Isabella, and received Aguado with the most grave and punctilious courtesy, assuring him of his readiness to acquiesce in whatever might be the pleasure of his sovereigns; but resolving in his own mind to return as soon as practicable to Spain, and to ascertain for himself the reason why this commission of inquiry had been appointed.
Columbus sets sail for Europe, 10th Mar. 1496.
Arrives at Cadiz, 11th June, 1496.
Columbus was, however, detained longer than he
wished. When his arrangements were made for returning,
a violent hurricane[1] destroyed not merely
the four caravels Aguado had brought out with him,
but all his own vessels, except the Nina, and she
was left to him in a very shattered condition. But
she was soon repaired, and from the wreck of the
others he built a second vessel, which he named the
Santa Cruz, and set sail for Cadiz on the 10th of
March, 1496, he embarking in one of the vessels,
and Aguado in the other, leaving his brother Bartholomew
in command of Hispaniola. Both caravels
were loaded with two hundred and fifty of the most
discontented and profligate of the colonists, as also
with the sick and others who desired to return to
Spain. The voyage proved extremely tedious and
toilsome, and it was not until the 11th of June that
they anchored in the Bay of Cadiz.
The enemies of Columbus had been only too successful in undermining his popularity. The first excitement of a newly discovered world had died away. Western India had not yielded the gold and spices and wealth anticipated; and the means it really afforded for producing far greater wealth than the
- ↑ This word is said to be derived from the Indian name for this tempest, Urican.—W. Irving, p. 201.
