The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (Volume II)

general; is confined by the gout; rushes out to quell the mutiny, but is borne back to the cabin by the few who remain faithful; the mutineers embark on board ten Indian canoes; provisions become exceedingly scarce; employs a stratagem to obtain supplies from the natives; another conspiracy is formed; arrival of Diego de Escobar from Hispaniola on a mission from the governor, promising that a ship shall soon be sent to his relief; overtures of the admiral to the mutineers; not accepted; they send a petition for pardon; it is granted; two ships arrive from Hispaniola; departure of Columbus; arrives at Beata; anchors in the harbor of St. Domingo; is enthusiastically received by the people; is grieved at the desolation he sees everywhere around him; finds that his interests had been disregarded; sets sail for Spain; encounters several tempests; anchors in the barbor of St. Luear; finds all his affairs in confusion; is compelled to live by borrowing; writes to King Ferdinand; but, receiving unsatisfactory replies, would have set out for Seville, but is prevented by his infirmities: death of Queen Isabella; is left to the justice of Ferdinand; employs Vespucci; goes with his brother to court, then held at Segovia; is received in a very cold manner; Don Diego de Deza is appointed arbitrator between the king and the admiral; his claims are referred to the Junta de Descargos; is confined with a violent attack of the gout; petitions the king that his son Diego may be appointed, in his place, to the government of which lie bad been so long deprived; his petition remains unattended to; writes to the new king and queen of Castile; who promise a speedy and prosperous termination to his suit; his last illness; writes a testamentary codicil on the blank page of a little breviary; writes a final codicil; receives the sacrament; dies; his burial; his remains removed to Hispaniola, disinterred and conveyed to the Havana; epitaph; observations on his character; his remains removed with great ceremony to Cuba; reflections thereon; historical account of his descendants; an important lawsuit relative to the beirship (in the female line) to the family titles and property; decided in favor of Don Nuno Golves do Portugallo; an account of his lineage; an account of his birthplace; an account of the ships he used; an examination of his route in the first voyage; the effect of the travels of Marco Polo on his mind; his belief in the imaginary island of St. Brandan; an account of the earliest narratives of his first and second voyages; his ideas relative to the situation of the terrestrial paradise; his will; his signature.
    Columbus, Don Diego, character of; intrusted with the command of the ships during the expedition of Columbus to the mountains of Cibao; made president of the junta; reproves Pedro Margarito for his irregularities; the Hidalgos form a faction against him during the absence of his brother; returns to Isabella; a conspiracy formed against him by Roldan; left in command at St. Domingo, during the tour of Columbus; his conduct on the arrival of Bobadilla; seized by order of Bobadilla, thrown in irons, and confined on board of a caravel.
    ——, Don Diego (son to Christopher), appointed page to Queen Isabella: embarks with his father on his second expedition; left in charge of his father’s interests in Spain; his ingratitude to Mendez, and falsification of his promise; his character; succeeds to the rights of his father, as viceroy and governor of the New World; urges the king to give him those rights; commences a process against the king before the council of the Indies; the defence set up: the suit lasts several years; becomes enamored of Doña Maria Toledo; a decision, in respect to part of his claim, raises him to great wealth; marries Doña Maria, niece to the Duke of Aiva; through this connection he obtains the dignities and powers enjoyed by Nicolas de Ovando; embarks for Hispaniola; keeps up great state; becomes embroiled with some of his father’s enemies; the court of royal audience established as a check upon him; opposes the repartimientos; his virtues make him unpopular, subjugates and settles the island of Cuba without the loss of a single man; sails for Spain to vindicate his conduct; is well received; the death of Ferdinand; obtains a recognition of his innocence of all charges against him from Charles V.: and has his right acknowledged to exercise the office of viceroy and governor in all places discovered by