Running Aground, cont.
By sunrise, Guacanagarí, the King of present-day Hispaniola, saw the distress and offered immediate help. Getting the sailors ashore, he provided housing and food for them all. In his generosity, he also revealed plenty of gold on the island and promised that they could have however much they wanted. Columbus later recorded that “in his eating, by his decency and fine sort of cleanliness, he well showed that he was of good birth.”
Building a Fort
Guacanagarí also welcomed the men to stay as long as needed, and gave them land. Columbus chose a spot and directed the men to build a fortress with a surrounding moat. They built quickly, and Columbus selected thirty-nine men to stay behind. With the promise of gold at last, the men did not need persuading. In his final instructions, Columbus charged the Spanish to get as much “spicery” and gold as possible.
Shortly before they departed, Columbus visited Guacanagarí again. In what he thought was a show of friendship, Columbus demonstrated the firepower of their lombards, a small cannon. He promised the King that they could help him in his fight against the fearsome Caribs, a tribe that his captives had talked endlessly about. Columbus was under the impression that the natives were all afraid of the Caribs. But suddenly, the natives were also terrified of the cannon. They did not seem to understand the gesture as friendly. The sailors also demonstrated their swords and crossbows evoking even more fear among the natives.
Skirmishing with the Natives
During their final days, Columbus sailed slowly from one bay to the next, awaiting a good wind to set sail. By Sunday, January 13, he settled on a date. An astronomy text predicted that January 17 would have a good wind. In the morning, he sent the barge to shore to gather yams for the men’s dinner, when they happened upon a native who had painted his face black and who carried a bow with arrows. They invited him back to the ship, and Columbus decided he must be one of the fierce Caribs they had heard about.
They fed him and took him back to shore. As the sailors got to the beach, they saw about 55 men hidden behind trees. As the barge came ashore, the lead captive Indian told the Indians on shore to lay down their weapons. Then the Spaniards, on Columbus’ orders, began to bargain for the bows and acquired two of them.
At that point the Indians stopped and ran to get ropes, apparently intending to capture the Spanish. As they returned, the Spanish began to fight, and the Indians fled, after the Spanish wounded two of them. The sailors attested that the pilot of the barge prevented the Spanish from killing many of them. Columbus regretted the incident but hoped it would put some fear into the Indians, in case they were the fierce Caribs.
Fighting for Recognition
As Columbus loaded the Niña with food and supplies, Martín Alonso Pinzón returned with the Pinta. He had parted from the fleet on November 21 on his own quest for gold. Now, he and Columbus argued fiercely. Martin threatened to beat Columbus home and claim the discovery as his own. Although Columbus was Admiral of the fleet, he was too eager to get home to spend time doling out punishments.
We can see a glimmer of his feelings about this encounter in his log where he wrote that some of his men were of “good will,” while others were “bad company.” Clearly Columbus thought of Martin as one of the latter. Columbus did not doubt that Martin’s threat was sincere. His only wish was to get home first and announce the news of the discovery to the monarchs.
Making Vows and Losing Hope
They launched for home on Wednesday, January 16, 1493. On Tuesday, February 12, the Niña, began to pitch with high seas. By Thursday, there had been no let-up, and he recorded in his log that “night wind increased and the waves were frightful, running counter to one another…” He sent up flares to keep in touch with the Pinta, and all night, the Pinta responded until he lost sight of her. The danger was so great that the men pledged a pilgrimage should they make it to land. “Besides the general or common vows, everyone made his special vow, because nobody expected to escape, holding themselves all for lost…”
Columbus feared lest the news of his voyage should never reach Ferdinand and Isabella. And so he spent the night “in order that, if he were lost in that tempest, the Sovereigns might have news of his voyage. [H]e took a parchment and wrote upon it all that he could…earnestly requesting whoever might find it to carry it to the Sovereigns.” He wrapped it in a waxed cloth, placed it in a wooden barrel, and tossed it overboard. On Friday, they spotted land and received a brief rest on the Santa Maria island of the Azores, about 870 miles west of Portugal.
Facing a Final Test
When they set out again, they hit another storm worse than the first. On Sunday, March 3, a storm blew up and shredded the last of the sails. By Monday, they were in great peril. Yet in the second watch of the night, a lightning flash revealed land in the distance.
Holding hope in check, Columbus kept out to sea, unable to see a safe port to enter. Suffering through the long night, at daybreak he entered the River of Lisbon. The townspeople swarmed them and told them they had prayed for them all night. In town, he “learned from mariners that never had there been a winter with so great storms and that 25 ships had been lost in Flanders, and that other vessels had been lying there 4 months without being able to get out.”
Although they seemed to be safe, they were in hostile territory. The King of Portugal was not friendly with Ferdinand and Isabella, yet he enacted much diplomacy, finally allowing Columbus to continue to Spain. On March 15, he entered the Spanish port of Saltes. The monarchs kept their word and raised Columbus to be their Admiral of the Ocean Seas.
Historical Continuity and Issues
The legacy of colonialism is with us today. Haiti claimed independence in 1804, and the Dominican Republic in 1821. Puerto Rico began its fight for independence in 1868. While Cuba did not gain their independence until 1902. Regarding genocide throughout the islands and mainland, most historians agree that most of this activity occurred after Columbus’ death in 1506.
However, some historians say that he set a poor example for an incident that he authorized during his second voyage. He sent a group of men to scout the island for gold, sending them off without any of their own food, instructing them to scavenge along the way. Historians point out that the situation was tinder for a fire, and that Columbus should have known better. After all, he had a warning that the natives would fight if provoked, when he returned for his second voyage and found that all the men who had stayed behind fought with the natives and had been killed in a skirmish over women.
Moreover, on Columbus’ fourth voyage, while he was sick and resting on board ship, his landing crew fought with natives in the Panama region. They were nearly all killed. These events were portents of things to come at the hands of other explorers.
Christopher Columbus’ Dates and Position on Slavery
- Born: 1451
- Died: 1506
- Columbus described palms on the islands as being, “of a different kind from those of Guinea [Ghana]…” revealing that he had landed in Africa during the early days of the African slave trade.
- Columbus “detained” five young men. Then he sent sailors inland to capture “seven head of women.”
- He observed that captives from Ghana who had been taken to Portugal to learn the language and had been given gifts and “good company” still did not cooperate when slavers returned them to their homeland. He decided that this may have been because they did not have women with them. Columbus then decided to take island men and women together to Spain.
A Penny for Your Thoughts?