LETTER

Of the Admiral to the (quondam) nurse⁠[189] of the Prince John, written near the end of the year 1500.

Most virtuous lady: Although it is a novelty for me to complain of the ill-usage of the world, it is, nevertheless, no novelty for the world to practise ill-usage. Innumerable are the contests which I have had with it, and I have resisted all its attacks until now, when I find, that neither strength nor prudence is of any avail to me: it has cruelly reduced me to the lowest ebb. Hope in Him who created us all is my support: His assistance I have always found near at hand. On one occasion, not long since, when I was extremely depressed, He raised me with His Divine arm, saying: “O man of little faith, arise, it is I, be not afraid.”⁠[190] I offered myself with such earnest devotion to the service of these princes, and I have served them with a fidelity hitherto unequalled and unheard of. God made me the messenger of the new heaven and the new earth, of which He spoke in the Apocalypse by St. John, after having spoken of it by the mouth of Isaiah; and He showed me the spot where to find it. All proved incredulous; except the Queen my mistress, to whom the Lord gave the spirit of intelligence and great courage, and made her the heiress of all, as a dear and well beloved daughter. I went to take possession of it in her royal name. All sought to cover the ignorance in which they were sunk, by dwelling on the inconveniences and expense of the proposed enterprise. Her Highness held the contrary opinion, and supported it with all her power. Seven years passed away in deliberations, and nine have been spent in accomplishing things truly memorable, and worthy of being preserved in the history of man. Never had such a thing been conceived.

I have now reached that point, that there is no man so vile but thinks it his right to insult me. The day will come when the world will reckon it a virtue to him who has not given his consent to their abuse. If I had plundered the Indies, even to the country where is the fabled altar of St. Peter’s, and had given them all to the Moors, they could not have shown towards me more bitter enmity than they have done in Spain. Who would believe such things of a country where there has always been so much nobility? I should much like to clear myself of this affair, if only it were consistent with etiquette to do so, face to face with my queen. The support which I have found in our Lord, and in her Highness, made me persevere, and, in order to relieve somewhat the griefs which death had occasioned her,⁠[191] I undertook another voyage to the new heavens and new earth, which had been hitherto concealed; and if these are not appreciated in Spain, like the other parts of the Indies, it is not at all wonderful, since it is to my labours that they are indebted for them. The Holy Spirit encompassed St. Peter, and the rest of the twelve, who all had conflicts here below; they wrought many works, they suffered great fatigues, but at last they obtained the victory. I believed that this voyage to Paria would produce a certain amount of contentment, because of the pearls and the discovery of gold in the island of Española. I left orders for the people to fish for pearls, and collect them together, and made an agreement with them that I should return for them; and I was given to understand that the supply would be abundant.

If I have not written respecting this to their Highnesses, it is because I wished first to render an equally favourable account of the gold; but it has happened with this as with many other things; I should not have lost them, and with them my honour, if I had been only occupied about my own private interests, and had suffered Española to be lost, or even if they had respected my privileges and the treaties. I say the same with regard to the gold which I had then collected, and which I have brought in safety, by Divine grace, after so much loss of life and such excessive fatigues.

