ed Ferdinand and Isabella, that an ocean lay between his new continent, and the East Indies; and that a passage might be found across, where the Isthmus of Darien now is ; ; and that if they would furnish him with ships, he (old as he was) would undertake the voyage. They listened to his proposal, furnished four small vessels of 60 or 70 tons, and he set sail, with his brother, Bartholomew, and his son: and on his passage, touched at his old government, at Hispaniola, to repair, or exchange his leaky vessel; but here he was refused entrance, by the new Governor; and the fleet which brought out the new Governor, was now ready to sail for Spain, with Bovadilla, and others of his enemies, and accusers; and notwithstanding he admonished them of an approaching hurricane, yet they disregarded; set sail, and were all lost.

Columbus prosecuted his voyage, and made several important discoveries, particularly Cape Gracios a Dios, and all the coast, to the beautiful port, or harbour upon the Isthmus of Darien, which he called Porto Bello. He attempted to leave his brother, with a Colony, here, and return to Spain; but the mutiny of his own people, and the hostility of the natives, prévented; and he set sail on his return; he was overtaken by a storm, lost all his vessels, and was cast on shore upon an island,* remote from his former settlement, where he gave up all as lost; ever fruitful in expedients, he procured of the natives two canoes, and Mendiz and Fieschi, two of his trusty friends, set sail for Hispaniola, (an adventure that perhaps no other men would have dared to attempt,) and in two days they traversed the ocean, more than thirty leagues, and arrived safe at Hispaniola; here the sufferings of Columbus were again renewed: instead of that kind, hospitable treatment, due to him as an unfortunate stranger, (not to

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say friend, and countryman, in the service of the same king; but much more, the discoverer of the New World, and first planter of the Colony of that island) Ovando, the Governor, denied him the rights of hospiality, forbade him to set his foot upon the island. Deaf to the intreaties of the friends of Columbus, for more than eight months Ovando kept him and his people in a remote and solitary island, amongst the savages, where danger, and distress, were their only companions. Stung with remorse, and impatient, at such barbarity, his sailors charged him with being the author of all their sufferings; rose in mutiny; seized his canoes, which he had bought of the natives, and abandoning him to his fate, removed to a remote part of the island. Thus left to the mercy of the savages, with the few friends that remained, he soon found the friendly aid of these savages begin to abate, and discovered their impatience for his departure, by the sparing supplies of food they brought in, and the increased coldness in their deportment. Alarmed for his safety, Columbus resorted to a new expedient, to recover the affections, and aid of the natives; he foretold an eclipse of the moon, upon a certain day; and when the event took place, he took advantage of their surprise, and astonishment, and told them, that the Great Spirit thus shewed his anger, at their unkind treatment of his children, in withholding their necessary support; this had the desired effect, and restored him to all their former expressions of kindness. This evil being removed, a new scene of troubles sprang up, which summoned all his address, and fortitude. The mutineers, pressed with hunger, and want, marched in a body to satiate their vengeance, in the blood of their commander; and as they approached his habitation, they descried a sail, standing over towards the island. The rage of the mutineers, and despair of Columbus, and his friends, were turned into joy. The sail approached the shore, the captain landed, and brought a letter from

Ovando, Governor of Hispaniola, informing him, that his friends, Mendez and Fieschi, had arrived safe in their canoes, after a severe and distressing passage, and expressing his condolence for his misfortunes, &c. The captain returned to his vessel, set sail, and abandoned him to his fate. To express the astonishment, and mortification of Columbus, at this unprecedented act of barbarity, would exceed the powers of my pen; but how shall I express the tortures of his mind, when both his friends and his enemies, rose in the violence of their passions, and threatened him with instant death, as the author of all their troubles, and calamities. Ever fruitful in expedients, Columbus turned this flagrant insult of Ovando to his own advantage. He stated, that the reason why the vessel departed so suddenly, was, because she could not carry off all the company, and he would not depart, until every man was provided for, and removed; but that the captain would soon return, with more help, and take them all down to Hispaniola. This changed the scene, and their rage was turned into peace, gratitude, and friendship.

At this eventful moment, the mutineers began the attack upon Columbus, and his friends; but were repulsed, and driven off, after a short, but sharp conflict, in which their leader was wounded, and taken prisoner. Alarmed for their own safety, and for the fate of their leader, they were stung with remorse, laid down their arms, submitted to their old commander, and bound themselves, by the solemnity of their oaths, to be quiet, submissive, and obedient to his commands.

At this eventful moment the ships arrived from Ovando, and conveyed them all to Hispaniola, where they were hospitably treated, and promised a speedy return to Spain. On the 12th of November, 1504, Columbus and his people, with two ships, set sail for Spain; again they were overtaken with a violent storm; one vessel was driven

back to St. Domingo, and the other, in which he himself. sailed, was dismasted, driven more than seven hundred' leagues, under jury masts, and at length made the port of St. Lucar; where he learnt, to his inexpressible grief, that queen Isabella, his friend, and patroness, had died on the 9th of November; and thus he saw himself again, abandoned to the mercy of his enemies. As soon as he had recovered from the fatigues of the voyage, Columbus with despair on his countenance, and despair in his heart, repaired to court; but here the powers of language are lost in the magnitude of the subject: deaf to the principles of gratitude, of benevolence, and even humanity; Ferdinand received him coolly, amused him with promises, that neither administered to his necessities, nor cheered: his drooping spirits; but fixed on his distressed soul, that despair, which had wasted his spirits, and now began to waste his health; and under the pressure of all these combined, he sank a victim of persecution, into the arms of death, in the city of Valadolid, on the 12th of May, 1506, aged fifty-nine.

Dark and mysterious are the ways of God to men; but wisdom, and might, and strength are his; and justice, mercy, and truth are the habitations of his throne. Whom he will he setteth up, and whom he will he putteth down; none can stay his hand, neither may any say unto him, What doest thou?

AMERIGO VESPUCCI.

THE fame of Columbus, and the riches of the New World, together with the treasures of the east, which Vasco de Gama had disclosed; all conspired to kindle a spirit of adventure, unkown to any former age of the world.. Ameri

go Vespucci, commonly known by the name of Americus! Vespucius, or Vespucius Americanus, a native of Florence in Italy, under the patronage of Ojida, a gallant and active officer, (who had accompanied Columbus in his former voyage,) and under the patronage of the merchants of the city of Seville, (in Spain,) caught the spirit of the age, and set sail for the new world, in quest of foreign adventure. They pursued the track of Columbus, touched, upon the continent, and traded with the natives, along the, coast, as far as Cape de Vela, or further; they steered for Hispaniola, and thus returned to Spain. Amerigo published a splendid account of his voyage and discoveries, with interesting remarks upon the countries, which caught the public attention, gratified his countrymen, and gave him that popularity, that fixed his name to the continent, and thus filled up the measure of injustice, Columbus was destined to suffer; and posterity have ratified the fraud, to this day, and will probably, continue to ratify it downto the latest generation.

DON DIEGO COLON, OR COLUMBUS.

JUSTICE, though she halt, and is often tardy in her pace, ' yet she is sure in her course, and seldom fails in the distribution of her rewards. Although envy and malice, had stripped Christopher Colon, or Columbus, of his highly meritted honors, and rewards; robbed him of his life, and transferred the name of his New World, to the name of an indifferent rival; and posterity have sealed the fraud; yet his son Don Diego, who had been the companion of his sufferings, in his last voyage, petitioned the king for the honors of that government, which belonged of right to him, by the original capitulation of his father, and which had been