Appointed to take charge of the affairs of the New World was Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, arch-deacon of Seville, and afterward patriarch of the Indies. Although high in ecclesiastical preferment, he was a bustling man of business, and ably filled the office during a period of some thirty years. Of unflinching devotion to his sovereign, sedate, stern in the accomplishment of his duty, and obliged as he was, in the interests of the crown, to exercise occasional restraint on the rashness or presumption of the conquerors, he incurred their enmity and was reviled by their biographers. That he was retained so long in office by such able monarchs as Ferdinand and Charles goes far to prove invalid the charges of misrule and villainy so liberally made against him. Associated with Fonseca was Francisco Pinelo, as treasurer, and Juan de Soria as _contador_, or auditor. Their chief office was at Seville, with a custom-house at Cádiz belonging to the same department. This was the germ of the famous _Casa de Contratacion de las Indias_, or India House of Trade, so long dominant in the government of the New World. [Sidenote: THE SECOND VOYAGE.] Thus all went swimmingly. Columbus found no difficulty in fitting out a fleet for a second venture, a royal order being issued that all captains, with their ships and crews, in all the Andalusian ports, should hold themselves in readiness for that purpose. Seventeen vessels sailed from Cádiz the 25th of September, 1493, having on board twelve hundred persons,—miners, mechanics, agriculturists, and gentlemen,—with horses, cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, and fowls; the seeds of vegetables, of orchard fruits, of oranges, lemons, and grain for planting; together with provisions, medicines, implements, goods for trade, arms, ammunition, and all the requirements for founding a colony. Among the passengers were Diego Colon, the admiral's brother, Bernal Diaz de Pisa, contador, Fermin Cedo, assayer, and Alonso de Ojeda and Juan de la Cosa, subsequently famous in New World discoveries; also twelve priests, chief among whom was Bernardo Buil, a Benedictine monk, sent by the pope as his apostolic vicar, with all the ornaments and vestments for full service, which always had a wonderful effect upon the natives. The work of conversion had already been begun by baptizing in solemn state the six savages brought over by Columbus, Ferdinand and Isabella with Prince Juan standing sponsors. The 3d of November the expedition reached Dominica, so named from the day of arrival, Sunday. Next was discovered an island to which Columbus gave the name of his ship, _Marigalante_; then Guadalupe, where were tamed geese, and pine-apples, also human bones, significant of the presence of the horror-breeding Caribs, or cannibals. Thus cruising among these Caribbee Islands, and naming them one after another, Columbus continued his way and finally came to Navidad, only to find the fortress in ruins, its former occupants having