ACT. III. ver. 375.
Other authors are also quoted in support of this belief. But however this may be, nobody ever believed the existence of this continent so firmly as to go in quest of it; at least, there are no accounts well supported that America received any part of its first inhabitants from Europe prior to the 15th century. The Welsh Pretensions fondly imagine that our country contributed, in 1170, to people the new world, by the adventure of Madoc, the son of Owen Gwynedd, who, on the death of his father, sailed there, and colonized part of the country. All that is advanced in proof is, a quotation from one of our poets, which proves no more than that he had distinguished himself by sea and land. It is pretended that he made two voyages: that sailing west, he left
E
America. Ireland so far to the north, that he came to a land unknown, where he saw many strange things; that he returned home, and, making a report of the fruitfulness of the new-discovered country, prevailed on numbers of the Welsh of each sex to accompany him on a second voyage, from which he never returned. The favourers of this opinion assert, that several Welsh words, such as gwrandd, "to hearken or listen;" the isle of Crayso, or "welcome;" Cape Breton, from the name of our own island; gwranddwr, or "the white water;" and penguin, or "the bird with a white head;" are to be found in the American language. But likenesses of sound in a few words will not be deemed sufficient to establish the fact; especially if the meaning has been evidently perverted: for example, the whole penguin tribe have unfortunately not only black heads, but are not inhabitants of the northern hemisphere; the name was also bestowed on them by the Dutch, a pinguedine, from their excessive fatness; but the inventor of this, thinking to do honour to our country, inconsiderately caught at a word of European origin, and unheard of in the new world. It may be added, that the Welsh were never a naval people; that the age in which Madoc lived was peculiarly ignorant in navigation; and the most which they could have attempted must have been a mere coasting voyage.
108
Those of the Nor-
wegians
better
founded.
The Norwegians put in for a share of the glory, on grounds rather better than the Welsh. By their settlements in Iceland and in Greenland, they had arrived within so small a distance of the new world, that there is at least a possibility of its having been touched at by a people so versed in maritime affairs, and so adventurous, as the ancient Normans were. The proofs are much more numerous than those produced by the British historians; for the discovery is mentioned in several of the Icelandic manuscripts. The period was about the year 1002, when it was visited by one Bjorn; and the discovery pursued to greater effect by Liefl, the son of Eric, the discoverer of Greenland. It does not appear that they reached farther than Labrador; on which coast they met with Esquimaux, on whom they bestowed the name of Strælinguer, or dwarfish people, from their small stature. They were armed with bows and arrows, and had leathern canoes, such as they have at present. All this is probable; nor should the tale of the German, called Turkil, one of the crew, invalidate the account. He was one day missing; but soon returned, leaping and singing with all the extravagant marks of joy a bon vivant could show, on discovering the inebriating fruit of his country, the grape: Torficus even says, that he returned in a state of intoxication. To convince his commander, he brought several bunches, who from that circumstance named the country Vinland. It is not to be denied that North America produces the true vine; but it is found in far lower latitudes than our adventurers could reach in the time employed in their voyage, which was comprehended in a very small space. There appears no reason to doubt of the discovery; but as the land was never colonized, nor any advantages made of it, it may be fairly conjectured, that they reached no farther than the barren country of Labrador. In short, it is from a much later period that we must date the real discovery of America.
Towards the close of the 15th century, Venice and
Genoa being rivals in commerce, in which the former had greatly the superiority, Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa, whose knowledge of the true figure of the earth, however attained, was much superior to the general notions of the age in which he lived, conceived a project of sailing to the East Indies by directing his course westward. The design was founded upon a mistake of the geographers of those days, who placed the eastern parts of Asia immensely too far to the eastward; so that had they been in the right, the shortest way would have been to sail directly westward. He applied first to his own countrymen; but being rejected by them, he applied to France, where he was laughed at and ridiculed. He next applied to Henry VII. of England; but meeting with a disappointment there he made an application to Portugal, where he met with the same mortifying reception. Spain was his next resource; where, after eight years attendance, he obtained, in 1492, a fleet of three ships. The largest, a ship of no considerable burden, was commanded by Columbus as admiral, who gave it the name of Santa Maria, out of respect for the blessed Virgin, whom he honoured with singular devotion. Of the second, called the Pinta, Martin Pinzon was captain, and his brother Francis pilot. The third, named the Nigno, was under the command of Vincent Yanez Pinzon. These two were light vessels, hardly superior in burden or force to large boats. This squadron, if it merits that name, was victualled for 12 months, and had on board 90 men, mostly sailors, together with a few adventurers who followed the fortune of Columbus, and some gentlemen of Isabella's court, whom she appointed to accompany him. Though the expense of the undertaking was one of the circumstances which chiefly alarmed the court of Spain, and retarded so long the negotiation with Columbus, the sum employed in fitting out this squadron did not exceed 40000. But as Columbus was deeply impressed with sentiments of religion, he would not set out upon an expedition so arduous, and of which one great object was to extend the knowledge of the Christian faith, without imploring publicly the guidance and protection of Heaven. With this view, he, together with all the persons under his command, marched in solemn procession to the monastery of Rabida. After confessing their sins, and obtaining absolution, they received the holy sacrament from the hands of the guardian, who joined his prayers to theirs for the success of an enterprise which he had so zealously patronised.
