De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2) by Trans. by Francis Augustus MacNutt

T >> Trans. by Francis Augustus MacNutt >> De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2)

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[Note 3: He was appointed cartographer of the _Casa de
Contractacion_ at Seville, in 1512. Henry Harrisse makes frequent
mention of the Vespucci in his work on the Cabots.]

[Note 4: One of many instances of Peter Martyr's hospitality to
men of parts and activity, from whose conversation and narrations he
set himself to glean the material for his writings. His information
was first-hand, and was frequently poured out to him over his
hospitable board, under which the home-coming adventurers were glad to
stretch their legs, while their genial host stimulated their memories
and loosed their tongues with the generous wines of his adopted
country.]

According to the letters of Pedro Arias, and to the narrations of
Vespucci, what happened is as follows: It is believed that the natives
belong to the same race as the Caribs or Cannibals, for they are just
as overbearing and cruel. They seek to repulse from their shores all
Spaniards who approach for they consider them as enemies and are
determined to prevent their landing, despite their attempts. These
naked barbarians are so determined and courageous, that they ventured
to attack the entire squadron and tried to drive it from their coasts.
They threw themselves into the sea, like madmen, showing not the
slightest fear of the number and size of our vessels. They attacked
the Spaniards with all sorts of darts; protected by the sides of the
ships and by their shields, the latter resisted, though two of them
were mortally wounded. It was then decided to fire cannon, and
frightened by the noise and the effect of the projectiles, the natives
fled, believing the Spaniards commanded the thunder; for they are
frequently exposed to storms owing to the character of their country
and the neighbourhood of lofty mountains. Although the enemy were
conquered and dispersed, the Spaniards hesitated whether to go on
shore or to remain on board their ships. A consultation was held in
which different opinions were expressed. Fear counselled them to stop
where they were, but human respect urged them to land. They feared the
poisoned arrows which the natives shot with such sure aim, but on the
other hand it seemed shameful, unworthy, and infamous to sail by with
such a large fleet and so many soldiers without landing. Human respect
carried the day, and after landing by means of light barques, they
pursued the scattered natives.

According to the report of Pedro Arias and the narrative of Vespucci,
the harbour is three leagues in circumference. It is a safe one, and
its waters are so clear that at a depth of twenty cubits, the stones
on its bottom may be counted. Streams empty into the harbour but they
are not navigable for large ships, only for native canoes. There is an
extraordinary abundance of both fresh- and salt-water fish, of great
variety and good flavour. Many native fishing boats were found in
this harbour, and also a quantity of nets ingeniously made from stout
grasses worn by friction and interwoven with spun cotton cords. The
natives of Caramaira, Cariai, and Saturma are all skilful fishermen,
and it is by selling their fish to the inland tribes that they procure
the products they need and desire.

When the barbarians withdrew from the coast, the Spaniards entered
their boios, that is to say their houses. The natives frequently
attacked our men with fury, seeking to kill them all with flights
of poisoned arrows. When they realised that their houses were to be
invaded and robbed, and particularly when they witnessed their women
and the majority of their children carried into captivity, their fury
increased. The furniture found in these houses was discovered to be
made of large reeds gathered along the shore, or of various grasses
resembling cords. Woven mats of various colours, and cotton hangings,
upon which lions, eagles, tigers, and other figures were executed with
great care and taste, were found. The doors of the houses and of the
rooms inside were hung with snail-shells strung upon fine cord, which
the wind easily shook, producing a noise of rattling shells which
delighted them.

From various sources astonishing tales of the natives have been told
me. Amongst others, Gonzales Fernando Oviedo,[5] who is a royal
official with the title of inspector, boasts that he has travelled
extensively in the interior of the country. He found a piece of
sapphire larger than a goose's egg, and upon the hills he explored
with about twenty men, he claims that he has seen a large quantity of
emerald matrix, chalcedon, jasper, and great lumps of mountain amber.

[Note 5: _Sommario dell'Indie Occidenti_, cap. lxxxii., in
Ramusio.]