In the voyage which I made by way of Paria, I found nearly half the colonists of Española in a state of revolt, and they have made war upon me until now as if I had been a Moor;⁠[192] while on the other side, I had to contend with the no less cruel Indians. Then arrived Hojeda,⁠[193] and he attempted to put the seal to all these disorders; he said that their Highnesses had sent him, with promises of presents, of immunities, and treaties; he collected a numerous band, for in the whole island of Española, there were few men who were not vagabonds, and there were none who had either wife or children. This Hojeda troubled me much, but he was obliged to retreat, and at his departure he said, that he would return with more ships and men, and reported also, that he had left the queen at the point of death.⁠[194] In the meanwhile, Vincent Yañez came with four caravels; and there were some tumults and suspicions, but no further evil. The Indians reported many other caravels to the cannibals, and in Paria; and afterwards spread the news of the arrival of six other caravels, commanded by a brother of the alcalde; but this was from pure malice, and at a time when at length there remained but little hope that their Highnesses would send any more ships to the Indies, and we no longer expected them, and when it was said openly that her Highness (the queen) was dead. At this time, one Adrian attempted a new revolt, as he had done before;⁠[195] but our Lord did not permit his evil designs to succeed. I had determined not to inflict punishment on any person, but his ingratitude obliged me, however regretfully, to abandon this resolution, I should not have acted otherwise with my own brother, if he had sought to assassinate me, and to rob me of the lordship which my sovereigns had given to my keeping. This Adrian, as is now evident, had sent Don Ferdinand to Xaragua, to assemble some of his partisans, and had some discussions with the alcalde, which ended in violence, but all without any good. The alcalde seized him and a part of his band; and in fact, executed justice without my having ordered it. While they were in prison, they were expecting a caravel, in which they hoped to embark; but the news which I told them of what had happened to Hojeda, deprived them of the hope that he would arrive in this ship. It is now six months that I have been ready to leave, to bring to their Highnesses the good news of the gold, and to give up the government of these dissolute people, who fear neither God nor their king nor queen, but are full of imbecility and malice. I should have been able to pay every one with six hundred thousand maravedis, and for this purpose there were four millions and more of the tithes, without reckoning the third part of the gold.

Before my departure (from Spain) I have often entreated their Highnesses to send to these parts, at my expense, some one charged to administer justice; and since, when I found the alcalde in a state of revolt, I have besought them afresh to send at least one of their servants with letters, because I myself have had so strange a character given to me, that if I were to build churches or hospitals, they would call them caves for robbers. Their Highnesses provided for this at last, but in a manner quite unequal to the urgency of the circumstances; however, let that point rest, since such is their good pleasure. I remained two years in Spain without being able to obtain anything for myself, or those who came with me,⁠[196] but this man has gained for himself a full purse: God knows if all will be employed for his service. Already, to begin with, there is a revenue for twenty years, which is, according to man’s calculation, an age; and they gather gold in such abundance, that there are people who, in four hours, have found the equivalent of five marks; but I will speak on this subject more fully hereafter. If their Highnesses would condescend to silence the popular rumours, which have gained credence among those who know what fatigues I have sustained, it would be a real charity; for calumny has done me more injury than the services which I have rendered to their Highnesses, and the care with which I have preserved their property and their government, have done me good. By their so doing, I should be re-established in reputation, and spoken of throughout the universe: for the matter is of a kind which must every day be more talked of and appreciated.

