and to send you to Spain to give an account of your stewardship.  This was the extent of his commission.  I find that I have made a bad choice in my agent; and I will take care to make an example of Bobadilla, which shall serve as a warning to others not to exceed their powers.  I cannot, however, promise to re-instate you at once in your government.  People are too much inflamed against you, and must have time to cool.  As to your rank of admiral, I never intended to deprive you of it.  But you must bide your time and trust in me.”

  The queen’s decision; Bobadilla’s tyranny

It was arranged that the appointment of the new governor should be for two years only, at the expiration of which period, as Isabella thought, the administration of the colonies might be again entrusted to Columbus; while Ferdinand doubtless considered that some pretext might be found in the meantime for omitting to re-appoint him at all.  And though Columbus may have been told verbally that it was their Highnesses’ intention to re-instate him after the lapse of two years, it is noteworthy that the document appointing Ovando makes no mention of any limitation of the term of his (Ovando’s) government.  The words are, “that he is to be governor as long as it is their Highnesses’ will and pleasure.”  Bobadilla, fortunately for the islanders, was forthwith to be superseded; for, if Columbus had chastised them with whips, Bobadilla was chastising them with scorpions.  His first object was the discovery of gold; and to secure this he took a census of the natives, and assigned them all as slaves to the colonists.  A large proportion of the latter, as we have seen, were simply the scourings of Spanish prisons; and the brutality with which these men treated their wretched helots was very terrible.  Some estimate of the amount of pressure employed may be formed from the fact that, although Bobadilla had reduced the royalty payable to the Sovereigns from one-third to one-eleventh of the gold found, this smaller proportion produced a larger revenue.  In other words, about four times as much gold was discovered under Bobadilla’s system as under that of Columbus.

  Ovando as governor

But when the Sovereigns heard of the cruelties which that system involved, they urged forward the departure of Ovando, whom they had selected as governor, and who, to judge from his previous career, was a man eminently fitted to rule justly and mercifully.  He was well known to Ferdinand and Isabella, having been chosen by the Queen as one of the companions for her eldest son, Prince John.  With regard to his personal appearance, we are told that he was of moderate stature, and had a “vermilion-coloured beard,” which fact hardly conveys much to our minds; but it is added, in general terms, that his presence expressed authority.  With respect to his mental qualifications, we learn that he was a friend to justice, an honourable person both in words and deeds, and that he held all avarice and covetousness in much aversion.  He was humble, too, they say, and when he was appointed Commendador Mayor of the Order of Alcantara, he would never allow himself to be addressed by the title of “Lordship,” which belonged to that office.