columbus 4th voyage summary

The Fourth Voyage of Christopher Columbus

The Famous Explorer's Final Voyage to the New World

• History Before Columbus
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Caribbean History
• Central American History
• South American History
• Mexican History
• American History
• African American History
• African History
• Ancient History and Culture
• Asian History
• European History
• Medieval & Renaissance History
• Military History
• The 20th Century
• Women's History

Before the Journey

• Hispaniola & the Hurricane

Across the Caribbean

Native encounters, central america to jamaica, a year on jamaica, importance of the fourth voyage.

• Ph.D., Spanish, Ohio State University
• M.A., Spanish, University of Montana
• B.A., Spanish, Penn State University

On May 11, 1502, Christopher Columbus set out on his fourth and final voyage to the New World with a fleet of four ships. His mission was to explore uncharted areas to the west of the Caribbean in hopes of finding a passage to the Orient. While Columbus did explore parts of southern Central America, his ships disintegrated during the voyage, leaving Columbus and his men stranded for nearly a year.

Much had happened since Columbus’ daring 1492 voyage of discovery . After that historic trip, Columbus was sent back to the New World to establish a colony. While a gifted sailor, Columbus was a terrible administrator, and the colony he founded on Hispaniola turned against him. After his third trip , ​Columbus was arrested and sent back to Spain in chains. Although he was quickly freed by the king and queen, his reputation was in shambles.

At 51, Columbus was increasingly being viewed as an eccentric by the members of the royal court, perhaps due to his belief that when Spain united the world under Christianity (which they would quickly accomplish with gold and wealth from the New World) that the world would end. He also tended to dress like a simple barefoot friar, rather than the wealthy man he had become.

Even so, the crown agreed to finance one last voyage of discovery. With royal backing, Columbus soon found four seaworthy vessels: the Capitana , Gallega , Vizcaína , and Santiago de Palos . His brothers, Diego and Bartholomew, and his son Fernando signed on as crew, as did some veterans of his earlier voyages.

Hispaniola & the Hurricane

Columbus was not welcome when he returned to the island of Hispaniola. Too many settlers remembered his cruel and ineffective administration . Nevertheless, after first visiting Martinique and Puerto Rico, he made Hispaniola his destination because had hopes of being able to swap the Santiago de Palos for a quicker ship while there. As he awaited an answer, Columbus realized a storm was approaching and sent word to the current governor, Nicolás de Ovando, that he should consider delaying the fleet that was set to depart for Spain.

Governor Ovando, resenting the interference, forced Columbus to anchor his ships in a nearby estuary. Ignoring the explorer's advice, he sent the fleet of 28 ships to Spain. A tremendous hurricane sank 24 of them: three returned and only one (Ironically, the one containing Columbus’ personal effects that he'd wished to send to Spain) arrived safely. Columbus’ own ships, all badly battered, nevertheless remained afloat.

After the hurricane passed, Columbus’ small fleet set out in search of a passage west, however, the storms did not abate and the journey became a living hell. The ships, already damaged by the forces of the hurricane, suffered substantially more abuse. Eventually, Columbus and his ships reached Central America, anchoring off the coast of Honduras on an island that many believe to be Guanaja, where they made what repairs they could and took on supplies.

While exploring Central America, Columbus had an encounter many consider to be the first with one of the major inland civilizations. Columbus’ fleet came in contact with a trading vessel, a very long, wide canoe full of goods and traders believed to be Mayan from the Yucatan. The traders carried copper tools and weapons, swords made of wood and flint, textiles, and a beerlike beverage made from fermented corn. Columbus, oddly enough, decided not to investigate the interesting trading civilization, and instead of turning north when he reached Central America, he went south.

Columbus continued exploring to the south along the coasts of present-day Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. While there, Columbus and his crew traded for food and gold whenever possible. They encountered several native cultures and observed stone structures as well as maize being cultivated on terraces.

By early 1503, the structure of the ships began to fail. In addition to the storm damage the vessels had endured, it was discovered they were also infested with termites. Columbus reluctantly set sail for Santo Domingo looking for aid—but the ships only made it as far as Santa Gloria (St. Ann’s Bay), Jamaica before they were incapacitated.

Columbus and his men did what they could, breaking the ships apart to make shelters and fortifications. They formed a relationship with the local natives who brought them food. Columbus was able to get word to Ovando of his predicament, but Ovando had neither the resources nor the inclination to help. Columbus and his men languished on Jamaica for a year, surviving storms, mutinies, and an uneasy peace with the natives. (With the help of one of his books, Columbus was able to impress the natives by correctly predicting an eclipse .)

In June 1504, two ships finally arrived to retrieve Columbus and his crew. Columbus returned to Spain only to learn that his beloved Queen Isabella was dying. Without her support, he would never again return to the New World.

Columbus’ final voyage is remarkable primarily for new exploration, mostly along the coast of Central America. It's also of interest to historians, who value the descriptions of the native cultures encountered by Columbus’ small fleet, particularly those sections concerning the Mayan traders. Some of the fourth voyage crew would go on to greater things: Cabin boy Antonio de Alaminos eventually piloted and explored much of the western Caribbean. Columbus’ son Fernando wrote a biography of his famous father.

Still, for the most part, the fourth voyage was a failure by almost any standard. Many of Columbus’ men died, his ships were lost, and no passage to the west was ever found. Columbus never sailed again and when he died in 1506, he was convinced that he'd found Asia—even if most of Europe already accepted the fact that the Americas were an unknown “New World." That said, the fourth voyage showcased more profoundly than any other Columbus’ sailing skills, his fortitude, and his resilience—the very attributes that allowed him to journey to the Americas in the first place.

• Thomas, Hugh. "Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan." Random House. New York. 2005.
• Biography of Christopher Columbus
• The Third Voyage of Christopher Columbus
• Biography of Christopher Columbus, Italian Explorer
• 10 Facts About Christopher Columbus
• The Truth About Christopher Columbus
• The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus
• Where Are the Remains of Christopher Columbus?
• The First New World Voyage of Christopher Columbus (1492)
• Biography of Juan Ponce de León, Conquistador
• Amerigo Vespucci, Explorer and Navigator
• Amerigo Vespucci, Italian Explorer and Cartographer
• Biography and Legacy of Ferdinand Magellan
• Biography of Ferdinand Magellan, Explorer Circumnavigated the Earth
• La Navidad: First European Settlement in the Americas
• A Timeline of North American Exploration: 1492–1585

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Christopher Columbus

By: History.com Editors

Updated: August 11, 2023 | Original: November 9, 2009

The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he stumbled upon the Americas. Though he did not “discover” the so-called New World—millions of people already lived there—his journeys marked the beginning of centuries of exploration and colonization of North and South America.

Christopher Columbus and the Age of Discovery

During the 15th and 16th centuries, leaders of several European nations sponsored expeditions abroad in the hope that explorers would find great wealth and vast undiscovered lands. The Portuguese were the earliest participants in this “ Age of Discovery ,” also known as “ Age of Exploration .”

Starting in about 1420, small Portuguese ships known as caravels zipped along the African coast, carrying spices, gold and other goods as well as enslaved people from Asia and Africa to Europe.

Did you know? Christopher Columbus was not the first person to propose that a person could reach Asia by sailing west from Europe. In fact, scholars argue that the idea is almost as old as the idea that the Earth is round. (That is, it dates back to early Rome.)

Other European nations, particularly Spain, were eager to share in the seemingly limitless riches of the “Far East.” By the end of the 15th century, Spain’s “ Reconquista ”—the expulsion of Jews and Muslims out of the kingdom after centuries of war—was complete, and the nation turned its attention to exploration and conquest in other areas of the world.

Early Life and Nationality 

Christopher Columbus, the son of a wool merchant, is believed to have been born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. When he was still a teenager, he got a job on a merchant ship. He remained at sea until 1476, when pirates attacked his ship as it sailed north along the Portuguese coast.

The boat sank, but the young Columbus floated to shore on a scrap of wood and made his way to Lisbon, where he eventually studied mathematics, astronomy, cartography and navigation. He also began to hatch the plan that would change the world forever.

Christopher Columbus' First Voyage

At the end of the 15th century, it was nearly impossible to reach Asia from Europe by land. The route was long and arduous, and encounters with hostile armies were difficult to avoid. Portuguese explorers solved this problem by taking to the sea: They sailed south along the West African coast and around the Cape of Good Hope.

But Columbus had a different idea: Why not sail west across the Atlantic instead of around the massive African continent? The young navigator’s logic was sound, but his math was faulty. He argued (incorrectly) that the circumference of the Earth was much smaller than his contemporaries believed it was; accordingly, he believed that the journey by boat from Europe to Asia should be not only possible, but comparatively easy via an as-yet undiscovered Northwest Passage . 

He presented his plan to officials in Portugal and England, but it was not until 1492 that he found a sympathetic audience: the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile .

Columbus wanted fame and fortune. Ferdinand and Isabella wanted the same, along with the opportunity to export Catholicism to lands across the globe. (Columbus, a devout Catholic, was equally enthusiastic about this possibility.)

Columbus’ contract with the Spanish rulers promised that he could keep 10 percent of whatever riches he found, along with a noble title and the governorship of any lands he should encounter.

Where Did Columbus' Ships, Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria, Land?

On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in three ships: the Niña , the Pinta and the Santa Maria . On October 12, the ships made landfall—not in the East Indies, as Columbus assumed, but on one of the Bahamian islands, likely San Salvador.

For months, Columbus sailed from island to island in what we now know as the Caribbean, looking for the “pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and other objects and merchandise whatsoever” that he had promised to his Spanish patrons, but he did not find much. In January 1493, leaving several dozen men behind in a makeshift settlement on Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic), he left for Spain.

