to keep his men under proper restraint. No one was permitted to go on shore without especial licence, and the utmost precaution was taken to prevent any offence being given to the Indians, who soon swarmed to the harbour with provisions, as any exasperation of them might be fatal to the Spaniards in their present forlorn situation. Two persons were appointed to superintend all bargains, and the provisions thus obtained were divided every evening among the people. As the immediate neighbourhood, however, might soon be exhausted, the zealous and intrepid Diego Mendez made a tour in the interior, accompanied by three men, and made arrangements for the caciques at a distance to furnish daily supplies at the harbour, in exchange for European trinkets. He returned in triumph, in a canoe which he had purchased from the Indians, and which he had freighted with provisions, and through his able arrangement the Spaniards were regularly supplied.

The immediate wants of his people being thus provided for, Columbus revolved in his anxious mind the means of getting from this island. His ships were beyond the possibility of repair, and there was no hope of a chance sail arriving to his relief, on the shores of a savage island, in an unfrequented sea. At length, a mode of relief occurred to him, through the means of this same Diego Mendez whose courage and loyalty he had so often proved. He took him aside to sound him on the subject, and Mendez himself has written an account of this interesting conversation, which is full of character.

Diego Mendez, my son," said the venerable admiral," of all those who are here, you and I

X

alone know the great peril in which we are placed. We are few in number, and these savage Indians are many, and of fickle and irritable natures. On the least provocation they may throw firebrands from the shore, and consume us in our straw-thatched cabins. The arrangement which you have made for provisions, and which at present they fulfil so cheerfully, they may capriciously break to-morrow, and may refuse to bring us any thing; nor have we the means of compelling them. I have thought of a remedy, if it meets your views. In this canoe which you have purchased some one may pass over to Hispaniola, and procure a ship, by which we shall all be delivered from this great peril. Tell me your opinion on the matter."

"Señor," replied Diego Mendez, “ I well know our danger to be far greater than is easily conceived; but as to passing to Hispaniola in so small a vessel as a canoe, I hold it not merely difficult, but impossible, since it is necessary to traverse a gulf of forty leagues, and between islands where the sea is impetuous and seldom in repose. I know not who there is would venture upon so extreme a peril."

Columbus made no reply; but from his looks, and the nature of his silence, Mendez plainly perceived himself to be the person whom the admiral had in view. Resuming, therefore, the conversation, "Señor," said he, " I have many times put my life in peril to save you and my comrades, and God has hitherto preserved me in a miraculous manner. There are, nevertheless, murmurers, who say that your Excellency intrusts to me every affair wherein honour is to be gained, while there are others in company who would execute them as well as I. I

beg, therefore, that you would assemble the people, and propose this enterprise, to see if any one will undertake it, which I doubt. If all decline, I will then come forward and risk my life in your service, as I have many times done already,"

The admiral willingly humoured the wishes of the worthy Mendez; for never was simple vanity accompanied by more generous and devoted zeal.

On the following morning the crew was accordingly assembled, and the proposition made. Every one drew back, pronouncing it the height of rashness. Upon this Diego Mendez stepped forward. "Señor," said he, " I have but one life to lose, yet I am willing to venture it for your service, and for the good of all here present; and I trust in the protection of God, which I have experienced on so many other occasions

Columbus embraced this zealous follower, who immediately set about preparing for the expedition. Drawing his canoe on shore, he put on a false keel, and nailed weather-boards along the bow and stern, to prevent the sea from breaking over it. He then payed it with a coat of tar, furnished it with a mast and sail, and put in provisions for himself, a Spanish comrade, and six Indians.

In the mean while Columbus wrote a letter to Ovando, governor of Hispaniola, begging that a ship might immediately be sent to bring him and his men to Hispaniola; and he wrote another to the sovereigns, entreating for a ship to convey them from Hispaniola to Spain. In this letter he gave a comprehensive account of his voyage, and expressed his opinion that Veragua was the Aurea Chersonesus of the ancients. He supposed himself to have reached

the confines of the dominions of the Grand Khan, and offered, if he lived to return to Spain, to conduct a mission thither to instruct that potentate in the christian faith. What an instance of soaring enthusiasm and irrepressible enterprise is here exhibited! At the time he was indulging these visions, and proposing new and romantic enterprises, he was broken down by age and infirmities, racked by pain, confined to his bed, and shut up in a wreck on the coast of a remote and savage island.

The despatches being ready, Diego Mendez embarked with his Spanish comrade and his six Indians, and coasted the island eastward. Their voyage was toilsome and perilous. When arrived at the end of the island they were suddenly surrounded and taken prisoners by the Indians, who carried them three leagues into the interior, where they determined to kill them. A dispute arising about the division of the spoils, they agreed to settle it, after the Indian fashion, by a game of ball. While thus engaged, Diego Mendez escaped, regained his canoe, and made his way back to the harbour in it, alone, after fifteen days' absence. Nothing daunted by the perils and hardships he had undergone, he offered to depart immediately on a second attempt, provided he could be escorted to the end of the island by an armed force. His offer was accepted, and Bartholomew Fiesco, a Genoese, who had commanded one of the caravals, and was strongly attached to the admiral, was associated with him in this second expedition. Each had a canoe, with six Spaniards and ten Indians under his command. On reaching Hispaniola, Fiesco was to return immediately to Jamaica, to bring tidings to the admiral of the safe arrival of

his messenger; while Diego Mendez was to proceed to San Domingo, and, after purchasing and despatching a ship, was to depart for Spain with the letter to the sovereigns.

All arrangements being made, the Indians placed in the canoes a supply of cassava bread, and each his calabash of water. The Spaniards, beside their provisions, had each his sword and target. The Adelantado, with an armed band, kept pace with them along the coast, until they reached the end of the island, where, waiting for three days until the weather was perfectly serene, they launched forth on the broad bosom of the sea. The Adelantado remained watching them until they became mere specks on the ocean, and the evening hid them from his view, and then returned to the harbour.