168 RETURN OF COLUMBUS. PART courtiers, in emulation of their master, made fre- '- — quent entertainments, at which he was treated with the punctilious deference paid to a noble of the highest class. ^^ But the attentions most grateful to his lofty spirit were the preparations of the Spanish court for prosecuting his discoveries, on Board for In- a scalc commcusurate with their importance. A dian affairs. ■* board was established for the direction of Indian aifairs, consisting of a superintendent and two sub- ordinate functionaries. The first of these officers was Juan de Fonseca, archdeacon of Seville, an active, ambitious prelate, subsequently raised to high episcopal preferment, whose shrewdness, and capacity for business, enabled him to maintain the control of the Indian department during the whole of the present reign. An office for the transaction of business was instituted at Seville, and a custom- house placed under its direction at Cadiz. This was the origin of the important establishment of the Casa de la Contratacion de las I?idias, or India House. '^ Regulations Thc commcrcial regulations adopted exhibit a c.f trade. ^ ^ ° , ^ narrow policy in some of their features, for which a 15 Herrera, Indias Occidentales, sepulchre. (See Part II. Chap. 18.) dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 3. — Benzoni, He received besides, soon after his Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 8. — return, the substantial gratuity of Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. a thousand doblas of gold, from the 17. — Zuiiiga, Annales de Sevilla, royal treasury, and the premium p. 413. — Fernando Colon, Hist, of 10,000 maravedies, promised to del Almirante, ubi supra. the person who Urst descried land. He was permitted to quarter the See Navarrete, Coleccion de Yia- royal arms with his own, which ges, Col. Diplom., nos. 20, 32, 38. consisted of a group of golden isl- IG Navarrete, Coleccion de Vi- ands amid azure billows. To these ages, torn. ii. Col. Diplom., no. 45. were afterwards added five an- — Mufioz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, chors, with the celebrated motto, lib. 4, sec. 21. well known as being carved on his