He kept a detailed diary during his first voyage. Christopher Columbus’s journal was written between August 3, 1492, and November 6, 1492 and mentions everything from the wildlife he encountered, like dolphins and birds, to the weather to the moods of his crew. More troublingly, it also recorded his initial impressions of the local people and his argument for why they should be enslaved.

“They… brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bells," he wrote. "They willingly traded everything they owned… They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features… They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”

Columbus gifted the journal to Isabella upon his return.

Christopher Columbus's Later Voyages

About six months later, in September 1493, Columbus returned to the Americas. He found the Hispaniola settlement destroyed and left his brothers Bartolomeo and Diego Columbus behind to rebuild, along with part of his ships’ crew and hundreds of enslaved indigenous people.

Then he headed west to continue his mostly fruitless search for gold and other goods. His group now included a large number of indigenous people the Europeans had enslaved. In lieu of the material riches he had promised the Spanish monarchs, he sent some 500 enslaved people to Queen Isabella. The queen was horrified—she believed that any people Columbus “discovered” were Spanish subjects who could not be enslaved—and she promptly and sternly returned the explorer’s gift.

In May 1498, Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic for the third time. He visited Trinidad and the South American mainland before returning to the ill-fated Hispaniola settlement, where the colonists had staged a bloody revolt against the Columbus brothers’ mismanagement and brutality. Conditions were so bad that Spanish authorities had to send a new governor to take over.

Meanwhile, the native Taino population, forced to search for gold and to work on plantations, was decimated (within 60 years after Columbus landed, only a few hundred of what may have been 250,000 Taino were left on their island). Christopher Columbus was arrested and returned to Spain in chains.

In 1502, cleared of the most serious charges but stripped of his noble titles, the aging Columbus persuaded the Spanish crown to pay for one last trip across the Atlantic. This time, Columbus made it all the way to Panama—just miles from the Pacific Ocean—where he had to abandon two of his four ships after damage from storms and hostile natives. Empty-handed, the explorer returned to Spain, where he died in 1506.

Legacy of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus did not “discover” the Americas, nor was he even the first European to visit the “New World.” (Viking explorer Leif Erikson had sailed to Greenland and Newfoundland in the 11th century.)

However, his journey kicked off centuries of exploration and exploitation on the American continents. The Columbian Exchange transferred people, animals, food and disease across cultures. Old World wheat became an American food staple. African coffee and Asian sugar cane became cash crops for Latin America, while American foods like corn, tomatoes and potatoes were introduced into European diets. 

Today, Columbus has a controversial legacy —he is remembered as a daring and path-breaking explorer who transformed the New World, yet his actions also unleashed changes that would eventually devastate the native populations he and his fellow explorers encountered.

HISTORY Vault: Columbus the Lost Voyage

Ten years after his 1492 voyage, Columbus, awaiting the gallows on criminal charges in a Caribbean prison, plotted a treacherous final voyage to restore his reputation.

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Christopher Columbus - 4nd Voyage

Christopher Columbus made a fourth voyage, nominally in search of the Strait of Malacca to the Indian Ocean. On May 11, 1502, four old ships and 140 men under Columbus's command put to sea from the port of Cadiz. Among those accompanying him were his brother Bartholomew, and younger son Fernando, then thirteen years old. At age fifty-one, Columbus was sick, but felt he had one more voyage left in him.

He sailed to Arzila on the Moroccan coast to rescue the Portuguese soldiers who were being besieged by the Moors. On June 15, they landed at Carbet on the island of Martinique. A hurricane was forming so he continued on, hoping to find shelter on Hispaniola.

Columbus arrived at Santo Domingo on June 29, 1502, and requested that he be allowed to enter the harbor to shelter from the imminent hurricane. He also warned the treasure fleet gathering in the harbour not to put to sea till the the storm had passed. Nicolas de Ovando, the local governor, ignored the warning and the treasure fleet put to sea. Columbus sheltered his own ships in a nearby estuary, and all four ships survived the storm with moderate damage.

The large fleet was, however, caught by the storm, and twenty ships were lost, with them Bobadillo, Roldan, and the gold destined for the Crown. The admiral's share of the gold, four thousand pieces, was not lost, and on arriving delivered in Spain, was not confiscated. Hence Columbus should have had large funds for his retirement.

After a short stop at Jamaica, Columbus then sailed to Central America, arriving at Guanaja (Isla de Pinos) in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras on July 30 1502. On August 14, he landed on the American mainland at Puerto Castilla, near Trujillo, Honduras. He spent two months exploring the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, before arriving in Almirante Bay, Panama on October 16 1502.

When they arrived at present-day Panama, they learned from the natives that there was another ocean just a few days march to the south. This convinced Columbus that he was near enough the strait that he had proved his point about this being the Far East. In addition the natives had many gold objects for which the Spaniards traded.

Beset by storms and contrary winds, Columbus finally returned to the mouth of the Rio Belen (western Panama) on January 9, 1503, and building a garrison fort there as he explored the area. As he was preparing to return to Spain, he took three of his ships out of the river, leaving one with the garrison. April 6, a large force of Indians attacked the garrison. The Spanish managed to hold off the attack, but lost a number of men and realized that the garrison could not be held for long. Columbus rescued the remaining members of the garrison, losing one of his ships in the process. The three remaining ships, now badly leaking from shipworm, sailed for home on April 16.

Off the coast of Cuba, they were hit by yet another storm, the last of the ship's boats was lost, and one of the caravels was so badly damaged that she had to be taken in tow by the flagship. Both ships were leaking very badly now, and water continued to rise in the hold in spite of constant pumping by the crew. Finally, able to keep them afloat no longer, Columbus beached the sinking ships in St. Anne's Bay, Jamaica, on June 25, 1503. Since there was no Spanish colony on Jamaica, they were marooned.

Columbus and his men were stranded on Jamaica for a year. Diego Mendez, one of Columbus's captains, bought a canoe from a local chief and sailed it to Hispaniola. He was promptly detained by governor Ovando outside the city for the next seven months, and was refused use of a caravel to rescue the expedition.

In a desperate effort to get the natives to continue provisioning him and his hungry men, he successfully wowed the natives by correctly predicting a lunar eclipse, using astronomic tables made by Rabbi Avraham Zacuto of Spain. In addition half of those left on Jamaica staged a mutiny against Columbus, which he eventually put down. When Ovando finally allowed Mendez into Santo Domingo, there were no ships available for the rescue. Finally, Mendez was able to charter a small caravel, which arrived at Jamaica on June 29, 1504, and rescued the expedition.

Columbus returned home to Spain on November 7, 1504, his last voyage complete.

Christopher Columbus 1492 till his death

Christopher Columbus’s Fourth Voyage

“in 1492, columbus sailed the ocean blue.” .

It’s a simple rhyme, taught to thousands of young children when most history instruction focused on names and dates. This simple lesson ignores the broader story of Christopher Columbus’s four voyages to the New World and the impact those explorations had on Europe and the Americas. Columbus’s last voyage left Europe on May 11, 1502, and continued his quest for a sea route to China, this time by exploring the coastal areas west of the Caribbean islands. Though he failed to achieve his goal, his voyages launched a new age of European exploration, colonization, and a nightmare for the indigenous Caribbean people. His legacy is complicated.  “After five centuries, Columbus remains a mysterious and controversial figure who has been variously described as one of the greatest mariners in history, a visionary genius, a mystic, a national hero, a failed administrator, a naïve entrepreneur, and a ruthless and greedy imperialist.”

Given the variety of viewpoints about Columbus, it is no wonder some try to simplify his story.

One benefit of contributing to our  We the Teachers  blog is the opportunity to research various topics in American history. I always learn things I either did not know or had forgotten. Columbus’s voyages, especially trips two, three, and four, are no exception. For example, I did not know that 11-year-old Christopher Columbus’s first sailing experience was on a merchant ship. Nor did I know that when he was 25, by clinging to his ship’s debris and floating to shore in Portugal, he survived a pirate attack that destroyed and sank his vessel. It also surprised me that before Columbus secured financial support for his first expedition from Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille, he embarked on a comprehensive self-study of mathematics, astronomy, navigation, and cartography, subjects he needed to master to implement his plan. 

These facts paint a picture of a driven, ambitious man determined to make his mark in a violent and dangerous world. His experiences may have contributed to his assessment of the people he encountered in the New World as people to exploit for his purposes. “They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance …,” he recorded in his  diary . “They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” Though he was denied permission to enslave natives on at least one occasion, Columbus and his men ignored the restriction, enslaving hundreds throughout his career.

Columbus was not the first to seek a sea route from Europe to Asia. The challenge had engaged European thinkers since the days of early Rome. Traveling overland was long, arduous, and dangerous. If a sea route could be discovered, it promised to make trade with Asian nations more profitable and gain access to goods not found or produced in Europe. 

Columbus’s insight was to reach the East by sailing west. His mistake was mathematical. He assumed the globe was smaller than it is, so his estimate of how long the trip would take was unrealistic. He also did not know that the Western Hemisphere blocked his path.

Impressed by the gold, spices, and human captives Columbus brought back from his first expedition, the Spanish crown authorized a quick turnaround for his next voyage with a significantly larger fleet of seventeen ships and 1200 men. Also on the expedition were settlers encouraged by promises of large quantities of gold in the islands. The Spanish crown ordered Columbus to Christianize all the natives he encountered. 

