meet him, and when the admiral came into the presence of the king, he honored him by commanding him to put on his cap and to sit down. The king, having heard the particulars of his fortunate voyage, offered him all he stood in need of for the service of their catholic majesties, although he thought that as the admiral had been a captain in the service of Portugal, that the discovery belonged to him. To which the admiral answered that he knew of no agreement by which he could obtain it, and that he had strictly obeyed his orders, which were that he should not go to the mines of Portugal or to Guinea. The king said that it was all well, and he did not doubt but justice would be done. Having spent considerable time in this conversation, the king commanded the prior of Crato, the greatest man then about him, to entertain the admiral, and show him all civility and respect, which was done accordingly. Having remained there all Sunday, and all Monday until after mass, the admiral took leave of the king. * As he was on his way to Lisbon, he passed a monastery, where the queen was, who sent him an earnest entreaty that he would not pass by without seeing her. She was much pleased to see him, and bestowed upon him all the favor and honor that were due to the greatest lord. That night a messenger came from the king to the admiral, to inform him that if he wished to go by land to Spain he would attend him, provide lodgings on the way, and furnish him all that he might require, as far as the borders of Portugal.

"On Wednesday, the thirteenth of March, two hours after daylight, the admiral set sail for Seville, and, on Friday following, at noon, arrived at Saltes, and came to anchor in the port of Palos,' from which 'Martin Alonso Pinzon had previously arrived in Galicia.

he had departed on the third of August, the previous year, 1492, seven months and eleven days preceding his return."

Desiring as early as possible to make known his return and his remarkable discoveries, Columbus, as soon as his vessel came to anchor, sent letters to several of his friends, in which he gave brief descriptions of the people and of the islands which he had found, as he believed, in the eastern part of Asia. One of these letters, that addressed on the fourteenth of March to Rafael or Gabriel Sanchez, treasurer of Spain, was shortly afterward translated into 'Latin and printed at Rome. The title given to the letter expresses the popular belief respecting the situation of the discovered islands: "A letter of Christopher Columbus, to whom our age is greatly indebted, respecting the islands of India lately found beyond the Ganges."

Conscious of the greatness of his discovery, Columbus enthusiastically closes his letter with these words: "And now the king, the queen, the princes, and all their dominions, as well as the whole of Christendom, ought to give thanks to our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has granted us such an achievement and success. Let

'Historie del S. D. Fernando Colombo. cap. xli, xlii.

Epistola Christofori Colom: cui etas nostra multu debit : de Insulis Indie supra Gangem nuper inuētis. Ad quas perqrendas octauo antea mense auspicies & ere invictissimor' Fernãdi & Helisabet Hispaniar' Regu missus fuerat: ad magnificum dnm Gabrielem Sanchis eorunde Serenissimor' Regum Tesaurariu missa: quia nobilis ac literatus vir Leander de Cosco ab Hispano ideomate in latinum cöuertit tertio kal's Maii m.cccc.xciii Pontificatus Alexandri Sexti anno primo.

A letter of Christopher Columbus, to whom our age is greatly indebted, respecting the islands of India lately found beyond the Ganges. In search of which he was sent eight months ago under the auspices and at the expense of the most invincible Ferdinand and Isabella, sovereigns of Spain. Sent to the magnificent lord, Gabriel Sanchez, treasurer of the same most serene king, and which the noble and learned man, Leander de Cosco, translated from the Spanish idiom into Latin. The third day of the calends of May, 1493. Pontificate of Alexander VI., first year.

processions be ordered, let solemn festivals be celebrated, let the churches be filled with boughs and flowers."

When his father landed at Palos, "he was received there," says Ferdinand Columbus, "by all the people in procession, giving thanks to God for his fortunate success, which, it was hoped, would contribute greatly to propagate the Christian religion and enlarge their majesties' dominions. All the inhabitants of the place considered it a matter of no little fame that the admiral had sailed from that port, and that most of the men he had with him belonged to it, though many of them, through [Martin Alonso] Pinzon's fault, had been mu* The admiral then

He

tinous and disobedient. proceeded toward Seville, intending to go from there to Barcelona where their catholic majesties were. was compelled to tarry a little along the way thither, though it were ever so little, to satisfy the curiosity of the people where he went, who came from the neighboring towns to the road along which he journeyed to see him, the Indians, and the other things he brought. Proceeding in this manner, he reached Barcelona about the middle of April, having previously sent their highnesses an account of the good fortune attending his voyage, which exceedingly pleased them, and they appointed him a most impressive reception as a man that had performed for them an extraordinary commission. All the court and city went out to meet him. Their catholic majesties sat in public in great state, on costly chairs, under a canopy of gold-cloth; and when he approached to kiss their hands they arose as to a great lord, and were unwilling to give him their hands, and caused him to sit down by them. When he had given them a brief account of his voyage, they permitted

him to retire to his apartment, to which he was attended by all the court. And he was so highly honored and favored by their highnesses, that when the king rode about Barcelona, the admiral was on one side of him, and the Infante Fortuna on the other, for before this, no one rode by the side of his majesty but the Infante, who was his near kinsman."

Galvano, speaking of the enthusiasm created by Columbus's return, says: " Hereupon there arose so extraordinary a desire to travel among the Spaniards that they were ready to leap into the sea to swim, if it had been possible, unto these new lands.”'

'Historie del S. D. Fernando Colombo. cap. xlii.

'Tratado, que compos o nobre & notauel capitão Antonio Galuão.

CHAPTER V.

1493-1506.

THE Spanish sovereigns, in order to obtain the privilege of extending their sway over the islands discovered by Columbus, immediately sent embassadors to Rome to request Pope Alexander VI. to confirm the title of Spain to the recently found lands, for it was then believed that the pope had sole and absolute authority to dispose of all countries inhabited by heathen peoples. Pope Martin V. and his successors had already granted to the crown of Portugal the possession of all the lands it might acquire by right of discovery beyond Cape Bojador toward the East. Pope Alexander VI., to reward the Spaniards for wresting Spain from the Moors, issued a bull, on the fourth of May, 1493, establishing a line of limitation, running from the north to the south pole, distant one hundred leagues west of the Azores and the Cape Verd Islands, giving to Spain all the lands she had discovered or might discover west of it, which had not been acquired by any Christian power before the preceding Christmas, and to Portugal all the territory, on the same conditions, which lay east of it. These territorial concessions of the pope caused the possessions of Spain, in the western hemisphere, to be called the West Indies, and those of Portugal, in the eastern hemisphere, the East Indies. The position of the line of demarkation displeased the Portuguese. To settle the dispute

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