The first Spaniard to touch the territory which for the purposes of my work I have taken the liberty to denominate the Pacific States of North America was Rodrigo de Bastidas, a notary3 of Triana, the gypsy suburb of Seville.
THE NEW WORLD OPENED TO SETTLEMENT.
Although the discoveries of Columbus had been made for Castile, and Castilians regarded their rights to the new lands superior to those of any others, even other inhabitants of Spain; and although at first none might visit the New World save those authorized4 by Columbus or Fonseca; yet, owing to inadequate5 returns from heavy expenditures6, and the inability of the admiral properly to control colonization9 in the several parts of the ever-widening area, at the solicitation10 of several persons desirous of entering the new field of commerce and adventure at their own charge, on the 10th of April, 1495, the sovereigns issued a proclamation granting native-born subjects of Spain permission to settle in Hayti, 184 or Espa?ola,[III-1] as I shall continue to call the island, and to make to other parts private voyages of discovery and trade, under royal license13. The regulations were that the vessels14 so sailing should be equipped under royal inspection15, that they should depart only from the port of Cádiz, and that they should carry one or two crown officers. The sovereigns retained, without payment, one tenth of the tonnage, and were to receive one tenth of the gross returns. Settlers on Espa?ola were to receive grants of land, and one year's provision; of the gold they gathered they were to pay two thirds to the crown; on all other products one tenth. Although this step was taken without consulting Columbus, it was the aim of the sovereigns fully16 to respect his rights in the matter; therefore, and in lieu of his property in one eighth of all the tonnage, for every seven vessels thus privately17 adventured he was privileged to despatch18 one on his own account. The admiral still complaining, such parts of the proclamation as in any wise interfered19 with his rights were revoked20, and his former privileges confirmed, the 2d of June, 1497.[III-2] 185
Among those to take advantage of this permission, 186 beside Bastidas, was Alonso de Ojeda, who embarked21 with four vessels from Spain in May, 1499, in company with Juan de la Cosa and Amerigo Vespucci, sailed along the seaboard of South America from Paria and the Pearl Coast, discovered by Columbus, to the gulf22 of Venezuela, so called because like Venice the native villages were built over the water. At Cape23 de la Vela, Ojeda left the coast and crossed to Espa?ola, whence he was driven off by Roldan at the command of Columbus. He reached Spain in June, 1500; and though his ships were crowded with slaves, after paying expenses there were left but five hundred ducats to divide among fifty-five persons. Sailing in a caravel of only fifty tons, a few days later than Ojeda, were Pedro Alonso Ni?o and Cristóbal Guerra, who, following the track of Columbus and Ojeda to the Pearl Coast, thence crossed to Margarita, returned to the main-land and coasted Cumaná, and finally returned to Spain, arriving about two months before Ojeda, well laden25 with gold and pearls. This was the first really profitable voyage, pecuniarily26, to the New World. Then there was Vicente Ya?ez Pinzon, who sailed in four caravels in December, 1499, and shortly after Diego de Lepe, in two vessels, both going to Brazil.
VOYAGE OF BASTIDAS.
Quite exceptional to the ordinary adventurer was Bastidas. He was a man of standing27 in the community, possessed28 of some means himself and having wealthy friends; he was intelligent and influential29, and withal humane30, even Las Casas admitting that no one ever accused him of illtreating the Indians.