Upon his return to Hispaniola, the settlement he founded on his first landing, Columbus discovered it decimated by disease and war with the natives. The new settlers he brought quickly grew discouraged by the exaggerated claims of gold on the island. Columbus decided to return to Spain for supplies, leaving his brother Bartholomew in charge of Hispaniola. His third trip was equally disastrous. The Spaniards on Hispaniola accused Christopher and his brother of maladministration. A new Spanish administrator arrived in September 1499, investigated the allegations, arrested Columbus, and sent him home in chains. 

He attempted to salvage his reputation on his fourth voyage by finally locating the sea route to Asia. Ironically, he landed on the coast of Nicaragua and Panama, the area future visionaries saw as the best place to construct a man-made canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The Panama Canal is now the route Columbus hoped nature had provided.

Columbus’s expeditions decimated the native Taino population of the Caribbean. It began an age of exploration that led to the triangular trade of the colonial era, where raw goods produced with enslaved labor were shipped to Europe, where rum and other manufactured goods were produced and traded in Africa for more enslaved African people. Thus, his expeditions are important because they permanently changed the relationship between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. 

How should we teach students about Columbus?

Though I am no longer in the classroom, every time I research a topic for a blog post, I evaluate how I would change my lessons. In the past, when teaching Columbus, I assigned my students an excerpt from historian David E. Stannard’s book,  American Holocaust . Stannard’s descriptions of Columbus’s treatment of the indigenous people are horrific. His descriptions of contemporaneous Europe are equally horrible. The students debated whether men from a violent place would treat strangers non-violently.

Here is one way to change that lesson. First, I would divide the students into groups to analyze each of Columbus’s four voyages and ask them to consider the stated goals of each trip, plus what he learned from each expedition. Next, I would assign  Documents and Debates: Early Contact   from Volume 1 of  TAH’s Core Document Collection   so that students read and discuss how the treatment of Native Americans was debated in Columbus’s time before exposing them to a historian’s interpretation. Students should learn that the debate over Columbus’s actions and, thus, his legacy began in the 1490s and continues today. They are free to read the primary and secondary sources and reach their conclusions about the man and his times.

Ray Tyler was the 2014 James Madison Fellow for South Carolina and a 2016 graduate of Ashland University’s Masters Program in American History and Government . Ray is a former Teacher Program Manager for TAH and a frequent contributor to our blog.

Gordon Lloyd (1942–2023)

Multi-day seminar examines the failure of reconstruction and rise of jim crow in the south, join your fellow teachers in exploring america’s history..

The Fourth Voyage of Columbus

Columbus persuaded the Spanish monarchs to sponsor one last voyage to the New World. The objective of this journey was to locate the passage to Asia that no one had discovered yet, but which Columbus firmly believed existed. Accompanied by his brother and son, Columbus departed Spain on May 11th. En route, he sailed to Morocco to rescue some Portuguese sailors.

On June 15th, Columbus' fleet of four ships reached Martinique. Sensing an impending hurricane, he sought shelter in Hispaniola. However, the new governor dismissed his warnings about the hurricane and denied him entry into the colony. As Columbus had predicted, the hurricane struck, decimating a Spanish fleet of 29 ships and 500 men, among which were many of his adversaries.

Subsequently, Columbus set sail for Central America. Between August 14th and October 16th, he explored Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Upon reaching Panama, he anticipated discovering the long-sought passage. Columbus spent five months exploring Panama. However, after one of his ships got stranded on the Rio Belen river and his garrison was ambushed, he navigated north towards Hispaniola. Encountering severe damage near the coast of Cuba, he was compelled to run his ships aground in Jamaica. Stranded on the island for a year, Columbus and his crew awaited rescue. Their salvation eventually came from Hispaniola, after two of his crew, along with some natives, paddled there. Columbus returned to Spain for the last time on November 7th, 1504.

Early Americas Digital Archive

Columbus, letter from the fourth voyage.

An Electronic Edition · Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)

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, 1930.

Copyright 2006. This text is freely available provided the text is distributed with the header information provided.

Full Colophon Information

LETTER OF COLUMBUS DESCRIBING HIS FOURTH VOYAGE

A letter which Don Christopher Columbus, viceroy and admiral of the Indies, wrote to the most Christian and most mighty king and queen of Spain, our sovereigns, in which he notified them of that which had occurred on his voyage, and of the lands, provinces, cities and rivers, and other marvellous things, and where there are mines of gold in great abundance, and other things of great richness and value. .

Most serene and very high and mighty princes, the king and queen, our sovereigns: From Cadiz I passed to the Canaries in four days and thence, in sixteen, to the Indies, whence I wrote that my intention was to hasten my voyage, while I had ships, crews and supplies in good condition, and that my course lay to the island of Jamaica, and I wrote this in the island of Dominica. Until I arrived there, I had most excellent weather. On the night that I came there, a great storm burst, and ever since bad weather has pursued me. .

When I arrived off Española, I sent away a budget of letters, and asked as a favour that I might be supplied with a ship at my own cost, since one which I had with me was unseaworthy and could not carry sail. They took the letters and your highnesses will know if they delivered them to you. So far as I was concerned, the answer was that I was ordered from here not to come or go on shore. The hearts of the people who were with me failed them, for fear that I should take them farther, and they said that were any danger to come upon them, they would not be aided there, but would rather have some great ill done to them. Moreover, any who pleased could say that the commendator would have control of the lands which I might gain. .

The storm was terrible and on that night the ships were parted from me. Each one of them was reduced to an extremity, expecting nothing save death; each one of them was certain that the others were lost. What man has been horn, not excepting Job, who would not have been ready to die of despair? For, in such weather, when it was for my: safety and for that of my son, my brother, and my friends, I was forbidden the land and harbours which, by the will of God, I, sweating blood, gained for Spain. .

I return to the ships, which the storm had so carried away from me as to leave me alone. Our Lord restored them to me, when it pleased Him. The unseaworthy vessel had put out to sea in order to escape; near the island the Gallega lost her boat, and all lost a great part of their provisions; that in which I was, although amazingly tossed about, our Lord saved, so that she suffered no damage at all. My brother was in the unseaworthy vessel, and he, after God, was her salvation. .

With this storm I made my way painfully to Jamaica. There the sea changed from rough to calm, and there was a strong current which carried me as far as the Jardin de la Reina, without land being sighted. Thence, when I was able, I steered for Tierra Firme. On the way the wind and a terrible current were against me; I struggled with them for sixty days and in the end had not been able to make more than seventy leagues. During all this time, I did not put into harbour, nor could I, nor did the storm from heaven cease; there was rain and thunder and lightning continuously, so that it seemed as if it were the end of the world. .

I reached cape Gracias a Dios, and from that point our Lord gave me a favouring wind and current. This was on the twelfth of September. Eighty—eight days had there been during which the awe—inspiring tempest did not cease, so that for so long I saw neither sun nor stars for the sea. My ships were stripped, and anchors, rigging and cables were lost, with the boats and many stores; the crews were weak and all were contrite and many turned to religion, nor was there one who did not make vows and promise pilgrimages. Many times they came to the point of confessing one another. Other storms have been seen, but none has ever endured so long or been so terrible. .

Many whom we regarded as men of courage were in a state of great terror and that many times. The distress of my son, whom I had there, racked my soul, and the more since I saw him, at the tender age of thirteen years, so exhausted and for so long a time. Our Lord gave him such courage that he revived the spirit of the others, and he acted as if he had been a sailor for eighty years and he consoled me. I had fallen ill and had many times come to the point of death. From a little shelter, which I ordered to be fixed up on deck, I directed the course. .

My brother was in the worst ship and that which was in the greatest danger. My grief was great, and was the greater because I had brought him with me against his will. Speaking of myself, little profit had I won from twenty years of service, during which I have served with so great labours and perils, for today I have no roof over my head in Castile; if I wish to sleep or eat, I have no place to which to go, save an inn or tavern, and most often I lack the wherewithal to pay the score. .

Another sorrow tore my very heartstrings, and that was for Diego, my son, whom I had left in Spain an orphan and dispossessed of my honour and estate. Yet I was assured that there, as just and grateful princes, you would make restitution to him of all, with increase. .

I reached the land of Cariay, where I halted to repair the ships and to replenish the stores, and to give relaxation to the people who were very weak. There I, who, as I have said, had many times come to the point of death, heard of the mines of gold of the provinces of Ciamba, which I was seeking. Two Indians brought me to Carambaru, where the people go naked and have a golden mirror hanging at the neck, but are unwilling to sell it or to give it in exchange. .

They named to me many places on the seacoast, where they said that there was gold and mines; the last was Veragua, distant from there a matter of twenty—five leagues. I departed with the intention of examining these places fully, and having gone half—way, I learned that there were mines at two days’ journey. I decided to send to visit them. The eve of SS. Simon and Jude was fixed for our departure; on that night there arose so great a sea and wind that it was necessary to run before it where it drove us; and the Indian who was the guide to the mines was always with me. .

In all these places where I have been, I found all that I had heard to be true. This convinced me that it is so in the case of the province of Ciguare, which, according to them, lies inland to the west nine days’ journey. They say that there is in that land an infinite amount of gold, and that the people wear corals on their heads and very large bracelets of coral on their feet and arms; and that with coral they adorn and inlay chairs and chests and tables. They said also that the women there have necklaces hanging down from the head to the shoulders. All the people of these places agree in this that I have related, and they say so much that I should be content with the tenth of it. They also know of pepper. .

