pest, from the coast of Cuba, his ships were dashed against each other, and were so much shattered by the shock, that, with the utmost difficulty, they reached Jamaica; where he June 24. them from sinking. was constrained to run them aground, to prevent

Fortune seemed now to have assailed Columbus with her last and keenest shaft. He was cast ashore upon an island at a considerable distance from the only settlement of the Spaniards in America. His ships were ruined, beyond the possibility of being repaired. To convey an account of his situation to Hispaniola, appeared impracticable; and without this, it was in vain to expect relief. In his distress, he had recourse to the hospitable kindness of the natives; from whom, he obtained two of their canoes; in which small and misshapen boats, fit only for creeping along the coast, or crossing from one side of a bay to another, Mendez, a Spaniard, who, had several times before risked his life in the service of Columbus, and Fiesco, a Genoese, two gentlemen particularly attached to the admiral, gallantly offered to set out for His paniola, upon a voyage of forty leagues. Each had one of the canoes under his command; in which, were six Spaniards and ten Indians. They reached Cape Tiburon, in Hispaniola, in four days; and Mendez, partly by water, and partly by penetrating an unexplored wilderness, arrived at St. Domingo in ten days from their departure, after surmounting incredible dangers, and enduring so great a fatigue, that several of the Indians who accompanied them, sunk under it, and died.

The attention paid to them by the governor of Hispaniola was neither such as their courage merited, nor the distress of their fellow-sufferers required. From a mean jealousy of Columbus, Ovando was afraid of allowing him to set foot upon the island under his government; and eight months were spent by Mendez and Fiesco, in soliciting relief for their commander and associates, without any prospect of

success.

During this period, various passions agitated the 1504. mind of Columbus and his companions in adversity. After some time, the more timorous began to suspect that Mendez and Fiesco had miscarried in their daring attempt. At length, even the most sanguine concluded that they had perished; despair, heightened by disappointment, settled in every breast; in a transport of rage, forty-eight of the seamen, headed by Francisco de Porras, rose in open mutiny, threaten

G

ed the life of Columbus, whom they reproached as the author of all their calamities, seized ten canoes, which the admiral had purchased from the Indians, and fled with them to a distant part of the island. Following the course taken by Mendez and Fiesco, they made repeated attempts to pass over to Hispaniola, but, either from their own misconduct, or the violence of the winds and current, their efforts were all unsuccessful. From their light structure, and their bottoms being round, the canoes were easily overturned, and required to be carefully balanced. They were now deeply laden by men unaccustomed to them, and as the sea rose, they frequently let in the water. Becoming alarmed, the Spaniards endeavoured to lighten them, by throwing overboard every thing that could be spared; retaining only their arms, and a part of their provisions. The danger augmented with the wind. They now compelled the Indians whom they had procured to accompany them, to leap into the sea, except such as were absolutely necessary to navigate the canoes. If they refused, they drove them overboard with the edge of the sword. The Indians were experienced swimmers, but the distance to land was too great for their strength. They kept about the canoes, therefore, taking hold of them, occasionally, to rest themselves and recover breath. As their weight disturbed the balance of the canoes, and threatened to overturn them, the Spaniards cut off their hands, and stabbed them with their swords. Some died by the weapons of these cruel men, others sank exhausted beneath the waves: thus, eighteen miserably perished, and none survived, except those who had been retained to manage the canoes.

With extreme difficulty, they were enabled to retrace their course. Enraged at this disappointment, they returned towards that part of the island where Columbus remained, threatening him with new insults and dangers. All his endeavours to reclaim them had no other effect than to increase their frenzy. The common safety made it necessary to oppose them with open force. Columbus, who had been long afflicted with gout, could not take the field. His brother, the adelantado, marched against them. In the first encounter, several of their most daring leaders were slain. The adelantado, whose strength was equal to his courage, closed with their captain, wounded, disarmed, and took him prisoner. The rest fled; and soon afterwards, they submitted, in a body, to Columbus, binding themselves, by the most solemn oaths, to

obey all his commands. Hardly was tranquillity re-established, when two vessels arrived from Hispaniola. Never was relief more unexpected, or more grateful. With transports of joy, the Spaniards quitted an island in which the unfeeling jealousy of Ovando had suffered them to languish above a year, exposed to misery in all its forms.

On the 13th of August, Columbus anchored in the harbour of St. Domingo; and on the 12th of September, he sailed with two ships, for Spain. The present voyage was not less unfortunate than the preceding. Disasters, similar to those which had accompanied him through life, continued to pursue him to the end of his career. One of his vessels, being disabled, was soon forced back to St. Domingo; the other, shattered by violent storms, sailed seven-hundred leagues with jury-masts, and reached, with difficulty, the port of St. Lucas.

