Relief Of The Admiral - 3
The mission of Mendez, then, had been successful, although he had had to wait for eight
months to fulfil it. He himself, in accordance with Columbus's instructions, had gone to
Spain in another caravel of the fleet out of which he had purchased the relieving ship; and
as he passes out of our narrative we may now take our farewell of him. Among the many
men employed in the Admiral's service no figure stands out so brightly as that of Diego
Mendez; and his record, almost alone of those whose service of the Admiral earned them
office and distinction, is unblotted by any stain of crime or treachery. He was as brave as
a lion and as faithful as a dog, and throughout his life remained true to his ideal of service
to the Admiral and his descendants. He was rewarded by King Ferdinand for his
distinguished services, and allowed to bear a canoe on his coat-of-arms; he was with the
Admiral at his death-bed at Valladolid, and when he himself came to die thirty years
afterwards in the same place he made a will in which he incorporated a brief record of the
events of the adventurous voyage in which he had borne the principal part, and also
enshrined his devotion to the name and family of Columbus. His demands for himself
were very modest, although there is reason to fear that they were never properly fulfilled.
He was curiously anxious to be remembered chiefly by his plucky canoe voyage; and in
giving directions for his tomb, and ordering that a stone should be placed over his
remains, he wrote: "In the centre of the said stone let a canoe be carved, which is a piece
of wood hollowed out in which the Indians navigate, because in such a boat I navigated
three hundred leagues, and let some letters be placed above it saying: Canoa." The
epitaph that he chose for himself was in the following sense:
Here lies the Honourable Gentleman
DIEGO MENDEZ
He greatly served the royal crown of Spain in
the discovery and conquest of the Indies with
the Admiral Don Christopher Columbus of
glorious memory who discovered them, and
afterwards by himself, with his own ships,
at his own expense.
He died, etc.
He begs from charity a PATERNOSTER
and an AVE MARIA.
Surely he deserves them, if ever an honourable gentleman did.
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