restraint and pleasing decorum produced by female influence. Don Diego had considered his appointment in the light of a viceroyalty, but the King soon took measures which showed that he admitted of no such pretension. Without any reference to Don Diego, he divided the coast of Darien into two great provinces, separated by an imaginary line running through the gulf of Uraba, appointed Alonso de Ojeda governor of the eastern province, which he called New Andalusia, and Diego de Nicuesa, governor of the western province, which included the rich coast of Veragua, and which he called Castilla del Oro, or Golden Castile. Had the monarch been swayed by principles of justice and gratitude, the settlement of this coast would have been given to the Adelantado, Don Bartholomew Columbus, who had assisted in the discovery of the country, and, together with his brother the Admiral, had suffered so greatly in the enterprise. Even his superior abilities for the task should have pointed him out to the policy of the monarch; but the cautious and calculating Ferdinand knew the lofty spirit of the Adelantado, and that he would be disposed to demand high and dignified terms. He passed him by, therefore, and preferred more eager and accommodating adventurers. Don Diego was greatly aggrieved at this measure, thus adopted without his participation or knowledge. He justly considered it an infringement of the capitulations granted and repeatedly confirmed to his father and his heirs. He had futher vexations and difficulties with respect to the government of the island of St. Juan, or Porto Rico, which was conquered and settled about this time; but after a variety of cross purposes, the officers whom he appointed were ultimately recognized by the Crown. Like his father, he had to contend with malignant factions in his government; for the enemies of the father transferred their enmity to the son. There was one Miguel Pasamonte, the King's treasurer, who became his avowed enemy, under the support and chiefly at the instigation of the Bishop Fonseca, who continued to the son the implacable hostility which he had manifested to the father. A variety of trivial circumstances contributed to embroil him with some of the petty officers of the colony, and there was a remnant of the followers of Roldan who arrayed themselves against him.* Two factions soon arose in the island: one of the Admiral, the other of the treasurer, Pasamonte. The latter affected to call themselves the party of the King. They gave all possible molestation to Don Diego, and sent home the most virulent and absurd misrepresentations of his conduct. Among others, they represented a large house with many windows which he • Herrera, decad. i., lib. vii., cap. 12. was building, as intended for a fortress, and asserted that he had a design to make himself sovereign of the island. King Ferdinand who was now advancing in years, had devolved the affairs of the Indies in a great measure on Fonseca,* who had superintended them from the first, and he was greatly guided by the advice of that prelate, which was not likely to be favorable to the descendants of Columbus. The complaints from the colonies were so artfully enforced, therefore, that he established in 1510 a sovereign court at San Domingo, called the royal audience, to which an appeal might be made from all sentences of the Admiral, even in cases reserved hitherto exclusively for the Crown. Don Diego considered this a suspicious and injurious measure intended to demolish his authority. Frank, open, and unsuspicious, the young Admiral was not formed for a contest with the crafty politicians arrayed against him, who were ready and adroit in seizing upon his slighest errors, and magnifying them into crimes. Difficulties were multiplied in his path which it was out of his power to overcome. He had entered upon office full of magnanimous intentions; determined to put an end to oppression, and correct all abuses; all good men therefore had rejoiced at his appointment; but he soon found that he had overrated his strength, and undervalued the difficulties awaiting *Herrera, decad. i., lib. vii., cap. 12. him. He calculated from his own good heart, but he had no idea of the wicked hearts of others. He was opposed to the repartimientos of Indians, that source of all kinds of inhumanity; but he found all the men of wealth in the colony, and most of the important persons of the court interested in maintaining them. He perceived that the attempt to abolish them would be dangerous, and the result questionable: at the same time this abuse was a source of immense profit to himself. Self-interest, therefore, combined with other considerations; and what at first appeared difficult, seemed presently impracticable. The repartimientos continued in the state in which he found them, excepting that he removed such of the superintendents as had been cruel and oppressive, and substituted men of his own appointment, who probably proved equally worthless. His friends were disappointed, his enemies encouraged; a hue and cry was raised against him by the friends of those he had displaced; and it was even said that if Ovando had not died about this time, he would have been sent out to supplant Don Diego. The subjugation and settlement of the island of Cuba in 1510, was a fortunate event in the administration of the present Admiral. He congratulated King Ferdinand on having acquired the largest and most beautiful island in the world without losing a single man. The intelligence was highly acceptable to the King; but it was accompanied by a great number of complaints against the Admiral. Little affection as Ferdinand felt for Don Diego, he was still aware that most of the representations were false, and had their origin in the jealousy and envy of his enemies. He judged it expedient, however, in 1512, to send out Don Bartholomew Columbus with minute instructions to his nephew the Admiral. Don Bartholomew still retained the office of Adelantado of the Indies; although Ferdinand, through selfish motives, detained him in Spain, while he employed inferior men in voyages of discovery. He now added to his appointments the property and government of the little island of Mona during life, and assigned him a repartimiento of two hundred Indians, with the superintendency of the mines which might be discovered in Cuba; an office which proved very lucrative.* Among the instructions given by the King to Don Diego, he directed that in consequence of the representations of the Dominican friars, the labor of the natives should be reduced to one third; that negro slaves should be procured from Guinea as a relief to the Indians ; and that Carib slaves should be branded on the leg, to prevent other Indians from being confounded with them and subjected to harsh treatment.‡ The two governors, Ojeda and Nicuesa, whom the * Charlevoix, Hist. St. Domingo, p. 321. + Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i., lib. ix., cap. 5. Idem. |