There, he received intelligence of an event, the most fatal that could have befallen him, and which completed his misfortunes. This was the death of his patroness, queen Isabella; in whose justice, humanity, and favour, he had confided as his last resource. As soon as his health was, in some degree, re-established, he repaired to court, then held at Segovia; and, though he was received there with civility barely decent, he urged Ferdinand with one petition after another, demanding the punishment of his oppressors, and the restitution of all the privileges granted to him by the contract of 1492. Ferdinand amused him with fair words, and unmeaning promises. Instead of acceding to his claims, he proposed expedients in order to elude them, and spun out the affair with artifice so apparent, as plainly discovered his intention that it should never be terminated. The declining health of Columbus flattered Ferdinand with the hope of soon being relieved from an importunate suitor, and encouraged him to persevere in this illiberal plan. Nor was he deceived in his expectations. With a composure of mind, suitable to the magnanimity which distinguished his character, and with sentiments of piety becoming that supreme respect for religion, which he manifested in every occurrence of life, Columbus ended his days, at Valladolid, on the 20th of May, 1506, in the 71st year of his age.*

* His body was deposited in the convent of St. Francisco, at Valladolid. His remains were conveyed afterwards, in 1513, by the king's

In his will, Columbus enjoined his son Diego, and whomsoever afterwards should inherit his estates, without regarding any dignities and titles that might be granted by the king, always to sign himself simply, "The Admiral;" by way of perpetuating in his family his real source of greatness.

CHAPTER VI.

EXECUTION OF ANACOANA, BY OVANDO.-DISCOVERY OF YUCATAN. CUBA ASCERTAINED TO BE AN ISLAND.-DON DIEGO COLUMBUS ARRIVES AT HISPANIOLA.-FLORIDA DISCOVERED, BY PONCE DE LEON. THE PACIFIC OCEAN DISCOVERED BY BALBOA, ACCOMPANIED BY PIZARRO.-BALBOA IS SUPERSEDED IN THE GOVERNMENT OF DARIEN, BY PEDRARIAS, AND PUT TO DEATH.

WHILE Columbus was employed in his last voyage, 1505. several events worthy of notice occurred in Hispaniola. The province anciently named Xaragua, which extends from the fertile plain where Leogane is now situated, to the western extremity of the island, was subject to a beautiful young female cazique, (the widow of Caonabo,) named Anacoana, highly respected by the natives. From that partial fondness with which the women of America were attached to the Europeans, she had always courted the friendship of the Spaniards, and loaded them with benefits. But, some of the command, to the chapel of St. Ann, in the Carthusian monastery at Seville; in which chapel, were likewise deposited the remains of his son Diego, who died in the village of Montalban, in Spain, in 1526._Ten years afterwards, in 1536, the bodies of Columbus and his son Diego were removed to Hispaniola, and interred in the cathedral of the city of St. Domingo. But even here, they were not suffered to mingle with their kindred earth; having since been again disinterred, and conveyed to Havanna, in the island of Cuba. This occurred at the termination of a war between France and Spain, in 1795; when all the Spanish possessions in the island of Hispaniola, were ceded to the republic of France. The remains were disinterred on the 20th of December, in that year; the next day they were put on board a brigantine, called the Discoverer; and, on the 15th of January, 1796, they arrived at Havanna, and were there deposited in the wall, on the right side of the grand altar in the cathedral.

adherents of Roldan having settled in her country, were so much exasperated at her endeavouring to restrain their excesses, that they accused her of having formed a plan to throw off the yoke, and to exterminate the Spaniards. Ovando, though he well knew how little credit was due to so profligate men, marched, without further inquiry, towards Xaragua, with three-hundred foot-soldiers, armed with swords, arquebusses, and cross-bows, and seventy horsemen, with cuirasses, bucklers, and lances. Lest the Indians might be alarmed at this hostile appearance, he reported that his sole intention was, in the most respectful manner, to visit Anacoana, to whom his countrymen had been much indebted, and to regulate, with her, the mode of levying the tribute payable to the king of Spain. In order to receive this illustrious guest with due honour, Anacoana assembled the principal men in her dominions, to the number of three-hundred; and, advancing at the head of these, accompanied by a great crowd of persons of inferior rank, she welcomed Ovando with songs and dances, according to the mode of the country, and conducted him to the place of her abode. There, he was feasted for some days, with all the kindness of simple hospitality, and amused with the games and spectacles usual amongst the Indians on occasions of festivity and mirth. But, amidst the security inspired by this entertainment, Ovando was meditating the destruction of his unsuspicious hostess and her subjects; and the mean perfidy with which he executed this scheme, equalled his barbarity in forming it. Under colour of exhibiting to the Indians the parade of a European tournament, he advanced with his troops in battle array, towards the house in which Anacoana and forty of her chieftains were assembled. The infantry took possession of all the avenues leading to the village, while the horsemen encompassed the house. These movements were objects of admiration, without any mixture of fear, until, on a previously concerted signal, the sounding of a trumpet, the Spaniards suddenly drew their swords, and rushed upon the Indians, defenceless, and astonished at an act of treachery which exceeded the conception of undesigning men. In a moment,

Anacoana was secured. All her attendants were seized and bound. Fire was set to the house; and, without examination or conviction, all these unhappy persons, the most illustrious in their own country, were consumed in the flames. Anacoana was reserved for a more ignominious fate. She