Next morning, being Friday the third day of August, in the year 1492, Columbus set sail a little before sunrise, in presence of a vast crowd of spectators, who sent up their supplications to Heaven for the prosperous issue of the voyage, which they wished rather than expected. Columbus steered directly for the Canary islands, and arrived there without any occurrence that would have deserved notice on any other occasion: but in a voyage of such expectation and importance, every circumstance was the object of attention. The rudder of the Pinta broke loose the day after she left the harbour, and that accident alarmed the crew, no less superstitious than unskilful, as a certain omen of the unfortunate destiny of the expedition. Even in the short run to the Canaries, the ships were found to be so crazy and ill appointed, as to be very improper for
America. for a navigation which was expected to be both long and dangerous. Columbus resented them, however, to the best of his power; and having supplied himself with fresh provisions, he took his departure from Gomera, one of the most westerly of the Canary islands, on the sixth day of September.
Here the voyage of discovery may properly be said to begin; for Columbus, holding his course due west, left immediately the usual track of navigation, and stretched into unfrequented and unknown seas. The first day, as it was very calm, he made but little way; but on the second, he lost sight of the Canaries; and many of the sailors, dejected already and dismayed, when they contemplated the boldness of the undertaking, began to beat their breasts, and to shed tears, as if they were never more to behold land. Columbus comforted them with assurances of success, and the prospect of vast wealth, in those opulent regions whither he was conducting them. He regulated every thing by his sole authority; he superintended the execution of every order; and allowing himself only a few hours for sleep, he was at all other times upon deck. As his course lay through seas which had not formerly been visited, the sounding line or instruments for observation, were continually in his hands. After the example of the Portuguese discoverers, he attended to the motion of tides and currents, watched the flight of birds, the appearance of fishes, of sea-weeds, and of every thing that floated on the waves, and entered every occurrence with a minute exactness, in the journal which he kept. As the length of the voyage could not fail of alarming sailors habituated only to short excursions, Columbus endeavoured to conceal from them the real progress which they made. With this view, though they run 18 leagues on the second day after they left Gomera, he gave out that they had advanced only 15; and he uniformly employed the same artifice of reckoning short during the whole voyage. By the 14th of September, the fleet was above 200 leagues to the west of the Canary isles, at a greater distance from land than any Spaniard had been before that time. There they were struck with an appearance no less astonishing than new. They observed that the magnetic needle, in their compasses, did not point exactly to the polar star, but varied towards the west; and as they proceeded this variation increased. This appearance, which is now familiar, though it still remains one of the mysteries of nature, into the cause of which the sagacity of man hath not been able to penetrate, filled the companions of Columbus with terror. They were now in a boundless unknown ocean, far from the usual course of navigation; nature itself seemed to be altered, and the only guide which they had left was about to fail them. Columbus, with no less quickness than ingenuity, invented a reason for this appearance, which, though it did not satisfy himself, seemed so plausible to them, that it dispelled their fears, or silenced their murmurs.
He still continued to steer due west, nearly in the same latitude with the Canary islands. In this course he came within the sphere of the trade wind, which blows invariably from east to west between the tropics, and a few degrees beyond them. He advanced before this steady gale with such uniform rapidity, that it was
seldom necessary to shift a sail. When about 400 leagues America. to the west of the Canaries, he found the sea so covered with weeds, that it resembled a meadow of vast extent; and in some places they were so thick as to retard the motion of the vessels. This strange appearance occasioned new alarm and disquiet. The sailors imagined that they were now arrived at the utmost boundary of the navigable ocean; that these floating weeds would obstruct their farther progress, and concealed dangerous rocks, or some large tract of land, which had sunk, they knew not how, in that place. Columbus endeavoured to persuade them, that what had alarmed, ought rather to have encouraged them, and was to be considered as a sign of approaching land. At the same time, a brisk gale arose, and carried them forward. Several birds were seen hovering about the ship, and directed their flight towards the west. The desponding crew resumed some degree of spirit, and began to entertain fresh hopes.
