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VOYAGES
A N D D I S C O V E R I E S OF
upon the fiery valor of his rival, who did not possess a pistole in his treasury ; but probably was too proud to confess it. It is not likely, however, that the impetuous spirit of Ojeda would long have remained in check, had not the discreet Juan de la Cosa interposed to calm it.
It is interesting to notice the great
ascendency possessed by this veteran navigator over his fiery associate.
Juan de la Cosa was a man whose strong natural good
sense had been quickened by long and hard experience ; whose courage was above all question, but tempered by time and trial. He seems to have been personally attached to Ojeda, as veterans who have outlived the rash impulse of youthful valor, are apt to love the fiery quality in their younger associates.
So long as he
accompanied Ojeda in his enterprises he stood by him as a Mentor in council, and a devoted partisan in danger. In the present instance the interference of this veteran of the seas had the most salutary effect : he prevented the impending duel of the rival governors, and persuaded them to agree that the river Darien should be the boundary line between their respec足 tive jurisdictions. The dispute relative to Jamaica was settled by the admiral, Don Diego Columbus himself.
He had already felt aggrieved
by the distribution of these governments by the king without his consent or even knowledge, being contrary to the privileges inherited from his father, the discoverer.
It was in vain to con足
tend, however, when the matter was beyond his reach and involved in technical disputes.
But as to the island of Jamaica, it in a
manner lay at his own door, and he could not brook its being made a matter of gift to these brawling governors. "Without waiting the slow and uncertain course of making remonstrances to the king, he took the affair, as a matter of plain right, into his