Santo Domingo | Page 7

the Spaniards,
naturally restive under the government of a Genovese, were also made
to feel it until their disaffection developed into open rebellion.
At the head of the conspiracy was Francisco Roldan, the judge of the
colony, a man ambitious and seditious by nature, but who owed
Columbus many favors. Others, disgusted because their dreams of gold
had not been realized, followed him and the insurrection was soon well
under way. The rebels took Isabela and sacked the government
storehouse and then took steps to besiege Bartholomew Columbus at
Concepcion de la Vega. The arrival of fresh troops and stores from
Spain enabled the governor to hold the rebels in check.
Such was the deplorable state of affairs when Columbus returned to the
island on August 30, 1498. Realizing Roldan's strength, he consented to
make terms under which the insurgents were to receive stores and other
property and return to Spain. By the time their vessels were ready most
of them had changed their mind and declined to go, but they wrote
letters to Spain bitterly complaining of the admiral and his brothers,

and accusing them of oppression and despotism. Columbus found
himself obliged to agree to the most humiliating terms with the rebels,
conceding a complete pardon, restoring them to their official posts,
promising to pay their salary in arrears and distributing lands and
Indians among them. Nevertheless, other quarrels followed, Columbus
was forced to take severe measures and the complaints against him
grew.
Little by little the stories of arrogance and oppression circulated with
reference to the Columbus brothers undermined the esteem in which
they were held by the sovereigns, who were also disappointed at not
seeing the fabulous wealth they had expected from the new discoveries.
They determined to send to the island of Española a person authorized
to investigate conditions and decide all disputes.
Their choice for the mission was unfortunate; it fell on Francisco
Bobadilla, a spiteful, arrogant and tactless man. On arriving in Santo
Domingo on August 23, 1500, he immediately began to annul
dispositions made by Columbus and sent for the admiral who was in
the interior. As soon as Columbus appeared, Bobadilla, far exceeding
his authority, caused him to be put in chains and confined in a cell of
the fortress of Santo Domingo. He also imprisoned the brothers of
Columbus and sent them to Spain together with the Discoverer, all
chained like infamous criminals. At the same time he made a report
attributing malfeasance, injustice and fraud to all.
The administration of Bobadilla was disastrous. In his efforts to
ingratiate himself with Columbus' enemies he heaped favors on Roldan
and his followers and gave them franchises and lands. He made the
slavery of the Indians more galling than ever, obliging them to labor in
the fields and mines. Columbus' property and papers were confiscated
and Columbus' friend, the explorer Rodrigo de Bastidas, was
imprisoned and his property seized.
The captain of the vessel bearing Columbus treated his distinguished
prisoner with all possible deference and offered to take off the chains,
but the Discoverer, whose heart was breaking under the indignities
heaped upon him and the injustice of which he was the victim, proudly

refused. When the vessel arrived in Spain the sovereigns, shocked at
Bobadilla's proceedings, commanded the immediate release of
Columbus, ordered that his property be restored and overwhelmed him
with distinctions, though providing that his dignities as viceroy were to
remain temporarily suspended; probably because the calculating spirit
of King Ferdinand believed that too much power had been vested in his
subject. Bobadilla was removed from office, and Nicolas de Ovando, a
member of the religious-military order of Alcantara, was appointed
governor in his place.
Ovando arrived in Santo Domingo on April 15, 1502, with a fleet of
thirty vessels, the largest which up to that time had arrived in the new
world, carrying stores of every kind and over 1500 persons, among
them many who later attained distinction in conquests on the mainland.
He was courteous to Bobadilla, but took measures to send Roldan and
the most turbulent of his companions back to Spain on the return of his
fleet, the largest vessel of which was placed at the disposition of
Bobadilla.
Just before the sailing of the fleet, on June 30, 1502, Columbus
unexpectedly appeared before the city on his fourth voyage, and asked
permission to enter the port for protection from a hurricane which he
believed was approaching. Ovando, either because he had secret orders,
or perhaps because he feared Columbus' presence might cause renewed
disturbances, denied the request, and the great man, deeply wounded by
the refusal, sought shelter further up the coast.
The pilots of the great fleet derided Columbus' prediction and the ships
set sail. They had not reached the easternmost point of the island