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Spanish Explorations and Settlements in America
from the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Century


[Illustration]


NARRATIVE AND CRITICAL HISTORY OF AMERICA

Edited by

JUSTIN WINSOR

Librarian of Harvard University
Corresponding Secretary Massachusetts Historical Society

VOL. II








Boston and New York
Houghton, Mifflin and Company
The Riverside Press, Cambridge

Copyright, 1886,
by Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
All rights reserved.




                      CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

[_The Spanish arms on the title are copied from the titlepage of
Herrera._]


  INTRODUCTION.                                                     PAGE

  DOCUMENTARY SOURCES OF EARLY SPANISH-AMERICAN HISTORY. _The
  Editor_                                                              i


  CHAPTER I.

  COLUMBUS AND HIS DISCOVERIES. _The Editor_                           1

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Columbus’ Armor, 4; Parting of Columbus with
  Ferdinand and Isabella, 6; Early Vessels, 7; Building a Ship,
  8; Course of Columbus on his First Voyage, 9; Ship of Columbus’
  Time, 10; Native House in Hispaniola, 11; Curing the Sick,
  11; The Triumph of Columbus, 12; Columbus at Hispaniola, 13;
  Handwriting of Columbus, 14; Arms of Columbus, 15; Fruit-trees
  of Hispaniola, 16; Indian Club, 16; Indian Canoe, 17, 17;
  Columbus at Isla Margarita, 18; Early Americans, 19; House in
  which Columbus died, 23.

  CRITICAL ESSAY                                                      24

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Ptolemy, 26, 27; Albertus Magnus, 29; Marco
  Polo, 30; Columbus’ Annotations on the _Imago Mundi_, 31; on
  Æneas Sylvius, 32; the Atlantic of the Ancients, 37; Prince
  Henry the Navigator, 39; his Autograph, 39; Sketch-map of
  Portuguese Discoveries in Africa, 40; Portuguese Map of the Old
  World (1490), 41; Vasco da Gama and his Autograph, 42; Line of
  Demarcation (Map of 1527), 43; Pope Alexander VI., 44.

  NOTES                                                               46

  A, First Voyage, 46; B, Landfall, 52; C, Effect of the
  Discovery in Europe, 56; D, Second Voyage, 57; E, Third Voyage,
  58; F, Fourth Voyage, 59; G, Lives and Notices of Columbus,
  62; H, Portraits of Columbus, 69; I, Burial and Remains of
  Columbus, 78; J, Birth of Columbus, and Accounts of his Family,
  83.

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Fac-simile of first page of Columbus’ Letter,
  No. III., 49; Cut on reverse of Title of Nos. V. and VI., 50;
  Title of No. VI., 51; The Landing of Columbus, 52; Cut in
  German Translation of the First Letter, 53; Text of the German
  Translation, 54; the Bahama Group (map), 55; Sign-manuals
  of Ferdinand and Isabella, 56; Sebastian Brant, 59; Map of
  Columbus’ Four Voyages, 60, 61; Fac-simile of page in the
  Glustiniani Psalter, 63; Ferdinand Columbus’ Register of Books,
  65; Autograph of Humboldt, 68; Paulus Jovius, 70. Portraits
  of Columbus,—after Giovio, 71; the Yanez Portrait, 72; after
  Capriolo, 73; the Florence picture, 74; the De Bry Picture,
  75; the Jomard Likeness, 76; the Havana Medallion, 77; Picture
  at Madrid, 78; after Montanus, 79; Coffer and Bones found in
  Santo Domingo, 80; Inscriptions on and in the Coffer, 81, 82;
  Portrait and Sign-manual of Ferdinand of Spain, 85; Bartholomew
  Columbus, 86.

  POSTSCRIPT                                                          88

  THE EARLIEST MAPS OF THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES.
  _The Editor_                                                        93

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Early Compass, 94; Astrolabe of Regiomontanus,
  96; Later Astrolabe, 97; Jackstaff, 99; Backstaff, 100;
  Pirckeymerus, 102; Toscanelli’s Map, 103; Martin Behaim, 104;
  Extract from Behaim’s Globe, 105; Part of La Cosa’s Map,
  106; of the Cantino Map, 108; Peter Martyr Map (1511), 110;
  Ptolemy Map (1513), 111; Admiral’s Map (1513), 112; Reisch’s
  Map (1515), 114; Ruysch’s Map (1508), 115; Stobnicza’s Map
  (1512), 116; Schöner, 117; Schöner’s Globe (1515), 118; (1520),
  119; Tross Gores (1514-1519), 120; Münster’s Map (1532), 121;
  Sylvanus’ Map (1511), 122; Lenox Globe, 123; Da Vinci Sketch of
  Globe, 124, 125, 126; Carta Marina of Frisius (1525), 127;
  Coppo’s Map (1528), 127.


