le eloquence that
discovery to the South, and his assurance that he had touched the
foot of the Mount of all the World. With this letter he sent a hundred
pearls, the golden frog and other gold. Again he took paper and wrote of
the attitude of all things in Hispaniola, of Roldan and evil men, of the
Adelantado's vigilance, justice and mercy, of natural difficulties and
the need to wait on time, of the Indians. He begged that there be
sent him ample supplies and good men, and withal friars for the Indian
salvation, and some learned, wise and able lawyer and judge, much needed
to give the law upon a thousand complaints brought by childish and
factious men. And if the Sovereigns saw fit to send out some just and
lofty mind to take evidence from all as to their servant Christopherus
Columbus's deeds and public acts and care of their Majesties' New
Lands and all the souls therein, such an one would be welcomed by their
Graces' true servant.

So he himself asked for a commissioner--but he never thought of such an
one as Francisco de Bobadilla!

So the ships sailed. Time passed.

CHAPTER XXXV

UP and down went the great Roldan scission. Up and down went Indian
revolt, repression, fresh revolt, fresh repression. On flowed time.
Ships came in, one bearing Don Diego; ships went out. Time passed.
Alonso de Ojeda, who by now was no more than half his friend, returned
to Spain and there proposed to the Sovereigns a voyage of his own to
that Southern Continent that never had the Admiral chance to return to!
The Sovereigns now were giving such consent to this one and to that one,
breaking their pact with Christopherus Columbus. In our world it was now
impossible that that pact should be letter-kept, but the Genoese did
not see it so. Ojeda sailed from Cadiz for Paria with four ships and a
concourse of adventurers. With him went the pilot Juan de la Cosa, and a
geographer of Florence, Messer Amerigo Vespucci.

It came to us in Hispaniola that Ojeda was gone. Now I saw the Admiral's
heart begin to break. Yet Ojeda in his voyage did not find the Earthly
Paradise, only went along that coast as we had done, gathered pearls,
and returned.

Time passed. Other wild and restless adventurers beside Roldan broke
into insurrections less than Roldan's. The Viceroy hanged Moxica and
seven with him, and threw into prison Guevara and Requelme. Roldan,
having had his long fling--too powerful still to hang or to chain in
some one of our for