Upon the first of October, they were, according to the admiral's reckoning, 775 leagues to the west of the Canaries; but lest his men should be intimidated by the prodigious length of the navigation, he gave out that they had proceeded only 584 leagues; and, fortunately for Columbus, neither his own pilot, nor those of the other ships, had skill sufficient to correct this error, and discover the deceit. They had now been above three weeks at sea; they had proceeded far beyond what former navigators had attempted or deemed possible: all their prognostics of discovery, drawn from the flight of birds and other circumstances, had proved fallacious; the appearances of land, with which their own credulity or the artifice of their commander had from time to time flattered and amused them, had been altogether illusive, and their prospect of success seemed now to be as distant as ever. These reflections occurred often to men, who had no other object or occupation, than to reason and discourse concerning the intention and circumstances of their expedition. They made impression at first upon the ignorant and timid, and extending by degrees to such as were better informed or more resolute, the contagion spread at length from ship to ship. From secret whispers or murmurings they proceeded to open cabals and public complaints. They taxed their sovereign with inconsiderate credulity, in paying such regard to the vain promises and rash conjectures of an indigent foreigner, as to hazard the lives of so many of her own subjects, in prosecuting a chimerical scheme. They affirmed that they had fully performed their duty, by venturing so far in an unknown and hopeless course, and could incur no blame, for refusing to follow, any longer, a desperate adventurer to certain destruction. They contended, that it was necessary to think of returning to Spain, while their crazy vessels were still in a condition to keep the sea, but expressed their fears that the attempt would prove vain, as the wind which had hitherto been so favourable to their course, must render it impossible to sail in the opposite direction. All agreed that Columbus should be compelled by force to adopt a measure on which their common safety depended. Some of the more audacious proposed, as the most expeditious and certain method for getting rid at once of his remonstrances, to throw him into the sea; being persuaded that,
America. that, upon their return to Spain, the death of an unsuccessful projector would excite little concern, and be inquired into with no curiosity.
112 Perilous situation of Columbus. Columbus was fully sensible of his perilous situation. He had observed, with great uneasiness, the fatal operation of ignorance and of fear in producing disaffection among his crew; and saw that it was now ready to burst out into open mutiny. He retained, however, perfect presence of mind. He affected to seem ignorant of their machinations. Notwithstanding the agitation and solicitude of his own mind, he appeared with a cheerful countenance; like a man satisfied with the progress which he had made, and confident of success. Sometimes he employed all the arts of insinuation to soothe his men. Sometimes he endeavoured to work upon their ambition or avarice, by magnificent descriptions of the fame and wealth which they were about to acquire. On other occasions, he assumed a tone of authority, and threatened them with vengeance from their sovereign, if, by their dastardly behaviour, they should defeat this noble effort to promote the glory of God, and to exalt the Spanish name above that of every other nation. Even with seditious sailors, the words of a man whom they had been accustomed to reverence were weighty and persuasive; and not only restrained them from those violent excesses which they meditated, but prevailed with them to accompany their admiral for some time longer.
113 His crews ready to mutiny. As they proceeded, the indications of approaching land seemed to be more certain, and excited hope in proportion. The birds began to appear in flocks, making towards the south-west. Columbus, in imitation of the Portuguese navigators, who had been guided in several of their discoveries by the motion of birds, altered his course from due west towards that quarter whither they pointed their flight. But after holding on for several days in this new direction without any better success than formerly, having seen no object during 30 days but the sea and the sky, the hopes of his companions subsided faster than they had risen; their fears revived with additional force; impatience, rage, and despair, appeared in every countenance. All sense of subordination was lost. The officers, who had hitherto concurred with Columbus in opinion, and supported his authority, now took part with the private men: they assembled tumultuously on the deck, expostulated with their commander, mingled threats with their expostulations, and required him instantly to tack about and to return to Europe. Columbus perceived that it would be of no avail to have recourse to any of his former arts, which having been tried so often had lost their effect; and that it was impossible to rekindle any zeal for the success of the expedition among men in whose breasts fear had extinguished every generous sentiment. He saw that it was no less vain to think of employing either gentle or severe measures, to quell a mutiny so general and so violent. It was necessary, on all these accounts, to soothe passions which he could no longer command, and to give way to a torrent too impetuous to be checked. He promised solemnly to his men that he would comply with their request, provided they would accompany him, and obey his commands for three days longer; and if, during that time, land were not discovered, he would then abandon the enterprise, and direct his course towards Spain.
