action of the new Governor was to institute an inquiry
into the administration of his predecessor, Bobadilla, against whose harsh
and arbitrary treatment of him, Columbus had filed complaints. The
Admiral had meanwhile been received by the sovereigns, and Queen
Isabella's compassionate heart had been much grieved by the sad accounts
of the indignities put upon him, the confiscation of his properties, the
violation of the rights solemnly conferred upon him and his heirs under
her signature, and finally the supreme outrage of his deposition and his
return to Spain wearing the chains of a common malefactor. Francisco de
Bobadilla had far outstripped the limits of the sovereign's intentions as
well as those of his own authority and had, by his treatment of Columbus,
violated the commonest sentiments of justice and humanity. Ovando made
full restitution of the confiscated properties, and the rights and
privileges guaranteed to Columbus were once more recognised and made
valid. The latter organised his fourth and last expedition to America,
which sailed on the ninth of May, 1502, (20) and arrived at Hispaniola
after a prosperous voyage, on the twenty-ninth of June. Bobadilla set
sail for Spain on board the same ship which carried the famous gold
nugget, but neither arrived, as the vessel was overtaken by a violent
hurricane, and was lost when barely forty hours out from port. Thus
perished one whose iniquities have caused his name to be handed down to
eternal execration in the pages of American history.

Such was the condition of the colony in Hispaniola, when Bartholomew de
Las Casas, then a young licentiate, twenty-eight years of age, arrived
there. The purpose of his coming was no different from that of the other
gentlemen-adventurers who were bent on acquiring speedy fortunes in a land
of supposed riches that formed the theme of fabulous and alluring tales,
which often enough had but slender foundation in fact. As his father had
already acquired properties in the island, it is probable that Bartholomew
came to assume the direction of them. There is nothing to show that he
was at that time especially impressed or moved by the sad condition of the
Indians and the violation of their rights; on the contrary, he procured
slaves, worked them in the mines, and attended to the cultivation of his
estates with the energy he employed in every undertaking to which he put
his hand. He says himself that during eight years of O