Degradation - 3

Degradation   - 3

In the middle of October the caravels sailed from San Domingo, and the last sounds heard

by Columbus from the land of his discovery were the hoots and jeers and curses hurled

after him by the treacherous, triumphant rabble on the shore. Villegio treated him and his

brothers with as much kindness as possible, and offered, when they had got well clear of

Espanola, to take off the Admiral's chains. But Columbus, with a fine counterstroke of

picturesque dignity, refused to have them removed. Already, perhaps, he had realised that

his subjection to this cruel and quite unnecessary indignity would be one of the strongest

things in his favour when he got to Spain, and he decided to suffer as much of it as he

could. "My Sovereigns commanded me to submit to what Bobadilla should order. By his

authority I wear these chains, and I shall continue to wear them until they are removed by

order of the Sovereigns; and I will keep them afterwards as reminders of the reward I

have received for my services." Thus the Admiral, beginning to pick up his spirits again,

and to feel the better for the sea air.

The voyage home was a favourable one and in the course of it Columbus wrote the

following letter to a friend of his at Court, Dona Juana de la Torre, who had been nurse to

Prince Juan and was known by him to be a favourite of the Queen:

"MOST VIRTUOUS LADY,—Though my complaint of the world is new, its habit of illusing

is very ancient. I have had a thousand struggles with it, and have thus far withstood

them all, but now neither arms nor counsels avail me, and it cruelly keeps me under

water. Hope in the Creator of all men sustains me: His help was always very ready; on

another occasion, and not long ago, when I was still more overwhelmed, He raised me

with His right arm, saying, 'O man of little faith, arise: it is I; be not afraid.'

"I came with so much cordial affection to serve these Princes, and have served them with

such service, as has never been heard of or seen.

"Of the new heaven and earth which our Lord made, when Saint John was writing the

Apocalypse, after what was spoken by the mouth of Isaiah, He made me the messenger,

and showed me where it lay. In all men there was disbelief, but to the Queen, my Lady,

He gave the spirit of understanding, and great courage, and made her heiress of all, as a

dear and much loved daughter. I went to take possession of all this in her royal name.

They sought to make amends to her for the ignorance they had all shown by passing over

their little knowledge and talking of obstacles and expenses. Her Highness, on the other

hand, approved of it, and supported it as far as she was able.

"Seven years passed in discussion and nine in execution. During this time very

remarkable and noteworthy things occurred whereof no idea at all had been formed. I

have arrived at, and am in, such a condition that there is no person so vile but thinks he

may insult me: he shall be reckoned in the world as valour itself who is courageous

enough not to consent to it.

"If I were to steal the Indies or the land which lies towards them, of which I am now

speaking, from the altar of Saint Peter, and give them to the Moors, they could not show

greater enmity towards me in Spain. Who would believe such a thing where there was

always so much magnanimity?

"I should have much desired to free myself from this affair had it been honourable

towards my Queen to do so. The support of our Lord and of her Highness made me

persevere: and to alleviate in some measure the sorrows which death had caused her, I

undertook a fresh voyage to the new heaven and earth which up to that time had remained

hidden; and if it is not held there in esteem like the other voyages to the Indies, that is no

wonder, because it came to be looked upon as my work.

"The Holy Spirit inflamed Saint Peter and twelve others with him, and they all contended

here below, and their toils and hardships were many, but last of all they gained the

victory.

"This voyage to Paria I thought would somewhat appease them on account of the pearls,

and of the discovery of gold in Espanola. I ordered the pearls to be collected and fished

for by people with whom an arrangement was made that I should return for them, and, as

I understood, they were to be measured by the bushel. If I did not write about this to their

Highnesses, it was because I wished to have first of all done the same thing with the gold.

"The result to me in this has been the same as in many other things; I should not have lost

them nor my honour, if I had sought my own advantage, and had allowed Espanola to be

ruined, or if my privileges and contracts had been observed. And I say just the same

about the gold which I had then collected, and [for] which with such great afflictions and

toils I have, by divine power, almost perfected [the arrangements].

"When I went from Paria I found almost half the people from Espanola in revolt, and they

have waged war against me until now, as against a Moor; and the Indians on the other

side grievously [harassed me]. At this time Hojeda arrived and tried to put the finishing

stroke: he said that their Highnesses had sent him with promises of gifts, franchises and

pay: he gathered together a great band, for in the whole of Espanola there are very few

save vagabonds, and not one with wife and children. This Hojeda gave me great trouble;

he was obliged to depart, and left word that he would soon return with more ships and

people, and that he had left the Royal person of the Queen, our Lady, at the point of

death. Then Vincente Yanez arrived with four caravels; there was disturbance and

mistrust but no mischief: the Indians talked of many others at the Cannibals [Caribbee

Islands] and in Paria; and afterwards spread the news of six other caravels, which were

brought by a brother of the Alcalde, but it was with malicious intent. This occurred at the

very last, when the hope that their Highnesses would ever send any ships to the Indies

was almost abandoned, nor did we expect them; and it was commonly reported that her

Highness was dead.