On this voyage he also discovered the mouths of the river Orinoco, which it will be seen, by the map of South America, are not very far from the island of Trinidad. Still, Columbus did not think when he landed, that he was treading the shores of a vast new continent, but imagined that it was a part of Asia. After this he found the land the Indians called Paria. The natives here welcomed him kindly, and brought him bread and maize: they were tall and graceful, and their manners were gentle; they wore garments of cotton wrought so beautifully with colours that they looked like rich silks, and they carried targets besides bows and arrows. They had several kinds of liquors which they offered to the Spaniards to drink. One was "white as milk," made from maize; others were nearly black, and tasted as if they were made from unripe fruit.
The country was covered with flowers and fruit-trees; vines were twined from tree to tree and bright plumaged birds, chiefly parrots, flitted about. Some of the natives wore collars of gold around their necks, and some had bracelets of pearls, the sight of which gave great satisfaction to the Spaniards, for they thought they had discovered a new source of riches. Columbus would have liked to have spent much time in exploring the coasts of Paria, but his stores were nearly all consumed, and he was ill and almost blind from having strained his eye-sight during the dark nights of his voyages, and was therefore obliged to think of returning to Hispaniola or San Domingo, as it was called besides. Along the north coast of Paria he saw many islands, some of which afterwards became famous for their pearl fisheries, and in one little barren isle he got many beautiful pearls in exchange for hawks' bells, and pieces of broken china, which the Indians thought very precious.
At last, wearied out in mind and body he arrived at Hispaniola, hoping to rest for a while in peace, but he found the colony in a state of rebellion; a wicked man named Roldan, who had been raised to high estate by Columbus, persuaded the people to rise up against the Admiral of the Indies and his brothers: the mines were no longer worked, the building of the city was left unfinished, and there was scarcely any food. And now we come to the saddest part in the whole story of Columbus. Some wretched convicts who had been sent out of Spain to the island, and who were in league with Roldan, contrived to make their escape and return to Europe, where the false reports they spread reached the ears of Ferdinand and Isabella, and induced them to believe at last that he was not really worthy of the trust they had reposed in him. Francesco Bovadilla, a man who cared very little what he did, was therefore sent to Hispaniola with orders to govern the island in his stead, whilst Columbus himself was to be sent back to Spain.
It had happened that at the very moment the Admiral was going to embark on his third voyage he was deeply affronted by a follower of one of his worst enemies in Spain; and although he had endured many wrongs and injuries in a patient and forgiving spirit, he gave way this time to a violent fit of passion, and struck the time-serving creature repeatedly in his wrath. The news of this was of course conveyed to the King and Queen, and this one act of passion on the part of Columbus made them more inclined to believe in the reports of his ill conduct than all the complaints that had been spoken against him: they thought that if he were capable of such an action, there were more cruel and angry deeds to come; just as one little storm cloud hastening across the clear blue sky makes us dread that others, heavier and darker, are near.
As soon as Bovadilla arrived he settled himself in the Admiral's house, Columbus being absent at one of the forts, and laid hands on all the money, plate, jewels, and valuable things he could find. Columbus disdained to question the acts of an unruly man like Bovadilla, and journeying in haste and alone to St. Domingo, he calmly resigned his command. He was then put in fetters, although for a long time no one could be found who would fasten them. At last this shameful office was performed by one of his cooks, a Spaniard. His brother Diego was already in chains on board a caravel: Bartholomew would have resisted, but was advised by the Admiral to submit calmly, and the three brothers, who were so loving and could have comforted one another in their misfortunes, were all kept apart.
One day Columbus saw an officer named Villejo coming towards him in his prison followed by his guards.
"Where are you going to take me, oh, Villejo?" he asked.
"To the vessel, your Excellency, to embark," he replied.
"To embark!" exclaimed Columbus, radiant with joy. "Do you speak truth?"
"By the life of your Excellency I speak truth;" said he; and they went indeed on board the caravel which was to convey them to Spain.