A Book of American Explorers. Thomas Wentworth Higginson

      FLEET OF COLUMBUS.

      Hitherto I had held no communication with any of the people of this country, although I very earnestly desired it. I therefore sailed along the coast westwards; and, the farther I advanced, the fresher and more wholesome I found the water; and, when I had proceeded a considerable distance, I reached a spot where the land appeared to be cultivated. … I then anchored at the mouth of a river; and we were soon visited by a great number of the inhabitants, who informed us that the country was called Paria, and that farther westward it was more fully peopled. I took four of these natives, and proceeded on my westward voyage; and, when I had gone eight leagues farther, I found on the other side of a point, which I called the Needle,58 one of the most lovely countries in the world, and very thickly peopled. It was three o’clock in the morning when I reached it; and, seeing its verdure and beauty, I resolved to anchor there, and communicate with the inhabitants. Some of the natives came out to the ship in canoes, to beg me, in the name of their king, to go on shore. And, when they saw that I paid no attention to them, they came to the ship in their canoes in countless number; many of them wearing pieces of gold on their breasts, and some with bracelets of pearl on their arms.

V.—Columbus thinks Himself near the Earthly Paradise.

       Table of Contents

      [From the same narrative. It was generally believed, in the time of Columbus, that the Garden of Eden, or earthly paradise, still existed somewhere on the globe. Irving’s Columbus (appendix) gives an account of these views.]

      I have always read, that the world comprising the land and water was spherical, as is testified by the investigations of Ptolemy and others, who have proved it by the eclipses of the moon, and other observations made from east to west, as well as by the elevation of the pole from north to south. But I have now seen so much irregularity, as I have already described, that I have come to another conclusion respecting the earth; namely, that it is not round, as they describe, but of the form of a pear, which is very round except where the stalk grows, at which part it is most prominent. … Ptolemy, and the others who have written upon the globe, had no information respecting this part of the world, which was then unexplored: they only established their arguments with respect to their own hemisphere, which, as I have already said, is half of a perfect sphere. And, now that your Highnesses have commissioned me to make this voyage of discovery, the truths which I have stated are evidently proved. … I do not find, nor have ever found, any account by the Romans or Greeks, which fixes in a positive manner the site of the terrestrial paradise; neither have I seen it given in any mappe-monde,59 laid down from authentic sources. Some placed it in Ethiopia, at the sources of the Nile; but others, traversing all these countries, found neither the temperature, nor the altitude of the sun, correspond with their ideas respecting it; nor did it appear that the overwhelming waters of the deluge had been there. Some Pagans pretended to adduce arguments to establish that it was in the Fortunate Islands, now called the Canaries, &c.. …

      I have already described my ideas concerning this hemisphere and its form; and I have no doubt, that if I could pass below the equinoctial line, after reaching the highest point of which I have spoken, I should find a much milder temperature, and a variation in the stars and in the water; not that I suppose that elevated point to be navigable, nor even that there is water there: indeed, I believe it is impossible to ascend thither, because I am convinced that it is the spot of the earthly paradise, whither no one can go but by God’s permission. But this land which your Highnesses have now sent me to explore is very extensive; and I think there are many countries in the south, of which the world has never had any knowledge.

      I do not suppose that the earthly paradise is in the form of a rugged mountain, as the descriptions of it have made it appear, but that it is on the summit of the spot which I have described as being in the form of the stalk of a pear. The approach to it from a distance must be by a constant and gradual ascent; but I believe, that, as I have already said, no one could ever reach the top. I think, also, that the water I have described may proceed from it, though it be far off, and that, stopping at the place which I have just left, it forms this lake. There are great indications of this being the terrestrial paradise; for its site coincides with the opinion of the holy and wise theologians whom I have mentioned. And, moreover, the other evidences agree with the supposition; for I have never either read or heard of fresh water coming in so large a quantity, in close conjunction with the water of the sea. The idea is also corroborated by the blandness of the temperature. And, if the water of which I speak does not proceed from the earthly paradise, it appears to be still more marvellous; for I do not believe that there is any river in the world so large or so deep.

VI.—Daring Deed of Diego Mendez.

       Table of Contents

      [Taken from the last will of Diego Mendez. These adventures happened on the fourth voyage of Columbus, in 1502.]

      When we were shut in at the mouth of the River Belen, or Yebra, through the violence of the sea, and the winds which drove up the sand, and raised such a mountain of it as to close up the entrance of the port, his lordship60 being there greatly afflicted, a multitude of Indians collected together on shore to burn the ships, and kill us all, pretending that they were going to make war against other Indians. … Upon his consulting me as to the best manner of proceeding so as clearly to ascertain what was the intention of the people, I offered to go to them with one single companion; and this task I undertook, though more certain of death than of life in the result.

      After journeying along the beach up to the River of Veragua, I found two canoes of strange Indians, who related to me more in detail, that these people were indeed collected together to burn our ships, and kill us all, and that they had forsaken their purpose in consequence of the boat which had come up to the spot, but that they intended to return after two days to make the attempt once more. I then asked them to carry me in their canoes to the upper part of the river, offering to remunerate them if they would do so. But they excused themselves, and advised me by no means to go, for that both myself and my companion would certainly be killed.

      At length, in spite of their advice, I prevailed upon them to take me in their canoes to the upper part of the river, until I reached the villages of the Indians, whom I had found in order of battle. They, however, would not, at first, allow me to go to the principal residence of the cacique, till I pretended that I was come as a surgeon to cure him of a wound that he had in his leg. Then, after making them some presents, they suffered me to proceed to the seat of