Chapter VI (1)

THE GOVERNMENTS OF NUEVA ANDALUCÍA AND CASTILLA DEL ORO.

1506-1510.

TIERRA FIRME THROWN OPEN TO COLONIZATION—RIVAL
APPLICATIONS—ALONSO DE OJEDA APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF NUEVA
ANDALUCÍA, AND DIEGO DE NICUESA OF CASTILLA DEL ORO—HOSTILE
ATTITUDES OF THE RIVALS AT SANTO DOMINGO—OJEDA EMBARKS
FOR CARTAGENA—BUILDS THE FORTRESS OF SAN SEBASTIAN—FAILURE
AND DEATH—NICUESA SAILS FOR VERAGUA—PARTS COMPANY WITH HIS
FLEET—HIS VESSEL IS WRECKED—PASSES VERAGUA—CONFINED WITH HIS
STARVING CREW ON AN ISLAND—SUCCOR—FAILURE AT VERAGUA—ATTEMPTS
SETTLEMENT AT NOMBRE DE DIOS—LOSS OF SHIP SENT TO ESPAÑOLA
FOR RELIEF—HORRIBLE SUFFERINGS—BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF LAS
CASAS, OVIEDO, PETER MARTYR, GOMARA, AND HERRERA—CHARACTER OF
THE EARLY CHRONICLERS FOR VERACITY.

The voyages of Bastidas and Columbus completed the discovery of a continuous coast line from the gulf of Paria to Cape Honduras. In 1506 Juan Diaz de Solis, a native of Lebrija, and Vicente Yañez Pinzon took up the line of discovery at the island of Guanaja, where the admiral had first touched, and proceeding in the opposite direction sailed along the coast of Honduras to the westward, surveyed the gulf of Honduras and discovered Amatique Bay, but passed by without perceiving the Golfo Dulce which lies hidden from the sea. The object still was to find the much-desired passage by water to the westward. Continuing northerly along Yucatan, and finding the coast trending east rather than west, they abandoned the undertaking and returned to Spain. Meanwhile Juan Ponce de Leon was enriching himself by the pacification of Puerto Rico, preparatory to invading the mainland to the northward in search of the fountain of youth; in which sapient attempt he lost his money, and not long afterward his life, unfortunately never finding the liquid immortality that bubbled somewhere in the jungles of Florida.

And now ten years had elapsed since Cabot and Columbus first saw the western continent, the former in 1497, the latter in 1498, and although several attempts had been made, as yet there was no European settlement on any part of it. It was not that the thirst for western spoils was by any means assuaged; but Ferdinand was busy, and the experiences of Ojeda and Columbus on the mainland were not encouraging to the most chivalrous cupidity. Returned, however, from his Neapolitan wars in 1507, his disaffected nobles somewhat quieted, and the disputes attending Isabella's succession allayed, the king began to look about him. By the queen's testament he inherited one half the revenues of the Castilian colonies. And the king wanted money. It is a royal weakness. Then he remembered what Columbus had reported of the rich coast of Veragua; and although the licenses hitherto granted for private voyages had not proved very lucrative, and expenditures at Santo Domingo were too near receipts to be satisfactory, no better way seemed feasible than to throw open to colonization the mainland, or _tierra firme_, as the discovered portion of the continent now began to be called.[VI-1] Further than this, Ferdinand was well aware that if he would retain his western possessions he must occupy them; for stimulated by the success of Portugal and Spain, France, England, Holland, and Sweden had all awakened to oceanic enterprise. He had before this commissioned Ojeda to watch the inroads of the English at the north, and directed Pinzon to have an eye on the Portuguese and the pope's partition line at the south; now he was resolved to break the territory into kingdoms and provinces, and apportion them for government to such of his subjects as were able and willing to colonize at their own cost.

[Sidenote: OJEDA AND NICUESA.]

When the intention of the king was known, two dashing cavaliers appeared and asked for the government of the rich coast of the Tierra Firme. One was Diego de Nicuesa, a native of Baeza, well-born and an accomplished courtier, having been reared by Enrique Enriquez, chief steward and uncle of the king. He came to the Indies first with Ovando. The other was Alonso de Ojeda, then in Santo Domingo, and already famous in New World annals, making his first appearance there with Columbus in his second voyage, and having already achieved two notable voyages to Paria, or the Pearl Coast, one in 1499 with Juan de la Cosa and Amerigo Vespucci, and one in 1502, with García de Ocampo and Juan de Vergara. The last had been made in four ships, and for the purpose of colonizing; instead of which disputes arose, and the fiery commander was seized and carried in shackles to Española. There he was tried, and a decision rendered against him, which however was overruled on appeal to the Council of the Indies; but he came out of his difficulties stripped of all his possessions.

