gomara, hist. ind., fols. 67-9; galvano's discov., p. 109-10; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. ii. pp. 421-8; herrera, hist. gen., dec. i. cap. vii. lib. vii. et seq.

the globus mundi, strasburg, 1509, an anonymous work, was the first to apply the name america to the southern continent. humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. p. 142; major's prince henry, p. 387.

peter martyr's map, 1511.

[1511.] juan de agramonte received a commission from the spanish government, and made arrangements to sail to newfoundland and the lands of the north-western ocean, but nothing further is known of the matter. viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 42; sobrecarta de la reina do?a juana, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 122. p. martyris, anglimediolanensis opera, seville, 1511, is the first edition of peter martyr's first decade; containing in ten letters, or books, accounts of the first three voyages of columbus, certain 128 expeditions to the pearl coast, and closing with a brief mention of the admiral's fourth voyage. the learned author was personally acquainted with columbus, and his relations are consequently of great value. this work contains a map, of which i give a copy from stevens, the only fac-simile i have seen.

the map shows only spanish discoveries, but it is by far the most accurate yet made. cuba, now proved to be an island, is so laid down. no name is given to the mundus novus, which, by a knowledge of the spanish voyages, is made to extend much farther north and west than in ruysch's map; but above the known coasts a place is left open where the passage to india it was believed might yet be found. the representation of a country, corresponding with florida, to the north of cuba, under the name of 'isla de beimini,' may indicate that florida had been reached either by ocampo in 1508, by some private adventurer, as diego miruelo, who is said to have preceded ponce de leon, or, as is claimed by some, by vespucci in his pretended voyage of 1497; but more probably this region was laid down from the older maps—see behaim's map, p. 93—and the name was applied in accordance with the reports among the natives of a wonderful country or island, which they called bimini, situated in that direction. the map is not large enough to show exactly the relation which peter martyr supposed to exist between these regions and the rest of the world, but the text of the first decade leaves no doubt that he still believed them to be parts of asia.

the ptolemy of 1511 has a map which i have not seen, but which from certain descriptions resembles that of ruysch, except that it represents terra corterealis as an island separated from the supposed asiatic coast; the name sanct? crucis for south america being still retained. as long as the new lands were believed to be a part of asia, the maps bore some resemblance to the actual countries intended to be represented, but from the first dawning of an idea of separate lands we shall see the greatest confusion in the efforts of map-makers to depict the new world. harrisse, bib. am. vet., no. 68; kunstmann, entdeckung am., 133; kohl, die beiden ?ltesten karten von am., p. 33. a copy of this map was published in lelewel's atlas.

[1512.] the west india islands, in which the spaniards are at length firmly established, become now the point of new departures. conquerors and discoverers henceforth for the most part sail from espa?ola or cuba rather than from spain. juan ponce de leon, a wealthy citizen who had been governor of puerto rico, fitted out three vessels at his own expense, and sailed in search of a fountain, which according to the traditions of the natives had the property of restoring youth, and which was situated in the land called bimini far to the north. this infatuation had been current in the islands for several years, and, as we have seen, the name was applied to such a land on peter martyr's map of 1511. sailing from puerto rico march 3, 1512, ponce de leon followed the northern coast of espa?ola, and thence north-west through the bahamas, reaching san salvador on the 14th of march. thirteen days thereafter he saw the coast of florida, so named by him from the day of discovery, which was pascua florida, or easter-day. the native name of the land was cautio. on the 2d of april the spaniards landed in 30° 8', and took possession for the king of spain; then following the 129 coast southward they doubled cape corrientes (ca?averal) may 8, and advanced to an undetermined point on the southern or eastern coast, which kohl thinks may have been charlotte bay. all this while they believed the country to be an island. on the 14th of june ponce de leon departed from florida, and on his return touched at the tortugas, at the lucayos, at bahama, and at san salvador, arriving at puerto rico the 21st of september. he left behind one vessel under juan perez de ortubia, who arrived a few days later with the news of having found bimini, but no fountain of youth. reise des ponce de leon, und entdeckung von florida, in sammlung aller reisebesch., tom. xiii. p. 188; viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. pp. 50-3: real cédula dando facultad á francisco de garay, in navarrete, tom. iii. p. 148; uitvoerlyke scheepstogt door den dapperen jean ponze de leon gedaan naar florida, in gottfried, tom, iii.; gomara, hist. ind., fols. 50-2; galvano's discov., p. 123. kohl places the voyage in 1513, relying on peschel, who, he says, has proved the year 1512 to be an impossible date.

in 1512 the regidor valdivia was sent by the colonists from the gulf of darien, then called urabá, to espa?ola for supplies. being wrecked in a violent tempest, he escaped in boats to the coast of yucatan, where he and his companions were made captives by the natives. some were sacrificed to the gods, and then eaten; only two, gonzalo guerrero and gerónimo de aguilar, survived their many hardships, the latter being rescued by cortés in 1519. torquemada, monarq. ind., tom. i. pp. 368-72; gomara, hist. mex., fol. 21-2; herrera, hist. gen., dec. ii. lib. iv. cap. vii.; cogolludo, hist. yucathan, pp. 24-9.

the very rare map in stobnicza's ptolemy, cracovi?, 1512, i have not seen. it is said to show the new world as a continuous coast from 50° north latitude to 40° south. neither in the text nor in the map is found the name america.

discovery of the pacific ocean.

[1513.] in september, 1513, vasco nu?ez de balboa set out from the settlement of antigua on the gulf of urabá, and crossing the narrow isthmus which joins the two americas, discovered a vast ocean to the southward on the other side of the supposed asia. the isthmus here runs east and west, and on either side, to the north and to the south are great oceans, which for a long time were called the north sea and the south sea. after exploring the neighboring coasts he returned to antigua in january, 1514, after an absence of four months. galvano's discov., pp. 123-5; peter martyr, dec. iii. cap. i.; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. iii. pp. 9-17; andagoya's narrative, p. 7; carta del adelantado vasco nu?ez de balboa, in pacheco and cárdenas, col. doc. inéd., tom. ii. p. 526.

the ptolemy of 1513 has a map which is said to have been made by hylacomylus as early as 1508, but concerning which there seems to be much uncertainty. i give a copy from the fac-simile of stevens and varnhagen.

the name cuba does not appear, and in its place is isabela. many of the names given by other maps to points on the coast of cuba are transferred to the main-land opposite. the compiler evidently was undecided whether cuba was a part of the asiatic main or not, and therefore represented it in both ways. the coast line must be regarded as imaginary or taken from the old charts, unless, as m. varnhagen thinks, vespucci actually sailed along 130 the florida coast in 1497. this map if made in 1508 may be regarded as the first to join the southern continent, or mundus novus, to the main-land of asia. this southern land is called 'terra incognita,' with an inscription stating expressly that it was discovered by columbus, notwithstanding the fact that its supposed author proposed the name america in honor of vespucci only the year before. in fact the map is in many respects incoherent, and is mentioned by most writers but vaguely. harrisse, bib. am. vet., no. 74; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. iv. pp. 109 et seq., and preface to ghillany; kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 130-2; kohl, die beiden ?ltesten karten von am., p. 33; varnhagen, nouvelles recherches, vienna, 1869, p. 56; stevens' notes, pl. ii. no. i. pp. 13, 14, 51; major's prince henry, pp. 385-6; santarem, in bulletin de la soc. géog., may, 1847, pp. 318-23.

map from ptolemy, 1513.

the name america is thought by major to occur first on a manuscript map by leonardo da vinci, in the queen's collection at windsor, to which he ascribes the date of 1513 or 1514.

[1514.] pedrarias dávila, having been appointed governor of castilla del oro, by which name the region about the isthmus of darien was now called, sailed from san lúcar with an armada of fifteen vessels and over 2000 men, april 12, 1514. the special object of this expedition was to discover and 131 settle the shores of the south sea, whose existence had been reported in spain, but whose discovery by vasco nu?ez de balboa was not known before the departure of pedrarias. herrera, dec. i. lib. x. cap. xiii.; peter martyr, dec. ii. cap. vii.; dec. iii. cap. v.; galvano's discov., p. 125; quintana, vidas de espa?oles célebres, 'balboa,' p. 28; robertson's hist. am., vol. i. p. 207. see chapter x. of this volume.

