.
It was very stormy, and their pilot turned out to be so ignorant that
the Bishop himself had to take the wheel; for this truly wonderful man
could sail a ship, work a plantation, write books, plead a case in
court, perform the duties of a bishop, and at the same time fight
unceasingly for the oppressed.

The returning Dominicans had a terrible trip, and it was January before
they landed at the port of Lazaro, in his own diocese. The Spaniards and
the Christian Indians came out at once to the ship to greet the Bishop.
It must have been a queer crowd: Proud, stately Spaniards, in velvets
and laces; blanketed Indians, silent and stolid; naked heathens, eager
to see the man whom they knew as their protector! But Las Casas was glad
to see them all, and leaving the ship, they all went up together to the
church, where after the service the Spaniards came to kiss the episcopal
ring, and after them the Indians.

At first the Bishop was received with politeness and apparent kindness,
but in spite of this all the Spaniards were resolved to resist the new
laws and not to acknowledge Las Casas as their Bishop nor pay him their
tithes. This was very awkward, for Las Casas found himself thus unable
to pay the captain of the ship in which he and the monks had come, but
the friars sold a part of the goods they had brought with them, the
parish priest loaned the Bishop some money, and he gave his note for the
rest. So that difficulty was settled.

Their troubles had only begun, however. It was not a great distance to
Ciudad Real, where they wished to go, but it was impossible to carry
their provisions and the equipment for the church by land, so they
loaded their baggage on an old, flat-bottomed boat, to go by sea; and
twelve of the fathers, with a number of others, went in it. Two days
later the Bishop and the rest were ready to sail on a faster boat; but
just as they were about to embark, word came that the other boat had
been wrecked and nine of the fathers and twenty-seven laymen drowned.
Those who had been saved were staying in an Indian village near the
shore, and everything they possessed had been lost.

The remaining monks were so alarmed that at first they refused to go by
sea, but Las Casas finally persuaded them that, as the skies were clear
and their boat a strong, new one, they were in no danger, and the party
set out. It was a very sad and downcast little body of men, however. All
one night and day they sat, without e