tales about america

8/12/2019 Tales About America

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CHILDREN'S BOOK


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ARCTIC OC K A X*- * >\. ^ V* 1 FlXs^^-.-V,

NOftTHnd SOUTHA M E R I C A -Y^^,,,i^/^-A X T A R C T 1C O C E A X ..,


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TALES ABOUT AMERICA

AUSTRALIA.

BY PETER PARLEY.

LONDON:DARTON AND CLARK, HOLBORN HILL.


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&. C. CHitam.


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CONTENTS.

PARLEY TELLS HOW AMERICA WAS HRST DISCOVERED,AND ABOUT COLUMBUS 1

COLUMBUS SETS SAIL TO RETURN TO SPAIN ; EN-COUNTERS A DREADFUL STORM . . .21

COLUMBUS PREPARES FOR ANOTHER VOYAGE . . 35PARLEY TELLS HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED THE

CONTINENT OF AMERICA 45PARLEY TELLS HOW COLUMBUS WAS ROBBED OF THE

HONOUR OF GIVING HIS NAME TO AMERICA . 59PARLEY TKLLS HOW COLUMBUS WAS SHIPWRECKED,

AND OF HIS DEATH 65


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IV CONTENTS.

PARLEY TELLS OF OVANDO'S CRUEL TREATMENT OFANACAONA, THE PRINCESS OF HAYTI . . 73

PARI.EY DESCRIBES THE TREES, PLANTS, AND FLOWERSOF THE NEW WORLD 79

PARLEY TELLS OF THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO . 96PARLEY RELATES HOW PIZARRO DISCOVERED AND

CONQUERED PERU 120PARLEY DESCRIBES THE BEAUTIES OF AMERICA . 132PARLEY TELLS OF THE FIRST ENGLISH COLONY IN

AMERICA 140PARLEY TELLS OF THE ORIGINAL NATIVE AME-

RICANS 119PARLEY TELLS ABOUT NEW SOUTH WALES . . 164PARLEY DESCRIBES THE INHABITANTS OF AUSTRALIA 171CONCLUSION 190


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TALES ABOUT AMERICA

AUSTRALIA.

CHAPTER I.PARLEY TELLS HOW AMERICA WAS FIRSTDISCOVERED, AND ABOUT COLUMBUS.

WHEN I set out on my travels, of whichI have given you an account in my

Talesabout Europe/5 I told you I sailed fromBoston in America : I will now give yousome account of my native country, withits flourishing cities, and its multitude ofships, its fertile fields, its mighty rivers, itsvast forests, and its millions of free and

B


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2 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUThappy and industrious inhabitants, of whichI am quite certain you must be very curiousto know something, when you are told thatthough the world has been created nearlysix thousand years, and many powerfulnations have flourished and decayed and arenow scarcely remembered, yet it is onlythree hundred and fifty years ago, since itwas known that such a country as Americaexisted.

It was in the year 1492, which you knowis only 350 years since, on the third ofAugust, a little before sun-rise, that Chris-topher Columbus, undertaking the boldestenterprise that human genius ever conceived,or human talent and fortitude ever accom-plished, set sail from Spain, for the discoveryof the Western World.

I will now give you a short account ofColumbus, who was one of the greatest menthe world ever produced. He was born inthe City of Genoa, in Italy ; his family werealmost all sailors, and he was brought up for asailor also, and after being taught geographyand various other things necessary for a sea


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 3captain to know, he was sent on board shipat the age of fourteen.

His first voyages were short ones, butafter several years, desiring to see and learnmore of distant countries, and thinking therewere still new ones to be discovered, he wentinto the service of the King of Portugal andmade many voyages to the western coast ofAfrica, and to the Canaries, and the Madeiras,and the Azores, islands lying off that coast,which were then the most westerly landsknown to Europeans.

In his visits to these parts, one personinformed him that his ship, sailing outfarther to the west than usual, had pickedup out of the sea a piece of wood curiouslycarved, and that very thick canes, like thosewhich travellers had found in India, hadbeen seen floating on the waves ; also thatgreat trees, torn up by the roots, had oftenbeen cast on shore, and once two dead bodiesof men, with strange features, neither likeEuropeans nor Africans, were driven on thecoast of the Azores*

All these stories set Columbus thinking


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4 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTand considering that these strange things hadcome drifting over the sea from the west, helooked upon them as tokens sent from someunknown countries lying far distant in thatquarter : he was therefore eager to sail awayand explore, but as he had not money enoughhimself to fit out ships and hire sailors, hedetermined to go and try to persuade someking or some state to be at the expense ofthe trial.

First he went to his own countrymen theGenoese, but they would have nothing tosay to him : he then submitted his plan tothe Portuguese, but the King of Portugal,pretending to listen to him, got from him hisplan, and perfidiously attempted to rob himof the honour of accomplishing it, by send-ing another person to pursue the same trackwhich he had proposed.The person they so basely employed didnot succeed, but returned to Lisbon, execrat-ing a plan he had not abilities to execute.On

discoveringthis

treachery,Columbus

quitted the kingdom in disgust and set outfor Spain, to King Ferdinand and Queen


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 5Isabella. He was now so poor that he wasfrequently obliged to beg as he went along.About half a league from Palos, a sea-portof Andalusia in Spain, on a solitary height,overlooking the sea-coast, and surroundedby a forest of pines, there stood, and nowstands at the present day, an ancient conventof Franciscan friars.

A stranger, travelling on foot, accompaniedy a young boy, stopped one day at theB3


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6 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTgate of the convent, and asked of the portera little bread and water for his child. Thatstranger was Columbus, accompanied by hisson Diego.While receiving this humble refreshment,

the guardian of the convent, Friar JuanPerez, happening to pass, was taken withthe appearance of the stranger, and being anintelligent man and acquainted with geo-graphical science, he became interested withthe conversation of Columbus, and was sostruck with the grandeur of his project thathe detained him as his guest and invited afriend of his, Martin Alonzo Pinzon, a resi-dent of the town of Palos, to come and hearColumbus explain his plan.

Pinzon was one of the most intelligentsea captains of the day, and a distinguishednavigator. He not only approved of hisproject, but offered to engage in it, and toassist him.Juan Perez now advised Qolumbus to re-

pair to court. Pinzon generously furnishedhim with the money for the journey, andthe friar kindly took charge of his youthful


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 7son Diego, to maintain and educate him inthe convent, which I am sure you will thinkwas the greatest kindness he could have donehim at that time.

Ferdinand and Isabella gave him hopesand promises, then they made difficulties andobjections, and would do nothing. At last,after waiting five years, he was just settingoff for England, where he had previously senthis brother Bartholomew, when he was in-duced to wait a little longer in Spain.

This little longer was two years, but thenat last he had his reward, for queen Isabellastood his friend, and even offered to partwith her own jewels in order to raise moneyto enable him to make preparations for thevoyage, so that he contrived to fit out threevery small vessels which altogether carriedbut one hundred and twenty men.Two of the vessels were light barques, orbarges built high at the prow and stern, withforecastles and cabins for the crew, but werewithout deck in the centre ; only one of thethree, the Santa Maria, was completelydecked ; on board of this, Columbus hoisted


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PARLEY S TALES ABOUThis flag. Martin Alonzo Pinzon commandedthe Pinta, and his brother, Vincente YanezPinzon, the Nina. He set sail in the sight ofa vast crowd, all praying for the success, butnever expecting and scarcely hoping to seeeither him or any of his crews again.Columbus first made sail for the Canaries,where he repaired his vessels : then takingleave of these islands, he steered his coursedue west, across the great Atlantic ocean,where never ship had ploughed the wavesbefore.No sooner had they lost sight of land

than the sailors' hearts began to fail them,and they bewailed themselves like men con-demned to die : but Columbus cheered themwith the hopes of the rich countries theywere to discover.

After awhile they came within those re-gions where the trade-wind, as it is called,blows constantly from east to west withoutchanging, which carried them on at a vastrate; but he judiciously concealed from hisignorant and timid crews the progress hemade, lest they might be alarmed at the speed


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 9with which they were receding from home.After some time, they found the sea coveredwith weeds, as thick as a meadow with grass,and the sailors fancied that they should soonbe stuck fast, that they had reached the endof the navigable ocean, and that some strangething would befal them.

Still, however, Columbus cheered themon, and the sight of a flock of birds encou-raged them : but when they had been threeweeks at sea and no land appeared, theygrew desperate with fear, and plotted amongthemselves to force their commander to turnback again, lest all their provisions should bespent, or, if he refused, to throw him over-board.

