Chapter III: Section I

_Of the Country, Original, and Name of Admiral Christopher Columbus; with other particulars of his Life previous to his arrival in Portugal._

It is a material circumstance in the history of a great man to make known his country and original, as those are best esteemed in the world who are derived from noble cities and born of illustrious parents. Wherefore some would have engaged me to prove that the admiral my father was honourably descended, although his parents, through the fickleness of fortune, had fallen into great poverty. Those persons required me to prove that his ancestors descended from _Junius Colomus_, who, as Tacitus relates, brought Mithridates a prisoner to Rome, for which service he was raised by the Roman people to the consulate. They would likewise have induced me to give an account at large of the two illustrious _Colomi_ his predecessors, who gained a great victory over the Venetians, as recorded by Sabellius, and which shall be mentioned in this work. But considering that my father seemed to have been peculiarly chosen by the Almighty for the great work which he performed, and may be considered in some measure as an apostle of the Lord by carrying the gospel among the heathen; and that the other apostles were called upon from the sea and the rivers, and not from courts and palaces, by him whose progenitors were of the royal blood of the Jews, yet who was pleased that they should be in a low and unknown estate: And seeing that God had gifted my father with those personal qualities which so well fitted him for so great an undertaking, he was himself inclined that his country and original might remain hidden and obscure.

Some who would throw a cloud upon his fame, have alleged that he was from Nerni, others from Cuguero, and others from Bugiesco, all small towns in the Riviera of Genoa: While others again, who were disposed rather to exalt his origin, say that he was a native of Savona, others of Genoa, and some more vain, make him to have been a native of Placentia, where there are some honourable persons of the name, and several tombs having the arms and inscriptions of the family of Columbus, which was the usual sirname of his predecessors; but he, in compliance with the country where he went to reside, modelled the name in resemblance of the ancients to Colon, thereby distinguishing the direct descent from the collateral lines.

Many names have been given by secret impulse, to denote the effects those persons were to produce; and as most of my fathers affairs were guarded by some special providence, his name and sirname were not without some mysterious significations. Thus, considering the sirname of his ancestors, Columbus or Columba, since he conveyed the grace of the Holy Ghost into that New World which he discovered, shewing the knowledge of the beloved Son of God to those people who knew him not, as was done by the Holy Ghost in the form of a _Dove_ at the baptism of St John; and because, like Noahs dove, he carried the olive branch and the oil of baptism across the waters of the ocean, to denote the peace and union of those people with the church, which had long been shut up in the ark of darkness and ignorance. So likewise of the sirname of Colon which he revived, which was appropriate to him as signifying a member; and, in conjunction with his sirname of Christopher, denoted that he was a member of Christ, by whom salvation was to be conveyed to the heathen people whom he discovered. Thus, as St Christopher received that name because he carried Christ over the deep waters with great danger to himself; so the admiral Christopher Colonus, imploring the protection of Christ, safely carried himself and his people over the unknown ocean, that those Indian nations which he discovered might become citizens and inhabitants of the heavenly Jerusalem. For many souls, whom the Devil expected for his prey, were through his means passed through the water of baptism, and made inhabitants of the eternal glory of heaven.

To return to the quality and persons of his progenitors; however considerable they may once have been, it is certain that they were reduced to poverty and want, through the long wars and factions in Lombardy. I have not been able to discover in what manner they lived; though in one of his letters the admiral asserted that his ancestors and himself had always traded by sea. While passing through Cuguero, I endeavoured to receive some information on this subject from two brothers of the _Colombi_, who were the richest in those parts, and who were reported to be somewhat related to him; but the youngest of them being above an hundred years old, they could give me no information. Neither do I conceive this any dishonour to us his descendants; as I think it better that all our honour be derived from his own person, without inquiring whether his father were a merchant, or a nobleman who kept hawks and hounds. There have been thousands such in all parts, whose memory was soon lost among their neighbours and kindred, so that no memorials remain of there ever having been such men. I am therefore of opinion, that the nobility of such men would reflect less lustre upon me than the honour I receive from such a father: And, since his honourable exploits made him stand in no need of the wealth of predecessors, who though poor were not destitute of virtue, he ought from his name and worth to have been raised by authors above the rank of mechanics or peasants.

