Amidst the various concerns which claimed the attention of the sovereigns,
the interests of Columbus were not forgotten. Ovando was ordered to
examine into all his accounts, without undertaking to pay them off. He was
to ascertain the damages he had sustained by his imprisonment, the
interruption of his privileges, and the confiscation of his effects. All
the property confiscated by Bobadilla was to be restored; or if it had
been sold, to be made good. If it had been employed in the royal service,
Columbus was to be indemnified out of the treasury; if Bobadilla had
appropriated it to his own use, he was to account for it out of his
private purse. Equal care was to be taken to indemnify the brothers of the
admiral for the losses they had wrongfully suffered by their arrest.

Columbus was likewise to receive the arrears of his revenues; and the same
were to be punctually paid to him in future. He was permitted to have a
factor resident in the island, to be present at the melting and marking of
the gold, to collect his dues, and in short to attend to all his affairs.
To this office he appointed Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal; and the sovereigns
commanded that his agent should be treated with great respect.

The fleet appointed to convey Ovando to his government was the largest
that had yet sailed to the New World. It consisted of thirty sail, five of
them from ninety to one hundred and fifty tons burden, twenty-four
caravels from thirty to ninety, and one bark of twenty-five tons. [105]
The number of souls embarked in this fleet was about twenty-five hundred;
many of them persons of rank and distinction, with their families.

That Ovando might appear with dignity in his new office, he was allowed to
use silks, brocades, precious stones, and other articles of sumptuous
attire, prohibited at that time in Spain, in consequence of the ruinous