  CHAPTER II.

  AMERIGO VESPUCCI. _Sydney Howard Gay_                              129

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Fac-simile of a Letter of Vespucci, 130;
  Autograph of Amerrigo Vespuche, 138; Portraits of Vespucci,
  139, 140, 141.

  NOTES ON VESPUCIUS AND THE NAMING OF AMERICA. _The Editor_         153

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Title of the Jehan Lambert edition of the
  _Mundus Novus_, 157; first page of Vorsterman’s _Mundus Novus_,
  158; Title of _De Ora Antarctica_, 159; title of _Von der neu
  gefunden Region_, 160; Fac-simile of its first page, 161;
  Ptolemy’s World, 165; Title of the _Cosmographiæ Introductio_,
  167; Fac-simile of its reference to the name of America, 168;
  the Lenox Globe (American parts), 170; Title of the 1509
  edition of the _Cosmographiæ Introductio_, 171; title of the
  _Globus Mundi_, 172; Map of Laurentius Frisius in the Ptolemy
  of 1522, 175; American part of the Mercator Map of 1541, 177;
  Portrait of Apianus, 179.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY OF POMPONIUS MELA, SOLINUS, VADIANUS, AND APIANUS.
  _The Editor_                                                       180

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Pomponius Mela’s World, 180; Vadianus, 181; Part
  of Apianus’ Map (1520), 183; Apianus, 185.


  CHAPTER III.

  THE COMPANIONS OF COLUMBUS. _Edward Channing_                      187

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Map of Hispaniola, 188; Castilia del Oro, 190;
  Cartagena, 192; Balbóa, 195; Havana, 202.

  CRITICAL ESSAY                                                    204

  ILLUSTRATION: Juan de Grijalva, 216.

  THE EARLY CARTOGRAPHY OF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND ADJACENT PARTS.
  _The Editor_                                                       217

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Map of the Pacific (1518), 217; of the Gulf of
  Mexico (1520), 218; by Lorenz Friess (1522), 218; by Maiollo
  (1527), 219; by Nuño Garcia de Toreno (1527), 220; by Ribero
  (1529), 221; The so-called Lenox Woodcut (1534), 223; Early
  French Map, 224; Gulf of Mexico (1536), 225; by Rotz (1542),
  226; by Cabot (1544), 227; in Ramusio (1556), 228; by Homem
  (1558), 229; by Martines (1578), 229; of Cuba, by Wytfliet
  (1597), 230.


  CHAPTER IV.

  ANCIENT FLORIDA. _John G. Shea_                                    231

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Ponce de Leon, 235; Hernando de Soto, 252;
  Autograph of De Soto, 253; of Mendoza, 254; Map of Florida
  (1565), 264; Site of Fort Caroline, 265; View of St. Augustine,
  266; Spanish Vessels, 267; Building of Fort Caroline, 268; Fort
  Caroline completed, 269; Map of Florida (1591), 274; Wytfliet’s
  Map (1597), 281.

  CRITICAL ESSAY                                                     283

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Map of Ayllon’s Explorations, 285; Autograph of
  Narvaez, 286; of Cabeza de Vaca, 287; of Charles V., 289; of
  Biedma, 290; Map of the Mississippi (sixteenth century), 292;
  Delisle’s Map, with the Route of De Soto, 294, 295.


  CHAPTER V.

  LAS CASAS, AND THE RELATIONS OF THE SPANIARDS TO THE INDIANS.
  _George E. Ellis_ 299

  CRITICAL ESSAY                                                     331

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Las Casas, 332; his Autograph, 333; Titlepages
  of his Tracts, 334, 336, 338; Fac-simile of his Handwriting,
  339.

  EDITORIAL NOTE                                                     343

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Autograph of Motolinia, 343; Title of Oviedo’s
  _Natural Hystoria_ (1526), 344; Arms of Oviedo, 345; his
  Autograph, 346; Head of Benzoni, 347.


