Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 1).djvu/656

 fabled lands of Ophir or of the mines of Peru have ever produced were then neither appreciated nor understood. The richness which lay in its soil required time and industry to develope; and the adventurous and enthusiastic Spaniards, who had interested themselves in the New World, had neither studied the art of patience, nor accustomed themselves to toil. But the sovereigns of Spain still received Columbus with favour; and, the mission of the ungrateful and arrogant Aguado not having accomplished at court all the injury he had feared, Ferdinand and Isabella were still ready to meet the wishes of the discoverer, and grant him ships for a third expedition

It was not, however, until the spring of 1497, that any further attention was given to the wishes of Columbus, and the affairs of the New World. Although attractive and flattering to the pride of Spain, the previous expeditions to the West had unquestionably fallen far short of meeting the heavy expenses incurred upon them. No large and immediate profits could at once be realized, such as those the Portuguese reaped a few years afterwards from the discoveries of Vasco de Gama. Hence there was great delay in fitting out this fresh expedition, while the changes to be made in the future management of the Indies of the West tended to increase the delay. At length, on the 30th of May, 1498, Columbus set sail from the port of San Lucar de Barrameda, with a squadron of six vessels.

On this voyage he resolved to shape a course more to the southward than he had done on either of the two previous ones. After taking his departure from the Cape Verde Islands, he purposed sailing to the