Attached to the tapestries woven with gold which the Caribs left
behind them in their houses when they fled, were precious stones:
Oviedo and his companions affirm that they saw them. The country also
has forests of scarlet wood and rich gold deposits. Everywhere along
the coast and on the banks of the rivers exist marcasites[6] which
indicate the presence of gold. Oviedo further states that in a region
called Zenu, lying ninety miles east of Darien, a kind of business is
carried on for which there are found in the native houses huge jars
and baskets, cleverly made of reeds adapted to that purpose. These
receptacles are filled with dried and salted grasshoppers, crabs,
crayfish, and locusts, which destroy the harvests. When asked the
purpose of these provisions, the natives replied they were destined
to be sold to the people inland, and in exchange for these precious
insects and dried fish they procure the foreign products they require.
The natives live in scattered fashion, their houses not being built
together. This land, inhabited by the people of Caramaira, is an
Elysian country, well cultivated, fertile, exposed neither to the
rigours of winter nor the great heats of summer. Day and night are of
about equal length.

[Note 6: A variety of iron pyrites.]

After driving off the barbarians, the Spaniards entered a valley two
leagues in breadth and three long, which extended to the grassy and
wooded slopes of the mountains. Two other valleys, each watered by a
river, also open to the right and left at the foot of these mountains.
One is the Gaira, and the other has not yet received a name. There
are, in these valleys, cultivated gardens, and fields watered by
ingeniously planned ditches. Our Milanese and Tuscans cultivate and
water their fields in precisely the same manner.

The ordinary food of these natives is the same as the others--agoes,
yucca, maize, potatoes, fruits, and fish. They rarely eat human flesh,
for they do not often capture strangers. Sometimes they arm themselves
and go hunting in neighbouring regions, but they do not eat one
another. There is, however, one fact sad to hear. These filthy eaters
of men are reported to have killed myriads of their kind to satisfy
their passion. Our compatriots have discovered a thousand islands as
fair as Paradise, a thousand Elysian regions, which these brigands
have depopulated. Charming and blessed as they are, they are
nevertheless deserted. From this sole instance Your Holiness may judge
of the perversity of this brutal race. We have already said that
the island of San Juan lies near to Hispaniola and is called by the
natives Burichena. Now it is related that within our own time more
than five thousand islanders have been carried off from Burichena for
food, and were eaten by the inhabitants of these neighbouring islands
which are now called Santa Cruz, Hayhay, Guadaloupe, and Queraqueira.
But enough has been said about the appetites of these filthy
creatures.

Let us now speak a little of the roots destined to become the food
of Christians and take the place of wheaten bread, radishes, and our
other vegetables. We have already said several times that the yucca
was a root from which the natives make a bread they like both in
the islands and on the continent; but we have not yet spoken of its
culture, its growth, or of its several varieties. When planting yucca,
they dig a hole knee-deep in the ground, and pile the earth in heaps
nine feet square, in each one of which they plant a dozen yucca roots
about six feet long, in such wise that all the ends come together
in the centre of the mound. From their joining and even from their
extremities, young roots fine as a hair sprout and, increasing little
by little, attain, when they are full grown, the thickness and length
of a man's arm, and often of his leg. The mounds of earth are thus
converted little by little into a network of roots. According to
their description, the yucca requires at least half a year to reach
maturity, and the natives also say that if it is left longer in
the ground, for instance for two years, it improves and produces a
superior quality of bread. When cut, the women break and mash it on
stones prepared for the purpose, just as amongst us cheese is pressed;
or they pack it into a bag made of grass or reeds from the riverside,
afterwards placing a heavy stone on the bag and hanging it up for a
whole day to let the juice run off. This juice, as we have already
said in speaking of the islanders, is dangerous; but if cooked, it
becomes wholesome, as is the case with the whey of our milk. Let us
observe, however, that this juice is not fatal to the natives of the
continent.

There are several varieties of yucca, one of which being dearer and
more agreeable, is reserved for making the bread of the caciques.
Other varieties are set aside for the nobles, and certain others for
the common people. When the juice has all run off, the pulp is spread
out and cooked on slabs of earthenware made for the purpose, just
as our people do cheese. This sort of bread is the most used and is
called _cazabi_. It is said there are also several kinds of agoes
and potatoes, and the natives use these more as vegetables than for
breadmaking, just as we do radishes, turnips, mushrooms, and other
similar foods. Most of all do the natives like potatoes, which indeed
are preferable to mushrooms, because of their flavour and softness,
particularly when of a superior quality. We have now spoken enough
of roots, so let us come to another kind of bread. The natives have
another kind of grain similar to millet, save that the kernels are
larger. When there is a shortage of yucca, they grind it into flour by
mashing it between stones; the bread made from this is coarser. This
grain is sown three times a year, since the fertility of the soil
corresponds to the evenness of the seasons. I have already spoken of
this in preceding places. When the Spaniards first arrived, all these
roots and grains and maize, as well as various other kinds of fruit
trees were cultivated.

