ute,
specimens of pearls, gold, etc., in order to impress the sovereigns
with the great value of his most recent discovery. The Admiral had
good and sufficient reasons for making the most of this discovery, as
his enemies in Spain and in the West Indies were seeking to belittle
his great deeds, hence his indiscretion in placing the proofs of his
achievement in the hands of his implacable foe, Bishop Fonseca. He
could not return at that time, owing to the terrible condition of
affairs in Hispaniola, which demanded his continued presence there--as
narrated in his _Life_.

The tidings he sent caused a great sensation among the maritime
adventurers of Spain; but no one was more excited by them than Alonzo
de Ojeda, who, from his intimacy with Fonseca, had full access to the
charts and correspondence of Columbus, and who immediately conceived
the project of making a voyage in the route thus marked out by the
Admiral, and of seizing upon the first fruits of discovery which he
had left ungathered. This scheme met with ready encouragement from
Fonseca, who, as has heretofore been shown, was opposed to Columbus
and willing to promote any measure that might injure or molest him.
The bishop accordingly granted a commission to Ojeda, authorizing him
to fit out an armament and proceed on a voyage of discovery, with the
proviso merely that he should not visit any territories appertaining
to Portugal, or any of the lands discovered in the name of Spain
previous to the year 1495. The latter part of this provision appears
to have been craftily worded by the bishop, so as to leave the coast
of Paria and its pearl fisheries open to Ojeda, they having been
recently discovered by Columbus in 1498.

The commission was signed by Fonseca alone, in virtue of general
powers vested in him for such purposes; but the signature of the
sovereigns did not appear on the instrument, and it is doubtful
whether their sanction was sought on the occasion. He knew that
Columbus had recently remonstrated against a royal mandate issued in
1495, permitting voyages of discovery by private adventurers, and that
the sovereigns had in consequence revoked that mandate wherever it
might be deemed prejudicial to the stipulated privileges of the
Admiral.... Having thus obtained permission to make the voyage, the
next consideration with Ojeda was to find the means. He was a young
adventurer, a mere soldier of fortune, and destitute of wealth; but he
had a high reputa