Columbus, however, made them a speechwhich had such an effect upon them thatthey became tolerably quiet for a weeklonger ; they then grew so violent again thatat last he was obliged to promise them thatif they did not see land in three days, hewould consent to give it up and sail homeagain.But he was now almost sure that land


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10 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTwas not far off : the sea grew shallower, andearly every morning flocks of land birdsbegan to flutter around them, and these allleft the ship in the evening, as if to roost onshore. One of the vessels had picked up acane newly cut, and another a branchcovered with fresh red berries ; and the airblew softer and warmer, and the wind beganto vary.That very night, Columbus ordered thesails to be taken in, and strict watch to be

kept, in all the ships, for fear of runningaground ; he and all his men remained stand-ing on the deck, looking out eagerly : atlength he spied a distant light ; he showed itto two of his officers, and they all plainlyperceived it moving, as if carried backwardsand forwards, from house to house.

Soon after the cry of Land land washeard from the foremost ship, and, at dawnof day, they plainly saw a beautiful island,green and woody, and watered with manypleasant streams, lying stretched before them.As soon as the sun rose, the boats of thevessel were lowered and manned, and Colum-


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 11bus, in a rich and splendid dress of scarlet,entered the principal one. They then rowedtowards the island, with their colours dis-played, and warlike music, and other martialpomp.

Columbus was the first to leap on shore,to kiss the earth, and to thank God on hisknees : his men followed, and throwingthemselves at his feet they all thanked himfor

leading them thither, and begged hisforgiveness for their disrespectful and unrulybehaviour.


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12 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUT

CHAPTER II.PARLEY DESCRIBES THE INHABITANTS.

THEpoor inhabitants,

asimple

and inno-cent people, with copper-coloured skins andlong black hair, not curled, like the negroes,but floating on their shoulders, or bound intresses round their heads, came flockingdown to the beach and stood gazing in silentadmiration.The dress of the Spaniards, the whiteness

of their skins, their beards, their arms, andthe vast machines that seemed to move uponthe waters with wings, which they supposedhad, during the night, risen out of the sea,or come down from the clouds ; the soundand flash of the guns, which they mistookfor thunder and lightning : all these thingsappeared to them strange and surprising;


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 13they considered the Spaniards as children ofthe sun, and paid homage to them as gods.The Europeans were hardly less amazedat the scene now before them. Every herb,and shrub, and tree, differed from thosewhich flourished in Europe : the inhabitantsappeared in the simple innocence of nature,entirely naked ; their features were singular,but not disagreeable, and their mannersgentle and timid.

The first act of Columbus was to takesolemn and formal possession of the country

c


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14 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTin the name of his sovereign ; this was doneby planting the Spanish flag on the coast,and other ceremonies, which the poor nativeslooked upon with wonder, but could not un-derstand.Nor could there be an act of greater cruel-

ty and injustice; for the Spaniards could nothave any right to drive these gentle andpeaceful inhabitants (as they afterwards did)from their peaceful abodes, which had beentheirs and their fathers before them, perhapsfor thousands of years, and in the end,utterly to destroy them, and take their landfor themselves.

After performing this ceremony, of whichColumbus himself could not foresee the con-sequences to the Indians, for he was verykind to them, he made them presents oftrinkets and other trifles, with which theywere greatly delighted, and brought him inreturn the fruits of their fields and groves,and a sort of bread called cassada, madefrom the root of the yuca; with whateverelse their own simple mode of life mightafford.


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 15Columbus then returned to his ship, ac-

companied by many of the islanders in theirboats, which they called canoes ; these simpleand undiscerning children of nature havingno foresight of the calamities and desolationwhich awaited their country.This island was called by the nativesGuanahini, and by the Spaniards St. Salva-dor : it is one of that cluster of West IndiaIslands called the Bahamas, and if you lookon the map you will see that it is the veryfirst island that would present itself to aship sailing direct from Spain.Columbus did not continue his voyage forsome days, as he wished to give all his sailorsan opportunity of landing and seeing thewonders of the new-discovered world, and totake in a fresh supply of water, in whichthey were cheerfully assisted by the natives,who took them to the clearest springs andthe sweetest and freshest streams, fillingtheir casks and rolling them to the boats, andseeking in every way to gratify (as they be-lieved) their celestial visitors.Columbus having thus refreshed his crews,


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16 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTand supplied his ships with water, proceededon his voyage. After visiting several smallerislands he discovered a large island whichthe natives called Cuba, and which stillretains that name. This was so large anisland that he at first thought it to be a newcontinent.

In proceeding along the coast, havingobserved that most of the people whom hehad seen wore small plates of gold by wayof ornament in their noses, he eagerly in-quired, by signs, where they got that preciousmetal.The Indians, as much astonished at his

eagerness in quest of gold as the Europeanswere at their ignorance and simplicity,pointed towards the east, to an island whichthey called Hayti, in which this metal wasmore abundant.Columbus ordered his squadron to bendtheir course thither, but Martin Alonzo Pin-zon, impatient to be the first who shouldtake possession of the treasure which thiscountry was supposed to contain, quitted hiscompanions with his ship, the Pinta, and


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 1%though Columbus made signals to slackensail, he paid no regard to them.When they came in sight of Hayti, whichyou will see was no great distance, if youlook on the map, Columbus having had nosleep the night before, had gone to his cabinto lie down and rest himself, having firstgiven the charge of the vessel to an experi-enced sailor.

This careless man, (this lazy lubber, thesailors would call him,) instead ofperforminghis duty, and watching over the safety ofthe ship and the lives of his companions,which were entrusted to him, deserted hispost and went to sleep, leaving the vessel tothe management of a young and thoughtlessboy.The rapid currents which prevail on thatcoast soon carried the vessel on a shoal, andColumbus was roused from his sleep by thestriking of the ship and the cries of the ter-rified boy.They first endeavoured, by taking out ananchor, to warp the vessel off, but the

strength of the current was more than ac 3


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18 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTmatch for them, and the vessel was drivenfarther and farther on the shoal ; they thencut away the mast and took out some of thestores to lighten her ; but all their effortswere vain.

Before sunset the next evening the vesselwas a complete wreck. Fortunately theNina was close at hand, and the shipwreckedmariners got on board of her ; the inhabitantsof the island came in their canoes and assistedthem in preserving part of their stores.They found Hayti a very beautiful island,

and were treated with the greatest kindnessby the inhabitants; but, though delightedwith the beauty of the scenes which every-where presented themselves, and amazed atthe luxuriance and fertility of the soil, Co-lumbus did not find gold in such quantitiesas was sufficient to satisfy the avarice of hisfollowers; he was nevertheless anxious toprolong his voyage, and explore those magni-ficent regions which seemed to invite themon every hand.But as the Pinta had never joined themagain after parting from them, he had no


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 19vessel now left but the Nina ; he did nottherefore think it prudent to pursue his dis-coveries with one small vessel, and that avery crazy one, lest, if any accident shouldbefal it, he might be left without the meansof returning to Europe, and both the gloryand benefit of his great discoveries mightbe lost ; so he determined to prepare for hisreturn.But as it was impossible for so small avessel as the Nina to contain the crew of

the ship that was wrecked in addition to itsown, Columbus was greatly perplexed whatto do.Many of his men were so delighted with

the island and its inhabitants, that theybegged of him to let them remain there, andColumbus consented to leave forty of themon the island, while he and the remaindermade the voyage back.He promised to return to them speedily.He now built them a fort with the timberof the wreck, and fortified it with the gunsof the Santa Maria, and did every thing inhis power to provide for their comfort


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20 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTduring his absence, particularly enjoiningthem to be kind and peaceful towards theIndians.

This was the first colony of Europeansthat settled in the new world, and Columbusgave it the name of Navidad.


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 21

CHAPTER III.COLUMBUS SETS SAIL TO RETURN TOSPAIN, AND ENCOUNTERS A DREADFUL

STORM.

HAVING obtained a certain quantity of theprecious metals, and other curious produc-tions of the countries he had discovered, heset sail to recross the wide Atlantic Ocean.

It was the second day after they had leftthe island that they saw a sail at a distance,which proved to be the Pinta.On joining the admiral, Pinzon mademany excuses and endeavoured to account forhis desertion, saying he had been separatedby stress of weather. Columbus admittedhis excuse, but he ascertained afterwards thatPinzon parted company intentionally, andhad steered directly east in quest of a region


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22 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTwhere the Indians had assured him that hewould find gold in abundance.They had guided him to Hayti, where hehad been for some time, in a river about fif-

teen leagues from the part of the coast whereColumbus had been wrecked.He had collected a large quantity of goldby trading with the natives, and on leavingthe river he had carried off four Indian menand two girls, to be sold in Spain.

Columbus immediately sailed back for thisriver, and ordered the four men and two girls


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 23to be dismissed well clothed and with manypresents, to atone for the wrong they had ex-perienced. This resolution was not carriedinto effect without great unwillingness andmany angry words on the part of Pinzon.

