1492]

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would prevail to carry them back again! A mutiny appeared for a while to be imminent, but the admiral contrived to soothe their fears, and to animate them with fresh hopes.

On the eleventh day of the 10th month (October), evident signs of proximity to land were observed as the birds, and the many objects that drifted by; and at night, Columbus, standing by the mast of his little craft, now eagerly and acutely on the watch, saw a light that moved; and, on the following morning, behold, the land! It proved to be an island of the Bahama group, called in the native tongue Guanahani, and which they named San Salvador.

Landing on the beach, in the presence of the inoffensive, awe-inspired natives, they knelt and offered thanks for their safety and their great discovery; then raised the figure of the cross, and Columbus, with sword in hand, took possession of the land on behalf of the monarchs of Spain. After bartering with the islanders, who continued to be very pacific, they sailed southward and discovered Cuba, and next Hayti or Hispaniola. On the north-west coast of the latter island a fort was built, and, leaving some of his followers to keep it, Columbus quickly returned to Spain, to announce to the court, then sitting at Barcelona, the news of his wonderful discovery.

Before the departure of Columbus, one of his vessels, which had approached too near the beach, was wrecked. The native prince, with friendly zeal, sent out men in canoes to assist the Spaniards in saving their goods. He also placed guards on land to keep away the press of the people from even gratifying their curiosity to see the strange merchandise of the whites. 'His subjects," says the historian Herrera, "participated in all his feelings, wept tears of sincere distress for the sufferers, and condoled with them in their misfortune. But, as if this was not enough, the next morning, when Columbus had removed to one of his other vessels, the good prince appeared on board to comfort him, and to offer all that he had to repair his loss !"

Upon returning to Hispaniola, Columbus found, to his surprise, that the little fort had been destroyed, and that the Spaniards had been either dispersed or killed. The latter looked upon the islanders as unmistakable heathen, unbaptized, and with no knowledge of the Christian Church; but the pity for their ignorance, which should have been shown in acts of strict justice and all good-will toward them, probably found expression in contempt and acts of aggression, which the Indians had thus (as they thought, justifiably) resented.

Neither Columbus nor his followers were inclined to submit to this piece of sharp retribution, however well-merited. Accordingly, though mustering but two hundred foot soldiers, twenty horse, and twenty large blood-hounds, they at once attacked the offending natives, who, in their turn, were severely punished, and great numbers of them captured and condemned to be slaves. However strange it may seem that dogs should be mentioned as constituting part of a military force, they were, perhaps, as formidable and destructive, when employed against naked Indians, as any agency of wrath that the invaders could use.

From neighboring chiefs, or caciques, whether anything wrong was charged against them or not, tribute was exacted as due to the Spaniards. The country had been taken possession of in the name of the Spanish crown, and due returns must be made to the royal exchequer.

These stringent acts, together with the fact that Columbus obliged the hidalgos who had come to the colony to perform more labor than was agreeable to their inclinations, raised up many enemies against him. To reply to their accusations, which were working him injury at court, Columbus returned to Spain, where he found that his honors had indeed much declined in the popular estimation. He still retained, however, enough of the royal favor to be allowed to proceed on a third voyage, commissioned with authority to make further

1498]

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discoveries. This time he came to land at the island of Trinidad, sailed between it and the mainland, opposite the mouth of the river Orinoco, and then continued on to Hispaniola (1498).

In a

From here he now sent six hundred slaves to Spain. letter to the sovereigns, in which he justified his course on the ground that the change would be better for the souls of the natives, as they could thus more readily be made Christians, he also estimates that "in the name of the sacred Trinity" there may be sent as many slaves as sale could be found for in Spain. This traffic was against the express wishes of Isabella, who had always desired that the natives should not be deprived of their freedom. Yet, upon the pretext that it was doing God service, were the caciques subdued or forced to pay tribute, some in gold, others in cotton, or the bread of the country, while others again, being taken prisoners of war, were made slaves, and compelled to work in the mines, or sent away prisoners to Spain.

In vivid contrast to this sad picture is that which is brought to view in reading a description of some of these islanders, as portrayed in an early letter, written by Columbus himself, to his royal patrons: "They are a loving and courteous people," he writes, "so docile in all things that I assure your highnesses I believe, in all the world, there is not a better people or a better country; they love their neighbors as themselves, and they have the sweetest and gentlest way of talking in the world, and always with a smile."

Columbus was probably not avaricious: the love of science and investigation were too deeply implanted to permit such sordid motives to prevail for his own benefit. But he had been accustomed to the slave-trade by his early voyages along the coast of Africa, and, doubtless from a desire to make his discoveries remunerative to Spain, was solicitous that the royal revenues should not be neglected. Still, his course did not meet with the approval of the Spanish sovereigns, and by the

governor who superseded him he was sent home in chains. A galling condition must this have been to his spirit; but, alas! how many thousands of hapless slaves since then have been carried over these very seas to a wretched, life-long servitude -victims of a system of which Columbus himself was here the originator!

Columbus was once more reinstated in favor, and set out, in 1502, on his fourth and last American expedition, expecting to be rewarded by finding a strait through which he could reach the continent of Asia; but after sailing down the coast of Honduras, and finding that the land bent eastward, along the Isthmus of Panama, he abandoned the quest. Upon his way thence to Hispaniola, he was wrecked upon the coast of Jamaica, remaining there a year before succor arrived. He died in 1506, at Valladolid, soon after his return to Spain.

The conquest of the neighboring island of CUBA was accomplished in 1512, by Don Velasquez, one of Columbus' captains. We are told that the Cubans were so unwarlike that the Spaniards experienced no difficulty in overrunning the island, except from a certain chief named Hatvey, who had fled from Hispaniola, where he had witnessed enough of the cruelty of the Europeans not to desire their further acquaintance. He was, nevertheless, overcome, and condemned to the flames. When fastened to the stake, says Las Casas, a Franciscan friar endeavored to convert him, promising him immediate admission into the joys of heaven. But with bitgo to a place where he might meet even the best of so sinful a race as were his persecutors !

terness Hatvey replied, that he wished not to

CHAPTER III.

THE ABORIGINES.

THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

THE valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries, was anciently peopled by a race, who, from the circumstance of their having constructed numerous mounds of earth, have been named the MOUND-BUILDERS. We have no means of knowing what was their true national name.

The form of these artificial mounds is mostly that of a pyramid, terraced or truncated; sometimes square at the base, or of other rectangular shape, but occasionally six- or eightsided; while some of the higher ones appear to have been constructed with stairways winding to the summit. These latter forcibly recall the teocallis of Mexico and Central America, which were pyramids used for the worship of the Aztec gods, and were usually constructed of earth, with an exterior facing of stone, in which were rows of steps by which to mount to the level platform at the summit, where the sacrifices were offered. Hence it is inferred that the mounds of the north were built by the same race, and subserved a like religious purpose, as those of the Mexican structures; though many other conjectures as to their probable use have been suggested.

Among the largest of these regular-shaped mounds is one at Miamisburg, Ohio, which is about 850 feet in measurement around the base, and 68 feet in height; one in West Virginia, which is over 70 feet high, and 1000 feet in circumference;