1828.] 



Domestic and Foreign. 



409 



the capture of Canaobo, the subjugation of 

 the whole island, and the imposition of a 

 tribute followed by the discovery of the 

 Hayna Gold Mines, which Columbus de- 

 termined to be the Ophir of Solomon. 



In the meanwhile, Margarite and Boyle, 

 who had quitted the island, were busy in 

 Castile in blackening the reputation of the 

 admiral, and so effective were their misre- 

 presentations, that a commissioner, Aguado, 

 was actually despatched to inquire into the 

 real state of things, and the conduct of 

 Columbus. Aguado came of course, pre- 

 j udiced against Columbus, and employed him- 

 self, from the first moment of his arrival, in 

 collecting evidence against him ; and as 

 soon as he had gathered what appeared suffi- 

 cient to crush him, he returned to Spain, 

 and Columbus did the same. This was in 

 1496. His reception at the port was a 

 striking contrast with the congratulations 

 and triumphs of his former return ; but at 

 court he was welcomed in a manner far 

 more flattering than he had reason to ex- 

 pect -his enemies had not succeeded in 

 completely alienating Ferdinand he had 

 still some reliance on Columbus's realizing 

 his magnificent promises. 



The admiral's first object finding his 

 reception thus comparatively friendly was 

 to solicit the means of prosecuting his dis- 

 coveries particularly in Cuba, which he 

 affirmed to be the rich and splendid conti- 

 nent of Asia. Immediate compliance was 

 pledged by the king : but impediments in- 

 terposed wars the marriage of his daugh- 

 ter but above all, the crafty delays of Fon- 

 tseca, whom Columbus had offended ; nor 

 was he able to sail again for two years not 

 till the spring of 1498. Steering now far- 

 ther to the south, he discovered Trinidad ; 

 and passing along the Gulf of Paria, his 

 imagination kindled at the sight of pearls 

 round the necks of the natives aided by 

 sundry speculations of his own, and the 

 extreme beauty of the country, he pro- 

 nounced it to be the very seat of Paradise. 

 From thence he proceeded to the settlement 

 in St. Domingo where new troubles and 

 vexations awaited him. His brother Bar- 

 tholomew had been left in command, and 

 one Roldan, a protege of Columbus, think- 

 ing himself as clever as any body else, re- 

 solved to be second to none in authority. 

 The consequence of this and other cabals 

 was the ruin of the prosperity of the colony 

 the suspension of the mines and the 

 extinction of the hopes of unbounded wealth. 

 The horrors of famine followed close upon 

 those of war. Nor was the presence of the 

 admiral able to do much ; he issued pro- 

 clamations, and did all in his power to en- 

 force order and obedience, and was at last 

 obliged to accommodate with Roldan on his 

 own terms. Other mutinies of officers, and 

 revolts of the natives followed thick upon 

 each other, while some, who had been ex- 

 pelled from the colony, returned to Spain, 

 M.M. New Series VOL. V. No. 28. 



and made the most outrageous misrepre- 

 sentations of his conduct to the court ; and 

 the court, indiscreetly, to say the least, 

 commissioned Bobadilla, as they had be- 

 fore done Aguado, to go to St. Domingo 

 and " inquire," and, moreover, empowered 

 him, if he found the admiral guilty of 

 crimes, or extraordinary imprudence, to su- 

 persede, and send him home. Of course 

 Bovadilla's first step was, not to inquire, 

 but to supersede, and, without farther cere- 

 mony, he threw Columbus into chains, and 

 despatched him to Spain. 



Bobadilla's conduct had been so mani- 

 festly precipitate and presumptuous, that, 

 without waiting for any inquiry into the 

 reality of Columbus's offences, the king 

 and queen ordered Columbus to be in- 

 stantly released, and invited him to court 

 - where his reception was signally kind 

 and sympathizing. No notice was taken of 

 the charges against him Bobadilla was 

 recalled ; but Columbus was not replaced. 

 In vain were all representations and remon- 

 strances Ferdinand was inflexible he had 

 given up what now appeared to him too 

 much for a subject, and he was resolved to 

 make use of the present opportunity of re- 

 suming the grant. Ovando was despatched 

 to replace Bobadilla, and with difficulty was 

 Columbus at last allowed, in May 1502, to 

 set forth again with four small vessels, 

 whose whole crews did not exceed 150, 

 expressly to pursue discoveries, and pro- 

 hibited landing at St. Domingo in his out- 

 ward voyage. 



The object of this fourth, and his last, 

 voyage, was to discover a strait or passage 

 through Cuba to the Indian Sea. He had 

 found the coast of Cuba going off to the 

 south, and observing the currents be- 

 tween the east point of Cuba and the 

 gulf of Paria, setting towards that part of 

 the coast, which he supposed to go far to 

 the south, he was satisfied an opening would 

 be found, which would take him at once to 

 the Indian Sea. To discover this opening 

 then was his object ; for the Cape of Good 

 Hope had now been doubled ; and to con- 

 tend with the Portuguese in Indian dis- 

 coveries, was a point of honour and glorious 

 ambition. In pursuance of this object he 

 coasted the Honduras, the Mosquito, and 

 Veraguas still taking them for Cuba his 

 continent in vain ; " but if," says Mr. 

 Irving, magnificently, " he was disappoint- 

 ed in his expectation of finding a strait 

 through the Isthmus of Darien, it was be- 

 cause nature herself had been disappointed, 

 for she appears to have attempted to make 

 one, but to have attempted it in vain." 



The new settlement he commenced at 

 Belen met with nothing but disasters, and 

 he finally quitted the coast of Veraguas for 

 Jamaica, where his vessels stranded, and 

 his misfortunes increased ten fold. With 

 the loss of power came the loss of respect ; 

 and mutinies, even with his small party, 



3 G 



