DALA: Digital American Literature Anthology

Transcription

1 DALA: Digital American Literature Anthology Edited by Dr. Michael O'Conner, Millikin University Version 1.0, 2012 Edition Part One This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. digitalamlit.com 1

2 Table of Contents Preface... 5 What Is American Literature?... 6 Native American Selections... 8 "The Creation Story of the Iroquois" Iroquois Nation/Six Nations... 8 "The Story of Creation" Pima Nation from "The Story of the Flood" Pima Nation Christopher Columbus (1451? 1506) from "Letter of Columbus, Describing the Results of His First Voyage" (1493) from Letter of Columbus, Describing His Fourth Voyage (1503) John Smith ( ) What happened till the first supply The building of Iames Towne How Pocahontas saved his life How Powhatan sent him to Iames Towne Bartolome de las Casas ( ) from A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca (1490?-1558?) from The Journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza De Vaca, (1542) John Winthrop ( ) from A Model of Christian Charity William Bradford ( ) from History of Plymouth Plantation from "the 9th Chapter" from "Anno Dom 1628" from "Anno Dom 1642" Thomas Morton (1575?-1646) from The May-pole Revels at Merry Mount Captain Shrimp (Myles Standish) Captures Mine Host (Morton) Morton s Fate Anne Bradstreet ( ) To My Dear and Loving Husband

3 The Author to her Book A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment On the Burning of Our House Mary Rowlandson (1637?-1710) from The Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson Cotton Mather ( ) "A People of God in the Devil's Territories" "The Trial of Martha Carrier, at the Court of Oyer and Terminer, Held by Adjournment at Salem, August 2, 1692" Jonathan Edwards ( ) from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Benjamin Franklin ( ) Aphorisms of Benjamin Franklin from Various Sources from Chapter III of The Autobiography from Chapter IX of The Autobiography "Plan for Attaining Moral Perfection" Thomas Jefferson ( ) Declaration of Independence from Notes on the State of Virginia Thomas Paine ( ) The Crisis, Number One Olaudah Equiano (1745?-1797) The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano from CHAPTER I CHAPTER II from CHAPTER III from CHAPTER V from CHAPTER VI Phillis Wheatley (1753?-1784) On Being Brought From Africa to America On the Death of a young Lady of Five Years of Age To S. M. a young African Painter, on seeing his Works Ralph Waldo Emerson ( ) Brahma Concord Hymn Days

4 Experience Self-Reliance Nature The American Scholar Henry David Thoreau ( ) selections from Walden from Economy from Where I Lived, and What I Lived For Conclusion On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

5 Preface I started teaching American literature in the early 1980s. Sharing poems, stories and novels of the great American writers with others has always been one of the great joys of my life. In the last forty years, I have used numerous textbooks and resources in my instruction, always needing to adapt my lessons to what any particular publisher provided for my students and myself. However, in the midst of our latest publishing revolution, where anyone can more easily create and share works digitally, including textbooks, I decided now was the time to try my hand at editing an anthology of readings in American literature that I could customize and provide to my students. The anthology that I had in mind would be composed of works and selections easy to compile and share because almost all of the texts that I teach in the early portions of my survey of American literature are in the public domain and no longer under copyright protection. Additionally, being able to personally chose the individual pieces and specific portions of works that I wished to include in the anthology was especially appealing. Then, the ability to provide this unique set of great American works to my students free of charge, if they chose to read them digitally, was yet another impetus for me to create this anthology. Finally, being able to supplement these texts with other selected online resources was a bonus. As most of us know, the sheer number of high-quality electronic educational resources that are available to anyone who is connected to the world wide web is substantial and increasing all the time. With the right inexpensive hardware/reading device, and a reliable internet connection, which are now available to most college-level students, such additional supplemental resources are just a click away. In creating and using this anthology in my classes, I hope, as we become more comfortable consuming electronic texts, that once my students make the leap to reading this electronic anthology, then they will be more inclined to take advantage of all the other free electronic texts, complete works and collections that are available to them. I am excited to think about a time when my students are carrying around a full library of American literature with them wherever they go. Although I have been working toward a project like this one for many years, being awarded a professorship with a course release and a stipend through my home institution of Millikin University has allowed me some of the extra time and resources that I needed to see this anthology to fruition. Though version 1.0 of this textbook will be fairly basic, I already envision a number of enhancements in future versions, as it grows and evolves over time and with use. I hope other professors might see the value of customized publishing creations like this for themselves. In making this this work available under the Creative Commons Attribution Non- Commercial Share Alike 3.0 Unported License, others are welcome to take what is here and use it or edit it for their own classes, in a noncommercial manner. 5

