Segovia, Salamanca,
Valladolid! All bleak, harsh places in winter, and fiery hot ones in
summer. Our poor Admiral left pleasant Sevilla and exposed his worn old
body to icy blasts and burning suns all for naught; for, as Las Casas
writes:--
"The more he petitioned, the more the king was bland in avoiding any
conclusion; he hoped, by wearing out the patience of the Admiral, to
induce him to accept some estates in Castile instead of his powers in
the Indies; but Columbus rejected these offers with indignation."
The Admiral could not be made to see that the Granada contract was
impossible; that Ferdinand had signed it only because he never expected
the voyage to be successful; and that now, when men were beginning to
believe Americo's assertion that a whole continent lay off in the west,
it was preposterous that one family should hope to be its governor and
viceroy and to control its trade. No, Columbus could only go on
reiterating that it was so written down in Granada, away back in April,
1492.
So King Ferdinand merely shrugged his shoulders and referred the matter
to a learned council who talked about it a long, long time, hoping the
sick old man might meanwhile die; and at last the sick, tired,
troublesome old man obliged them, and left all the business of "shares"
and "profits" for his son Diego to settle several years after by
bringing suit against the Crown.
Pages:
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213