The friends of the honest notary, among them Juan de Ledesma, were ready enough to join him, pecuniarily, in a venture to the famous Pearl Coast, as the South American shore of the admiral's third voyage was now called. Obtaining from Fonseca's office a royal license,[III-3] and enlisting31 the co?peration of Juan de la Cosa, already veteran in western pilotage, Bastidas equipped two caravels,[III-4] embarked at Cádiz in October, 1500, took on board wood, water, meat, and cheese at Gomera, and steering32 a little north of the admiral's last track, came to a 190 green isle33, which he called Isla Verde, and reached the mainland near Venezuela. Coasting westward34, he passed Santa Marta, and arrived at the Magdalena River in March, 1501, so naming it on arrival from the day, which was that of the woman's conversion35. There he narrowly escaped shipwreck36. Continuing, and trading on the way, he found the ports of Zamba and Coronados—the latter so called because the natives wore large crowns—the islands of San Bernardo, Barú, and the Arenas37, off Cartagena Bay. Next he saw Fuerte and tenantless38 Tortuga, touched at the port of Cenú, passed Point Caribana, entered the gulf of Urabá, and saw the farallones, or craggy islet peaks, rising abruptly39 from the water near the Darien shore. Thus far from Cape de la Vela he had discovered one hundred and fifty leagues[III-5] of new seaboard. And because when the tide was low the water was fresh, he called the place Golfo Dulce. Thus came the Spaniards upon the isthmus40 that unites the two Americas; and along it they sailed to Point Manzanilla, in which vicinity were El Retrete and Nombre de Dios.[III-6]
GLORIES OF THE ISTHMUS.
It is a balmy beginning, this of these men from Spain, of that intercontinental commerce which is shortly to bring destruction on one side and retrogression 191 on the other; a commerce which shall end only with the next general cataclysm41. Threading their way among islands smothered42 in foliage43, which seemed upon the glossy44 water-surface as floating fragments of the thickly matted verdure of the mainland, listening to notes unfamiliar45 to their ears, and seeing these strange men and women so like and yet so unlike Spaniards, they find themselves wondering whether they are in the world or out of it. We who so well know our little planet and its ways can scarcely imagine what it was in the darkness to be taken up at Seville, and put down amidst the magic play of light and shade at Darien. Probably now the world was round; yet still it might be fungiform, or crescent-shaped, or amorphous46, having a smooth or ragged47 edge, from which a fearful slipping-off might any moment ensue. All they can know is what they see, and that they cannot half know, for they can scarcely more than half see or feel or smell. Some part of the perpendicular48 rays of the incandescent49 sun falling on their toughened skins they can feel; some part of the water that from the surcharged reservoirs of low-lying clouds so frequently and freely pours upon the spot whence it is pumped by this same vertical50 sun. They can turn their bewildered eyes toward the south and see beyond its clean white border the mainland stretching off in billows of burnished51 green to the far-away hazy52 horizon, where like a voluptuous53 beauty it imprints54 a kiss upon the blushing sky; they may lie in the gray mist of evening and dream, and dream, their minds—how many removes from the intelligence of the impatient sea and the self-tuned life upon the shore? Or they may drift about in the amber55 light of a soft vaporous morning without much dreaming; one thing at least to them is real, and that is gold. Without the aid of divine revelation they fathom56 the difference between the precious solid substance and hollow brass57. So do the savages58, thinking the latter much the prettier; and thus 192 both sides, each believing the others fools and well cheated, are happy in their traffic. The Spaniards are enchanted59 less by the lovely garb60 in which nature everywhere greets them than by the ease with which the golden harvest is gathered. Thus all betokens61 the most flattering success when a luckless event casts a shadow over their bright fortunes.
The two ships were found to be leaking badly. An examination was made, when the bottoms were found pierced by teredos;[III-7] and thus before they knew it their vessels were unfit for service. Hoping still to reach Cádiz, Bastidas immediately set sail, touched at Jamaica for wood and water, and continued his voyage as far as Contramaestre, an islet one league distant from Espa?ola, where he was obliged to anchor and repair his ships. Again embarking62 for Spain, he was met by a gale63 which threw him back upon the island. Buffeted64 in a second attempt, he ran the ships for safety into the little port of Jaraguá, where they filled and sank, the loss in vessels, slaves, Brazil-wood, cloth, and gold, being not less than five millions of maravedís.[III-8] For notwithstanding the estimable 193 reputation for piety65, justice, and humanity which he has always borne, the good Bastidas did not scruple66 gently to entrap67 on board his ships, along the shore of Darien, several scores of unsuspecting natives, to be sold as slaves; nor, having thus exercised his virtues68 in the klopemania of the day, did he scruple to abandon with his sinking ships the greater portion of these innocent wretches69 in order to save the more of his gold, which was deemed of greater proximate and certain value than the bodies or even the souls of the heathen.
