audience at St Domingo; but the members sent him an answer highly favourable to us, with whose good services they were already acquainted.  All these untoward circumstances gave the adelantado infinite vexation, insomuch that from being very fat, he became quite lean.  But he used every exertion to collect a powerful armament on purpose to overwhelm us as rebels against his legitimate authority, going about the whole island in person to incite the settlers to take up arms in his cause, and prepared a fleet of eighteen sail of vessels for the expedition against us, which was confided to the command of Pamphilo de Narvaez, of which we shall give an account hereafter.

Our agents passed through the Bahama channel, under the direction of the pilot Alaminos, being the first ship which took that passage from the West Indies for Europe.  After touching at the island of Tercera for refreshments, they proceeded for Seville, and arrived a few days afterwards at Valladolid, where the court was then held.  Our agents immediately waited on the bishop of Burgos, who was president of the council of the Indies, expecting a favourable reception, and requested him to transmit our letters and present them with all speed to the emperor, who was then in Flanders.  The bishop gave them a haughty and repulsive answer, saying, That he would make a proper representation of our conduct, for having thrown off our obedience to Velasquez.  The arrival of Benito Martinez, chaplain to the governor of Cuba, contributed to place our affairs in an unfavourable light; and as Puertocarrero made a remonstrance to the bishop, he caused him to be thrown into prison, on a frivolous charge of having taken away with him a woman from Medellin to the Indies.  The bishop made a represention of our affairs to his majesty, stating every thing in the most favourable light for Velasquez, and as much as he possibly could against us, suppressing all mention of our letters and present, and even appropriated a great part of the latter to his own use.  But our agents concerted matters with Martin Cortes, our generals father, and the licentiate Nunez, his near relation, who had an office in the royal council, and by means of some noblemen who were jealous of the bishop and disgusted with his haughty demeanour, they procured duplicates of all our letters to be transmitted to his majesty, together with complaints of the partiality of the bishop.  These letters got safe to his majesty, with which he was well pleased; and for a long time his court was full of the praises of Cortes and of us his soldiers.  The emperor conceived much displeasure against the bishop of Burgos for his conduct on this occasion; who became quite furious against Cortes and the rest of us, when he heard of the light in which our affairs had been seen at the court; but about two years afterwards the bishop became quite crest-fallen, as he was censured by the emperor, while we continued to be esteemed as loyal subjects.  On receiving these duplicates of our letters, the emperor was pleased to say, That he would soon return to Spain, when he would attend to our memorials, and would reward our faithful services.