Part 14

The island being large, is divided into provinces; the part which we first touched at, is called Hayti; another province adjoining it, they call Xamaná; and the next province is named Bohio, where we now are. These provinces are again subdivided, for they are of great extent. Those who have seen the length of its coast, state that it is two hundred leagues long, and I, myself, should judge it not to be less than a hundred and fifty leagues: as to its breadth, nothing is hitherto known; it is now forty days since a caravel left us with the view of circumnavigating it, and is not yet returned.[131] The country is very remarkable, and contains a vast number of large rivers, and extensive chains of mountains, with broad open valleys, and the mountains are very high: it does not appear that the grass is ever cut throughout the year. I do not think that they have any winter in this part, for at Christmas were found many birds-nests, some containing the young birds, and others containing eggs. No four-footed animal has ever been seen in this or any of the other islands, except some dogs of various colours, as in our own country, but in shape like large house-dogs; and also some little animals, in colour, size, and fur, like a rabbit, with long tails, and feet like those of a rat; these animals climb up the trees, and many who have tasted them, say they are very good to eat:[132] there are not any wild beasts. There are great numbers of small snakes, and some lizards, but not many; for the Indians consider them as great a luxury as we do pheasants: they are of the same size as ours, but different in shape. In a small adjacent island[133] (close by a harbour called Monte Christo, where we stayed several days), our men saw an enormous kind of lizard, which they said was as large round as a calf,[134] with a tail as long as a lance, which they often went out to kill: but bulky as it was, it got into the sea, so that they could not catch it. There are, both in this and the other islands, an infinite number of birds like those in our own country, and many others such as we had never seen. No kind of domestic fowl has been seen here, with the exception of some ducks in the houses in Zuruquia; these ducks were larger than those of Spain, though smaller than geese,—very pretty, with flat crests, most of them as white as snow, but some black.

We ran along the coast of this island nearly a hundred leagues, concluding, that within this range we should find the spot where the admiral had left some of his men, and which we supposed to be about the middle of the coast. As we passed by the province called Xamaná, we sent on shore one of the Indians, who had been taken in the previous voyage, clothed, and carrying some trifles, which the admiral had ordered to be given him. On that day died one of our sailors, a Biscayan, who had been wounded in the affray with the Caribbees, when they were captured, as I have already described, through their want of caution. As we were proceeding along the coast, an opportunity was afforded for a boat to go on shore to bury him, the boat being accompanied by two caravels to protect it. When they reached the shore, a great number of Indians came out to the boat, some of them wearing necklaces and ear-rings of gold, and expressed a wish to accompany the Spaniards to the ships; but our men refused to take them, because they had not received permission from the admiral. When the Indians found that they would not take them, two of them got into a small canoe, and went up to one of the caravels that had put in to shore; they were received on board with great kindness, and taken to the admiral’s ship, where, through the medium of an interpreter, they related that a certain king had sent them to ascertain who we were, and to invite us to land, adding that they had plenty of gold, and also of provisions, to which we should be welcome. The admiral desired that shirts, and caps, and other trifles, should be given to each of them, and said that as he was going to the place where Guacamari dwelt, he would not stop then, but that on a future day they would have an opportunity of seeing him, and with that they departed. We continued our route till we came to an harbour called Monte Cristi, where we remained two days, in order to observe the position of the land; for the admiral had an objection to the spot where his men had been left with the view of forming a station. We went on shore therefore to observe the formation of the land. There was a large river of excellent water close by;[135] but the ground was inundated, and very ill-calculated for habitation. As we went on making our observations on the river and the land, some of our men found two dead bodies by the river’s side, one with a rope round his neck, and the other with one round his foot: this was on the first day of our landing. On the following day they found two other corpses farther on, and one of these was observed to have a great quantity of beard. This was regarded as a very suspicious circumstance by many of our people, because, as I have already said, all the Indians are beardless. This harbour is twelve leagues from the place where the Spaniards had been left under the protection of Guacamari, the king of that province, whom I suppose to be one of the chief men of