Should any one be disposed to affirm that the predecessors of my father were handicrafts, founding upon the assertion of Justiniani, I shall not engage to prove the contrary; for, as the writing of Justiniani is not to be considered as an article of faith, so I have received the contrary from a thousand persons. Neither shall I endeavour to prove the falsehood of his history from those other authors who have written concerning my father; but shall convict him of falsehood out of his own writings and by his own testimony; thus verifying proverb which says "that _liars ought to have good memories_," because otherwise they contradict themselves, as Justiniani has done in this case, of which I propose to exhibit sufficient proofs.

In his comparison of the four languages, when commenting upon that passage in the psalms, "In omnem terrarum exivit sonus eorum," he says, "This Christopher Columbus having acquired some rudiments of learning in his tender years, applied himself to navigation when he came to manhood, and went to Lisbon, where he learned cosmography from a brother who there made sea charts; in consequence of which improvement, and by discoursing with those who had sailed to St George del Mina in Africa, and through his own reading in cosmography, he entertained thoughts of sailing towards those countries which he afterwards discovered." Hence, contrary to the assertion of Justiniani, it appears from his own words that my father followed no handicraft or mechanic employment, but devoted his childhood to learning, his youth to navigation and cosmography, and his riper years to discoveries. Thus Justiniani convicts himself of falsehood, and proves himself inconsiderate, rash, and malicious. When he had occasion to speak of so renowned a person who reflected so great honour on his country, although the admirals parents had even been very mean, it had been more decent in mentioning his origin, as other authors have done, to have said that he was of low parentage or come of very poor people, instead of falsely calling him a mechanic, as he did in his Psalter, and afterwards in his Chronicle. Even supposing he had not contradicted himself, reason might have shewn that a man who had been bred up in a mechanical employment, must grow old in it to become a perfect master, and could not from his youth have travelled into so many countries, or have attained so much knowledge and learning as his actions demonstrate; more especially in those four principal sciences which were so indispensably necessary to fit him for what he performed, astronomy, cosmography, geometry, and navigation. It is not much to be wondered that Justiniani should be guilty of untruth in this circumstance, which is hidden, since he has inserted above a dozen falsehoods in half a sheet of paper in his Psalter, in matters concerning this discovery and navigation, which are well known. These I shall briefly mention, without staying to give him any answer, that I may not interrupt the series of the history; and because from its tenor, and by what has been written by others on that subject, the falsehood of his writing will distinctly appear.

The _first_ falsehood is, that the admiral went to Lisbon to learn cosmography from a brother of his own who was settled in that place. This is utterly contrary to the truth; since he lived in that city before the arrival of his brother, and taught his brother what he knew instead of learning from him. The _second_ falsehood is, that their Catholic majesties Ferdinand and Isabella accepted his proposal at his first coming to Castile, after it had been seven years bandied about and rejected by all men. The _third_, that he set out upon his discovery with two ships; whereas the truth is, that he had three caravels in his first voyage. The _fourth_, that his first discovery was Hispaniola; whereas the first land he came to was Guanahani, which he named St Salvador, or St Saviour. The _fifth_, that the island of Hispaniola was inhabited by cannibals; while the truth is, that its inhabitants were the best and most civilized people in all those parts. The _sixth_, that he took the canoe or Indian boat which he first saw by force of arms; whereas it is certain that he had no hostilities in the first voyage with any of the Indians, and continued in peace and amity with them until his departure from Hispaniola. The _seventh_, that he returned by way of the Canary Islands, which is by no means the proper route. The _eighth_, that he dispatched a messenger from the Canaries to their Catholic majesties; whereas it is certain he was not at these islands on his return, and that he was his own messenger. The _ninth_, that he went with _twelve_ ships on his second voyage, while he actually had _seventeen_. The _tenth_, that he arrived at Hispaniola in twenty days, which is too short a time to reach the nearest islands; and he certainly did not perform the second voyage in two months, and besides went to other islands much farther distant before going to Hispaniola. The _eleventh_, that he immediately afterwards went from Hispaniola with two ships, whereas he certainly went to Cuba with three vessels. The _twelfth_ falsehood is, that Hispaniola is four hours (difference in longitude) distant from Spain; while the admiral reckoned it to be five. The _thirteenth_, to add one to the dozen, is that the western point of Cuba is six hours distant from Hispaniola; making a farther distance of longitude from Hispaniola to Cuba, than from Spain to Hispaniola.

