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VOYAGES
A N D D I S C O V E R I E S OF
against the whole gang ; nor was he content with beating them off, but pursued them for some distance through the streets : and having thus put them to utter rout, returned tranquil and un足 harmed to his lodgings. This is the last achievement recorded of the gallant but reck足 less Ojeda ; for here his bustling career terminated, and he sank into the obscurity which gathers round a ruined man.
His health
was broken by various hardships and by the lurking effects of the wound received at San Sebastian, which had been but imperfectly cured.
Poverty and neglect, and the corroding sickness of the
heart, contributed, no less than the maladies of the body, to quench that sanguine and fiery temper, which had hitherto been the secret of his success, and to render him the mere wreck of his former self ; for there is no ruin so hopeless and complete, as that of a towering spirit humiliated and broken down. to have lingered some time at San Domingo.
He appears
Gomara, in his
history of the Indies, affirms that he turned monk, and entered in the convent at San Francisco, where he died.
Such a change
would not have been surprising in a man, who, in his wildest career, mingled the bigot with the soldier ; nor was it unusual with military adventurers in those days, after passing their youth in the bustle and licentiousness of the camp, to end their days in the quiet and mortification of the cloister.
Las Casas, however,
who was at San Domingo at the time, makes no mention of the fact, as he certainly would have done, had it taken place.
He
confirms, however, all that has been said of the striking reverse in his character and circumstances ; and he adds an affecting pic足 ture of his last moments, which may serve as a wholesome com足 ment on his life.
He died so poor that he did not leave money
enough to provide for his interment ; and so broken in spirit, that,