to fall in with the south-west winds, which blow, without variation, from the east between the tropics, and made so little way, that he was three months without seeing land.

On arriving at Cadiz, he found three vessels in the harbour, commanded by Pedro Alonzo Nigno, on the point of sailing with supplies for the colony.

He appeared at the Spanish court with the modest but determined confidence of a man, conscious, not only of integrity, but of having performed great services to Spain. Ashamed of their own facility, in lending too favourable an ear to frivolous or ill-founded accusations, Ferdinand and Isabella received him with so distinguished marks of respect, as covered his enemies with shame. Their censures and calumnies were no more heard, at that juncture. His royal patrons resolved to supply the colony in Hispaniola with every thing that could render it a permanent establishment, and to furnish Columbus with such a fleet as would enable him to search for those new countries, of the existence of which he seemed confident. The precise number of adventurers, who should be permitted to embark, was fixed, and the new settlers were to be accompanied by a suitable number of women.

Thus far, the regulations were prudent, and well adapted to the end in view. But, in order to hasten the progress of the infant colony, Columbus proposed that there should be transported to Hispaniola, such malefactors as had been convicted of crimes, which, although capital, were not, in the highest degree, atrocious; and that, in future, a certain proportion of the offenders, usually sent to the gallies, should be condemned to labour in the mines. This advice, given without due reflection, was as inconsiderately adopted. The prisons of Spain were emptied, in order to collect members for the intended colony; and the judges, impowered to try criminals, were instructed to recruit it by their future sentences; a deeply pernicious policy, which caused the most unhappy effects.

1498.

The hostility of the great navigator's enemies, was too inveterate to remain long inactive. So many obstacles were thrown in the way, to retard the operations for his expedition, that more than a year elapsed, before he could procure two ships to carry a part of the supplies destined for the colony, and almost two years were spent, before the small squadron was equipped, of which he himself was to assume the command.

CHAPTER IV.

THE THIRD VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS.

HE DISCOVERS THE ISLAND OF TRINIDAD, THE CONTINENT OF AMERICA, THE MOUTH OF THE ORONOCO, AND THE ISLANDS OF MARGARITA AND CUBAGUA.-ST. DOMINGO FOUNDED BY BARTHOLOMEW COLUMBUS.-THE NEW WORLD NAMED AFTER AMERICO VESPUCIO.-BRAZIL DISCOVERED BY PEDRO ALVAREZ CABRAL.-COLUMBUS AND HIS TWO BROTHERS ARE BROUGHT HOME IN CHAINS.

THE third voyage of Columbus was commenced on 1498. the 30th of May. He sailed from the port of St. Lucar de Barrameda; his squadron consisting of only six vessels, of small burthen, and not fully provided for a long and dangerous navigation. The voyage now meditated by this adventurous seaman, was in a course different from any that he had before undertaken. As he was fully persuaded, that the fertile regions of India lay to the south of those countries which he had already discovered, he proposed, as the most certain method of finding out the former, to steer directly south from the Canary or Cape de Verd islands, until he came under the equinoctial line, and then to stretch to the west, before the wind favourable for such a course, which blows invariably between the tropics. He touched first at the Canary, and then at the Cape de Verd islands. From the former, he despatched three of his ships, with a supply of provisions for the colony; with the other three, he continued his voyage towards the south. No remarkable occurrence happened, until the 19th of July, when they were within five degrees of the equator. There, they were becalmed, and, at the same time, the heat became so excessive, that the tar melted, the seams of the ships opened, many of their wine-casks burst, the liquor in others soured, and their salted provisions became putrid. The Spaniards, who had never before ventured so far to the south, feared that the ships would take fire, and began to apprehend the reality of what the ancients had affirmed, respecting the destructive atmosphere of the torrid zone. They were relieved, in some

measure, from their fears, by a fall of rain. This, however, though so heavy and unremitting, that the men could hardly remain on deck, did not greatly mitigate the intenseness of the heat: Columbus, therefore, exhausted by fatigue and want of sleep, was constrained to yield to the importunities of his crew, and to alter his course to the north-west, in order to search some of the Caribbee islands, where he might be supplied with provisions, and refit.

On the 1st of August, the man stationed on the round-top surprised them with the joyous cry of land. The summits of three mountains were seen above the horizon. As the ships approached nearer, it was observed that these mountains were joined together at their base. Columbus had determined to consecrate the first land that he should behold, by giving it the name of the Trinity. The appearance of these three mountains, united into one, struck him as a singular and almost miraculous coincidence; with a solemn feeling of devotion, therefore, in conformity with the superstitious impressions which guided him in all his actions, he gave this newly-discovered island the name of La Trinidad, which it continues to bear to the present day. It lies off the coast of Guiana, near the mouth of the Orinoco. This, although a river of only the third or fourth class, in the new world, far surpasses any of the streams in the eastern hemisphere. It rolls towards the ocean so vast a body of water, and rushes into it with so impetuous a force, that, when it meets the tide, which on that coast rises to an uncommon height, their collision occasions a swell and agitation of the waves, not less surprising than formidable. With the utmost difficulty, Columbus escaped through a narrow strait, which appeared so tremendous, that he called it La Boca del Drago, or the Dragon's Mouth.

