Chapter VIII

1518-1524.

That part of the coast of the continent, now included in the territory of the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the westerly portion of Florida, was first discovered and explored by Alonso Alvarez de Pineda. The fleet which this Spaniard commanded was fitted out by Francisco de Garay, the wealthy governor of the island of Jamaica, who had accompanied Columbus to the New World in 1493. Bernal Diaz, in his history of the conquest of New Spain, thus speaks of this expedition: “In the year 1518, when the report of our having discovered this country, under Cordoba and Grijalva, and of the twenty thousand _pesos_ which came into the hands of Diego Velasquez, had spread through the whole of the West Indies,” and when Garay “received information of a new expedition that was destined for New Spain, under Hernando Cortes, he [Francisco de Garay] was seized with a great desire likewise to discover some new countries, and certainly he had more wealth at his command than we to fit out a fleet for such a purpose. He had learned considerable about the riches of the new countries from our old chief pilot Alaminos, and how thickly populated the provinces were on the river Panuco; and as several other sailors, who had accompanied us on those expeditions, confirmed what Alaminos had told him, he thought that it was to his advantage to request his majesty to grant him the permission to make further discoveries on the river Panuco, and to appoint him governor of all the lands he should discover. For this purpose he dispatched his major-domo, Juan de Torralva, to Spain, with letters and presents for those who at that time administered the affairs of the Indies, soliciting them to procure him the appointment mentioned.

“His majesty was at the time in Flanders, and the president of the council of the Indies, Don Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, bishop of Burgos and titular archbishop of Rosano, with the two licentiates Zapata and Vargas, and the secretary Lopez de Conchillos, managed the affairs of the Indies as they pleased. Garay therefore easily obtained the appointment of adelantado and governor of the provinces bordering on the river San Pedro and San Pablo, and of all the countries he should discover. By virtue of this appointment he fitted out three vessels, having on board two hundred and forty men, including a strong body of cavalry, cross-bowmen, and musketeers. The chief command of this fleet he gave to Alonso Alvarez de Pineda.[333]”

It is further related that the explorers set sail in 1519, toward “the peninsula of Florida, in twenty-five degrees of north latitude, for Florida appeared to them to be a very attractive island, and they thought that it was better to settle on islands than on the main-land, because they could more easily conquer the natives and keep them in subjection. They landed, but the people of Florida killed so many of them that they did not dare to settle there. They then sailed along the coast and came to the river of Panuco, five hundred leagues from the peninsula of Florida, measured on a course along the coast. The natives attacked them at every place. Many of them were killed at Chila [near the mouth of the river Panuco], where the natives flayed and eat those who fell into their hands, and hung up the skins in their temples to commemorate their valor.”[334]

Diaz further observes: “While we were lying at Villa Segura, Cortes was informed by letters that one of the vessels which Garay had fitted out for the purpose of forming settlements on the river Panuco had arrived at Vera Cruz. This vessel was commanded by a certain Comargo, and had on board more than sixty soldiers, who were all in bad health, with their bodies greatly swelled. This Comargo gave the particulars of the unfortunate termination of Garay’s expedition to the river Panuco.

“The Indians had massacred the commander-in-chief, Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, and all his soldiers and horses, and then had set fire to his vessels. Comargo alone had been fortunate enough to escape with his men on board of one of the vessels, and had steered for Vera Cruz, where the explorers arrived half famished, for they had not been able to procure any provisions from the enemy. This Comargo, it was said, had taken the vows of the order of the Dominicans.

“Comargo and his men, by moderate advances, at last arrived at Villa Segura, for they were so weakened that they could scarcely move along. When Cortes saw in what a terrible condition they were, he commended them to our care, and showed Comargo and all his men every possible kindness. If I remember rightly, Comargo died soon after, and also several of his men.”[335]

The fields of the explorations of Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, Juan de Grijalva, Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, and Juan Ponce de Leon are represented on a traced map of the coast of the continent and of the new lands (_traza de las costas de tierra-firme y de las tierras nuevas_), made in 1521, to define the limits of the jurisdictions of Juan Ponce Leon, Francisco de Garay, and Diego Velasquez.[336]

On the peninsula of Florida, delineated on the map, is inscribed in Spanish: “Florida called Bimini, which Juan Ponce discovered.” West of it is a broken line and this inscription: “As far as this Juan Ponce discovered.” At some distance farther west is another line of limitation and this explanation: “From here Francisco Garay began to discover.” West of this is the early designation of the Mississippi River, “Rio del Espiritu Santo” (River of the Holy Spirit). Southward beyond the mouth of the Panuco River is a third broken line and the inscription: “As far as this place Francisco de Garay discovered toward the west, and Diego Velazquez toward the east as far as Cabo de las Higueras, which the Pinzons discovered, and the population has given it to them.”