6 What Is American Literature? Toward a working definition The phrase, American literature, is a reference to a body of literature related to the USA. However, since the phrase "the literature of the United States of America" is a bit unwieldy, it is typically shortened and generalized, without meaning to slight our neighbors in Canada, Mexico, Central, and South America, who also all have their respective versions of American literature. Hence, the first qualification in defining American literature, for our purposes, is limiting the selection of these studies to a narrower geographic region within the western hemisphere: writing from or about areas that will eventually become portions of the United States by the mid to late twentieth century. Next, beyond the where, comes the considerations of who writes or creates American literature, along with considerations of when such writing was created. When the field of American literature first emerged in colleges and secondary schools in the nineteenth century, the preliminary writers studied and acknowledged, such as Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper, were actually citizens of this country. If only discussing literature written by an actual citizen of the United States of America, some might say that such individuals could not have existed until after the country actually came into being. Historians might point to the Declaration of Independence, on July 4, 1776 as that time. Others might state that the USA came into existence with the ratification of the Constitution by New Hampshire on March 4, But the canon of American literature expands well beyond writers who were citizens of the United States. In fact, the study of early American literature now typically includes an Italian working for the royalty of Spain, a handful of Spanish and French explorers, narratives and poetry from African slaves, and a wide range of British citizens who found their way to these shores. Hence, we incorporate into our definition of American literature those who arrived upon these lands from the East to witness, report, and record what they found here, in their interactions with the places, peoples, and cultures that they encountered. We include writings from those in the early British colonies and other nearby areas long before this country's creation. Products of many of the earliest printing presses set up on this shores are part of this content. Overall, before and just after the creation of the United States, the political, intellectual, and cultural influences from abroad sometimes makes the task of sorting out what is British, or European, or African or American literature a bit of a challenge. Then, there are other considerations. What of all the indigenous peoples who were on the western continents before those from the east arrived? The more recent inclusion of native voices into the study of American literature is now common practice, though these native traditions spring from the spoken word rather than the printed word. Yet, the study of literature is the study of writing. As such, much of early writings derived from the rich oral traditions of native American tribes only appeared in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, sometimes produced through the filters of non-native recorders of these oral songs and stories. Hence, we have a 6

7 derrivative form of these works to study today, offered in a more static format than the dynamic renditions of the original tellings and performances. Even so, they provide fascinating and engaging stories for us to examine and enjoy. So, to briefly summarize a working definition of American literature at the beginning of this class, it includes: * literature written by a citizen or former citizen of the United States of America * literature or written and printed artifacts about the lands, peoples, myths, or cultures that are located in what is now the United States of America *oral stories or songs that have been translated into English and written down, concerning lands, myths, peoples, animals, objects, or cultures that are located in what is now the United States of America As the class progresses, students should think about the ways that the works read and studied here affirm or challenge this working definition. 7

8 Native American Selections "American literature begins with the first human perceptions of the American landscape expressed and preserved in language." - N. Scott Momaday, author and member of the Kiowa nation. Editor's note: Native American origin myths, hero legends, and trickster tales are some of the most recent additions to the American literary canon. These materials predate European arrivals on this continent and were passed down from generation to generation in dynamic and oftenchanging oral performances. Early explorers, missionaries and, eventually, anthropologists wrote down these stories to preserve them in writing, thereby making them available for entrance into the canon of works that we study. Yet some critics worry about how much has been lost in the translation from native languages to English, in the loss of the dynamic orality of these tales, when they were commonly reshaped and adapted to a particular setting and audience, and to a lack of a fuller cultural understanding that lies beneath each tale. Still, some of the best of these stories, as they exist today, are informative and entertaining and offer a glimpse into the rich and complex foundations of a nation or tribe. Though these are some of the oldest stories we read in American liteature, many of their printed translations are fairly recent and still under copyright, making them unavailable for inclusion into a free, open-source textbook, such as this one. "The Creation Story of the Iroquois" Iroquois Nation/Six Nations from Sketches of the Ancient History of the Six Nations (1827) by David Cusick Cusick, David. Sketches of the Ancient History of the Six Nation. Lockport. N.Y.: Cooley & Lothrop, electronic text from PART I. A Tale of the Foundation of the Great Island, now North America. The two Infants born, and the Creation of the Universe. Among the ancients there were two worlds in existence. The lower world was in a great darkness; the possession of the great monster; but the upper world was inhabited by mankind; and there was a woman [Sky Woman] conceived and would have the twin born. When her travail drew near, and her situation seemed to produce a great distress on her mind, and she was induced by some of her relatives to lay herself on a mattress which was prepared, so as to gain refreshments to her wearied body; but while she was asleep the very place sunk down towards the dark world. The monsters of the great water were alarmed at her appearance of descending to the lower world; in consequence, all the species of the creatures were immediately collected into where it was expected she would fall. When the monsters were assembled and they made consultation, 8