Thus observing everywhere, as perforce we must as we proceed, the magnanimity and high morality with which our so prized and petted civilization greeted weak, defenseless, and inoffensive savagism, we are prepared when shipwrecked mariners70 are thrown upon a distant isle inhabited by their own countrymen, subjects of the same sovereigns—we are prepared by their reception, which we shall presently see, to exclaim with uplifted hands, Behold72, how these brethren love one another! 194
After burning superfluous73 ammunition74, the Spaniards gathered up their valuables, and placing them on the backs of such captives as for that purpose they had kindly75 permitted to live, set out in three divisions over separate routes, so as to secure a more liberal supply of provisions on the way, for Santo Domingo, distant seventy leagues. In his license, as we have seen, Bastidas was authorized to trade only in lands discovered by himself. But on the way his followers76 with their trinkets had purchased food from the natives; for which offence, on his arrival at Santo Domingo, Bastidas was seized by Bobadilla and cast into prison. In vain did all the shipwrecked company protest that they had bought only such articles as were necessary for their nourishment77 during the march. To their affirmations the governor turned a deaf ear; and as Bobadilla was about to depart for Spain, the notary was ordered thither78 for trial, sailing in July, 1502.
Before the sovereigns Bastidas found no difficulty in justifying79 his conduct; and so rich were the returns from his traffic with the natives of Darien, that notwithstanding the unfortunate termination of the adventure he was enabled to pay a large sum into the royal treasury80. For their important successes, to Rodrigo de Bastidas was awarded an annual pension of fifty thousand maravedís, and to Juan de la Cosa a similar sum with the title of alguacil mayor of Urabá, all to be paid them out of returns from the new lands which they had found. "Such," remarks Irving, "was the economical generosity81 of King Ferdinand, who rewarded the past toils82 of his adventurous83 discoverers out of the expected produce of their future labors."[III-9] 195
ARCHIVES OF THE INDIES.
The most fertile source of information relative to the early affairs of America is the Archives of the Indies, a general term comprising various collections in various places. From this source many writers have drawn84, and are still drawing; many documents have been printed, and many yet remain to be printed. Altogether the collections are very numerous, as the government required full records, and in some cases copies, to be kept of official documents concerning discovery, conquest, and settlement. The several council-chambers and public offices where the business was transacted85 were the first depositories of these papers, the chief places then being Seville, Cádiz, and Madrid. In 1566 Philip II. ordered all collections, ecclesiastic86 and secular87, to be united, and deposited in the fortress88 of Simancas. Again in 1717, when all the councils were consolidated89 in one, Felipe V., who founded the Academia de la Historia, among other things for the gathering90 and preserving of materials 196 for history, directed all papers to be conveyed annually91 to the Archivo de Simancas. These provisions could not have been fully carried out, or else a very extensive system of copying must have been practised; for later, when the Archives were thrown open to the search of historians, the accumulation at Simancas, though large, did not appear to be much greater than at some other places. Further than this, there were family archives in the houses of those who had played prominent parts in public affairs, and ecclesiastical relaciones in the convents of the several orders, of little less importance than public records. And while the government insisted on the making of complete records, and observed great care in preventing their contents from being known, especially to foreigners, little pains was taken to preserve them from damage or destruction, or to arrange them for convenient reference. Therefore when they came to light it was in the form of bulky masses of unassorted, worm-eaten, and partially93 illegible94 papers. Many documents, mentioned by contemporary writers, are known to have been lost, and their contents blotted95 from existence. Fernando VI., 1746-1759, commissioned Burriel and Santiago Palomares to examine the archives of the kingdom and to copy and form into a collection such of the manuscripts as they should deem best. This collection was placed in the Biblioteca Nacional at Madrid. Other collections were made during the two following reigns12 by Abella, Traggia, Velazquez, Mu?oz, Navarrete, Sans, Vargas Ponce, and Villanueva, which found lodgment in various localities.