In Ciguare they are accustomed to trade in fairs and markets; so these people related, and they showed me the way and manner in which they carry on barter. Further they said that the ships carry cannon, bows and arrows, swords and shields, and that the people go clothed, and that in the land there are horses, and that the people are warlike and wear rich clothing and have good houses. Also they say that the sea surrounds Ciguare, and that from there it is ten days’ journey to the river Ganges. It appears that these lands lie in respect of Veragua as Tortosa does in respect of Fuenterabia; or Pisa in respect of Venice. When I left Carambaru and arrived at these places which I have mentioned, I found the same customs among the people, except that any, who had the mirrors of gold, bartered them at the rate of one for three hawks’ bells, although they were ten or fifteen ducats in weight. In all their customs they are as those of Española. They collect gold by different methods, although these are all nothing in comparison with those of the Christians. .

This which I have said is that which I have heard. That which I know is that in the year ninety—four I navigated twenty—four degrees to the westward in nine hours, and I cannot be in error because there was an eclipse; the sun was in Libra and the moon in Aries. That also which I heard by word of mouth, I knew in detail from the written word. .

Ptolemy believed that he had well corrected Marinus, who is now found to have been very near the truth. Ptolemy places Catigara twelve lines from his west, which he fixed at two and one third degrees above Cape St. Vincent in Portugal. Marinus comprised the earth and its limits in fifteen lines. In Ethiopia Marinus draws beyond the equinoctial lines more than twenty—four degrees, and now that the Portuguese have sailed there, they find that this is true. Ptolemy says that the most southern land is the first place and that it does not lie more than fifteen and one—third degrees beyond. And the world is small. The dry land is six parts of it; the seventh only is covered with water. Experience has already shown this, and I have written it in other letters and with illustration from Holy Scripture concerning the situation of the earthly paradise, as Holy Church approves. I say that the world is not so great as the vulgar believe, and that a degree from the equinoctial line is fifty—six and two—thirds miles; easily this may be proved exactly. I leave this subject, inasmuch as it is not my intention to speak of this matter, but only to give an account of my voyage, hard and toilsome, although it is the most noble and profitable. .

I have said that on the eve of SS. Simon and Jude I ran where the wind bore me, without being able to resist it. In a harbour I sheltered for ten days from the great violence of sea and wind; there I decided not to go back to the mines and I left them as gained already. I departed, to continue my voyage, in rain. I reached the harbour of Bastimentos, where I entered and not of my free will; the storm and a great current kept me in it for fourteen days. And afterwards I departed and that not with fair weather. When I had gone fifteen leagues with difficulty, the wind and current with fury drove me back. Returning to the harbour whence I had set out, I found on the way el Retrete, where I put in with great danger and distress, and being myself, and the ships and the people, very worn out. There I stayed for fifteen days, compelled to do so by the cruel weather, and when I believed that it was ended, I found that it was beginning. There I changed my intention of going to the mines and of doing anything until the weather should be favourable for my voyage and for putting to sea. When I had gone four leagues, the storm returned and so wearied me that I knew not what to do. There my wound reopened. For nine days I was lost, without hope of life; eyes never saw the sea so high, so rough, so covered with foam. The wind did not allow us to go forward, nor did it permit us to run under any headland. There was I held, in a sea turned to blood, boiling as a cauldron on a mighty fire. Never did the heavens appear more terrible. For a day and a night they blazed like a furnace, and the lightning darted forth in such flashes that I wondered every moment whether it had destroyed my masts and sails; the flashes came with such terrifying fury that we all believed that the ships must be consumed. All this while the water from heaven never ceased, and it cannot be said that it rained, but rather that there was a second universal deluge. The crews were already so broken in spirit that they longed for death as a release from such martyrdom. The ships had already twice lost their boats, anchors, and rigging, and were stripped bare, without sails. .

When it pleased our Lord, I returned to Puerto Gordo, where I repaired things as well as I could. Once more I turned back towards Veragua; for my voyage, although I was set upon it, the winds and currents were still contrary. I arrived almost where I had been before, and there again the wind and currents opposed me, and once more I put into port, since I did not dare to await the opposition of Saturn with Mars, so tossed about on a dangerous coast, since that generally brings storms or heavy weather. This was on the day of the Nativity, at the hour of mass. I came again to the point whence I had so laboriously set forth, and when the new year had come in, I resumed my struggling. But even if I had found good weather for my voyage, the ships were unseaworthy, and the crews dead or sick. .

On the day of the Epiphany I reached Veragua, being now without spirit. There our Lord gave me a river and a safe harbour, although at the entrance there were only ten spans of water. I made an entry with difficulty, and on the following day the storm began again; if it had found me outside, I should not have been able to enter, on account of the bar. It rained without ceasing until the fourteenth of February, so that there was no opportunity to penetrate into the interior or to repair my situation in any way. And on the twentyfourth of January, when I was already safely within, suddenly the river rose to a great height and violence. The cables were broken and the post to which they were fastened, and it almost bore away my ships, and certainly I saw them in greater danger than ever. Our Lord gave me a remedy, as He has always done. I do not know of any one who has suffered greater martyrdom. .

On the sixth of February, while the rain continued, I sent seventy men ashore into the interior. At five leagues’ distance, they found many mines. The Indians, who went with them, led them to a very lofty hill and from it showed them the country all round as far as the eye could reach, saying that there was gold everywhere and that towards the west the mines extended for twenty days’ journey, and they named the towns and villages, saying where there were more or less of them. Afterwards I learned that the Quibian who had given these Indians, had commanded them to show distant mines which belonged to one who was his enemy, and that within his own territory a man might collect in ten days as much gold as a child could carry, whenever he wished. I bear with me the Indians, his servants, and witnesses to this. .

The boats went to the place where he had his village. My brother returned with these people, and all came back with the gold that they had collected in the four hours for which they stayed there. The quantity is great, for none of these men had ever seen mines and most of them had never seen gold; the majority of them were sailors and most of them grumets. I had much building material and stores in abundance. I formed a settlement and I gave many gifts to the Quibian, as they call the lord of the country. And I knew that harmony would not long continue; they were very barbarous and our people were very importunate, and I had assumed possession within his territory. When he saw the houses built and trading so active, he decided to burn the buildings and to put all to death. But his scheme had just the contrary result. He was taken prisoner, with his women, sons and servants. It is true that his captivity did not last long; the Quibian escaped from a trustworthy man who had him under his charge with a guard of men, and his sons escaped from the master of a ship, into whose special care they had been given. .

In the month of January, the mouth of the river silted up. In April, the ships were all wormeaten, and it was impossible to keep them above water. At this time, the river made a channel, by which with difficulty I brought out three empty. The boats went back into the river for salt and water. The sea became high and rough and did not allow them to come out. The Indians were many and gathered together and attacked them, and in the end they slew them. My brother and all the rest of the people were in a ship which remained inside. I was outside on so dangerous a coast, utterly alone, in a high fever and in a state of great exhaustion. Hope of escape was dead. I toiled up to the highest point of the ship, calling in a trembling voice, with fast falling tears, to the war captains of your highnesses, at every point of the compass, for succour, but never did they answer me. Exhausted, I fell asleep, groaning. I heard a very compassionate voice, saying: “O fool and slow to believe and to serve thy God, the God of all! What more did He for Moses or for His servant David? Since thou wast born, ever has He had thee in His most watchful care. When He saw thee of an age with which He was content, He caused thy name to sound marvellously in the land. The Indies, which are so rich a part of the world, He gave thee for thine own; thou hast divided them as it pleased thee, and He enabled thee to do this. Of the barriers of the Ocean sea, which were closed with such mighty chains, He gave thee the keys; and thou wast obeyed in many lands and among the Christians thou hast gained honourable fame. What did He more for the people of Israel when He brought them out of Egypt? Or for David, whom from a shepherd He made to be king in Judea? Turn thyself to Him, and know now thine error; His mercy is infinite; thine old age shall prevent thee from achieving all great things; He has many heritages very great. Abraham had passed a hundred years when he begat Isaac, and was Sarah young? Thou criest for help, doubting. Answer, who has afflicted thee so greatly and so often, God or the world? The rewards and promises which He gives, He does not bring to nothing, nor does He say, after He has received service, that His intention was not such and that it is to be differently regarded, nor does He inflict suffering in order to display His power. His deeds agree with His words; all that He promises, He performs with interest; is this the manner of men? I have said that which thy Creator has done for thee and does for all men. Now in part He shows thee the reward for the anguish and danger which thou hast endured in the service of others.” .

I heard all this as if I were in a trance, but I had no answer to give to words so true, but could only weep for my errors. He, whoever he was, who spoke to me, ended saying: “Fear not; have trust; all these tribulations are written upon marble and are not without cause.” .

I arose when I was able, and at the end of nine days came fine weather, but not such as allowed the ships to be brought out of the river. I gathered together the people who were on land, and all the rest that I could, because they were not sufficiently numerous for some to remain on shore and others to navigate the ships. I would have remained with all of them to maintain the settlement, if your highnesses had known of it. The fear that ships might never come there determined me, and the consideration that, when there was a question of providing succour, provision might be made for all. .

I departed in the name of the Holy Trinity on Easter night, with ships rotten, worm—eaten, all full of holes. There in Belen I left one and many things; in Belpuerto I did the same with another. There remained for me two only, in the condition of the others, and without boats and stores, with which to traverse seven thousand miles of sea and waves, or to die on the way with my son and brother and so many people. Let those, who are accustomed to find fault and to censure, asking there, where they are in safety, “Why was not soand-so done in that case?”, make answer now. I could wish them on this voyage; I verily believe that another voyage of another kind is in store for them, or our Faith is vain. .

On the thirteenth of May, I reached the province of Mago, which marches with that of Catayo, and thence I departed for Española. For two days I navigated with good weather, and after that it was unfavourable. I followed a route which would avoid the very numerous islands, in order that I might not be in difficulties in the shallows near them. The stormy sea assailed me, and I was driven backwards without sails. I anchored at an island where I suddenly lost three anchors, and at midnight, when it seemed that the world was dissolving, the cables of the other ship broke and it bore down on me, so that it was a wonder that we were not dashed to pieces. The anchor, such as remained to me, was that which, after our Lord, saved me. .