9 one of them was appointed in haste to search the great deep, in order to procure some earth, if it could be obtained: accordingly the monster descends, which succeeds, and returns to the place. Another requisition was presented, who would be capable to secure the woman from the terrors of the great water, but none was able to comply except a large turtle came forward and made proposal to them to endure her lasting weight. which was accepted. The woman was yet descending from a great distance. The turtle executes upon the spot and a small quantity of earth was varnished on the back part of the turtle. The woman alights on the seat prepared, and she receives a satisfaction. While holding her, the turtle increased every moment, and become a considerable island of earth, and apparently covered with small bushes. The woman remained in a state of unlimited darkness, and she was overtaken by her travail to which she was subject. While she was in the limits of distress one of the infants was moved by an evil opinion, and he was determined to pass out under the side of the parent's arm, and the other infant in vain endeavored to prevent his design. The woman was in a painful condition during the time of their disputes, and the infants entered the dark world by compulsion and their parent expired in a few moments. They had the power of sustenance without a nurse, and remained in the dark regions. After a time the turtle increased to a great Island. and the infants were grown up, and one of them possessed with a gentle disposition and named Enigorio. i. e, the good mind. The other youth possessed an insolence of character, and was named Enigonhahetgea, i. e. the bad mind. The good mind was not contented to remain in a dark situation, and he was anxious to create a great light in the dark world; but the bad mind was desirous that the world should remain in a natural state. The good mind determined to prosecute his designs, and therefore commences the work of creation. At first he took the parent's head (the deceased) of which he created an orb, and established it in the center of the firmament, and because of very superior nature to bestow light to the new world, (now the sun) and again he took the remnant of the body and formed another orb, which was inferior to the light, (now the moon.) In the orb a cloud of legs appeared to prove it was the body of the good mind, (parent.) The former was to give light to the day, and the latter to the night; and he also created numerous spots of light, (now stars;) these were to regulate the days, nights, seasons, years. etc. Whenever the light extended to the dark world the monsters were displeased and immediately concealed themselves in the deep places, lest they should be discovered by some human beings. The good mind continued the work of creation, and he formed numerous creeks and rivers on the Great Island and then created numerous species of animals of the smallest and greatest, to inhabit the forests, and fish of all kinds to inhabit the waters. When he had made the universe he was in doubt respecting some being to possess the Great Island; and he found two images of the dust of the ground in his own likeness, male and female, and by his breathing into their nostrils he gave them the living souls. and named them Ea-gwehowe, i e. a real people; and he gave the Great Island, all the animals of game for their maintenance: and he appointed thunder to water the earth by frequent rains; agreeable to the 9

10 nature of the system; after this the Island became fruitful, and vegetation afforded the animals subsistence. The bad mind. while his brother was making the universe. went throughout the Island and made numerous high mountains and falls of water, and great steeps, and also creates various reptiles which would be injurious to mankind; but the good mind restored the Island to its former condition. The bad mind proceeded further in his motives, and he made two images of clay in the form of mankind; but while he was giving them existence they became apes; and when he had not the power to create mankind he was envious against his brother; and again he made two of clay. The good mind discovered his brother's contrivances, and aided in giving them living souls, * (It is said these had the most knowledge of good and evil.) The good mind now accomplishes the works of creation. Notwithstanding the imaginations of the bad mind were continually evil; and he attempted to enclose all the animals of game in the earth, so as to deprive them from mankind; but the good mind released them from confinement, (the animals were dispersed, and traces of them were made on the rocks near the cave where it was closed.) The good mind's experiences that his brother was at variance with the works of creation, and feels not disposed to favor any of his proceedings, but gives admonitions of his future state. Afterwards the good mind requested his brother to accompany him, as he was proposed to inspect the game, etc., but when a short distance from their nominal residence, the bad mind became so unmanly that he could not conduct his brother any more. The bad mind offered a challenge to his brother and resolved that who gains the victory should govern the universe; and appointed a day to meet the contest. The good mind was willing to submit to the offer, and he enters the reconciliation with his brother; which he falsely mentions that by whipping with flags would destroy his temporal life; and he earnestly solicits his brother also to notice the instrument of death, which he manifestly relates by the use of deer horns, beating his body he would expire. On the day appointed the engagement commenced, which lasted for two days, after pulling up the trees and mountains as the track of a terrible whirlwind, at last the good mind gains the victory by using the horns, as mentioned the instrument of death, which he succeeded in deceiving his brother, and he crushed him in the earth: and the last words uttered from the bad mind were, that he would have equal power over the souls of mankind after death; and he sinks down to eternal doom, and becomes the Evil Spirit. After this tumult the good mind repaired to the battle ground, and then visited the people and retires from the earth. "The Story of Creation" Pima Nation from Aw-aw-tam Indian Nights: The Myths and Legends of the Pimas (1911) by J. William Lloyd Lloyd, J. William. Aw-aw-tam Indian Nights: The Myths and Legends of the Pimas. Westfield N.J: The Lloyd Group, electronic source: 10