By the foregoing examples of negligence, in inquiring into the truth of those particulars which are plain and easy to have been learnt, we may divine what inquiry he made into those which are obscure and in which he contradicts himself, as already proved. But, laying aside this fruitless controversy, I shall only add that, in consideration of the many falsehoods in the Chronicle and Psalter of Justiniani, the senate of Genoa have imposed a penalty upon any person within their jurisdiction who shall read or keep those books, and have ordered that they shall be carefully sought after and destroyed.

To conclude this disquisition, I assert that the admiral, so far from being a person occupied with the vile employments of mechanics or handicraft trades, was a man of learning and experience, and entirely occupied in such studies and exercises as fitted him for and became the glory and renown of his most wonderful discoveries; and I shall close this chapter with an extract from a letter which he wrote to the nurse of Prince John of Castile. "I am not the first admiral of my family, let them give me what name they please. After all, that most prudent king David was first a shepherd, and was afterwards chosen king of Jerusalem; and I am a servant to the same Lord who raised him to so great dignity."

In his person the admiral was above the middle stature and well shaped, having rather a long visage, with somewhat full cheeks, yet neither fat nor lean. His complexion was very fair with delicately red cheeks, having fair hair in his youth, which became entirely grey at thirty years of age. He had a hawk nose, with fair eyes. In his eating and drinking, and in his dress, he was always temperate and modest. In his demeanour he was affable to strangers and kind and condescending to his domestics and dependents, yet with a becoming modesty and dignified gravity of manner, tempered with easy politeness. His regard for religion was so strict and sincere, even in keeping the prescribed fasts and reciting all the offices of the church, that he might have been supposed professed in one of the religious orders; and so great was his abhorrence to profane swearing that I never heard him use any other oath than by St Ferdinand; and even in the greatest passion, his only imprecation was "God take you." When about to write, his usual way of trying his pen was in these words, _Jesu cum Maria sit nobis in via_; and in so fair a character as might have sufficed to gain his bread by writing.

Passing over many particulars of his character, manners, and disposition, which will appear in the course of this history, I shall now only mention that, in his tender years he applied himself to such studies at Pavia as fitted him to understand cosmography, his favourite science; for which purpose he chiefly devoted himself to the study of geometry and astronomy, without which, it is impossible to make any proficiency in cosmography. And, because Ptolemy, in the preface to his cosmography, asserts that no person can be a good cosmographer without a thorough knowledge of drawing; he therefore learnt to draw, so as to be able to delineate not only the exact outlines of countries, but to express their cosmographical features, whether having plain surfaces or interspersed with hills and vallies.

Having laid a foundation in the before-mentioned sciences, he went to sea, and made several voyages both to the east and west[1]: But of these, and many other circumstances respecting his early years I have no perfect knowledge. I was so young at his death, that owing to filial respect, I had not the boldness to ask an account from him of the incidents of his youth, and besides I was not then interested in such inquiries. But some account of these things may be gleaned from his letters to their Catholic majesties, to whom he would not dare to write any thing but the truth. In one of these letters, written in the year 1501, he says,