At the end of six days, when fair weather came, having thus already lost all my tackle, I proceeded on my voyage. My ships were more riddled with holes than a honeycomb, and the crews were spiritless and despairing. I passed somewhat beyond the point at which I had previously arrived, where the storm had driven me back, and I put into a much safer harbour in the same island. .

At the end of eight days I resumed my voyage and at the end of June reached Jamaica, having always contrary winds and the ships in a worse state. With three pumps, pots and kettles, and with all hands working, they could not keep down the water which came into the ship, and there was no other remedy for the havoc which the worm had wrought. I steered a course which should bring me as near as possible to the coast of Española, from which we were twenty—eight leagues distant, and I wished that I had not begun to do so. The other ship, half under water, was obliged to run for port. I struggled to keep the sea against the storm. My ship was sinking under me, when our Lord miraculously brought me to land. Who will believe that which I write here? I declare that in this letter I have not told the hundredth part. Those who were with the admiral can testify to this. .

If it please your highnesses graciously to accord me the help of a ship of above sixtyfour tons, with two hundred quintals of biscuit and some other provision, that would suffice to bring me and these people to Spain from Española. I have already said that it is only twenty—eight leagues from Jamaica to Española. I would not have gone to Española, even if the ships had been fit to do so; I have already said that orders were given me on behalf of your highnesses that I should not come there. If this command has profited, God knows. This letter I send by means and by the hand of Indians; it will be a great wonder if it reach its destination. .

I say this of my voyage, that there were with me a hundred and fifty persons, among whom there were some very capable pilots and great sailors. No one of them can give any certain account of where I went or where I came. The reason is not far to seek. I set out from a point above Puerto del Brasil; off Española, the storm prevented me from following the course which I desired; owing to its violence I had to run where the wind drove me. At that time, I fell very sick; no one had navigated in that direction. Then the wind and sea abated for some days, and in place of the storm there were calms and strong currents. I put into harbour at an island which is called de las Pozas, and thence steered for Tierra Firme. None can give a true account of this, for there was no sufficient reason, for I was obliged to go with the current, without seeing land, for so very many days. I followed the coast of Tierra Firme; this I ascertained by the compass and my skill. There was no one who could say under what part of the heavens we were, and when I set out thence to come to Española, the pilots believed that we were going to reach the island of San Juan, and it was the land of Mango, four hundred leagues more to the west than they said. Let them answer, if they know how, where Veragua is situated. I declare that they can give no other explanation or account, save that they went to lands where there is much gold, and this they are able to certify. But to return to it, they would have to follow an unknown route; it would be necessary for them to go to discover it as if for the first time. There is a method and means derived from astrology and certain, which is enough for one who understands it. This resembles a prophetic vision. .

In the Indies, if ships do not sail except with the wind abaft, it is not because they are ill built or because they are clumsy. The strong currents that are there, together with the wind, bring it about that hone can sail with the bowline, for in one day they would lose as much way as they might have made in seven, nor does a caravel serve, even if it be a Portuguese lateen—rigged vessel. This is the reason why they do not sail except with a regular breeze, and they sometimes remain in harbour waiting for it for seven or eight months, nor is this strange, since the same thing often occurs in Spain. .

The people of whom Pope Pius II writes, the country and its characteristics, have been found, but not the horses with saddles, poitrels and bridles of gold. Nor is this strange, for there the coast lands require only fisherfolk, nor did I stay there, since I went in haste. In Cariay and in these lands near, there are great enchanters and very awe—inspiring. They would have given the world that I should not have been remained there an hour. When I arrived there, they sent to me at once two girls, very showily dressed; the elder was not more than eleven years old and the other seven; they were both so abandoned that they were not better than prostitutes. They carried magic powder concealed about them. When they came, I commanded that they should be decorated with some of our things and sent them back to land at once. .

There on the mountain I saw a tomb, as large as a house and carved, and the corpse was lying in it exposed and embalmed. They told me of other works of art and very excellent. There are many animals, small and large, and very different from ours. I had at the time two hogs, and an Irish dog did not dare to face them. A crossbowman had wounded an animal, which appeared to be an ape, except that it was much larger and had the face of a man. The arrow had pierced it from the neck to the tail, and as a result it was so fierce that it was necessary to cut off an arm and a leg. When the hog saw it, it bristled up and fled. When I saw this, I ordered the begare, as it is called there, to be thrown where the hog was; coming within reach, although it was on the point of death and although the arrow was still in its body, it twisted its tail round the hog’s snout and holding it very firmly, seized it by the nape of the neck and with its remaining hand struck it on the head, as if it were an enemy. This action was so novel and such a delightful sight that I have described it. They have many kinds of animals, but they all die of barra. I saw many very large fowls and with feathers like wool; lions, stags; besides fallow, deer, and also birds. .

While I wearily traversed that sea, a delusion came to some that we were bewitched and they still persist in that idea. I found another people who eat men; their brutal appearance showed this. They say that there are great mines of copper; of it they make hatchets, other worked articles, cast and soldered, and forges with all the tools of a goldsmith, and crucibles. There they go clothed. And in this province I saw large cotton sheets, very cleverly worked; others were very cleverly painted in colours with pencils. They say that in the country inland towards Catayo, they have them worked with gold. Of all these lands and of that which there is in them, owing to lack of interpreter, they could not learn very much. The villages, although they are very close together, have each a different language, and it is so much so that they do not understand one another any more than we understand the Arabs. I believe that this is the case with the uncivilised people of the coast, but not inland. .

When I discovered the Indies, I said that they were the richest dominion that there is in the world. I was speaking of the gold, pearls, precious stones and spices, with the trade and markets in them, and because everything did not appear immediately, I was held up to abuse. This punishment leads me now to say only that which I have heard from the natives of the land. Of one thing I dare to speak, because there are so many witnesses, and this is that in this land of Veragua I saw greater evidence of gold on the first two days than in Española in four years, and that the lands in this district could not be more lovely or better cultivated, nor could the people be more timid, and there is a good harbour and a beautiful river and it is defensible against the world. All this makes for the security of the Christians and the assurance of their dominion, and gives great hope for the honour and increase of the Christian religion. And the voyage thither will be as short as to Española, since it will be with the wind. Your highnesses are as much sovereigns of this land as at Jerez or Toledo; your ships may go there as if they were going home. Thence they will obtain gold; in other lands, in order to become masters of that which is in them, it requires that they should seize it or return empty, and inland it is necessary for them to trust their persons to a savage. .

Concerning the rest, of which I refrain from speaking, I have said, why I put a guard on myself. Accordingly, I do not mention the sixth part in all that I have ever said and written, nor do I assert it as true, nor do I declare that I am at the fountain head. Genoese, Venetians and all who have pearls, precious stones and other things of value, all carry them to the end of the world in order to exchange them, to turn them into gold. Gold is most excellent. Gold constitutes treasure, and he who possesses it may do what he will in the world, and may so attain as to bring souls to Paradise. When the lords of those lands which are in the district of Veragua die, they bury the gold which they have with the body; so they say. .

To Solomon on one journey they brought six hundred and sixty—six quintals of gold, besides that which the merchants and sailors brought, and besides that which was paid in Arabia. From this gold, he made two hundred lances and three hundred shields, and he made the covering that was above them of massive gold and adorned with precious stones. Josephus writes this in his chronicle of the Antiquities; in the book of Chronicles, and in the book of Kings, there is an account of this. Josephus holds that this gold was obtained in the Aurea. If it were so, I declare that those mines of the Aurea are one and the same as these of Veragua, which, as I have said above, extend westward twenty days’ journey, and are at the same distance from the Pole as from the Equator. Solomon bought all that gold, precious stones, and silver, and you may command it to be collected there, if you wish. David, in his will, left three thousand quintals of gold of the Indies to Solomon to aid in building the Temple, and, according to Josephus, it was from these same lands. .

Jerusalem and Mount Sion are to be rebuilt by the hand of a Christian; who this is to be, God declares by the mouth of his prophet in the fourteenth Psalm. Abbot Joachin said that he was to come from Spain. St. Jerome showed the way to it to the holy lady. The emperor of Catayo, some time since, sent for wise men to instruct him in the faith of Christ. Who will offer himself for this work? If our Lord bring me back to Spain, I pledge myself, in the name of God, to bring him there in safety. .

The people who came with me have suffered incredible toils and dangers. I pray your highnesses, since they are poor, that you will command that they be paid immediately, and that you will grant rewards to each one of them according to their quality, for I certify that to my belief they bear the best news that ever there came to Spain. .

Although the gold which the Quibian has in Veragua and which others in that neighbourhood have, is, according to accounts, very abundant, it does not appear to me to be well or for the service of your highnesses that it should be seized violently. Fair dealing will avoid scandal and ill report, and it will be that all will come to the treasury, so that not a grain is left. .

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. .

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. .

I did not sail upon this voyage to gain honour or wealth; this is certain, for already all hope of that was dead. I came to your highnesses with true devotion and with ready zeal, and I do not lie. I humbly pray your highnesses that if it please God to bring me forth from this place, that you will be pleased to permit me to go to Rome and to other places of pilgrimage. May the Holy Trinity preserve your life and high estate, and grant you increase of prosperity. .

Done in the Indies, in the island of Jamaica, on the seventh of July, in the year one thousand five hundred and three. .

The original document of Columbus of this document was written in 1502 .