Columbus, being now joined by the Pinta,thought he might pursue his discoveries alittle further, and on leaving this part of thecoast he took with him four young Indiansto guide him to the Carribean Islands, ofwhich they gave him a very interestingaccount, as well as of another island said tobe inhabited by Amazons.A favourable breeze, however, sprang upfor the voyage homewards, and seeing gloomand impatience in the countenances of hismen, he gave up his intention of visitingthese islands, and made all sail for Spain, theyoung Indians having consented to accom-pany him that they might learn the Spanishlanguage, and be his guides and interpreterswhen they should return.

His voyage homeward was much moretedious; for those trade winds which hadwafted him so rapidly westward, across the


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24 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTAtlantic, still blew from east to west, andColumbus did not then know that their in-fluence only extends to a certain distance oneach side of the Equator, so that if he hadsailed a little farther north, on his return, hewould very likely have met with a south-west wind, which was just what he wanted.On the 12th of February they had madesuch progress as led them to hope theyshould soon see land. The wind now cameon to blow violently ; on the followingevening there were three flashes of lightningin the north-east, from which signs Colum-bus predicted an approaching tempest.

It soon burst upon them with frightfulviolence. Their small and crazy vessels werelittle fitted for the wild storms of the Atlan-tic ; all night they were obliged to scudunder bare poles, at the mercy of the ele-ments ; as the morning dawned there was atransient pause and they made a little sail,but the wind rose with redoubled fury fromthe south and increased in the night, threat-ening each moment to overwhelm them ordash them to pieces.


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 25The admiral made signal-lights for the

Pinta to keep in company, but she was sepa-rated by the violence of the storm, and herlights gleamed more and more distant tillthey ceased entirely.When the day dawned the sea presenteda frightful waste of wild and 'broken waves.Columbus looked round anxiously for the

Pinta, but she was nowhere to be seen, andhe became apprehensive that Pinzon hadborne away for Spain, that he might reach itbefore him, and by giving the first accountof his discoveries, deprive him of his fame.Through a dreary day the helpless bark

was driven along by the tempest.Seeing all human skill baffled and con-

founded, Columbus endeavoured to propi-tiate heaven by solemn vows, and variousprivate vows were made by the seamen.The heavens, however, seemed deaf to theirvows : the storm grew still more furious, andevery one gave himself up for lost.During this long and awful conflict of theelements, the mind of Columbus was a prey

to the most distressing anxiety.


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26 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTHe was harassed by the repinings of his

crew, who cursed the hour of their leavingtheir country.He was afflicted also with the thought ofhis two sons, who would be left destitute byhis death.But he had another source of distressmore intolerable than death itself. In casethe Pinta should have foundered, as washighly probable, the history of his discoverywould depend upon his own feeble bark.One surge of the ocean might bury it forever in oblivion, and his name only be re-corded as that of a desperate adventurer.At this crisis, when all was given up for

lost, Columbus had presence of mind enoughto retire to his cabin and to write uponparchment a short account of his voyage.

This he wrapped in an oiled cloth, whichhe enclosed in a cake of wax, put it into atight cask, and threw it into the sea, inhopes that some fortunate accident mightpreserve a deposit of so much importance tothe world.But that being which had preserved him


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 27through so many dangers still protected him ;and happily these precautions were super-fluous.At sunset there was a streak of clear sky

in the west ; the wind shifted to that quarter,and on the morning of the 15th of Februarythey came in sight of land.The transports of the crew at once morebeholding the old world, were almost equalto those they had experienced on discoveringthe new. This proved to be the island ofSt. Mary, the most southern of the Azores.

After remaining here a few days, the windproving favourable he again set sail, on the24th of February.

After two or three days of pleasant sailing,there was a renewal of tempestuous weather.About midnight of the 2d of March thecaravel was struck by a squall, which rent allher sails and threatened instant destruc-tion. The crew were again reduced todespair, and made vows of fasting and pil-grimages.The storm raged through the succeedingday, during which, from various signs they


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28 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTconsidered that land must be near. Theturbulence of the following night was dread-ful ; the sea was broken, wild, and moun-tainous, the rain fell in torrents, and thelightning flashed and the thunder pealed fromvarious parts of the heavens.In the first watch of this fearful night, theseamen gave the usual welcome cry of land

but it only increased their alarm, for theydreaded being driven on shore or dashedupon the rocks. Taking in sail, therefore, theyendeavoured to keep to sea as much as pos-sible. At day-break on the 4th of Marchthey found themselves off the rock of Cintraat the mouth of the Tagus, which you knowis the principal river of Portugal.Though distrustful of the Portuguese, hehad no alternative but to run in for shelter.

The inhabitants came off from various partsof the shore to congratulate him on whatthey deemed a miraculous preservation, forthey had been watching the vessel the wholemorning with great anxiety, and putting upprayers for her safety. The oldest marinersof the place assured him that they had never


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 29during the whole course of their lives knownso tempestuous a winter.Such were the difficulties and perils withwhich Columbus had to contend on hisreturn to Europe. Had one tenth part ofthem beset his outward voyage, his factiouscrew would have risen in arms against theenterprise, and he never would have disco-vered the new world.The king of Portugal must have beengreatly mortified when he heard of the arri-

rival of Columbus and the wonderful disco-veries he had made, for he could not butreflect that all the advantages of these disco-veries might have belonged to him if he hadnot treated Columbus as he did.But notwithstanding the envy which it

was natural for the Portuguese to feel, he wasallowed to come to Lisbon, and was treatedwith all the marks of distinction due to aman who had performed things so extraor-dinary and unexpected. The king admittedhim into his presence, and listened with ad-miration to the account which he gave of hisvoyage, while Columbus enjoyed the satis-D3


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30 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTfaction of being able to prove the solidity ofhis schemes to those very persons who hadwith disgraceful ignorance rejected them asthe projects of a visionary adventurer.Columbus was so impatient to return toSpain that he remained only five days inLisbon. On the 15th of March he arrivedat Palos, seven months and eleven days fromthe time when he set out from thence uponhis voyage.When the prosperous issue of it wasknown, when they beheld the strange people,the unknown animals, and singular produc-tions brought from the countries he haddiscovered, the joy was unbounded ; all thebells were rung, the cannons were fired, andhe was welcomed with all the acclamationswhich the people are ever ready to bestowon great and glorious characters. Theyflocked in crowds to the harbour to see himland, and nothing but Columbus and theNew World, as the Spaniards called it, wastalked of.He was desired by Ferdinand and Isabellain the most respectful terms to repair to


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 31court, that they might receive from his ownmouth, an account of his wonderful disco-veries.On his arrival at Barcelona the king andqueen received him clad in their royal robes,seated upon a throne, and surrounded bytheir nobles.

When he approached, they commandedhim to take his seat upon a chair preparedfor him, and to give a circumstantial accountof his voyage, which he related with a gra-vity suitable to the dignity of the audience


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32 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUThe addressed, and with that modesty whichever accompanies superior merit.

Every mark of honour that gratitude oradmiration could suggest, was conferredupon him ; his family was ennobled, and, asa mark of particular favour, Isabella ap-pointed his son Diego, the boy, who, youremember, had been left at the convent,page to prince Juan, the heir apparent, anhonour only granted to sons of persons ofdistinguished rank.The king and queen, and, after theirexample, the courtiers treated him with allthe respect paid to persons of the highestrank. Yet some of these courtiers were hisbitterest enemies, and did every thing theycould, in his absence, to poison the minds ofthe king and queen against him, and tocause his downfall.The favour shown Columbus by the so-vereigns insured him for a time the caressesof the nobility, for in court every one iseager to lavish attentions upon the man whom the king delighteth to honour.At one of the banquets which were given


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 33him occured the well known circumstanceof the egg.

A shallow courtier present, impatient ofthe honours paid to Columbus, and meanlyjealous of him as a foreigner, abruptly askedhim, whether he thought that, in case hehad not discovered the Indies, there wouldhave been wanting men in Spain capable ofthe enterprise.To this Columbus made no direct reply ;but, taking an egg, invited the company tomake it stand on one end. Every one


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34 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTattempted it, but in vain; whereupon hestruck it upon the table, broke one end, andleft it standing on the broken part ; illus-trating, in this simple manner, that when hehad once shown the way to the new world,nothing was easier than to follow it.


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36 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUThe gave of the countries he had discovered,and particularly the intelligence that theyabounded with gold, excited the avarice andrapacity of the Spaniards, and numbers ofneedy adventurers of ruined fortunes anddesperate circumstances, were eager to sharein the spoil.Many persons of distinction, thinking tobecome rich by the same means, also volun-

teered to enlist, and many got on board ofthe ships by stealth, so that about 1500 setsail in the fleet, though only a thousandwere originally permitted to embark.The departure of Columbus on his secondvoyage presented a brilliant contrast to hisgloomy embarkation at Palos.