The candidates were much alike, each being a fair type of the Spanish cavalier. Both were small in stature, though none the less men of prowess. Symmetrical in form, muscular, active, and skilful in the use of weapons, they delighted in tilting matches, feats of horsemanship, and in all those pastimes which characterized Spanish chivalry at the close of the Mahometan wars. The school in which Ojeda had studied experience, as page to the duke of Medina Celi, who appeared in the Moorish wars at the head of a brilliant retinue, was in no wise inferior to that of his rival. Their accomplishments were varied, though not specially in the direction of colonizing new countries. Not only was Nicuesa a fine musician, playing well the guitar, and having some knowledge of ballad literature, but he could make his horse prance in perfect time to a musical instrument. As for Ojeda, there was little, in his own opinion, he could not do. The more of recklessness and folly in the exploit the better he could perform it. Once at Seville, while Isabella was in the cathedral tower, out from which ran a beam, at a height so great that from it men on the ground looked like pygmies, to show the queen of what metal he was made, he mounted this beam, balanced himself, then tripped lightly as a rope-dancer to the end of it, wheeled, and lifting one foot poised himself on the other at this fearfully dizzy height, where almost a breath would dash him to destruction; then, returning, he stopped at the wall and placing one foot against it threw an orange to the top of the tower.

With such distinguished ability on either side, it was difficult to determine between them. Who so suitable to baffle miasma, poisonous reptiles, and wild beasts while dressing the institutions of Spain for the wilderness of America, as the graceful and witty Nicuesa! What a glorious missionary Ojeda would make! So moderate, so wise, so gentle, so just, both! Nicuesa had money, a necessary commodity to him who would colonize at his own cost. But then Ojeda had influence; for Fonseca was his friend, and an inquisitor his cousin. Yet Nicuesa was not without advocates at court; money alone was a powerful argument. When, finally, the veteran pilot, Juan de la Cosa, threw his experience and earnings upon the side of Ojeda, to whom he was devotedly attached, and offered himself to embark in the adventure, the king concluded to let them both go; and then it was that he divided Tierra Firme between them, making the gulf of Urabá[VI-2] the dividing point. The eastern or South American portion was called Nueva Andalucía, and of this Alonso de Ojeda was appointed governor; the western division, extending from the gulf of Urabá, or Darien, to Cape Gracias á Dios, was named by the king Castilla del Oro,[VI-3] or Golden Castile, and the command given to Diego de Nicuesa. The island of Jamaica, whence they expected to draw their supplies, was to be held in common by the two governors. Were it not so much more delightful to bargain with new suitors who have money, than to reward old servants who have none, a fine sense of decency might have prompted the monarch to give Castilla del Oro to the adelantado, Bartolomé Colon, who had assisted in discovering, and in an attempt to colonize the country, and who had little to show for his many and valuable services to Spain. But Diego Colon was determined they should not have Jamaica, and so sent thither Juan de Esquivel, as we have seen, to hold it for the governor of Santo Domingo.

[Sidenote: MAINLAND DIVISIONS.]

The mainland governors were each appointed for four years, during which time supplies were free from duties. Their outfit, with four hundred settlers and two hundred miners each, might be obtained from Santo Domingo. They were given the exclusive right to work for ten years all mines discovered by them on paying into the royal treasury for the first year one tenth of the proceeds, the second year one ninth, the third one eighth, the fourth one seventh, the fifth one sixth, and for the remaining five years one fifth. The king conditioned, moreover, that each governor should build two forts for the protection of the colonists, to whom the lands in the vicinity of which were to belong.

It so happened that the doughty little governors met at Santo Domingo, while making their final preparations. Swelling with new dignities, active and mettlesome, each desirous of obtaining as many recruits as possible, it was not long before they came into collision. First they quarrelled about Jamaica; as a supplement to which Ojeda stoutly swore that should he there encounter Juan de Esquivel, his head should pay the penalty. Then their partition line became a bone of contention, both claiming the Indian province of Darien.[VI-4] The geography of the coast was at that time but little known; their dominions toward the south were limitless, and for aught they knew larger than Spain. Although both the commanders were small corporally, in feeling they were large, and required much room. The breach thus opened was in no wise lessened by the superior success of Nicuesa, who with a deeper purse, and a government famous for its wealth, drew off recruits from his less fortunate rival. Five large caravels and two brigantines, flying the flag of Castilla del Oro, rode in the harbor. All were well equipped and liberally provisioned; and already Nicuesa mustered nearly eight hundred men and six horses, while Ojeda at his best could muster but three hundred men in two small ships and two brigantines.[VI-5]

[Sidenote: THE RIVAL GOVERNORS.]

Nettled at every turn he made about the little town, Ojeda, who was a better swordsman than logician, at length proposed to settle all scores by single combat. "Agreed," replied Nicuesa, who was equally brave yet less passionate, "but for what shall we fight? Match me with five thousand castellanos, and I am your man." Finally old Juan de la Cosa interfered to prevent bloodshed; the river Darien, or Atrato, was made the dividing line, and measures were taken to hasten departure before the fire of hot Ojeda should blaze out again.

But Ojeda was not without his little triumphs. There dwelt at this time at the capital of the Indies a lawyer, known as the Bachiller[VI-6] Martin Fernandez de Enciso, who during a successful practice of many years had accumulated some two thousand castellanos. Tempted by the offer of being made alcalde mayor[VI-7] of the new government, he was induced by the impetuous Ojeda to embark his entire fortune in the adventure. It was arranged that the bachiller should remain at Santo Domingo for some time after the departure of Ojeda, in order to obtain further recruits and fit out another ship, and then follow the governor to Nueva Andalucía.