A tracing of the coasts of the Continent and of the New Lands, 1521, in the third volume of Navarrete’s “Coleccion de los Viages.”]

According to these _memoranda_ and the statements of Herrera, the Spanish historian, Juan Ponce de Leon explored the eastern coast of Florida from La Cruz, south of the thirty-first parallel, to a point on the southwestern coast, perhaps as far as Appalachee Bay. Alonso Alvarez de Pineda’s explorations, it would seem, began at Appalachicola Bay and ended at the Panuco River.[337]

The more northerly part of the eastern coast of Florida and coast of the present state of Georgia were inspected by the officers and crews of two vessels, equipped in 1520 in the port of La Plata, San Domingo, by seven citizens of that island. The ships were fitted out to sail among the Bahama Islands to kidnap Indians to work in the mines and on the plantations. Among the projectors of the expedition was Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon.[338] When the kidnapers arrived among the Bahama Islands they found them depopulated. “They determined,” it is said, “to go farther toward the north to search for a new country rather than return without any slaves. They reached a country called Chicora and Gualdape, in thirty-two degrees of north latitude”; where there was a cape, afterward called Cabo de Santa Elena (Cape of Saint Helen), and the Rio Jordan (River Jordan).[339]

“When our men steered toward the shore,” Peter Martyr relates, “the inhabitants, astonished at the sight of the ships, imagined that some monster was approaching. In order to satisfy their curiosity they flocked in great numbers to the shore. When our people were about to land with their boats the Indians ran rapidly away. As they fled our men pursued. Some of the youngest and the fastest runners overtook two of the natives, a man and a woman. They brought these to the ships, dressed them, and gave them their liberty. Impressed by this evidence of good-will the Indians returned in crowds to the beach. The king of the country, learning how our men had dealt with the man and the woman, and seeing the new and costly garments upon them (for the Indians only clothe themselves with the skins of lions or of other animals), sent fifty of his people to ours bearing the productions of the country. When visited by our people he was friendly and hospitable. When they expressed a desire to see the surrounding country he gave them guides and guards. Wherever they went the inhabitants came reverently to them with presents as unto gods to be adored, especially when they saw them having beards, and clothed with linen and silken garments. But what! The Spaniards violated the laws of hospitality. For by craft and various cunning devices, after they had seen all that they wished, they so managed that on an appointed day the Indians visited the ships to inspect them. When the vessels were crowded with these innocent people, the anchors were weighed and the sails hoisted, and the Indians were carried away mourning into servitude. Instead of friends, they made the people of those regions enemies, and having found them contented they left them miserable, having taken children from parents, and husbands from wives. Of the two ships one only returned, the other was never seen again. It was conjectured that all on board were drowned, the guilty and the guiltless, for it was an old ship....

“While they were there they explored the two principal regions, Chicora and Duharhe.... They say that the people of Chicora are half black or tawny as our farmers are, burned and tanned by the sun. The men allow their hair to grow long, which often extends down to their girdles. The hair of the women is much longer. Both sexes bind up their hair. The men have no beards. Whether or not they are so naturally or so by art is unknown; however, they take great pride in having smooth faces.... Leaving Chicora they went to the other side of the bay, and took possession of the region called Duharhe.”

Peter Martyr further observes that Ayllon had been a persistent solicitor at the court of Spain, and that he wanted to obtain letters-patent to go again to these countries “to plant a colony there.[340] ... He brought one of the natives of Chicora with him.... While he remained [in Spain] prosecuting his business, I sometimes had Ayllon, the master, and the Chicoran, his servant, as my guests. The Chicoran is not a dull person nor superficially intelligent. He has learned the Spanish language passably well. The things which Ayllon showed me, written by his men and reported by the Chicoran, that are strange and remarkable, I will relate.... Ayllon says the natives there [in Duharhe] are white, which also Franciscus, the tawny Chicoran, asserts, and that they have long yellow hair hanging down to their ankles.

