Columbus_ The Four Voyages - Laurence Bergreen [153]
In reality, there was little Columbus could do with only a handful of trustworthy men at his side. He relied on the power of an empire across the ocean, but as Roldán reminded him, the rebels were genuinely Spanish, while the Columbus brothers were Genoese—outsiders.
As an added provocation, Roldán held the loyalist Ballester hostage without food or water. Sánchez de Carvajal rode to the rescue, Ballester was released, and delegates from the two sides—loyalists and rebels—became embroiled in a marathon argument, from which, miraculously, a written understanding emerged: “The agreement made with the mayor Francisco Roldán and his company for their departure and voyage to Castile.”
According to the document, dated November 16, 1498, by Roldán, and November 21, by Columbus, the Admiral would give the rebels “two good ships,” properly manned, to transport them from Xaraguá “because most of the followers are there because it is the most convenient harbor for securing and getting ready provisions” to Spain. They would receive their wages, as Columbus had offered. And the Admiral would “write to the Catholic Sovereigns attesting to their good service,” incredible as that seemed. The other concessions won by the insurrectionists were even more outrageous. They were to receive slaves “as compensation for the sufferings they have endured on this island,” although they could, if they wished, take “mates who are pregnant or have borne them children” in place of the slaves. They could even take their island-born children, who would go free the moment they set foot in Spain.
Columbus also promised to provide the rebels with sufficient food for their voyage in the form of wheat or cassava, to equip them with safe-conduct passes, to return their confiscated goods, and to arrange with the Sovereigns to repay the returning rebels the price of several hundred large and small “hogs” left behind on the island they were abandoning. The only concession that Columbus managed to wring from Roldán was minor; he and his confederates agreed not to “admit into their company any other Christian on the island,” although Indians could still join their number. Roldán promised to sail for Spain within fifty days.
“The Admiral knew how wicked were these men,” his son explained, “but he did not want to give the rebels any excuse for charging that he did not intend to give them the free passage home he had promised.” He ordered the ships to be readied for the voyage back to Spain, and sent the tireless Sánchez de Carvajal overland to Xaraguá to make certain the rebels got on board their ships and departed, as planned. Placing Santo Domingo in his brother Diego’s hands, Columbus retreated to La Isabela, and respite from the torments inflicted by Roldán’s rebels.
Columbus had demonstrated remarkable patience in his public dealings with the mayor, but in private the Admiral boiled with resentment toward “that ungrateful nobody Roldán.” Starting with nothing, he had gained “so much in so little time that he now had more than a million [maravedís].” Columbus had made him and his cohorts wealthy and confident. “Those people pain me,” the Admiral lamented.
Not until January 1499 did the ships Niña and Santa Cruz, with their roster of rebels, embark. A storm arose, and Niña sought shelter elsewhere—“another port” was all that Ferdinand had to say—for repair. Columbus sent two of his dwindling number of trusted aides, Pedro de Arana and Francisco