In the meanwhile, the commander Bobadilla arrived at St. Domingo,⁠[197] at which time I was at La Vega, and the Adelantado at Xaragua, where this Adrian had made his attempt; but by that time everything was quiet, the land was thriving, and the people at peace. The day after his arrival he declared himself governor, created magistrates, ordered executions, published immunities from the collection of gold and from the paying of tithes; and, in fine, announced a general franchise for twenty years, which is, as I have said, the calculation of an age. He also gave out that he was going to pay everyone, although they had not even done the service which was due up to that day; and he further proclaimed that he had to send me back loaded with chains, and my brother also (this he has done);⁠[198] and that neither I, nor any of my family, should ever return to these lands: and, in addition, he made innumerable unjust and disgraceful charges against me. All this took place, as I have said, on the very day after his arrival, at which time I was absent at a distance, thinking neither of him nor of his coming. Some letters of their Highnesses, of which he brought a considerable number signed in blank, he filled up with exaggerated language, and sent round to the alcalde and his myrmidons, accompanying them with compliments and flattery. To me he never sent either a letter or a messenger, nor has he done so to this day. Reflect upon this, madam! what could any man in my situation think? Could it be that honour and favour were to be conferred on him who had lent himself to plundering their Highnesses of their sovereignty, and who had done so much injury and mischief?—Could it be that he who had defended and preserved their cause through so many dangers, was to be dragged through the mire? When I heard this, I thought he must be like Hojeda, or one of the other rebels; but I held my peace, when I learned for certain, from the friars, that he had been sent by their Highnesses. I wrote to him, to salute him on his arrival, to let him know that I was ready to set out to go to court, and that I had put up to sale all that I possessed. I entreated him not to be in haste on the subject of the grants; and I assured him that I would shortly yield this, and everything else connected with the government, implicitly into his charge. I wrote the same thing to the ecclesiastics, but I received no answer either from the one or the other. On the contrary, he took a hostile position, and obliged those who went to his residence to acknowledge him for governor, as I have been told, for twenty years. As soon as I knew what he had done with regard to the immunities, I proposed to repair this great mistake, and I thought he would himself be glad of it; for, without any reason or necessity, he had bestowed upon vagabonds privileges of such importance, that they would have been excessive even for men with wives and children. I published verbally, and in writing, that he could not make use of his credentials, because mine were of higher authority, and I showed the grants brought by Juan Aguado. All this I did for the purpose of gaining time, that their Highnesses might be informed as to the state of the country, and that they might have opportunity to give fresh orders upon everything touching their interests. It is useless to publish such grants in the Indies,—all is in favour of the settlers who have taken up their abode there, because the best lands are given up to them; and, at a low estimate, they are worth two hundred thousand maravedis a head for the four years, at which they are taken, without a single stroke of the mattock. I should not say so much if these people were married men; but there are not six among them all, whose purpose is not to amass all they can, and then decamp with it. It would be well that people should come from Spain, but that only such should be sent as are well known, so that the country may be peopled with honest men. I had agreed with these settlers that they should pay the third of the gold and of the tithes; and this they not only assented to, but were very grateful to their Highnesses. I reproached them when I heard they had afterwards refused it; they expected, however, to deal with me on the same terms as with the commander, but I would not consent to it. He meanwhile irritated them against me, saying, that I wished to deprive them of that which their Highnesses had given them; and strove to make me appear their enemy, in which he succeeded to the full. He induced them to write to their Highnesses, that they should send me no more commissioned as governor (truly I do not desire it any more for myself, or for any who belong to me, while the people remain unchanged); and to conciliate them, he ordered inquiries to be made respecting me with reference to imputed misdeeds, such as were never invented in hell. But God is above, who with so much wisdom and power rescued Daniel and the three children, and who, if he please, can rescue me with a similar manifestation of his power, and to the advancement of his own cause. I should have known well enough how to find a remedy for the evils which I now describe and have been describing as having happened to me since I came to the Indies, if I had had the wish or had thought it decent, to busy myself about my personal interest; but now I find myself undone, because I have hitherto maintained the justice and augmented the territorial dominions of their Highnesses. Now that so much gold is found, these people stop to consider whether they can obtain the greatest quantity of it by theft, or by going to the mines. For one woman they give a hundred castellanos,⁠[199] as for a farm; and this sort of trading is very common, and there are already a great number of merchants who go in search of girls; there are at this moment from nine or ten on sale; they fetch a good price, let their age be what it will. I assert that when I said that the commander could not confer immunities, I did what he desired, although I told him that it was to gain time until their Highnesses had received information respecting the country, and had given their orders as to the regulations best calculated to advance their interest. I assert that the calumnies of injurious men have done me more harm, than my services have done me good: which is a bad example for the present as well as for the future. I declare solemnly that a great number of men have been to the Indies, who did not deserve baptism in the eyes of God or men, and who are now returning