e contrary, the arrival at
Barcelona in 1519 of Fray Juan Quevedo, the first Bishop of Darien,
brought a new combatant into the field against him. On his way from
Darien to Spain, Quevedo had stopped in Cuba, where he had heard the
complaints of the enraged colonists, who declared that unless his mad
campaign against his fellow-countrymen was stopped Las Casas would ruin
the island, impoverish them all, and destroy every source of revenue. It
was thought that Diego Velasquez paid Quevedo to controvert the
representations of Las Casas and to plead the cause of the colonists at
Court. As he was a man of considerable weight and an excellent preacher,
Velasquez hoped he might win the King to his way of thinking. Arriving at
Court, thus prepared to advocate the interests of Velasquez and the
colonists, Quevedo was no mean antagonist. The first meeting between him
and Las Casas took place in the royal ante-chamber where, on being told
who the newly arrived prelate was, the clerigo approached saying, "My
lord, since I am interested in the Indies it is my duty to kiss your
hand." The Bishop asked who the strange priest was and, on being told,
exclaimed with some arrogance, "Oh, Senor Casas! and what sermon have you
got to preach to us?" Had he known Las Casas better he would have adopted
other tactics, for the clerigo was not the kind of man to attack. He
answered: "Certainly, my lord, since some time I have wished to hear your
lordship preach, but I assure your lordship that I have a pair of sermons
ready, which if you wish to hear and consider them, may be worth more than
all the money you have brought from the Indies."

This exchange of thinly veiled hostilities was cut short by the appearance
of the Bishop of Badajoz, who came out from audience with the King, and
took Quevedo off with him to dinner. To forestall any unfavourable
influence which Quevedo might seek to exercise on the Bishop of Badajoz,
who was friendly to Las Casas, the latter made a point of going after
dinner to the Bishop's house, where he found an illustrious company
comprising, amongst others, the Admiral, Don Diego Columbus, playing
chequers. Somebody remarked that wheat was grown in Hispaniola, to which
Quevedo replied that it was impossible. Las Casas, who happened to have in
his pocket-book some specimen grains which he had gathered in the garden
of the monastery of St. Dominic, mildly observed, "It is certain, my lord,
for I have seen it of e