CHAP. V I . ]
CHRISTOPHER
COLUMBUS.
341
of an island; surrounded by impracticable forests ; doomed to struggle with the rudeness of a wilderness ; to toil painfully for mere subsistence, and to attain every comfort by the severest exertion.
As to gold, it was brought to them from various quar
ters, but in small quantities, and it was evidently to be procured only by patient and persevering labor.
All these disappoint
ments sank deep into their hearts ; their spirits flagged as their golden dreams melted away, and the gloom of despondency aided the ravages of disease. Columbus himself did not escape the prevalent maladies. The arduous nature of his enterprise, the responsibility under which he found himself, not merely to his followers and his sover eigns, but to the world at large, had kept his mind in continual agitation.
The cares of so large a squadron ; the incessant vigi
lance required, not only against the lurking dangers of these unknown seas, but against the passions and follies of his follow ers ; the distress he had suffered from the fate of his murdered garrison, and his uncertainty as to the conduct of the barbarous tribes by which he was surrounded; all these had harassed his mind and broken his rest while on board the ship : since landing, new cares and toils had crowded upon him, which, added to the exposures incident to his situation in this new climate, completely overpowered his strength.
Still, though confined for several
weeks to his bed by severe illness, his energetic mind rose supe rior to the sufferings of the body, and he continued to give direc tions about the building of the city, and to superintend the general concerns of the expedition.* * Hist, del Almirante, cap. 50. 10.
Peter Martyr, decad. i. lib. ii.
Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. ii., cap. Letter of Dr. Chanca, &c.