hechio, cacique of Xaragua, that his tribute in cotton and provisions was ready for delivery, the Adelantado marched there, at the head of his forces, to receive it. So large a quantity of cotton and cassava bread was collected together, that Don Bartholomew had to send to the settlement of Isabella for a caraval to be freighted with it. In the mean time, the utmost kindness was lavished upon their guests by these gentle and generous people. The troubles which distracted the other parts of devoted Hayti had not yet reached this pleasant region; and when the Spaniards regarded the fertility and sweetness of the country, bordering on a tranquil sea, the kindness of the inhabitants, and the beauty of the women, they pronounced it a perfect paradise.

When the caraval arrived on the coast, it was regarded by Anacaona and her brother with awe and wonder. Behechio visited it with his canoes; but his sister, with her female attendants, were conveyed on board in the boat of the Adelantado. As they approached, the caraval fired a salute. At the sound of the cannon, and the sight of volumes of smoke, bursting from the sides of the ship and rolling along the sea, Anacaona, overcome with dismay, fell into the arms of the Adelantado, and her attendants would have leaped overboard, but were reassured by the cheerful words of Don Bartholomew. As they drew nearer the vessel, several instruments of martial music struck up, with which they were greatly delighted. Their admiration increased on entering on board; but when the anchor was weighed, the sails filled by a gentle breeze, and they beheld this vast mass veering from side to side, apparently by its own will, and playing like a huge

monster on the deep, the brother and sister remained gazing at each other in mute astonishment. Nothing seems ever to have filled the mind of the savage with more wonder than that beautiful triumph of human ingenuity—a ship under sail.

While the Adelantado was thus absent quelling insurrections, and making skilful arrangements for the prosperity of the colony, and the advantage of the crown, new mischiefs were fermenting in the factious settlement of Isabella. The prime mover was Francisco Roldan, a man who had been raised by Columbus from poverty and obscurity, and promoted from one office to another, until he had appointed him alcalde mayor, or chief judge of the island. He was an uneducated man, but of strong natural talents, great assiduity, and intrepid impudence. He had seen his benefactor return to Spain, apparently under a cloud of disgrace, and, considering him a fallen man, began to devise how he might profit by his downfall. He was intrusted with an office inferior only to that of the Adelantado; the brothers of Columbus were highly unpopular; he imagined it possible to ruin them, both with the colonists and with the government at home, and by dexterous management to work his way into a command of the colony. For this purpose he mingled among the common people, threw out suggestions that the admiral was in disgrace, and would never return; railed at the Adelantado and Don Diego as foreigners, who took no interest in their welfare, but used them merely as slaves to build houses and fortresses for them, or to swell their state, and secure their power as they marched about the island, enriching themselves with the spoils of

the caciques. By these seditious insinuations, he exasperated their feelings to such a degree, that they at one time formed a conspiracy to assassinate the Adelantado, but it was happily disconcerted by accident.

When the caraval returned from Xaragua, laden with provisions, it was dismantled by order of Don Diego, and drawn up on the beach. Roldan immediately seized upon this circumstance to awaken new suspicions. He said the true reason for dismantling the caraval was to prevent any of the colonists returning in it to Spain, to represent the oppressions under which they suffered. He advised them to launch and take possession of the vessel, as the only means of regaining their independence. They might then throw off the tranny of these upstart foreigners, and might lead a life of ease and quiet, employing the Indians as slaves, and enjoying unlimited indulgence with respect to the Indian

Women.

Don Diego was informed of these seditious movements, but he was of a mild, pacific nature, and deficient in energy. Fearing to come to an open rupture in the mutinous state of the colony, he thought to divert Roldan from his schemes by giving him distant and active employment. He detached him suddenly, therefore, with a small force, to overawe the Indians of the vega, who had shown a disposition to revolt. Roldan made use of this opportunity to organise an armed faction. He soon got seventy well armed and resolute men at his command, disposed to go all desperate lengths with him, and he made friends and partisans among the discontented caciques, promising to free them from

tribute. He now threw off the mask, and openly set the Adelantado and his brother at defiance, as men who had no authority from the crown, but were appointed by Columbus, who was himself in disgrace. He pretended always to act in his official capacity, and to do every thing from loyal motives, and every act of open rebellion was accompanied with shouts of " Long live the king!" Having endeavoured repeatedly to launch the caraval, but in vain, he broke open the royal stores, and supplied his followers with arms, clothing, and provisions, and then marched off to the vega, and attempted to surprise and get possession of Fort Conception, but was happily foiled by its commander, Miguel Ballester, a stanch old soldier, both resolute and wary, who kept the enemy at bay until succour should arrive.

The conspiracy had attained a formidable head during the absence of the Adelantado, several persons of consequence having joined it, among whom was Adrian de Moxica, and Diego de Escobar, the latter being alcayde of the fortress of La Madalena. Don Bartholomew was perplexed at first, and could not act with his usual vigour and decision, not knowing in whom he could confide, or how far the conspiracy had extended. On receiving tidings, however, from Miguel Ballester, of the danger of Fort Conception, he threw himself, with what forces he could collect, into that fortress, and held a parley with Roldan from one of the windows, ordering him to surrender his staff of office as alcalde mayor, and submit peaceably to superior authority. All threats and remonstrances, however, were vain; Roldan persisted in his rebellion. He represented the Ade

lantado as the tyrant of the Spaniards, the oppressor of the Indians; and himself as the redresser of wrongs and champion of the injured. He sought, by crafty emissaries, to corrupt the garrison of Fort Conception, and seduce them to desert, and laid plans to surprise and seize upon the Adelantado, should he leave the fortress.

The affairs of the island were now in a lamentable situation. The Indians, perceiving the dissensions among the Spaniards, and encouraged by the protection of Roldan, ceased to send in their tributes, and threw off allegiance to the government. Roldan's band daily gained strength, and ranged insolently and at large about the country; while the Spaniards, who remained loyal, fearing conspiracies among the natives, had to keep under shelter of the forts. Munitions of all kinds were rapidly wasting, and the spirits of the well-affected were sinking into despondency. The Adelantado himself remained shut up in Fort Conception, doubtful of the fidelity of his own garrison, and secretly informed of the plots to capture or destroy him, should he venture abroad. Such was the desperate state to which the colony was reduced by the long detention of Columbus in Spain, and the impediments thrown in the way of all his endeavours to send out supplies and reinforcements. Fortunately, at this critical juncture, the arrival of two ships, under command of Pedro Hernandez Coronal, at the port of San Domingo, with troops and provisions, strengthened the hands of Don Bartholomew. The royal confirmation of his title and authority of Adelantado at once put an end to all question of the legitimacy of his power, and secured the fidelity of his soldiers; and the