HOM.01.1492.A.1
Document Title
Letter from Columbus to the King and Queen of Spain
The Source Document
Sir,
Because I know you will derive great pleasure in the great victory that the Lord has given me in my voyage, I write this letter, by which you will learn how in 20 days I passed from the Canary Islands to the Indies, with the fleet which the Most Illustrious King and Queen, our Lords, had given me. There I found many islands inhabited by countless people, and I have taken possession of all of them for Your Highnesses, with a proclamation and the royal flag flying, and I was not contradicted.
To the first island that I found I gave the name of San Salvador, in honor of His Divine Majesty who so marvelously has given it all; the Indians call it Guanahani. To the second one, I gave the name of Island of Santa Maria de Concepción, to the third one Fernandina, to the fourth Isabela, to the fifth Juana, and so on to each a new name.
When I arrived at Juana, I followed the coast westward, and found it so long that I thought it might be the mainland, the province of Catayo, but as I did not find any towns or sites along the coast, except small villages, with whose people I could not make contact, because then they all fled, I was going forward in that direction hoping to find cities and towns for sure. At the end of many leagues, seeing that there was no innovation, and that the coast was taking me to the north, in the direction contrary to the one I wished to follow because the winter had already set in, and I intended to go south, and also because the wind was pushing me, I determined not to postpone any longer, and I turned back to a port spotted previously, from where I sent two men inland to see if there were a King or large cities. They walked for three days and found an infinite number of small sites and countless people, but no evidence of government; for this reason, they turned back.
I understood sufficiently from other Indians whom I had taken, that this land was an island, so I followed its coast eastward for 107 leagues5 until it came to an end. From this cape, there was another island distant 18 leagues, to which I gave the name of Espanola went there, and followed its northern coast, as I had done at Juana, eastward for a distance of 188 leagues. This island like all the others is very fertile to an excessive degree, and this one in the extreme. There are many ports along its sea coast, without comparison that I know of in Christendom, and quite a few rivers marvellously good and large. Its lands are high and on them very many peaks and very high mountains, without comparison even with the island of Tenerife, all very pretty, of a thousand shapes, and all accessible on foot and full of trees of a thousand forms and so high as to seem to reach the sky. I am told that they never lose their leaves, according to what I can understand, as I saw them as green and as pretty as those of Spain in May. Some of them are in bloom, others with fruit, still others at another stage in accordance with their character. And the nightingale was singing along with other birds in a thousand ways during the month of November when I was visiting there. There are from six to eight types of palm trees whose beautiful diversity is a joy to behold, and the same for the other trees, fruits and grasses. It has pine trees galore, and very extensive prairies, also honey and many types of birds and very diverse fruits. Inland can be found many metal mines and a countless population.
Espaftola Island is wonderful. The peaks and the mountains, the prairies and the lands are so beautiful and rich for planting and sowing, for raising cattle of all sorts, for erecting towns and villages. Sea ports? Well, hard to believe for anyone but an eyewitness. As for rivers, there are many, and with plenty of good water; most of them carry gold. Among the trees, fruits and grasses there are many differences with those in Juana; in the latter, there are many spices, and big mines of gold and of other metals.
The people of this island and of the others, that I have discovered or been told of, all go naked, men and women, just like when their mothers give them birth, although a few women covered one spot only with a plant leaf or a mesh of cotton that they make for the purpose. They do not have any iron, steel nor weapons; they are not made for them either. It is not because they are not well-built people with a beautiful stature; rather, they are so laughingly afraid. They do not have any other weapons besides spears made of mature canes, at the tip of which they place a small sharpened stick, but they do not use them. So it is that many times I happened to send ashore two or three men to some village to make contact; large numbers came out to meet them, and then after seeing them landing, they fled, with the parents not even waiting for their children. This happened, not on account of us having done them any harm; rather, at every cape that I had been and had been able to make contact, I have given them from everything I had, clothes as well as many other things, without having received from them anything. However, they are hopelessly scared. It is true that once they gain confidence and lose this fear, they are so much without any cunningness and so liberal with what they have that only an eyewitness could believe it. With some thing they might have, if one asks them for it, they never refuse to give it; firstly, they invite the person who has it and show him so much love that they would give their hearts, and whether it be a thing of value or one of little price, they then for whatever thing, no matter how it was given them, are happy with it.