[1515.] juan diaz de solis sailed from lepe october 8, 1515, with three vessels, and surveyed the eastern coast of south america from cape san roque to rio janeiro, where he was killed by the natives. navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 48-50. three vessels were fitted out at seville, well manned and armed for a cruise against the caribs, under command of juan ponce de leon, but the spaniards were defeated in their first encounter with the savages at guadalupe, and the expedition was practically abandoned.

gradual enlargement of the two americas.

the adventures of badajoz, mercado, morales, and others in 1515-16 and the following years, by which the geography of the isthmus was more fully determined, are given elsewhere.

sch?ner, luculentissima qu?d? terr? totius descriptio, nuremberg, 1515, and another edition of the same work under the title orbis typvs, same place and date, have a chapter on america 'discovered by vespucci in 1497.' in reisch, margaritha philosophica, strasburg, 1515, an encyclopedia frequently republished, is a map which is almost an exact copy of that in the ptolemy of 1513, except in its names. the main-land to the north-west of cuba is called zoana mela, but the names of certain localities along the coast are omitted. both cuba and espa?ola are called isabela, and the southern continent is laid down as 'paria seu prisilia.' harrisse, bib. am. vet., nos. 80-2; kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 130-1; kohl, die beiden ?ltesten karten von am., p. 33; stevens' notes, p. 52; fac-simile, pl. iv. no. 2.

[1516.] after ponce de leon's voyage in 1512 or 1513, and probably before that time, trips were made by private adventurers northward from espa?ola and cuba to the islands and to florida. among these is that of diego de miruelo in 1516, who probably visited the western or gulf coast of florida, and brought back specimens of gold. no details are known of the expedition. garcilaso de la vega, la florida del inca, madrid, 1723, p. 5.

lettera di amerigo vespucci, florence, 1516, the second collection of the four voyages; peter martyr, ioannes ruffus, de orbe decades, alcala, 1516, the first edition of three decades; and giustiniani, psalterium, genoa, 1516, which appends a life of columbus to the nineteenth psalm, are among the new books of the year.

[1517.] eden, in his dedication of an english translation of munster's cosmography, in 1553, speaks of certain ships "furnished and set forth" in 1517 under sebastian cabot and sir thomas pert; but so faint was the heart of the baronet that the voyage "toke none effect." on this authority some authors have ascribed a voyage to cabot in 1517, to regions concerning which they do not agree. an expedition whose destination and results are unknown, can have had little effect on geographical knowledge; and kohl, after a full discussion of the subject, seems to have proved against biddle, its chief supporter, that there is not sufficient evidence of such a voyage. navigatione di sebastiano cabota, in ramusio, tom. ii. fol. 212; kunstmann, entdeckung am., 132 pp. 54-5; roux de rochelle, in bulletin, soc. géog., apr. 1832, p. 209; peter martyr, dec. iii. cap. vi.

francisco hernandez de córdoba, with three vessels and 110 men, sailed from la habana february 8, 1517, sent by the governor of cuba to make explorations toward the west. touching at cape catoche, in yucatan, he coasted the peninsula in fifteen days to campeche, and six days later reached potonchan, or champoton, where a battle was fought with the natives, and the spaniards defeated. accounts indicate that the explorers were not unanimous in supposing yucatan to be an island, as it was afterward represented on some maps. failing to procure a supply of water in the slough of lagartos, córdoba sailed across the gulf to florida, and thence returned to cuba, where he died in ten days from his wounds. i find nothing to show what part of florida he touched. torquemada, monarq. ind., tom. i. pp. 349-51; peter martyr, dec. iv. cap. i.; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. i. pp. 497-8; galvano's discov., pp. 130-1; gomara, conq. mex., fol. 8-9; herrera, hist. gen., dec. ii. lib. ii. cap. xvii.; cogolludo, hist. yucathan, pp. 3-8; prescott's mex., vol. i. pp. 222-24; viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. pp. 53-5; west-indische spieghel, p. 188; icazbalceta, col. doc., tom. i. pp. 338-41.

[1518.] the following year juan de grijalva was sent from cuba to carry on the explorations begun by córdoba. grijalva sailed from santiago de cuba april 8, 1518, with four vessels, reached the island of santa cruz (cozumel) on the 3d of may, took possession on the 6th of may, and shortly after entered ascension bay. from this point he coasted yucatan 270 leagues, by his estimate, to puerto deseado, entered and named the rio de grijalva (tabasco), and took possession of the country in the vicinity of vera cruz about the 19th of june. advancing up the coast to cabo rojo, he turned about and entered rio tonalá, engaged in a parting fight at champoton, followed the coast for several weeks, and then turned for cuba, arriving at matanzas about the 1st of november. during his absence, cristóbal de olid had coasted a large part of yucatan in search of grijalva's fleet. peter martyr, dec. iv. cap. iii.-iv.; torquemada, monarq. ind., tom. i. pp. 351-8, oviedo, hist. gen., tom. i. pp. 502-37; gomara, conq. mex., fol. 8-11, 56-8; herrera, hist. gen., dec. ii. lib. iii. cap. i. ix.; robertson's hist. am., vol. i. pp. 240-4; brasseur de bourbourg, hist. nat. civ., tom. iv. pp. 40-50; cogolludo, hist. yucathan, pp. 8-16; diaz, itinéraire, in ternaux-compans, voy., série i. tom. x. pp. 1-47; viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. pp. 53-64; alaman, disertaciones, tom. i. pp. 45-8; reise des johann grijalva und allererste entdeckung neuspaniens, in sammlung, tom. xiii. p. 258; itinerario de juan de grijalva, in icazbalceta, col. doc., tom. i. p. 281.

i may here remark that such manuscript maps, made generally by pilots for government use, as have been preserved are, as might be expected, far superior to those published in geographical works of the period. i give a copy of a portuguese chart preserved in the royal academy at munich.

from the fact that yucatan is represented as a peninsula, though not named, while the discoveries of grijalva and cortés are not shown, the date of 1518 may be ascribed to the map. stevens believes it to have been made some time about 1514; kohl about 1520; kunstmann some time after 1511. unexplored coasts are left out instead of being laid down from old asiatic 133 maps; as for example the united states coast from newfoundland (bacalnaos) to florida (bimini), and the gulf coast from florida to yucatan. in the central region the names 'terram antipodum' and 'antilhas de castela' are used without any means of deciding to exactly what parts they are to be applied. the south sea discovered by balboa in 1513 is here shown for the first time with the inscription 'mar visto pelos castelhanus.' to south america the name 'brasill' is given. the presence of two mahometan flags in locations corresponding to honduras and venezuela, shows that the compiler still had no doubt that he was mapping parts of asia. kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 129 et seq.; munich atlas, no. iv., from which i take my copy; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 179-82, pl. x.; stevens' notes, pp. 17, 53, pl. v. pomponius mela's libri de situ orbis, vienna, 1518, contains a commentary by vadianus, written however in 1512, in which the name america is used in speaking of the new world. other editions appeared in 1522 and 1530.

map in munich atlas, supposed to have been drawn about 1518.

[1519.] stobnicza's ptolemy of 1519 alludes to the new world discovered by vespucci and named after him.

enciso, suma de geografia, seville, 1519, is the first spanish work known which treats of the new regions. the author was a companion of ojeda in his unfortunate attempt to found a colony on tierra firme. another edition appeared in 1530.

conquest of mexico.

on february 18, 1519, hernan cortés set sail from cuba to undertake 134 the conquest of the countries discovered by córdoba and grijalva. after spending some time on the island of cozumel, where he rescued gerónimo de aguilar from his long captivity (see p. 129), he followed the coast to rio de grijalva, where he defeated the natives in battle, and took possession of the land in the name of the catholic sovereigns. from this place he continued his voyage sailing near the shore to vera cruz, where he landed his forces and began the conquest of montezuma's empire, the history of which forms part of a subsequent volume of this series.

francisco de garay, governor of jamaica, prompted by the reports of ponce de leon, córdoba, and grijalva, despatched four vessels in 1519, under alonso alvarez pineda, who sailed northward to a point on the pánuco coast (where, according to gomara, an expedition had been sent during the preceding year, under camargo). prevented by winds and shoals from coasting northward as he desired, he sailed along in sight of the low gulf shores until he reached vera cruz, where he found the fleet of cortés. troubles between the commanders arose from this meeting which will be narrated hereafter.

