Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/525

499 SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY. 499 which have since formed the great staples of South chapter American commerce, as cocoa, indigo, cochineal, '. tobacco, &c., were either not known in Isabella's time, or not cultivated for exportation. Small quantities of cotton had been brought to Spain, but it was doubted whether the profit would compen- sate the expense of raising it. The sugar-cane had been transplanted into Hispaniola, and thrived lux- uriantly in its genial soil. But it required time to grow it to any considerable amount as an article of commerce ; and this was still further delayed by the distractions, as well as avarice of the colony, which grasped at nothing less substantial than gold itself. The only vegetable product extensively used in trade was the brazil-wood, whose beautiful dye and application to various ornamental purposes made it, from the first, one of the most important monopolies of the crown. The accounts are too vague to afford any proba- ble estimate of the precious metals obtained from the new territories previous to Ovando's mission. Before the discovery of the mines of Hayna it was certainly very inconsiderable. The size of some of the specimens of ore found there would suggest magnificent ideas of their opulence. One piece of gold is reported by the contemporary historians to have weighed three thousand two hundred castella- nos, and to have been so large, that the Spaniards served up a roasted pig on it, boasting that no potentate in Europe could dine off so costly a dish.^' 22 Herrera, Indias Occidentales, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 84. — lib. 5, cap. 1. — Fernando Colon, Oviedoj Relacion Sumaria de la