  CHAPTER VI.

  CORTÉS AND HIS COMPANIONS. _The Editor_                            349

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Velasquez, 350; Cannon of Cortés’ time, 352;
  Helps’s Map of Cortés’ Voyage, 353; Cortés and his Arms, 354;
  Gabriel Lasso de la Vega, 355; Cortés, 357; Map of the March
  of Cortés, 358; Cortés, 360; Montezuma, 361, 363; Map of
  Mexico before the Conquest, 364; Pedro de Alvarado, 366; his
  Autograph, 367; Helps’s Map of the Mexican Valley, 369; Tree of
  Triste Noche, 370; Charles V., 371, 373; his Autograph, 372;
  Wilson’s Map of the Mexican Valley, 374; Jourdanet’s Map of
  the Valley, _colored_, 375; Mexico under the Conquerors, 377;
  Mexico according to Ramusio, 379; Cortés in Jovius, 381; his
  Autograph, 381; Map of Guatemala and Honduras, 384; Autograph
  of Sandoval, 387; his Portrait, 388; Cortés after Herrera, 389;
  his Armor, 390; Autograph of Fuenleal, 391; Map of Mexico after
  Herrera, 392; Acapulco, 394; Full-length Portrait of Cortés,
  395; Likeness on a Medal, 396.

  CRITICAL ESSAY                                                     397

  ILLUSTRATION: Autograph of Icazbalceta, 397.

  NOTES 402

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Cortés before Charles V., 403; Cortés’ Map of
  the Gulf of Mexico, 404; Title of the Latin edition of his
  Letters (1524), 405; Reverse of its Title, 406; Portrait of
  Clement VII., 407; Autograph of Gayangos, 408; Lorenzana’s
  Map of Spain, 408; Title of _De insulis nuper inventis_, 409;
  Title of Gomara’s _Historia_ (1553), 413; Autograph of Bernal
  Diaz, 414; of Sahagun, 416; Portrait of Solis, 423; Portrait of
  William H. Prescott, 426.

  DISCOVERIES ON THE PACIFIC COAST OF NORTH AMERICA.
  _The Editor_                                                       431

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Map from the Sloane Manuscripts (1530), 432;
  from Ruscelli (1544), 432; Nancy Globe, 433; from Ziegler’s
  _Schondia_ (1532), 434; Carta Marina (1548), 435; Vopellio’s
  Map (1556), 436; Titlepage of Girava’s _Cosmographia_, 437;
  Furlani’s Map (1560), 438; Map of the Pacific (1513), 440;
  Cortés’ Map of the California Peninsula, 442; Castillo’s Map of
  the California Gulf (1541), 444; Map by Homem (1540), 446; by
  Cabot (1544), 447; by Freire (1546), 448; in Ptolemy (1548),
  449; by Martines (155-?), 450; by Zaltieri (1566), 451; by
  Mercator (1569), 452; by Porcacchi (1572), 453; by Furlani
  (1574), 454; from Molineaux’ Globe (1592), 455; a Spanish
  Galleon, 456; Map of the Gulf of California by Wytfliet (1597),
  458; of America by Wytfliet (1597), 459; of Terre de Iesso,
  464; of the California Coast by Dudley (1646), 465; Diagram of
  Mercator’s Projection, 470.


  CHAPTER VII.

  EARLY EXPLORATIONS OF NEW MEXICO. _Henry W. Haynes_                473

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Autograph of Coronado, 481; Map of his
  Explorations, 485; Early Drawings of the Buffalo, 488, 489.

  CRITICAL ESSAY                                                     498

  EDITORIAL NOTE                                                     503


  CHAPTER VIII.

  PIZARRO, AND THE CONQUEST AND SETTLEMENT OF PERU AND CHILI.
  _Clements R. Markham_                                              505

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Indian Rafts, 508; Sketch-maps of the Conquest
  of Peru, 509, 519; picture of Embarkation, 512; Ruge’s Map
  of Pizarro’s Discoveries, 513; Native Huts in Trees, 514;
  Atahualpa, 515, 516; Almagro, 518; Plan of Ynca Fortress near
  Cusco, 521; Building of a Town, 522; Gabriel de Rojas, 523;
  Sketch-map of the Conquest of Chili, 524; Pedro de Valdivia,
  529, 530; Pastene, 531; Pizarro, 532, 533; Vaca de Castro,
  535; Pedro de la Gasca, 539, 540; Alonzo de Alvarado, 544;
  Conception Bay, 548; Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, 550; Peruvians
  worshipping the Sun, 551; Cusco, 554; Temple of Cusco, 555;
  Wytfliet’s Map of Peru, 558; of Chili, 559; Sotomayor, 562;
  Title of the 1535 Xeres, 565.

