Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/486

460 460 PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY. PART II. Complaints against Columbus. 149 5. August. These excesses, and a total neglect of agricul- ture, — for none would condescend to turn up the earth for any other object than the gold they could find in it, — at length occasioned an alarming scarcity of provisions ; while the poor Indians neg- lected their usual husbandry, being willing to starve themselves, so that they could starve out their oppressors.^ In order to avoid the famine which menaced his little colony, Columbus was obliged to resort to coercive measures, shortening the allowance of food, and compelling all to work, without distinction of rank. These unpalatable regulations soon bred general discontent. The high-mettled hidalgos, especially, complained loudly of the indignity of such mechanical drudgery, while Father Boil and his brethren were equally outraged by the diminution of their regular rations.^ The Spanish sovereigns were now daily assailed with complaints of the mal-administration of Co- lumbus, and of his impolitic and unjust severities to both Spaniards and natives. They lent, however, an unwilling ear to these vague accusations ; they fully appreciated the difficulties of his situation ; and, although they sent out an agent to inquire into the nature of the troubles which threatened the existence of the colony, they were careful to select an individual who they thought would be most 4 The Indians had some grounds Casas, pr^c^dees de sa Vie, (Paris, for relying on the efficacy of starva- 1822,) torn. i. p. II. tion, if, as Las Casas gravely as- 5 Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, serts, " one Spaniard consumed in dec. 1, lib. 4. — Gomara, Hist, do a single day as much as would suf- las Iiidias, cap. 20, tom. ii. — Hcr- fice three families!" Llorente, rera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, Gi^uvres de Don Barthdlemi de las lib. 2, cap. 12.