In Caramaira and Saturma there are such broad, straight roads that one
might think they had been drawn with a lead pencil. Among this people
are found cups with handles, jugs, jars, long platters, and plates
of earthenware, as well as amphoras of different colours for keeping
water fresh.

When ordered to tender obedience to the King of Castile and to embrace
our religion, or get out, the Indians replied with flights of poisoned
arrows. The Spaniards captured some of them, whom they immediately set
at liberty after giving them some clothing. Some others they took on
board the ships and displayed our grandeur before them, so that they
might tell their compatriots; after which they released them, hoping
thus to win their friendship. Gold has been proven to exist in all the
rivers. Here and there in the native houses fresh meat of deer and
wild boar was found; a food which they eat with great pleasure. These
natives also keep numbers of birds which they rear either for food or
for their pleasure. The climate is healthy; I may cite as a proof the
fact that the Spaniards slept at night on the river banks and in the
open air, without anybody suffering from headache or pains.

The Spaniards likewise found huge balls of spun cotton and bunches of
divers coloured feathers from which headdresses, similar to those of
our cuirassiers, or mantles of state are made. These are elegancies
among the natives. There was also a large number of bows and arrows.

Sometimes the bodies of their ancestors are burned and the bones
buried, and sometimes they are preserved entire in their _boios_, that
is to say houses, and treated with great respect; or again, they may
be ornamented with gold and precious stones. It was noted that the
breast ornaments, which they call _guanines_ were made of copper
rather than gold, and it was surmised that they dealt with tricky
strangers who sold them these guanines, palming off upon them vile
metal for gold. Neither did the Spaniards discover the trick till they
melted these supposed valuables.

Some architects who had wandered a short distance from the coast came
upon some fragments of white marble, and they think that strangers
must at some time have landed there and quarried this marble from the
mountains, leaving these fragments scattered about the plain. It was
at this place that the Spaniards learned that the river Maragnon
flows from the snow-covered mountains, its volume being increased by
numerous streams flowing into it. Its great size is due to the fact
that its course is long, and that it only reaches the sea after having
traversed well-watered regions.

The signal for departure was finally given. Nine hundred men who had
been landed, assembled shouting joyfully, marching in order, loaded
with plunder, and quite showy with crowns, mantles, feathers, and
native military ornaments. The anchor was hoisted on the sixteenth day
of the calends of July. The ships, damaged in frequent gales, had been
repaired, the flag-ship having especially suffered the loss of her
rudder, as we have already mentioned. The fleet put out to sea in the
direction of Carthagena, and in obedience to the King's instructions
ravaged some islands inhabited by ferocious cannibals which lay in the
course. The strong currents deceived Juan Serrano, chief pilot of the
flag-ship, and his colleagues, though they boasted that they were
well acquainted with the nature of these currents. In one night, and
contrary to the general expectation, they made forty leagues.

BOOK VI

The time has come, Most Holy Father, to philosophise a little, leaving
cosmography to seek the causes of Nature's secrets. The ocean currents
in those regions run towards the west, as torrents rushing down a
mountain side. Upon this point the testimony is unanimous. Thus I find
myself uncertain when asked where these waters go which flow in a
circular and continuous movement from east to west, never to return
to their starting-place; and how it happens that the west is not
consequently overwhelmed by these waters, nor the east emptied. If it
be true that these waters are drawn towards the centre of the earth,
as is the case with all heavy objects, and that this centre, as some
people affirm, is at the equinoctial line, what can be the central
reservoir capable of holding such a mass of waters? And what will be
the circumference filled with water, which will yet be discovered? The
explorers of these coasts offer no convincing explanation. There are
other authors who think that a large strait exists at the extremity
of the gulf formed by this vast continent and which, we have already
said, is eight times larger than the ocean. This strait may lie to the
west of Cuba, and would conduct these raging waters to the west, from
whence they would again return to our east. Some learned men think the
gulf formed by this vast continent is an enclosed sea, whose coasts
bend in a northerly direction behind Cuba, in such wise that the
continent would extend unbrokenly to the northern lands beneath the
polar circle bathed by the glacial sea. The waters, driven back by
the extent of land, are drawn into a circle, as may be seen in rivers
whose opposite banks provoke whirlpools; but this theory does not
accord with the facts. The explorers of the northern passages, who
always sailed westwards, affirm that the waters are always drawn
in that direction, not however with violence, but by a long and
uninterrupted movement.

