vile intrigues of Bishop Fonseca, the superintendant of Indian affairs, and the secret enemy of Columbus, produced delays the most intolerable to his ardent and adventurous spirit. Nothing but his gratitude to the queen, and his desire of serving her, and fortifying his reputation by fresh exploits, prevented him from abandoning his discoveries altogether. Finally, when all was ready for departure, the insolence of Briviesca, the treasurer of the bishop, whose impertinence assailed him at the very water's edge, overcame his accustomed patience and self-control. He seized on his tormentor, dashed him to the ground, and repeatedly kicked him-thus losing, by a moment of unguarded passion, much of that credit with the sovereigns. which his prudence and forbearance had already secured to him. CHAPTER XIII. THIRD VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS-DISCOVERY OF SOUTH AMERICA- ON the 30th of May, 1498, Columbus with six vessels set sail from the port of San Lucar, on his third voyage of discovery. Touching at Porto Santo and Madeira, he arrived, on the 19th of June, at Gomera, one of the Canaries. Hence he dispatched three of his vessels, with supplies, to the relief of the colony, and with the remainder of his squadron pursued his course to the Cape de Verde islands. On the 5th of July he took his departure from them, and steered south-west, intending to strike the continent of Asia near the equator. After sailing in this direction more than a hundred leagues, he found himself in that terrible region which extends for several degrees on each side of the line, and which is known to mariners as the "calm latitudes." Here he first experienced those sufferings which are the terror of voyagers caught within these baleful precincts. A dead calm set in, accompanied by such sultry and oppressive heat that it seemed as if the old stories "Hee was so vexed with of the torrid zone were to be verified. maladies and heate (for it was the moneth of June) that his shippes were almost set on fire." The tar melted from the seams, the provisions spoiled, and the hoops shrank and fell from the water casks. The men, enfeebled and withered by the heat, had no strength to remedy these evils. Emerging at last from this dismal region, the ships entered a milder climate, and found cooling and favorable breezes; but such was the miserable condition both of his vessels and stores, that the admiral perceived the danger of standing further to the southward. He therefore, for some time steered due west-ward, and finally bore to the north in search of the Caribbee Islands. On the 31st of July, when there was only a single cask of water in each ship, land was descried from the mast-head. It consisted of three mountains, which soon appeared joined at the base. Columbus had already resolved to name the first land he should discover in honor of the Holy Trinity; and this appearance, from its singular coincidence, struck him in the light of a mysterious providence. He therefore, with great solemnity, amid the joy of his companions, bestowed on it the name of La Trinidad, which it still retains. Coasting along this beautiful island, the voyagers were charmed with the magnificence of the scenery and the amenity of the climate. Villages and scattered dwellings were seen along the shore. On the 1st of August, they made land to the south, which they supposed to be an island, but which, in reality, was the coast of South America. The natives came around them in canoes, but could not be persuaded to venture on board. They were a fairer and finer race of men than any of the abo rigines hitherto seen. Passing the narrow and boisterous strait which separates Trinidad from the continent, and to which he gave the name of "Boca de la Sierpe," (Serpent's mouth) Columbus entered the tranquil gulf of Paria. On the west he beheld the long promontory of that name, which forms its northern boundary and which he supposed to be another island. He steered along the southern coast of this projection a considerable distance, surprised to find the water grow fresher as he advanced. Several of the natives, venturing near in a canoe, were captured, and on receiving presents and friendly treatment, returned to shore, and dispelled the fears of their countrymen. The most amicable intercourse soon ensued; and the Spaniards who landed were entertained with profound reverence by the caciques, as beings from the celestial region. These people were of a fine appearance, being fairer than any yet seen, and of a frank and martial demeanor. The attention of their visitors was soon excited by the numerous ornaments of pearls which they beheld, and which the Indian women gladly exchanged for the trifles of civilization. Finding the water shallower as he coasted westward, the admiral sent a light vessel to explore the coast. The mariners of this craft affirmed that a continent lay to the westward, from whence flowed a great body of fresh water. Turning eastward, he passed the narrow and tumultuous strait which forms the northern outlet of the gulf, bestowing