  CRITICAL ESSAY                                                     563

  ILLUSTRATION: Title of the 1535 Xeres, 565.

  EDITORIAL NOTES                                                    573

  ILLUSTRATION: Prescott’s Library, 577.

  THE AMAZON AND ELDORADO. _The Editor_                              579

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Gonzalo Ximenes de Quesada, 580; Sketch-map,
  581; Castellanos, 583; Map of the Mouths of the Orinoco, 586;
  De Laet’s Map of Parime Lacus, 588.


  CHAPTER IX.

  MAGELLAN’S DISCOVERY. _Edward E. Hale_                             591

  ILLUSTRATIONS: Autograph of Magellan, 592; Portraits of
  Magellan, 593, 594, 595; Indian Beds, 597; South American
  Cannibals, 598; Giant’s Skeleton at Porto Desire, 602;
  Quoniambec, 603; Pigafetta’s Map of Magellan’s Straits, 605;
  Chart of the Pacific, showing Magellan’s Track, 610; Pigafetta’s
  Map of the Ladrones, 611.

  CRITICAL ESSAY                                                     613


  INDEX                                                              619




INTRODUCTION.

BY THE EDITOR.

DOCUMENTARY SOURCES OF EARLY SPANISH-AMERICAN HISTORY.


THE earliest of the historians to use, to any extent, documentary
proofs, was Herrera, in his _Historia general_, first published in
1601.[1] As the official historiographer of the Indies, he had the best
of opportunities for access to the great wealth of documents which the
Spanish archivists had preserved; but he never distinctly quotes them,
or says where they are to be found.[2] It is through him that we are
aware of some important manuscripts not now known to exist.[3]

The formation of the collections at Simancas, near Valladolid,
dates back to an order of Charles the Fifth, Feb. 19, 1543. New
accommodations were added from time to time, as documents were removed
thither from the bureaus of the Crown Secretaries, and from those
of the Councils of Seville and of the Indies. It was reorganized by
Philip II., in 1567, on a larger basis, as a depository for historical
research, when masses of manuscripts from other parts of Spain
were transported thither;[4] but the comparatively small extent of
the Simancas Collection does not indicate that the order was very
extensively observed; though it must be remembered that Napoleon made
havoc among these papers, and that in 1814 it was but a remnant which
was rearranged.[5]

Dr. Robertson was the earliest of the English writers to make even
scant use of the original manuscript sources of information; and such
documents as he got from Spain were obtained through the solicitation
and address of Lord Grantham, the English ambassador. Everything,
however, was grudgingly given, after being first directly refused. It
is well known that the Spanish Government considered even what he did
obtain and make use of as unfit to be brought to the attention of their
own public, and the authorities interposed to prevent the translation
of Robertson’s history into Spanish.

In his preface Dr. Robertson speaks of the peculiar solicitude with
which the Spanish archives were concealed from strangers in his time;
and he tells how, to Spanish subjects even, those of Simancas were
opened only upon a royal order. Papers notwithstanding such order,
he says, could be copied only by payment of fees too exorbitant to
favor research.[6] By order of Fernando VI., in the last century, a
collection of selected copies of the most important documents in the
various depositories of archives was made; and this was placed in the
Biblioteca Nacional at Madrid.

