The name of this commissioner was Juan Aguado, and his powers were vouched for by the following letter from the sovereigns:-- "The King and the Queen.
"Cavaliers, Esquires and other persons, who by our command are in the Indies: we send you thither Juan Aguado, our Gentleman of the Chamber, who will speak to you on our part: we command that you give him faith and credence.
"I the King: I the Queen.
"By command of the King and Queen, our Lords.
"HENAND ALVAREZ.
"Madrid, the ninth of April, one thousand four hundred and ninety-five." PLOTS TO UNDERMINE AND RUIN THE ADMIRAL The royal commissioner arrived at Isabella in October, 1495, and his proceedings in the colony, together with the fear of what he might report on his return, quickened the admiral's desire to return to Court, that he might fight his own battles there himself.

For the tide of his fortune was turning, and this appeared by several notable signs.

Strong as was the confidence which the Sovereigns reposed in him, the representations of Margarite and Buil--the rough soldier and the wily Benedictine--had produced their effect.

They complained of the despotic rule of Columbus; of the disregard of distinctions of rank which he had manifested by placing the hidalgoes on the same footing as the common men, as regards work and rations, during the construction of the settlement; and of his mania for discovery, which made him abandon the colony already formed, in the unremunerative search for new countries.

The commissioner who was sent to investigate these charges, as well as to report on the condition of the colony, found no difficulty in collecting evidence to substantiate them.
An unsuccessful man is generally persuaded that somebody else has caused his failure.