eastern part of Asia. He wanted for this purpose eight ships. He was
willing to leave two in the island of Hispaniola, and he hoped that
he might have six for a voyage of discovery. The sovereigns assented
readily to his proposal, and at the time probably intended to carry out
his wishes.

But Spain had something else to do than to annex Asia or to discover
America; and the fulfillment of the promises made so cordially in 1496,
was destined to await the exigencies of European war and diplomacy. In
fact, he did not sail upon the third expedition for nearly two years
after his arrival in Cadiz.

In the autumn of 1496, an order was given for a sum amounting to
nearly a hundred thousand dollars of our time, for the equipment of
the promised squadron. At the same time Columbus was relieved from the
necessity by which he was bound in his original contract, to furnish
at least one-eighth of the money necessary in any of these expeditions.
This burden was becoming too heavy for him to bear. It was agreed,
however, that in the event of any profit resulting to the crown, he
should be entitled to one-eighth of it for three ensuing years. This
concession must be considered as an evidence that he was still in
favor. At the end of three years both parties were to fall back upon the
original contract.

But these noble promises, which must have been so encouraging to him,
could not be fulfilled, as it proved. For the exigencies of war, the
particular money which was to be advanced to Columbus was used for the
repair of a fortress upon the frontier. Instead of this, Columbus was to
receive his money from the gold brought by Nino on his return. Alas, it
proved that a report that he had returned with so much gold, meant that
he had Indian prisoners, from the sale of whom he expected to realize
this money. And poor Columbus was virtually consigned to building
and fitting out his ship from the result of a slave-trade, which was
condemned by Isabella, and which he knew was wretchedly unprofitable.

A difficulty almost equally great resulted from the unpopularity of
the expedition. People did not volunteer eagerly, as they had done, the
minds of men being poisoned by the reports of emigrants, who had
gone out in high hope, and had returned disappointed. It even became
necessary to commute the sentences of criminals who had been sentenced
to banishment, so that they might be transported into the new
settlements, where they were to work w