The early chroniclers of the Indies picked up their knowledge as best they might, by observation, by conversation, and by the examination of written evidence. Las Casas and Oviedo spent much time in the New World; Peter Martyr96 had access to whatever existed, beside talking with everybody who had been to America; Gomara copied much from Oviedo. Everything was at the disposal of Herrera as crown historiographer, as a matter of course, though he did not always make the best use of his opportunities. Gashard affirms that both Cabrera and Herrera were ignorant of the existence of many of the most valuable documents of their day. Ramusio, Hakluyt, Purchas, and others, succeeded in getting now and then an original paper on the Indies to print in their several collections. Among the first English historians who attempted for purposes of history to utilize97 the Archives of the Indies was William Robertson, who published the History of the Reign11 of the Emperor Charles, London, 1769; and in 1777, his History of America, 2 vols. 4to, several editions appearing subsequently also in 8vo. Robertson was a Scotch98 clergyman of great learning and ability. His style was elegant and vigorous, and he was by far the most philosophic99 writer on America up to his time. Although his statements are full of errors, intensified100 by dogmatism, but for which he cannot always be blamed, all who have come after him have profited by his writings; and some of these, indeed, have reaped richer rewards than he to whom they owed their success, and with far less labor1.
ROBERTSON AND MU?OZ.
Early in his work Mr Robertson applied101 to the proper authorities at Madrid, Vienna, and St Petersburg for access to material. Germany and Russia responded in a spirit of liberality, but Spain would none of it. In 1775 Robertson ascertained102 that the largest room occupied by the Archivos de Simancas was filled with American papers, in 873 bundles; that they were 197 concealed103 from strangers with solicitous104 care, Spanish subjects even being denied access without an order from the crown; and that no copies could be obtained except upon the payment of exorbitant105 fees. However, through the assistance of Lord Grantham, English ambassador at Madrid, and by preparing a set of questions to be submitted to persons who had lived in America, much new and important information was elicited106, and copies of certain manuscripts were obtained. The letters of Cortés, and the writings of Motolinia, Mendieta, and others, which Robertson used in manuscript, have since been printed.
It is greatly to be regretted that the learned Juan Bautista Mu?oz did not live to complete his Historia del Nuevo Mundo, only the first volume of which appeared. This was published in Madrid, in 1793, bringing his work down to 1500. Mu?oz was born near Valencia in 1745, graduated at the University, and in 1779 was commissioned by the king to write a history of America, all public and private material being placed at his disposal by royal order. Many papers were wanting in the archives of the department of the Indies in Madrid; whereupon he went to Simancas, Seville, Cádiz, and other towns, armed with a royal cédula, which opened to him family and monastic accumulations as well as all public depositories. So great was the confusion in which he found the royal archives, that it seemed to him as if they had been disarranged purposely to hide what they contained. Even in the indices of the Archivo Secreto del Consejo de Indias there was scarcely any indication of papers belonging to the earlier American periods. Nevertheless, by persistent107 search, mass after mass of rich material was unearthed108 in the secret archives as well as in the Real Casa Audiencia de la Contratacion, the archives at Simancas, the royal libraries of Madrid and the Escorial, the Contaduría Principal of the Audiencia de Indias in Cádiz, the Archivo General de Portugal, the monastery109 of Monserrate, the colleges of San Bartolomé and Cuenca at Salamanca, and San Gregorio at Valladolid, the cathedral of Palencia, the Sacromonte of Granada, and in the convents of San Francisco of Tolosa in Guipúzcoa, Santo Domingo of Málaga, and San Acacio, San José, and San Isidro del Campo of Seville, until it may be said of him that his efforts were buried beneath the magnitude of their invocation. Then it was that he found he had undertaken greater things than he could accomplish. Even with the aid of government he could not master the confused masses; for money and men unlimited110 cannot accomplish everything without time. The indefatigable111 Mu?oz worked faithfully; the king complained of the meagre results; the author died doing his best, and his work to this day remains112 undone113. During his labors he made an extensive collection of papers, memorials, and other manuscripts relating to America, known as the Coleccion de Mu?oz, which he once intended to publish, but this with a portion of his history was left in manuscript. Irving states that the papers of Mu?oz were left with Se?or Uguina, and Ternaux-Compans claims to have obtained all of Uguina's manuscripts; but Prescott asserts that the collection of Mu?oz was deposited in the archives of the Royal Academy of History at Madrid, and was there augmented114 by the manuscripts of Vargas Ponce, obtained chiefly from the archives of the Indies at Seville. Prior to 1793 the Archivo General de Indias was established at Seville, and a large quantity of old papers conveyed 198 thither from Madrid and Simancas. About 1810 the archives at Simancas were sacked by Napoleon; in 1814 the remnant was re-arranged and classified.
