whom he had designated for Governor of this country was here. Lest he should meet with an unfavourable reception, as for notorious reasons he was led to fear, he was sent by way of the island of Cuba in order to communicate with Diego de Velasquez; this he did and was given by the latter the brigantine in which he came. The said Juan Bono brought about one hundred letters of the same tenor, signed by the said Bishop, and I even believe they were in blank so that he could deliver them to such persons as seemed expedient here, telling them that they would render great service to Your Cæsarian Majesty by receiving the said Tapia, and promising them increased and signal favours for so doing; saying also that they should know Your Excellency was displeased at their being under my command, besides many other things tending to excite them to sedition and disquiet. To me, he wrote another letter, telling me the same, and saying if I would obey the said Tapia he would obtain signal favours from Your Majesty for me, and if not, I might be sure he would always be my mortal enemy. The arrival of this Juan Bono and the letters he brought occasioned such commotion among my company that I declare to Your Majesty I had to reassure them, explaining to them why the Bishop had written thus and
gularly unfortunate as he possessed no aptitude for the post, and, being of choleric temper, touchy, vindictive, and given to favouritism, he seems never to have grasped the possibilities of his office, or to have comprehended the meaning of the events, whose course he was called upon to shape. Instead of aiding and encouraging the daring men who were eager to stake everything, including their lives, in great enterprises, he almost invariably vexed and persecuted them, perverting his great power to thwart the very undertakings it was his business to favour. He was bitterly hostile to Columbus, continuing his opposition to his son Diego. The story of his dealings with Cortes sufficiently appears from the accounts in these Letters. The Emperor's eyes were finally opened to his incurable defects of character, and his influence received its death-blow from the transactions of his agents with Cortes. He died March 14, 1524, having done his worst during thirty years with the interests confided to his direction.