Of Ojeda's party was Francisco Pizarro; and flitting restlessly from one heterogeneous group to another, enviously watching preparations in which circumstances prevented their participating, were other dominant spirits waiting opportunity, notably Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, tied by debt to distasteful agriculture, and Hernan Cortés, fortunately forbidden to embark by illness.

Ojeda was the first to sail, embarking November 10, 1509. Nicuesa would have weighed anchor at the same time, but was prevented by his creditors; for his success in securing followers was attended by so copious a drain of purse that not only his money but his credit was gone.

Favorable winds wafted Ojeda quickly to Cartagena, where he landed and proclaimed in loud and vaunting tones his manifesto.[VI-8] A shower of poisoned darts was the reply; a mark of disrespect from his new subjects which set the governor's blood boiling. Breathing a short prayer to the virgin, Ojeda seized a lance, and charging the natives at the head of his followers scattered them in the forest, and rashly pursued them. These were no effeminate islanders; the women fought side by side with the men, who were equal to those of Veragua, with the additional advantage of envenomed arrow-points, which, with the occasional shelter their forests afforded, made them more than a match for the Spaniards.[VI-9] This Ojeda had all to learn, and to pay dearly for the knowledge. Of seventy of his best and bravest who followed him four leagues inland but one returned. Even his staunch and veteran friend, Juan de la Cosa, after vainly attempting to dissuade his self-willed colleague from his purpose, placed himself by his side and died there. Ojeda fought like a tiger until his men were scattered and killed, and he was left wounded and alone in a marshy thicket, where several days after a fresh party from the ships found him half-dead. When warmed into life and returned to the harbor he saw entering it Nicuesa's fleet he hid himself, afraid to meet his rival in that plight. Told of this by Ojeda's men, as supplemental to their dismal tale, Nicuesa's anger was aroused at the unjust suspicion. "Tell your commander," he exclaimed, "that Diego de Nicuesa is a Christian cavalier who makes no war on a prostrate foe; that not only shall past feuds be buried, but he promises never to leave this spot until the deaths of Juan de la Cosa and his comrades are avenged." He was as good as his word. Landing four hundred men, he surprised an Indian village, put men, women, and children to the sword, and secured large booty.

[Sidenote: NUEVA ANDALUCÍA.]

After Nicuesa had departed on his way, Ojeda cast off from that ill-fated shore his ships, and brought them to the gulf of Urabá, where on its eastern side, near the entrance, he built a fortress, the beginning of his capital city, and called it San Sebastian[VI-10] in honor of the arrow-martyred saint, whose protection he craved from the venomous darts of his subjects. From San Sebastian, Ojeda despatched to Santo Domingo one of his vessels with the gold and captives he had taken, at the same time urging Enciso to hasten his departure, and send supplies. Meanwhile Ojeda's temper, which was as sharp and fiery as Damascus steel, made little head-way against tangled marshes and poisoned arrows. Persisting in his high-handed policy, he could do nothing with the natives, food being as difficult to obtain as gold, and his ranks rapidly thinned.

While harassed by hunger and watching anxiously the coming of Enciso and the return of their ships, the colonists descried one day a strange sail. On reaching San Sebastian it proved to be a Genoese vessel which, while loading with bacon and cassava bread at Cape Tiburon, had been piratically seized by one Bernardo de Talavera and a gang of vagabonds from Santo Domingo, who escaped with their prize and had come to Nueva Andalucía to seek fortune under the wise and happy rule of Governor Ojeda. To buy the cargo was the work of a moment, for the pirates were very ready to sell; and, indeed, had they not been, the governor would have compelled them. The poison was in his blood, which was now hot with fever, and he was in no mood for ceremony. But the relief thus obtained was only temporary. Day by day the food supply diminished. The colonists were reduced in number from three hundred to three score. And with bodily ailment came as usual mind-distempers, wranglings, ruin, and despair. Where now was the valiant Ojeda? Humiliated to the dust, as well before the savages as before the Spaniards.

[Sidenote: DEATH OF OJEDA.]

Yet he would not yield to fate without another effort, wasted and weak as he was. Giving Pijano command of the fortress, Ojeda took passage in the freebooter's ship and sailed for Santo Domingo. But his patroness, the virgin, had indeed deserted him. Shipwreck met him at Cuba, whence he crossed to Jamaica. Talavera and his gang, after the most extraordinary exertions, likewise reached Jamaica, but only to be seized by order of Diego Colon and hanged. Ojeda said nothing to Esquivel about striking off his head, but humbly took the kindly extended aid. Proceeding to Española in a caravel he found Enciso gone, and himself a bankrupt invalid. Pride, which seldom deserts a Spanish cavalier, gave way. Reduced to penury, broken-hearted, he died, begging as proof of his humility to be buried under the monastery portal, that all who entered should tread upon his grave. Farewell, daring, dashing, irrational Ojeda!

Let us now look after Nicuesa. When from the discomfited Ojeda the gallant governor of Castilla del Oro last parted, he coasted westward toward Veragua, where he purposed to plant his colony. The better to survey the seaboard, he took a small caravel, and ordered Lope de Olano, his lieutenant, to attend him with two brigantines, while the larger vessels kept farther from the shore. Thus they proceeded until reaching the Indian province of Cueba, where a port was discovered into which flowed a small stream called Pito. There they landed and said mass,[VI-11] and therefore named the place Misas.

