86
VOYAGES
A N D DISCOVERIES OF
that the arrival of the ship rescued the garrison from the very brink of destruction.* Talavera and his gang, though they had come lightly by their prize, were not disposed to part with it as frankly, but demanded to be paid down in gold for the provisions furnished to the starving colonists.
Ojeda agreed to their terms, and taking the
supplies into his possession, dealt them out sparingly to his com panions.
Several of his hungry followers were dissatisfied with
their portions, and even accused Ojeda of unfairness in reserving an undue share for himself.
Perhaps there may have been some
ground for this charge, arising, not from any selfishness in the character of Ojeda, but from one of those superstitious fancies with which his mind was tinged ; for we are told that, for many years, he had been haunted by a presentiment that he should eventually die of hunger, f This lurking horror of the mind may have made him depart from his usual free and lavish spirit in doling out these providen tial supplies, and may have induced him to set by an extra por tion for himself, as a precaution against his anticipated fate ; cer tain it is, that great clamors rose among his people, some of whom threatened to return in the pirate vessel to Hispaniola.
He suc
ceeded, however, in pacifying them for the present, by represent ing the necessity of husbanding their supplies, and by assuring them that the Bachelor Enciso could not fail soon to arrive, when there would be provisions in abundance. * Hist. S. Domingo, lib. iv.
t Herrera, decad. i. lib. viii. cap. 3 .