De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2): The Eight Decades of Peter Martyr D'AngheraAnghiera, Pietro Martire d'
History
De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2): The Eight Decades of Peter Martyr D'Anghera
Anghiera, Pietro Martire d'
America -- Early accounts to 1600
The complaints of the men against Hojeda increased from day to day;
for they accused him of having deceived them. He alleged in his
defence, that by virtue of the powers he held from the King he had
directed the bachelor Enciso, who was chief justice and whom he had
selected because of his great legal abilities, to follow him with a
shipload of stores; and that he was much astonished that the latter
had not long since arrived. He spoke the truth, for at the time of
his departure, Enciso had already more than half completed his
preparations. His companions, however, who considered they had been
duped, did not believe in the sincerity of his affirmations about
Enciso, and a number of them secretly planned to seize two brigantines
belonging to Hojeda, and to return to Hispaniola. Upon discovering
this plot, Hojeda decided to anticipate their plan and, leaving
Francisco Pizarro, a nobleman[6] who commanded the forts he had built,
he took some of his men and went on board the ship we have mentioned.
His intention was to go to Hispaniola, not only to recover from the
wound in his hip, but also to learn the causes of Enciso's delay. He
promised his companions to return in less than fifty days. Out of the
three hundred there only remained about sixty men, for the others had
either perished of hunger or had been slain by the natives. Pizarro
and his men pledged themselves to remain at their posts until his
return within fifty days bringing provisions and reinforcements. When
the established time elapsed, finding themselves reduced by famine,
they boarded the brigantines and abandoned Uraba.
[Note 6: Pizarro was far from being a nobleman, his mother being a
peasant woman and his father the captain Gonzalo Pizarro.]
During their journey to Hispaniola a tempest overtook them on the high
seas, which wrecked one of the brigantines with all its crew; and
the survivors relate that they distinctly saw, circling round the
brigantine, a gigantic fish which smashed the rudder to pieces with a
blow of its tail. Gigantic sea monsters certainly do exist in those
waters. Without a rudder and buffeted by the storm, the brigantine
sank not far from the coast of the island, named La Fuerte, which lies
half way between Uraba and Carthagena. The remaining brigantine which
outrode the storm, was repulsed from the island by the natives who
rushed from every direction armed with bows and arrows.
Pursuing his course, Pizarro encountered by chance the bachelor Enciso
between the bay of Carthagena and the country called Cuchibacoa, which
lies at the mouth of the river the Spaniards have named Boiugatti or
cathouse, because it was there they first saw a cat, and _boiu_ means
_house_ in the language of Hispaniola.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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