He next discovered Jamaica, and
in September returned to Isabella. The Indians rose in rebellion
against the Spaniards, who had ill-used them, and Columbus quelled the
insurrection, in a battle on the Vega Real, April 25, 1495. He had before
planned for the enslavement of hostile Indians, an act from which his
reputation has somewhat suffered.

Owing to hardship and discontent, some of the colonists carried
complaints to Spain. Bishop Fonseca, who had charge of colonial affairs,
upheld the complainants, and in 1495 Juan Aguado was sent as royal
commissioner to Espanola. Aguado prepared a report, fearing the effects
of which, Columbus returned to Spain at the same time (1496) with him. A
brother of Columbus was left in charge of the government at Espanola. The
Spanish sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, dismissed the charges against
Columbus, and on May 30, 1498, he sailed from San Lucar on his third
voyage to the New World.

The great navigator was no longer the powerful, enduring man of six years
before. Exposure, months of sleepless watching, anxiety, and tropical
fevers had at length done their work. The bright intellect, the vivid
imagination, the great heart, the generous nature, would be the same
until death, but the constitution was shattered. The admiral now suffered
from ophthalmia, gout, and a complication of diseases. The last six years
of his life were destined to be a time of much and cruel suffering,
aggravated by ingratitude, perfidy, and injustice.

In fitting out the third expedition every petty annoyance and obstruction
that the malice of Bishop Fonseca could invent was used to thwart and
delay the admiral. Each subordinate official knew that insolence to the
object of the Bishop's envy and dislike, and neglect of his wishes, were
the surest ways to the favor of his chief. One creature of Fonseca, named
Jimeno de Briviesca, carried his insolence beyond the bounds of the
endurance even of the dignified and long-suffering admiral, who very
properly took him by the scruff of the neck on one occasion and kicked
him off the poop of the flag-ship. The delays of Fonseca and his agents
caused incalculable injury to the public service, as will presently
appear.

The sovereigns had ordered that six million maravedis--about ten
thousand dollars--should be granted for the equipment of the expedition,
and that eight vessels should be provided. The contractor for provisions
was Jonato Berardi, a Florentine merch