CHAPTER IV.

COLUMBUS PREPARES FOR ANOTHER VOYAGE.


Columbus was now anxious to set out on another voyage to proceed with
his discoveries, and the king and queen gave orders that every thing
should be done to further his wishes.

By his exertions a fleet of seventeen sail, large and small, was soon in
a state of forwardness; labourers and artificers of all kinds were
engaged for the projected colonies, and an ample supply was provided of
whatever was necessary for the cultivation of the soil, the working of
the mines, and for traffic with the natives.

He now found no difficulty in getting sailors to accompany him, and the
account he gave of the countries he had discovered, and particularly
the intelligence that they abounded with gold, excited the avarice and
rapacity of the Spaniards, and numbers of needy adventurers of ruined
fortunes and desperate circumstances, were eager to share in the spoil.

Many persons of distinction, thinking to become rich by the same means,
also volunteered to enlist, and many got on board of the ships by
stealth, so that about 1500 set sail in the fleet, though only a
thousand were originally permitted to embark.