he Line.[413-3] Solomon bought all of it,--gold, precious
stones, and silver,--but your Majesties need only send to seek them to
have them at your pleasure. David, in his will, left three thousand
quintals of Indian gold to Solomon, to assist in building the Temple;
and, according to Josephus, it came from these lands.[413-4] Jerusalem
and Mount Sion are to be rebuilt by the hands of Christians, who it is to
be God told by the mouth of His prophet in the fourteenth Psalm.[413-5]
The Abbot Joaquim said that he who should do this was to come from
Spain;[414-1] Saint Jerome showed the holy woman the way to accomplish
it;[414-2] and the emperor of Cathay, a long time ago, sent for wise men
to instruct him in the faith of Christ.[414-3] Who will offer himself for
this work?[414-4] Should any one do so, I pledge myself, in the name of
God, to convey him safely thither, provided the Lord permits me to return
to Spain.

The people who have sailed with me have passed through incredible toil
and danger, and I beseech your Highnesses, since they are poor, to pay
them promptly, and to be gracious to each of them according to their
respective merits; for I can safely assert, that to my belief they are
the bearers of the best news that ever was carried to Spain. With respect
to the gold which belongs to the Quibian of Veragua, and other chiefs in
the neighboring country, although it appears by the accounts we have
received of it to be very abundant, I do not think it would be well or
desirable, on the part of your Highnesses, to take possession of it in
the way of plunder; by fair dealing, scandal and disrepute will be
avoided, and all the gold will thus reach your Highnesses' treasury
without the loss of a grain.

With one month of fair weather I shall complete my voyage. As I was
deficient in ships, I did not persist in delaying my course; but in
everything that concerns your Highnesses' service, I trust in Him who
made me, and I hope also that my health will be re-established. I think
your Highnesses will remember that I had intended to build some ships in
a new manner, but the shortness of the time did not permit it. I had
certainly foreseen how things would be. I think more of this opening for
commerce, and of the lordship over such extensive mines, than of all that
has been done in the Indies.[415-1] This is not a child to be left to the
care of a stepmother.

I never think of Espanola, and Paria, and the other countries, wit