258
LIFE A N D V O Y A G E S
OF
[BOOK
V.
craft, was more relished by the king, and he resolved privately, but promptly, to put it in execution, fixing upon Don Francisco de Almeida, one of the most distinguished captains of the age, to command the expedition.* In the meantime, Columbus, after being treated with distinguished attention, was escorted back to his ship by Don Martin de Noroña, and a numerous train of cavaliers of the court, a mule being provided for himself, and another for his pilot, to whom the king made a present of twenty espadinas, or ducats of g o l d . † On his way, Columbus stopped at the monastery of San Antonio, at Villa Franca, to visit the queen, who had expressed an earnest wish to see this extraordinary
and enterprising man, whose
achievement was the theme of every tongue.
He found her
attended by a few of her favorite ladies, and experienced the most flattering reception.
Her majesty made him relate the
principal events of his voyage, and describe the countries he had found; and she and her ladies hung with eager curiosity upon his narration.
That night he slept at Llandra, and being on the
point of departing in the morning, a servant of the king arrived, to attend him to the frontier, if he preferred to return to Spain by land, and to provide horses, lodgings, and every thing he might stand in need of, at the royal expense.
The weather, however,
having moderated, he preferred returning in his caravel.
Put-
ting to sea, therefore, on the 13th of March, he arrived safely at the bar of Saltes on sunrise of the 15th, and at mid-day entered the harbor of Palos; whence he had sailed on the 3d of August
* Vasconcelos, lib. vi. † Twenty-eight dollars in gold of the present day, and equivalent to seventy-four dollars, considering the depreciation of the precious metals.