ividual enterprise, he
did not accompany the admiral in his subsequent expeditions. He could
not, however, long endure the irksome life of a courtier; and he could
less bear to hear, without desiring to partake of the discoveries which
were announced by every returning vessel, of new coasts and islands,
abounding with drugs, spices, precious stones, and pearls, said to
surpass in size and clearness those gathered in the East. Through the
influence of a relative, he obtained the patronage of the bishop Don
Juan Rodriguez Fonseca, who had the chief management of the affairs of
the Indies, and was permitted to fit out an expedition to visit any
territories in the new world, except such as appertained to Portugal, or
such as had been discovered in the name of Spain previous to the year
1495. The latter part of the exception being craftily intended to leave
open to him the coast and pearl fisheries of Paria, notwithstanding the
rights reserved to Columbus. Destitute of wealth, the young adventurer
contrived, by his reputation for boldness and enterprise, and by his
confident promises of rich rewards, to obtain money from the merchants
of Seville. He united with him as associates, _Juan de la Cosa_, a hardy
veteran who had already navigated the new seas with the admiral, and
_Amerigo Vespucci_, who seems then to have been distinguished by little
but a roving disposition and a broken fortune, but who is now known from
the accident which has forever attached his name to the discoveries of
Columbus.

Ojeda sailed from Port St. Mary on the 20th of May 1499; he reached land
on the coast of Surinam; thence he steered along the shore of South
America, passed and beheld with wonder the mouths of the mighty rivers
that there flow into the Atlantic, and first landed among the natives on
the island of Trinidad. He then kept his course along the coast of Terra
Firma, until he arrived at Maracapana, where he unloaded and careened
his vessels, and built a small brigantine. He found the natives
hospitable and well disposed, but differing greatly in character from
the gentle and peaceful inhabitants of the islands within the gulf. They
were tall, well made, and vigorous; expert with the bow, the lance, and
the buckler, and ready for the wars in which they delighted to engage.
The martial spirit of Ojeda was soon roused, and he readily proffered
his aid to the savages, in an expedition against a hostile tribe of
cannibals, in a neighbouring i