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Reparti

this

timientos to thofe followers of Roldan who choose to stay in the island, which the Admiral does in this way. He places under fuch a Cacique fo many thousand "matas," (fhoots of the Cazabi) or, which came to the same thing, so many thoufand "montones," (fmall mounds a foot and a half high and ten or twelve feet round, on each of which a Cazabi shoot was planted) and Columbus orders that the Cacique or his people should work these lands for whomfoever they were affigned to.* The repartimiento has now grown to its second larged. state-not lands only, but lands and the tillage of them. We shall yet find that there is a further step in this matter, before the repartimiento as fumes its strongest form. It seems, too, that Columbus gave these men flaves alfo. Others of Roldan's followers, fifteen in number, chofe to return to Spain: they received a certain number of flaves, fome one, fome two, fome three; and the Admiral fent them home in two veffels which left the Port of St Domingo at the beginning of October, 1499.

miento en

1499.

* Y de aqui tomarō origen los repartimientos, o encomiẽdas de todas las Indias, porque los daua el Almirante por fus cedulas, diziedo que daua en tal Cacique tãtas mil matas, o montones, que todo es uno, y que aquel Cacique, o fus gentes, labrassen para quien las daua, aquellas tierras. Herrera, dec. 1, lib. 3, cap. 16.

On the arrival in Spain of these vessels, the Queen was in the highest degree angered by these proceedings, and faid that the Admiral had no authority from her to give her vassals to any one, and commanded proclamations to be made at Seville, Granada and other places, that all persons who had Indians which the Admiral had given them, should send those Indians back to Hifpaniola under pain of death, " and that particularly

they should send back those Indians, and not "the others who had before been brought, because " she was informed that they had been taken in

juft war."* The former part of this proclamation has been often enough alluded to, and deferves much praise; but from the latter part it is clear that there were fome Indians who could justly, according to Isabella, be made flaves. So that by this time at any rate the question had been solved, whether by the learned in the law, Theologians and Canonifts, I know not, but in practice, that

* La Reyna Catolica recibiò grandiffimo enojo, y dixo que el Almirante no tenia fu poder para dar a nadie fus vafallos, y mandò pregonar en Seuilla, Granada, y otras partes, que todos los que tuniessen Indios, que les huviesse dado el Almirante, los boluiessen a la Española sopena de muerte, y que particularmẽte boluieffen eftos Indios, y no los otros que antes fe avian traydo, porque estava informada, que eran avidos de buena guerra. Herrera, dec. 1, lib. 4, cap. 7.

the Indians taken in war could be made flaves. The whole of this tranfaction is very curious. There is nothing to fhow that the slaves given to Roldan's followers were made flaves in a different way from those who had been fent over on former occafions both by the Admiral and his brother for the benefit of the Crown. And And yet Isabella, who had no tricks of state about her, seems to deal with this particular cafe as if it were something quite new. It cannot be said that the Crown was favoured; for the question is put upon the legitimacy of the original capture; and to confirm this, there is a letter from Los Reyes to one of their household, from which it may be inferred, though the wording is rather obscure, that they, too, gave up the flaves which had come over for them on this occafion.*

Everybody would be forry to take away any honour from Isabella; and I wish with all my heart, her proclamation could be proved to have gone quite to the root of the matter; but at any rate it cannot be characterized as a mere blowing of trumpets for injured dignity, if it is not, indeed, altogether a blast of wrath against an outrage to humanity.

*See Navarrete, vol. 2, Col. Dip. Num. 134.

tunes of

culminate.

To return to the affairs of Hifpaniola. Columbus had now fettled the Roldan revolt and other smaller ones; he had now, too, reduced the Indians into fubjection; the mines were profpering; the Indians were to be brought together in populous villages, that fo they might better be taught the Christian Faith, and serve as Vaffals The forto the Crown of Caftile; the royal revenues Columbus (always a matter of much concern to Columbus) would, he thought, in three years amount to fixty millions of reals; and now there was time. for him to fit down, and meditate upon the rebuilding of the temple of Jerufalem, or the converfion of Cathay.* If there had been any prolonged quiet, fuch things are what he would probably have begun to think about. But he had hardly more than a month of repose, or joy,

* David en fu teftamento dejó tres mil quintales de oro de las Indias á Salomon para ayuda de edificar el templo, y fegun Josefo era el destas mismas tierras. Hierufalem y el monte Sion ha de fer reedificado por mano de criftianos: quien ha de fer, Dios por boca del Profeta en el décimo cuarto falmo lo dice. El Abad Joaquin dijo que este habia de salir de España. San Gerónimo á la fanta mujer le moftró el camino para ello. El Emperador del Catayo ha dias que mandó fabios que le enseñen en la fé de Cristo. ç Quién ferá que se ofrezca á esto? Si nueftro Señor me lleva á España, yo me obligo de llevarle, con el nombre de Dios, en falvo. Navarrete, Col. vol. 1, p. 309.

when that evil came down upon him, which, in the words of our excellent hiftorian Muñoz, poured the juice of aloes into the remaining days of his life.*

Los Reyes, I contend, had upon the whole, hitherto, behaved well to Columbus. He had bitter enemies at Court. People were for ever dinning into the ears of Los Reyes that this foreigner was doing wrong. The Admiral's fon Ferdinand gives us a vivid picture of this. He fays "when I was at Granada at the time the "moft ferene prince Don Miguel died, more " than fifty of them, (Spaniards who had returned "from the Indies) as men without fhame, bought "a great quantity of grapes, and fat themselves "down in the Court of the Alhambra, uttering "loud cries, faying, that their Highnesses and the "Admiral made them live in this poor fashion on "account of the bad pay they received, with

many other dishonest and unfeemly things, "which they kept repeating. Such was their "effrontery, that when the Catholic King came

Entonces vino el golpe fatal que acibaró todos los dias de su vida. Muñoz, Hift. del Nuevo Mundo, lib. 6, cap. 57.

These are the last printed words of Muñoz's history: there is more in manuscript which furely fome good Spaniard ought to fee to the printing of, forthwith..