Besides The Salary And Perquisites Belonging To The Offices Of
Admiral, Viceroy, And Governor-General Over All His Discoveries, He
Demanded to have one tenth of all that should be bought, bartered, found,
or procured in any manner of way
Within the bounds of his authority,
abating only the charges attending the discovery and conquest; so that if
1000 ducats were acquired in any island or place, 100 of these were to
belong to him. Besides all this, as his adversaries alleged that he
ventured nothing in the undertaking, and had the command of the fleet
during the expedition, he offered to be at one eighth part of the expence,
for which he demanded to receive the eighth part of what he should bring
home in the fleet. As these high conditions were refused, the admiral took
leave of all his friends, and began his journey to Cordova, with the
intention of making preparations for going to France; being resolved not
to return into Portugal, although the king had invited him back.
The admiral departed from the camp of St Faith in the month of January
1492 on his intended journey; and on the same day Lewis de Santangel,
formerly mentioned, who was exceedingly anxious to forward his project,
obtained an audience of the queen of Castile, and used every argument he
could devise to persuade her to adopt the undertaking and to comply with
the terms required. He expressed his astonishment that she, who had always
evinced much greatness of soul in all important matters, should now want
spirit to venture upon an undertaking where so little was to be risked,
and which might redound so highly to the glory of God and the propagation
of the faith, not without great benefit and honour to her kingdoms and
dominions. That, should any other prince accept the offer of Columbus, the
injury which her crown would sustain was very obvious; and that then she
would justly incur much blame from her friends and servants, and would be
reproached by her enemies, and all the world would say that she deserved
the misfortune and disappointment; and, although she might never be
sensible of the evil consequences of her refusal, her successors must.
That, since the proposal seemed well grounded in reason and sound argument,
and was made by a man of wisdom and knowledge, who demanded no other
reward but what might arise from his discoveries, and who was willing to
bear a proportion of the charges, and to adventure his own personal safety
on the event, her majesty ought certainly to make the attempt. That she
ought not to believe the undertaking was such an impossibility as had been
alleged by those learned men to whom the proposal had been referred,
neither to consider its possible failure as any reflection upon her wisdom;
for in his opinion it would be universally looked upon as a mark of
generous magnanimity to attempt discovering the secret wonders of the
world, as had been done by other monarchs to their great honour and
advantage. That, however uncertain the event might be, even a considerable
sum of money would be well employed in the endeavour to ascertain the
certainty of so very important an affair; whereas the admiral only
required 2500 crowns to fit out a fleet for the discovery; and that
therefore she ought not to allow it to be said hereafter that the fear of
losing so small a sum had kept her from patronizing the enterprise.
The queen was much impressed by these representations of Santangel, of
whose sincere attachment to her service and honour she was extremely
sensible. She thanked him for his good counsel, and said that she was
willing to accede to the proposed enterprise, providing that the execution
were delayed until she might have a little time to recruit her finances
after the conclusion of the present war. Yet, if he thought it necessary
to proceed immediately, she was willing that the requisite funds should be
borrowed on the credit of her jewels. Upon this condescension to his
advice which she had refused to all other persons, Santangel immediately
replied, that there was no necessity to pawn her jewels on the occasion,
as he would readily advance his own money to do such a service to her
majesty. Upon this resolution, the queen immediately sent an officer to
bring the admiral back, who had already reached the bridge of Pinos, two
leagues from Granada. Though much mortified at the difficulties and delays
he had met with hitherto, yet, on receiving intimation of the queens
willingness to comply with his proposals, he returned immediately to the
camp of St Faith, where he was honourably received by their majesties. The
dispatch of the articles of agreement was commited to John Coloma the
secretary, and every thing which he had demanded, as has been mentioned
before, without alteration or diminution, was granted under the hands and
seals of their Catholic majesties.
SECTION IV.
Narrative of the first voyage of Columbus, in which he actually
discovered the New World.
All the conditions which the admiral demanded being conceded by their
Catholic majesties, he set out from Granada on the 21st May 1492 for Palos,
where he was to fit out the ships for his intended expedition. That town
was bound to serve the crown for three months with two caravels, which
were ordered to be given to Columbus; and he fitted out these and a third
vessel with all care and diligence. The ship in which he personally
embarked was called the St Mary; the second vessel named the Pinta, was
commanded by Martin Alonzo Pinzon; and the third named the Nina, which had
square sails, was under the command of Vincent Yanez Pinzon, the brother
of Alonzo, both of whom were inhabitants of Palos. Being furnished with
all necessaries, and having 90 men to navigate the three vessels, Columbus
set sail from Palos on the 3d of August 1492, shaping his course directly
for the Canaries.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 18 of 214
Words from 17507 to 18512
of 219607