This text of the present edition was prepared from and proofed against 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, 1930. For the present edition, all preliminaries and notes have been omitted except those for which the author is responsible. All editorial notes have been omitted except those that indicate significant textual variations. Line and paragraph numbers contained in the source text have been retained. In cases where the source text displays no numbers, numbers are automatically generated. In the header, personal names have been regularized according to the Library of Congress authority files as "Last Name, First Name" for the REG attribute and "First Name Last Name" for the element value. Names have not been regularized in the body of the text.

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Perhaps the most famous explorer was Christopher Columbus. Born in Genoa , Italy, in 1451 to a weaver, young Columbus first went to sea at the age of fourteen. Shipwrecked near the Portuguese coast in 1476, he made his way to great port City of Lisbon, where his younger brother, Bartholomew was an expert chart maker. As a young man, he settled in Portugal and married a woman of noble background,  Dona Felipa, who died soon after his son, Diego, was born (c.1480). In 1485, Columbus and his young son Diego moved to Spain.

Like most learned men of his time, Columbus knew the world was round and shared the theory that a ship could eventually reach the Far East from the opposite direction. Mapmakers had no knowledge of North and South America or the Pacific Ocean. They did accept Marco Polo's erroneous location for Japan--2,400 km (1,500 mi) east of China -- and Ptolemy's underestimation of the circumference of the Earth and overestimation of the size of the Eurasian landmass. Columbus believed that Japan was about 4,800 km (3,000 mi) to the west of Portugal --a distance that could be sailed in existing vessels. Engaged as a sugar buyer in the Portuguese islands off the west coast of Africa  by a Genoese mercantile firm, he met pilots and navigators who believed in the existence of islands farther west. 

Thus Columbus was but one among many who believed one could reach land by sailing west.  His uniqueness lay rather in the persistence of his dream and his determination to realize this “Enterprise of the Indies,” as he called his plan. 

By the 1400s, the passages to the East were denied to the Christian West by the Muslims who controlled the main overland routes to the Orient. Bandits, desert heat and sand storms, as well as other hazards eventually made Europe's alternate overland routes too dangerous and expensive. A new route, by sea, was the challenge.

For a decade, Columbus approached the Portuguese king and the Spanish monarchs to obtain a grant to explore possible trade routes to the west.

By the late 13th century, the Spanish Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon had reconquered most of the Muslim-controlled territory. In 1479 the two kingdoms were united as a result of the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. The last Muslim kingdom, Granada, was reconquered in 1492.

 After turning him down many times, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella reconsidered as Columbus was preparing to take his enterprise to France. Columbus promised to bring back gold, spices, and silks from the Far East, to spread Christianity, and to lead an expedition to China. Contrary to popular belief, the Queen did not have to sell any jewelry to fund the exhibition.  

The voyage was financed in part by a syndicate of seven noble Genovese bankers resident in Seville (the group was linked to Américo Vespucci, who managed funds belonging to Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de Medici ). The shipbuilding family from Palos, the Pinzons, besides fulfilling a town obligation to the crown by providing two ships, were also obligated by Columbus to put up a 1/8 share.

E arly on the morning of October 12th land was indeed sighted, and a landing party arrived on an island in the Bahamas and named it San Salvador. It had been thirty-three days since the three ships had left the Canary Islands, off the Atlantic coast of Africa. The natives must have been surprised to hear that their island now belonged to Spain. Over the next few weeks landings were also made on Cuba, named Juana by Columbus, and Española , now known as Hispaniola and shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. 

Martin  Pinzon was unwilling to acknowledge Columbus' authority during the famous voyage. On 21 November, 1492, he deserted Columbus off Cuba, hoping to be the first to discover the imaginary golden island of Osabeque. He was the first to discover Haiti (Hispaniola), and the river where he landed (now the Porto Caballo) was long called after him the River of Martin Alonso. He carried off thence four men and two girls, intending to steal them as slaves, but he was compelled to restore them to their homes by Columbus, whom he rejoined on the coast of Haiti on 6 January, 1493.

Columbus' ships covered approximately 150 miles a day. His seafaring instincts were extraordinary. Columbus, relied on "dead reckoning,"  which used not only navigational instruments but also experience, intuition, observations, and guesswork to determine his ships' positions

   Christopher Columbus departed Spain on September 25, 1493, on his second voyage to the New World. 17 assorted vessels and over 1200 men made up "The Grand Fleet" in an attempt to establish a permanent Spanish colony. His destination was La Navidad, off the north coast of Haiti, where, during his first voyage he had left 39 men in a fortress built from the wreckage of the Santa Maria. Arriving nearly two months later, on November 28, 1493, Columbus found the makeshift fortress burned and all his men dead, probably killed by the fierce Carib Indians who often raided coastal settlements.

 After a short time exploring the coast, Columbus set sail for  Hispaniola on a northwest by north course. Arrivals in the new City of Santo Domingo on August 19, 1498 found open hostility to Columbus' continued rule. Eventually the dispute was resolved when Ferdinand and Isabela appointed Francisco de Bobadilla as royal commissioner, with powers above those of Columbus himself. Bobadilla first order of business was to send the Admiral and his two brothers Bartolome and  Diego back to Spain in shackles in  October of 1500. 

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The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus

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Loren E. Pennington; The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus. Hispanic American Historical Review 1 November 1970; 50 (4): 769–770. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00182168-50.4.769

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This collection of documents and writings is a generally successful attempt to delineate the character of Columbus and give the flavor of the first Spanish contacts with the New World. It includes pertinent letters by Columbus himself, selections from Hernando Colón, Bartolomé de las Casas, and G. Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, and two especially interesting accounts of men who accompanied Columbus on his second and fourth voyages. All are interwoven so as to present a connected rather than a comparative account.

As the rather unsympathetic editor points out in his introduction, Columbus emerges as a man with little formal training in navigation but a good deal of natural aptitude. His stubbornness in holding to fantastic geographical theories was heightened by an exaggerated sense of supernatural destiny and a belief that he was receiving direct revelation. The editor’s contention that Columbus was completely inept at handling men is less well supported by the documents, which make clear that Columbus fully understood the totally rapacious nature of his followers.

The most important secondary theme is the Spanish treatment of the Indians. From the first contact, deceiving the natives into a sense of false security was the sole motive for Spanish kindness, a kindness that was followed by treachery whenever expedient. When the natives reciprocated, the Spaniards found the Indian attitude incomprehensible.

It is unfortunate that the introduction and notes do not measure up to the documents. The introduction gives only a hint of the historiographical conflict concerning the voyages, with which the probable reader of this volume is not likely to be familiar. The notes are sometimes misleading. For example (p. 129), the editor states that the second expedition included “twelve to fifteen thousand men.” This is so patently ridiculous that it can scarcely be regarded as a mere slip.

In spite of these faults, the book should be useful in undergraduate classes, particularly if used on a comparative basis with the Jamestown experience. The parallels are striking.

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V. I. Lenin

Theses on fundamental tasks of, the second congress of the communist international.

Written: 30 June, 1920 First Published: July of 1920 Source: Lenin’s Collected Works , 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1965, Volume 31 , pages 184-201 Translated: Julius Katzer Transcription\HTML Markup: David Walters & R. Cymbala Copyleft: V. I. Lenin Internet Archive (www.marx.org) 2002. Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

The Essence of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat and of Soviet Power

What Immediate and Universal Preparation for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat Should Consist of

Rectification of the Political Line—Partly Also the Composition—of Parties Affiliated or Desiring to Affiliate to the Communist International

1.The present stage in the development of the international communist movement is marked by the fact that the finest representatives of the revolutionary proletariat in all capitalist countries have fully grasped the fundamental principles of the Communist International, viz., dictatorship of the proletariat and Soviet power, and have ranged themselves with unbounded enthusiasm on the side of the Communist International. An even bigger and more important step forward is the definite sympathy with these fundamental principles that has everywhere taken shape among the broadest masses; not only of the urban proletariat, but of the advanced section of the rural workers as well.

On the other hand, two errors, or failings, are to be observed in the very rapidly growing international communist movement. One, which is very grave and constitutes an immense and immediate danger to the success of the cause of proletarian emancipation, is that a section of the old leaders and of the old parties of the Second International—some yielding half-unconsciously to the wishes and pressure of the masses, and some deliberately deceiving the masses in order to retain their function of agents and assistants of the bourgeoisie within the working-class movement—declare their qualified or even unqualified adherence to the Third International, while actually remaining in all their practical party and political work, on the level of the Second International. Such a state of affairs is absolutely intolerable, because it leads to downright corruption of the masses, detracts from the Third International’s prestige, and threatens a repetition of the same acts of treachery as were perpetrated by the Hungarian Social-Democrats, who so hastily assumed the title of Communists. The other error, which is far less significant and is more in the nature of growing pains of the movement, consists in a tendency towards “Leftism” which results in a wrong appraisal of the role and the tasks of the party with regard to the class and the masses, and a wrong attitude towards the revolutionary Communists’ obligation to work in bourgeois parliaments and reactionary trade unions.

Communists are in duty bound, not to gloss over shortcomings in their movement, but to criticise them openly so as to remedy them the more speedily and radically. For this purpose it is necessary: first, to define as concretely as possible, particularly on the basis of the practical experience already acquired, the content of the concepts “dictatorship of the proletariat” and “Soviet power”; second, to specify the precise content of the immediate and systematic preparatory work to be carried on in all countries so as to give effect to these slogans; and third, to specify the methods and means of rectifying the faults in our movement.