11 "The Story Of The Creation" In the beginning there was no earth, no water--nothing. There was only a Person, Juh-wert-a- Mah-kai (The Doctor of the Earth). He just floated, for there was no place for him to stand upon. There was no sun, no light, and he just floated about in the darkness, which was Darkness itself. He wandered around in the nowhere till he thought he had wandered enough. Then he rubbed on his breast and rubbed out moah-haht-tack, that is perspiration, or greasy earth. This he rubbed out on the palm of his hand and held out. It tipped over three times, but the fourth time it staid straight in the middle of the air and there it remains now as the world. The first bush he created was the greasewood bush. And he made ants, little tiny ants, to live on that bush, on its gum which comes out of its stem. But these little ants did not do any good, so be created white ants, and these worked and enlarged the earth; and they kept on increasing it, larger and larger, until at last it was big enough for himself to rest on. Then he created a Person. He made him out of his eye, out of the shadow of his eyes, to assist him, to be like him, and to help him in creating trees and human beings and everything that was to be on the earth. The name of this being was Noo-ee (the Buzzard). Nooee was given all power, but he did not do the work he was created for. He did not care to help Juhwertamahkai, but let him go by himself. And so the Doctor of the Earth himself created the mountains and everything that has seed and is good to eat. For if he had created human beings first they would have had nothing to live on. But after making Nooee and before making the mountains and seed for food, Juhwertamahkai made the sun. In order to make the sun he first made water, and this he placed in a hollow vessel, like an earthen dish to harden into something like ice. And this hardened ball he placed in the sky. First he placed it in the North, but it did not work; then he placed it in the West, but it did not work; then he placed it in the South, but it did not work; then he placed it in the East and there it worked as he wanted it to. And the moon he made in the same way and tried in the same places, with the same results. But when he made the stars he took the water in his mouth and spurted it up into the sky. But the first night his stars did not give light enough. So he took the Doctor-stone (diamond), the tone- 11

12 dum-haw-teh, and smashed it up, and took the pieces and threw them into the sky to mix with the water in the stars, and then there was light enough. And now Juhwertamahkai rubbed again on his breast and from the substance he obtained there made two little dolls, and these he laid on the earth. And they were human beings, man and woman. And now for a time the people increased till they filled the earth. For the first parents were perfect, and there was no sickness and no death. But when the earth was full then there was nothing to eat, so they killed and ate each other. But Juhwertamahkai did not like the way his people acted, to kill and eat each other, and so he let the sky fail to kill them. But when the sky dropped he, himself, took a staff and broke a hole through, through which he and Nooee emerged and escaped, leaving behind them all the people dead. And Juhwertamahkai, being now on the top of this fallen sky, again made a man and a woman, in the same way as before. But this man and woman became grey when old, and their children became grey still younger, and their children became grey younger still, and so on till the babies were gray in their cradles. And Juhwertamahkai, who had made a new earth and sky, just as there had been before, did not like his people becoming grey in their cradles, so he let the sky fall on them again, and again made a hole and escaped, with Nooee, as before. And Juhwertamahkai, on top of this second sky, again made a new heaven and a new earth, just as he had done before, and new people. But these new people made a vice of smoking. Before human beings had never smoked till they were old, but now they smoked younger, and each generation still younger, till the infants wanted to smoke in their cradles. And Juhwertamahkai did not like this, and let the sky fall again, and created everything new again in the same way, and this time he created the earth as it is now. But at first the whole slope of the world was westward, and though there were peaks rising from this slope there were no true valleys, and all the water that fell ran away and there was no water for the people to drink. So Juhwertamahkai sent Nooee to fly around among the mountains, and over the earth, to cut valleys with his wings, so that the water could be caught and distributed and there might be enough for the people to drink. Now the sun was male and the moon was female and they met once a month. And the moon became a mother and went to a mountain called Tahs-my-et-tahn Toe-ahk (sun striking mountain) and there was born her baby. But she had duties to attend to, to turn around and give light, so she made a place for the child by tramping down the weedy bushes and there left it. And the child, having no milk, was nourished on the earth. 12

