They merely
talked over their voyages as any two sailors might. As Vespucci was now
looked up to as a practical, new-world traveler and trader, and the
Admiral was lonely and forgotten, it shows a kind feeling on the
visitor's part to have looked him up. When Americo left to go to court,
Columbus gave him this letter to carry to Diego, who was still in the
royal service:--
* * * * *
My dear son:
Within two days I have talked with Vespucci. He has always manifested a
friendly disposition towards me. Fortune has not always favored him and
in this he is not different from many others. He left me full of kindest
purposes towards me and will do anything he can (at court). I did not
know what to tell him to do to help me, because I knew not why he had
been called there.
* * * * *
In February, 1505, a royal order was issued to the effect that Don
Cristobal Colon be furnished with a mule to ride to court, then being
held in Segovia. To ride a mule in those days necessitated a royal
permit, for every Spaniard preferred mules to horses. The government
hoped that horses would be in more general use if the use of mules was
restricted.
The Admiral's long rest with the monks of Las Cuevas had apparently
improved his health, for, as this royal permit proves, he applied for a
mule and went to Segovia; from there, that same year, he followed the
king to Salamanca and later to Valladolid.
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