on it, from its terrors, the name of "Boca del Dragon" (Dragon's mouth). He ran along the northern coast of Paria, and on the 15th of August discovered the islands of Margarita and Cubagua, since famous for their pearl fisheries. At the latter he procured some splendid specimens, as presents for the court. The romantic mind of the admiral, by this time, had conceived a most extraordinary theory, which he detailed at full length in a letter to the sovereigns. The vast body of fresh water which he had found in the gulf of Paria, he justly concluded could only be the outpouring of a continent, which he straightway proceeded to supply with "a local habitation and a name." Now, all philosophers had agreed that some one part of the earth was of excellence and beauty superior to the rest, and this part might well be supposed to lie on the equator, where the genial rays of the sun ripened and refined all natural pro ductions-metals, jewels, and the precious products of the soil. But though (as he supposed) within five degrees of the line, the weather was temperate, cool and refreshing. What could produce this effect except a gradual elevation of the surface, up which he had gently slidden with his fleet, ever since he entered the favoring influence of the trades? The earth, he concluded, was not exactly spherical, but in one point approaching the purer region of the heavens. Within the external confines of this celestial region, then, he imagined he had come— and if all nature was so pure and charming at the base of this elevation, what must be its apex!-without doubt the original Garden of Eden, beautiful as ever, but perhaps inaccessible to the feet of mortals. And this vast body of water that found its outlet at Paria, had doubtless flowed from the River of Life, still gushing with perennial freshness from its fountain, by the mysterious Tree. Such was the theory which Columbus gravely, and with much scientific argument, urged upon the court of Spain -fortifying his conclusion, moreover, with copious quotations from Aristotle, Seneca, St. Augustine, St. Isidor, St. Ambrosius, the book of Esdras, and the cardinal Pedro de Aliaco. He was, however, at this time unable to prosecute his discoveries in these interesting regions, on account of a painful disease of the eyes, incapacitating him from observation. He therefore altered the course of his squadron to the north-west, and on the 19th of August, after five days' sailing, made the island of Hispaniola, and on the 30th arrived at the river Ozema, in the vicinity of the newly-discovered gold district. * This strange theory is thus stated by one who probably heard it from his own lips. The admiral, he says, "hereby conjectured, that the earth is not perfectly round, but that when it was created, there was a certayne heape raysed thereon, much higher than the other partes of the same. So that (so he sayth,) it is not rounde after the forme of an aple or bal, (as other thinke,) but rather like a peare as it hangeth on the tree, and that Paria is the region which possesseth the superminent or highest part thereof nearest vnto heauen; Insomuch that he earnestly contendeth the earthly Paradise to be sytuate in the toppes of those three hilles, which the watchman sawe out of the toppe castell of the shippe," &c. He came into port as before, suffering under a complication of maladies, the result of age, anxiety and exposure. CHAPTER XIV. DISORDERS OF THE COLONY DURING THE ABSENCE OF COLUMBUS THE REBELLION OF ROLDAN-HOSTILITIES WITH THE INDIANS-THEIR DEFEAT. DURING the protracted absence of Columbus, the affairs of the settlement, by the turbulence of the colonists and the hostility of the natives, had become entangled and distracted to a miserable degree. His brother Bartholomew, who had been left in command, had, indeed, exhibited the greatest prudence and energy in conducting the government. He had founded an important settlement (the present city of St. Domingo,) on the river Ozema, in the neighborhood of the gold mines, and had taken every precaution to render available the resources of the country. He had made a formal visit to Behechio, the powerful cacique of Xaragua, the most fertile and beautiful region of the island. This wealthy chieftain received him with the greatest kindness and hospitality, and his people vied with each other in attentions to their distinguished visitors. For the amusement of their guests, the Indians performed their national games and tournaments; and fought each other with such spirit in the latter, that numbers were slain and wounded. On this visit the Spaniards first learned to partake of the flesh of the guana, a species of lizard, hideous in appearance, but highly renowned as a West India delicacy. A writer of the time thus describes the experiment. "These serpentes are like unto crocodiles saving in bygness, they call them guanas. Unto that day none of owre men durste adventure to taste of them, by reason of theyre horrible deformitie and loathsomeness, yet the adelantado, being entysed by the pleasantness of |