428
APPENDIX.
with the world.
H e is a fountain from which others draw, and from
which, with a little precaution, they may draw securely.
H e died in Val-
ladolid, in 1 5 2 6 .
No. X X X . OVIEDO. GONZALO FERNANDEZ
D E O V I E D O T V A L D E S , commonly known
as Ovi
edo, was born in Madrid in 1 4 7 8 , and died in Valladolid in 1 5 5 7 , aged seventy-nine years.
H e was of a noble Asturian family, and in his boy
hood (in 1 4 9 0 ) was appointed one of the pages to prince Juan, heir ap parent of Spain, the only son of Ferdinand and Isabella.
H e was in this
situation at the time of the siege and surrender of Granada, was conse quently at court at the time that Columbus made his agreement with the Catholic sovereigns, and was in the same capacity at Barcelona, and wit nessed the triumphant entrance of the discoverer, attended by a number of the natives of the newly found countries. In 1 5 1 3 , he was sent out to the N e w World by Ferdinand, to superin tend the gold foundries.
For many years he served there in various offices
of trust and dignity, both under Ferdinand, and his grandson and successor Charles V .
In 1 5 3 5 , he was made alcayde of the fortress of St. Domin
go in Hispaniola, and afterwards was appointed historiographer of the Indies.
A t the time of his death, he had served the crown upwards of
forty years, thirty-four of which were passed in the colonies, and he had crossed the ocean eight times, as he mentions in various parts of his wri tings.
H e wrote several works ; the most important is a chronicle of the
Indies in fifty books, divided into three parts.
T h e first part, containing
nineteen books, was printed at Seville in 1 5 3 5 , and reprinted in 1 5 4 7 at Salamanca, augmented by a twentieth book containing shipwrecks. T h e remainder of the work exists in manuscript.
T h e printing of it was com
menced at Valladolid in 1 5 5 7 , but was discontinued in consequence of his death.
It is one of the unpublished treasures of Spanish colonial history.
H e was an indefatigable writer, laborious in collecting and recording facts, and composed a multitude of volumes which are scattered through the Spanish libraries.
His writings are full of events which happened