The Essence Of The Dictatorship Of The Proletariat and of Soviet Power

2.The victory of socialism (as the first stage of communism) over capitalism requires that the proletariat, as the only really revolutionary class, shall accomplish the following three tasks. First—overthrow the exploiters, and first and foremost the bourgeoisie, as their principal economic and political representative; utterly rout them; crush their resistance; absolutely preclude any attempt on their part to restore the yoke of capital and wage-slavery. Second—win over and bring under the leadership of the Communist Party, the revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat, not only the entire proletariat, or its vast majority, but all who labour and are exploited by capital; educate, organise, train and discipline them in the actual course of a supremely bold and ruthlessly firm struggle against the exploiters; wrest this vast majority of the pqpulation in all the capitalist countries from dependence on the bourgeoisie; imbue it, through its own practical experience, with confidence in the leading role of the proletariat and of its revolutionary vanguard. Third—neutralise, or render harmless, the inevitable vacillation between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, between bourgeois democracy and Soviet power, to be seen in the class of petty proprietors in agriculture, industry and commerce—a class which is still fairly numerous in nearly all advanced countries, although comprising only a minority of the population—as well as in the stratum of intellectuals, salary earners, etc., which corresponds to this class.

The first and second tasks are independent ones, each requiring its own special methods of action with regard to the exploiters and to the exploited respectively. The third task follows from the first two, and merely requires a skilful, timely and flexible combination of methods of the first and second type, depending on the specific circumstances in each separate instance of vacillation.

3.In the concrete situation created throughout the world, and above all in the most advanced, powerful, enlightened and free capitalist countries, by militarism, imperialism, the oppression of colonies and weak countries, the world wide imperialist butchery and the “Peace” of Versailles—in that situation the very idea of the capitalists peacefully submitting to the will of the majority of the exploited, the very idea of a peaceful, reformist transition to socialism, is not merely sheer philistine stupidity but also down right deception of the workers, embellishment of capitalist wage-slavery, and concealment of the truth. That truth consists in the bourgeoisie, even the most enlightened and democratic, no longer hesitating at any fraud or crime, even the massacre of millions of workers and peasants, so as to preserve private ownership of the means of production. Only the forcible overthrow of the bourgeoisie, the confiscation of its property, the destruction of the entire bourgeois state apparatus from top to bottom—parliamentary. judicial, military, bureaucratic, administrative, municipal, etc.—right down to the wholesale deportation or internment of the most dangerous and stubborn exploiters and the institution of strict surveillance over them so as to foil their inevitable attempts to resist and to restore capitalist slavery—only such measures can ensure real submission of the whole class of exploiters.

On the other hand, the idea, common among the old parties and the old leaders of the Second International, that the majority of the exploited toilers can achieve complete clarity of socialist consciousness and firm socialist convictions and character under capitalist slavery, under the yoke of the bourgeoisie (which assumes an inIinite variety of forms that become more subtle and at the same time more brutal and ruthless the higher the cultural level in a given capitalist country) is also idealisation of capitalism and of bourgeois democracy, as well as deception of the workers. In fact, it is only after the vanguard of the proletariat, supported by the whole or the majority of this, the only revolutionary class, overthrows the exploiters, suppresses them, emancipates the exploited from their state of slavery and-immediately improves their conditions of life at the expense of the expropriated capitalists—it is only after this, and only in the actual process of an acute class strugg]e, that the masses of the toilers and exploited can be educated, trained and organised around the proletariat under whose influence and guidance, they can get rid of the selfishness, disunity, vices and weaknesses engendered by private property; only then will they be converted into a free union of free workers.

4.Victory over capitalism calls for proper relations between the leading (Communist) party, the revolutionary class (the proletariat) and the masses, i.e., the entire body of the toilers and the exploited. Only the Communist Party, if it is really the vanguard of the revolutionary class, if it really comprises all the finest representatives of that class, if it consists of fully conscious and staunch Communists who have been educated and steeled by the experience of a persistent revolutionary struggle, and if it has succeeded in linking itself inseparably with the whole life of its class and, through it, with the whole mass of the exploited, and in completely winning the confidence of this class and this mass—only such a party is capable of leading the proletariat in a final, most ruthless and decisive struggle against all the forces of capitalism. On the other hand, it is only under the leadership of such a party that the proletariat is capable of displaying the full might of its revolutionary onslaught, and of overcoming the inevitable apathy and occasional resistance of that small minority, the labour aristocracy, who have been corrupted by capitalism, the old trade union and co-operative leaders, etc.—only then will it be capable of displaying its full might, which, because of the very economic structure of capitalist society, is infinitely greater than its proportion of the population. Finally, it is only after they have been really emancipated from the yoke of the bourgeoisie and of the bourgeois machinery of state, only after they have found an opportunity of organising in their Soviets in a really free way (free from the exploiters), that the masses, i.e., the toilers and exploited as a body, can display, for the first time in history, all the initiative and energy of tens of millions of people who have been crushed by capitalism. Only when the Soviets have become the sole state apparatus is it really possible to ensure the participation, in the work of administration, of the entire mass of the exploited, who, even under the most enlightened and freest bourgeois democracy, have always actually been excluded 99 per cent from participation in the work of administration. It is only in the Soviets that the exploited masses really begin to learn—not in books, but from their own practical experience—the work of socialist construction, of creating a new social discipline and a free union of free workers.

What Immediate And Universal Preparation for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat Should Consist of

5.The present stage in the development of the international communist movement is marked by the fact that in the vast majority of capitalist countries, the proletariat’s preparations to effect its dictatorship have not been completed, and, in many cases, have not even been systematically begun. From this it does not, however, follow that the proletarian revolution is impossible in the immediate future; it is perfectly possible, since the entire economic and political situation is most inflammable and abounds in causes of a sudden flare-up; the other condition for revolution, apart from the proletariat’s preparedness, viz., a general state of crisis in all the ruling and in all bourgeois parties, also exists. However, it does follow that the Communist Parties’ current task consists not in accelerating the revolution, but in intensifying the preparation of the proletariat. On the other hand, the facts cited above from the history of many socialist parties make it incumbent on us to see that “recognition” of the dictatorship of the proletariat shall not remain a more matter of words.

Hence, from the point of view of the international proletarian movement, it is the Communist parties ’ principal task at the present moment to unite the scattered Communist forces, to form a single Communist Party in every country (or to reinforce or renovate the already existing Party) in order to increase tenfold the work of preparing the proletariat for the conquest of political power—political power, moreover, in the form of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The ordinary socialist work conducted by groups and parties which recognise the dictatorship of the proletariat has by no means undergone that fundamental reorganisation, that fundamental renovation, which is essential before this work can be considered communist work and adequate to the tasks to be accomplished on the eve of proletarian dictatorship.

6.The proletariat’s conquest of political power does not put a stop to its class struggle against the bourgeoisie; on the contrary, it renders that struggle most widespread, intense and ruthless. Owing to the extreme intensification of the struggle all groups, parties and leaders in the working-class movement who have fully or partly adopted the stand of reformism, of the “Centre”, etc., inevitably side with the bourgeoisie or join the waverers, or else (what is the most dangerous of all) land in the ranks of the unreliable friends of the victorious proletariat. Hence, preparation for the dictatorship of the proletariat calls, not only for an intensification of the struggle against reformist and “Centrist” tendencies, but also for a change in the character of that struggle. The struggle cannot be restricted to explaining the erroneousness of these tendencies; it must unswervingly and ruthlessly expose any leader of the working-class movement who reveals such tendencies, for otherwise the proletariat cannot know who it will march with into the decisive struggle against the bourgeoisie. This struggle is such that at any moment it may—and actually does, as experience has shown—substitute criticism with weapons for the weapon of criticism. [6] Any inconsistency or weakness in exposing those who show themselves to be reformists or “Centrists” means directly increasing the danger of the power of the proletariat being overthrovn by the bourgeoisie, which tomorrow will utilise for the counter-revolution that which short-sighted people today see merely as “theoretical difference”.

7.In particular, we must not restrict ourselves to the usual repudiation, in principle, of all collaboration between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, of all “collaborationism”. Under the dictatorship of the proletariat, which will never be able, at one stroke, to abolish private property completely, mere defence of “liberty”’ and “equality”, while private ownership of the means of production is preserved, turns into “collaboration” with the bourgeoisie, and undermines the rule of the working class. The dictatorship of the proletariat means that the state uses its whole machinery of power to uphold and perpetuate “no-liberty” for the exploiters to continue their oppression and exploitation, “inequality” between the owner of property (i.e., one who has appropriated for himself certain means of production created by social labour) and the non-owner. That which, prior to the victory of the proletariat, seems merely a theoretical difference on the question of “democracy” inevitably becomes, on the day following victory, a question that is settled by force of arms. Consequently, even preliminary work in preparing the masses to effect the dictatorship of the proletariat is impossible without a radical change in the entire character of the struggle against the “Centrists” and the “champions of democracy “.

8.The dictatorship of the proletariat is the most determined and revolutionary form of the proletariat’s class struggle against the bourgeoisie. This struggle can be successful only when the most revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat has the backing of the overwhelming majority of the proletariat. Hence, preparation for the dictatorship of the proletariat entails not only explanation of the bourgeois character of all reformism, of all defence of democracy, while private ownership of the means of production is preserved; it entails, not only exposure of such trends, which are in fact a defence of the bourgeoisie within the labour movement; it also calls for old leaders being replaced by Communists in proletarian organisations of absolutely every type—not only political, but also trade union, co-operative, educational, etc. The more complete, lengthy and firmly established the rule of bourgeois democracy has been in a given country, the more the bourgeoisie will have succeeded in securing the appointment to such leading posts of people whose minds have been moulded by it and imbued with its views and prejudices, and who have very often been directly or indirectly bought by it. These representatives of the labour aristocracy, bourgeoisified workers, should be ousted from all their posts a hundred times more sweepingly than hitherto, and replaced by workers—even by wholly inexperienced men, provided they are connected with the exploited masses and enjoy their confidence in the struggle against the exploiters. The dictatorship of the proletariat will require the appointment of such inexperienced workers to the most responsible posts in the state; otherwise the workers’ government will be impotent and will not have the support of the masses.

