Oviedo insists that the Spaniards had the entire dominion of these islands, which he was pleased to consider as the same with our West Indies. He grounds this opinion on what is said by Statius and Sebosus, that certain islands called Hesperides lay forty days sail west from the Gorgonian islands on the coast of Africa. Hence he argued, that these islands must necessarily be the West Indies, and were called Hesperides from Hesperes king of Spain, who consequently with the Spaniards his subjects were lords of these islands. But I am quite tired of this dispute, and shall now proceed to the history of the admirals discovery.

Having fully satisfied himself of the practicability of his long considered project of discovering the route to India by the west, as already explained, the admiral resolved to put his scheme into execution; and being sensible that the undertaking was only fit for a prince who was able to go through with the expence, and to maintain the dominion of the discovery when made, he thought it proper to propose it to the king of Portugal, because he then lived under his government and protection. And, though King John who then reigned gave a favourable ear to his arguments and proposals, he yet seemed backward in acceding to them, on account of the great expence and trouble he was then at in carrying on the discovery and conquest of Guinea on the western coast of Africa, which had not yet been crowned with any considerable success; not having been hitherto able to double the Cape of Good Hope, which name had been given to this cape instead of its original denomination, Agesingue; as some say because the Portuguese had no hope of ever extending their discoveries and conquests any farther, while others assert it was so called on account of their hopes of better navigation and of discovering more valuable countries beyond. However this may have been, the king of Portugal was little inclined to expend more money in prosecuting discoveries; yet he was so far prevailed upon by the excellent reasons adduced by the admiral in favour of his proposed undertaking, that the only remaining difficulty was in complying with the terms my father demanded for himself in case of success: For my father, who was a man of a noble and dignified spirit, insisted upon conditions which should redound to his honour and reputation; being resolved to leave behind him such a reputation, and so considerable a family as he deemed due to his merits and the actions which he confidently expected to perform.

While matters were in this train, by the advice of one Doctor Calzadilla in whom he reposed great confidence, the king of Portugal resolved to dispatch a caravel in secret to attempt making the discovery which my father had proposed to him; as, if he could make the discovery in this clandestine manner, he should be freed from the obligation of bestowing any great reward on the occasion. Accordingly, a caravel was fitted out under pretence of carrying supplies to the Cape Verd islands, with private instructions to sail in the direction in which my father had proposed to go upon his intended discovery. But the people who were sent upon this expedition did not possess sufficient knowledge or spirit; and, after wandering many days in the Atlantic, they returned to the Cape Verd islands, laughing at the undertaking as ridiculous and impracticable, and declaring that there could not possibly be any land in that direction or in those seas. When this scandalous underhand dealing came to my fathers ears, he took a great aversion to Lisbon and the Portuguese nation; and, his wife being dead, he resolved to repair into Castile, with his son Don James Columbus, then a little boy, who has since inherited his fathers estate. But, lest the sovereign of Castile might not consent to his proposal, and he might be under the necessity of applying to some other prince, by which much time might be lost, he dispatched his brother Bartholomew Columbus from Lisbon to make similar proposals to the king of England. Bartholomew, though no Latin scholar, was skilful and experienced in sea affairs, and had been instructed by the admiral in the construction of sea charts, globes, and other nautical instruments. While on his way to England, Bartholomew Columbus had the misfortune to be taken by pirates, who stript him and all the rest of the ships company of every thing they had of value. On this account he arrived in England in such great poverty, and that aggravated by sickness, that he was unable to deliver his message until he had recruited his finances by the sale of sea charts of his own construction, by which a long time was lost He then began to make proposals to Henry VII. who then reigned in England, to whom he presented a map of the world, on which the following verses and inscription were written:

Terrarum quicunque cupis feliciter oras Noscere, cuncta decens docte pictura docebit, Quando Strabo affirmat, Ptolomaeus, Plinius, atque Isiodorus, non una tamen sententia quisque. Pingitur hic etiam nuper sulcata carinis Hispanis zona illa, prius incognita genti, Torrida, quae tandem minet est notissima multis.

Pro Auctore, sive Pictore. Janua cui patria est nomen, cui Bartholomaeus Columbus de Terra-rubra, opus edidit istud, Londiniis Ann. Dom. 1480, atque insuper anno, Octavo decimaque die cum tertia mensis Februarii. Laudes Christi cantentur abunde.

The sense of the first verses is to this effect: "Whosoever thou art who desirest to know the coasts of countries, must be taught by this draught what has been affirmed by Strabo, Ptolemy, Pliny, and Isiodorus; although they do not in all things agree. Here is also set down the formerly unknown torrid zone, lately visited by vessels from Spain, and now well known to many." The second inscription has the following signification: "As to the author or painter of this chart; he is Bartholomew Columbus of the red earth, a Genoese, who published this work at London on the 21st of February in the year 1480. Praised be Christ abundantly."

It may be observed here, that I have seen some subscriptions of my father, the admiral, in which he designs himself Christopher Columbus de Terra-rubra; but this was before he acquired his title of admiral. But to return to Bartholomew: The king of England graciously received the map; and having favourably listened to the admirals proposals, which my uncle had laid before him, readily agreed to the conditions demanded, and ordered my father to be invited into England. But Providence had determined that the advantage of this great discovery should belong to Castile; and by this time my father had gone upon his first voyage, from which he was already returned with success, as shall be shewn in its proper place.

About the end of the year 1484 the admiral stole away privately from Lisbon with his son James, as he was afraid of being detained by the king of Portugal. For, being sensible of the misconduct of the people whom he had sent in the caravel already mentioned, the king was desirous to restore the admiral to favour, and to renew the conferences respecting the proposed discovery. But as he did not use as much diligence in executing this new resolution as the admiral did in withdrawing himself, he lost the opportunity, and the admiral got into Castile, where better fortune awaited him. Leaving therefore his son James in the monastery of La Rabida at Palos, he went to the court of their Catholic majesties at Cordova. Being of affable manners and pleasant conversation, he soon acquired the intimacy of such persons as he found best inclined to favour his views, and fittest to persuade the king to embrace his proposed undertaking. Among these was Lewis de Santangel an Arragonese gentleman, who was clerk of the allowances in the royal household, a man of great prudence and reputation. But, as a matter of such importance required to be learnedly investigated, and not merely by empty words and the favourable reports of courtiers, their majesties referred it to the consideration of the prior of Prado, afterwards archbishop of Granada; ordering him to take the assistance of some cosmographers, and after a full investigation of the whole affair, to make a report of their opinion on its practicability. There were few cosmographers then in Spain, and those who were convened on this occasion were far from skilful: And besides, warned by the trick which had been attempted in Portugal, the admiral did not explain himself so fully as he might, lest he should lose his reward. On these accounts, the report which they gave to their Catholic majesties was as various as their several judgments and opinions, and by no means favourable to the projected enterprize.