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LIFE A N D VOYAGES OF
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revived, and the conspiracy, which had been on the point of break ing forth, was completely disconcerted. In secret, however, Columbus was exceedingly indignant at the conduct of Ovando. He had left him for many months in a state of the utmost danger, and most distressing uncertainty, ex posed to the hostilities of the natives, the seditions of his men, and the suggestions of his own despair. He had, at length, sent a mere tantalizing message, by a man known to be one of his bit terest enemies, with a present of food, which, from its scantiness, seemed intended to mock their necessities. Columbus believed that Ovando had purposely neglected him, hoping that he might perish on the island, being apprehensive that, should he return in safety, he would be reinstated in the gov ernment of Hispaniola ; and he considered Escobar merely as a spy sent to ascertain the state of himself and his crew, and whe ther they were yet in existence. Las Casas, who was then at San Domingo, expresses similar suspicions. He says that Esco bar was chosen because Ovando was certain that, from ancient enmity, he would have no sympathy for the admiral. That he was ordered not to go on board of the vessels, nor to land, neither was he to hold conversation with any of the crew, nor to receive any letters, except those of the admiral. In a word, that he was a mere scout to collect information.* Others have ascribed the long neglect of Ovando to extreme caution. There was a rumor prevalent that Columbus, irritated at the suspension of his dignities by the court of Spain, intended to transfer his newly-discovered countries into the hands of his native republic Genoa, or of some other power. Such rumors * Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 33. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 103.