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-- THE SECOND EXPEDITION SAILS.
-- FROM CADIZ AT CANARY ISLANDS--DISCOVERY OF DOMINICA AND GUADELOUPE--SKIRMISHES WITH THE CARIBS--PORTO RICO DISCOVERED--HISPANIOLA--THE FATE OF THE COLONY AT LA NAVIDAD.
There is not in history a sharper contrast, or one more dramatic, than that between the first voyage of Columbus and the second.

In the first voyage, three little ships left the port of Palos, most of the men of their crews unwilling, after infinite difficulty in preparation, and in the midst of the fears of all who stayed behind.
In the second voyage, a magnificent fleet, equipped with all that the royal service could command, crowded with eager adventurers who are excited by expectations of romance and of success, goes on the very same adventure.
In the first voyage, Columbus has but just turned the corner after the struggles and failures of eight years.

He is a penniless adventurer who has staked all his reputation on a scheme in which he has hardly any support.

In the second case, Columbus is the governor-general, for aught he knows, of half the world, of all the countries he is to discover; and he knows enough, and all men around him know enough, to see that his domain may be a principality indeed.
Success brings with it its disadvantages.