“These people have a king of giant-like proportions, called Datha, and they say that the queen, his wife, is not much smaller.... This king being asked why he and his wife were so remarkably tall and the other people not, replied that their height was not hereditary, but that it had been caused by violent treatment. While they were infants in the charge of nurses their parents sent for those practicing the art, who anointed their limbs for a number of days with certain decoctions of herbs to soften their tender bones, which in time became as pliable as lukewarm wax. They then stretched their limbs, often leaving them almost dead. Thereupon the nurses, who had been fed with certain strength-producing meats, suckled them, the infants being covered with warm cloths. When they had again regained their vigor the practitioners again twisted and pulled their bones as they had previously done. This treatment was repeated from time to time until their limbs were lengthened so much that when they reached maturity they had the desired tallness....

“There is another region near Duharhe called Xapida. In it they say pearls and a precious stone resembling a pearl are to be found, which the natives highly prize. In all the country explored by them there were herds of deer kept like cattle with us. The deer fawn at home, and there they also rear their young. These deer, when free, wander and pasture in the woods during the day and at night return to their young. They are confined in pens and allow themselves to be milked.... The people fatten many kinds of fowl, as chickens, ducks, geese, and the like. Their bread is maize, the same as that of the people of the islands.... The grain of the maize is like our panic of Insubria, [in Italy,] but in size like pease. They sow another kind of corn called Xathi. They believe it is millet.... The natives have several varieties of potatoes, but they are small.... The Spaniards speak of many regions which they think are under the government of one and the same king,—Hitha, Xamunabe, Tihe.

“In this country they say there is a caste of priests differing from the people. These priests are held in great reverence by the inhabitants of the surrounding country. The natives of this region cut their hair, leaving only two curled locks hanging down in front of their ears, which locks they tie under their chins. The Spaniards explored many regions of this great country, which tracts they called Arambe, Guacaia, Quohathe, Tanzacca, Pahor. The inhabitants are all somewhat tawny and swart. None of them have any knowledge of letters, but they possess many traditions which they preserve and relate in rhymes and songs. They exercise themselves in dancing and skipping, and find much amusement in playing ball, for they are very nimble and skillful. The women sew and spin, and although for the most part they are dressed in the skins of wild animals, they have cotton and make thread from the fibres of certain tough plants, as our hemp or flax. There is another region called Inzignanin.”[341]

According to Gomara’s geographical description of the coast of North America, the explorations of the Spaniards who discovered Tierra de Ayllon (the Land of Ayllon) extended from the Cape of St. Helen, in 32°, northwardly forty leagues to the River Jordan. If Cape St. Helen were a point of land near the mouth of the Combahee River, the river Jordan was likely the Santee River, in South Carolina.[342]

Among the most renowned of the various maritime achievements which gave great fame to Spanish enterprise in seeking for a sea-path to Cathay by sailing toward the west, was that of the circumnavigation of the globe in the years 1519-1522. The remarkable voyage was begun by Fernam de Magalhaens, a Portuguese navigator. The first account of the expedition was written by Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian chevalier, who accompanied Magalhaens. Pigafetta’s connection with the exploration is explained by him in the opening chapter of his history of the voyage: “I learned that a squadron of five vessels were under equipment at Seville, destined for the discovery of the Molucca Islands from which we get our spices, and that Fernam de Magalhaens,[343] a Portuguese gentleman, and a commander of the order of St. Iago de la Spata, who had already more than once traversed the ocean with great reputation, was made captain-general of the expedition.[344] Therefore I immediately repaired to Barcelona to request permission of his majesty to be one of the number of persons to go on this voyage. My request was granted.”

The interested historian then relates: “The captain-general, Fernam de Magalhaens, had determined to undertake a long voyage across the ocean where the winds are violent and storms quite frequent. He also resolved to take a course not yet explored by any navigator, but this bold purpose he was cautious in disclosing lest some one should try to dissuade him from it by magnifying the risk he would run and thus dishearten his men. Besides the dangers common to a voyage like this one was the disadvantageous circumstance that the four other vessels under his command were in charge of captains inimical to him solely because he was a Portuguese and they were Spaniards.”

The fleet sailed from the port of Seville, on Monday morning, the tenth of August, 1519. The five ships proceeded southwardly along the coast of Africa, passed between Cape Verd and the islands of the Cape Verd group, and after reaching Sierra Leone, stood for the coast of Brazil.