garay continued for some time his attempts to found a settlement in the region of pánuco, but without success. peter martyr, dec. v. cap. i.; gomara, hist. ind., fol. 55-6; west-indische spieghel, p. 202; gomara, hist. conq., fol. 222-7; viages menores, in navarrete, tom. iii. pp. 64-7; kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 73.

soon after landing at vera cruz cortés despatched for spain a vessel under the pilot antonio de alaminos, with messengers who were to clear up before the king certain irregularities which the determined conqueror had felt obliged to commit, and furthermore to establish his authority upon a more defined basis. alaminos sailed july 16, 1519, following a new route north of cuba, through the bahama channel, and down the gulf stream, of which current he was probably the first to take advantage. touching at cuba and discovering terceira he reached spain in october. diaz del castillo, hist. verdadera de la conqvista, madrid, 1632, fol. 37-9; herrera, hist. gen., dec. ii. lib. v. cap. xiv.; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 243-5.

the history of the darien colonies is elsewhere recounted in this volume, and the introduction here of the numerous land and water expeditions on and along the isthmus would be confusing and unprofitable. suffice it to say that in 1519 the city of panamá was founded, and a second expedition sent under gaspar de espinosa up the south sea coast. the northern limit reached was the gulf of san lúcar (nicoya), latitude 10° north, in nicaragua, and the expedition returned to panamá by land from burica. andagoya's narrative of the proceedings of pedrarias dávila, london, 1865, pp. 23-4; kohl, die beiden ?ltesten karten von am., p. 162; oviedo, hist gen., tom. iii. p. 61 et seq.

we have seen several unsuccessful attempts by both spaniards and portuguese to find a passage to india by the southern parts of brazil, santa cruz, or america. in 1519 a native of oporto, fernando de magalhaens, called by spaniards magallanes, and by english authors magellan, after having made several voyages for portugal to india via good hope, quit the portuguese service dissatisfied, entered the service of spain, and undertook the oft-repeated attempt of reaching the east by sailing west. his particular destination 135 was the moluccas, which the spaniards claimed as lying within the hemisphere granted to them by the treaty of tordesillas in 1494. it appears that magellan had seen some map, of unknown origin, on which was represented a strait instead of an open sea at the southern point of america—probably the conjecture of some geographer, for, says humboldt, "dans le moyen age les conjectures étaient inscrits religieusement sur les cartes." see exam. crit., tom. i. pp. 306, 326, 354; tom. ii. pp. 17-26. sailing from san lúcar september 20, 1519, with five ships and 265 men, he reached rio de janeiro on the coast of brazil on the 13th of december, and from that point coasted southward. an attempt to pass through the continent by the rio de la plata failed, and on march 31, 1520, the fleet reached port st julian in about 49° south, where it remained five months until the 24th of august. on the 21st of october magellan arrived at cabo de las vírgenes and the entrance to what seemed, and indeed proved, to be the long-desired strait. having lost one vessel on the eastern coast, and being deserted by another which turned back and sailed for spain after having entered the strait, with the remaining three he passed on, naming the land on the south tierra del fuego, from the fires seen burning there. emerging from the strait, which he called vitoria after one of his ships, on the 27th of november he entered and named the pacific ocean. then steering north-west for warmer climes he crossed the line february 13, 1521, arrived at the ladrones on the 6th of march, and at the philippines on the 16th of march. this bold navigator, "second only to columbus in the history of nautical exploration," was killed on the 27th of april, in a battle with the natives of one of these islands; the remainder of the force, consisting of 115 men under caraballo, proceeded on their way, touching at borneo and other islands, and anchoring on the 8th of november at the moluccas, their destination. from this point one of the vessels, the vitoria, in command of sebastian del cano, sailed round the cape of good hope, and reached san lúcar september 6, 1522, with only eighteen survivors of the 265 who had sailed with magellan. thus was accomplished the first circumnavigation of the globe.

the naming of the pacific ocean.

as to the circumstances attending the naming of the pacific ocean, a few words may not be out of place. magellan was accompanied by one antonio pigafetta, of vicenza, afterward caviliere di rhodi, who wrote in bad italian a narrative of the voyage, which was rewritten and translated into french, primer voyage autour du monde, par le chevallier pigafetta, sur l'escadre de magellan pendant les années 1519, 20, 21, et 22, by charles amoretti. "le mercredi, 28 novembre," says pigafetta, liv. ii. p. 50, "nous débouquames du détroit pour entrer dans la grande mer, à laquelle nous donnames ensuite le nom de mer pacifique; dans laquelle nous naviguames pendant le cours de trois mois et vingt jours, sans go?ter d'aucune nourriture fraiche." and again, p. 52, "pendant cet espace de trois mois et vingt jours nous parcour?mes à peu près quatre mille lieues dans cette mer que nous appelames pacifique, parce que durant tout le temps de notre traversée nous n'essuyames pas le moindre tempête;" or, as ramusio, viaggio atorno il mondo fatto et descritto per m. antonio pigafetta, in viaggi, tom. iii. fol. 393, puts it, "et in questi tre mesi, & venti giorni fecero quattro mila leghe in vn golfo per questo mar 136 pacifico, il qual ben si puó chiamar pacifico, perche in tutto questo tempo senza veder mai terra alcuna, non hebbero né fortuna di vento, né di altra tempesta." peter martyr, dec. v. cap. vii., speaks of it only as "the huge ocean" first found by vasco nu?ez, and then called the south sea. galvano, discov., p. 142, alludes to it as a "mightie sea called pacificum." oviedo, hist. gen., tom. ii. p. 22, merely remarks: "es aquel estrecho en algunas partes mas ó menos de media legua, y ?ircundado de monta?as altissimas cargadas de nieve, y corre en otra mar que le puso nombre el capitan fernando de magallanes, el mar pacífico; y es muy profundo, y en algunas partes de veynte é ?inco hasta en treynta bra?as." gomara, hist. ind., fol. 120, says, "no cabia de gozo por auer hallado aq?l passo para el otro mar del sur, por do p?sava llegar presto alas yslas del maluco," without any mention of the word pacific. the sammlung aller reisebeschreibungen, tom. xi. p. 346, gives it essentially the same as pigafetta: "in einer zeit von drey monaten und zwanzig tagen, legete er viertausend meilen in einer see zurück, welche er das friedfertige oder stille meer nannte; weil er keinen sturm auf demselben ausstund, und kein anderes land sah, als diese beyden inseln." kohl, die beiden ?ltesten karten von am., p. 161, is unable to find the name on the old maps: "der name 'oceano pacifico,' der auch schon auf den reisen des magellan und loaysa in schwung kam, steht nirgends auf unseren karten." herrera, dec. ii. lib. ix. cap. xv., describes the exit from the strait in the language following: "a veynte y siete de noui?bre, salio al espacioso mar del sur, dando infinitas gracias a dios." navarrete, viages al maluco; primero el de hernando de magallanes, in tom. iv. pp. 49-50, of his collection says: "salió pues magallanes del estrecho que nombraron de todos los santos el dia 27 de noviembre de 1520 con las tres naos trinidad, victoria, y concepcion, y se halló en una mar oscura y gruesa que era indicio de gran golfo; pero despues le nombraron mar pacífico, porque en todo el tiempo que navegaron por él, no tuvieron tempestad alguna." happening thus, that in this first circumnavigation of the globe, as the strangers entered at its southern end the south sea of vasco nu?ez, the waters greeted them kindly, in return they gave them a peaceful title; other voyagers entering this same sea at other times gave to it a far different character. for further reference see voyage de fernando de magelhaens, in berenger, col. voy., tom. i. pp. 1-26; aa, naaukeurige versameling, tom. ix. pt. ii. p. 7; purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. i. pt. ii. pp. 33-46.

maps and books.

a manuscript map supposed to have been made by maiollo in 1519, of which a fac-simile is given in the munich atlas, no. v., shows the islands and main-land from yucatan south and east, closely resembling, except in names of localities, the map of 1518 (see page 133). the eastern part of brazil is called 'sante crucis,' and on the pearl coast is an inscription to the effect that it was discovered by columbus. kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 135-6; schmeller, in abhandl. akademie der wissensch., tom. iv. pt. i. p. 253.