Before the death of Mu?oz, Navarrete was commissioned by the king to search the archives for documents relating to the doings of the Spanish navy. By him personally, or under his direction when occupied in other duties, the search was continued from 1789 to 1825. The results of these labors were as follows: before 1793, twenty-four folio volumes of copies from the Royal Library at Madrid, the collections of the marquises of Santa Cruz and of Villafranca, of the dukes de Medina Sidonia and del Infantado, and from the Biblioteca de los estudios reales de San Isidro, and the Biblioteca alta del Escorial; after 1793, seventeen volumes of copies from the Archivo General de Indias, including the papers in the Casa de Contratacion in Seville, the Colegio de San Telmo, the Biblioteca de San Acacio, and from the collection of the Conde del Aguila. With this material, increased by subsequent researches in the libraries of the Royal Academy of History in Madrid, and other public institutions, and in many private collections, particularly that of the Duke of Veraguas, and with access to the Mu?oz collection, Navarrete began in 1825 the publication of his Coleccion de los Viages y Descubrimientos, que hicieron por mar24 los Espa?oles desde fines del Siglo XV., in 5 vols., Madrid, 1825-37, in which he printed over 500 documents, many of them of the highest importance. As this collection constitutes one of the chief authorities upon the early affairs of Darien, a brief notice of the author may not be out of place.
MARTIN FERNANDEZ DE NAVARRETE.
Martin Fernandez de Navarrete was born in 1765 in ábalos in old Castile. He entered the seminary of Vergara in 1777, where he studied Latin and mathematics and displayed some literary taste. In 1780 he joined the navy, was stationed first as a midshipman at Ferrol, joined Córdoba's squadron in 1781, and cruised in the summer of that year on the English coast. He did good service before Gibraltar in September, 1782, and in the battle off Cape Espartel the 20th of October following. In 1783, having been promoted to a naval115 ensigncy, he was appointed to the Cartagena department, and cruised in consequence against the Moors116 during the years 1784-5. On the close of the Algerine wars he studied the higher mathematics, navigation, and man?uvring with Gabriel de Císcar, distinguishing himself in these branches. In 1789, his health forcing him to quit active service, he was commissioned by Carlos IV. to examine the archives of the kingdom and collect manuscripts relating to marine71 history; a work for which his zeal117 and knowledge particularly fitted him. This was the beginning of his famous Collection of Voyages, although its first volumes did not appear till thirty-six years after. When the war broke out between France and Spain in 1793, he joined the squadron commanded by Juan de Lángara, who appointed him his chief aid, primer ayudante, and secretary. He was still at sea, in 1796, when war was declared against England; but in 1797, Lángara being named minister of marine, and unwilling118 to lose his young secretary, he brought him to Madrid, giving him a place in the department. Here, in 1802, Navarrete published, as a preface to the Relacion del Viage hecho por las goletas Sutil y Mexicana, a résumé of Spanish discoveries on the Californian and Northwest coasts, 199 that has been much cited in the English-American disputes about the Oregon boundary. Meanwhile his merits were recognized in Madrid. In 1807 he was named ministro fiscal119 of the supreme120 council of the admiralty court, he holding already the rank of captain. But in this year came the French invasion, overturning all things. Madrid fell in 1808. In 1812 Navarrete was found in Cádiz; in 1814 in Murcia. Fernando regained121 his throne, however, May 14, 1814; four months after which event Navarrete returned to Madrid. In 1815 he proposed from his place in the Spanish Academy that new system of orthography122 which has been adopted for its dictionary. He interested himself also in the fine arts, and as secretary of the Academy of San Fernando contributed many