“After we crossed the equator,” says Pigafetta, “we lost sight of the north star. We then steered south-southwest, making for Terra del Verzino (Land of Red wood), in latitude twenty-three degrees thirty minutes south latitude.[345] This country is a continuation of that in which Cape St. Augustine is situated, in eight degrees thirty minutes south latitude.”

The squadron entered the port now known as that of Rio Janeiro on St. Lucy’s day, the thirteenth of December.

“The land of Brazil, which produces every thing in abundance, is as large as Spain, France, and Italy united. It is one of the countries acquired by the king of Portugal. The people of Brazil are not Christians, nor are they idolaters, for they worship nothing.... They go entirely naked, the women as well as the men. Their houses are long cabins, which they call _boi_. They lie on cotton-nets called hammocks fastened at the ends to two strong posts. Their fire-places are on the ground. Their _bois_ frequently contain a hundred men, with their wives and children, consequently there is always considerable noise in these houses....

“The people of Brazil, both men and women, paint their bodies and particularly their faces in a singular manner with different figures. They have short, woolly hair on their heads, but none on other parts of their bodies, for they pluck it out. They have a dress made of the interwoven feathers of the parrot, and so arranged that the large quills of the wings and tail form a girdle about their loins, giving the wearer a unique and grotesque appearance. Almost all the men have their lower lips pierced with three holes, through which they thrust a slender cylindrical stone about two inches long. The women and children do not wear this cumbersome ornament.... Their color is more of an olive than a black.”

ON MERCATOR’S PROJECTION.]

After anchoring thirteen days in the port of Rio Janeiro, the fleet coasted southward to the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, where, as Pigafetta relates: “Juan de Solis, while on a similar voyage of discovery, was with sixty of his crew devoured by cannibals, in whom they placed too much confidence.”

At the beginning of winter, in the month of May, 1520, the fleet reached the port of St. Julian, “in forty-nine degrees thirty minutes,” where they anchored for five months.[346] Here the explorers were visited by a number of giants. Pigafetta, describing one of the visitors, remarks: “This man was so prodigiously large that our heads scarcely reached to his waist. He had an attractive appearance. His face was broad and painted red, with the exception of a circle of yellow round his eyes and two spots, figured like hearts, on his cheeks. His hair, which was thin, was whitened with some kind of a powder. His coat, or rather his mantle, was made of furs, well sewed together, taken from an indigenous animal, which afterward we had an opportunity to see. This animal [the guanaco] has the head and ears of a mule, the body of a camel, the legs of a stag, and the tail of a horse, and, like the latter, neighs. This man also wore shoes made of the skin of the same animal. In his left hand he carried a short and heavy bow; the string, somewhat thicker than a lute’s, was made of an intestine of the animal already mentioned. In his other hand he held arrows made of short reeds, with feathers at one end, similar to our arrows, and at the other, instead of iron, a white and black flint....

“The women are not as tall as the men, but they are much stouter.... They paint and dress in the same manner as their husbands, and use the thin skin of an animal to cover their nakedness. They were, in our judgment, far from handsome, nevertheless their husbands seemed jealous....

“Savage as these Indians are, they are not without their medicaments. When they have a pain in the stomach, in place of an active medicine they thrust an arrow far down the throat to cause them to vomit.... If they have the headache, they make a gash in their forehead, and do the same with other parts of their body where they suffer pain, to draw from the affected part a considerable quantity of blood....

“Their hair is cut circularly, like that of monks, but it is longer, and they confine it round the head with a cotton-string, in which bandage they place their arrows when they go hunting.... It appears that their religion is limited to adoring the devil. They pretend that when one of them is on the point of death, ten or twelve demons appear dancing and singing around the dying person.... These people, as I have already said, clothe themselves with the skin of an animal, and also cover their huts with the same kind of skin. They transport their huts, for they have no fixed place of abode, and wander about from place to place like gypsies. They live on raw meat and a sweet root called _capac_.... Our captain gave these people the name of Patagonians....

“Scarcely had we anchored in this roadstead before the four captains of the other vessels plotted to murder the captain-general. These traitors were Juan of Carthagena, inspector of the fleet, Luis de Mendoza, the treasurer, Antonio Cocca, the paymaster, and Gaspar de Casada. The plot was discovered. The first named was flayed alive, and the second stabbed to the heart. Gaspar de Casada was forgiven, but in a few days he was again treacherous. Then the captain-general (who did not dare to take Casada’s life, as he was made a captain by the emperor,) drove him from the fleet and left him in the country of the Patagonians, with a priest, his accomplice....

