Escobar Then Presented Him With A Cask Of
Wine And Two Flitches Of Bacon, And Sailed Away Again That Same Night
Without Waiting For Any Letters.
Our men were somewhat comforted by the appearance of this vessel, and the
assurance that Mendez and Fiesco had
Got safe to St Domingo, and dropt
their intended conspiracy and revolt; yet they wondered much that Escobar
should have stolen away so privately and suddenly, suspecting that the
governor of Hispaniola was unwilling that the admiral should go to that
island. As the admiral was aware that the hasty departure of Escobar might
occasion speculations and inquiries among the people, he told them that it
was by his own directions, because that caravel not being large enough to
carry them all away, he would not go himself, as he was unwilling to leave
them liable to the disorders that might be occasioned by the mutineers in
his absence. But the truth is, that the governor was unwilling to aid the
return of the admiral into Spain, lest their Catholic majesties might
restore him to his authority as viceroy, by which he would lose his
government; wherefore he would not provide as he might have done for the
admirals voyage to Hispaniola, and had sent Escobar to Jamaica to espy the
condition he was in, and to know whether he might contrive to destroy him
with safety. He had learnt the situation in which the admiral was placed
from James Mendez, who sent the following account of his proceedings in
writing to the admiral by Escobar.
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