valuable papers to its Transactions. Soon after his return to Madrid, being little pleased with the stormy and veering123 statesmanship of the day, he retired124 as much as possible from politics, and began to collect materials for his life of Cervantes—an excellent and very complete work published by the academy, with its edition of Don Quijote, in 1820. Honors continued to cluster around the historian. Toward the close of 1823 he was appointed director of the hydrographic department, and he became for many years in fact, if not in name, the great and chief naval authority of Spain; and this without prejudice to his literary activity. In 1825 appeared the first two volumes of his Collection of Voyages; the third appeared in 1829; the fourth and fifth in 1837; while the sixth and seventh were still unfinished at the author's death. On the publication of the Estatuto Real, in 1834, he received a place in the new peerage, and sat afterward125 as senator for his own province, in almost every legislature. But his studious life and pacific character were hardly destined126 to shine in a political career, nor was it for the interest of science that they should. In the winter of 1844, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, Navarrete died. The Academy issued a posthumous127 work of his in 1846, a dissertation128 on the history of the nautical129 and mathematical sciences in Spain. A collection of his smaller works, Coleccion de Opúsculos, was begun in 1848 by his son. The two volumes which have already appeared consist mainly of short biographies of Spanish navigators and literary men, previously130 scattered131 in periodicals and in the transactions of the various academies and societies. Navarrete was a man of learning and research, as clearly appears; inclined somewhat to verbosity132; tiresome133 to most readers, though pronounced elegante y castizo by his contemporaries. Of the historical value of his works, however, there is but one opinion. Humboldt speaks of his Collection of Voyages as 'one of the most important monuments of modern times,' and calls him 'the most accurate historian of the geographical134 discoveries on the New Continent.' The Baron135 de Zach, M. de Berthelot, Prescott, Helps, Irving, and Stirling, have all given him much consideration. Indeed, the friends of Navarrete cannot complain that he has not been honored. Decorated with grand orders, member in high place of many academies and societies, his lot was more fortunate than is usual among literary men. The parts of Navarrete's collection which bear most directly upon this history are: Relacion de Diego de Porras, i. 282-96; Carta que escribió D. Cristóbal Colon8, i. 296-313; Relacion hecha por Diego Mendez, i. 314-29; Cartas de Colon, i. 330-52; Viages Menores, iii. 1-74; Real cédula por la cual, con7 referencia á lo capitulado con Diego de Nicuesa y Alonso de Hojeda, iii. 116-17; Noticias biográficas del capitan Alonso Hojeda, iii. 163-76; 200 and the Establecimientos ó Primeras Poblaciones de los Espa?oles en el Darien, including instructions to Pedrarias, letters of Vasco Nu?ez, memorial of Rodrigo de Colmenares, and the relation of Pascual de Andagoya, iii. 337-459.
Scarcely was Navarrete's Coleccion de Viages put to press, when Washington Irving heard of it, and went to Madrid with the intention of translating it into English. But he soon saw that with less labor he could accomplish a work which would yield him greater returns. Navarrete, who had already collected the material and prepared the way, was still disposed to lend the genial136 American every assistance; it was necessary for him to make few original investigations137; so that under the circumstances the Life of Columbus was by no means a difficult task for so ready a writer. Humboldt visited Madrid before coming to America, but seems to have consulted no important historical documents not in the possession of others. Prescott obtained from the collections of Mu?oz and Navarrete 8000 foolscap pages of copies, most of which having any importance have since been printed by Icazbalceta, Alaman, and others.