13 And this child was the coyote, and as he grew he went out to walk and in his walk came to the house of Juhwertamahkai and Nooee, where they lived. And when he came there Juhwertamahkai knew him and called him Toe-hahvs, because he was laid on the weedy bushes of that name. But now out of the North came another powerful personage, who has two names, See-ur-huh and Ee-ee-toy. Now Seeurhuh means older brother, and when this personage came to Juhwertamahkai, Nooee and Toehahvs he called them his younger brothers. But they claimed to have been here first, and to be older than he, and there was a dispute between them. But finally, because he insisted so strongly, and just to please him, they let him be called older brother. source: from "The Story of the Flood" Pima Nation from Aw-aw-tam Indian Nights: The Myths and Legends of the Pimas (1911) by J. William Lloyd Lloyd, J. William. Aw-aw-tam Indian Nights: The Myths and Legends of the Pimas. Westfield N.J: The Lloyd Group, electronic source: "The Story of the Flood" [omitted text] Then Juhwerta Mahkai got into his walking stick and floated, and Toehahvs got into his tube of cane and floated, but Ee-ee-toy's vessel was heavy and big and remained until the flood was much deeper before it could float. And the people who were left out fled to the mountains; to the mountains called Gah-kote-kih (Superstition Mts.) for they were living in the plains between Gahkotekih and Cheoffskawmack (Tall Gray Mountain.) And there was a powerful man among these people, a doctor (mahkai), who set a mark on the mountain side and said the water would not rise above it. And the people believed him and camped just beyond the mark; but the water came on and they had to go higher. And this happened four times. And the mahkai did this to help his people, and also used power to raise the mountain, but at last he saw all was to be a failure. And he called the people and asked them all to come close 13

14 together, and he took his doctor-stone (mahkai-haw-teh) which is called Tonedumhawteh or Stone-of-Light, and held it in the palm of his hand and struck it hard with his other hand, and it thundered so loud that all the people were frightened and they were all turned into stone. [text omitted] Christopher Columbus (1451? 1506) Christopher Columbus was born in or around Genoa, in what is now Italy, probably around He is best known for completing four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, and was long called the discoverer of the New World. His famous first voyage in 1492, sponsored by Spain s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, brought him to the Bahaman and Caribbean Islands southeast of Florida. Throughout his life, he thought he had arrived in the Indies, far to the east of Europe, and he mistakenly called the indigenous peoples he found there Indians. Columbus was a better sailor than politician. After he was appointed a colonial governor by the Spanish monarchy, he became embroiled in political intrigues while trying to maintain his authority and positions. His opponents eventually found ways to remove him from power and even had him arrested. He died in 1506, in Spain, in poverty and poor health, a number of years after returning from his last voyage. The United States, especially in its first century of existence, was long nicknamed Columbia. It celebrates Columbus Day on the second Monday of October, commemorating October 12, 1492 as the day Columbus arrived in the Americas. This holiday is not without controversy, since Columbus represents the first of many Europeans who claimed and colonized lands long occupied by others and who enslaved and tortured natives and dispossessed them of their own cultures and religious beliefs. Though his original journal is lost, a copied version exists written by Bartolomé de las Casas. Works actually penned by Columbus include a number of letters, which are some of the oldest written accounts of the New World written by a European. Works about Columbus include Joel Barlow s imaginative poem, The Columbiad (1807), Washington Irving s semi-factual biography, A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (1828), and Filson Young s Christopher Columbus and the New World of His Discovery (1906). Scholarly books include Kirkpatrick Sale's The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy (1990), Barry Lopez's The Rediscovery of North America (1992), William and Carla Phillips' The Worlds of Christopher Columbus (1993), and Miles Davidson's Columbus Then and Now: A Life Reexamined (1997). from "Letter of Columbus, Describing the Results of His First Voyage" (1493) by Christopher Columbus 14

