ready to proceed to the most desperate extremities against him. Beset with danger in such various forms, he was obliged to keep continual watch, to observe every occurrence with his own eyes, to issue every order, and to superintend the execution of it. This unremitting fatigue of body, and intense application of mind, overpowering his constitution, though naturally vigorous and robust, had nearly been fatal to his life. But on his return to Hispaniola, the sudden emotion of joy which he felt upon meeting with his brother Bartholomew at Isabella, contributed greatly to his recovery. It was now thirteen years since the two brothers, whom similarity of talents united in close friendship, had separated from each other, and during that long period there had been no intercourse between them. Bartholomew could not have arrived at any juncture when Columbus stood more in need of a friend capable of assisting him with his counsels, or of dividing with him the cares and burthen of government. No sooner had Columbus set out on the voyage of discovery, than the soldiers whom he had left behind, instead of conforming to the prudent instructions which he had given, dispersed in straggling parties over the island, lived at discretion upon the natives, wasted their provisions, seized the women, and treated that inoffensive race with all the insolence of military oppression. Self-preservation prompted the Indians to wish for the departure of guests who wasted their provisions, and in other respects violated the rights of hospitality. They had long expected that the Spaniards would retire of their own accord; but when they saw no chance of this, they resolved to attack them with united force, and drive them from the settlements of which they had taken possession. Some of the caziques had already surprised and cut off several stragglers. The dread of impending danger united the Spaniards, and re-established the authority of Columbus, as they saw no prospect of safety but in committing themselves to his prudent guidance. It was now necessary to have recourse to arms, which had hitherto been avoided with the greatest solicitude. The Spaniards were very much reduced, and the whole body which took the field consisted only of 200 foot, 20 horse, and 20 large dogs; and how strange soever it may seem to mention the last as composing part of a military force, they were not the least formidable and destructive of the whole, when employed against naked and timid Indians. The Indians assembled; and instead of attempting to draw the Spaniards into the fastnesses of the woods and mountains, they took their station in the most open plain in the country. Columbus perceived their error, and attacked them during the night, when undisciplined troops are least capable of acting with union and concert, and obtained an easy and bloodless victory, The consternation with which the Indians were filled by the noise and havoc made by the firearms, by the impetuous force of the cavalry, and the fierce onset of the dogs, was so great, that they threw down their weapons, and fled without attempting resistance. Many were slain, more were taken prisoners and reduced to servitude; and so Completely were the rest intimidated, that from that moment they abandoned themselves to despair, relinquishing all thoughts of contending with aggressors whom they deemed invincible. Columbus employed several months in marching through the island, and in subjecting it to the Spanish Spanish government, without meeting with any opposition. He imposed a tribute upon all the inhabitants above the age of fourteen. Each person who lived in those districts where gold wis found, was obliged to pay quarterly as much gold dust as filled a hawk's bell; from those in other parts of the country twenty-five pounds of cotton were demanded. This was the first regular taxation of the Indians, and served as a precedent for exactions more intolerable. The labour, attention, and foresight which they were obliged to employ in procuring this tribute, appeared to them most distressing. They were through long habit incapable of such regular and persevering industry, and, in the excess of their impatience and despair, they formed a scheme of starving their oppressors. With this view they suspended all operations of agriculture, pulled up the roots of the casada plant, and, retiring to the mountains, left the uncultivated plains to their enemies. This desperate resolution produced in some degree the effects which they expected. The Spaniards were reduced to extreme want; but they received seasonable supplies of provisions from Europe, and found so many resources in their own ingenuity and industry, that they suffered no great loss of men. The wretched Indians were the victims of their own ill-concerted policy: they soon felt the utmost distresses of famine. This brought on contagious diseases; and in the course of a few months more than a third part of the inhabitants of the island perished, after experiencing misery in all its various forms. But while Columbus was establishing the foundations of the Spanish grandeur in the New World, his enemies at home laboured with unwearied assiduity to deprive him of the glory and rewards which, by his sérvices and sufferings, he was entitled to enjoy: he took therefore the resolution of returning to Spain, in order to lay before his sovereign a full account of all his transactions. He committed the administration of affairs to Bartholomew, his brother, and appointed Francis Roldan chief justice, with extensive powers. A. D. 1496. Columbus, after experiencing great difficulties, arrived in Spain, and appeared at court with the modest but determined confidence of a man conscious not only of his own integrity, but of having performed great services. Ferdinand and Isabella, who in his absence had lent a too favourable ear to frivolous accusations, received him with such distinguished marks of respect as covered his enemies with shame. The gold, the pearls, the cotton, and other commodities of value which Columbus produced, seemed fully to refute what the malcontents had propagated with respect to the poverty of the country. By reducing the Indians to obedience, and imposing on them a regular tax, he had secured a large accession of new subjects, and the establishment of a revenue that promised to be considerable. By the mines which he had found, a source of wealth still more copious was opened. Great as these advantages were, the admiral represented them only as preludes to future acquisitions, and as the earnest of more important discoveries, to which those he had already made would conduct him with ease and certainty. Every preparation that Columbus required was now made for a new expedition. A suitable number of women was to be chosen to accompany the new settlers; and it was agreed that persons convicted of certain crimes should hereafter be con demned demned to work in the mines which were to be opened in the New World. Though the royal approbation was obtained to every measure and regulation that Columbus proposed, yet his endeavours to carry them into execution were long retarded, and almost two years were spent before a small squadron was equipped, of which he was to take the command. This squadron consisted of only six ships, but indifferently provided for a long and dangerous navigation. He set sail May the 30th, and no remarkable occurrence happened A. D. till they arrived within five degrees of the 1498. line, which was on the 19th of July. There they were becalmed; and the heat being so excessive, many of their casks burst, the liquor in others soured, and their provisions became corrupted. The Spaniards now were afraid that the ships would take fire; but their fears were relieved by a seasonable and very heavy fall of rain. On the first of August they discovered the island of Trinidad, which lies on the coast of Guiana, near the mouth of the Orinico. In this river, which rolls towards the ocean with impetuous force, Columbus was entangled before he was aware. With the utmost difficulty he escaped through a narrow strait; and as soon as the consternation which this occasioned subsided, he discerned in it a source of comfort and hope. He concluded, that such a vast body of water, as this river contained, could not be supplied by an island, and consequently that he was now arrived at that continent which it had long been the object of his wishes to discover. He landed, and found the people resemble those of Hispaniola in their appearance and manner of life. They wore, as ornaments, small plates of gold, and pearls of considerable |