[1498.]



The ships being dispatched, Columbus resumed his negotiation with the
rebels; determined at any sacrifice to put an end to a sedition which
distracted the island and interrupted all his plans of discovery. His
three remaining ships lay idle in the harbor, though a region of
apparently boundless wealth was to be explored. He had intended to send
his brother on the discovery, but the active and military spirit of the
Adelantado rendered his presence indispensable, in case the rebels should
come to violence. Such were the difficulties encountered at every step of
his generous and magnanimous enterprises; impeded at one time by the
insidious intrigues of crafty men in place, and checked at another by the
insolent turbulence of a handful of ruffians.

In his consultations with the most important persons about him, Columbus
found that much of the popular discontent was attributed to the strict
rule of his brother, who was accused of dealing out justice with a
rigorous hand. Las Casas, however, who saw the whole of the testimony
collected from various sources with respect to the conduct of the
Adelantado, acquits him of all charges of the kind, and affirms that, with
respect to Roldan in particular, he had exerted great forbearance. Be this
as it may, Columbus now, by the advice of his counselors, resolved to try
the alternative of extreme lenity. He wrote a letter to Roldan, dated the
20th of October, couched in the most conciliating terms, calling to mind
past kindnesses, and expressing deep concern for the feud existing between
him and the Adelantado. He entreated him, for the common good, and for the
sake of his own reputation, which stood well with the sovereigns, not to
persist in his present insubordination, and repeated the assurance, that