thither. The governor has made every one hostile to me; and it appears, from the manner of his acting, and the plans that he has adopted, that he was already my enemy, and very virulent against me when he arrived; and it is said, that he has been at great expense to obtain this office: but I know nothing about the matter except what I have heard. I never before heard of any one who was commissioned to make an inquiry, assembling the rebels, and taking, as evidence against their governor, wretches without faith, and who are unworthy of unbelief. If their Highnesses would cause a general inquiry to be made throughout the land, I assure you they would be astonished, that the island has not been swallowed up. I believe that you will recollect, that when I was driven by a tempest into the port of Lisbon (having lost my sails), I was falsely accused of having put in thither with the intention of giving the Indies to the sovereign of that country. Since then, their Highnesses have learned the contrary, and that it was all malice. Although I am an ignorant man, I do not imagine that any one supposed me so stupid as not to be aware, that even if the Indies had belonged to me, I could not support myself without the assistance of some prince. In such case where should I find better support, or more security against expulsion, than in the king and queen our sovereigns? who, from nothing, have raised me to so great an elevation, and who are the greatest princes of the world, on the land and on the sea. These princes know how I have served them, and they uphold my privileges and rewards; and if any one violates them, their Highnesses augment them by ordering great favour to be shown me, and ordain me many honours, as was shown in the affair of Juan Aguado. Yes, as I have said, their Highnesses have received some services from me, and have taken my sons into their household, which would not have happened with another prince, because where there is no attachment, all other considerations prove of little weight. If I have now spoken severely of a malicious slander, it is against my will, for it is a subject I would not willingly recall even in my dreams. The governor Bobadilla has maliciously exhibited in open day his character and conduct in this affair; but I will prove without difficulty, that his ignorance, his cowardice, and his inordinate cupidity, have frustrated all his undertakings. I have already said that I wrote to him, as well as to the monks, and I set out almost alone, all our people being with the Adelantado and elsewhere, to remove suspicion; when he heard this he seized Don Diego, and sent him on board a caravel, loaded with irons; on my arrival he did the same to me; and afterwards to the Adelantado when he came. I have never spoken with him, and to this day he has not permitted any one to hold converse with me, and I solemnly declare that I cannot think for what reason I was made prisoner. His first care was to take the gold that I had, and that without measuring or weighing it, although I was absent; he said he would pay those to whom it was owing, and if I am to believe what has been reported to me, he reserved to himself the greater part, and sent for strangers to make the bargains. I had put aside some samples of this gold, some as large as a goose’s or a hen’s egg, and of various sizes, which a few persons had collected in a short space of time, that their Highnesses might be gratified and impressed with the importance of the affair, when they saw a quantity of large stones full of gold. This gold was the first that, after he had feathered his own nest (which he was in great haste to do), his malice suggested to give away, in order that their Highnesses might have a low opinion of the whole affair: the gold which required melting, diminished at the fire, and a chain weighing nearly twenty marks disappeared altogether. I have been yet more concerned respecting this matter of the gold than even about the affair of the pearls, that I have not been able to bring them to their Highnesses. In every thing that he thought could add to my annoyance, the governor has always shown himself ready to bestir himself. Thus, as I have said, with six hundred thousand maravedis, I should have paid every one, without injustice to any; and I had more than four millions of tithes and constabulary dues, without touching the gold. He made the most absurd gifts, although I believe he began with himself first; their Highnesses will be able to ascertain the truth on this subject when they demand the account to be rendered them, especially if I may assist at the examination. He is continually saying, that there is a considerable sum owing, while it is only what I have already reported, and even less. I have been wounded extremely by the thought, that a man should have been sent out to make inquiry into my conduct, who knew, that if he sent home a very aggravated account of the result of his investigation, he would remain at the head of the government. Would to God, their Highnesses had sent either him or some other person two years ago, for then I know that I should have had no cause to fear either scandal or disgrace; they could not then have taken away my honour, and I could not have been in the position to have lost it. God is just, and He will in due time make known by whom and how it has been done. Let them judge me, as a governor who had been sent to Sicily or some province or city under regular government, and where the laws could be executed without fear of danger to the public weal or subjection to any enormous wrong. I ought to be judged as a captain sent from Spain to the Indies, to conquer a nation numerous and warlike, with customs and religion altogether different to ours; a people who dwell in the mountains, without regular habitations for themselves or for us; and where, by the Divine will, I have subdued another world to the dominion of the King and Queen, our sovereigns; in consequence of which, Spain, that used to be called poor, is now the most wealthy of kingdoms. I ought to be judged as a captain, who for so many years has borne arms, never quitting them for an instant. I ought to be judged by cavaliers who have themselves won the meed of victory;⁠[200] by knights of the sword and not of title deeds; as least, so it would have been among the Greeks and Romans, or any modern nation in which exists so much nobility as in Spain; for under any other judgment I receive great injury, because in the Indies there is neither civil right nor judgment seat.

