It would seem that the little public of Isabella had been made indignant by Ovando’s neglect, and that he had been compelled, by public opinion to send another vessel as a companion to that sent by Mendez. Mendez himself, having seen the ships depart, went to Spain in the interest of the Admiral.
With the arrival at Puerto Bueno, in Jamaica, of the two relief vessels, Columbus’s chief sufferings and anxiety were over. The responsibility, at least, was in other hands. But the passage to San Domingo consumed six tedious weeks. When he arrived, however, it was to meet one of his triumphs. He could hardly have expected it.
But his sufferings, and the sense of wrong that he had suffered, had, in truth, awakened the regard of the people of the colony. Ovando took him as a guest to his house. The people received him with distinction.
He found little to gratify him, however. Ovando, had ruled the poor natives with a rod of iron, and they were wretched. Columbus’s own affairs had been neglected, and he could gain no relief from the governor. He spent only a month on the island, trying, as best he could, to bring some order into the administration of his own property; and then, on the twelfth of September, 1504, sailed for Spain.
Scarcely had the ship left harbor when she was dismasted in a squall. He was obliged to cross to another ship, under command of his brother, the Adelantado. She also was unfortunate. Her mainmast was sprung in a storm, and she could not go on until the mast was shortened.
In another gale the foremast was sprung, and it was only on the seventh of November that the shattered and storm-pursued vessel arrived at San Lucar. Columbus himself had been suffering, through the voyage, from gout and his other maladies. The voyage was, indeed, a harsh experience for a sick man, almost seventy years old.
He went at once to Seville, to find such rest as he might, for body and mind.
CHAPTER XIII. — TWO SAD YEARS
—ISABELLA’S DEATH—COLUMBUS AT SEVILLE—HIS ILLNESS—LETTERS TO THE KING—JOURNEYS TO SEGOVIA, SALAMANCA, AND VALLADOLID—HIS SUIT THERE—PHILIP AND JUANA—COLUMBUS EXECUTES HIS WILL—DIES—HIS BURIAL AND THE REMOVAL OF HIS BODY—HIS PORTRAITS—HIS CHARACTER.