15 Columbus, Christopher. "Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage." The Voyages of Christopher Columbus, Translated by Cecil Jane. London: The Argonaut Press, source of electronic text: SIR: Since I know that you will be pleased at the great victory with which Our Lord has crowned my voyage, I write this to you, from which you will learn how in thirty-three days I passed from the Canary Islands to the Indies, with the fleet which the most illustrious king and queen, our sovereigns, gave to me. There I found very many islands, filled with people innumerable, and of them all I have taken possession for their highnesses, by proclamation made and with the royal standard unfurled, and no opposition was offered to me.to the first island which I found I gave the name "San Salvador," in remembrance of the Divine Majesty, Who had marvelously bestowed all this; the Indians call it "Guanahani." To the second, I gave the name the island of "Santa Maria de Concepcion," to the third, "Fernandina," to the fourth, "Isabella," to the fifth island, "Juana," and so each received from me a new name. When I came to Juana, I followed its coast to the westward, and I found it to be so extensive that I thought that it must be the mainland, the province of Cathay. And since there were neither towns nor villages on the seashore, but small hamlets only, with the people of which I could not have speech, because they all fled immediately, I went forward on the same course, thinking that I could not fail to find great cities and towns. At the end of many leagues, seeing that there was no change and that the coast was bearing me northwards, which I wished to avoid, since winter was already approaching and I proposed to make from it to the south, and as, moreover, the wind was carrying me forward, I determined not to wait for a change in the weather and retraced my path as far as a remarkable harbour known to me. From that point, I sent two men inland to learn if there were a king or great cities. They travelled three days' journey, finding an infinity of small hamlets and people without number, but nothing of importance. For this reason, they returned. I understood sufficiently from other Indians, whom I had already taken, that this land was nothing but an island, and I therefore followed its coast eastward for one hundred and seven leagues to the point where it ended. From that point, I saw another island, distant about eighteen leagues from the first, to the east, and to it I at once gave the name "Española." I went there and followed its northern coast, as I had followed that of Juana, to the eastward for one hundred and eighty-eight great leagues in a straight line. This island and all the others are very fertile to a limitless degree, and this island is extremely so. In it there are many harbours on the coast of the sea, beyond comparison with others that I know in Christendom, and many rivers, good and large, which is marvellous. Its lands are high; there are in it many sierras and very lofty mountains, beyond comparison with that of Teneriffe. All are most beautiful, of a thousand shapes; all are accessible and are filled with trees of a thousand kinds and tall, so that they seem to touch the sky. I am told that they never lose their foliage, and this I can believe, for I saw them as green and lovely as they are in Spain in May, and some of them were flowering, some bearing fruit, and some on another stage, according to their nature. The nightingale was singing and other 15

16 birds of a thousand kinds, in the month of November, there where I went. There are six or eight kinds of palm, which are a wonder to behold on account of their beautiful variety, but so are the other trees and fruits and plants. In it are marvellous pine groves; there are very wide and smiling plains, and there is honey; and there are birds of many kinds and fruits in great diversity. In the interior, there are mines of metals, and the population is without number. Española is a marvel. The sierras and the mountains, the plains, the arable and pasture lands, are so lovely and so rich for planting and sowing, for breeding cattle of every kind, for building towns and villages. The harbours of the sea here are such as cannot be believed to exist unless they have been seen, and so with the rivers, many and great, and of good water, the majority of which contain gold. In the trees, fruits and plants, there is a great difference from those of Juana. In this island, there are many spices and great mines of gold and of other metals. The people of this island and of all the other islands which I have found and of which I have information, all go naked, men and women, as their mothers bore them, although some of the women cover a single place with the leaf of a plant or with a net of cotton which they make for the purpose. They have no iron or steel or weapons, nor are they fitted to use them. This is not because they are not well built and of handsome stature, but because they are very marvellously timorous. They have no other arms than spears made of canes, cut in seeding time, to the ends of which they fix a small sharpened stick. Of these they do not dare to make use, for many times it has happened that I have sent ashore two or three men to some town to have speech with them, and countless people have come out to them, and as soon as they have seen my men approaching, they have fled, a father even not waiting for his son. This is not because ill has been done to any one of them; on the contrary, at every place where I have been and have been able to have speech with them, I have given to them of that which I had, such as cloth and many other things, receiving nothing in exchange. But so they are, incurably timid. It is true that, after they have been reassured and have lost this fear, they are so guileless and so generous with all that they possess, that no one would believe it who has not seen it. They refuse nothing that they possess, if it be asked of them; on the contrary, they invite any one to share it and display as much love as if they would give their hearts. They are content with whatever trifle of whatever kind it may be that is given to them, whether it be of value or valueless. I forbade that they should be given things so worthless as fragments of broken crockery, scraps of broken glass and ends of straps, although when they were able to get them, they fancied that they possessed the best jewel in the world. So it was found that for a strap a sailor received gold to the weight of two and a half castellanos, and others received much more for other things which were worth less. As for new blancas, for them they would give everything which they had, although it might be two or three castellanos' weight of gold or an arroba or two of spun cotton. They took even the pieces of the broken hoops of the wine barrels and, like savages, gave what they had, so that it seemed to me to be wrong and I forbade it. I gave them a thousand handsome good things, which I had brought, in order that they might conceive affection for us and, more than that, might become Christians and be inclined to the love and service of your highnesses and of the whole Castilian nation, and strive to aid us and to give us of the things which they have in abundance and which are necessary to us. They do not hold any creed nor are they idolaters; only they all believe that power and good are in the heavens and are very firmly convinced that I, with these ships and men, came from the 16