[1520.] an anonymous pamphlet without date, copia der newen zeytung, is a translation of a letter describing a voyage of two thousand miles along the brazilian coast. harrisse places it under date of 1520, and thinks it may furnish grounds for the belief that magellan was not the first to reach the strait. varnhagen, hist. brazil, madrid, 1854, maintains that the voyage 137 described was under solis and pinzon in 1508. humboldt, exam. crit., tom. v. p. 249, applies the description to some later voyage made between 1525 and 1540.

to varthema, itinerario nello egitto, venetia (supposed to be 1520), is joined an account of grijalva's voyage to yucatan in 1518 (see page 132), translated from the original diary of juan diaz, chaplain of the expedition. other editions appeared in 1522-26-35. discorso sopra lo itinerario di lodouico barthema, in ramusio, tom. i. fol. 160. the itinerary of diaz is not given by ramusio. provinci? sive regiones in india occidentali, valladolid, 1520, is a latin translation of an account, by an unknown author, of the conquest of cuba by diego velazquez. pigghe, de ?quinoctiorum sol, etc., paris, supposed to have been printed in 1520, has a passage on the lands discovered by vespucci. a new interlude, london, 1519 or 1520, has a verse in which the name america is used.

a globe made by john sch?ner in 1520 is preserved in nuremberg, and copies have been given by ghillany, lelewel, and kohl, of which i give a reduction.

sch?ner's globe, 1520.

this is the first drawing to represent all the regions of the new world as distinct, although not distant, from the asiatic coast, which is laid down mostly as in behaim's globe, with some imaginary additions round the north pole. this separation was undoubtedly a mere conjecture of the compiler, for the voyage of magellan, which might have suggested such an idea, was 138 not yet known or even consummated, and the map shows no knowledge of the later voyages even to the eastern coast. all the northern discoveries are given as an island, 'terra corterealis.' the central and southern parts—except their separation from asia—are accurately copied from the map of ptolemy, 1513 (see page 130), although a strait leads through the isthmus into the south sea. 'terra de cuba' is the name applied to the northern part of what may be regarded as the nucleus which afterward grew into north america, while the southern part is called paria. several names of localities on the coast, as 'c. dellicontis' and 'c. bonaventura,' are retained from the map of 1513, although kohl erroneously calls all the names new and original. to the southern continent various names are applied, as america, brazil, paria (repeated), land of cannibals and of parrots. on the original is an antarctic region round the south pole, called 'brasili? regio,' and separated from america in lat. 42° south by a strait, although the discovery of such a strait could not at the time have been known. humboldt, exam. crit., tom. ii. p. 28. several globes of about this date preserved in germany are said to agree with this of sch?ner's in their general features. kohl's hist. discov., pp. 153-63, pl. vii., and beiden ?ltesten karten von am., p. 33; harrisse, bib. am. vet., p. 141.

in the solinus-camers, enarrationes, vienna, 1520, was published a woodcut map, the first to give the name america. the map was made by petrus apianus, and afterward used by him in his cosmography. according to various descriptions it agrees very nearly with sch?ner's globe except in the extreme north, where engronelant is represented very much as in the map of the zeni in 1400 (see page 82). kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 134-5; kohl, beiden ?ltesten karten von am., p. 33; harrisse, bib. am. vet., pp. 184, 192.

cortés with his second letter dated october 30, 1520, sent to spain a map of the gulf of mexico, which was printed in 1524. the map is valuable only for its list of names along the whole extent of the gulf coast, and it is therefore unnecessary to reproduce it here. yucatan seems to be represented as an island. stevens' notes, pp. 38, 53, pl. iv. no. vii.

in 1520 lucas vazquez de aillon and other wealthy citizens of espa?ola sent two vessels, probably under one jordan, to the lucayos islands for slaves. not succeeding according to their expectations in the islands, the spaniards directed their course northward toward the country discovered by ponce de leon in 1513, and finally touched the coast in about 32° or 33°—port royal according to navarrete; stevens says cape fear—a region probably never before visited. they called the country chicora, and the place of landing was named cabo de santa elena and rio jordan. they made no explorations in any direction. one vessel and nearly all the slaves were lost on the return. navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 69-71; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 245-8; stevens' notes, p. 48.

pánfilo de narvaez sailed from cuba in 1520 with a large force to dispossess cortés, who had declared himself independent of his chief velazquez; but after many reverses his forces went over to his opponent. gomara, hist. ind., fol. 52-5; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. i. p. 540; torquemada, monarq. ind., tom. i. p. 474.

south sea discoveries.

the conquest of mexico once accomplished, hernan cortés very soon 139 turned his attention to the south sea coasts. hearing from natives that the pacific extended as far north as the land he had conquered, he sent small parties to explore and take possession, which they did at two points, tehuantepec and zacatula, before the end of 1521. cortés was fully acquainted with the cosmographic theories of the time, and was enthusiastic in their application to the discovery of islands and main, rich in spices and precious metals. it was now established in a general way, as shown by the best maps, that the newly discovered lands were not the main asiatic continent of marco polo, but a great south-eastern projection of that continent, probably separated from it by a strait. cortés' idea was to sail down the coast as he termed it, northward at first, until he should either reach the rich indian lands, or on the way find the strait which should afford a short cut from spain to those lands. his efforts will be briefly noticed here in chronologic order, but fully presented in another part of my work. the best and almost only authority is cortés, cartas.

[1521.] juan ponce de leon, learning from other voyagers that the land of florida discovered by him was not, as he had believed it to be, an island, fitted out an expedition in puerto rico and sailed to repeat in florida the glorious achievements of cortés in new spain. he reached the west coast of the peninsula, but was killed by the natives soon after landing, and his men returned without having accomplished their object.

peter martyr, de nvper svb d. carolo repertis insulis, basili?, 1521, is the first edition of a part of the fourth decade.

[1522.] pomponius mela, de orbis sitv, basili?, 1522, reproduced apianus' map of 1520 (see page 137), also kohl, beiden ?ltesten karten, p. 33. the ptolemy of this year, edited by frisius, contains two maps resembling in their general appearance the ptolemy map of 1513, and showing but little advance in geographical knowledge. these maps are also in the edition of 1525. asher's catalogue, no. civ., berlin, 1873. translationus hispanischer, etc., n.p., n.d., has a slight notice of the city of mexico. ein sch?ne newe zeytung, augsburg (1522), notices the voyages of columbus and the conquest of mexico. of the newe l?des and of ye people founde by the messengers of the kynge of portygale, attributed to this year, is regarded as the first book in english to treat of america, which it calls armenica. cortés, carta de relaci?, seville, 1522, is the letter dated october 30, 1520, supposed to be the conqueror's second letter, the first having been lost. eight other editions or translations appeared in various forms before 1532.

in 1522 pascual de andagoya followed the west coast of america southward from panamá, to a point six or seven days' sail below the gulf of san miguel in the province of birú (peru), a little beyond point pinos. information obtained during this expedition concerning more southern lands, furnished the motive for the conquest of peru undertaken a few years later by francisco pizarro. pascual de andagoya, narrative, pp. 40-1.

gil gonzalez dávila with a fleet of four vessels sailed from the islands in the bay of panamá, january 21, 1522, to explore the south sea coast north-westward. reaching the gulf of nicoya, the limit of espinosa's voyage, gil gonzalez proceeded by land and discovered lake nicaragua. the pilot andres ni?o continued westward, discovered and named the gulf of 140 fonseca, and reached, according to herrera, dec. iii. lib. iv. cap. v.-vi., the province of chorotega, having discovered 350 leagues of sea-coast from nicoya, or 650 leagues from the gulf of san miguel. peter martyr places ni?o's ultimate limit at 300 leagues beyond the gulf of san vicente; ribero's map at 140 leagues west of the bay of fonseca. kohl, beiden ?ltesten karten von am., pp. 163-9, thinks he probably reached the mountains south of soconusco. see also navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 413, 417-18; galvano's discov., pp. 148-9; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. iii. pp. 97-114; squier's nicaragua, new york, 1860, pp. 157-61. not long afterward the cities of granada and leon were founded, and communication with nicaragua from the south became of frequent occurrence.

in 1522 pedro de alvarado occupied tututepec on the pacific; while at zacatula a villa was founded, and a beginning made there on several vessels for exploration northward. cortés, cartas, letter of may 15, 1522.

