FOURTH VOYAGE OF THE ADMIRAL.
Since his last return to Spain, Columbus had rested at Granada under the smiles of the sovereigns, who readily promised him all that he might wish, while resolved to grant nothing which could interfere with their absolute domination of the new lands that he had found for them. When tired of begging the restoration of his rights he urged their Majesties' assistance in seizing the holy sepulchre, that his vow might be fulfilled, and his mind at rest. After profound study and elaborate preparation he presented the case to them in a manuscript volume of prophecies and portents intermingled with poetry. Failing in winning them to this scheme, he promised, if ships were provided him, to undertake new discoveries. Partly because they would know more of their New World possessions, and partly to rid themselves of uncomfortable importunities, the sovereigns assented to this proposal, meanwhile intimating that after two years had been allowed in which to quiet Española, the admiral should have his own again, but as clearly indicating to others that he should not.
Four vessels, ranging in burden from fifty to seventy tons, were then made ready, the Capitana, the Santiago de Polos, the Gallego, and the Vizcaino, commanded respectively by Diego Tristan, Francisco de Porras, Pedro de Terreros, and Bartolomé de Fresco, and embarked at Cádiz the 9th of May, 1502. With the expedition sailed Diego de Porras as chief clerk and notary, and Juan Sanchez as chief pilot; one hundred and forty men and boys constituted the company. The admiral was accompanied by his brother Bartolomé, the adelantado,[IV-1] and by his son Fernando,[IV-2] then thirteen years of age. The sail across the ocean was prosperous, with favorable winds and nothing to augur the approaching misfortunes until the ships arrived off Santo Domingo on the 29th of June.
FATE OF BOBADILLA.
During the past two years matters had not improved at Española. It seems that others could govern badly as well as the admiral. Indeed, the kings of Spain, most of them meaning well by their New World subjects, were too often unfortunate in their choice of agents. Until recently Bobadilla had held sway, the sovereigns being apparently in no haste to displace him; from which course it was evident either that they had not been properly informed of his conduct, or they approved of it. Perhaps it was true that a knave was better for the place than an honest man. A successor, however, had at length arrived in the person of Nicolás de Ovando, and the superb fleet which had brought him, and was to carry back the displaced governor to Spain, now rode at anchor in the harbor.
In following that contriving policy which others beside princes sometimes regard as necessary when straightforwardness were better, it had been deemed expedient that Columbus should not on this expedition touch at Española, lest his presence engender fresh broils on the island. And the admiral appeared to entertain no intention of breaking the royal commands, until he found, on reaching the Indies, that one of his vessels was unfit for service; or else he pretended that it was so in order to look in on his late government. But whether in actual or feigned distress, when the admiral sent the 29th of June to ask of Ovando permission to exchange a leaky caravel, or at least to shelter the vessels from an impending storm, his messenger Terreros returned with a refusal.
It was certainly an anomalous position in which the great discoverer found himself, vainly knocking at the door of a possession which he had so lately given to Spain, and he not convicted, nay, scarcely accused of any crime. Columbus sent again and warned the governor of approaching bad weather. Ovando would not heed him. The gubernatorial fleet sailed; but only to face a hurricane which soon strewed the shores of Española with its fragments. Current biographies here read like a moral story. On the wrecked vessels were Bobadilla, Roldan, and other inveterate enemies of the admiral, who with a huge mass of ill-gotten treasure were buried beneath the waves. On a little caravel which survived the tempest was the good Bastidas with his property; and on another, which likewise reached Spain in safety, were four thousand pesos de oro belonging to Columbus. Furthermore the admiral sheltered his vessels, and so received no injury from the storm. From all which, grave deductions were severally made—by Columbus, that the Almighty had preserved him; by his enemies, that he had employed witchcraft to save himself and property; by others, of a luckless order which providence refuses to recognize, that the admiral and adelantado were good seamen. After certain ship repairs, made without difficulty in a little port near Santo Domingo, on the 14th of July Columbus sailed westward on his explorations.
EARLY CARTOGRAPHY.
It must be remembered that at this time, and for several years afterward, the Spaniards did not know where they were. They supposed the earth smaller than it is, and that they were on the barbarous outposts of India,[IV-3] whose interior was civilized and wealthy; and it was the present object of the admiral to find some strait or passage between this border-land and the detached southern regions about Paria, on which he might sail to these rich inner realms, still coasting Asia south-westward.
GUANAJA ISLAND.