Between the years 1837 and 1841 Henri Ternaux-Compans published at Paris twenty volumes of Voyages, relations, et mémoires originaux pour servir à l'histoire de la découverte de l'Amérique, containing, beside translations of several rare and then unobtainable works, some seventy-five original documents, several of them from the Mu?oz collection, and others obtained from the Spanish archives in some unexplained way, possibly not wholly disconnected with the French campaign on the Peninsula. Among his translations are documents relating to the conquest and settlement of Central America and Mexico, the relations of Cabeza de Vaca and Ixtlilxochitl, Oviedo's History of Nicaragua, Zurita's Report on New Spain, and Ixtlilxochitl's History of the Chichimecs. Ternaux-Compans also published Recueil de documents et mémoires originaux sur l'histoire des possessions espagnoles dans l'Amérique, Paris, 1840; and Bibliothèque américaine, a catalogue of books on America appearing prior to 1700.
The project of printing original papers selected from national and family archives was agitated138 in Spain by Campomanes, Jovellanos, Villamil, and others, who collected and wrote much upon the subject. The scheme was delayed by the political disruptions incident to the early part of the century, by which the archives became badly scattered. In 1842, under the auspices139 of the Academia de la Historia, was begun the publication, at Madrid, of a Coleccion de Documentos Inéditos para la Historia de Espa?a, with the names of Martin Fernandez Navarrete, Miguel Salvá, and Pedro Sainz de Baranda on the title-page. Navarrete lived to see only the fifth volume; Salvá and Baranda continued the publication to vol. xxiii., after which, Salvá edited alone to vol. xxxii., when he was joined by the marquises of Pidal and of Miraflores. After vol. xlvii., Pidal's name was dropped, and with vol. lvii. Salvá and the Marqués de Fuente del Valle appeared as editors. In connection with documents relating to the general history of Spain is here printed a vast amount of matter about America, and the doings of Spaniards in that quarter.
TERNAUX-COMPANS, ALAMAN, AND OTHERS.
During the next score of years floods of light are let in upon the dark 201 recesses140 of hidden treasures, the spirit of unearthing141 which extends to Mexico. I may mention incidentally Ramirez, who, in his Proceso de Residencia contra Alvarado and Nu?o de Guzman, gives some original Mexican documents not elsewhere published. Alaman, at the close of his Disertaciones, prints about forty original documents on the time of the Conquest, some of them from the collection of Navarrete, and others from original sources, such as the Hospital de Jesus in Mexico. The Documentos para la Historia de México, Mexico, 1853-7, in 21 volumes, was made chiefly from Mexican sources, and is specially92 valuable for north-west Mexico. Icazbalceta's collection includes fifty-three documents, with few exceptions inéditos, the existence of several of which, such as a letter of Cortés, and the relation of Tapia on the Conquest, was then unknown. Most of them were obtained through Gonzalez de Vera, of Madrid; only two or three were found in Mexico. Thus far Icazbalceta's collection refers exclusively to the sixteenth century. Brasseur de Bourbourg, for his Histoire des Nations Civilisées du Mexique, Paris, 1857-9, one volume of which is devoted142 to a history of the Conquest from an Indian stand-point, seems to have relied on his Nahua manuscripts, the standard histories, and a few Spanish manuscripts. Although much thus far had been done, it seemed little to the savans of Spain in comparison with what yet might be accomplished143. And it was with this feeling that the government authorized the printing of any documents in the Real Archivo de Indias affecting the history of America down to the end of the seventeenth century. The publication of this new series of papers was begun at Madrid in 1864 under title of Coleccion de Documentos Inéditos relativos al Descubrimiento, Conquista y Colonizacion de las posesiones Espa?olas en América y Oceanía, sacados, en su mayor parte, del Real Archivo de Indias. Joaquin F. Pacheco, Francisco de Cárdenas, and Luis Torres de Mendoza were editors at the first. After vol. iii. the first two names were dropped, and after vol. xii. the third, the work being thenceforth continued, competentemente autorizada. By this publication alone were placed within easy reach of all the world hundreds of the richest treasures of the Archives of the Indies, twenty for every one that the writer of thirty years ago could reach.
