of a particularly petty and galling kind of
treachery, for it was his own cook, a man called Espinoza, who riveted
his gyves upon him.

There remained Bartholomew to be dealt with, and he, being at large and
in command of the army, might not have proved such an easy conquest, but
that Christopher, at Bobadilla's request, wrote and advised him to submit
to arrest without any resistance. Whether Bartholomew acquiesced or not
is uncertain; what is certain is that he also was captured and placed in
irons, and imprisoned on one of the caravels. James in one caravel,
Bartholomew in another, and Christopher in the fortress, and all in
chains--this is what it has come to with the three sons of old Domenico.

The trial was now begun, if trial that can be called which takes place in
the absence of the culprit or his representative. It was rather the
hearing of charges against Christopher and his brothers; and we may be
sure that every discontented feeling in the island found voice and was
formulated into some incriminating charge. Columbus was accused of
oppressing the Spanish settlers by making them work at harsh and
unnecessary labour; of cutting down their allowance of food, and
restricting their liberty; of punishing them cruelly and unduly; of
waging wars unjustly with the natives; of interfering with the conversion
of the natives by hastily collecting them and sending them home as
slaves; of having secreted treasures which should have been delivered to
the Sovereigns--this last charge, like some of the others, true. He had
an accumulation of pearls of which he had given no account to Fonseca,
and the possession of which he excused by the queer statement that he was
waiting to announce it until he could match it with an equal amount of
gold! He was accused of hating the Spaniards, who were represented as
having risen in the late rebellion in order to protect the natives and
avenge their own wrongs--, and generally of having abused his office in
order to enrich his own family and gratify his own feelings. Bobadilla
appeared to believe all these charges; or perhaps he recognised their
nature, and yet saw that there was a sufficient degree of truth in them
to disqualify the Admiral in his position as Viceroy. In all these
affairs his right-hand man was Roldan, whose loyalty to Columbus, as we
foresaw, had been short-lived. Roldan collects evidence; Roldan knows
where he can lay his hands on this witness; Roldan produc