Finding No Person At Whom He Could Make Inquiries, He Went Up A
River In The Neighbourhood With Several Boats,
Leaving orders to clean out
the well which he had dug in the fort, as he had directed the colonists
To
throw all the gold they could get into that well, to be prepared against
the worst that might happen; but nothing of the kind could be found. On
his way up the river he could meet with none of the Indians, who all fled
from their houses into the woods on his approach. He therefore returned to
Nauidad, where eight of the Christians had been discovered and three
others in the fields, who were recognized by the remnants of their apparel,
and seemed to have been a month dead. While prosecuting this melancholy
search, a brother of the cacique Guacanagari came, accompanied by some
Indians, to the admiral. These men could speak a few words of Spanish, and
knew the names of all the Christians who had been left there. They said
that those Spaniards had soon fallen out among themselves after the
departure of the admiral, everyone taking for himself as much gold and as
many women as he could procure. That Gutierres and Escovedo killed one
named James, and then went away with nine others and all their women to
the territories of a cacique named Caunabo who was lord of the mines, and
by whom they had all been killed. That many days afterwards Caunabo came
with a great number of men to Nauidad, where only James de Arana remained
with ten men to guard the fort, all the rest of the Spaniards having
dispersed about the island. Caunabo came by night and set fire to the
houses where the Christians resided with their women, all of whom fled to
the sea, where eight of them were drowned, three of them being slain on
shore. That Guacanagari, in fighting against Caunabo in defence of the
Christians, had been wounded and fled.
This account agreed with that which was received by some Spaniards whom
the admiral had sent up into the country, and had gone to a town in the
interior where the cacique lay ill of his wounds. This he said had
prevented him from waiting upon the admiral and giving him an account of
the catastrophe of the Christians, which he narrated exactly in conformity
with the account given by his brother, and he requested that the admiral
would go to see him as he was unable to be moved. The admiral went
accordingly next day, and with great signs of sorrow the cacique related
all that had happened, and that he and his men had all been wounded in
endeavouring to defend the Christians, as appeared by their wounds, which
had not been inflicted by Christian weapons, but with aragayas or wooden
swords and arrows pointed with fish bones. At the end of his discourse the
cacique presented to the admiral eight strings of small beads made of
white, green, and red stones, a string of gold beads, a royal crown of
gold, and three small calabashes full of gold dust, all of which might be
about four marks weight of gold, the mark being half a pound. In return
for all this the admiral gave him abundance of our baubles, which though
not worth three ryals or eighteen-pence, he yet valued exceedingly.
Although Guacanagari was very ill, he insisted upon going, with the
admiral to see the fleet, where he was courteously entertained, and was
much delighted to see the horses, of which he had received an account from
the Christians. And as some of those who had been killed had given him a
very erroneous account of our holy faith, the admiral used his best
endeavours to instruct him, and prevailed with him to wear an image of the
Virgin Mary suspended from his neck, which he had at first refused to
receive.
Reflecting on the disaster of the Christians at Nauidad, and his own
misfortune in that neighbourhood by losing his ship, and considering that
there were other places at no great distance more commodious for the
establishment of a colony, he sailed on Saturday the seventh of December
with the whole fleet to the eastwards, and about evening cast anchor not
far from the islands of Monte Christo. And the next day removed to Monte
Christo, among those seven low islands which were mentioned in the account
of the former voyage. These little islands, although destitute of trees,
are yet extremely pleasant; for in that season of winter they found a
profusion of fine flowers, the nests had many of them eggs, and young
birds in others, and all other things resembled the appearance of summer
in Spain. Removing thence, he went to anchor before an Indian town where
he had resolved to plant his colony, and landed all the men, provisions,
utensils, and animals which had been brought on board the fleet. The place
he now chose was a fine plain near a rock on which a fort might be very
conveniently built for its defence; and here he immediately began to build
a town which he named Isabella, in honour of the queen of Castile. The
port of this place, though exposed to the N.W. was large and convenient,
and had a most delicious river only a bow-shot distant, from which canals
of water might be drawn for the use of the town, to run through the
streets. Immediately beyond that river there lay a vast open plain, from
the extremity of which the Indians said the gold mines of Cibao were not
far remote. For all these reasons the admiral was so extremely intent upon
settling the colony, that what with the fatigues which he had endured at
sea and the labour he now encountered, he not only was unable to write
down from day to day the occurrences as had been his usual custom, but he
fell sick, by which causes his journal was interrupted from the eleventh
of December 1493 till the twelfth of March 1494.
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