which proved more pernicious than all that the natives
were able to do. The discontented party transmitted
complaints to the court of Spain against the admiral
and his brother; on which Francis de Bovadilla, a
knight of the order of Calatrava, was sent out with
authority to investigate the cause of the troubles
in the infant colony. Bovadilla carried matters
with a high hand, and on very slight pretences sent
Columbus and his brother in irons to Spain, in separate
vessels. Immediately on their arrival in Spain,
their majesties ordered them to be set at liberty,
and to repair to court, which was then at Granada:
And, although they cleared themselves of all that
had been laid to their charge, they were deprived
of the government of the West Indies, and put off with
fair promises. Bovadilla was afterwards lost at
sea, on his return to Spain.
On the 9th of May 1502, Columbus sailed again from
Spain with 170 men. He arrived before San Domingo
on the 29th of June, but the new governor Nicholas
de Ovando would not permit him to come into the harbour,
for which reason he was constrained to sail to the
westwards. After struggling with adverse currents
and long calms for some time, he had to contend against
an almost continued storm of sixty days, and then discovered
the island of Guana ja, to the northward of
Cape Honduras, in Lat. 19 deg. N. He sent his
brother on shore at this place, where he met with a
canoe eight feet wide and as long as a Spanish galley.
This canoe was covered with mats, and had men, women,
and children on board, who had abundance of commodities
for barter; such as long webs of cotton of several
colours; short cotton shirts or jerkins without sleeves,
curiously wrought; small cotton cloths used by the
natives to conceal their nakedness; wooden swords
edged with flints; copper hatchets, and horse-bells
of the same metal; likewise plates of copper, and
crucibles, or melting pots; cocoa nuts; bread made
of maize or Indian corn, and a species of drink made
from the same. Columbus exchanged some commodities
with these Indians; and inquiring at them where gold
was to be found, they pointed towards the east, on
which he altered his course in that direction.
The first land he came to was Cape Casinas in the
province of Honduras, where his brother landed and
took formal possession. The natives of this coast
wore short cotton jackets without sleeves, and clouts
before them. They behaved very peaceably to the
Spaniards, whom they supplied with plenty of provisions.
Sailing several days to the eastwards from thence with
contrary winds, he arrived at a great cape or head-land,
whence the coast trended to the southwards, and called
this place Cabo de Garcias a Dios, or Cape thanks
to God, because the east winds which had hitherto obstructed
his voyage would now serve for navigating that part
of the coast. He accordingly explored that coast,
touching at Porto Bello, Nombre de Dios,
Belen and Veragua, trading with the
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