does he fortunately foresee that fome of his doings will have furthered all this coming mifery. In these chains, however, Columbus is of more interest to us than when in full power as Governor of the Indies; for so it is, that the most infelicitous times of a man's life are those which posterity will look to moft, and love him moft for. Let this comfort him, for he will think of this too; but happily will find true comfort in those pious thoughts which never defert him.* We have come now to the end of his administration of the Indies. Whatever we may think of his general policy, we cannot but regret his removal at the present time, when there appeared fome chance of folidity in his government: though we must honestly admit, I think, that Los Reyes, with the evidence they had before them, were far from wrong in recalling Columbus, had it been done in a manner worthy of his and their greatness.

I do not know that there is much to be faid

* "Hope in him who created all men sustains me: his fuccour " was always very speedy. At another time, and not long ago, "when I was lower ftill, he raised me with his divine arm, faying, "O man of little faith, arise, it is I, be not afraid.'”

La esperanza de aquel que crió á todos me softiene: fu focorro fue fiempre muy presto. Otra vez, y no de lejos estando yo mas bajo, me levantó con fu brazo divino, diciendo: "ó hombre de poca fé, levantate que yo foy, no hayas miedo." Navarrete Coleccion, vol. 1, p. 265.

Ferdinand

about the Government of Bobadilla.
Columbus makes many dire complaints against this
Governor, of his favouritifm, covetousness, injuf-
tice and mob service; but these accusations coming
from that quarter must be received with caution.
And, indeed, whatever fault Bobadilla might have
had, there is good reason for thinking that he
was quite free from anything like personal cor-
ruption.

One thing, however, he seems to have done,
or permitted, which was moft mischievous. Co-
lumbus placed a Cacique and his followers on
certain lands, and then named certain Spaniards
who were to receive the benefit from the tillage
of these lands. We find alfo that he allowed
Indians to be taken to work in the mines; but
then an especial license was neceffary and it was
given from fuch a month to fuch a month.* This,
however, was a confiderable extenfion of the re-
partimiento, and a very evil one for the poor
Indians. But Bobadilla feems, if we may truft
Charlevoix, to have gone further and to have
allowed the Spaniards to treat their Indians as a
labour
gang, to be taken to work any where and
without any restrictions.† He also, according to

* Las Casas, Hift. de las Indias. MSS. lib. 1, cap. 161.
† Il contraignit les Caciques de fournir à chaque Espagnol un

Extenfion

of the repartimi

ento.

the fame authority, numbered the inhabitants of the island and made a diftribution of them.

It is very difficult to lay down correct limits. and periods for the various extenfions of the repartimiento as defined by law, ftill more of what it was made by custom; and we may therefore be wronging Bobadilla in attributing this last extenfion to him: but we have accounts of the general-course of his proceedings which represent him, like the unjuft Steward in the Scriptures, though not upon the fame motives, bidding the Spaniards under his dominion make as much hafte as they could to profit by their present advantages; and making friends for himself by easy treatment of his master's debtors.

His government did not laft much more than a

year

and a half. He was removed in confequence of the just remonftrances of Columbus; and the government was given on the 3rd of September 1501, to Nicholas de Ovando, a knight of the order of Alcantara.

certain nombre de ses sujets, dont ceux-ci se servaient, comme ils auraient pû faire des bêtes de charge; et pour empêcher ces malheureux de pouvoir se souftraire au joug, qu'il venait de leur imposer, il commença par faire un dénombrement de tous les Infulaires, puis il les rédigea par claffes, enfuite il les distribua aux habitans, plus ou moins, fuivant qu'il voulait gratifier un chacun. De cette forte toute l'ifle fe trouva réduite sous le plus dur esclavage, qui fut jamais. Charlevoix, Hift. de. S. Domingue. lib. 3, p. 205.

CHAPTER V.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT, AND THE EVENTS

CONNECTED WITH IT.

ON confidering history, nothing is more curious to reflect upon than the chance way, as it feems to us, in which the

particular actors come before us. These Indians, for inftance, whom we have met with in the course of this narrative, will always have a certain place in hiftory; and how ftrange it is to find them there. For centuries, many fuch as Guacanagari and many fuch as Caonabó had shot off their puny arrows, fmoked their long pipes, and gone down to the fhades of their forefathers

unwept, unhonoured and unfung," at least by Europeans: when, fuddenly, amongst the listless threads of Indian affairs is plied the busy shuttle of European enterprize, till they come out woven into fomething like historical tapestry; and the relationships and alliances of petty Caciques become part of a story which I think, if it be moderately well told, the world will always listen to.

Now, if we men had the making of history, we should, I fuppofe, choose to have the game played by the best pieces on the board: but how much more interesting it is after all, that history embraces almost every variety of human character as well as of human' circumftance. There is no class or kind of perfon, for example, to whom fupreme power has not been entrusted. The real king, the good fort of man, the utter sensualist, the mere foldier, the intriguer, the idiot, the madman, have all been crowned: nor, in our own times, have we been without inftances of most unlikely persons being fuddenly called to supreme power, to see what they could make of it.

In our present narrative nothing can be more abrupt than the change from Columbus to the two governors who fucceeded him: both foldiermonks, probably with a certain narrow way of looking at things incident to their profeffion, and with no especial culture that I know of; while he was of various accomplishments, large-minded, enthusiastic, fluent, affectionate, inventive.

In choofing Ovando, however, Los Reyes seem this time to have taken great pains to provide a worthy governor for the Indies. With regard to his perfonal appearance, we are told, that he was of moderate ftature, and had a