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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notary
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authorized
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inadequate
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expenditures
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| n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费 | |
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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8
colon
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| n.冒号，结肠，直肠 | |
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9
colonization
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| 殖民地的开拓，殖民，殖民地化； 移殖 | |
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10
solicitation
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| n.诱惑；揽货；恳切地要求；游说 | |
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11
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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13
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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14
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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15
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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16
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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17
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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18
despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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19
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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20
revoked
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| adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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22
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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23
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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24
mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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25
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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26
pecuniarily
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| adv.在金钱上，在金钱方面 | |
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27
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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28
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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29
influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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30
humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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31
enlisting
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| v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的现在分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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32
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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33
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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34
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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35
conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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36
shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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37
arenas
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| 表演场地( arena的名词复数 )； 竞技场； 活动或斗争的场所或场面； 圆形运动场 | |
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38
tenantless
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| adj.无人租赁的，无人居住的 | |
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39
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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40
isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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41
cataclysm
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| n.洪水，剧变，大灾难 | |
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42
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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43
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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44
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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45
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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46
amorphous
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| adj.无定形的 | |
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47
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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48
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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49
incandescent
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| adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的 | |
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50
vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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51
burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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52
hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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53
voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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54
imprints
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| n.压印( imprint的名词复数 )；痕迹；持久影响 | |
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55
amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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56
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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57
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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58
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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59
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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60
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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61
betokens
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的第三人称单数 ) | |
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62
embarking
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| 乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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63
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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64
buffeted
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| 反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续猛击； 打来打去； 推来搡去 | |
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65
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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66
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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67
entrap
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| v.以网或陷阱捕捉，使陷入圈套 | |
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68
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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69
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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70
mariners
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| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
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71
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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72
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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73
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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74
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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75
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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76
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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77
nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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78
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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79
justifying
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|
| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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80
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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81
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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82
toils
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| 网 | |
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83
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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84
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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85
transacted
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| v.办理（业务等）( transact的过去式和过去分词 )；交易，谈判 | |
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86
ecclesiastic
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| n.教士，基督教会；adj.神职者的，牧师的，教会的 | |
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87
secular
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| n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的 | |
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88
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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89
consolidated
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| a.联合的 | |
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90
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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91
annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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92
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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93
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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94
illegible
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| adj.难以辨认的，字迹模糊的 | |
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95
blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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96
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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97
utilize
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| vt.使用，利用 | |
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98
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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99
philosophic
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| adj.哲学的，贤明的 | |
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100
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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101
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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102
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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103
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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104
solicitous
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| adj.热切的，挂念的 | |
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105
exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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106
elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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107
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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108
unearthed
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| 出土的（考古） | |
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109
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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110
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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111
indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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112
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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113
undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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114
Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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115
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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116
moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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117
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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118
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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119
fiscal
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| adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的 | |
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120
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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121
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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122
orthography
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| n.拼字法，拼字式 | |
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123
veering
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| n.改变的；犹豫的；顺时针方向转向；特指使船尾转向上风来改变航向v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的现在分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转 | |
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124
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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125
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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126
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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127
posthumous
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| adj.遗腹的；父亡后出生的；死后的，身后的 | |
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128
dissertation
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| n.（博士学位）论文，学术演讲，专题论文 | |
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129
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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130
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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131
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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132
verbosity
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| n.冗长，赘言 | |
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133
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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134
geographical
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| adj.地理的；地区(性)的 | |
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135
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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136
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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137
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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138
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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139
auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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140
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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141
unearthing
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| 发掘或挖出某物( unearth的现在分词 )； 搜寻到某事物，发现并披露 | |
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142
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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143
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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