17 heavens, and in this belief they everywhere received me after they had mastered their fear. This belief is not the result of ignorance, for they are, on the contrary, of a very acute intelligence and they are men who navigate all those seas, so that it is amazing how good an account they give of everything. It is because they have never seen people clothed or ships of such a kind. As soon as I arrived in the Indies, in the first island which I found, I took by force some of the natives, in order that they might learn and might give me information of that which there is in these parts. And so it was that they soon understood us, and we them, either by speech or signs, and they have been very serviceable. I still carry them with me, and they are always assured that I come from Heaven, for all the intercourse which they have had with me. They were the first to announce this wherever I went, and the others went running from house to house, and the neighbouring towns, with loud cries of, "Come! Come! See the men from Heaven!" So all, men and women alike, when their minds are set at rest concerning us, came, not one, small or great, remaining behind, and they all brought something to eat and drink, which they gave with extraordinary affection. In all the islands, they have very many canoes, which are like rowing fustas, some larger and some smaller; some are greater than a fusta of eighteen benches. They are not so broad, because they are made of a single log of wood, but a fusta would not keep up with them in rowing, since their speed is a thing incredible. In these they navigate among all those islands, which are innumerable, and carry their goods. One of these canoes I have seen with seventy and eighty men in it, each one with his oar. In all these islands, I saw no great diversity in the appearance of the people or in their manners and language. On the contrary, they all understand one another, which is a very curious thing, on account of which I hope that their highnesses will determine upon their conversion to our holy faith, towards which they are very inclined. I have already said how I went one hundred and seven leagues in a straight line from west to east along the seashore of the island of Juana, and as a result of this voyage I can say that this island is larger than England and Scotland together, for, beyond these one hundred and seven leagues, there remain to the westward two provinces to which I have not gone. One of these provinces they call "Avan," and there people are born with tails. These provinces cannot have a length of less than fifty or sixty leagues, as I could understand from those Indians whom I have and who know all the islands. [text omitted] In all these islands, it seems to me that all men are content with one woman, and to their chief or king they give as many as twenty. It appears to me that the women work more than do the men. I have not been able to learn if they hold private property; it seemed to me to be that all took a share in that which any one had, especially of eatable things. In these islands I have so far found no human monstrosities, as many expected, but on the contrary the whole population is very well formed, nor are they negroes as in Guinea, but their hair is flowing and they are not born where there is intense force in the rays of the sun. It is true 17

18 that the sun has there great power, although it is distant from the equinoctial line twenty-six degrees. In these islands, where there are high mountains, the cold was severe this winter, but they endure it, being used to it and with the help of meats which they consume with many and extremely hot spices. As I have found no monsters, so I have had no report of any, except in an island "Quaris," which is the second at the coming into the Indies, and which is inhabited by a people who are regarded in all the islands as very fierce and who eat human flesh. They have many canoes with which they range through all the islands of India and pillage and take whatever they can. They are no more malformed than are the others, except that they have the custom of wearing their hair long like women, and they use bows and arrows of the same cane stems, with a small piece of wood at the end, owing to their lack of iron which they do not possess. They are ferocious among these other people who are cowardly to an excessive degree, but I make no more account of them than of the rest. These are they who have intercourse with the women of "Martinio," which is the first island met on the way from Spain to the Indies, in which there is not a man. These women engage in no feminine occupation, but use bows and arrows of cane, like those already mentioned, and they arm and protect themselves with plates of copper, of which they have much. In another island, which they assure me is larger than Española, the people have no hair. In it there is gold incalculable, and from it and from the other islands I bring with me Indians as evidence. In conclusion, to speak only of that which has been accomplished on this voyage, which was so hasty, their highnesses can see that I will give them as much gold as they may need, if their highness will render me very slight assistance; moreover, I will give them spices and cotton, as much as their highnesses shall command; and mastic, as much as they shall order to be shipped and which, up to now, has been found only in Greece, in the island of Chios, and the Seignory sells it for what it pleases; and aloe, as much as they shall order to be shipped; and slaves, as many as they shall order to be shipped and who will be from the idolaters. I believe also that I have found rhubarb and cinnamon, and I shall find a thousand other things of value, which the people whom I have left there will have discovered, for I have not delayed at any point, so far as the wind allowed me to sail, except in the town of Navidad, in order to leave it secured and well established, and in truth I should have done much more if the ships had served me as reason demanded. [text omitted] This in accordance with that which has been accomplished, thus briefly. Done in the caravel, off the Canary Islands, on the fifteenth of February, in the year one thousand four hundred and ninety-three. At your orders. THE ADMIRAL. After having written this, and being in the sea of Castile, there came upon me so great a southsouth-west wind that I was obliged to lighten ship. But I ran here today into this port of Lisbon, which was the greatest marvel in the world, whence I decided to write to their highnesses. In all the Indies, I have always found weather like May. There I went in thirty-three days and I should 18