I forbid that they be given worthless things like broken pieces of pottery or broken glass or lace cordons, although whenever they could get their hands on those, they seemed to them like the best jewel in the world. It turned out that a sailor who got gold worth two and a halfcastellaños for one cordon, and others got much more for things worth much less. And for new copper coins they were giving as much gold as they had, even it if were two or three castellaños worth, or for one or two arrobas1 of woven cotton. They even took pieces of broken barrel hoops, and they were giving what they had [behaving] like animals, so much so that it seemed to me a bad thing, and I forbid it. And I gave them for free a thousand good things I had so that they would get attached, and later on become Christians, accept the love and the service of Your Highnesses and of the whole Spanish nation; also, so that they would try and help us by giving us things they have in abundance and that are necessary for us.
They do not know about any sect, not even idolatry, except that they all believe that power and good are in the sky; and they believed very firmly that I, with the ships and crew, came from the sky, and as such they were receiving me at every cape after they had lost their fear. This did not come about as a result of their ignorance—they are rather very ingenious, and men who sail over all of those seas, something that gives them a wonderful reputation—but because they had never seen people with clothes nor ships such as ours.
After I arrived at the Indies, at the first island that I discovered, I took a few of them by force so that they would learn [our language] and give me information about what there was in those parts. So it is that they eventually understood us and we them, either by words or signs. These men have improved very much; nowadays, I still have them with me and they are still of the opinion that I come from the sky, even after having had many conversations with me. They were the first to announce it wherever I came to, and the others would go from house to house, and to neighboring towns shouting: Come and see the people from the sky. And all of them, men and women, once they had gathered enough courage, would all come, even down to the smallest one, and bring us something to eat and drink, which they gave with amazing love.
At all the islands, they have very many canoes similar to [our] launches1; there are some big ones, small ones, and not a few of them larger than a fusta with 18 thwarts. They are not as wide, however, because they are [dug out] of only one piece of wood; our row boat is nothing compared to theirs, because they go like you would not believe. With such canoes, they travel between all of those islands, which are numberless, and they carry their merchandise. I have seen some of these canoes with 70 to 80 men inside, each of them with his oar.
In all of those islands, I did not see much diversity in the features of the people, nor in their customs, nor in their language; rather, they all understand one another, which is something very noteworthy, given that I hope Your Highnesses will decide to convert them to our Holy Faith, toward which they are well disposed.
I have already said how I had covered 107 leagues along the sea coast, directly from west to east, along Juana Island; because of such a distance, I can say that this island is bigger than England and Scotland together, because beyond these 107 leagues, there remain towards the west two provinces that I have not visited, one of them they call Avan where the people [sic] with tails live ; the said provinces cannot measure fewer than 50 or 60 leagues, according to what I can understand from these Indians I have with me, and they know all the islands.
As for Española Island, in circumference it has more than the whole of Spain from the port of Colunya4, along the coast, as far as Fuente Rabía in Vizcaya, given that, in one traverse, I covered 188 long leagues in a straight line from west to east. This island is desirable; to see it is never to leave it. Here, given that all might be taken possession of for Your Highnesses, and all could be better supplied than what I know or can say, I have taken [possession of] them all for Your Highnesses, and you may dispose of them as fully as with the kingdoms of Spain. At this Española, in one of the most convenient places and best regions for mining gold and for all types of businesses, from the mainland here, as well as from there to the mainland of the Great Can, where there will be great business and profit, I have taken possession of a large town, to which I gave the name of Town of Navidad. In it, I have built defenses and a fort which should all be completed by now, and I have left at it enough people for such a job, with weapons, artillery and food supplies for more than one year, with one fustä [i.e. launch] and a master of all sea trades to make [more]. There is a great friendship between the King of that land, to such a degree that he prided himself in calling me and treating me as a brother. Although he might change his mind and attack these men [of ours], neither he nor his people know what are weapons, and they go naked as I have said, and they are the most frightened ones in the world. So, the people [I] left there are enough to destroy that whole land; it is an island without danger to their persons, if they know how to control themselves.
In all of these islands it seems to me that all the men are contented with one woman, but to their leader or King2 they give as many as twenty. It seems to me that the women work more than the men. I have not been able to find out if they have their own properties; rather it seemed to me that I saw that what one had they all shared, specially the edible stuff.