Leaving there the largest ships in charge of a relative named Cueto, who was to receive word when to follow, Nicuesa pressed forward toward Veragua with a caravel carrying sixty men, Lope de Olano still attending in a brigantine with thirty men. A storm arising not long after, the latter took advantage of this and the darkness of the night to separate from him, impelled partly by a conviction that they were on the wrong course, partly by ambitious projects. After waiting two days in vain for his companion Nicuesa continued westward. In the search for Veragua he attempted to follow a chart drawn by Bartolomé Colon, though his pilots Diego de Ribero and Diego Martin, both of whom had been with Columbus, assured him that he had passed the place. The storm increasing, Nicuesa ran his vessel into the mouth of a large river; but when attempting to proceed after the storm he found himself caught in a trap, and his vessel on the bar amidst the breakers, the water having subsided. Unable to move the ship in either direction, its destruction was inevitable, and the men set about saving themselves. A rope was stretched to the shore at the cost of a life; and scarcely had the last person reached land when the vessel went to pieces.

[Sidenote: CASTILLA DEL ORO.]

Behold, then, the courtly Nicuesa, so lately the proud commander of a fleet, by this sudden freak of fortune cast upon an inhospitable shore, his whereabouts unknown to himself or to those in the ships, and his almost naked followers destitute of food, save one barrel of flour and a cask of oil flung them by the surly breakers! His mind was moreover ill at ease concerning Olano, whose reputation was none of the best, and who Nicuesa thought might have joined him had he been disposed. The ship's boat fortunately drifted ashore, and in it Nicuesa placed Diego de Ribero and three seamen, ordering them to keep him company along the shore, and render assistance in crossing streams and inlets. Already faint with hunger, they began their march. But whither? Still westward, but not toward Veragua. Each weary footstep carried them farther and farther from their destination. It was not a pleasant journey feeling their way through tropical forests, with such impediments as tangled jungles, hot malarious mudbeds, craggy hills and treacherous streams to block their way. Some of the party had no shoes, some no hat; sharp stones cut their feet, thorny brambles tore their flesh, and their half-clad bodies were exposed alternately to burning sun and drenching rain. They were soon glad to get shell-fish and roots to eat with their leaves. One day an arrow from an overhanging height struck dead Nicuesa's page, but fortunately the savages retired without pressing their advantage. Nicuesa's dog, seeing murder in his hungry master's eye, took to his heels and was never afterward seen. Yet greater misfortunes awaited the Spaniards. After crossing an inlet in the boat one evening, they rested for the night, and in attempting to resume their march next morning found themselves upon an island. Calling for Ribero, he was missing. Nor was the boat anywhere to be seen. It could not be possible that he had left them to die on that circumscribed and barren spot. Loudly they called, searching every inlet, and sweeping the horizon with terror-lighted eyes. It was true; they were abandoned!

It is curious to witness the effect of despair on different minds, of the near approach of that hateful means for our final suppression. Some will fight the monster; others succumb, sinking into drivelling imbecility; others calmly abandon themselves to the inevitable, even the ludicrous aspect of the case coming home to some of them, looking grimly cheerful. As elsewhere, both fools and philosophers were found among Nicuesa's crew. Some prayed and confessed, with divers degrees of accompaniment, from low lamentation to frantic raving; some cursed; some nursed their horror in sullen silence.

I shall not attempt to describe Nicuesa's sufferings while on this island. Suffice it to say that on a scanty diet of roots and shell-fish with brackish water many died, while others wished themselves dead; for the former might rot in peace, but the latter yet living swarmed with impatient vermin. And there was little satisfaction in effort, when drinking only increased thirst, and eating but kept alive despondency. Truly it was a good thing, a grand thing to adventure life to capture wild lands and rule one's fellows!

Thus weeks passed. Then like a ray shot from the Redeemer's throne a sail was seen. Men wasted to the last extremity shook off death's grip and roused themselves, stretching their long lank necks, their bony chins and glazed eyes toward the approaching vessel, which soon came to anchor before the island. Ribero was not a villain after all. Satisfied that Veragua was behind them, but unable to convince Nicuesa, Ribero won over to his views the three boatmen, left the island during the night, retraced their course and reached Veragua. There they found the colonists, with Olano bearing rule, who on the information of Ribero could scarcely do less than send his governor succor.[VI-12]

* * * * *

Leaving here Nicuesa, let us inquire concerning the other portions of his scattered colony. Two months having elapsed since the departure of the governor from the port of Misas, and hearing nothing from any one, Cueto, in whose charge the fleet was left, became uneasy, and taking a small vessel, set out in search of his commander. The only tidings he could gain were from a letter found on an island, wrapped in a leaf and fastened to a stick, which informed him that Nicuesa was well and still journeying westward. Returning to Misas, Cueto with the entire fleet sailed for Veragua; but so badly worm-eaten were the ships that he was obliged to come to anchor at the mouth of the River Chagre,[VI-13] which from the ravenous alligators that swarmed there was called by the Spaniards Lagartos. There portions of the cargoes were landed; and while attempts were made to repair the ships, one of the pilots, Pedro de Umbría, was sent in quest of the lost governor. Meanwhile Lope de Olano arrived.

