The news of the arrival and of the insolent conduct of Aguado reached Columbus in the interior of the island, and he immediately hastened to Isabella to give him a meeting. As every one knew the lofty spirit of Columbus, his high sense of his services, and his jealous maintenance of his official dignity, a violent explosion was anticipated at the impending interview. The natural heat and impetuosity of Columbus, however, had been subdued by a life of trials, and he had learnt to bring his passions into subjection to his judgment; he had too true an estimate of his own dignity to enter into a contest with a shallow boaster like Aguado: above all, he had a profound reverence for the authority of his sovereigns; for, in his enthusiastic spirit, prone to deep feelings of reverence, loyalty was inferior only to religion. He received Aguado, therefore, with the most grave and punctilious courtesy, ordered his letter of credence to be again proclaimed by sound of trumpet, and assured him of his readiness to acquiesce in whatever might be the pleasure of his sovereigns.

The moderation of Columbus was regarded by many, and by Aguado himself, as a proof of his loss of moral courage. Every dastard spirit who had any lurking ill will, any real or imaginary cause of complaint, now hastened to give it utterance. It was a time of jubilee for offenders: every culprit started up into an accuser; every one who by negligence or crime had incurred the wholesome penalties of the laws was loud in his clamours of oppression; and all the ills of the colony, however produced, were ascribed to the mal-administration of the admiral.

Aguado listened to every accusation with ready

credulity, and having collected information sufficient, as he thought, to ensure the ruin of the admiral and his brothers, prepared to return to Spain. Columbus resolved to do the same; for he felt that it was time to appear at court, to vindicate his conduct from the misrepresentations of his enemies, and to explain the causes of the distresses of the colony, and of the disappointments with respect to revenue, which he feared might discourage the prosecution of his discoveries.

When the ships were ready to depart, a terrible storm swept the island; it was one of those awful whirlwinds which occasionally rage within the tropics, and which were called "Uricans" by the Indians, a name which they still retain. Three of the ships at anchor in the harbour were sunk by it, with all who were on board; others were dashed against each other, and driven mere wrecks upon the shore. The Indians were overwhelmed with astonishment and dismay, for never in their memory, or in the traditions of their ancestors, had they known so tremendous a storm. They believed that the Deity had sent it in punishment of the cruelties and crimes of the white men, and declared that this people moved the very air, the water, and the earth, to disturb their tranquil life, and to desolate their island.

The departure of Columbus, and of Aguado, was delayed until one of the shattered vessels, the Niña, could be repaired, and another constructed out of the fragments of the wrecks. In the mean time, information was received of rich mines in the interior of the island. A young Arragonian, named Miguel Diaz, in the service of the Adelantado,

having wounded a companion in a quarrel, fled from the settlement, accompanied by five or six comrades, who had either been engaged in the affray, or were personally attached to him. Wandering about the island, they at length came to an Indian village, on the banks of the Ozema, where the city of San Domingo is at present situated: they were received with kindness by the natives, and resided for some time among them. The village was governed by a female cacique, who soon conceived a strong affection for the young Arragonian. A connexion was formed between them, and they lived for some time very happily together. At length the remembrance of his country and his friends began to haunt the mind of the Spaniard; he longed to return to the settlement, but dreaded the austere justice of the Adelantado. His Indian bride observing him frequently lost in gloomy thought, drew from him the cause of his melancholy. Fearful that he would abandon her, and knowing the influence of gold over the white men, she informed him of certain rich mines in the neighbourhood, and urged him to persuade his countrymen to abandon Isabella, and remove to that part of the island, to the fertile banks of the Ozema, promising that they should be hospitably received by her nation.

Diaz was rejoiced at this intelligence, and hastened with it to the settlement, flattering himself that it would make his peace with the Adelantado. He was not mistaken. No tidings could have come more opportunely, for, if true, they would furnish the admiral with the most effectual means of silencing the cavils of his enemies.

The Adelantado immediately set out in company

with Diaz and his Indian guides.

He was con

ducted to the banks of a river called the Hayna, where he found gold in greater quantities and larger particles than even in the rich province of Cibao, and observed several excavations, where it appeared as if mines had been worked in ancient times. Columbus was overjoyed at the sight of these specimens, brought back by the Adelantado, and was surprised to hear of the excavations, as the Indians possessed no knowledge of mining, and merely picked up the gold from the surface of the soil, on the beds of the rivers The circumstance gave rise to one of his usual veins of visionary speculation. He had already surmised that Hispaniola might be the ancient Ophir; he now fancied he had discovered the identical mines from whence King Solomon had procured his great supplies of gold for the building of the temple of Jerusalem. He gave orders that a fortress should be imme. diately erected in the vicinity of the mines, and that they should be diligently worked; and he now looked forward with confidence to his return to Spain, the bearer of such golden tidings.

It may not be uninteresting to mention that Miguel Diaz remained faithful to his Indian bride, who was baptized by the name of Catalina. They were regularly married, and had two children.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Return of Columbus to Spain-Preparations for a third

Voyage.
[1496.]

THE new caraval, the Santa Cruz, being finished, and the Niña repaired, Columbus gave the command of the island during his absence to his brother, Don Bartholomew, with the title of Adelantado. He then embarked on board of one of the caravals, and Aguado in the other. The vessels were crowded with two hundred and twenty-five passengers, the sick, the idle, the profligate and factious of the colony. Never did a more miserable and disappointed crew return from a land of promise.

There were thirty Indians also on board, and among them the once redoubtable Caonabo, together with one of his brothers, and a nephew. The admiral had promised to restore them to their country and their power, after having presented them to the sovereigns; trusting by kind treatment, and a display of the wonders of Spain, to conquer their hostility, and convert them into important instruments for the quiet subjugation of the island.

Being as yet but little experienced in the navigation of these seas, Columbus, instead of working up to the northward, so as to fall in with the tract of westerly winds, took an easterly course on leaving