In these islands, until now I have not found any monstrous men as many [of us] had expected; to the contrary, all the people have very pretty countenance, as they are not black as in Guinea, and have their hair loose, and they do not grow up where the effect of the solar rays are too strong. It is true that the sun is strong, given that the distance from the equinoctial line is 26 degrees4, but in these islands, where there are big mountains, there the cold was strong this winter as well; however, these people tolerate it out of habit and with the help of the food they eat which is very hot and spicy in the extreme. So, as far as monsters are concerned, I have not heard of any, except that there is one island1, which is here the second one at the entrance of the Indies, that is populated by a people whom in all the islands they estimate very fierce, and who eat living flesh. They have canoes with which they rove all the islands of India, steal and take as much as they can. They are not more misshapen than the others, except that they have the custom of wearing their hair long like women. They use bows and arrows made of the same cane as the weapons1, with the little stick at the tip, for lack of iron which they do not have. They are fierce, when compared with these other peoples who are cowardly to such a high degree, but I do not consider them much different than the others. They are the ones who deal with the women of Matremonio2, which is the first island to be found [when] coming from Spain toward the Indies, in which there are no men at all. These women do not use feminine exercice, rather bows and arrows, made of cane like the above-mentioned ones, and they arm themselves and cover themselves with sheets of copper3, which they have in quantity. In another island, which they have assured me is larger than Española, the people have no hair at all. And there is gold aplenty. From it and from the others I bring with me some Indians as a proof.
In conclusion, just to mention what has been done during this voyage, which was a bit hurried, Your Highnesses will see that I will give you as much gold as necessary, with the very small assistance that Your Highnesses will give me; as for spices and cotton, as much as Your Highnesses will wish, and mastic trees as many as you wish to be loaded, of the type that heretofore has only been found in Greece at the island of Chios, which the [Venitian] Government sells as it wishes. As for aloes, as much as you wish loaded, and the same for slaves, who would be idolaters. I believe I have found rhubarb and cinnamon, and I will find a thousand useful things, such as the men I have left there would have found already; I myself did not tarry at any cape, whenever the wind was favorable to me, except at the Town of Navidad, in order to fortify and settle it. In truth, I would have done much more if the ships had served me as reason demanded it.
Enough said. Eternal God, Our Lord, [is the one] who gives, to all those who follow his way, victory in things seemingly impossible, and this voyage was certainly one of those. Although others have talked about these lands, the tales were all conjectures and not eyewitness reports, except that, understanding as much as the eyewitnesses, some would listen and judge it to be a mere fable, with not even a little bit true. So it is that our Redemptor has given this victory to our Most Illustrious King and Queen and to their famous kingdoms such a high thing, from which the whole of Christendom may rejoice and celebrate, giving solemn thanks to the Holy Trinity, with many solemn prayers for the great exaltation to be had in annexing so many peoples to our Holy Faith, and afterwards for the good weather. Not only Spain but the whole of Christendom will find refreshments and profit here. This is in accordance with the facts, albeit briefly.
From aboard the caravel off the Canary [sic] Islands, on the 15th of February of the year 1493.
I am at your command, The Admiral.
Rodrigue Levesque's Notes
In 1490, the World as known to the European public was but a small part of the globe. The first voyage of Columbus in 1492 and the European discovery of America was to change all that, because upon his return Columbus wrote many letters, all of them being summaries of his journal or logbook. His official report to his sponsors, the King and Queen of Spain, was sent in many copies through the offices of various court officials, namely Luis de Santangel, Gabriel Sanchez and the Duke of Medinaceli. Someone gave his copy of the report to a printer in Barcelona (where the court resided at that time) and it was already published by the middle of March. The letter of Columbus was reprinted and also edited in Latin, Italian and German as the news of the discovery of a New World spread throughout Christian Europe . The quick distribution of Columbus’ letter explains why the full text of his logbook was not published until many years later, in edited format, by Father de la Casas, in his Historia de las Indias
The letter of Columbus announced the discovery of the Indies [sic] by a western route. He was convinced that he had reached the coast of China or that of Japan that Marco Polo had written about 200 years earlier. In 1492, he thought that Cuba was Cipango, i.e. Japan, but later on when he took up residence on Española Island (today’s Dominican Republic), Columbus remained convinced that this island was Japan . In fact, in 1502, he thought of himself as the Viceroy of Asia. Pope Alexander VI, who was a Spaniard, first heard of Columbus’ discovery through a letter which the Duke of Medinaceli wrote to a Spanish cardinal, Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, on March 19th. The cardinal must have shown this letter to the Pope because, in April, the draft of a papal bull (See Doc. 1493) was made ready, before an official request for such a document had been received from the Spanish court.
Citing the Source Document
"Letter from Columbus to the King and Queen of Spain" in European Discovery, 1521-1560, ed. and trans. Rodrigue Levesque, First, vol. 1, 20 vols., History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents (Gatineau, Canada: Levesque Publications, 1992), 37-59
