mity and
disloyalty to the Admiral who had so handsomely recommended him to the
notice of the Sovereigns; and so undisguised was his attitude that even
the Indians began to lodge their complaints and to see a chance by which
they might escape from the intolerable burden of the gold tribute.

It was at this point that Columbus returned and found Aguado ruling in
the place of Bartholomew, who had wisely made no protest against his own
deposition, but was quietly waiting for the Admiral to return. Columbus
might surely have been forgiven if he had betrayed extreme anger and
annoyance at the doings of Aguado; and it is entirely to his credit that
he concealed such natural wrath as he may have felt, and greeted Aguado
with extreme courtesy and ceremony as a representative of the Sovereigns.
He made no protest, but decided to return himself to Spain and confront
the jealousy and ill-fame that were accumulating against him.

Just as the ships were all ready to sail, one of the hurricanes which
occur periodically in the West Indies burst upon the island, lashing the
sea into a wall of advancing foam that destroyed everything before it.
Among other things it destroyed three out of the four ships, dashing them
on the beach and reducing them to complete wreckage. The only one that
held to her anchor and, although much battered and damaged, rode out the
gale, was the Nina, that staunch little friend that had remained faithful
to the Admiral through so many dangers and trials. There was nothing for
it but to build a new ship out of the fragments of the wrecks, and to
make the journey home with two ships instead of with four.

At this moment, while he was waiting for the ship to be completed,
Columbus heard a piece of news of a kind that never failed to rouse his
interest. There was a young Spaniard named Miguel Diaz who had got into
disgrace in Isabella some time before on account of a duel, and had
wandered into the island until he had come out on the south coast at the
mouth of the river Ozama, near the site of the present town of Santo
Domingo. There he had fallen in love with a female cacique and had made
his home with her. She, knowing the Spanish taste, and anxious to please
her lover and to retain him in her territory, told him of some rich
gold-mines that there were in the neighbourhood, and suggested that he
should inform the Admiral, who would perhaps remove the settlement from
Isabella to the south coast. She pr