in distress, to repair his ships and procure provisions. Roldan then
demanded, in the name of the government, a sight of the license under
which he sailed. Ojeda, who knew the resolute character of the man he had
to deal with, restrained his natural impetuosity, and replied that his
papers were on board of his ship. He declared his intention, on departing
thence, to go to San Domingo, and pay his homage to the admiral, having
many things to tell him which were for his private ear alone. He intimated
to Roldan that the admiral was in complete disgrace at court; that there
was a talk of taking from him his command, and that the queen, his
patroness, was ill beyond all hopes of recovery. This intimation, it is
presumed, was referred to by Roldan in his dispatches to the admiral,
wherein he mentioned that certain things had been communicated to him by
Ojeda, which he did not think it safe to confide to a letter.

Roldan now repaired to the ships. He found several persons on board with
whom he was acquainted, and who had already been in Hispaniola. They
confirmed the truth of what Ojeda had said, and showed a license signed by
the Bishop of Fonseca, as superintendent of the affairs of the Indias,
authorizing him to sail on a voyage of discovery. [55]

It appeared, from the report of Ojeda and his followers, that the glowing
accounts sent home by Columbus of his late discoveries on the coast of
Paria, his magnificent speculations with respect to the riches of the
newly-found country, and the specimen of pearls transmitted to the
sovereigns, had inflamed the cupidity of various adventurers. Ojeda
happened to be at that time in Spain. He was a favorite of the Bishop of
Fonseca, and obtained a sight of the letter written by the admiral to the
sovereigns, and the charts and maps of his route by which it was
accompanied. Ojeda knew Columbus to be embarrassed by the seditions of
Hispaniola; he found, by his conversations with Fonseca and other of the