[Sidenote: WOES OF NICUESA.]

Evidently the lieutenant did not in his heart desire his captain's return. For although in reciting to his comrades the circumstances of the storm, and the disappearance of the governor, with such variations as suited his purpose, with tears which would have done honor to the crocodiles thereabout, he made no effort to find Nicuesa. He affected to believe him dead. "And now, gentlemen," he said, "let no more mention be made of him if you would not kill me."

The fleet now proceeded to Belen, where the usual catalogue of disasters attends the disembarkation. Four men are drowned. The worm-eaten ships are dismantled, broken in pieces, and of the fragments huts are made on the site formerly occupied by Bartolomé Colon. Olano, after some opposition, is formally proclaimed lieutenant-governor. Raids follow; but the quibian, grown wise by experience, retires with his people, and leaves the Spaniards to shift for themselves. There being nothing to steal, they starve. Disease and disaffection follow; Olano is not happy.

Wrathful, indeed, was Nicuesa on reaching Belen. Against Olano his indignation was extreme. He charged him with wilful desertion, with felonious destruction of the ships, and with gross mismanagement. He had ruined all. Branding him as a traitor he ordered his arrest; and when some feeble attempts were made by the others to mitigate the governor's displeasure, he broke forth on them. "It well becomes you," he exclaimed, "to ask pardon for him, when you should be begging mercy for yourselves!"

But of what use were oaths and bickerings? Of his gallant company half were dead, and the less fortunate remainder lived only to suffer yet awhile before following. Of all the men who came from Spain, proud Nicuesa lost the most, having most to lose. Of all New World woes, Nicuesa's woes were greatest; the half of what thus far has been words cannot tell, and the worst part is yet to come.

[Sidenote: NOMBRE DE DIOS.]

Now that the rich Veragua was reached, the Golden Castile of greedy anticipations, what then? The gold with which to load the ships was wanting; the ships with which to bear away that gold were almost all destroyed. The fertile soil was marshy, the spicy air malarious, the redundant vegetation yielded little food for man. Sallow-faced skeletons of men clamored their distress. Death was busy enough, so Olano's life was spared, though his badge of office was exchanged for fetters. Even foragers perished for want of food; every member of one band died from eating of a putrescent Indian. The governor grew peevish; his generous temper was soured by misfortune. The colonists complained of his harsh treatment and indifference to their sufferings. And they said to him: "The fates are against us here; let us abandon this place." "Oh, very well!" snarled Nicuesa. Leaving Alonso Nuñez, with the dignified title of alcalde mayor, and a few men to harvest some grain planted by Olano, the colonists embarked in two brigantines and a caravel, built of fragments of the broken ships, to seek some healthier spot. After sailing eastward some twenty leagues, a Genoese sailor named Gregorio addressed the governor: "I well remember, when with the admiral in this vicinity we entered a fine port where we found food and water." After some search the place was found, the Portobello of Columbus, and an anchor dropped there by the admiral was seen protruding from the sand. Landing for food, the Spaniards were attacked and twenty killed; indeed, they could scarcely wield their weapons so weak were they. Faint and disheartened they continued their way about seven leagues farther, when approaching the shore Nicuesa cried out: "Paremos aquí en el nombre de Dios!" Here let us stop in God's name! They found anchorage, the place being the Puerto de Bastimentos of Columbus. The companions of Nicuesa, however, ready in their distress to seize on any auspice, took up the cry of their commander and applied the words Nombre de Dios[VI-14] to the harbor which they then entered, and which name to this day it bears.

Here another attempt was made to locate the government of Castilla del Oro. Disembarking, Nicuesa took formal possession, erected a fortress, and began again his necessary though suicidal policy of foraging. The natives retired. The malarious atmosphere wrapped the strangers in disease and death. The caravel was sent back to Veragua, and Alonso Nuñez and the remnant of the colony brought away. The vessel was then sent to Española for supplies, but neither ship nor crew were ever afterward heard from. Meanwhile Nicuesa and the remnant of his luckless company made a brave stand, but all of no avail. Long since fate had decreed their destruction. It was not possible in their present condition to live. Reptiles as food became a luxury to them; the infected sunlight dried up their blood; despair paralyzed heart and brain; and to so dire extremity were they finally reduced that they were scarcely able to mount guard or bury their dead.[VI-15]

In my bibliographical notices thus far I have had occasion to make mention more particularly of original documents referring to individual episodes. I will now say a few words concerning the early chroniclers, Las Casas, Oviedo, Peter Martyr, and Gomara, and of the later and more general writer, Herrera. On these, the corner-stones of early Spanish American annals, the fabrics of all who follow them must forever rest.

[Sidenote: THE WRITINGS OF LAS CASAS.]

The lives of Las Casas and Oviedo constitute in themselves no small portions of their respective histories. Both came to the New World, and each took an active and prominent part in many of the matters of which he wrote. They were nearly of an age; the former being born at Seville in 1474, and the latter at Madrid in 1478; but Oviedo did not come to America until 1514, being with Pedrarias Dávila when he went to govern Darien, while Las Casas took up his residence under Ovando at Española in 1502. Las Casas was an ecclesiastic whose life was devoted to befriending the Indians, and he did not leave America for the last time until 1547, after half a century of most humane service; Oviedo was a cavalier who sought to better his broken fortunes by obtaining through his influence at court the office of _veedor de las fundiciones del oro de la Tierra Firme_, supervisor of gold-melting for Tierra Firme, which office he held throughout his connection with the affairs of the continental Indies, until 1532. Both were influential men at court, Las Casas being quite intimate with young Charles, while Oviedo had been _mozo de cámara_, or page to Prince Juan. Both made frequent trips between Spain and America; Oviedo crossed the Atlantic twelve times, Las Casas even more.