the island. After two days we set sail for that spot, but as it was late when we arrived,[136] and there were some shoals, where the admiral’s ship had been lost, we did not venture to put in close to the shore, but remained that night at a little less than a league from the coast, waiting until the morning, when we might enter securely. On that evening, a canoe, containing five or six Indians, came out at a considerable distance from where we were, and approached us with great celerity. The admiral believing that he insured our safety by keeping the sails set, would not wait for them; they, however, perseveringly rowed up to us within gunshot, and then stopped to look at us; but when they saw that we did not wait for them, they put back and went away. After we had anchored that night at the spot in question,[137] the admiral ordered two guns to be fired, to see if the Spaniards, who had remained with Guacamari, would fire in return, for they also had guns with them; but when we received no reply, and could not perceive any fires, nor the slightest symptom of habitations on the spot, the spirits of our people became much depressed, and they began to entertain the suspicion which the circumstances were naturally calculated to excite. While all were in this desponding mood, and when four or five hours of the night had passed away, the same canoe which we had seen in the evening, came up, and the Indians with a loud voice addressed the captain of the caravel which they first approached, inquiring for the admiral; they were conducted to the admiral’s vessel, but would not go on board till he had spoken to them, and they had asked for a light, in order to assure themselves that it was he who conversed with them. One of them was a cousin of Guacamari, who had been sent by him once before: it appeared, that after they had turned back the previous evening, they had been charged by Guacamari with two masks of gold as a present; one for the admiral, the other for a captain who had accompanied him on the former voyage. They remained on board for three hours, talking with the admiral in the presence of all of us, he showing much pleasure in their conversation, and inquiring respecting the welfare of the Spaniards whom he had left behind. Guacamari’s cousin replied, that those who remained were all well, but that some of them had died of disease, and others had been killed in quarrels that had arisen amongst them: he said also that the province had been invaded, by two kings named Caonabó and Mayreni, who had burned the habitations of the people; and that Guacamari was at some distance, lying ill of a wound in his leg, which was the occasion of his not appearing, but that he would come on the next day. The Indians then departed, saying they would return on the following day with the said Guacamari, and left us consoled for that night. Next morning we looked for Guacamari’s arrival; and, meanwhile, some of our men landed by command of the admiral, and went to the spot where the Spaniards had formerly been: they found the building which they had inhabited, and which they had in some degree fortified with a palisade, burnt and levelled with the ground; they found also some rags and stuffs which the Indians had brought to throw upon the house. They observed too that the Indians who were seen near the spot, looked very shy, and dared not approach, but, on the contrary, fled from them. This we thought did not look well; for the admiral had told us that in the former voyage, when he arrived at this place, so many came in canoes to see our people, that there was no keeping them off; and as we now noticed that they were suspicious of us, it gave us a very unfavourable impression. We threw trifles, such as buttons and beads, towards them, in order to conciliate them, but only four, a relation of Guacamari’s and three others, took courage to enter the boat, and were rowed on board. When they were asked concerning the Spaniards, they replied that all of them were dead: we had been told this already by one of the Indians whom we had brought from Spain, and who had conversed with the two Indians that on the former occasion came on board with their canoe, but we had not believed it. Guacamari’s kinsman was asked who had killed them: he replied that king Caonabó and king Mayreni had made an attack upon them, and burnt the buildings on the spot, that many were wounded in the affray, and among them Guacamari, who had received a wound in his thigh, and had retired to some distance: he also stated that he wished to go and fetch him; upon which some trifles were given to him, and he took his departure for the place of Guacamari’s abode. All that day we remained in expectation of them, and when we saw that they did not come, many suspected that the Indians who had been on board the night before, had been drowned; for they had had wine given them two or three times, and they had come in a small canoe that might be easily upset. The next morning the admiral went on shore, taking some of us with him; we went to the spot where the settlement had been, and found it utterly destroyed by fire, and the clothes of the Spaniards lying about upon the grass, but on that occasion we saw no dead body. There were many different opinions amongst us; some suspecting that Guacamari himself was