In 1778 Charles III. ordered that the documents of the Indies in the
Spanish offices and depositories should be brought together in one
place. The movement did not receive form till 1785, when a commission
was appointed; and not till 1788, did Simancas, and the other
collections drawn upon, give up their treasures to be transported to
Seville, where they were placed in the building provided for them.[7]

Muñoz, who was born in 1745, was commissioned in 1779 by the King
with authority[8] to search archives, public and family, and to write
and publish a _Historia del nuevo mundo_. Of this work only a single
volume,[9] bringing the story down to 1500, was completed, and it was
issued in 1793. Muñoz gave in its preface a critical review of the
sources of his subject. In the prosecution of his labor he formed
a collection of documents, which after his death was scattered;
but parts of it were, in 1827, in the possession of Don Antonio de
Uguina,[10] and later of Ternaux. The Spanish Government exerted
itself to reassemble the fragments of this collection, which is now,
in great part, in the Academy of History at Madrid,[11] where it has
been increased by other manuscripts from the archives at Seville.
Other portions are lodged, however, in ministerial offices, and the
most interesting are noted by Harrisse in his _Christophe Colomb_.[12]
A paper by Mr. J. Carson Brevoort on Muñoz and his manuscripts is in
the _American Bibliopolist_ (vol. viii. p. 21), February, 1876.[13] An
English translation of Muñoz’s single volume appeared in 1797, with
notes, mostly translated from the German version by Sprengel, published
in 1795. Rich had a manuscript copy made of all that Muñoz wrote of his
second volume (never printed), and this copy is noted in the _Brinley
Catalogue_, no. 47.[14]

[Illustration: AUTOGRAPH OF MUÑOZ.]

“In the days of Muñoz,” says Harrisse in his _Notes on Columbus_, p.
1, “the great repositories for original documents concerning Columbus
and the early history of Spanish America were the Escurial, Simancas,
the Convent of Monserrate, the colleges of St. Bartholomew and Cuenca
at Salamanca, and St. Gregory at Valladolid, the Cathedral of Valencia,
the Church of Sacro-Monte in Granada, the convents of St. Francis
at Tolosa, St. Dominick at Malaga, St. Acacio, St. Joseph, and St.
Isidro del Campo at Seville. There may be many valuable records still
concealed in those churches and convents.”

The originals of the letters-patent, and other evidences of privileges
granted by the Spanish monarchs to Columbus, were preserved by him,
and now constitute a part of the collection of the Duke of Veraguas,
in Madrid. In 1502 Columbus caused several attested copies of them
and of a few other documents to be made, raising the number of papers
from thirty-six to forty-four. His care in causing these copies to be
distributed among different custodians evinces the high importance
which he held them to have, as testimonials to his fame and his
prominence in the world’s history. One wishes he could have had a like
solicitude for the exactness of his own statements. Before setting out
on his fourth voyage, he intrusted one of these copies to Francesco
di Rivarolo, for delivery to Nicoló Odérigo, the ambassador of Genoa,
in Madrid. From Cadiz shortly afterwards he sent a second copy to the
same Odérigo. In 1670 both of these copies were given, by a descendant
of Odérigo, to the Republic of Genoa. They subsequently disappeared
from the archives of the State, and Harrisse[15] has recently found
one of them in the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at
Paris. The other was bought in 1816 by the Sardinian Government, at a
sale of the effects of Count Michael-Angelo Cambiasi. After a copy had
been made and deposited in the archives at Turin, this second copy was
deposited in a marble custodia, surmounted by a bust of Columbus, and
placed in the palace of the Doges in Genoa.[16] These documents, with
two of the letters addressed (March 21, 1502, and Dec. 27, 1504)[17]
to Odérigo, were published in Genoa in 1823 in the _Codice diplomatico
Colombo-Americano_, edited with a biographical introduction by Giovanni
Battista Spotorno.[18] A third letter (April 2, 1502), addressed to the
governors of the Bank of St. George, was not printed by Spotorno, but
was given in English in 1851 in the _Memorials of Columbus_ by Robert
Dodge, published by the Maryland Historical Society.[19]

The State Archives of Genoa were transferred from the Ducal Palace, in
1817, to the Palazzetto, where they now are; and Harrisse’s account[20]
of them tells us what they do not contain respecting Columbus, rather
than what they do. We also learn from him something of the “Archives
du Notariat Génois,” and of the collections formed by the Senator
Federico Federici (d. 1647), by Gian Battista Richeri (_circa_ 1724),
and by others; but they seem to have afforded Harrisse little more than
stray notices of early members of the Colombo family.