Las Casas was as able an annalist as he was reformer. His greatest work, _Historia de las Indias_, was begun in his fifty-third year, and completed in 1561, five years before his death. It was extensively copied and used in manuscript, but was not printed until 1875-76. Though consisting of five volumes, it comprises but three decades, or books, and brings the history of the New World down only to 1520. It was the author's original intention to have continued his work through six decades, which would have brought it down to 1550, and hence have included his important experiences in Guatemala, Chiapas, and Mexico. Next to the general history of the Indies stands the _Apologética Historia_, comprising a description of the country and the customs of the people, and written to defend the natives against the accusation that they lacked system in their societies, not having reason to govern themselves. His first printed work was issued in Mexico in 1546; it was entitled _Cancionero Spiritual_, and was dedicated to Bishop Zumárraga. At Seville, in 1552, was published, in one volume 4to, _Breve relacion de la destruccion de las Indias Occidentales_, and other tracts of a similar nature; such as his Controversy with Sepúlveda; his Thirty Propositions; Remedies for the Reformation of Indies; Rules for Confessors; a treatise proving the sovereign empire and universal authority which the kings of Castile and Leon have over the Indies, etc. This collection was put in print in Latin, French, Italian, German, and Dutch, some of the translations appearing in several editions. The Controversy with Sepúlveda was issued separately. Juan Antonio Llorente printed at Paris in 1822 a _Coleccion de las Obras del Obispo de Chiapa_, 2 vols. 8vo, which was published the same year in French, under title of _Œuvres de Don Barthélemi de las Casas_. The collection comprises several of his less important works; the French translation is remarkably free, the author being at times quite lost sight of, and several new pieces of doubtful origin are added. As a writer, Las Casas is honest, earnest, and reliable, except where his enthusiasm gets the better of him. His learned opponent and arch-enemy, Sepúlveda, pronounces him most subtle, most vigilant, and most fluent, compared with whom the Ulysses of Homer was inert and stuttering. He was not only a thorn in the flesh of evil-doers, but by his persistent and stinging effrontery he often exasperated mild and benevolent men. But whatever his enemies may say of him, and they are neither few nor silent, true it is that of all the men who came to the Indies he almost alone leaves the furnace with no smell of fire upon him.

[Sidenote: GONZALO FERNANDEZ DE OVIEDO Y VALDÉS.]

Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés was of the noble family of Oviedo in Asturias. In early childhood, before entering the service of Prince Juan, he was with the duke of Villa Hermosa. While watching the fall of Granada he met Columbus, and afterward witnessed his triumph at Barcelona. After the death of his young master in 1497, who in fact was of his own age, Oviedo went to Italy, where art and science were enlivened by war, serving under Frederico of Naples, and sometimes jewel-keeper to Queen Juana. Married at Madrid, in 1502, to the beautiful Margarita de Vergara, whom he lost in childbirth ten months after, he plunged into the excitement of war, serving as secretary to Córdoba in the French campaign. Marrying again, he hovered about the court until, in his thirty-sixth year, his dwindling fortunes sent him with Pedrarias to Darien, in the capacity before mentioned. His doings there will be told in the text of this history; suffice it to say here that most of his time there was spent in broils with the governor, beside which he had to endure the loss of his wife and child, imprisonment, and the dangerous wound of an assassin's knife. But, obtaining at last the appointment of Pedro de los Rios in place of Pedrarias, and for himself the governorship of Cartagena, which office, however, he never exercised, after three years' further residence in Tierra Firme, this time in Nicaragua, he returned to Spain in 1530, spent two years in arranging his notes, resigned his _veeduría_, and received the appointment of _Cronista general de Indias_. In the autumn of 1532 he went to Santo Domingo, and although appointed the following year alcalde of the fortress of Santo Domingo, the remainder of his life was passed chiefly in literary work. After an eventful life of seventy-nine years he died at Valladolid in 1557, while engaged in the preparation for the press of the unpublished portion of his history. Throughout the whole of his career Oviedo seems to have devoted every spare moment to writing. Even before he was appointed royal chronicler he was an indefatigable collector of material. He was well acquainted with the prominent persons of his time, and few expeditions were made without adding to his store. Want of discrimination in the use of authorities is more prominent in his writings than want of authorities. Of twelve literary efforts but one, beside those relating to America, found its way into print. He formed the plan of writing about the New World long before he first crossed the ocean, and actually began his history, according to José Amador de los Rios, before 1519, keeping open the general divisions for additions to the day of his death. After his return from the second voyage to Darien he wrote at the request of the king, and chiefly from memory, as his notes were at Santo Domingo, _De la Natural Hystoria de las Indias_, printed at Toledo in 1526. This work was republished by Barcia, _Historiadores Primitivos_, i., translated into Italian by Ramusio, _Viaggi_, iii., and garbled by Purchas in _His Pilgrimes_, iv. 5. This, it must be borne in mind, is totally distinct from the _Historia General y Natural de las Indias, Islas y Tierra-Firme del Mar Océano, por el Capitan Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés, primer cronista del Nuevo Mundo_, and which alone admits the author to the first rank as a historian. The General History was originally divided into three parts, containing in all fifty books. The first part, comprising nineteen books, with the preface and ten chapters of the fiftieth book—not 20, 21, or 22 books as different bibliographers state—was published during the author's life at Seville in 1535, under the title _Historia General_, etc., and republished at Salamanca in 1547 as _Hystoria General_. This rare issue contains in several places a few columns of additional matter which have not escaped my attention. An Italian version of the same parts was published by Ramusio in his _Viaggi_, iii.; the first ten books were translated into French and published as _Histoire Naturelle_, etc., Paris, 1556; the twentieth book, or the first of the second part, was published separately at Valladolid in 1557 as _Libro XX._, etc. Thirteen chapters of Book XLII., relating to Nicaragua, were published in French by Ternaux-Compans, _Histoire du Nicaragua_, in his second series of Voyages, iii., Paris, 1840. Finally, the fifty books complete were beautifully and accurately printed at Madrid in four folio volumes, with plates, by the Real Academia de la Historia in 1851-55. The editor, José Amador de los Rios, gives in an introduction the best notice of the life and writings of the author extant. Oviedo was not a learned man like Peter Martyr, and it is doubtful if a further insight into the books of the day would have made him any wiser; yet a man who could dictate the natural history of a new country without his notes cannot be called illiterate. He knew Latin and the modern languages; but his familiarity with Latin was not sufficient to prevent an unpleasant parade of it. Nor did he possess the genius or practical sagacity of Las Casas; yet his extraordinary opportunities were not wholly wasted, nor did life at court, political quarrels, or gold-gathering at any time wholly stifle his ambition to achieve the useful in letters. Oviedo was a fair example of the higher type of Spaniard of that day; he was intelligent, energetic, brave; but cold, unscrupulous, and cruel. And this is true, without going full length with Las Casas in his fiery fanaticism when he says:—"Oviedo should regret what he has written of the Indians; he has borne false witness against them; and has calumniated them in every way.... He should have inscribed on his title-page, 'This book was written by a conqueror, robber, and murderer of the Indians, whole populations of whom he consigned to the mines, where they perished'.... His work is as full of lies as of pages." To which sentiment I by no means subscribe. Probably no kind of work, however thoroughly and conscientiously done, is more open to criticism, is more certain to be criticised on every side, than contemporaneous history from facts for the first time gathered, and from many and conflicting witnesses. Ternaux-Compans says well:—"Oviedo n'est pas exempt des préjugés de son temps contre les Indiens, mais après tout, ce qu'il dit se rapproche plus de la vérité que les peintures fantastiques de l'évêque de Chiapa, qui veut retrouver l'âge d'or même chez les nations les plus féroces." Both of these authors, Las Casas and Oviedo, wrote in the heat of the engagement of the abnormal and ill-understood scenes passing under their immediate notice. What they wrote was certainly true to them; it is our business to analyze and sift, and make their records true to us. In the showy criticisms of these and a kindred class of authors we see generally something brought in about style and arrangement. The latter is always bad, and the index worse than none; but critics should find something better to do than find fault with the words and their arrangement of these old fighting chroniclers. Of course their style is bad, abominable; but who cares for style in them? One wants only the facts. Their books are not made to be read, but to be used. Rios seems to entertain a proper appreciation of the matter when he writes:—"Mas ya fuera porque procurase dar á su lectura aquella diversidad, tantas veces por él apetecida, ya porque la misma fatiga é irregularidad con que recibia los datos, le impidiese someterlos á un plan maduro é inalterable; es lo cierto que la crítica de nuestros dias, al par que aprecia y agradece tan interesantes inquisiciones, echa de menos cierta cohesion y armonia en la exposicion de las costumbres de los indios, no hallando mayor enlace en la narracion de los descubrimientos y conquistas, que ni se refieren siempre en órden cronológico, ni guardan entre sí la conveniente relacion para que pueda comprenderse sin dificultad su influencia recíproca."

[Sidenote: PETER MARTYR'S WORKS.]

