DISCOVERY OF SOUTH AMERICA Third Voyage.—Meanwhile, however, the preparing of the fleet proceeded slowly, and it was not till May 3o, 1498 that he set sail with his main fleet of six ships—two caravels had already been sent on ahead. From San Lucar he steered for Porto Santo, Madeira, and Gomera, despatching three vessels direct from the Canaries to Hispaniola. He next proceeded to the Cape Verde islands, which he quitted on July 5. On the 31st of the same month, being greatly in need of water, and fearing that no land lay westwards as he had hoped, Columbus had turned his ship's head north, when Alonzo Perez of Huelva saw land about 15 leagues to the south-west. It was crowned with three hill-tops, from which circumstance, and in fulfilment of a vow made at starting (to name the first land discovered on this voyage in honour of the Trinity), the admiral named it Trinidad, which name it yet bears. On Wednesday, Aug. i, he beheld for the first time the mainland of South America, the continent he had sought so long. It seemed to him but an insignificant island, and he called it Isla Santa. Sailing westwards, next day he saw the Gulf of Paria (named by him the Golfo de la Ballena), into which he was borne at immense risk on the ridge of waters formed by the meeting of the sea and the Orinoco estuaries. For several days he coasted the continent, esteeming as islands the various projections he saw, and naming them accordingly, nor was it until he had realized the volume poured out by the Orinoco that he began to perceive the truly continental character of his last discovery. He was now anxious to revisit the colony in Hispaniola; and after sighting Tobago, Grenada, and Margarita, made for San Domingo, the new capital of the settlement, where he arrived on Aug. 31. He found that affairs had not prospered well in his absence. By the vigour and activity of the adelantado, the whole island had been reduced under Spanish sway; but under the leadership of Francisco Roldan the malcontent settlers had risen in revolt, and Columbus had to compromise matters in order to restore peace. Roldan retained his office of chief justice; and such of his follow ers as chose to remain in the island were gratified with reparti mientos of land and labour.
At home, however, court favour had turned against Columbus. For one thing, the ex-colonists were often bitterly hostile to the admiral and his brothers. They were wont to parade their griev ances in the very court-yards of the Alhambra, to surround the king when he came forth with complaints and reclamations, to insult the discoverer's young sons with shouts and jeers. Again, the queen began to criticize severely the shipment of Indians from the new-found lands to Spain. And once more, there was no doubt that the colony itself, whatever the cause, had not pros pered so well as might have been desired. Ferdinand's support of Columbus had never been very hearty, and his inclination to super sede the Genoese now prevailed over the queen's friendliness. Accordingly, on May 21, Francisco Bobadilla was appointed governor and judge of Hispaniola during royal pleasure, with authority to examine into all complaints. Columbus was ordered to deliver up his charge to Bobadilla, and to accept whatever the latter should deliver him from the sovereigns. Bobadilla left Spain in June 1500, and landed in Hispaniola on Aug. 23.
Columbus, meanwhile, had restored such tranquillity as was possible in his Government. With Roldan's help he had beaten off an attempt on the island of the adventurer Ojeda, his old lieutenant ; the Indians were being collected into villages and Christianized. Gold-mining was profitably pursued ; in three years, he calculated, the royal revenues might be raised to an average of 6o,000,000 reals. The arrival of Bobadilla, however, speedily changed this state of affairs. On landing, he took posses sion of the admiral's house and summoned him and his brothers before him. Accusations of severity, of injustice, of venality even, were poured down on their heads, and Columbus anticipated nothing less than a shameful death. Bobadilla put all three in irons, and shipped them off to Spain. Alonso Vallejo, captain of the caravel in which the illustrious prisoners sailed, still re tained a proper sense of the honour and respect due to Columbus, and would have removed the fetters; but to this Columbus would not consent. He would wear them, he said, until their highnesses, by whose order they had been affixed, should order their removal ; and he would keep them afterwards "as relics and as memorials of the reward of his service." He did so. His son Fernando "saw them always hanging in his cabinet, and he requested that when he died they might be buried with him." Whether this last wish was complied with is not known.
A heart-broken and indignant letter from Columbus to Dona Juana de Torres, formerly nurse of the infante Don Juan, arrived at court before the despatch of Bobadilla. It was read to the queen, and its tidings were confirmed by communications from Alonso Vallejo and the alcaide of Cadiz. There was a great move ment of indignation; the tide of popular and royal feeling turned once more in the admiral's favour. He received a large sum to defray his expenses; and when he appeared at court, on Dec. 17, he was no longer in irons and disgrace, but richly apparelled and surrounded with friends. He was received with all honour and distinction. The queen is said to have been moved to tears by the narration of his story. Their majesties not only repudiated Bobadilla's proceedings, but declined to inquire into the charges that he at the same time brought against his prisoners, and prom ised Columbus compensation for his losses and satisfaction for his wrongs. A new governor, Nicolas de Ovando, was appointed, and left San Lucar on Feb. 13, 1502, with a fleet of 3o ships, to supersede Bobadilla. The latter was to be impeached and sent home; the admiral's property was to be restored; and a fresh start was to be made in the conduct of colonial affairs. Thus ended Columbus's history as viceroy and governor of the new Indies which he had presented to the country of his adoption.