to the Indians, and the circumstances under which it was spoken? The
Indians are being murdered, ravished, sold for slaves, basted with
burning fat; and grand white men come like avenging angels, and in
one day sweep their tyrants out of the land, restore them to liberty
and life, and say to them, 'A great Queen far across the seas has
sent us to do this. Thousands of miles away she has heard of your
misery and taken pity on you; and if you will be faithful to her she
will love you, and deal justly with you, and protect you against
these Spaniards who are devouring you as they have devoured all the
Indians round you; and for a token of it--a sign that we tell you
truth, and that there is really such a great Queen, who is the
Indian's friend--here is the picture of her.' What wonder if the
poor idolatrous creatures had fallen down and worshipped the picture-
-just as millions do that of the Virgin Mary without a thousandth
part as sound and practical reason--as that of a divine, all-knowing,
all-merciful deliverer? As for its being the picture of a beautiful
woman or not, they would never think of that. The fair complexion
and golden hair would be a sign to them that she belonged to the
mighty white people, even if there were no bedizenment of jewels and
crowns over and above; and that would be enough for them. When will
biographers learn to do common justice to their fellow-men by
exerting now and then some small amount of dramatic imagination, just
sufficient to put themselves for a moment in the place of those of
whom they write?

So ends his voyage, in which, he says, 'from myself I have deserved
no thanks, for I am returned a beggar and withered.' The only thing
which, as far as I can find, he brought home was some of the
delicious scaly peaches of the Moriche palm--the Arbol de Vida, or
tree of life, which gives sustenance and all else needful to whole