er fortress, or tower, on the border of King
Guarionexius's country, between his kingdom and Cipango. He gave to this
post the name of the "Tower of the Conception," and meant it to be a
rallying point for the miners and others, in case of any uprising of the
natives against them. This proved to be an important centre for mining
operations. From this place, what we should call a nugget of gold,
which one of the chiefs brought in, was sent to Spain. It weighed twenty
ounces. A good deal of interest attached also to the discovery of amber,
one mass of which weighed three hundred pounds. Such discoveries renewed
the interest and hope which had been excited in Spain by the first
accounts of Hispaniola.

Columbus satisfied himself that he left the island really subdued; and
in this impression he was not mistaken. Certain that his presence in
Spain was needed, if he would maintain his own character against the
attacks of the disaffected Spaniards who had gone before him, he set
sail on the Nina on the tenth of March, taking with him as a consort
a caravel which had been built at Isabella. He did not arrive in Cadiz
till the eleventh of June, having been absent from Spain two years and
nine months.

His return to Spain at this time gave Isabella another opportunity to
show the firmness of her character, and the determination to which alone
belongs success.

The excitement and popularity which attended the return from the first
voyage had come to an end. Spain was in the period of reaction.
The disappointment which naturally follows undue expectations and
extravagant prophecies, was, in this instance, confirmed by the return
of discontented adventurers. Four hundred years have accustomed the
world to this reflex flow of disappointed colonists, unable or unwilling
to work, who come back from a new land to say that its resources have
been exaggerated. In this case, where everything was measured by the
standard of gold, it was certainly true that the supply of gold received
from the islands was very small as compared with the expenses of the
expedition which had been sent out.

Five hundred Indians, who came to be taught the language, entering Spain
as slaves, were but a poor return for the expenses in which the
nation, not to say individuals, had been involved. The people of Spain,
therefore, so far as they could show their feeling, were prejudiced
against Columbus and those who surrounded him. They heard with
incredulity th