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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS BY FILSON YOUNG - V5 |
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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS BY FILSON YOUNG - V5
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS BY FILSON YOUNG - V5 FILSON YOUNG DESPERATE REMEDIES
BOOK 5.
CHAPTER I
THE VOYAGE TO CUBA
The sight of the greater part of their fleet disappearing in the
direction of home threw back the unstable Spanish colony into doubt and
despondency. The brief encouragement afforded by Ojeda's report soon
died away and the actual discomforts of life in Isabella were more
important than visionary luxuries that seemed to recede into the distance
with the vanishing ships. The food supply was the cause of much
discomfort; the jobbery and dishonesty which seem inseparable from the
fitting out of a large expedition had stored the ships with bad wine and
imperfectly cured provisions; and these combined with the unhealthy
climate to produce a good deal of sickness. The feeling against
Columbus never far below the Spanish surface began to express itself
definitely in treacherous consultations and plots; and these were
fomented by Bernal Diaz the comptroller of the colony who had access to
Columbus's papers and had seen the letter sent by him to Spain. Columbus
was at this time prostrated by an attack of fever and Diaz took the
opportunity to work the growing discontent up to the point of action. He
told the colonists that Columbus had painted their condition in far too
favourable terms; that he was deceiving them as well as the Sovereigns;
and a plot was hatched to seize the ships that remained and sail for
home leaving Columbus behind to enjoy the riches that he had falsely
boasted about. They were ready to take alarm at anything and to believe
anything one way or the other; and as they had believed Ojeda when he
came back with his report of riches now they believed Cado the assayer
who said that even such gold as had been found was of a very poor and
worthless quality. The mutiny developed fast; and a table of charges
against Columbus which was to be produced in Spain as a justification
for it had actually been drawn up when the Admiral recovering from his
illness discovered what was on foot. He dealt promptly and firmly with
it in his quarterdeck manner which was always far more effective than
his viceregal manner. Diaz was imprisoned and lodged in chains on board
one of the ships to be sent to Spain for trial; and the other
ringleaders were punished also according to their deserts. The guns and
ammunition were all stored together on one ship under a safe guard and
the mutiny was stamped out. But the Spaniards did not love Columbus any
the better for it; did not any the more easily forgive him for being in
command of them and for being a foreigner.
But it would never do for the colony to stagnate in Isabella and
Columbus decided to make a serious attempt not merely to discover the
gold of Cibao but to get it. He therefore organised a military
expedition of about 400 men including artificers miners and carriers
with the little cavalry force that had been brought out from Spain.
Every one who had armour wore it flags and banners were carried drums
and trumpets were sounded; the horses were decked out in rich caparisons
and as glittering and formidable a show was made as possible. Leaving
his brother James in command of the settlement Columbus set out on the
12th of March to the interior of the island. Through the forest and up
the mountainside a road was cut by pioneers from among the aristocratic
adventurers who had come with the party; which road the first made in
the New World was called El Puerto de los Hidalgos. The formidable
glittering cavalcade inspired the natives with terror and amazement; they
had never seen horses before and when one of the soldiers dismounted it
seemed to them as though some terrifying two-headed six-limbed beast had
come asunder. What with their fright of the horses and their desire to
possess the trinkets that were carried they were very friendly and
hospitable and supplied the expedition with plenty of food. At last
after passing mountain ranges that made their hearts faint and rich
valleys that made them hopeful again the explorers came to the mountains
of Cibao and passing over the first range found themselves in a little
valley at the foot of the hills where a river wound round a fertile plain
and there was ample accommodation for an encampment. There were the
usual signs of gold and Columbus saw in the brightly coloured stones of
the river-bed evidence of unbounded wealth in precious stones. At last
he had come to the place! He who had doubted so much and whose faith
had wavered had now been led to a place where he could touch and handle
the gold and jewels of his desire; and he therefore called the place
Saint Thomas. He built a fort here leaving a garrison of fifty-six men
under the command of Pedro Margarite to collect gold from the natives
and himself returned to Isabella which he reached at the end of March.
Enforced absence from the thing he has organised is a great test of
efficiency in any man. The world is full of men who can do things
themselves; but those who can organise from the industry of their men a
machine which will steadily perform the work whether the organiser is
absent or present are rare indeed. Columbus was one of the first class.
His own power and personality generally gave him some kind of mastery
over any circumstances in which he was immediately concerned; but let him
be absent for a little time and his organisation went to pieces. No one
was better than he at conducting a one-man concern; and his conduct of
the first voyage so long as he had his company under his immediate
command was a model of efficiency. But when the material under his
command began to grow and to be divided into groups his life became a
succession of ups and downs. While he was settling and disciplining one
group mutiny and disorder would attack the other; and when he went to
attend to them the first one immediately fell into confusion again. He
dealt with the discontent in Isabella organising the better disposed
part of it in productive labour and himself marching the malcontents
into something like discipline and order leaving them at Saint Thomas
as we have seen usefully collecting gold. But while he was away the
people at Isabella had got themselves into trouble again and when he
arrived there on the morning of March 29th he found the town in a
deplorable condition. The lake beside which the city had been built and
which seemed so attractive and healthy a spot turned out to be nothing
better than a fever trap. Drained from the malarial marshes its sickly
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