Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/493

467 ainst Co- umbus. TREATMENT OF COLUMBUS. 467 natives in its cultivation. This was the orio;in of chapter . VIII the celebrated system of repartimientos, which sub- sequentlj led to the foulest abuses that ever dis- graced humanity.'^ Nearly a year elapsed after the admiral's return Loudcom- J J 1 plaints to Hispaniola, before he succeeded in allaying these j"!,' intestine feuds. In the mean while, rumors were every day reaching Spain of the distractions of the colony, accompanied with most injurious imputa- tions on the conduct of Columbus and his broth- er, who were loudly accused of oppressing both Spaniards and Indians, and of sacrificing the public interests, in the most unscrupulous manner, to their own. These complaints were rung in the very ears of the sovereigns by numbers of the disaffected colonists, who had returned to Spain, and who sur- rounded the king, as he rode out on horseback, clamoring loudly for the discharge of the arrears, of which they said the admiral had defrauded them.'^ There were not wanting, even, persons of high consideration at the court, to give credence and cir- culation to these calumnies. The recent discovery of the pearl fisheries of Paria, as well as of more prolific veins of the precious metals in Hispaniola, and the prospect of an indefinite extent of unex- plored country, opened by the late voyage of Co- 17 Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, iioz, Hist. delNuevo-Mando, lib. 6, cap. 20. — Benzoni, Novi Orbis sec. 40 -42. Hist., lib. 1, cap. 10, 11. — Gari- 18 Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. bay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, lib. 19, cap. 7. — Peter Martyr, cap. 7. — Fernando Colon, Hist. De Rebus Oceanieis, dec. 1, lib. 7. del Almirante, cap. 73-82.— Peter — Gomara, Hist, de las Indias. cap. Martyr, De Rebus Oceanieis, dec. 23. — Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., 1, lib. 5. — Herrera, Indias Occiden- cap. II. tales, dec. 1, lib. 3, cap. 16.— Mu- Ferdinand Columbus mentions