There were three large ships of heavyburden and fourteen caravels, and the per-sons on board, instead of being regarded bythe populace as devoted men, were lookedupon with envy as favoured mortals, des-tined to golden regions and delightful climes,where nothing but wealth, and wonder, andenjoyment awaited them.At sunrise the whole fleet was under sail,


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 37on the 13th of October he lost sight of theIsland of Ferro, and, favoured by the tradewinds, was borne pleasantly along, till, onthe 2nd of November, a lofty island was des-cried to the west, to which he gave the nameof Dominica, from having discovered it onthe Lord's day.As the ships moved gently onward, otherislands arose to sight, one after another,covered with forests and enlivened by theflight of parrots and other tropical birds,while the whole air was sweetened by thefragrance of the breezes which passed overthem.

In one of these islands, to which theSpaniards gave the name of Guadaloupe,they first met with the delicious fruit, theAnana or pine-apple.

Columbus now sailed in the direction ofHayti, to which he had given the name ofHispaniola, where he shortly arrived.

In passing along the coast he set on shoreone of the young Indians who had beentaken from that neighbourhood and hadaccompanied him to Spain. He dismissed

E


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38 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUThim finely apparelled, and loaded with trin-kets, thinking he would impress his coun-trymen with favourable feelings towards theSpaniards, but he never heard anything ofhim afterwards.When he arrived on that part of theisland where he had built the fort and taken

leave of his companions, the evening grow-ing dark, the land was hidden from theirsight. Columbus watched for the dawn ofday with the greatest anxiety ; when at lastthe approach of the morning sun renderingthe objects on shore visible, in the placewhere the fort had stood, nothing was to beseen. No human being was near, neitherIndian nor European; he ordered a boatto be manned, and himself went, at thehead of a party, to explore how things reallywere.The crew hastened to the place where thefortress had been erected; they found itburnt and demolished, the palisades beatendown, and the ground strewed

with brokenchests and fragments of European garments.The natives, at their approach, did not


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 39welcome them as they expected, like friends,but fled and concealed themselves as ifafraid to be seen.

Columbus, at length, with some difficulty,by signs of peace and friendship, persuadeda few of them to come forth to him. Fromthem he learned, that scarcely had he setsail for Spain, when all his counsels andcommands faded from the minds of thosewho remained behind. Instead of culti-vating the good-will of the natives, theyendeavoured, by all kinds of wrongfulmeans, to get possession of their goldenornaments and other articles of value, andseduce from them their wives and daughters,and had also quarrelled among themselves.The consequences of this bad conductwere what might have been expected : somedied by sickness caused by intemperance,some fell in brawls between themselves abouttheir ill-gotten spoil, and others were cut offby the Indians, whom they had so shame-fully treated, and who afterwards pulleddown and burnt their fort.The misfortunes which had befallen the


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40 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTSpaniards in the vicinity of this harbourthrew a gloom over the place, and it wasconsidered by the superstitious mariners asunder some baneful influence. The situa-tion was low and unhealthy, and not capa-ble of improvement ; Columbus therefore de-termined to remove the settlement.With this view he made choice of a

situation more healthy and commodiousthan that of Navidad, and having orderedthe troops and the various persons to beemployed in the colony to be immediatelydisembarked, together with the stores, am-munition, and all the cattle and live-stock,he traced out the plan of a town in a largeplain near a spacious bay ; and obligingevery person to put his hand to the work,the houses were soon so far advanced as toafford them shelter, and forts were con-structed for their defence.

This rising city, the first that Europeansfounded in the new world, he named Isa-bella, in honour of his patroness the Queenof Castile.As long as the Indians had any prospect


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 41that their sufferings might terminate by thevoluntary departure of the invaders, theysubmitted in silence, and dissembled theirsorrow; but now that the Spaniards hadbuilt a town now that they had dug upthe ground and planted it with corn itbecame apparent that they came not to visitthe country, but to settle in it.They were themselves naturally so ab-

stemious and their wants so few, that theywere easily satisfied with the fruits of theisland, which, with a handful of maize or alittle of the insipid bread made of the cas-sava root, were sufficient for their support.But it was with difficulty they couldafford subsistence for the new guests. TheSpaniards, though considered an abstemiouspeople, appeared to them excessively voraci-ous. One Spaniard consumed as much asseveral Indians; this keenness of appetiteappeared so insatiable, that they supposedthe Spaniards had left their own country be-cause it did not produce enough to gratifytheir immoderate appetites, and had comeamong them in quest of nourishment.

E 3


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42 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTColumbus having taken all the stepswhich he thought necessary to ensure the

prosperity of his new colony, entrusted thecommand of the military force to Margaritta,and set sail with three vessels to extend hisdiscoveries; but, after a long and tediousvoyage, in which he endured every hardship,ihe most important discovery he made wasthe island of Jamaica.

Having been absent much longer than hehad expected, he returned to his new settle-ment, but the colonists had become refrac-tory and unmanageable.No sooner had he left the island on hisvoyage of discovery, than the soldiers underMargaritta dispersed in straggling partiesover the island, lived at discretion upon thenatives, wasted their property, and treatedthat inoffensive race with the insolence ofmilitary oppression.During the absence of Columbus, several

unfavourable accounts of his conduct hadbeen transmitted to Spain, and these accu-sations gained such credit in that jealouscourt, that Aguado, a person in every way


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 43unsuited for the purpose, was appointed toproceed to Hispaniola to observe the con-duct of Columbus.

This man listened with eagerness to everyaccusation of the discontented Spaniards,and fomented still further the spirit of dis-sension in the island.

Columbus felt how humiliating it must beif he remained in the island with such apartial inspector

to observe his motions andcontrol his authority ; he therefore took theresolution of returning to Spain, in order tolay a full account of his transactions beforeFerdinand and Isabella.

Having committed the government of thecolony during his absence to Don Bartho-lomew, his brother, he appointed RoldanChief Justice, a choice which afterwardscaused great calamities to the colony.On his arrival in Spain, Columbus ap-peared at court with the confidence of aman, not only conscious of having done nowrong,

but ofhaving performed great

ser-vices.

Ferdinand and Isabella, ashamed of hav-


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CHAPTER V.PARLEY TELLS HOW COLUMBUS DISCO-

VERS THE CONTINENT OF AMERICA.

COLUMBUS, having been furnished with sixvessels of no great burden, departed on histhird voyage. He touched at the Canariesand at the Cape de Verd islands; fromthe former he despatched three ships witha supply of provisions for the colony ofHispaniola; with the other three he con-tinued his voyage to the south.

Nothing remarkable occurred till theywere within five degrees of the line ; thenthey were becalmed, and the heat became soexcessive, that the wine casks burst andtheir provisions were spoiled.The Spaniards, who had never ventured


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46 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTso far to the south, were afraid the shipswould take fire, but they were relieved insome measure from their fear by a season-able fall of rain.

This, however, though so heavy and in-cessant that the men could hardly keep thedeck, did not greatly mitigate the heat,and Columbus was at last constrained toyield to the importunities of his crew, andto alter his course to the north-west, in orderto reach some of the Caribbee islands, wherehe might refit and be supplied with pro-visions.On the 1st of August, 1498, the man sta-tioned at the round-top surprised them withthe joyful cry of Land They stoodtowards it, and discovered a considerableisland, which the admiral called Trinidad, aname it still retains, and near it the mouthof a river, rolling towards the ocean such avast body of water, and rushing into it withsuch impetuous force, that when it meets thetide,

which on that coast rises to an uncom-mon height, their meeting occasions an extra-ordinary and dangerous swell of the waves.


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 47In this conflict, the irresistable torrent of

the river so far prevails, that it freshens theocean many leagues with its flood.

Columbus, before he could perceive thedanger, was entangled among these adversecurrents and tempestuous waves; and itwas with the utmost difficulty that he es-caped through a narrow strait, which ap-peared so tremendous, that he called it The Dragon's Mouth.As soon as his consternation permittedhim to reflect on an appearance so extraor-dinary, he justly concluded that the landmust be a part of some mighty continent,and not of an island, because all the springsthat could rise, and all the rain that couldfall on an island, could never, as he calcu-lated, supply water enough to feed so pro-digiously broad and deep a river; and hewas right, the river was the Oronoko.

