ithout pay. Even these expedients
did not much hasten the progress of the expedition.

Fonseca, the steady enemy of Columbus, was placed in command again at
this time. The queen was overwhelmed with affliction by the death of
Prince Juan; and it seemed to Columbus and his friends that every petty
difficulty was placed in the way of preparation. When at length six
vessels were fitted for sea, it was only after the wear and tear of
constant opposition from officials in command; and the expedition, as it
proved, was not what Columbus had hoped for, for his purposes.

On the thirtieth of May, however, in 1498, he was able to sail. As this
was the period when the Catholic church celebrates the mystery of
the Trinity, he determined and promised that the first land which he
discovered should receive that sacred name. He was well convinced of the
existence of a continent farther south than the islands among which he
had cruised, and intended to strike that continent, as in fact he did,
in the outset of his voyage.

CHAPTER X. -- THE THIRD VOYAGE.

LETTER TO THE KING AND QUEEN--DISCOVERY OF TRINIDAD AND
PARIA--CURIOUS SPECULATION AS TO THE EARTHLY PARADISE--ARRIVAL AT
SAN DOMINGO--REBELLIONS AND MUTINIES IN THAT ISLAND--ROLDAN AND HIS
FOLLOWERS--OJEDA AND HIS EXPEDITION--ARRIVAL OF BOBADILLA--COLUMBUS A
PRISONER.

For the narrative of the third voyage, we are fortunate in having once
more a contemporary account by Columbus himself. The more important part
of his expedition was partly over when he was able to write a careful
letter to the king and queen, which is still preserved. It is lighted
up by bursts of the religious enthusiasm which governed him from the
beginning. All the more does it show the character of the man, and it
impresses upon us, what is never to be forgotten, the mixture in his
motive of the enthusiasm of a discoverer, the eager religious feeling
which might have quickened a crusader, and the prospects of what we
should call business adventure, by which he tries to conciliate persons
whose views are less exalted than his own.

In addressing the king and queen, who are called "very high and very
powerful princes," he reminds them that his undertaking to discover the
West Indies began in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which appointed
him as a messenger for this enterprise. He asks them to remember that he
has always addressed them as with that intention.

He reminds them of the seven or eight ye