ld be read. He was to
investigate the rebellion, he was to seize the persons of delinquents
and punish them with rigor, and he was to command the Admiral to assist
him in these duties.

He then bade Diego surrender to him certain prisoners, and ordered that
their accusers should appear before him. To this Diego replied that his
brother held superior powers to any which Bobadilla could possess; he
asked for a copy of the commission, which was declined, until Columbus
himself should arrive. Bobadilla then took the oath of office, and
produced, for the first time, the order which has been described above,
ordering Columbus to deliver up all the royal property. He won the
popular favor by reading an order which directed him to pay all arrears
of wages due to all persons in the royal service.

But when he came before the fortress, he found that the commander
declined to surrender it. He said he held the fortress for the king by
the command of the Admiral, and would not deliver it until he should
arrive. Bobadilla, however, "assailed the portal;" that is to say, he
broke open the gate. No one offered any opposition, and the commander
and his first-lieutenant were taken prisoners. He went farther, taking
up his residence in Columbus's house, and seizing his papers. So soon
as Columbus received account of Bobadilla's arrival, he wrote to him
in careful terms, welcoming him to the island. He cautioned him against
precipitate measures, told him that he himself was on the point of going
to Spain, and that he would soon leave him in command, with everything
explained. Bobadilla gave no answer to these letters; and when Columbus
received from the sovereigns the letter of the twenty-sixth of May, he
made no longer any hesitation, but reported in person at the city of San
Domingo.

He traveled without guards or retinue, but Bobadilla had made hostile
preparations, as if Columbus meant to come with military force. Columbus
preferred to show his own loyalty to the crown and to remove suspicion.
But no sooner did he arrive in the city than Bobadilla gave orders
that he should be put in irons and confined in the fortress. Up to
this moment, Bobadilla had been sustained by the popular favor of those
around him; but the indignity, of placing chains upon Columbus, seems to
have made a change in the fickle impressions of the little town.

Columbus, himself, behaved with magnanimity, and made no complaint.
Bobadilla asked him to bid his br