The letter to the Lady Juana, which gives Columbus's own statementof the indignities put upon him in San Domingo, is written in his mostcrabbed Spanish. He never wrote the Spanish language accurately, and theletter, as printed from his own manuscript, is even curious in its infelicities.

　　It is so striking an illustration of the character of the man that we printhere an abstract of it, with some passages translated directly from his ownlanguage.

　　Columbus writes, towards the end of the year 1500, to the formernurse of Don Juan, an account of the treatment he has received. "If mycomplaint of the world is new, its method of abuse is very old," he says.

　　"God has made me a messenger of the new heaven and the new earthwhich is spoken of in the Apocalypse by the mouth of St. John, afterhaving been spoken of by Isaiah, and he showed me the place where itwas." Everybody was incredulous, but the queen alone gave the spirit ofintelligence and zeal to the undertaking. Then the people talked ofobstacles and expense. Columbus says "seven years passed in talk, andnine in executing some noted acts which are worthy of remembrance," buthe returned reviled by all.

　　"If I had stolen the Indies and had given them to the Moors I could nothave had greater enmity shown to me in Spain." Columbus would haveliked then to give up the business if he could have come before the queen.

　　However he persisted, and he says he "undertook a new voyage to the newheaven and the new earth which before had been hidden, and if it is notappreciated in Spain as much as the other countries of India it is notsurprising, because it is all owing to my industry." He "had believed thatthe voyage to Paria would reconcile all because of the pearls and gold inthe islands of Espanola." He says, "I caused those of our people whom Ihad left there to come together and fish for pearls, and arranged that Ishould return and take from them what had been collected, as I understood,in measure a fanega (about a bushel). If I have not written this to theirHighnesses it is because I wished also to have as much of gold. But thatfled before me, as all other things; I would not have lost them and with them my honor, if I could have busied myself with my own affairs.

　　"When I went to San Domingo I found almost half of the colonyuprising, and they made war upon me as a Moor, and the Indians on theother side were no less cruel.

　　"Hojida came and he tried to make order, and he said that theirHighnesses had sent him with promises of gifts and grants and money. Hemade up a large company, for in all Espanola there were few men whowere not vagabonds, and no one lived there who had wife or children."Hojida retired with threats.

　　"Then Vincente Ganez came with four ships. There were outbreaksand suspicions but no damage." He reported that six other ships under abrother of the Alcalde would arrive, and also the death of the queen, butthese were rumors without foundation.

　　"Adrian (Mogica) attempted to go away as before, but our Lord didnot permit him to carry out his bad pla............