All Which You And They May Do, And Perform Lawfully And
Effectually, As They Might And Ought To Do, Had The Said Officers Been
Appointed By Us.
And our will and pleasure is, that all such
letters-patent as you shall grant, be drawn and granted
In our names with
these words, Ferdinand and Isabella, by the grace of GOD, king and queen
of Castile and Leon, &c. and shall be sealed with our seal, which we
shall cause to be given you for the said islands and continent. And we
command all the people and inhabitants, and other persons in the said
islands and continent, to obey you as our viceroy and governor of the same,
and all those who sail on the said seas, to obey you as our admiral of the
said ocean; and that all of them shall execute your letters and orders,
and shall take part with you and your officers for the due execution of
our justice, and shall give and cause to be given you all the aid and
assistance you shall require and stand in need of, upon such penalties as
you shall impose upon them, which by these presents we do impose upon them,
and declare to be imposed; and we grant you authority to execute the same,
upon their persons and goods."
"And it also is our will, that if you shall find it for our service, and
the due execution of justice to cause any person who shall be in the said
islands and continent to depart therefrom, and not to stay or return
thereto, and that they shall come and appear before us; you may, in our
name command and make them depart accordingly, all whom we by these
presents command, that they presently perform, execute, and put in
practice all that has been enjoined, without looking farther or asking
advice in the same, not expecting any other letter or command from us, and
notwithstanding any appeal or petition which they may make or present to
us against your said order. For all which things, and any other due or
belonging to the said offices of our admiral, viceroy, and governor, we
give you sufficient authority in all incidents, dependencies, and
emergencies, that may occur. Concerning all which, if you shall so desire,
we command our chancellor, notaries, and others, our officers belonging to
our seals, that they give, pass, dispatch, and seal for you, our letters
of privilege, in as strong, firm, and effective manner as you may require
of them and stand in need of, and that none of them do any thing to the
contrary, upon pain of our displeasure, and of thirty ducats to be paid
to our treasury by every one who may be guilty to the contrary hereof."
"And besides, we command him that shall shew them[1] this our letter to
summon them to appear before us in our court wheresoever we may happen to
be, within fifteen days, under the same penalty. Under which we also
command any public notary, who may be called for such purpose, that he
give to him who shall produce these letters to him a certificate, signed
under his hand, that we may know how our commands are obeyed[2].
"Given in our city of Barcelona, this 28th of May, in the
year of our Lord 1493."
"I the King. I the Queen."
"By their majesties order, Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo,
secretary to the king and queen."
"Peter Gutierres, Chancellor: Without fees for seal or
entry."
"Delivered by Roderick Doctor."
"Entered, Alonzo Perez."
Orders having been issued to make all necessary preparations for the
establishment of a permanent colony in the new discovery, the admiral went
from Barcelona to Seville in June 1493, and so diligently solicited the
fitting out of the fleet which their Catholic majesties had directed to be
provided, that in a short time seventeen vessels of various sizes were got
ready, well stored with provisions and with all things deemed necessary
for the intended colonization. Handicrafts of all sorts, with peasants or
farmers to till the ground, and a variety of labourers, were engaged to
accompany the expedition. The fame of the gold and other rarities which
the newly discovered region produced, had induced so many gentlemen and
other persons of respectability to offer themselves, that it became
necessary to limit the numbers who could be permitted to embark, and not
to allow all who were eager to transport themselves to the new world to go
there, until time should make it appear how matters might succeed, and the
colony might be somewhat settled. Yet so eager were the adventurers to
engage in the scheme of this new colony, that 1500 persons of all sorts
went upon the expedition; of whom some carried out horses, asses, and
other kinds of cattle, which were afterwards of most important benefit to
the colony.
All things being prepared, the admiral weighed anchor from the road of
Cadiz, where the fleet had been prepared, upon Wednesday the 25th of
September 1493, an hour before sun-rising, and stood to the southwards for
the Canary islands, designing to procure some necessary refreshments
there[3]. On the 28th of September, being then 100 leagues from Spain,
great numbers of land birds, among which were turtle-doves, and many small
birds, came aboard the admirals ship, which were supposed to come from the
Azores, and to be on their passage to Africa to pass the winter. Holding
on their course, the fleet came to anchor at Gran Canaria on Wednesday the
2d of October, and sailed again at midnight for Gomera, where it arrived
on the 5th of October. The admiral issued orders for every thing of which
the fleet might stand in need to be provided with all possible dispatch.
On Monday the 7th of October, the admiral continued his voyage for the
West Indies, having first delivered sealed orders to every ship in the
fleet, with strict injunctions that they were not to be opened unless
separated from him by stress of weather.
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