"Most Serene Princes! I went to sea when very young, and have continued to the present day; and this art of navigation inclines those who follow it to be desirous of discovering the secrets of this world. It is now forty years[2] that I have been sailing to all those parts of the world which are frequented at present; and I have conversed with many wise and learned men, both clergy and laity, Latins, Greeks, Indians and Moors, and of many other sects and nations. God has been favourable to my inclination, and has given me the spirit of understanding, so that I have become very skilful in navigation, with a competent knowledge in arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, and both genius and skill to draw maps and charts of this world, with its cities, rivers, islands, and ports, all in their proper places and proportions. During my whole life, I have endeavoured to see and understand all books of cosmography, history, and philosophy; by which my understanding hath been enlightened so as to enable me to sail from Europe to the Indies, and God hath inclined me to put this design into execution. Filled with this desire I came to your highnesses; and after all who had heard an account of my proposed undertaking had rejected it with scorn and contempt as visionary and impracticable; in your highnesses alone I found judgment to believe in the practicability of my proposal, and constancy and spirit to put it into execution."

In another letter, written in January 1495 from Hispaniola, to their Catholic majesties, in illustration of the errors and mistakes common in voyages and the piloting of ships, he thus writes, "I was formerly sent to Tunis by King _Renee_, whom God hath since taken to himself, to take the galeasse called Fernandina; and, when near the island of St Peter off Sardinia, I was informed that the Fernandina was accompanied by two ships and a carack. This intelligence dismayed my people, who refused to proceed in the enterprize, and demanded to go back to Marseilles for another ship and more men. Finding that it was impossible to go on against their inclinations, without a stratagem, I pretended to yield to their desires; but having altered the card of the ships compass, I set sail when it was late, under pretence of making for Marseilles. But next morning at day-break, when all on board believed we had been sailing for Marseilles, we found ourselves close in with Cape Carthagena[3]."

In a memorandum or observation tending to prove that all the five zones are habitable by the experience of navigation, he thus writes: "In February 1467, I sailed an hundred leagues beyond Thule, or Iceland, the northern part of which is 73 degrees distant from the equinoctial, and not 63 degrees as some suppose; neither does it lie upon the line where Ptolemy begins the West, but considerably more to the westwards. To this island, which is as large as England, the English carry on trade, especially from the port of Bristol. When I was there the sea was not frozen, but the tides were so great that in some places it rose and fell twenty-six fathoms[4]. I have likewise been in the Portuguese fort of St George del Mina, under the equinoctial, and can witness that it is not uninhabitable, as some have supposed." In his book respecting his first voyage, he says that he saw some mermaids on the coast of _Menegueta_, but that they were not by any means so like ladies as represented in paintings. In another place he says, that, in several voyages between Lisbon and Guinea, he had observed that a degree on the earth corresponds to 56 miles and two thirds. He notices having seen mastick drawn from some trees in the island of Scio, one of the isles in the Greek Archipelago.

In one place of his own writings he says that he had been at sea during twenty-three years, without being on shore for any length of time; and had seen all the countries of the east and west, and towards the north, particularly England and Guinea; yet had never seen any harbours that could be compared for goodness with those which he had discovered in the West Indies. He says farther, "I went first to sea at fourteen years of age, and have followed that profession ever since." In his note book of his second voyage he says, "I had two ships, one of which I left at Porto Sancto, for a certain reason, where it continued one day; and on the day following, I rejoined it at Lisbon[5]; because I encountered a storm, and had contrary winds at south-west, and the other ship had contrary winds at south-east." From these instances it may be inferred that he had great experience in sea affairs, and that he had visited many countries and places, before he undertook his great discovery.

[1] This must be understood as referring to voyages in the Mediterranean,
in respect of the port of Genoa.--E.

[2] Supposing Columbus to have been 14 years of age on first going to sea,
it may be concluded that he was born in 1447. He must therefore have
been 45 years old when he set out in 1492 for the discovery of America;
and 59 years old at his death, in 1506.--E.

[3] Or rather Cape Carthago, on the coast of Barbary near Tunis.--E.

[4] It is highly probable that the original translator may have here
mistaken the braccio of 1.913 English feet, for the fathom of 6 feet.
In fathoms, this tide rises to the incredible height of 156 feet;
whereas in _braccios_, it amounts only to 49 feet: And besides there
are braccios considerably shorter than the one here assumed.--E.

[5] There is some inexplicable ambiguity in this passage, which the
original translator must have misunderstood, and which cannot now be
explained.--E.