Author Interview: A conversation with MARTIN DUGARD ...
A conversation with
MARTIN DUGARD
author of
THE LAST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS
Q: Why should we care about Columbus?
A: Like most people, my image of Columbus was formed in grade school, and that rhyme about the ocean blue and 1492. I grew up thinking of him as a boring, bland caricature. As an adult, even after I read that one of his vessels from the fourth voyage had been discovered, and then read some of the details of that voyage, I still shied from his story.
But just as I was drawn to the stories of Captain James Cook and African explorers Stanley and Livingstone [in previous books Farther Than Any Man and Into Africa], so was I drawn to Columbus. I enjoy writing about explorers. They possess reservoirs of courage, perseverance, and curiosity that I do not. When I began researching Columbus, what I discovered was one of history's most complex figures, a blundering genius whose personal foibles often overshadowed his talents as a mariner. He was, at times, scoundrel, sailor, lover, visionary, father, debtor, royal ass kisser, public laughingstock, self-righteous, and romantic. Forget 1492 and the ocean blue. Imagine a story about a guy getting one last chance in life. Imagine he's captain of a fleet of four very small ships who withstand hurricane, warfare, mutiny, shipwreck, shark attacks, waterspouts, hunger, and much more. Imagine that he displays limitless patience and compassion for his men. Imagine that he's almost always selfless, and displays uncanny intuition and skill. This is the Columbus we should know.
Q: At the beginning of THE LAST VOYAGE, as Columbus was led through the streets of Santo Domingo in shackles, the colonists called him names and accused him of being a Jew and a Genovese spy. Was Columbus Jewish?
A: Possibly. Though documents in Genoa show that he was born there, the son of two devout Catholics, there is some belief they may have been fabricated a century or more ago. To clear this up, experts at the University of Granada exhumed his body to get a DNA sample. They are currently trying to decipher Columbus's true lineage. The belief that he might be Jewish, however, was based on ethnic stereotyping and discrimination rather than hard facts. Simply, the Spanish distrusted foreigners, and Columbus had a prominent nose. However, he also had red hair and freckles. Based on stereotypes, he could just as easily have been Irish.
Q: Describe what life was like aboard Columbus's ships.
A: Under the best of conditions, cramped. In the worst of times, vile. Caravels were small vessels, with little room for personal space. The men ate from a communal cooking pot, spearing the few bits of meat from the broth with their knives. They slept on deck, subject to the wind and waves. During storms, the entire crew would huddle belowdecks among the barrels of supplies and extra sails. During these times, they couldn't use the "jardines," or toilet-a simple plank with a hole in it, balanced on the rail of the ship (a wistful reference to the garden outhouses back home)-so they'd make do with a bucket. The crews were all male and mostly in their teens or early twenties, which meant an aura of suppressed sexuality and furtive homosexual acts.
One very odd aspect of life aboard ship had to do with personal hygiene. Sailors rarely bathed. This was for two reasons: first, because Atlantic salt water gave them rashes (two centuries later, Captain James Cook would enjoy a daily bath in the Southern Ocean, which has a lower salinity). The second reason is that bathing was considered a sign of spiritual impurity. This was a holdover from the early days of the Catholic Church, when the public baths that were common throughout the Roman Empire were frequently the site of orgies. Queen Isabella once bragged that she'd only bathed twice in her life: the day she was born, and the day she was married.
Q: Modern attitudes toward slavery and the cruelty with which Europeans treated the Native American people have turned Columbus from hero to villain. Do you think he deserves this label?
A: No, I don't. Columbus was a man of his time. His attitude toward the Indians was the same as that of strangers to a new land throughout history: the locals were to be placated, used as servants, or sold as slaves. His hometown of Genoa was known for being at the forefront of the African slave trade, so it's no surprise that he saw Indians as a means of commercial gain.
I don't mean to say that he treated the indigenous peoples of the New World fairly-he did, among other heinous things, take slaves back to Spain. But violence in the Caribbean did not begin with Columbus's arrival. The Carib Indians, for example, marauded throughout the Caribbean, enslaving or even eating their opponents. While Columbus's presence in the New World was a precursor to the genocide to come, it is too simplistic to blame the events of the last 500 years on him. If Columbus hadn't found the New World, some other explorer most definitely would have. The British and Portuguese weren't far behind him, and there's evidence that the Chinese, Irish, and Vikings arrived long before he did. It was man's ability to sail the oceans that begat a commingling of European and Native American societies.
While I do not condemn Columbus for his actions, I also do not condone them.
Q: There is some confusion about whether Columbus believed that the world was round or flat. Did Columbus's sailors really believe that the ship would fall off the side of the earth?
A: That's the one of the greatest myths surrounding Columbus. Though his sailors had a hard time grasping the idea of sailing around a globe (to the point of having to hold on when going to the bottom portion, or "down under"), they knew that ships disappeared and reappeared over the horizon. This would be impossible on a flat earth. When the crew fomented mutiny on the first voyage, it was because they'd been away from land so long, not because they feared sailing off the edge of the world.
As for more learned minds, scholars since at least Aristotle had believed in a round earth. Universities throughout Europe taught as much in their geography courses during Columbus's day.
Q: Discuss some of the dangers Columbus and his crew faced on the fourth voyage.
A: Anything that could go wrong, did. The hurricane of 1502, which leveled Santo Domingo, was just the start of his nautical travails (for strength and destruction, that hurricane has been compared with some of the most powerful in Caribbean history). After riding out the hurricane, Columbus and his men endured months of miserable storms, mosquitoes, several accidental drownings, shark attacks, waterspouts, and much, much more. Columbus himself was crippled and bedridden during the latter half the voyage. It's no surprise that his men mutinied.
Q: Why did Columbus consider his fourth voyage the pinnacle of his career?
A: Part of it was pride-Isabella was on her death bed when Columbus returned, so he wasn't summoned to the royal court, meaning his achievement went all but ignored. But another vital part was the reality of what he had achieved and explored. From a navigational standpoint, the fourth voyage was a stunning summation to a life at sea. That he labored so hard to care for his crews despite all the hardship was a sign that he handled the adversity with grace.
From an exploration point of view, the fourth voyage was the most extensive of his career. It can be argued that the second voyage found more new landfalls, but it was the fourth voyage that saw him leap across vast uncharted lengths of the Caribbean to land on North America for the first time.
Q: Once they've read THE LAST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS, how do you think people will perceive Columbus?
A: As an epic, conflicted hero. Take everything you thought you knew about Columbus and throw it out the window. Instead, imagine a man who has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams, then endures years of punishing failure and public humiliation. He is given one last chance to clear his name. He grasps at that chance as if it were life itself, then goes on to endure a litany of the worst trials an explorer could possibly endure. Success or failure depends on his faith in himself. I think most of us would like the chance to prove ourselves in similar fashion.
Copyright © 2005 Martin Dugard