egotiations of Columbus with the Portuguese government, but they
clearly did not issue in anything definite, for Christopher now returned
to Spain (though not till he had witnessed the return of Bartholomew
Diaz from the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope and his reception by
King John), while Bartholomew proceeded to England with a mission to
interest King Henry VII. in the Columbian schemes. If the London
enterprise was unsuccessful (as indeed it proved), it was settled that
Bartholomew should carry the same invitation to the French court. He did
so; and here he remained till summoned to Spain in 1493. Meantime
Christopher, unable throughout 1490 to get a hearing at the Spanish
court, was in 1491 again referred to a _junta_, presided over by
Cardinal Mendoza; but this _junta_, to Columbus' dismay, once more
rejected his proposals; the Spanish sovereigns merely promised him that
when the Granada war was over, they would reconsider what he had laid
before them.

Columbus was now in despair. He at once betook himself to Huelva, a
little maritime town in Andalusia, north-west of Cadiz, with the
intention of taking ship for France. He halted, however, at the
monastery of La Rabida, near Huelva, and still nearer Palos, where he
seems to have made lasting friendships on his first arrival in Spain in
January 1485, where he especially enlisted the support of Juan Perez,
the guardian, who invited him to take up his quarters in the monastery,
and introduced him to Garcia Fernandez, a physician and student of
geography. Juan Perez had been the queen's confessor; he now wrote to
her in urgent terms, and was summoned to her presence; and money was
sent to Columbus to bring him once more to court. He reached Granada in
time to witness the surrender of the city (January 2, 1492), and
negotiations were resumed. Columbus believed in his mission, and stood
out for high terms; he asked for the rank of admiral at once ("Admiral
of the Ocean" in all those islands, seas, and continents that he might
discover), the vice-royalty of all he should discover, and a tenth of
the precious metals discovered within his admiralty. These conditions
were rejected, and the negotiations were again interrupted. An interview
with Mendoza appears to have followed; but nothing came of it, and
before the close of January 1492, Columbus actually set out for France.
At length, however, on the entreaty of the Queen's confidante, the
Marquesa de Moya, of Luis de S