[1523.] francisco de garay fitted out a new fleet of eleven vessels, with 850 men, which sailed from jamaica june 26, 1523. this force was intended for the conquest and settlement of pánuco, but soon united with the army of cortés without having accomplished anything of importance. navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 67-9; herrera, hist. gen., dec. iii. lib. v. cap. v.-vi.; peter martyr, dec. vii. cap. v.; cortes, carta tercera de relaci?, seville, 1523. this third letter was written may 15, 1522. other editions appeared in 1524, and 1532. for the bibliography of cortés' letters see harrisse, bib. am. vet., pp. 215-23. maximilian, de molvccis insulis, coloni?, 1523, is a letter written by the emperor's secretary, describing magellan's voyage round the world. other editions are mentioned as having appeared in 1523, 1524, 1534, 1536, and 1537.

[1524.] apianus, cosmographicus liber, landshut?, 1524, contains a short chapter on america, which the author describes as an island, because he says it is surrounded by water; furthermore, he affirms this land was named from vespucci, its discoverer. the map of solinus-camers, 1520, is repeated in this and in several succeeding editions of the cosmography. kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 134-5. francis, de orbis sitv ac descriptione, antwerp, 1524, also describes the new world.

in 1524 cortés' fleet at zacatula was not yet launched, the work having been delayed by fire. the conquest of colima had however made known a good port, and brought new rumors of rich islands further north. the conqueror's plans were unchanged and his enthusiasm undiminished. his use of the term "la costa abajo," or down the coast, when he meant to sail northward, has sadly confused many writers as to his real intentions, and as to his ideas of the strait. cortés, cartas, letter of oct. 15, 1524.

in 1524 was made the first official french expedition to the new world. a fleet of four vessels was made ready under giovanni verrazano at dieppe, but three of his ships were separated from him in some inexplicable manner before leaving european waters; and in the remaining one, the dauphine, with fifty men, he sailed on the 17th of january, 1524, from an island near madeira. after a voyage of forty-nine days, during which time he sailed 900 leagues, verrazano struck the united states coast in about latitude 34°, perhaps at cape fear. thence he sailed first southward fifty leagues, then 141 turning about he followed the coast northward, frequently touching, to newfoundland, whence he returned to dieppe in july, 1524. verrazano in his journal mentions only one date, and names but one locality; consequently there is much difference of opinion concerning his landings.

the southern limit of the voyage, so far as it can be known, was in the vicinity of cape romain, south carolina, though some authors, apparently without sufficient authority—the voyager says he saw palms—have placed the limit in florida. it is probable that a large part of the united states coast was for the first time explored during this voyage, which also completed the discovery of the whole eastern shore-line of america, except probably a short but indefinite distance in south carolina and georgia, between the limits reached by ponce de leon in 1513 and by verrazano; one intermediate point having also been visited by aillon in 1520. relatione di giouanni da verrazzano fiorentìno della terra per lui scoperta in nome di sua maestà, scritta in dieppa, adi 8, luglio, mdxxiiii., in ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 420. in the preface to this volume, edition of 1556, the author states that it is not known whether new france is joined to florida or not. herrera, hist. gen., dec. iii. lib. vi. cap. ix.; hakluyt's divers voy., pp. 55-71; new york hist. soc., collections, 1841, series ii. vol. i.; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 249-70; hakluyt's voy., vol. iii. pp. 295-300; aa, naaukeurige versameling, tom. x. app. p. 13. a chart given by verrazano to henry viii. is said to have been used by lock in compiling the map published in hakluyt's divers voy., london, 1582. (reprint by the hakluyt society, 1850. copy in kohl, p. 290.)

in 1522 pedro de alvarado had accomplished the conquest of tehuantepec on the south sea; in 1524 and the following years he extended his explorations and conquests by land across the isthmus over all the north-western region of central america, joining his conquests to those of his countrymen from panamá. in 1523 cristóbal de olid made an expedition by water to honduras in the service of cortés, founding a settlement; and in 1524 cortés himself marched overland from mexico to honduras. lettres de pédro de alvarado à fernan cortés, in ternaux-compans, voy., série i. tom. x. pp. 107-50, and in ramusio, viaggi, tom. iii. fol. 296-300; peter martyr, dec. viii. cap. v. x.; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. iii. pp. 434, 439, 475-87; gomara, hist. conq. mex., fol. 228-33, 245-6, 250-74; herrera, hist. gen., dec. iii. lib. iii. cap. xvii.; lib. vi. cap. x.-xii.; lib. vii. cap. viii.-ix.; lib. viii. cap. i.-vii.; alaman, disertaciones, tom. i. pp. 203-25; brasseur de bourbourg, hist. nat. civ., tom. iv. pp. 546-50, 598 et seq., 631-705.

conquest of peru.

in this same year, 1524, francisco pizarro sailed from panamá southward, and began the conquest of peru, which, as related elsewhere in this volume, brought to light, before 1540, nearly the whole western coast of south america. for references to pizarro's discovery see a later chapter of this volume.

a meeting of the leading pilots and cosmographers of spain and portugal, known as the council of badajoz, was convened for the purpose of settling disputed questions between the two governments. failing in its primary purpose, the council nevertheless contributed largely to a better knowledge of new world geography. indeed, from this time the european governments may be supposed to have had, and to have delineated on their official charts, tolerably accurate ideas of the general form of america and of its 142 relation to asia, except in the north-west, although the existence of a passage through the continent was still firmly believed in. writers on cosmography and compilers of published maps did not, however, for a long time obtain the knowledge lodged in the hands of government officials.

[1525.] the man who accompanied magellan in 1519, but left him after entering the strait and returned with one vessel to spain, was named estévan gomez. in 1525 this captain was sent by spain to search for a corresponding strait in the north. although an official expedition, and the only one ever sent by spain to northern parts, no journal has been preserved, and only slight particulars derived from the old chroniclers are known. gomez expected to find a strait somewhere between florida and newfoundland, probably not knowing the result of verrazano's voyage of the preceding year. cabot was at the time piloto mayor in spain, and if verrazano had, as is claimed for him by some, reached the southern united states coasts, it is not likely that gomez would have looked there so confidently for his strait. this voyage lasted about ten months, and in it gomez is supposed to have explored the coast from newfoundland to a point below new york—possibly to georgia or florida. peter martyr, dec. vi. cap. x.; herrera, hist. gen., dec. iii. lib. viii. cap. viii.; kohl's hist. discov., pp. 271-81; navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iv. p. viii.; kunstmann, entdeckung am., pp. 70-1. according to harrisse, fries, auslegung der mercarthen oder cartha marina, strasburg, 1525, contains a map of the world, including america, but kohl states that this map, although made in 1525, was not published till 1530. other publications of the year are: pietro arias (pedrarias dávila), lettere di pietro arias capitano generale, della conquista del paese del mar occeano, written from darien, and printed without place or date; pigafetta, le voyage et nauigation faict par les espaignolz es isles de mollucques, an abridgment of the original account by the author, who was with magellan; cortes, la quarta relacion, toledo, 1525, dated october 15, 1524.

garcía de loaisa sailed from corunna july 24, 1525, to follow magellan's track. passing through the strait between january and may, 1526, he arrived at the moluccas in october. viages al maluco, segundo el del comendador fr. garcia de loaisa, in navarrete, tom. v.; burney's discov. south sea, vol. i. pp. 127-45; relaciones del viaje hecho á las islas molucas, in pacheco and cárdenas, tom. v. p. 5.

[1526.] one small vessel of loaisa's fleet, under command of santiago de guevara, became separated from the rest june 1, 1526, after having reached the pacific ocean. guevara decided to steer for the coast of new spain, which was first seen in the middle of july; and on the 25th he anchored at tehuantepec. navarrete, col. de viages, tom. v. pp. 176-81, 224-5.

cortés' exploring vessels, begun in 1522—the first having been burned on the stocks, others were built in their place—were now, after long delay, nearly ready to sail; and guevara's vessel was brought up from tehuantepec to join them. cortés, cartas, letter of september, 1526.

aillon, in 1523, was made adelantado of chicora, the country discovered by him in 1520, and immediately prepared a new expedition with a view to colonize the country, explore the coasts, and to find, if possible, a passage to india. the preparations were not completed until july, 1526, when he 143 sailed from espa?ola with six vessels, 500 men, and ninety horses. he reached the rio jordan—perhaps st helena sound, south carolina—and thence made a careful exploration northward, at least to cape fear, and probably much farther. aillon died on the 18th of october, and after much internal dissension 150 men, all that remained alive, returned to santo domingo. navarrete, col. de viages, tom. iii. pp. 71-4, 153-60; kunstmann, entdeckung am., p. 71.

oviedo, de la natural hystoria de las indias, toledo, 1526, describes the new world, but this book is not the great historical work, lately printed, by the same author. it may be found also in barcia, historiadores primitivos, and in ramusio.

sebastian cabot attempted a voyage to india in 1526, sailing with four vessels in april, with the intention of bearing succor to loaisa. owing to insubordination among his officers, and other misfortunes, he reached only the rio de la plata, and after extensive explorations in that region, returned to spain, having been absent four years. oviedo, hist. gen., tom. ii. p. 169; diccionario universal, mexico, apend., 'viages,' tom. x. p. 807; roux de rochelle, in bulletin de la soc. geog., april, 1832, p. 212.