Filled with this idea, he stood to thewest, along the coast of those provinceswhich are now known by the name of Pariaand Cumana. He landed in several places,and found the people to resemble those of


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48 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTHispaniola in their appearance and mannerof life.They wore as ornaments small plates of

gold and pearls of considerable value, whichthey willingly exchanged for European toys.They seemed to possess greater courage andbetter understandings than the inhabitantsof the islands.The country produced four-footed animals

of several kinds, as well as a great variety offowls and fruits.The admiral was so much delighted with

its beauty and fertility, that, with the warmenthusiasm of a discoverer, he imagined itto be the Paradise described in Scripture.Thus Columbus had the glory of disco-vering the new world, and of conducting theSpaniards to that vast continent which hasbeen the seat of their empire and the sourceof their treasure, in this quarter of theglobe. The shattered condition of his shipsand the scarcity of provisions, made it nownecessary to bear away for Hispaniola,where he arrived wasted to an extremedegree with fatigue and sickness.


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, AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 49Many revolutions had happened in that

country during his absence, which was nowmore than two years.His brother, whom he had left in com-

mand, had, in compliance with advice whichhe had given him before his departure, re-moved the colony from Isabella to a morecommodious station on the opposite side ofthe island, and laid the foundation of St.Domingo, which long continued to bethe most considerable town in the newworld.

Such was the cruelty and oppression withwhich the Spaniards treated the Indians,and so intolerable the burden imposed uponthem, that they at last took arms againsttheir oppressors ; but these insurrectionswere not formidable. In a conflict withtimid and naked Indians, there was neitherdanger nor doubt of victory.A mutiny which broke out among theSpaniards, was of a more dangerous nature,the

ringleaderin which was Francisco

Roldan, whom Columbus, when he sailedfor Spain, had appointed chief judge, and


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50 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTwhose duty it was to have maintained thelaws, instead of breaking them.

This rebellion of Roldan, which threatenedthe whole country with ruin, was only sub-dued by the most wise and prudent conducton the part of Columbus; but order andtranquillity were at length apparently re-stored.As soon as his affairs would permit, he

sent some of his ships to Spain, with ajournal of the voyage which he had made,and a description of the new continentwhich he had discovered, and also a chartof the coast along which he had sailed, andof which I shall have something more totell you presently.He at the same time sent specimens ofthe gold, the pearls, and other curious andvaluable productions which he had acquiredby trafficking with the natives.He also transmitted an account of theinsurrection in Hispaniola, and accused themutineers of having, by their unprovokedrebellion, almost ruined the colony.

Roldan and his associates took care to


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 51send to Spain, by the same ships, apologiesfor their mutinous conduct, and unfortu-nately for the happiness of Columbus, theirstory gained most credit in the court of Fer-dinand and Isabella.By these ships Columbus granted theliberty of returning to Spain to all those,

who, from sickness or disappointment, weredisgusted with the country. A good num-ber of such as were most dissatisfied, em-braced this opportunity of returning to Eu-rope. The disappointment of their unrea-sonable hopes inflamed their rage againstColumbus to the utmost pitch, and theirdistress made their accusations be believed.A gang of these disorderly ruffians, whohad been shipped off to free the island fromtheir seditions, found their way to the courtat Grenada. Whenever the king or queenappeared in public, they surrounded them,insisting, with importunate clamours, on thepayment of arrears due to them, and de-manding vengeance on the author of theirsufferings.These endeavours to ruin Columbus were


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 53without any inquiry, to supersede him in hi?command.He took up his residence in Columbus'house, from which the owner was absent,seized upon his arms, gold, plate, jewels,books, and even his letters and most secretmanuscripts, giving no account of the pro-perty thus seized, but disposing of it as ifalready confiscated to the crown ; at thesame time he used the most unqualifiedlanguage when speaking of Columbus, andhinted that he was empowered to send himhome in chains; thus acting as if he hadbeen sent out to degrade the admiral, notto inquire into his conduct.As soon as Columbus arrived from theinterior, Bobadilla gave orders to put him inirons and confine him in the fortress, and sofar from hearing him in his defence, hewould not even admit him to his presence ;but having collected from his enemies whathe thought sufficient evidence, he determinedto send both him and his brother home inchains.The charge of conducting the prisoners to

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54 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTSpain was committed to Alonzo Villejo,a man of honourable conduct and generousfeelings. When Villejo entered with theguard to conduct him on board the caravel,Columbus thought it was to conduct him tothe scaffold. Villejo said he, whitherare you taking me ? To the ship, yourexcellency, to embark, replied the other.To embark repeated the admiral, ear-nestly, Villejo, do you speak the truth?By the life of your excellency, replied thehonest officer, it is true.With these words the admiral was com-forted, and felt as restored from death to life,for he now knew he should have an oppor-tunity of vindicating his conduct. The cara-vel set sail in October, bearing off Columbusshackled like the vilest criminal.The worthy Villejo, as well as Andries

Martin, the master of the caravel, wouldhave taken off his irons, but to this hewould not consent. No, said he proudly,their majesties commanded me, by letter,to submit to whatever Bobadilla should order

in their name ; by their authority he has put


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56 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTCadiz and in Seville, which was echoedthrough all Spain, that Columbus wasbrought home in chains from the world hehad discovered.The tidings reached the court of Grenada,

and filled the halls of the Alhambra withmurmurs of astonishment.On the arrival of the ships at Cadiz, Co-lumbus, full of his wrongs, but not knowinghow far they had been authorized by hissovereigns, forbare to write to them ; but hesent a long letter to a lady of the court,high in favour with the queen, containing,in eloquent and touching language, an amplevindication of his conduct.When it was read to the noble-mindedIsabella, and she found how grossly Colum-bus had been wronged, and the royal autho-rity abused, her heart was filled with sym-pathy and indignation.Without waiting for any documents thatmight arrive from Bobadilla, Ferdinand andIsabella sent orders to Cadiz, that he shouldbe instantly set at liberty, and treated withall distinction, and sent him two thousand


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 57ducats to defray his expenses to court.They wrote him a letter at the same time,expressing their grief at all that had hap-pened, and inviting him to Grenada.He was received by their majesties withthe greatest favour and distinction. When thequeen beheld this venerable man approach,and thought on all he had deserved and allhe had suffered, she was moved to tears.Columbus had borne up firmly against

the injuries and wrongs of the world, butwhen he found himself thus kindly treated,and beheld tears in the benign eyes of Isa-bella, his long suppressed feelings burstforth, he threw himself upon his knees, andfor some time could not utter a word for theviolence of his tears and sobbings.

Ferdinand and Isabella raised him fromthe ground and endeavoured to encouragehim by the most gracious expressions.As soon as he had recovered his self-pos-session, he entered into an eloquent andhigh-minded vindication of his conduct, andhis zeal for the glory and advantage of theSpanish crown.


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58 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTThe king and queen expressed their indig-

nation at the proceedings of Bobadilla, andpromised he should be immediately dismissedfrom his command:The person chosen to supersede Bobadillawas Nicholas de Ovando. While his depar-ture was delayed by various circumstances,

every arrival brought intelligence of the dis-asterous state of the island under the admi-nistration of Bobadilla.He encouraged the Spaniards in the exer-

cise of the most wanton cruelties towards thenatives, to obtain from them large quantitiesof gold. Make the most of your time/'he would say, there is no knowing howlong it will last ; and the colonists were notbackward in following his advice. In themeantime the poor Indians sunk under thetoils imposed upon them, and the severitieswith which they were enforced.

These accounts hastened the departure ofOvando, and a person sailed with him, inorder to secure what he could of the wreckof Columbus' property.


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CHAPTER VI.PARLEY TELLS HOW COLUMBUS WASROBBED OF THE HONOUR OF GIVING

HIS NAME TO AMERICA.

I HAVE told you that Columbus, as soon ashe arrived at Hispaniola, after discoveringthe new continent, sent a ship to Spain witha journal of the voyage he had made, and adescription of the new continent which hehad discovered, together with a chart of thecoast of Paria and Cumana, along which hehad sailed.

This journal, with the charts and descrip-tion, and Columbus' letters on the subject,were placed in the custody of Fonseca, hebeing minister for Indian affairs.


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60 PARLE.Y'S TALES ABOUTNo sooner had the particulars of this dis-

covery-been communicated by Columbus,than a separate commission of discovery,signed by Fonseca, but not by the sove-reigns, was granted to Alonzo de Ojeda, whohad accompanied Columbus on his secondvoyage, and whom Columbus had instructedin all his plans. Ojeda was accompanied onthis voyage by a Florentine, whose namewas Amerigo Vespucci.To these adventurers Fonseca communi-cated Columbus' journal, his description ofthe country, his charts, and all his privateletters.

This expedition sailed from Spain whileColumbus was still at Hispaniola, andwholly ignorant of what was taking place ;and Ojeda, without touching at the colony,steered his course direct for Paria, followingthe veiy track which Columbus had markedout.