Enraged as the sailors were, and impatient to turn their faces again towards their native country, this proposition did not appear to them unreasonable. Nor did Columbus hazard much in confining himself to a term so short. The presages of discovering land were now so numerous and promising, that he deemed them infallible. For some days the sounding line reached the bottom, and the soil which it brought up indicated land to be at no great distance. The flocks of birds increased; and were composed not only of sea fowl, but of such land birds as could not be supposed to fly far from the shore. The crew of the Pinta observed a cane floating which seemed to be newly cut, and likewise a piece of timber artificially carved. The sailors aboard the Nigua took up the branch of a tree with red berries perfectly fresh. The clouds around the setting sun assumed a new appearance; the air was more mild and warm; and, during night, the wind became unequal and variable. From all these symptoms, Columbus was so confident of being near land, that on the evening of the 11th of October, after public prayers for success, he ordered the sails to be furled, and the ships to lie by, keeping strict watch, lest they should be driven ashore in the night. During this interval of suspense and expectation, no man shut his eyes, all kept upon deck, gazing intently towards that quarter, where they expected to discover the land which had been so long the object of their wishes.
114 Their joy on discovering the coast. About two hours before midnight, Columbus standing on the forecastle, observed a light at a distance, and privately pointed it out to Pedro Gutierrez, a page of the queen's wardrobe. Gutierrez perceived it; and calling to Salcedo comptroller of the fleet, all three saw it in motion, as if it were carried from place to place. A little after midnight the joyful sound of Land! land! was heard from the Pinta, which kept always ahead of the other ships. But having been so often deceived by fallacious appearances, every man was now become slow of belief; and waited, in all the anguish of uncertainty and impatience, for the return of day. As soon as morning dawned, all doubts and fears were dispelled. From every ship an island was seen about two leagues to the north, whose flat and verdant fields, well studded with wood, and watered with many rivulets, presented the aspect of a delightful country. The crew of the Pinta instantly began the Te Deum, as a hymn of thanksgiving to God; and were joined by those of the other ships, with tears of joy and transports of congratulation. This office of gratitude to heaven was followed by an act of justice to their commander. They threw themselves at the feet of Columbus, with feelings of self-condemnation mingled with reverence. They implored him to pardon their ignorance, incredulity, and insolence, which had created him so much unnecessary disquiet, and had so often obstructed the prosecution of his well-concerted plan; and passing, in the warmth of their admiration, from one extreme to another, they now pronounced the man whom they had so lately reviled and threatened, to be a person inspired by Heaven with sagacity and fortitude more than human, in order to accomplish a design so far beyond the ideas and conception of all former ages.
As soon as the sun arose, all their boats were manned and armed. They rowed towards the island with their
America. their colours displayed, with warlike music, and other martial pomp. As they approached the coast, they saw it covered with a multitude of people, whom the novelty of the spectacle had drawn together, whose attitudes and gestures expressed wonder and astonishment at the strange objects which presented themselves to their view. Columbus was the first European who set foot in the new world which he had discovered. He landed in a rich dress, and with a naked sword in his hand. His men followed; and, kneeling down, they all kissed the ground which they had so long desired to see. They next erected a crucifix; and, prostrating themselves before it, returned thanks to God for conducting their voyage to such a happy issue.
The above was one of the Bahama islands; to which he gave the name of San Salvador, and took possession of it in the name of their Catholic majesties. In this first voyage he discovered several other of the Lucayo or Bahama islands, with those of Cuba and Hispaniola. The natives considered the Spaniards as divinities, and the discharge of the artillery as their thunder: they fell prostrate at the found. The women, however, offered their favours, and courted the embraces of their new guests as men. Their husbands were not jealous of them; and in the arms of these wantons the companions of Columbus are said to have caught that malady which directs its poison to the springs of life. In a second voyage many new islands were discovered. In a third, he attained the great object of his ambition, by discovering the continent of America, near the mouth of the river Oronoko, on the first day of August 1498. His success produced a crowd of adventurers from all nations; but the year before this, the northern continent had been discovered by Sebastian Cabot in the service of Henry VII. of England.