As soon as the consternation excited by this phenomenon permitted him to reflect upon the nature of an appearance so extraordinary, he discerned in it a source of comfort and hope. He justly concluded, that so vast a body of water could not be supplied by any island, but must flow through a country of immense extent; and consequently that he had now, without the smallest doubt, reached that continent which it had long been the object of his wishes to discover. He steered to the west, along the coast of those provinces known by the names of Paria and Cumana. He landed in several places, and had some intercourse with the people, who resem

bled those of Hispaniola in their appearance and manner of life. They wore, as ornaments, small plates of gold, and pearls of considerable value, which they willingly exchanged for European toys. They seemed to possess more intelligence, and greater courage, than the inhabitants of the islands. The country produced four-footed animals of several kinds, as well as a great variety of fowls and fruits. Columbus was so much delighted with its beauty and fertility, that, with the warm enthusiasm of a discoverer, he imagined it to be the Paradise described in Scripture. Here, he supposed to be situated the original abode of our first parents, the Garden of Eden, the primitive seat of human innocence and bliss. He imagined this place to be still flourishing in all its ineffable delights, but inaccessible to mortal feet, except by divine permission, according to the opinion of the most eminent fathers of the church. From the elevated region of the earth, which he conceived to lie near the equator, he presumed flowed the mighty stream of fresh water which filled the gulf of Paria; being supplied by the fountain mentioned in Genesis, as springing from the tree of life.

Thus, Columbus was the first man that conducted the Spaniards to that vast continent, which, for more than two centuries, was the chief seat of their empire, and the source of their treasures in that quarter of the globe.

Circumstances did not permit him, at this time, to extend his examination of that country as far as he desired. The shattered condition of his ships, the scarcity of provisions, his own infirmities, together with the impatience of his crew, prevented him from pursuing his discoveries any farther, and made it necessary to bear away for Hispaniola; with the intention of resuming the object of his voyage at a future day. In his way thither, he discovered several small islands; amongst which, were Margarita and Cubagua, afterwards famous for their pearl fisheries.

When he arrived at Hispaniola, in the latter end of August, he was wasted in an extreme degree, by fatigue and sickness, and was almost blind; yet he found the affairs of the colony in such a state of confusion, as afforded him no prospect of repose. Many revolutions had happened, during his

Profiting by the discoveries of Columbus, Sebastian Cabot, a native of Bristol, commissioned by Henry VII. of England, had reached the coast of Labrador, in North America, in June 1497.

absence. In consequence of advice given by Columbus, before his departure, his brother had removed the colony from Isabella, to a more commodious station, on the opposite side of the island, and laid the foundation of St. Domingo. In the mean time, the natives made another endeavour to regain their liberty; and a revolt, of an aspect far more alarming, was excited by Francis Roldan, whom Columbus had appointed chief-justice of the island. The mutineers endeavoured to surprise the fort at St. Domingo; but they were defeated by the vigilance and courage of Don Diego Columbus, and compelled to return to the province of Xaragua; where they continued not only to disclaim the adalantado's authority themselves, but excited the Indians to throw off the yoke.

Such was the distracted state of the colony, when Columbus landed at St. Domingo. He was astonished to find that the three ships despatched by him from the Canaries, had not yet arrived. By the unskilfulness of the pilots, and the violence of the currents, they had been carried a hundredand-sixty miles to the west of St. Domingo, and forced to take shelter in a harbour of the province of Xaragua, where Roldan and his seditious followers were cantoned. Roldan concealed from the commanders of the ships his insurrection against the adalantado; and, employing his utmost address to gain their confidence, persuaded them to set on shore a considerable part of the new settlers, under a pretext that they might proceed by land to St. Domingo. It required few arguments with these men to induce them to espouse his cause. They were criminals released from the jails of Spain, and they returned eagerly to a course of life nearly resembling that to which they had been accustomed.

By this junction with a band of bold and desperate associates, Roldan became extremely formidable, and no less extravagant in his demands. But, though filled with resentment at his ingratitude, and highly exasperated by the insolence of his followers, Columbus made no haste to take the field. Trembling at the thoughts of kindling a civil war, in which, whatever party prevailed, the strength and power of both must be so much wasted, as might encourage the common enemy to unite and complete their destruction, he chose rather to negociate than to fight. This mode of pacification proved successful. Gradually, and without bloodshed, he dissolved this dangerous combination, which had