Having extended their discoveries verylittle farther than Columbus had gone be-fore them, Vespucci, on returning to Spain,published an account of his adventures and


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 61discoveries, and had the address and confi-dence so to frame his narrative, as to makeit appear that the glory of having discoveredthe new continent belonged to him.Thus the bold pretensions of an impostorhave robbed the discoverer of his just re-ward, and the caprice of fame has unjustlyassigned to him an honour far above therenown of the greatest conquerors that ofindelibly impressing his name upon thisvast portion of the earth, which ought injustice to have been called Columbia.Two years had now been spent in soli-citing the favour of an ungrateful court,and notwithstanding all his merits and ser-vices, he solicited in vain ; but even thisungracious return did not lessen his ardourin his favourite pursuits, and his anxiety topursue those discoveries in which he felt hehad yet only made a beginning.

Ferdinand at last consented to grant himfour small vessels, the largest of which didnot exceed seventy tons in burden ; but,accustomed to brave danger and endurehardships, he did not hesitate to accept the

G


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62 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTcommand of this pitiful squadron, and hesailed from Cadiz on his fourth voyage onthe 9th of May.

Having touched, as usual, at the Canaries,he intended to have sailed direct for thisnew discovered continent; but his largestvessel was so clumsy and unfit for service,that he determined to bear away for His-paniola, in hopes of exchanging her forsome ship of the fleet that had carried outOvando.


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64 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTsought for shelter in some wild bay or riverof the island.Within two days, one of those tremendousstorms which sometimes sweep those lati-tudes gathered up, and began to blow.Columbus sheltered his little squadron aswell as he could, and sustained no damage.A different fate befel the other armament.The ship in which were Bobadilla, Rol-

dan, and a number of the most inveterateenemies of Columbus, was swallowed upwith all its crew, together with the prin-cipal part of the ill-gotten treasure, gainedby the miseries of the Indians.Some of the ships returned to St. Do-

mingo, and only one was able to continueher voyage to Spain ; that one had on boardfour thousand pieces of gold, the propertyof Columbus, which had been recovered bythe agent whom he sent out with Ovando.Thus, while the enemies of the admiral

were swallowed up as it were before his eyes,the only ship enabled to pursue her voyagewas the frail bark freighted with his pro-perty.


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CHAPTER VII.PARLEY TELLS HOW COLUMBUS WAS SHIP-

WRECKED, AND OF HIS DEATH.

COLUMBUS soon left Hispaniola where hemet with so inhospitable a reception, andsteering towards the west, he arrived on thecoast of Honduras. There he had an inter-view with some of the inhabitants of thecontinent, who came off in a large canoe;they appeared to be more civilized than anywhom he had hitherto discovered.

In return to the inquiries which the Spa-niards made with their usual eagerness, wherethe Indians

got the gold which they woreby way of ornaments, they directed him tocountries situated to the west, in which goldG3


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66 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTwas found in such profusion that it wasapplied to the most common uses.Well would it have been for Columbushad he followed their advice. Within a dayor two he would have arrived at Yucatan;the discovery of Mexico and the other opu-lent countries of New Spain would havenecessarily followed, the Southern Oceanwould have been disclosed to him, and asuccession of splendid discoveries wouldhave shed fresh glory on his declining age.But the admiral's mind was bent upondiscovering the supposed strait that was tolead to the Indian Ocean. In this naviga-tion he explored a great extent of coastfrom Cape Gracios a Dios till he came to aharbour, which on account of its beauty andsecurity, he called Porto Bello.On quitting this harbour he steered forthe south, and he had not followed this

course many days when he was overtaken bystorms more terrible than any he had yetencountered.For nine days the vessels were tossedabout at the mercy of a raging tempest.


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 67The sea, according to the description ofColumbus, boiled at times like a cauldron,at other times it ran in mountain wavescovered with foam: at night the ragingbillows sparkled with luminous particles,which made them resemble great surges offlame.

For a day and a night the heavens glowedlike a furnace with incessant flashes of light-ning, while the loud claps of thunder wereoften mistaken for signal guns of their foun-dering companions.

In the midst of this wild tumult of theelements, they beheld a new object of alarm.The ocean, in one place, became strangelyagitated ; the water was whirled up into akind of pyramid or cone ; while a livid cloud,tapering to a point, bent down to meet it ;joining together, they formed a column,which rapidly approached the ship, spinningalong the surface of the deep, and drawingup the water with a rushing sound, it passedthe ship without injury.

His leaky vessels were not able to with-stand storms like these. One of them


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68 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTfoundered, and he was obliged to abandonanother.With the remaining two he bore away for

Hispaniola, but in the tempest his shipsfalling foul of each other, it was with thegreatest difficulty he reached the island ofJamaica.

His two vessels were in such a shatteredcondition, that, to prevent them from sink-ing, and to save the lives of his crews, hewas obliged to run them on shore.

Having no ship now left, he had no meansof reaching Hispaniola, or of making hissituation known. In this juncture he hadrecourse to the hospitable kindness of thenatives, who, considering the Spaniards asbeings of a superior nature, were eager, onevery occasion to assist them.From them he obtained two canoes, eachformed out of a single tree hollowed with

fire. In these, which were only fit forcreeping along the coast, two of his braveand faithful

companions, assisted bya few

Indians, gallantly offered to set out forHispaniola ; this voyage they accomplished


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70 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTcourse. He suffered acutely from a painfuland dangerous disease, and his mind waskept uneasy and anxious by a continued suc-cession of storms. One of the vessels beingdisabled, was forced back to St. Domingo,and in the other he sailed 700 leagues withjury-masts, and reached with difficulty theport of St. Lucar in Spain, 1504.On his arrival he received the fatal newsof the death of his patroness queen Isabella,from whom he had hoped for the redress ofhis wrongs.He applied to the king, who, instead ofconfirming the titles and honours which hehad formerly conferred upon him, insultedhim with the proposal of renouncing themall for a pension.

Disgusted with the ingratitude of a mo-narch whom he had served with fidelity andsuccess, exhausted with the calamities whichhe had endured, and broken with infirmities,this great and good man breathed his last atValladolid, A. D. 1506, in the 69th year ofhis age.He was buried in the cathedral at Seville,


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 71and on his tomb was engraved an epitaphcommemorating his discovery of a NewWorld.

Cftrfetobal Colon, otuit 1506,69.Catftttla g a

fctfl Colon.*

Thus much for Columbus ; those who arethe greatest benefactors of mankind seldommeet with much gratitude from men in theirlives ; they must look to God for their re-ward, and leave future generations to dojustice to their memory.

It was very unfortunate for the natives ofAmerica, that the country fell into the handsof such a cruel, covetous, and bigotednation as the Spaniards were. Their thirstfor gold was insatiable, and the crueltiesthey exercised upon the natives are too hor-

* To Ca?tile and to LeonColumbus gave a New World.


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22 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTrible to recite. After the death of Colum-bus, the Indians were no longer treated withgentleness, for it was his defence of the pro-perty and lives of these harmless natives thatbrought down upon his head such bitterhatred. You will now look into your mapand follow Columbus in some of his disco-veries. You will see a great number ofislands extending in a curve from Florida,which is the southernmost part of the UnitedStates, to the mouth of the river Oronokoin South America ; and, as Columbus firmlybelieved these islands, when he discoveredthem, to be a part of India, the name ofIndies was given to them by Ferdinand andIsabella ; and, even after the error was de-tected, and the true position of the newworld ascertained, the name has remained,and the appellation of Indies is given to thecountry, and that of Indians to the inha-bitants.


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CHAPTER VIII.PARLEY TELLS OF OVANDO's CRUELTREATMENT OF ANACAONA, THE

PRINCESS OF HAYTI.

COLUMBUS discovered arid gave names tosome of these islands, and on several ofthem he settled colonies, and did all hecould to make them the abodes of peace andhappiness.On his taking leave of them for the lasttime, Ovando continued governor of Hayti.The cruelties exercised by this unfeelingman it would take a volume to describe, butI will mention only one or two instances.When the natives were unable to pay thetribute which he exacted from them, healways accused them of insurrection, and it


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74 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTwas to punish a slight insurrection of thiskind in the eastern part of the island thathe sent his troops, who ravaged the countrywith fire and sword. He showed no mercyto age or sex, putting many to death withhorrible tortures, and brought off the braveCatabanama, one of the five sovereign ca-ziques of the island, in chains to St. Do-mingo, where he was ignominiously hangedby Ovando, for the crime of defending histerritory and his native soil against usurpingstrangers.But the most atrocious act of Ovando,and one that must heap odium on his name,wherever the woes of the gentle natives ofHayti are heard of, was the cruelty he wasguilty of towards the province of Xaraguafor one of those pretended conspiracies.Ovando set out at the head of nearly fourhundred well armed soldiers, seventy ofwhom were steel-clad horsemen ; giving out

that he was coming on a visit of friendship,to make arrangements for the payment oftribute.