[1527.] june 10, 1527, an english expedition—the last officially sent by that nation within the limits of my sketch—sailed from plymouth, still in search of a north-west passage. the two vessels sailed in company to latitude 53°, and reached the coast, where, on the 1st of july, they were separated by a storm, and one of them was probably lost. the other, under john rut, turned southward, followed the coast of new england, often landing, probably reached chicora, and returned to england via the west india islands, arriving early in october. hakluyt's divers voy., pp. 27, 33; biddle's mem. cabot, pp. 114, 275; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. i. p. 611; herrera, hist. gen., dec. ii. lib. v. cap. iii.

francisco montejo, who had accompanied the expeditions of grijalva and cortés, and had since been sent by the latter as ambassador to spain, obtained from the king in 1526 a commission as adelantado to conquer the "islands of yucatan and cozumel." he sailed from seville in 1527, landed at cozumel, penetrated the northern part of the peninsula, and during the following years fought desperately to accomplish its conquest, but failed. a small colony struggled for existence at campeche for several years, but in 1535 not a single spaniard remained in yucatan. cogolludo, hist. yucathan, pp. 59-94; gomara, hist. ind., fol. 62-3; stephens' incidents of travel in yucatan, new york, 1858, vol. i. pp. 56-62.

la salle, la salade, paris, 1527, contains references to greenland and other northern parts of america.

pacific coast explorations.

in july, 1527, three of the vessels built by cortés made a preliminary trip up the pacific coast from zacatula to santiago in colima and back—the first voyage along that coast. relacion ó derrotero, in pacheco and cárdenas, col. doc., tom. xiv. pp. 65-9; relacion de la derrota, in florida, col. doc., pp. 88-91. but an order from spain required the fleet to be sent to india direct—instead of by the roundabout route proposed by cortés—for the relief of loaisa; and the three vessels sailed from zacatula in october under saavedra, arriving safely in india. guevara's ship was too worm-eaten to accompany them; 144 but several vessels were already on the stocks at tehuantepec to replace those sent across the ocean. sutil y mexicana, viage, introd. pp. vi.-xi.; navarrete, col. viages, tom. v. pp. 95-114, 181, 440-86; gil, memoria, in boletin de la soc. mex. geog., tom. viii. p. 477 et seq.

in 1527 robert thorne, english ambassador to charles v., wrote a book or memorial to henry viii. on cosmography, on the spanish and portuguese discoveries, and on the importance of exploring northward for a passage to cathay. it was afterward printed as the booke made by the right worshipful m. robert thorne, in hakluyt's voy., vol. i. pp. 214-20.

in 1526 a commissioner was appointed to correct the spanish charts. fernando colon was charged with the revision, and in 1527 a map was made called carta universal en que se contiene todo lo que del mundo se ha descubierto fasta agora. this map has been preserved, and a fac-simile is given in kohl, beiden ?ltesten karten von am. it shows the whole eastern coast line from the strait of magellan to greenland, and the western coast from panamá to the vicinity of soconusco, and indicates that the information in possession of the spanish government was remarkably accurate and complete. yucatan is represented as an island, and the discoveries on the pacific side of south america are not laid down; otherwise this map varies but little except in names from a map made by diego ribero, in 1529, of which i shall give a copy. kohl, beiden ?ltesten karten von am., pp. 1-24; humboldt, exam. crit., tom. ii. p. 184, and preface to ghillany.

[1528.] bordone, libro di benedetto bordone nel qual si ragiona de tutte l'isole del mondo, vinegia, 1528, gives maps of the larger american islands, and also a map of the world, the american part of which i copy from the original. no part of the western coast is shown, although the new world is represented as distinct from asia.

kohl, beiden ?ltesten karten von am., p. 34, mentions another work printed at venice the same year, which has a map resembling that of sch?ner in 1520.

pánfilo de narvaez sailed from spain in 1527 with five ships and 600 men, to conquer the northern shores of the gulf of mexico, and after losing some of his ships by storm, and many of his men by desertion, in cruising about espa?ola, cuba, and other islands, he landed in the vicinity of tampa bay april 14, 1528, and nearly all the company perished in an attempt to follow the coast toward vera cruz. cabe?a de vaca's relation, new york, 1871, pp. 13-20; herrera, hist. gen., dec. iv. lib. iv. cap. iv.-vii.; lib. v. cap. v.

map by benedetto bordone, 1528.

[1529.] major, prince henry, pp. 440-52, entertains the opinion that australia was discovered probably before 1529, and certainly before 1542.

in 1529 was made the before-mentioned spanish official map by diego ribero, which may be supposed to show all that was known by european pilots at that time of new world geography. it contains some improvements and additions to colon's map of 1527 with the same title, although 145 criticised, perhaps justly, by stevens as partisan in its distribution of the new regions among the european powers. i give a copy reduced from the full-sized fac-simile in kohl, beiden ?ltesten karten von am.

greenland is called labrador and is joined to the continent, as the separating strait had not at the time been explored. it will be noticed that greenland is far less accurately laid down on this and other late maps than on some earlier ones which are supposed to have derived some of their details from northern sources. labrador, newfoundland, and nova scotia have the general name of bacallaos. many of the numerous islands along the coast are named in the original. corresponding perhaps to the new england and middle united states we have the 'tiera de estev? gomez,' stated by an inscription to have been discovered by the spaniards in 1525. from this land to florida extends the 'tiera de ayllon,' between which and 'nveva espa?a' comes the 'tiera de garay,' thus dividing nearly all of the northern continent among the spaniards. the west india islands have here their true number, position, and names. yucatan is given in its true proportions but is separated by a strait from the main-land. the south sea coast is represented only to the limit of the voyage of gil gonzalez dávila on the north, and extends southward to the port of chinchax in about latitude 10° south, including, according to an inscription, the countries which had been reached by pizarro in 1527. the form of south america is correctly laid down and the name 'mvndvs novvs' is applied to the whole, which is divided into the provinces of 'castilla del oro,' 'perv,' 'tiera del brasil,' 'tiera de patagones,' and 'tiera de fern? de magallaes,' or land of magellan. south of the strait is the 'tiera de los fuegos,' whose true form and extent were not known until schouten and le maire doubled cape horn in 1616.

thus far i have copied or mentioned all maps which could throw any light on the progress of geographical knowledge, and have endeavored to give a statement of all the voyages by which this progress was made. thus far we have seen the coasts of both north and south america, except in the south-west and the far north-west, more or less carefully explored by european voyagers; we have seen the new world recognized as distinct for the most part from asia, a tolerably correct idea of its form and extent given by government pilots, and the name america applied, except on official maps, to the southern continent. henceforth voyages to the parts already discovered become of common occurrence, and numerous maps, both in manuscript and print, are made, no one of which i shall attempt to follow. in the expeditions of the next and concluding ten years of this summary i shall notice chiefly those by which a knowledge was acquired of the countries lying toward california and the great northwest, presenting several maps to illustrate this part of the subject.