Amongst the explorers of the glacial region a certain Sebastiano
Cabotto, of Venetian origin, but brought by his parents in his infancy
to England, is cited. It commonly happens that Venetians visit every
part of the universe, for purposes of commerce. Cabotto equipped two
vessels in England, at his own cost, and first sailed with three
hundred men towards the north, to such a distance that he found
numerous masses of floating ice in the middle of the month of July.
Daylight lasted nearly twenty-four hours, and as the ice had melted,
the land was free. According to his story he was obliged to tack and
take the direction of west-by-south. The coast bent to about the
degree of the strait of Gibraltar. Cabotto did not sail westward until
he had arrived abreast of Cuba, which lay on his left. In following
this coast-line which he called Bacallaos,[1] he says that he
recognised the same maritime currents flowing to the west that the
Castilians noted when they sailed in southern regions belonging to
them. It is not merely probable, therefore, but becomes even necessary
to conclude that between these two hitherto unknown continents there
extend large openings through which the water flows from east to west.
I think these waters flow all round the world in a circle, obediently
to the Divine Law, and that they are not spewed forth and afterwards
absorbed by some panting Demogorgon. This theory would, up to a
certain point, furnish an explanation of the ebb and flow.

[Note 1: The word _Bacallaos_ is thought to be of Basque origin.
This designation for codfish is extremely ancient, and the land thus
named appears on the earliest maps of America.]

Cabotto calls these lands Terra de Bacallaos, because the neighbouring
waters swarm with fish similar to tunnies, which the natives call by
this name. These fish are so numerous that sometimes they interfere
with the progress of ships. The natives of these regions wear furs,
and appear to be intelligent. Cabotto reports that there are many
bears in the country, which live on fish. These animals plunge into
the midst of thick schools of fish, and seizing one fast in their
claws they drag it ashore to be devoured. They are not dangerous to
men. He claims to have seen the natives in many places in possession
of copper. Cabotto frequents my house, and I have him sometimes at my
table.[2] He was called from England by our Catholic King after the
death of Henry, King of that country, and he lives at court with us.
He is waiting, from day to day, to be furnished with ships with which
he will be able to discover this mystery of nature. I think he will
leave on this expedition towards the month of March of next year,
1516. If God gives me life, Your Holiness shall hear from me what
happens to him. There are not wanting people in Spain who affirm that
Cabotto is not the first discoverer of Terra de Bacallaos; they only
concede him the merit of having pushed out a little farther to the
west.[3] But this is enough about the strait and Cabotto.

[Note 2: Again we see Peter Martyr's system of collecting
information illustrated. Cabot's discoveries on this voyage are
indicated on Juan de la Cosa's map, of 1500. Henry VII. gave little
support, and Cabot, therefore, withdrew from England. In 1516 he was
given an appointment by King Ferdinand, with 50,000 maravedis yearly
and an estate in Andalusia.]

[Note 3: The Bacallaos coast was discovered by the Scandinavians
in the tenth century, and was known to the Venetians in the
fourteenth. Basque, Breton, and Norman fishermen visited it in the
following century.]

Let us now return to the Spaniards. Pedro Arias and his men passed
the length of the harbour of Carthagena and the islands inhabited by
Caribs, named San Bernardo's Islands. They left the entire country of
Caramaira behind them, without approaching it. They were driven by a
tempest upon an island which we have already mentioned as Fuerte, and
which is about fifty leagues distant from the entrance of the gulf
of Uraba. In this island they found, standing in the houses of the
islanders, a number of baskets made out of marine plants and filled
with salt. This island is indeed celebrated for its salines and the
natives procure whatever they need by the sale of salt.

An enormous pelican, larger than a vulture and remarkable for the
dimensions of its throat, fell upon the flagship. It is the same bird,
which, according to the testimony of several writers, formerly lived
domesticated in the marshes of Ravenna. I do not know if this is still
the case. This pelican let itself be easily caught, after which they
took it from one vessel to another: it soon died. A flock of twenty
such birds were seen on the coast in the distance.

