The Last Voyage - 2

The Last Voyage - 2

When he found that he was not to be allowed to enter the harbour himself Columbus sent

a message to Ovando warning him that a hurricane was coming on, and begging him to

take measures for the safety of his large fleet. This, however, was not done, and the fleet

put to sea that evening. It had only got so far as the eastern end of Espanola when the

hurricane, as predicted by Columbus, duly came down in the manner of West Indian

hurricanes, a solid wall of wind and an advancing wave of the sea which submerged

everything in its path. Columbus's little fleet, finding shelter denied them, had moved a

little way along the coast, the Admiral standing close in shore, the others working to the

south for sea-room; and although they survived the hurricane they were scattered, and

only met several days later, in an extremely battered condition, at the westerly end of the

island. But the large home-going fleet had not survived. The hurricane, which was

probably from the north-east, struck them just as they lost the lee of the island, and many

of them, including the ships with the treasure of gold and the caravels bearing Roldan,

Bobadilla, and Guarionex, all went down at once and were never seen or heard of again.

Other ships survived for a little while only to founder in the end; a few, much shattered,

crept back to the shelter of San Domingo; but only one, it is said, survived the hurricane

so well as to be able to proceed to Spain; and that was the one which carried Carvajal and

Columbus's little property of gold. The Admiral's luck again; or the intervention of the

Holy Trinity—whichever you like.

After the shattering experience of the storm, Columbus, although he did not return to San

Domingo, remained for some time on the coast of Espanola repairing his ships and

resting his exhausted crews. There were threatenings of another storm which delayed

them still further, and it was not until the middle of July that the Admiral was able to

depart on the real purpose of his voyage. His object was to strike the mainland far to the

westward of the Gulf of Paria, and so by following it back eastward to find the passage

which he believed to exist. But the winds and currents were very baffling; he was four

days out of sight of land after touching at an island north of Jamaica; and finally, in some

bewilderment, he altered his course more and more northerly until he found his

whereabouts by coming in sight of the archipelago off the south-western end of Cuba

which he had called the Gardens. From here he took a departure south-west, and on the

30th of July came in sight of a small island off the northern coast of Honduras which he

called Isla de Pinos, and from which he could see the hills of the mainland. At this island

he found a canoe of immense size with a sort of house or caboose built amidships, in

which was established a cacique with his family and dependents; and the people in the

canoe showed signs of more advanced civilisation than any seen by Columbus before in

these waters. They wore clothing, they had copper hatchets, and bells, and palm-wood

swords in the edges of which were set sharp blades of flint. They had a fermented liquor,

a kind of maize beer which looked like English ale; they had some kind of money or

medium of exchange also, and they told the Admiral that there was land to the west

where all these things existed and many more. It is strange and almost inexplicable that

he did not follow this trail to the westward; if he had done so he would have discovered

Mexico. But one thing at a time always occupied him to the exclusion of everything else;

his thoughts were now turned to the eastward, where he supposed the Straits were; and

the significance of this canoe full of natives was lost upon him.

They crossed over to the mainland of Honduras on August 15th, Bartholomew landing

and attending mass on the beach as the Admiral himself was too ill to go ashore. Three

days later the cross and banner of Castile were duly erected on the shores of the Rio Tinto

and the country was formally annexed. The natives were friendly, and supplied the ships

with provisions; but they were very black and ugly, and Columbus readily believed the

assertion of his native guide that they were cannibals. They continued their course to the

eastward, but as the gulf narrowed the force of the west-going current was felt more

severely. Columbus, believing that the strait which he sought lay to the eastward,

laboured against the current, and his difficulties were increased by the bad weather which

he now encountered. There were squalls and hurricanes, tempests and cross-currents that

knocked his frail ships about and almost swamped them. Anchors and gear were lost, the

sails were torn out of the bolt-ropes, timbers were strained; and for six weeks this state of

affairs went on to an accompaniment of thunder and lightning which added to the terror

and discomfort of the mariners.