[1530.] during the absence of cortés in spain no progress had been made in maritime exploration; and by 1530 his ships on the stocks at tehuantepec were ruined, but he made haste to build more. cortés, cartas, letters of oct. 10, 1530, and april 20, 1532.

nu?o de guzman.

nu?o de guzman, formerly president of the audiencia of new spain, and the inveterate enemy of cortés, undertook with a large force, recruited in 147 mexico, the conquest of the region lying to the north-west of that city. the northern limit of his conquest in 1530-1 was culiacan, between which and mexico the whole country was brought under spanish control by expeditions sent by guzman in all directions under different leaders. relation di nvnno di gvsman, in ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 331, and abridged in purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. iv. p. 1556; jornada que hizo nu?o de guzman á la nueva galicia, in icazbalceta, col. de doc., tom. ii.; primera relacion, p. 288; tercera relacion, p. 439; cuarta relacion, p. 461; doc. para hist. de mex., serie iii. p. 669; mota padilla, conquista de nueva galicia, ms. of 1742; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. iii. pp. 559-77; gil, memoria, in boletin de la soc. mex. geog., tom. viii. p. 424 et seq.

diego ribero's map, 1529.

hakluyt, in his voyages, vol. iii. p. 700, states that one william hawkins, of plymouth, made voyages, in a ship fitted out at his own expense, to the coast of brazil in 1530 and 1532, bringing back an indian king as a curiosity.

peter martyr, ptolemy, and munster.

peter martyr, de orbe novo, c?pluti, 1530, is the first complete edition of eight decades; and opus epistolarum, of the same date and place, is a collection of over eight hundred letters written between 1488 and 1525, many of them relating more or less to american affairs.

in the ptolemy of 1530, in several subsequent editions, and in munster's cosmography of 1572 et seq., is the map of which the following is a reduction.

the new world, from ptolemy, 1530.

i give this drawing, circulated for many years in standard works, to illustrate how extremely slow were cosmographers to form anything like a correct idea of american geography, and how little they availed themselves of the more correct knowledge shown on official charts. the following map, made in 1544, illustrates still further the absurdities circulated for many years 148 under the name of geography. scores of additional examples might be given.

ruscelli's map, 1544.

[1532.] at last, in the middle of 1532, cortés was able to despatch from acapulco two vessels, under hurtado de mendoza and mazuela, to make the first voyage up the coast beyond colima. mendoza touched at santiago and at the port of jalisco, near the later san blas, discovering the islands of magdalena, or tres marías. then they took refuge from a storm in a port located only by conjecture, probably on the sonora coast, where after a time the vessels parted. mendoza went on up the coast. having landed and ascended the rio tamotchala—now the fuerte—he was killed, with most of his men, by the indians. the rest were massacred a little later, when the vessel grounded and broke up at the mouth of the rio petatlan, or sinaloa. meanwhile, mazuela with the other vessel returning down the coast was driven ashore in banderas bay, where all his men but two or three were killed by the natives. authorities, being voluminous, complicated, and of necessity fully presented elsewhere, are omitted here.

cortes, de insvlis nvper inventis, coloni?, 1532, is a translation of hernan cortés' second and third letters, with peter martyr's de insulis, and a letter from fray martin de valencia, dated yucatan, june 12, 1531, with some letters from zumárraga, first bishop of mexico.

gryn?vs, novvs orbis, paris and basle, 1532, is a collection of the voyages of columbus, pinzon, vespucci, and others. in this work the assertion is made that vespucci discovered america before columbus, which aroused the wrath of las casas, and seems to have originated the subsequent bitter attacks on vespucci. about the maps originally published with this work there seems to be some doubt, most copies, like my own, having no map. 149 according to stevens' notes, pp. 19, 51-2, pl. iii. no. 4, the paris edition of gryn?us contained a map made by orontius fine in 1531. the following is a reduction from stevens' fac-simile on mercator's projection:

orontius fine's map, 1531.

all of the new world, so far as explored, is represented with tolerable accuracy, but the unexplored south sea coast is made to extend westward from the region of acapulco, and to join the southern coast of asia, which is laid down from the ancient chronicles. instead of being, as stevens terms it, a "culmination of absurdities," i regard this map as more consistent with the knowledge of the time than any other printed during the first half of the sixteenth century. north america when found was regarded as asia; south america was at first supposed to be a large island, and later an immense south-eastern extension of asia; subsequent explorations, chiefly that of magellan, showed the existence of a vast ocean between southern america and southern asia; official maps left unexplored regions blank, expressing no theory as to the northern extension of the pacific ocean; other maps, as we have seen, without any authority whatever, make that ocean extend north and completely separate asia from the new world. the present map, however, clings to the original idea and makes north america an eastern extension of asia, giving the name america to the southern continent.

the map in the basle edition of gryn?us, also given in stevens' notes, pl. iv. no. 4, closely resembles sch?ner's globe of 1520 (see page 137).

lower california discovered.

[1533.] the expedition of becerra, grijalva, and jimenez, sent out by cortés to search for hurtado de mendoza and to continue north-western discoveries, sailed from santiago in november. this voyage, like those following, will be fully treated elsewhere in this work. the only result, so far as the purposes of this chapter are concerned, was the discovery of the revilla gigedo group of islands and the southern part of the peninsula of lower california, supposed then to be an island. jimenez landed and was killed at 150 santa cruz, now known as la paz. the subsequent expedition of 1535-6, headed by cortés in person, added only very slightly to geographical knowledge of the north-west. many points were touched and named along the coast; but comparatively few can be definitely located except by the aid of information afforded by the earlier explorations of guzman by land.

sch?ner, opvscvlvm geographicvm, supposed to have been printed in 1533, maintains that the new world is part of asia, and contains, so far as known, the first charge against vespucci. humboldt, exam. crit., tom. v. pp. 174-5. other books of the year are: franck, weltbuch, tübingen, 1533, which includes america in a description of the world; and zummaraga, botschafft des grossmechtigsten k?nigs dauid, n.p., n.d., containing a letter from mexico dated in 1532.

[1534.] in 1534, 1535, and 1540, jacques cartier made three voyages for france, in which newfoundland and the gulf and river of st lawrence were carefully explored. prima relatione di iacqves carthier della terra nvova detta la nuoua francia, trouata nell'anno mdxxxiiii., in ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 435; hakluyt's voy., vol. iii. pp. 201-36; sammlung alter reisebeschreibungen, tom. xv. p. 29.

simon de alcazaba sailed from san lúcar in september, 1534, with two ships and 280 men, intending to conquer and settle the western coast of south america south of peru. after spending a long time in the strait of magellan, he was finally prevented by the mutiny of his men from proceeding farther. his explorations in the patagonian regions were more extensive than had been made before. seventy-five men, the remnant of his expedition, reached espa?ola in september, 1535, one vessel having been wrecked on the coast of brazil. oviedo, hist. gen., tom. ii. pp. 155-65; galvano's discov., pp. 198-9; herrera, dec. v. lib. vii. cap. v.; diccionario univ., app. tom. x. p. 807; burney's discov. south sea, vol. i. p. 171.

the books of 1534 are, francis of bologna, la letera, venetia, n.d.; chronica compendiosissima, antwerp, 1534, containing letters from priests in mexico; vadianus, epitome, tigura, 1534, includes the insul? oceani; peter martyr, libro primo della historia, vinegia, 1534, which has joined to it a libro secondo by oviedo, and an anonymous third book on the conquest of peru; two anonymous works, letera de la nobil cipta, and copia delle lettere del prefetto della india, being letters from peru, the latter describing the conquest; honter, de cosmographi?, basile?, 1534, with a chapter on the new islands; xeres, uerdadera relacion de la conquista del peru, seville, 1534; and an anonymous work on the same subject, la conquista del peru, seville, 1534.

[1535.] in this year appeared the first edition of the great historical work of gonzalo hernandez de oviedo y valdés, la historia general de las indias, seville, 1535. only nineteen of the fifty books which comprise the whole work appear in this edition; the work complete has since been published in madrid, 1851-5. steinhowel, chronica beschreibung, franckenfort, 1535, has a chapter on 'america discovered in 1497.'

[1536.] in april, 1528, as we have seen, pánfilo de narvaez had landed on the west coast of florida, probably at tampa bay, and attempted with three hundred men to reach pánuco by land. the company gradually melted 151 from famine, sickness, and battles with the savages, until only alvar nu?ez cabeza de vaca with a few companions remained. they were held as slaves by the natives of the gulf coast for six years; and then escaping, traversed texas, chihuahua, and sonora, by a route which has not been very definitely fixed. cabeza de vaca with three companions reached the spanish settlements in northern sinaloa early in 1536, and their reports served as a powerful incentive to more extended exploration. relatione che fece alvaro nvnez detto capo di vacca, in ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 310-30; purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. iv. p. 1499; cabe?a de vaca's relation, new york, 1871; ternaux-compans, voy., série i. tom, vii.; oviedo, hist. gen., tom. iii. p. 582 et seq.; barcia, historiadores prim., tom. i.

peter martyr, de rebus oceanicis, paris, 1536, contains nine decades. this work, with sacro bosco, sphera volgare, venetiis, 1537, and nunez, tratado da sfera, olisipone, 1537, closes the bibliographical part of this summary, in which, following harrisse as the latest authority, i have endeavored to mention all the original works by which the geographical results of voyages of discovery were made known prior to 1540.

