With a fleet of four small
vessels he set sail from Cadiz on May 9, 1502. Perhaps on this occasion
his mortification was greater than ever before. Ovando, the Governor,
would have nothing to do with him. Having suffered shipwreck and
numerous other calamities besides, the great navigator, embittered and
downcast, turned the bows of his ships towards Spain. On landing he
learned of the death of Queen Isabella, the only person of influence who
had shown him a consistent friendship. Realizing now that his influence
and chances had finally departed, he retired into seclusion in the
neighbourhood of Vallodolid, where he died in his sixtieth year on May
20, 1506.
CHAPTER III
THE SPANISH CONQUISTADORES
The pioneer _conquistadores_ of South America afford an interesting
study. Such men as those who took their lives in their hands and sailed
out into the unknown were actuated by two motives--the love of adventure
and the desire of gain. There is no doubt that the second consideration
by far outweighed the first. A man of the period left Spain or Portugal
for the New World for one cogent reason only, to seek his fortune. If he
won fame in the achievement of this, so much the better.
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