422 B0TTINGS ON THE ROABSIBE. [Chap.XXV.—B.P- 
The following is an extract from one of his letters 
to the king of Spain on this subject, and is valuable 
as giving us a glimpse of that great discoverer’s 
character, a mixture of sagacity and childlike simpli¬ 
city-making up a mind,—one of the greatest para¬ 
doxes recorded in history, singularly like that of 
Garibaldi in our own day. 
Extract of a letter written by Don Christopher Co¬ 
lumbus, Yiceroy and Admiral of the Indies, to the Most 
Christian and mighty sovereigns the king and queen 
of Spain. Done in the Indies in the island of Jamaica 
on the 7th July, 1503. 
“ Gold is the most precious of all commodities; gold 
constitutes treasure, and he who possesses it has all he 
needs in this world, as also the means of rescuing 
souls from Purgatory, and restoring them to the en¬ 
joyment of Paradise. They say that when one of the 
lords of Yeraguas (Mosquito) dies, they bury all the 
gold he possessed with his body. There were brought 
to Solomon at one journey 666 quintals of gold 
(6600 lbs.) about £300,000 of our money, besides 
what the merchants and sailors brought, and that 
which was paid in Arabia. Of this gold he made 
200 lances and 300 shields, and the entablature which 
was above them was also of gold, and ornamented 
with precious stones. Many other things he made 
likewise of gold, and a great number of vessels of 
great size, which he enriched with precious stones. 
“This is related by Josephus in his chronicle 1 De 
Antiquitatibus; ’ mention is also made of it in the 
Chronicles, and in the Book of Kings. Josephus 