Notwithstanding the many settlements of the Europeans in this continent, great part of America remains still unknown. The northern continent contains the British colonies of Hudson's Bay, Canada, Nova Scotia, New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida. It contains also the Spanish territories of Louisiana, New Mexico, California, and Mexico. Besides these, there are immense regions to the west and north, the boundaries of which have never yet been discovered. In such as are in any degree known, dwell the Esquimaux, the Algonquins, the Hurons, the Iroquois, the Cherokees, the Chickasaws, and many other tribes of Indians. In the southern continent lie the Spanish provinces of Terra Firma, Guiana, Peru, Paraguay, and Chili; together with that of Brasil, belonging to the Portuguese; and the country of Surinam, belonging to the Dutch. Vast tracts, however, in the inland parts, are unknown, being comprehended under the general name of Amazonia. A large district also, said to be the residence of a gigantic race of men, lies on the east side of the continent, between the straits of Magellan and the province of Paraguay. See PATAGONIA.
Its productions. This vast country produces most of the metals, minerals, plants, fruits, trees, and wood, to be met with in the other parts of the world, and many of them in greater quantities and high perfection. The gold and silver of America have supplied Europe with such immense quantities of those valuable metals, that they are
become vastly more common; so that the gold and silver of Europe now bear little proportion to the high price set upon them before the discovery of America.
It also produces diamonds, pearls, emeralds, amethysts, and other valuable stones, which, by being brought into Europe, have contributed likewise to lower their value. To these, which are chiefly the production of Spanish America, may be added a great number of other commodities, which, though of less price, are of much greater use; and many of them make the ornament and wealth of the British empire in this part of the world. Of these are the plentiful supplies of cochineal, indigo, anatto, logwood, brazil, fustic, pimento, lignum vitæ, rice, ginger, cocoa, or the chocolate nut, sugar, cotton, tobacco, banillas, red-wood, the balsams of Tolu, Peru, and Chili, that valuable article in medicine the Jesuit's bark, mechoacan, sassafras, farapaparilla, cassia, tamarinds, hides, furs, ambergris, and a great variety of woods, roots, and plants; to which, before the discovery of America, we were either entire strangers, or forced to buy at an extravagant rate from Asia and Africa, through the hands of the Venetians and Genoese, who then engrossed the trade of the eastern world.
On this continent there grows also a variety of excellent fruits; as pine-apples, pomegranates, citrons, lemons, oranges, malicats, cherries, pears, apples, figs, grapes; great numbers of culinary, medicinal, and other herbs, roots, and plants; with many exotic productions, which are nourished in as great perfection as in their native soil.
Although the Indians still live in the quiet possession of many large tracts, America, so far as known, is chiefly claimed, and divided into colonies, by three European nations, the Spaniards, English, and Portuguese. The Spaniards, as they first discovered it, have the largest and richest portion, extending from New Mexico and Louisiana in North America, to the straits of Magellan in the South sea, excepting the large province of Brasil, which belongs to Portugal; for though the French and Dutch have some forts in Surinam and Guiana, they scarcely deserve to be considered as proprietors of any part of the southern continent.
Next to Spain, the most considerable proprietor of America was Great Britain, who derived her claim to North America from the first discovery of that continent by Sebastian Cabot in the name of Henry VII. anno 1497, about six years after the discovery of South America by Columbus in the name of the king of Spain. This country was in general called Newfound-land; a name which is now appropriated solely to an island upon its coast. It was a long time before we made an attempt to settle in this country. Sir Walter Raleigh, an uncommon genius and a brave commander, first showed the way, by planting a colony in the southern part, which he called Virginia, in honour of his mistress Queen Elizabeth.
The French indeed, from this period until the conclusion of the war before last, laid claim to, and actually possessed, Canada and Louisiana; comprehending all that extensive inland country reaching from Hudson's Bay on the north, to Mexico and the gulf of the same name on the south. But in that war, to which:
which their perfidy and ambition gave rise, they were not only driven from Canada and its dependencies, but obliged to relinquish all that part of Louisiana lying on the east side of the Mississippi, as related under the History of Britain. And thus our colonies were preserved, secured, and extended so far, as to render it difficult to ascertain the precise bounds of our empire in North America. To the northward we might have extended our claims quite to the pole itself, nor did any nation seem inclined to dispute the property of this northernmost country with us. From that extremity we had a territory extending southward to Cape Florida in the gulf of Mexico, N. Lat. 25°, and consequently near 4000 miles long in a direct line. And to the westward our boundaries reached to nations unknown even to the Indians of Canada.
Of the revolution that has since taken place, by which a great part of those territories have been separated from the British empire, the history follows in the next article.