19 have returned in twenty-eight, save for these storms which have detained me for fourteen days, beating about in this sea. Here all the sailors say that never has there been so bad a winter nor so many ships lost. Done on the fourth day of March Original Source: The Voyages of Christopher Columbus, Being the Journals of his First and Third, and the Letters Concerning his First and Last Voyages, to Which is Added the Account of his Second Voyage Written by Andres Bernaldez. Now newly Translated and Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Cecil Jane. London: The Argonaut Press, Electronic text Copyright This text is freely available provided the text is distributed with the header information [this notice] provided. from Letter of Columbus, Describing His Fourth Voyage (1503) by Christopher Columbus Columbus, Christopher. "Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage." The Voyages of Christopher Columbus, Translated by Cecil Jane. London: The Argonaut Press, 1930 electronic source of text: [text omitted] With a month of fair weather, I shall complete all my voyage. I did not persist in delaying to enter on it, because there was a lack of ships, and for all that concerns your service, I hope in Him Who made me, that I shall be of use. I believe that your highness will remember that I wished to order the construction of ships in a new manner; the brevity of the time did not give room for this, and I foresaw certainly that which has come to pass. I hold that in this trade and mines of such extent and such dominion there is more than there is in all else that has been done in the Indies. This is not a child to be left to the care of a stepmother. Of Española, Paria, and the other lands, I never think without weeping. I believed that their example would have been to the profit of others; on the contrary, they are in a languid state although they are not dead; the infirmity is incurable or very extensive; let him who brought them to this state come now with the remedy if he can or if he knows it; in destruction, everyone is an adept. It was always the custom to give thanks and promotion to him who imperilled his person. It is not just that he who has been so hostile to this undertaking should enjoy its fruits or that his children should. Those who left the Indies, flying from toils and speaking evil of the matter and of me, have returned with official employment. So it has now been ordained in the case of Veragua. It is an ill example and without profit for the business and for the justice in the world. 19

20 The fear of this, with other sufficient reasons, which I saw clearly, led me to pray your highnesses before I went to discover these islands and Tierra Firme, that you would leave them to me to govern in your royal name. It pleased you; it was a privilege and agreement, and under seal and oath, and you granted me the title of viceroy and admiral and governor general of all. And you fixed the boundary, a hundred leagues beyond the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands, by a line passing from pole to pole, and you gave me wide power over this and over all that I might further discover. The document states this very fully. The other most important matter, which calls aloud for redress, remains inexplicable to this moment. Seven years I was at your royal court, where all to whom this undertaking was mentioned, unanimously declared it to be a delusion. Now all, down to the very tailors, seek permission to make discoveries. It can be believed that they go forth to plunder, and it is granted to them to do so, so that they greatly prejudice my honour and do very great damage to the enterprise. It is well to give to God that which is His due and to Caesar that which belongs to him. This is a just sentiment and based on justice. The lands which here obey your highnesses are more extensive and richer than all other Christian lands. After that I, by the divine will, had placed them under your royal and exalted lordship, and was on the point of securing a very great revenue, suddenly, while I was waiting for ships that I might come to your high presence with victory and with great news of gold, being very secure and joyful, I was made a prisoner and with my two brothers was thrown into a ship, laden with fetters, stripped to the skin, very ill treated, and without being tried or condemned. Who will believe that a poor foreigner could in such a place rise against your highnesses, without cause, and without the support of some other prince, and being alone among your vassals and natural subjects, and having all my children at your royal court? I came to serve at the age of twenty eight years, and now I have not a hair on my body that is not grey, and my body is infirm, and whatever remained to me from those years of service has been spent and taken away from me and sold, and from my brothers, down to my very coat, without my being heard or seen, to my great dishonour. It must be believed that this was not done by your royal command. The restitution of my honour, the reparation of my losses, and the punishment of him who did this, will spread abroad the fame of your royal nobility. The same punishment is due to him who robbed me of the pearls, and to him who infringed my rights as admiral. Very great will be your merit, fame without parallel will be yours, if you do this, and there will remain in Spain a glorious memory of your highnesses, as grateful and just princes. The pure devotion which I have ever borne to the service of your highnesses, and the unmerited wrong that I have suffered, will not permit me to remain silent, although I would fain do so; I pray your highnesses to pardon me. I am so ruined as I have said; hitherto I have wept for others; now, Heaven have mercy upon me, and may the earth weep for me. Of worldly goods, I have not even a blanca for an offering in spiritual things. Here in the Indies I have become careless of the prescribed forms of religion. Alone in my trouble, sick, in daily expectation of death, and encompassed about by a million savages, full of cruelty, and our foes, and so separated from the Blessed Sacraments of Holy Church, my soul will be forgotten if it here leaves my body. Weep for me, whoever has charity, truth and justice. 20