Spanish America, Vol. 1 (of 2)Bonnycastle, Richard Henry, Sir
History
Spanish America, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Bonnycastle, Richard Henry, Sir
Latin America -- Description and travel; Latin America -- History
Columbus touched at many places in this voyage, at Veragua, Nombre
de Dios, Belem, Porto Bello, &c. At Veragua he sent his brother up
the country to search for gold, and Don Bartolomeo returning with a
considerable quantity; the admiral wished to have planted a colony,
but having made several fruitless attempts, and finding that the
ships were very rotten and worm-eaten, he set sail for Hispaniola
to procure new vessels and supplies; in this attempt he was forced
by storms to run on shore in a creek in the island of Jamaica,
where he propped up the worn-out hulls with shores, building huts
on the decks for the crews. Columbus remained almost a year in
this condition, and from the mutinous behaviour of his men, his
life was several times in danger; this, combined with the fatigue
and vexation he had undergone, seriously affected his health, and
at length, worn out with watching for succour, he determined as
a last resource, to send over a canoe to Hispaniola, with one of
his most faithful followers, and some Indians. These men after
encountering great dangers, succeeded in reaching that island, and
there procured a small ship, (but not without much opposition from
the enemies of Columbus,) in which this great and unfortunate man
returned to Spain, where he fixed his abode at Valladolid, and
closed his illustrious career on the 20th of May, 1506, at the age
of 64. His body was interred in the church of the Carthusians at
Seville, and a handsome monument pointed out the spot where his
remains were deposited; on which was engraven this inscription:--
“_A Castilla y a Leon,
Nuévo mundo dio Colon._”
“To Castile and Leon Columbus gave a new world.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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