“We planted a cross on the summit of a neighboring mountain, which we named Monte Cristo, and took possession of the country in the name of the king of Spain....

“Continuing our course toward the south, on the twenty-first of October, in fifty-two degrees, we discovered a strait, which we called the Strait of the Eleven Thousand Virgins (xi. mila Vergini), in honor of the day. This strait, as it will hereafter appear, is four hundred and forty miles, or one hundred and ten leagues long, and about a half league wide, more or less.[347] It extends to another sea, which we named the Pacific Ocean (Mar pacifico). The strait lies between lofty mountains covered with snow, and the channel was so deep that we were compelled to anchor close to the shore.[348] ...

“The whole of the crew were so fully persuaded that this strait had no western outlet, that we should have left it unexplored had it not been for the profound scientific knowledge of the captain-general. Skillful as he was intrepid, he knew that he had to sail through a very secluded strait which he had seen marked on a chart, in the archives of the king of Portugal, drawn by that most excellent man, Martin of Boemia.[349]

“As soon as we entered the strait, imagined to be only a bay, the captain sent the two ships, the San Antonio and La Concepcion, in advance to explore it to its termination or to where it extended, while we, in the ships La Trinidad and La Victoria, remained at its mouth.[350]

“Two days passed before the vessels returned that had been sent to examine the bottom of the bay. We began to conjecture that they had been engulfed during the tempest which had occurred, for seeing smoke on shore we imagined that those who had the good fortune to escape had kindled fires to inform us of their existence and distress. But while in this painful suspense we saw the ships coming toward us under full sail and with their flags flying.... When we learned from those on board that they had seen the prolongation of the bay, or, more correctly, of the strait, we sailed to them to continue our voyage on this course, if possible.

“When we had entered into the third bay, which I have already mentioned, we saw two openings, or channels, the one running to the southeast, the other to the southwest.... The captain-general sent the two vessels, the San Antonio and La Concepcion, to the southeast to examine whether or not this channel terminated in an open sea. The first set sail immediately under press of canvas, not choosing to wait for the second, which the pilot wished to leave behind, for he had intended to avail himself of the darkness of the night to retrace his course and return to Spain by the same way he had come.

“This pilot was Estevan Gomez, who hated Magalhaens, for the sole reason that when Magalhaens came to Spain to lay his project before the emperor of going to the Moluccas by a western route, Gomez himself had already requested, and was on the point of obtaining, some caravels for an expedition of which he would have had the command. This expedition had for its object new discoveries, but the arrival of Magalhaens prevented his request from being granted, and he only obtained the subaltern position of pilot. His disaffection was further increased by the thought of his serving under a Portugese. In the course of the night he conspired with the other Spaniards on board the ship. They put in irons and even wounded the captain, Alvaro de Meschita, the cousin-german of the captain-general, and carried him to Spain.”[351]

When the strait was explored to its termination, the cape where the strait ended was called, says Pigafetta, “Il Cabo Deseado” (The Desired Cape).

On Wednesday, the twenty-eighth of November, 1520, the three ships left the strait and entered the unexplored expanse of the Pacific. “In the course of three months and twenty days,” Pigafetta observes, “we traversed nearly four thousand leagues on the ocean called by us the Pacific, on account of our not having experienced during this period any tempestuous weather. In this long space of time we did not descry any land, except two desert islands. On these we saw nothing but birds and trees, therefore we named them, Isole Sfortunato[352] (The Unfortunate Islands).... The two islands are two hundred leagues apart. The first lies in fifteen degrees south latitude, the second in nine degrees. According to the measure which we made of the voyage with the chain at the poop, we ran daily about sixty to seventy leagues.[353] If God and the Holy Mother had not granted us a fortunate voyage we should all have perished from hunger on so vast a sea. I do not think that any one will hereafter venture on a similar voyage.[354]

“If we had continued on a western course on the same parallel after leaving the strait we should have circumnavigated the globe without seeing any land except that extending from the Cape of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, at the eastern head of the strait, in the Ocean Sea (Mar oceano), to Cabo Deseado, at the western end, in the Pacific Sea (Mar pacifico). The two capes are in fifty-two degrees south latitude.

