prisoner.

Isabella saw it was all too true; Bobadilla had gone to the uttermost
limit of authority without even waiting to try less offensive measures.
She saw that she had selected a very unworthy person for the delicate
task of removing a great man from office. Even Ferdinand, who, as we
have seen, had no great opinion of Columbus, was grieved over the
unhappy affair. Immediately they dispatched a courier to the alcalde
with instructions to set the Admiral free, and to treat him with every
consideration. Then they invited Columbus to come to them at court, and
ordered a credit of two thousand ducats for him, a large sum in those
days, for it was equal to about ten thousand dollars in our money. This
they did without even waiting to hear Bobadilla's side of the story.

Columbus reached Granada in December, 1500; nine years precisely after
the memorable journey that Friar Juan Perez had caused him to make to
the same place. As on his return from the second voyage, when he was
expecting royal reproaches, he received instead only the kindest
treatment. Both Ferdinand and Isabella made him feel, instantly, that,
whatever had gone wrong, they knew his worth and considered him a
distinguished man.

So overcome was he by this magnanimity that it was some minutes before
the white-haired, worn-out man could control his feelings sufficiently
to tell his story. Finally, however, he managed to speak. He admitted
all that had gone amiss in Espanola and said his only excuse was his
inexperience in governing. (Ah, good Admiral, if only you had remembered
your inexperience on that January day in that same city of Granada, when
you insisted on being made Viceroy of all the lands you might discover!)