Since he wrote so copiously and so constantly in these last days, the best picture of his mood and condition is afforded in his letters to his son Diego; letters which, in spite of their infinitely wearisome recapitulation and querulous complaint, should be carefully read by those who wish to keep in touch with the Admiral to the end.

     Letter written by Christopher Columbus to Don Diego, his Son,
     November 21, 1504.

“Very dear son,—­I received your letter by the courier.  You did well in remaining yonder to remedy our affairs somewhat and to employ yourself now in our business.  Ever since I came to Castile, the Lord Bishop of Palencia has shown me favour and has desired that I should be honoured.  Now he must be entreated that it may please him to occupy himself in remedying my many grievances and in ordering that the agreement and letters of concession which their Highnesses gave me be fulfilled, and that I be indemnified for so many damages.  And he may be certain that if their Highnesses do this, their estate and greatness will be multiplied to them in an incredible degree.  And it must not appear to him that forty thousand pesos in gold is more than a representation of it; because they might have had a much greater quantity if Satan had not hindered it by impeding my design; for, when I was taken away from the Indies, I was prepared to give them a sum of gold incomparable to forty thousand pesos.  I make oath, and this may be for thee alone, that the damage to me in the matter of the concessions their Highnesses have made to me, amounts to ten millions each year, and never can be made good.  You see what will be, or is, the injury to their Highnesses in what belongs to them, and they do not perceive it.  I write at their disposal and will strive to start yonder.  My arrival and the rest is in the hands of our Lord.  His mercy is infinite.  What is done and is to be done, St. Augustine says is already done before the creation of the world.  I write also to these other Lords named in the letter of Diego Mendez.  Commend me to their mercy and tell them of my going as I have said above.  For certainly I feel great fear, as the cold is so inimical to this, my infirmity, that I may have to remain on the road.

“I was very much pleased to hear the contents of your letter and what the King our Lord said, for which you kissed his royal hands.  It is certain that I have served their Highnesses with as much diligence and love as though it had been to gain Paradise, and more, and if I have been at fault in anything it has been because it was impossible or because my knowledge and strength were not sufficient.  God, our Lord, in such a case, does not require more from persons than the will.

“At the request of the Treasurer Morales, I left two brothers in the Indies, who are called Porras.  The one was captain and the