the royal treasurer, to capture her; but she had stayed only three days at Mariel, and then passed safely through the Bahamas Channel, the first to make that passage.27
The arrival of the messengers at Seville, in October, created no small stir, and aided by their treasures and reports they became the heroes of the hour. But their triumph was of short duration; for Benito Martin, the chaplain of Velazquez, happened to be at the port. This man at once laid claim to the vessel for his master, denounced the persons on board as traitors, and prevailed upon the Casa de Contratacion to seize the ship, together with the private funds of the commission, as well as certain money sent by Cortés for his father. A still stronger opponent appeared in the person of Fonseca, bishop of Búrgos, whose interest in Velazquez, fostered by a long interchange of favors, was strengthened by a projected marriage of the governor
with his niece.28 Detaining the messengers and their papers by deferred promises and other measures,29 he filled the royal ear with the most damaging charges against them and their party in behalf of his protégé.