304 THE SEA. 



seriously, for their hulls had been piei'ced in innumerable places by marine worms. It was 

 with difficulty that they could keep afloat until they reached an inlet on the coast of 

 Hispaniola, where they plugged and patched up their ships, and again put to sea for Cadiz. 

 Storm succeeded storm ; the worms were again at work, and the leaks broke out afresh.' 

 They were obliged to return to the inlet, where they landed the most profitable and valuable 

 parts of their cargoes, and the vessels foundered with the remainder. Distributing his 

 men into three bands, they started for San Domingo by different routes, each party being 

 provided with trinkets and Indian trading goods. Francisco de Bobadilla, the enemy and 

 successor of Columbus, was then Governor of San Domingo. He believing, or pretending 

 to believe, that the adventurers were carrying on an illicit trade with the natives, arrested 

 Bastides and threw him into prison, afterwards sending him for trial to Spain. He 

 sailed in the same fleet in which Bobadilla embarked for Spain, and which was for the 

 most part wrecked. The ship of Bastides was one of the few to outlive the storm; it 

 arrived at Cadiz in September, 1502. Bastides was, of course, acquitted of the charges 

 brought against him, and the voyage had been so lucrative that, notwithstanding all losses, 

 he was enabled to pay a handsome tribute to the crown and retain a large amount for 

 himself. Ferdinand and Isabella granted Bastides and La Cosa an annual revenue for life, 

 to be derived from the proceeds of the province of Uraba, which he had discovered. " Such," 

 says Irving, "was the economical generosity of King Ferdinand, who rewarded the past 

 toils of his adventurous discoverers out of the expected produce of their future labours." 

 It is doubtful whether either at any time derived benefit from these grants. 



Alonzo de Ojeda had gained nothing by his first voyage, but had earned an honourable 

 reputation as an explorer. His patron the Bishop recommended him in 1502 once more 

 to the royal favour, and a grant was made to him of a considerable tract of land in 

 Hispauiola, and the government of the province of Coquebacao, which territory he had 

 discovered. Four vessels were fitted out, and, to pass over minor details, reached a part 

 of the South American coast called by the natives Cumana, where the idea struck Ojeda 

 that he should want furniture and utensils for his new colony, " and that it would be 

 better to pillage them from a country where he was a mere transient visitor, than to 

 wrest them from his neighbours in the territory where he was to set up his government." 

 This scheme was carried into immediate execution, Ojeda ordering his men not to destroy 

 the habitations of the Indians, nor to commit bloodshed. His followers, however, did not 

 implicitly obey his instructions, and seven or eight natives were killed and many more 

 wounded in the skirmish which took place. Many of their dwellings were fired. A 

 large number of hammocks, quantities of cotton, and utensils of various kinds, fell into 

 the victors' hands, and they captured several females, some of whom were afterwards 

 ransomed for gold, and others carried off. The place was found destitute of provisions, and 

 Ojeda was forced to send one of his vessels to Jamaica for supplies. 



Ojeda at length arrived at Coquibacao, landing at a bay supposed to be that now known 

 as Bahia Honda, where he found a Spaniard who had been living among the natives 

 some thirteen months, and had acquired their language. Ojeda determined to form his 

 settlement there, but the natives seemed disposed to defend their country, for " the moment 

 a party landed to procure water they were assailed by a galling shower of arrows, and driven 