The flag-ship was larger than the other vessels, but as she had been
damaged and was no longer serviceable, she was left behind; she will
rejoin the fleet when the sea is calmer. The eleventh day of the
calends of July the fleet reached Darien, the flag-ship arriving four
days later, but without cargo. The colonists of Darien under the
leadership of Vasco Nunez Balboa, of whom we have elsewhere written at
length, came down to meet the new arrivals singing the psalm _Te Deum
Laudamus_. Each of them offered voluntary hospitality in his house,
built after the plan of native cabins.

This country may very properly be called a province, because it
has been conquered and all of its chiefs dethroned. The Spaniards
refreshed themselves with native fruits and bread made either of
roots or of maize. The fleet brought other provisions, for example
salt-meats, salt-fish, and barrels of wheat flour.

Behold the royal fleet at anchor in these strange countries and behold
the Spaniards established, not only in the Tropic of Cancer,
but almost on the equator,--contrary to the opinion of many
scientists,--ready to settle and to found colonies.

The day after landing, four hundred and fifty colonists of Darien were
invited to a meeting. Both in public and in private, by groups or
singly, they were questioned concerning the report of Vasco, Admiral
of the South Sea, or, as this officer is termed in Spanish, the
Adelantado. The truth of all he had reported to the King concerning
this South Sea was admitted. According to the opinion of Vasco
himself, the first thing to be done was to build forts in the
territories of Comogre, Pochorrosa, and Tumanama, which would later
form centres of colonisation. A _hidalgo_ of Cordova, Captain Juan
Ayora, was chosen to carry out this plan, for which purpose he was
given four hundred men, four caravels, and a small boat. Ayora first
landed in the port of Comogra, described in letters that have been
received, as distant about twenty-five leagues from Darien. From that
point he despatched one hundred and fifty of his men by a more direct
road than the one indicated, in the direction of the South Sea. It was
said that the distance between the port of Comogra and the gulf of St.
Miguel was only twenty-six leagues. The other company of two hundred
and fifty men would remain at Comogra to render assistance to those
coming and going. The hundred and fifty men chosen to march to the
South Sea took with them interpreters, some of whom were Spaniards who
had learned the language spoken in the region of the South Sea, from
slaves captured by Vasco when he explored the country; while others
were slaves who already understood the Spanish tongue. The harbour of
Pochorrosa is seven leagues distant from that of Comogra. Ayora, the
lieutenant of Pedro Arias, was to leave fifty men and the small boat,
which would serve as a courier, at Pochorroso, so that these boats
might serve to carry news to the lieutenant and to the colonists of
Darien, just as relays are arranged on land. It was also intended to
form a station in the territory of Tumanama, of which the capital is
twenty leagues distant from that of Pochorrosa.

Out of the hundred and fifty men assigned to Ayora, fifty were chosen
among the older colonists of Darien, they being persons of large
experience who would take charge of the newcomers and serve them as
guides.

When these measures were adopted, it was determined to report to the
King, and at the same time to announce to him as a positive fact that
there existed in the neighbourhood a cacique called Dobaiba, whose
territory had rich gold deposits, which had till then been respected
because he was very powerful. His country extended along the great
river which we have elsewhere mentioned. According to common report,
all the countries under his authority were rich in gold. Fifty leagues
divided Darien from the residence of Dobaiba. The natives affirmed
that gold would be found immediately the frontier was crossed. We have
elsewhere related that only three leagues from Darien the Spaniards
already possessed quite important gold mines, which are being worked.
Moreover, in many places gold is found by breaking the soil, but it
is believed to be more abundant in the territories of Dobaiba. In
the First Decade I addressed to Your Holiness, I had mentioned this
Dobaiba, but the Spaniards were mistaken concerning him, for they
thought they had met fishermen of Dobaiba and believed that Dobaiba
was the swampy region where they had encountered these men. Pedro
Arias, therefore, decided to lead a selected troop into that country.
These men were to be chosen out of the entire company and should be in
the flower of their age, abundantly furnished with darts and arms of
every sort. They were to march against the cacique, and if he refused
their alliance, they were to attack and overthrow him. Moreover, the
Spaniards never weary of repeating, as a proof of the wealth they
dream of, that by just scratching the earth almost anywhere, grains of
gold are found. I only repeat here what they have written.

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