Already the road is opened to the gold and pearls, and it may surely be hoped that precious stones, spices, and a thousand other things, will also be found. Would to God that it were as certain that I should suffer no greater wrongs than I have already experienced, as it is that I would, in the name of our Lord, again undertake my first voyage; and that I would undertake to go to Arabia Felix as far as Mecca, as I have said in the letter that I sent to their Highnesses by Antonio de Torres, in answer to the division of the sea and land between Spain and the Portuguese; and I would go afterwards to the North Pole, as I have said and given in writing to the monastery of the Mejorada.

The tidings of the gold which I said I would give, are, that on Christmas-day, being greatly afflicted and tormented by the wicked Spaniards and the Indians, when I was at the point of leaving all to save my life if possible, our Lord comforted me miraculously, saying to me, “Take courage, be not dismayed nor fear, I will provide for all; the seven years, the term of the gold, are not yet passed; and in this, as in the rest, I will redress thee.” I learned that same day, that there were twenty-four leagues of land where they found mines at every step, which appear now to form but one. Some of the people collected a hundred and twenty castellanos’ worth in one day, others ninety; and there have been those who have gathered the equivalent of nearly two hundred and fifty castellanos. They consider it a good day’s work when they collect from fifty to seventy, or even from twenty to fifty, and many continue searching; the mean day’s work is from six to twelve, and those who get less are very dissatisfied. It appears that these mines, like all others, do not yield equally every day; the mines are new, and those who collect their produce inexperienced. According to the judgment of everybody here, it seems that, if all Spain were to come over, every individual, however inexpert he might be, would gain the equivalent of at least one or two castellanos in a day; and so it is up to the present time. It is certain that any man who has an Indian to work for him, collects as much, but the management depends upon the Spaniard. See, now, what discernment was shown by Bobadilla when he gave up everything for nothing, and four millions of tithes without any reason, and even without being asked to do so, and without first giving notice to their Highnesses of his intention; and this is not the only evil which he has caused. I know, assuredly, that the errors which I may have fallen into, have been committed without any intention of doing wrong, and I think that their Highnesses will believe me when I say so; but I know and see that they show mercy towards those who intentionally do injury to their service. I, however, feel very certain that the day will come when they will treat me much better; since, if I have been in error, it has been innocently and under the force of circumstances, as they will shortly understand beyond all doubt: I, who am their creature, and whose services and usefulness they will every day be more willing to acknowledge. They will weigh all in the balance, even as, according to the Holy Scripture, it will be with the evil and the good at the day of judgment. If, nevertheless, their Highnesses ordain me another judge, which I do not expect, and if my examination is to be holden in the Indies, I humbly beseech them to send over two conscientious and respectable persons at my expense, and they would readily acknowledge that, at this time, five marks of gold may be found in four hours: be it however as it may, it is highly necessary that their Highnesses should have this matter inquired into. The governor, on his arrival at St. Domingo, took up his abode in my house, and appropriated to himself all that was therein. Well and good; perhaps he was in want of it: but even a pirate does not behave in this manner towards the merchants that he plunders. That which grieves me most is the seizure of my papers, of which I have never been able to recover one; and those that would have been most useful to me in proving my innocence, are precisely those which he has kept most carefully concealed. Behold the just and honest inquisitor! But whatever he may have done, they tell me that he has now bidden good bye to justice and is simply a despot. Our Lord God retains His power and wisdom as of old; and, above all things, He punishes injustice and ingratitude.