Behechio, the antient cazique of the pro-


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 75vince, was dead, and his sister, Anacaona,wife of the late formidable chief Caonabo,had succeeded to the government.

She was one of the most beautiful femalesin the island ; of great natural grace and dig-nity, and superior intelligence; her namein the Indian language signified GoldenFlower.

She came forth to meet Ovando, accordingto the custom of her nation, attended by hermost distinguished subjects, and her train ofdamsels waving palm branches, and dancingto the cadence of their popular ayretos.


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76 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTAll her principal caziques had been assem-

bled to do honour to the guests, who, forseveral days were entertained with banquets,and national games and dances.

In return for these exhibitions, Ovandoinvited Anacaona, with her beautiful daugh-ter Higuenamata, and her principal subjects,to witness a tilting match in the publicsquare.When all were assembled, and the squarecrowded with unarmed Indians, Ovando gave

a signal, and instantly the horsemen rushedinto the midst of the naked and defencelessthrong, trampling them under foot, cuttingthem down with their swords, transfixingthem with their lances, and sparing neitherage nor sex.Above eighty caziques had been assembledin one of the principal houses : it was sur-rounded by troops, the caziques were boundto the posts which supported the roof, andput to cruel tortures, until in the extremityof anguish they were made to admit as truewhat their queen and themselves had beencharged with.


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 77When they had thus been made, by tor-

ture, to accuse themselves, a horrible punish-ment was immediately inflicted. Fire wasset to the house, and they all perished miser-ably in the flames.As to Anacaona, she was carried to St.Domingo, where, after the mockery of atrial, she was pronounced guilty on the tes-timony of the Spaniards, and was barba-rously hanged by the people whom she hadso long and so greatly befriended.

After the massacre of Xaragua, the de-struction of its inhabitants went on. Theywere hunted for six months amid the fast-nesses of the mountains, and their countryravaged by horse and foot, until, all beingreduced to deplorable misery and abject sub-mission, Ovando pronounced the provincerestored to order; and in remembrance ofhis triumph, founded a town near the lake,which he called Santa Maria de la VerdaderaPas (St. Mary of the true peace.)Such was the tragical fate of the beautifulAnacaona, once extolled as the Golden Flowerof Hayti ; and such the story of the delight-

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78 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTful region of Xaragua, which the Spaniards,by their own account, found a perfect para-dise, but which, by their vile passions, theyfilled with horror and desolation.

After this work of destruction, they madeslaves of the remaining inhabitants, and di-vided them amongst them, and many of thesanguinary contests among themselves aroseout of quarrels about the distribution.We cannot help pausing to cast back alook of pity and admiration over these beau-tiful but devoted regions.The white man had penetrated the land In his train came avarice, pride, and am-bition ; sordid care, and pining labour, weresoon to follow, and the paradise of the Indianwas about to disappear for ever.


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA.

CHAPTER IX.PARLEY DESCRIBES THE TREES, PLANTS,AND FLOWERS OF THE NEW WORLD.

WHEN once the way had been pointed out,it was easy for other navigators to follow,and accordingly many Spaniards undertookvoyages of further discovery.Among others, Yanez Pinzon, one of the

brave companions of Columbus, undertook avoyage to the new world in 1499.

This navigator suffered much from storms,and having sailed southward, he crossed theequator and lost sight of the polar star.The sailors were exceedingly alarmed atthis circumstance, as the polar star wasrelied upon by them as one of their surestguides ; not knowing the shape of the earth.


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80 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTthey thought that some prominence hid thisstar from their view.The first land that Pinzon discovered,after crossing the line, was Cape St. Augus-tine, in eight degrees south latitude, themost projecting part of the extensive coun-try of Brazil.As the fierceness of the natives made itunsafe to land on this coast, he continued hisvoyage to the north-west, and fell in withthe mighty river Amazon, which is nearlyunder the equinoctial line.The mouth of this river is more thanthirty leagues in breadth, and its watersenter more than forty leagues into the oceanwithout losing its freshness.He now recrossed the line, and comingagain in sight of the polar star, he pursuedhis course along the coast, passed the mouthof the Oronoko, and entered the Gulph ofParia, after which he returned to Spain.

Ojeda also undertook a voyage expresslyto found a settlement ; but as the characterof the Spaniards was now well known to theinhabitants of these parts, they determined


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 81to oppose their landing, and being a numer-ous and warlike people, Ojeda nearly lost hislife in the attempt.Many of his companions were slain ; the

survivors, however, succeeding in makinggood their retreat on board the ships.

Shortly afterwards he landed on the east-ern side of the Gulph of Darien, and built afortress which they called San Sebastian.

Ojeda had with him in this expeditionFrancisco Pizarro, about whom I shall haveto tell you something more presently.About the same time another Spaniard,of the name of Nicuessa, formed a settle-ment on that part of the coast, and built afortress there, which he called Nombre deDios, not very distant from the harbour ofPortobello.

Thus, by degrees, the whole coast of Ame-rica, on the side of the Atlantic, was disco-vered and explored.But the Spaniards did not know that inthe part where they were, it was only anarrow neck of land (which you know iscalled an Isthmus) that separated them from


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82 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTanother vast ocean; and this, when theydiscovered the ocean on the other side, wascalled the Isthmus of Darien.

I will now give you a short account of thediscovery of this ocean.Nothing having been heard of Ojeda and

his new colony of San Sebastian, anotherexpedition, commanded by Enciso, set sailin search of them.Among the ship's company was a man, byname Vasco Ninez de Balboa, who, although

of a rich family, had, by his bad habits, notonly become very poor, but also very muchin debt.To avoid being thrown into prison for the

debts that he owed, he contrived to get onboard Enciso's ship, concealed in a cask,which was taken on board the vessel as acask of provisions.When the ship was far from St. Domingo,Balboa came out from his cask to the asto-nishment of all on board.

Enciso at first was angry at the way hehad escaped from the punishment which hisbad conduct had deserved; yet, as he thought


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84 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTthe western side he well remembered an In-dian village, on the banks of a river, calledby the natives Darien.

Enciso pleased with Balboa's advice, re-solved to take possession of this village, andto drive out all the Indians.Arrived at the river, he landed his men,and, without giving the unfortunate peopleof the village any notice, he attacked them,killed several, drove the rest out, and robbedthem of all their possessions.He then made the village the chief placeof his new government, and called it SantaMaria del Darien. Balboa assisted in thiswork of cruelty and injustice.The Spaniards had not been long herewhen they became tired with Enciso, andthey refused to obey him, and sent him offin a ship to Spain. Upon his departure,Balboa took the command.

In one of his expeditions into the interiorparts of the country in search of gold, hefirst heard of a sea to the west, as yet un-known to Europeans.He had received a large quantity of gold


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 85from an Indian cazique, or chief, and wasweighing it into shares for the purpose ofdividing it among his men when a quarrelarose as to the exactness of the weight.One of the sons of the Indian caziquewas present, and he felt so disgusted at thesordid behaviour of the Spaniards that hestruck the scales with his fist and scatteredthe glittering gold about the place.

Before the Spaniards could recover fromtheir astonishment at this sudden act, he saidto them, why should you quarrel for such a


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86 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTtrifle ? If you really esteem gold to be soprecious as to abandon your homes, andcome and seize the lands and dwellings ofothers for the sake of it, I can tell you of aland not far distant where you may find it inplenty.Beyond those lofty mountains/' he con-tinued, pointing to the south, lies a mightysea, all the streams that flow into whichdown the southern side of those mountains,abound in gold, and all the utensils thepeople have, are made of gold.

Balboa was struck with this account of theyoung Indian, and eagerly inquired the bestway of penetrating to this sea, and this landof gold.The young Indian warned him of thedangers he would meet with from the fiercerace of Indians inhabiting these mountains,who were cannibals, or eaters of human flesh,but Balboa was not to be deterred by ac-counts of difficulties and dangers.He was, besides, desirous of getting pos-session of the gold, and of obtaining, by themerits of the discovery, the pardon of the


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 8?King of Spain, for taking from Enciso thecommand of the settlement.He resolved, therefore, to penetrate to

this sea, and immediately began to makepreparations for the journey.He first sent to Hispaniola for an ad-

ditional number of soldiers, to assist him inthe perilous adventure, but instead of receiv-ing these, the only news that reached himby the return of his messengers was, that hewould most probably have the command ofDarien taken from him, and be punished forassisting to dispossess Enciso.

This news made him determine no longerto delay his departure. All the men hecould muster for the expedition amountedonly to one hundred and ninety; but thesewere hardy and resolute, and much attachedto him. He armed them with swords andtargets; cross-bows and arquebusses; be-sides this little band, Balboa took with hima few of the Indians of Darien whom hehad won by kindness, to serve him.On the 1st of September, 1513, Balboa setout from Darien, first to the residence of the


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88 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTIndian cazique, from whose son he firstheard of the sea.From this chief he obtained the assistance

of guides and some warriors, and with thisforce he prepared to penetrate the wildernessbefore him.

