he has made, the other half setting forth
the evil doings of Roldan, and begging that he may be summoned to Spain
for trial there. Incidentally, also, he requests a further licence for
two years for the capture and despatch of slaves to Spain. So the
vessels sail back on October 18, 1498, and the Admiral turns wearily to
the task of disentangling the web of difficulty that has woven itself
about him.

Carvajal and Ballester--another loyal captain--were sent with a letter to
Roldan urging him to come to terms, and Carvajal and Ballester added
their own honest persuasions. But Roldan was firm; he wished to be quit
of the Admiral and his rule, and to live independently in the island; and
of his followers, although some here and there showed signs of
submission, the greater number were so much in love with anarchy that
they could not be counted upon. For two months negotiations of a sort
were continued, Roldan even presenting himself under a guarantee of
safety at San Domingo, where he had a fruitless conference with the
Admiral; where also he had an opportunity of observing what a sorry state
affairs in the capital were in, and what a mess Columbus was making of it
all. Roldan, being a simple man, though a rascal, had only to remain
firm in order to get his way against a mind like the Admiral's, and get
his way he ultimately did. The Admiral made terms of a kind most
humiliating to him, and utterly subversive of his influence and
authority. The mutineers were not only to receive a pardon but a
certificate (good Heavens!) of good conduct. Caravels were to be sent to
convey them to Spain; and they were to be permitted to carry with them
all the slaves that they had collected and all the native young women
whom they had ravished from their homes.

Columbus signs this document on the 21st of November, and promises that
the ships shall be ready in fifty days; and then, at his wits' end, and
hearing of irregularities in the interior of the island, sets off with
Bartholomew to inspect the posts and restore them to order. In his
absence the see-saw, in due obedience to the laws that govern all
see-saws, gives a lurch to the other side, and things go all wrong again
in San Domingo. The preparations for the despatch of the caravels are
neglected as soon as his back is turned; not fifty days, but nearly one
hundred days elapse before they are ready to sail from San Domingo to
Xaragua. Even then they are delayed by storms