“The antarctic pole has not as many stars as the arctic. At the former a large number of small stars cluster together which form two _nebulæ_. They are separated from each other and are somewhat dim. In these _nebulæ_ are two large and brilliant stars which move very little. These indicate the antarctic pole. Although the needle declined somewhat from the arctic pole it still oscillated toward it, but not with the same force as when in the northern hemisphere. When the captain-general out at sea directed the course in which the pilots should steer, he asked them in what direction they steered. All of them replied that they bore in the direction in which he had ordered them. He then informed them that their course was wrong and directed them to correct the needle, because, as they were in the southern hemisphere, it had not the same power to designate the true north as in the northern hemisphere. When we got out in the open sea, we saw, in the west, a cross of five very bright stars.

“We steered northwest by west till we reached the equator in one hundred and twenty-two degrees of longitude, west of the line of demarkation.... After we crossed the equator we steered west by north. We then ran two hundred leagues toward the west, when, changing our course again, we ran west by south until we reached thirteen degrees of north latitude. We proposed by this course to reach Cape Catticara which geographers have placed in this latitude, but they are mistaken, for this cape lies twelve degrees more toward the north.”[355]

From the islands, which Magalhaens called “Isole de Ladroni,”[356] the three ships stood toward the Philippine Islands, where, on one called Matan, the captain-general was killed in an engagement with the natives, on the twenty-seventh of April, 1521. It was at the island of Zubu, near the former, “in ten degrees north latitude,” that Magalhaens, before his death, received the first intelligence respecting the Molucca Islands. On Wednesday, the sixth of November, 1521, the ships came in sight of the long-sought Spice Islands, and on Friday, the eighth of November, 1521, the Victoria and the Trinidad arrived at the island of Tadore. “We now,” Pigafetta remarks, “returned thanks to God and manifested our joy by firing a round from all of our large guns. It will not excite astonishment that we should be elated, when it is considered that we had been at sea twenty-seven months, wanting two days, and had visited numerous islands in search of those we had reached.

“The Portuguese had reported that the Molucca Islands lay in the middle of an impassable sea, full of shallows, and were surrounded by a cloudy, foggy atmosphere. We, however, found the contrary, and never had less than a hundred fathoms water all the way to the Molucca Islands.” The latter were five in number: Tarenate, Tadore, Mutir, Machian and Bachian.[357] When afterward cloves were found on the adjacent islands, the name Moluccas, was applied to all the islands lying between the Philippines and Java.

After a short sojourn at the Spice Islands, the return voyage was made by the ship La Victoria alone, commanded by Juan Sebastian del Cano,[358] who set sail from Tadore on the twenty-first of December, 1521, the ship La Concepcion having been burned at the island Bohol, and La Trinidad having been left at the Moluccas in a leaking condition. Following the route along the coast of Africa, the ship La Victoria arrived at Seville, on Monday, the eighth of September, 1522, she having sailed in the entire voyage, according to Pigafetta’s computation, fourteen thousand six hundred leagues. Thus passed into history the wonderful achievement of the first circumnavigation of the earth in three years and twenty-nine days.[359]

The signal success of the maritime enterprise of the Spaniards engendered a spirit of jealousy among the Portuguese. The feeling of being overshadowed by their persistent rival in reaching the Indies by the way of the West led them to accuse the Spaniards of encroaching on their commercial route to the Spice Islands, and of breaking the treaty of Tordesillas. The Spaniards in defence claimed that the Moluccas or the Spice Islands, found by Magellan’s companions, were not within the limits of the territory of the Portuguese as defined by the papal bull.

To settle these national differences the notable congress of Badajos was convened in the spring of 1524. The king of each country sent to it special commissioners, among which number were Fernando Columbus, Sebastian Cabot, Diego Ribero, and Estevan Gomez. For a number of days the two parties angrily disputed concerning the indefinite position of the line of demarkation as established by the treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. It was a question not easily decided where among the Cape Verd Islands the point was, through which, at the distance of three hundred and seventy leagues from it, the line of limitation passed to the poles, for the group of the Cape Verd Islands occupies a space in extent from east to west of about one hundred and fifty miles.

Wherever, east or west, they decided this point should be established each party was aware that so much space would be gained or lost on the opposite side of the earth by the one or the other of the two countries. The congress, after many exciting disputations, finally ended its session on the last day of May, without reaching any decision respecting the position of the papal line of limitation. The admission that Spain had full title to the Spice or Molucca Islands and that Portugal had acquired the right of possession of a part of Brazil, were the chief concessions made by this contentious body of learned men.[360]