Washington Irving refers to the “self-sustained zeal of one of the last
veterans of Spanish literature, who is almost alone, yet indefatigable,
in his labors in a country where at present literary exertion meets
with but little excitement or reward.” Such is his introduction of
Martin Fernandez de Navarrete,[21] who was born in 1765, and as a
young man gave some active and meritorious service in the Spanish
navy. In 1789 he was forced by ill-health to abandon the sea. He then
accepted a commission from Charles IV. to examine all the depositories
of documents in the kingdom, and arrange the material to be found in
illustration of the history of the Spanish navy.[22] This work he
continued, with interruptions, till 1825, when he began at Madrid the
publication of his _Coleccion de los viages y descubrimientos que
hicieron por mar los Españoles desde fines del siglo XV._,[23] which
reached an extent of five volumes, and was completed in 1837. It put
in convenient printed form more than five hundred documents of great
value, between the dates of 1393 and 1540. A sixth and seventh volume
were left unfinished at his death, which occurred in 1844, at the age
of seventy-eight.[24] His son afterward gathered some of his minor
writings, including biographies of early navigators,[25] and printed
(1848) them as a _Coleccion de opúsculos_; and in 1851 another of his
works, _Biblioteca maritima Española_, was printed at Madrid in two
volumes.[26]

The first two volumes of his collection (of which volumes there was
a second edition in 1858) bore the distinctive title, _Relaciones,
cartas y otros documentos, concernientes á los cuatro viages que
hizo el Almirante D. Cristóbal Colon para el descubrimiento de las
Indias occidentales, and Documentos diplomáticos_. Three years later
(1828) a French version of these two volumes appeared at Paris, which
Navarrete himself revised, and which is further enriched with notes by
Humboldt, Jomard, Walckenaer, and others.[27] This French edition is
entitled: _Relation des quatres voyages entrepris par Ch. Colomb pour
la découverte du Nouveau Monde de 1492 à 1504, traduite par Chalumeau
de Vernéuil? et de la Roquette_. It is in three volumes, and is worth
about twenty francs. An Italian version, _Narrazione dei quattro
viaggi_, etc., was made by F. Giuntini, and appeared in two volumes at
Prato in 1840-1841.[28]

Navarrete’s literary labors did not prevent much conspicuous service
on his part, both at sea and on land; and in 1823, not long before
he published his great Collection, he became the head of the Spanish
hydrographic bureau.[29] After his death the Spanish Academy printed
(1846) his historical treatise on the Art of Navigation and kindred
subjects (_Disertacion sobre la historia de la náutica_[30]), which was
an enlargement of an earlier essay published in 1802.

While Navarrete’s great work was in progress at Madrid, Mr. Alexander
H. Everett, the American Minister at that Court, urged upon Washington
Irving, then at Bordeaux, the translation into English of the new
material which Navarrete was preparing, together with his Commentary.
Upon this incentive Irving went to Madrid and inspected the work, which
was soon published. His sense of the popular demand easily convinced
him that a continuous narrative, based upon Navarrete’s material,—but
leaving himself free to use all other helps,—would afford him better
opportunities to display his own graceful literary skill, and more
readily to engage the favor of the general reader. Irving’s judgment
was well founded; and Navarrete never quite forgave him for making a
name more popularly associated with that of the great discoverer than
his own.[31] Navarrete afforded Irving at this time much personal help
and encouragement. Obadiah Rich, the American Consul at Valencia, under
whose roof Irving lived, furnished him, however, his chief resource in
a curious and extensive library. To the Royal Library, and to that of
the Jesuit College of San Isidro, Irving also occasionally resorted.
The Duke of Veraguas took pleasure in laying before him his own family
archives.[32] The result was the _Life and Voyages of Christopher
Columbus_; and in the Preface, dated at Madrid in 1827,[33] Irving made
full acknowledgment of the services which had been rendered to him.
This work was followed, not long after, by the _Voyages and Discoveries
of the Companions of Columbus_; and ever since, in English and other
languages, the two books have kept constant company.[34]

Irving proved an amiable hero-worshipper, and Columbus was pictured
with few questionable traits. The writer’s literary canons did not
call for the scrutiny which destroys a world’s exemplar. “One of the
most salutary purposes of history,” he says, “is to furnish examples
of what human genius and laudable enterprise may accomplish,”—and such
brilliant examples must be rescued from the “pernicious erudition” of
the investigator. Irving’s method at least had the effect to conciliate
the upholders of the saintly character of the discoverer; and the
modern school of the De Lorgues, who have been urging the canonization
of Columbus, find Irving’s ideas of him higher and juster than those of
Navarrete.

       *       *       *       *       *

Henri Ternaux-Compans printed his