Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/265

239 HIS DEATH. 239 probably not tended to dispel any distrust, which chapter the king previously entertained of the admiral's ca- '— pacity for government. His men had been in a state of perpetual insubordination ; while his letter to the sovereigns, written under distressing circum- stances, indeed, from Jamaica, exhibited such a deep coloring of despondency, and occasionally such wild and visionary projects, as might almost suggest the suspicion of a temporary alienation of mind. ^ But whatever reasons may have operated to post- Ferdinand's •' *^ ■•■ unjust treat- pone Columbus's restoration to power, it was the mentofhim. grossest injustice to withhold from him the revenues secured by the original contract with the crown. According to his own statement, he was so far from receiving his share of the remittances made by Ovando, that he was obliged to borrow money, and had actually incurred a heavy debt for his necessa- ry expenses. '° The truth was, that, as the resour- ces of the new countries began to develope them- selves more abundantly, Ferdinand felt greater re- luctance to comply with the letter of the original capitulation ; he now considered the compensation as too vast and altogether disproportioned to the services of any subject ; and at length was so un- 9 This document exhibits a med- soul, to shut out the light of rea- ley, in which sober narrative and son, cannot fail to fill the mind of sound reasoning are strangely blen- the reader, as they doubtless did ded with crazy dreams, doleful la- those of the sovereigns at the time, mentation, and wild schemes for with mingled sentiments of won- the recovery of Jerusalem, the con- derand compassion. See Cartas de version of the Grand Khan, &c. Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion Vagaries like these, which come de Viages, tom. i. p. 296. occasionally like clouds over his '0 Ibid., p. 338.