While the Protector of the Indians and the First Chronicler of the New World were thus gathering and recording historical data in the several parts of America, one of the most learned men of Europe, Pietro Martire d'Anghiera, or latinized Anglerius, commonly called Peter Martyr, was collecting similar facts in Spain, and recording them, copiously diluted with the philosophy of the day, in the form of ten-year epochs, constituting in the end a series of decades. The duchy of Milan was the early home of this chronicler, and 1457 the year of his birth. His family was of noble descent, and originally of Anghiera. Going to Rome in 1477 to finish his education, he became so conspicuous for learning and eloquence that ten years later the Spanish ambassador invited him to try his fortune at the court of the Spanish sovereigns. By them he was graciously received, especially by Isabella, who wished to occupy him in the instruction of the young nobles of Castile. The ardent Italian must have a taste of war, however, before settling into permanent sagedom; so he fought before Baza, and laid not down the sword till the city of the Alhambra fell. Then he became a priest, and turned toward pursuits more in keeping with his natural bent and erudition. He opened various schools of learning, which youth of quality made it the fashion to attend. Having risen into high consideration at court, in 1501 he was sent by the crown on missions to Venice and Cairo, in which he acquitted himself creditably, and wrote on his return the _De Legatione Babylonicâ_, an account of Lower Egypt in three books. On Ferdinand's death he was appointed by Jimenez ambassador to the Sultan Selim, but refused the honor on account of his age; and afterward he did not find Charles less inclined to acknowledge his merits. During the three years following his return from Egypt he was appointed prior of the cathedral of Granada, and by the pope apostolic prothonotary, and in 1518 he took his seat in the Council of the Indies. His life was one of rare industry, in which he gathered and disseminated much knowledge, and which gained him the respect of princes; his death occurred in 1526, in the 69th year of his age, and he was buried in his cathedral at Granada. Peter Martyr is the author of at least two great works, viewed historically. They are written in Latin, of anything but Ciceronian ring, for patristic is to the patrician Latin as the 'Frenche of Stratford atte Bowe' is to the French of Paris. Of these his two notable works the chief is _De Orbe Novo_, an account of the New World and its wonders, in eight decades, or books. The first, and the first three, of these decades were published at different times during the author's life, but the eight decades complete did not appear before 1530, when they were printed at Alcalá under the title _De Orbe Novo Petri Martyris ab Angleria Mediolanensis Protonotarii Cæsaris senatoris decades_. Three of the decades translated into English by R. Eden were printed in 1555, and reprinted in 1577, with another decade added by R. Willes. The best complete edition of the eight decades, in their original Latin, next appeared in Paris, published by R. Hakluyt, 1587. Indeed, beside the edition of 1530, this is the only complete original edition of the _De Orbe Novo_. In 1612 appeared the work entire in English, the result of the 'Industrie and painefull Trauaile of M. Lok Gent.' This has been included in a supplement to _Hakluyt's Voyages_, London, 1812. Beside these important editions, partial translations, extracts, and compilations have appeared at various times and in various languages. In 1534, at Venice, in Italian, were published, in three several parts, summaries of the history of the Indies taken from Peter Martyr, Oviedo, and others. The other of the two works alluded to is a collection of Peter Martyr's letters, in Latin, which brim with notices of contemporary events, and run from 1488 to his death. Two editions of these collected letters were published, the first at Alcalá in 1530, the second at Amsterdam, by the Elzevirs, in 1670. The title runs thus—_Opus Epistolarum Petri Martyris Anglerii Mediolanensis_, etc.; a translation of the letters has never been published. So confused, misdated, and interposed are the epistles that Hallam expressed his disbelief in any connection whatever between actual and ostensible dates and service. But the _De Orbe Novo_ may be regarded equal in authority to the relations of the eye-witnesses Las Casas and Oviedo. Peter Martyr was the first of the chroniclers to write and to publish on the New World, his decades beginning to appear about the time Oviedo first went to the Indies. Immediately Columbus set foot on shore, on his return from the first voyage, the eloquent and philosophic scholar began to question him and those who came with him, and to write, and he never ceased writing until death stopped him. There was so much for a man of his mind to think and talk about. For a time after this marvellous discovery the learned and intelligently curious lived in a ferment concerning it. It was to some extent the revolutionizing of science and philosophy. The lines of tradition were snapped; the cosmos had lost its continuity. Peter Martyr, a grave man of broad and deep capabilities; well situated for procuring information, meeting daily, many of them at his own table, those who had returned from the Indies—discoverers, conquerors, explorers, sailors, priests, and cavaliers—having access to the official letters, diaries, charts, and relations of these men, his account, I say, should be as reliable and as valuable as that of one who had actually mingled in the scenes described. In some respects it should be more so, able as he was to see with a hundred eyes instead of two, and to determine disputes more coolly and equitably. It is true his, records are marred by the haste with which they were written, and by the admitted lack of correction or revision by the author; order and method are nowhere present; mistakes and contradictions are frequent. But we have the raw material, which is far better than any elaboration. Las Casas was the first of the chroniclers to visit the Indies, and the last of the three thus far named to begin to write and publish history, which was in 1552. Oviedo began to write at about the date the history of Las Casas terminates. It was four years after the death of Peter Martyr that Oviedo was appointed official chronicler of the New World. The general relations of the three historians were antagonistic; from which their writings may all the better be brought to harmonize with truth. Of the hundreds who have made their criticisms on the writings of Peter Martyr I will mention but two. Says Las Casas, _Hist. Ind._, i. 32: "De los cuales cerca destas primeras cosas á ninguno se debe dar más fe que á Pedro Martir;" and Muñoz remarks, _Hist. Nuevo Mundo_, xiii.: "Merece indulgencia por el candor con que lo confiesa todo, por su ningun afan en publicar sus borrones, y principalmente porque tal qual es la obra de las décadas contiene muchísimas especies que no se hallan en otra parte alguna, y estas escritas con la conveniente libertad por un autor coetáneo, grave, culto, bien instruido de los hechos, y de probidad conocida."

[Sidenote: GOMARA AND HERRERA.]