[1537.] after the abandonment of california by the colony, cortés sent two vessels under hernando de grijalva and alvarado (not pedro) to peru with supplies and reinforcements for pizarro. there are vague reports that grijalva sailed westward from peru and made a long cruise in the pacific, visiting various islands which cannot be located. herrera, hist. gen., dec. v. lib. viii. cap. x.; dec. vii. lib. v. cap. ix.; galvano's discov., pp. 202-3; burney's discov. south sea, vol. i. p. 180.

[1538.] fernando de soto landed on the west coast of florida, crossed the peninsula to that part discovered by aillon in 1526, wandered four or five years in the interior of the southern united states and followed the course of the mississippi, probably as far up as to the ohio. here soto died, and the remnant of his company, after penetrating farther west to the buffalo country, floated down the mississippi and returned to mexico in 1543. soto's travels are esteemed by kohl as "the principal source of knowledge regarding these regions, for more than a hundred years." discov. and conq. of terra florida, hakluyt soc., london, 1851; selection of curious voy., sup. to hakluyt, london, 1812, p. 689; purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. iv. p. 1532; ferdinands von soto reise nach florida, in sammlung, tom. xvi. p. 395.

[1539.] in august, 1539, three vessels under alonso de camargo were despatched from seville for india via the south sea, and reached cabo de las vírgenes january 20, 1540. one of the vessels was wrecked in the strait of magellan; another returned to spain, and the third entered the pacific, and finally, after touching chile in 38° 30', arrived at arequipa in peru. this voyage is supposed to have afforded the first knowledge of the intermediate coast between the strait of magellan and peru. diccionario univ., app. tom. x. p. 807; herrera, hist. gen., dec. vii. lib. i. cap. viii.; burney's discov. south sea, vol. i. p. 186.

new mexico invaded.

cabeza de vaca brought to sinaloa and thence to mexico accounts of wonderful towns in the northern regions traversed by him; and in march, 1539, fray marcos de niza, accompanied by one of the men who had seen the reported wonders, set out from culiacan and proceeded northward in search 152 of the seven cities of whose existence other rumors were current besides those brought by alvar nu?ez. marcos de niza reached the pueblo towns of zu?i and brought back greatly exaggerated reports of the wealth of the people and the magnificence of their cities. relatione del reverendo fra marco da nizza, in ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 356; purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. iv. p. 1560; pacheco and cárdenas, col. de doc., tom. iii. p. 325; hakluyt's voy., vol. iii. pp. 366-73; ternaux-compans, voy., série i. tom. ix. p. 256. see also whipple, ewbank, and turner, in pacific r. r. reports, vol. iii. pp. 104-8.

niza's report prompted cortés to renewed efforts in his californian enterprise, and in july, 1539, francisco de ulloa was sent from acapulco with three vessels to prosecute the discoveries by water. ulloa spent some time in the port of santiago for repairs, lost one vessel in a gale near the entrance to the gulf, visited santa cruz, and then followed the main coast to the mouth of the colorado, and returned along the coast of the peninsula to santa cruz, where he arrived on the 18th of october. from this place he doubled the southern point of california, and sailed up the western coast to cedros island, and somewhat beyond. during the whole voyage he touched and named many places, whose names have seldom been retained, but some of which may be with tolerable certainty identified. in april the vessels separated, one returning by a quick passage to colima. ulloa himself with the other vessel attempted to continue his explorations northward, with what success is not known. according to gomara and bernal diaz, he returned after several months spent in fruitless endeavors to reach more northern latitudes; other authorities state that he was never heard from. preciado, who accompanied the expedition, wrote of it a detailed but not very clear narrative or journal. relatione dello scoprimento che nel nome di dio va à far l'armata dell' illustrissimo fernando cortese, etc. (preciado's relation), in ramusio, tom. iii. 339-54, and in hakluyt's voy., vol. iii. pp. 397-424; gomara, hist. conq., fol. 292-3; bernal diaz, hist. conq., fol. 234; herrera, hist. gen., dec. vi. lib. ix. cap. viii. et seq.; purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. v. p. 856; sutil y mexicana, viage, pp. xxii.-vi.; burney's discov. south sea, vol. i. pp. 193-210; venegas, noticia de la california, quoted from gomara, tom. i. pp. 159-61; clavigero, storia della california, tom. i. p. 151.

[1540.] also in consequence of marcos de niza's reports, francisco vazquez de coronado, who had succeeded nu?o de guzman and torre as governor of new galicia, set out from culiacan in april, 1540, penetrated to the pueblo towns, or the seven cities of cibola, and thence to the valley of the rio grande and far toward the north-east to quivira, whose location, fixed by him in latitude 40°, has been a much disputed question. while in sonora, he sent forth melchor diaz, who explored the head of the gulf, and the mouths of the rivers, gila and colorado, where he found letters left by alarcon. see infra. from cibola, coronado sent garcia lopez de cárdenas west, who passed through the moqui towns and followed the colorado for some distance. coronado returned in 1542. relatione che mando francesco vazquez di coronado, in ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 359; pacheco and cárdenas, col. de doc., tom. iii. p. 511. hakluyt's voy., vol. iii. pp. 373-82, has the same and gomara's account. ternaux-compans, voyages, série i. tom. ix., gives the relations of coronado, 153 casta?eda, and jaramillo. see also whipple, ewbank, and turner, in pacific r. r. reports, vol. iii. pp. 108-12; simpson, in report of smithsonian institution, 1869.

to co?perate with coronado's land expedition, hernando de alarcon was despatched from acapulco in may, 1540. alarcon followed the coast to the head of the gulf, and ascended the buena guia (colorado) some eighty-five leagues in boats, but hearing nothing from coronado, he returned after burying letters, which, as we have seen, were found by melchor diaz. beside the references given above, see sutil y mexicana, viage, p. xxviii.; burney's discov. south sea, vol. i. pp. 211-16; purchas, his pilgrimes, vol. iv. p. 1560; schoolcraft's arch., vol. iv. p. 21 et seq.; vol. vi. p. 60; doc. hist. mex., serie iii. p. 671.

i here present reductions of two maps of the time to illustrate the explorations on the north-west coast, with which i close this sketch. the first was made by the pilot castillo in 1541, and is taken from cortés, hist. nueva-espa?a, edited by lorenzana, mexico, 1770, p. 325.

castillo's map, 1541.

california and arizona discovered.

a similar chart is mentioned by se?or navarrete as existing in the hydrographic archives in madrid. the second, from the munich atlas, no. vi., is of uncertain date. peschel places it between 1532 and 1540; and it was certainly made about that time, as yucatan is represented as an island, and california as a peninsula, although later it came again to be considered an island, as at its first discovery. 154

manuscript map, author unknown, supposed to have been drawn between 1532 and 1510.

this, then, was discovery. and in the progress of discovery we may trace the progress of mind. we can but wonder now, when we see our little earth belted with steam and lightning, how reluctantly the infant intellect left its cradle to examine its surroundings. wrapped in its mediterranean swaddlings, it crept forth timidly, tremblingly, slowly gaining courage with experience, until, throwing off impediments, it trod the earth in the fearless pride of manhood. like all science, philosophy, and religion, cosmography was at first a superstition. walled within narrow limits, as we have seen, by imaginary frost and fire, shaken from fear of heaven above and hell beneath, there is little wonder that the ancients dared not venture far from home; nor that, when men began to explore parts unknown, there should appear that romance of geography so fascinating to the greek mind, that halo thrown by the dimness of time and distance over strange seas and lands. from this time to that of the adaptation of the magnet to purposes of navigation, about a score of centuries, there was little progress in discovery.

is it not strange how the secrets of nature, one after another, reveal themselves according to man's necessities? who would have looked for the deliverance of pent-up humanity from certain mysterious qualities in magnetic iron ore, which floated toward the north that side of a cork on which it was placed? when vasco da gama and columbus almost simultaneously opened to europe oceanic highways through which were destined to flow the treasures of the eastern and the western indies, then it was that a new quality was discovered in the loadstone; for in addition to its power to take up iron, it was found to possess the rare virtue of drawing gold and silver from distant parts into the coffers of european princes; then it was that paths were marked out across the sea of darkness, and ships passed to and fro bearing the destroyers of nations, and laden with their spoils.