It was on the 6th of September that hebegan his march for the mountains whichseparated him from the great Pacific Ocean,he set out with a resolution to endure pati-ently all the miseries, and to combat boldlyall the difficulties that he might meet with,and he contrived to rouse the same determi-nation in his followers.

Their journey was through a broken rockycountry covered with forest trees and under-wood, so thick and close as to be quitematted together and every here and theredeep foaming streams, some of which theywere forced to cross on rafts.

So wearisome was the journey, that in fourdays they had not advanced more than tenleagues,

and they began to suffer much fromhunger.They had now arrived in the province of


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 89a warlike tribe of Indians who, instead offlying and hiding themselves, came forth tothe attack. They set upon the Spaniardswith furious yells,thinking to overpower themat once. They were armed with bows andarrows, and clubs made of palm-wood almostas hard as iron. But the first shock of thereport from the fire-arms of the Spaniardsstruck them with terror. They took toflight, but were closely pursued by theSpaniards with their blood-hounds. TheCazique and six hundred of his people wereleft dead upon the field of battle.

After the battle the Spaniards entered theadjoining village, which was at the foot ofthe last mountain that remained to beclimbed; this village they robbed of everything valuable* There was much gold andmany jewels.Balboa shared the booty among his bandof followers. But this victory was notgained without some loss on the side of theSpaniards.

Balboa found that several of his men hadbeen wounded by the arrows of the Indians,

i 2


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90 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTand many also, overcome with fatigue, hadfallen sick, these he was obliged to leavein the village, while he ascended the moun-tain.At the cool and fresh hour of day-break he

assembled his scanty band, and began toclimb the height, wishing to reach the topbefore the heat of noon.About ten o'clock they came out from the

thick forest through which they had beenstruggling ever since day-break : the changefrom the closeness of the woods to thepleasant breeze from the mountain, wasdelightful. But they were still further en-couraged. se From that spot exclaimed oneof the Indian guides, pointing to the heightabove them may be seen the great sea ofwhich you are in search.When Balboa heard this, he commandedhis men to halt, and forbade any one to stir

from his place. He was resolved to be thefirst European who should look upon thatsea, which he had been the first to discover.

Accordingly he ascended the mountainheight alone, and when he reached the


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 91summit he beheld the wide sea glittering inthe morning sun.

Balboa called to his little troop to ascendthe height and look upon the glorious pros-pect ; and they joined him without delay.

Behold, my friends, said he, the re-ward of all our toils, a sight upon whichthe eye of Spaniard never rested before.He now took possession of the sea-coastand the surrounding country in the name ofthe king of Spain.He then had a tree cut down, and madeinto the form of a cross, and planted it onthe spot from which he had first beheld thesea. He also made a mound by heaping uplarge stones upon which he carved thenames of the king of Spain.The Indians saw all this done, and whilethey helped to pile the stones and set upthe cross, they little thought that they wereassisting to deprive themselves of theirhomes and their country.You remember the noble reproof of Canutein the History of England, to his flatter-ers, when they assured him that even the


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92 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTwaves of the sea would obey him : but thisarrogant and weak minded Spaniard wadedinto the waves of the great Pacific Ocean, upto his knees, and absurdly took possessionof it in the name of the Spanish monarch.

Balboa was some time employed in fight-ing with the Indian tribes that inhabited thesea-coast, and in hunting them with blood-hounds.


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 93He soon made these helpless people sub-

mit. From them he got some further ac-counts of the rich country which the Indianprince had mentioned, and which provedafterwards to be Peru.He now quitted the shores of the PacificOcean on his return across the mountains of

Darien. His route homewards was differentfrom that which he had before pursued, andthe sufferings of his troops much greater.Often they could find no water, the heathaving dried up the pools and brooks.Many died from thirst, and those who sur-vived, although loaded with gold, were ex-hausted for want of food ; for the poorIndians brought gold and jewels, instead offood, as peace offerings to the Spaniards.At length, after much slaughter of theIndians that dwelt in the mountains, andburning of the villages, Balboa and histroops arrived at Darien ; having robbed theIndians of all the gold and silver they couldfind. The Spaniards at Darien receivedwith great delight and praise the news of hissuccess and discovery a discovery gained


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94 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTat the expense of much unnecessary crueltyand injustice.He now despatched a ship to Spain, withthe news of his discovery, and by it he sentpart of the gold he had carried off from thedifferent Indian tribes.A few days before this ship reached Spaina new governor had been sent out, by namePadrarias Davila, to take Balboa's place, andwith orders to punish

Balboa for his conductto Enciso.But when he arrived at Darien, and sawhow much the discoverer of the Pacific was

beloved by all the Spaniards of the settle-ment he hesitated through fear, and finallyresolved to defer the execution of the orderswhich he had brought with him.

Davila permitted Balboa to depart fromDarien for the purpose of building brigan-tines with a view to navigate and explore thePacific Ocean. Three years had elapsedsince he discovered this ocean, and withjoy he now prepared to build the ships whichwere to be the first belonging to Europeansto sail upon it.


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 95Balboa having overcome all his difficul-

ties, had the satisfaction of seeing two brigan-tines finished and floating on a river whichthey called the Balsas.As soon as they had been made ready forsea, he embarked with some of his followers,and sailing down the river, was the first tolaunch into the ocean that he had been thefirst to discover. But his death was nowabout to put a stop to his further discoveries.The new governor, Davila, who was a badand cruel man, and envious of Balboa, onaccount of the discoveries he had made, hadlong resolved to put him to death.The time having, as he thought, arrived,which was favourable for his villanous de-

sign, he sent for Balboa to return, and onhis arrival he had him seized by one ofhis early friends and followers, Franciso Pi-zarro, and then, after throwing him into pri-son, he ordered him to be put to death byhaving his head cut off.

This unjust sentence was executed, andBalboa, after a mock trial, was publicly be-headed, in the 48th year of his age.


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96 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUT

CHAPTER X.PARLEY TELLS OF THE CONQUEST OP

MEXICO.

NOT long after this another expedition sailedfrom Cuba, under the command of Cordova,to make further discoveries on the new con-tinent.The first land they saw proved to be the

eastern cape of that large peninsula whichyou see in the map projecting into the gulfof Mexico, and which still retains its originalname of Yucatan.As they approached the shore, five canoescame off full of people decently clad in cot-ton garments; this excited the wonder ofthe Spaniards, who had found every otherpart they had yet visited, possessed bynaked savages.


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 97Cordova endeavoured to gain their good-

will by presents, but perceived they werepreparing to attack him ; and, as his waterbegan to fail, he sailed further along thecoast in hopes of procuring a supply, butnot a single river did he find all along thatcoast till he came to Potonchon, in thebay of Campeachy, which is on the westernside of the peninsula.

Here Cordova landed all his troops, inorder to protect the sailors while filling theircasks ; but, notwithstanding, the nativesrushed down upon them with such furyand in such numbers, that forty-seven of theSpaniards were killed upon the spot, andone man only of the whole body escapedunhurt.

Cordova, though wounded in twelveplaces, led off his wounded men with greatpresence of mind and fortitude, and withmuch difficulty they reached their ships,and hastened back to Cuba. Cordova diedof his wounds soon after his arrival.Notwithstanding the ill success of thisexpedition, another was shortly after fittedK


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98 PARLEY'S TALES ABOUTout under the command of Grijalva, a youngman of known merit and courage. He di-rected his course to the bay of Campeachy,to the part from which Cordova had re-turned, and as they advanced they saw manyvillages scattered along the coast, in whichthey could distinguish houses of stone thatappeared white and lofty at a distance.

In the warmth of their admiration, theyfancied these to be cities, adorned withtowers and pinnacles ; and one of the sol-diers happening to remark that this countryresembled Spain in appearance, Grijalva,with universal applause, called it New Spain ;the name which still distinguishes this ex-tensive and opulent province of the Spanishdominions.They landed to the west of Tabasco, where

they were received with the respect due tosuperior beings ; the people perfumed themas they landed with incense of gum copal,and presented to them offerings of thechoicest delicacies of their country.They were extremely fond of trading with

their new visitants, and in six days, the


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AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA. 99Spaniards obtained ornaments of gold, andof curious workmanship, to the amount offifteen thousand pesoes, an immense sum,in exchange for European toys of smallprice.They learned from the natives that theywere the subjects of a great monarch, whose

dominions extended over that and manyother provinces.

Grijalva now returned with a full accountof the important discoveries he had made,and with all the treasure he had acquiredby trafficking with the natives.The favourable

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