9.The dictatorship of the proletariat means that all toiling and exploited people, who have been disunited, deceived, intimidated, oppressed, downtrodden and crushed by the capitalist class, come under the full leadership of the only class trained for that leadership by the whole history of capitalism. That is why the following is one of the methods whereby preparations for the dictatorship of the proletariat should be started everywhere and immediately:

In all organisations, unions and associations without exception, and first and foremost in proletarian organisations, but also in those of the non-proletarian toiling and exploited masses (political, trade union, military, co-operative, educational, sports, etc., etc.), groups or cells of Communists should be formed—preferably open groups, but underground groups as well, the latter being essential whenever there is reason to expect their suppression, or the arrest or banishment of their members on the part of the bourgeoisie; these cells, which are to be in close touch with one another and with the Party centre, should, by pooling their experience, carrying on work of agitation, propaganda and organisation, adapting themselves to absolutely every sphere of public life and to every variety and category of the toiling masses, systematically educate themselves, the Party, the class, and the masses by means of such diversified work.

In this connection, it is of the utmost importance that necessary distinctions between the methods of work should be evolved in practice: on the one hand, in relation to the “leaders”, or “responsible representatives”, who are very often hopelessly beset with petty-bourgeois and imperialist prejudices—such “leaders” must be ruthlessly exposed and expelled from the working-class movement—and, on the other hand, in relation to the masses, who, particularly after the imperialist holocaust, are for the most part inclined to listen to and accept the doctrine that the guidance from the proletariat is essential, as the only way of escape from capitalist slavery. We must learn to approach the masses with particular patience and caution so as to be able to understand the distinctive features in the mentality of each stratum, calling, etc., of these masses.

10.In particular, there is a group or cell of Communists that deserves exceptional attention and care from the Party, i.e., the parliamentary group of Party members, who are deputies to bourgeois representative institutions (primarily the national, but also local, municipal, etc., representative institutions). On the one hand, it is this tribune which is held in particular regard by large sections of the toiling masses, who are backward or imbued with petty-bourgeois prejudices; it is therefore imperative for Communists to utilise this tribune to conduct propaganda, agitation and organisational work and to explain to the masses why the dispersal of the bourgeois parliament by the national congress of Soviets was legitimate in Russia (and, at the proper time, will be legitimate in any country). On the other hand, the entire history of bourgeois democracy, particularly in the advanced countries, has converted the parliamentary rostrum into one of the principal, if not the principal, venues of unparalleled fraudulency, financial and political deception of the people, careerism, hypocrisy and oppression of the working people. The intense hatred of parliaments felt by the best representatives of the revolutionary proletariat is therefore quite justified. The Communist parties and all parties affiliated to the Third International—especially those which have not arisen by splitting away from the old parties and by waging a long and persistent struggle against them, but through the old parties accepting (often nominally) the new stand—should therefore adopt a most strict attitude towards their parliamentary groups; the latter must be brought under the full control and direction of the Central Committees of the Parties; they must consist, in the main, of revolutionary workers; speeches by members of parliament should be carefully analysed in the Party press and at Party meetings, from a strictly communist standpoint; deputies should be sent to carry on agitational work among the masses; those who manifest Second International leanings should be expelled from the parliamentary groups, etc.

11.One of the chief causes hampering the revolutionary working-class movement in the developed capitalist countries is the fact that because of their colonial possessions and the super-profits gained by finance capital, etc., the capitalists af these countries have been able to create a relatively larger and more stable labour aristocracy, a section which comprises a small minority of the working class. This minority enjoys better terms of employment and is most-imbued with a narrow-minded craft spirit and with petty-bourgeois and imperialist prejudices. It forms the real social pillar of the Second International, of the reformists and the “Centrists”; at present it might even be called the social mainstay of the bourgeoisie. No preparation of the proletariat for the overthrow of the bourgeoisie is possible, even in the preliminary sense, unless an immediate, systematic, extensive and open struggle is waged against this stratum, which, as experience has already fully shown, will no doubt provide the bourgeois White guards with many a recruit after the victory of the proletariat. All parties affiliated to the Third International must at all costs give effect to the slogans: “Deeper into the thick of the masses”, “Closer links with the masses”—meaning by the masses all those who toil and are exploited by capital, particularly those who are least organised and educated, who are most oppressed and least amenable to organisation.

The proletariat becomes revolutionary only insofar as it does not restrict itself to the narrow framework of craft interests, only when in all matters and spheres of public life, it acts as the leader of all the toiling and exploited masses; it cannot achieve its dictatorship unless it is prepared and able to make the greatest sacrifices for the sake of victory over the bourgeoisie. In this respect, the experience of Russia is significant both in principle and in practice. The proletariat could not have achieved its dictatorship there, or won the universally acknowledged respect and confidence of all the toiling masses, had it not made the most sacrifices, or starved more than any other section of those masses at the most crucial moments of the onslaught, war and blockade effected by the world bourgeoisie.

In particular, the Communist Party and all advanced proletarians must give all-round and unstinted support especially to the spontaneous and mass strike movement, which, under the yoke of capital, is alone capable of really rousing, educating and organising the masses, of imbuing them with complete confidence in the leadership of the revolutionary proletariat. Without such preparation, no dictatorship of the proletariat is possible; those who are capable of publicly opposing strikes, such as Kautsky in Germany and Turati in Italy, cannot possibly be tolerated in the ranks of parties affiliated to the Third International. This applies even more, of course, to those trade union and parliamentary leaders who so often betray the workers by using the experience of strikes to teach them reformism, and not revolution (for instance, in Britain and in France in recent years).

12.In all countries, even in those that are freest, most “legal”, and most “peaceful” in the sense that the class struggle is least acute there, it is now absolutely indispensable for every Communist Party to systematically combine legal and illegal work, legal and illegal organisations. Notwithstanding their false and hypocritical declarations, the governments of even the most enlightened and freest of countries, where the bourgeois-democratic system is most “stable”, are already systematically and secretly drawing up blacklists of Communists and constantly violating their own constitutions so as to give secret or semi-secret encouragement to the whiteguards and to the murder of Communists in all countries, making secret preparations for the arrest of Communists, planting agents provocateurs among the Communists, etc., etc. Only a most reactionary philistine, no matter what cloak of fine “democratic” and pacifist phrases he may don, will deny this fact or the conclusion that of necessity follows from it viz., that all legal Communist parties must immediately form illegal organisations for the systematic conduct of illegal work and for complete preparations for the moment the bourgeoisie resorts to persecution. Illegal work is most necessary in the army, the navy and the police because, since the imperialist holocaust, governments the world over have begun to stand in dread of people’s armies which are open to the workers and peasants, and are secretly resorting to all kinds of methods to set up military units specially recruited from the bourgeoisie and equipped with the most up-to-date weapons.

On the other hand, it is likewise necessary that, in all cases without exception, the parties should not restrict themselves to illegal work, but should conduct legal work as well, overcoming all obstacles, starting legal publications, and forming legal organisations under the most varied names, which should be frequently changed if necessary. This is being practised by the illegal Communist parties in Finland, Hungary, partly in Germany, Poland, Latvia, etc. It should be practised by the Industrial Workers of the World in the U.S.A. and by all Communist parties at present legal, should public prosecutors see fit to take proceedings against them on the grounds of resolutions adopted by Congresses of the Communist International, etc.

A combination of illegal and legal work is an absolute principle dictated, not only by all features of the present period, that of the eve of the proletarian dictatorship, but also by the necessity of proving to the bourgeoisie that there is not, nor can there be, any sphere of activity that cannot be won by the Communists; above all, it is dictated by the fact that broad strata of the proletariat and even broader strata of the non-proletarian toiling and exploited masses still exist everywhere, who continue to believe in bourgeois-democratic legality and whom we must undeceive without fail.

13.In particular, the conditions of the working-class press in most advanced capitalist countries strikingly reveal the utter fraudulency of liberty and equality under bourgeois democracy, as well as the necessity of systematically combining legal work with illegal work. Both in vanquished Germany and in victorious America, the entire power of the bourgeoisie’s machinery of state and all the machinations of the financial magnates are employed to deprive the workers of their press, these including legal proceedings, the arrest (or murder by hired assassins) of editors, denial of mailing privileges, the cutting off of paper supplies, and so on and so forth. Besides, the news services essential to daily newspapers are run by bourgeois telegraph agencies, while advertisements, without which a large newspaper cannot pay its way, depend on the “good will” of the capitalists. To sum up: through skulduggery and the pressure of capital and the bourgeois state, the bourgeoisie is depriving the revolutionary proletariat of its press.

To combat this, the Communist parties must create a new type of periodical press for mass distribution among the workers: first, legal publications, which, without calling themselves communist and without publicising their links with the Party, must learn to make use of any legal opportunity, however slight, just as the Bolsheviks did under the tsar, after 1905; secondly, illegal leaflets, even the briefest and published at irregular intervals, but reprinted at numerous printshops by workers (secretly, or, if the movement has become strong enough, by the revolutionary seizure of printshops), and providing the proletariat with outspoken revolutionary information and revolutionary slogans.

Preparations for the dictatorship of the proletariat is impossible without a revolutionary struggle, into which the masses are drawn, for the freedom of the communist press.