concerned in the betrayal and death of the Christians; others thought not, because his own residence was burnt: so that it remained a very doubtful question. The admiral ordered all the ground which had been occupied by the fortifications of the Spaniards to be searched, for he had left orders with them to bury all the gold that they might get. While this was being done, the admiral wished to examine a spot at about a league’s distance, which seemed to be suitable for building a town, for there was yet time to do so;—and some of us went thither with him, making our observations of the land as we went along the coast, until we reached a village of seven or eight houses, which the Indians forsook when they saw us approach, carrying away what they could, and leaving the things which they could not remove, hidden amongst the grass, around the houses. These people are so degraded that they have not even the sense to select a fitting place to live in; those who dwell on the shore, build for themselves the most miserable hovels that can be imagined, and all the houses are so covered with grass and dampness, that I wonder how they can contrive to exist. In these houses we found many things belonging to the Spaniards, which it could not be supposed they would have bartered; such as a very handsome Moorish mantle, which had not been unfolded since it was brought from Spain, stockings and pieces of cloth, also an anchor belonging to the ship which the admiral had lost here on the previous voyage; with other articles, which the more confirmed our suspicions. On examining some things which had been very cautiously sewn up in a small basket, we found a man’s head wrapped up with great care; this we judged might be the head of a father, or mother, or of some person whom they much regarded: I have since heard that many were found in the same state, which makes me believe that our first impression was the true one. After this we returned. We went on the same day to the site of the settlement; and when we arrived, we found many Indians, who had regained their courage, bartering gold with our men: they had bartered to the extent of a mark: we also learned that they had shown where the bodies of eleven of the dead Spaniards were laid, which were already covered with the grass that had grown over them; and they all with one voice asserted that Caonabó and Mayreni had killed them; but notwithstanding all this, we began to hear complaints that one of the Spaniards had taken three women to himself, and another four, from whence we drew the inference that jealousy was the cause of the misfortune that had occurred. On the next morning, as no spot in that vicinity appeared suitable for our making a settlement, the admiral ordered a caravel to go in one direction to look for a convenient locality, while some of us went with him another way. In the course of our explorations, we discovered a harbour of great security; the neighbourhood of which, so far as regarded the formation of the land, was excellent for habitation; but as it was far from any mine of gold, the proximity of which was very desirable, the admiral decided that we should settle in some spot which would give us greater certainty of attaining that object, provided the position of the land should prove equally convenient. On our return, we found the other caravel arrived, in which Melchior and four or five other trustworthy men had been exploring with a similar object. They reported that as they went along the coast, a canoe came out to them containing two Indians, one of whom was the brother of Guacamari, and was recognised by a pilot who was in the caravel. When he questioned them as to their purpose, they replied that Guacamari sent to beg the Spaniards to come on shore, as he was residing near, with as many as fifty families around him. The chief men of the party then went on shore in the boat, and proceeding to the place where Guacamari was, found him stretched on his bed, complaining of a severe wound. They conferred with him, and inquired respecting the Spaniards; his reply was in accordance with the account already given by the others, viz.—that they had been killed by Caonabó and Mayreni, who also had wounded him in the thigh. In confirmation of his assertion, he showed them the limb bound up, on seeing which, they concluded that his statement was correct. At their departure he gave to each of them a jewel of gold, according to his estimate of their respective merits. The Indians beat the gold into very thin plates, in order to make masks of it, and set it in a cement which they make for that purpose. Other ornaments they make of it, to wear on the head and to hang in the ears and nostrils, and for these also they require it to be thin. It is not the costliness of the gold that they value in their ornaments, but its showy appearance. Guacamari desired them by signs as well as he was able, to tell the admiral that as he was thus wounded, he prayed him to have the goodness to come to see him. The sailors told this to the admiral when he arrived, and he resolved to go the next morning, for the spot could be reached in three hours, being scarcely three leagues distance from the place where we were; but as it would be the dinner-hour when we arrived, we dined before we went on shore. After dinner, the admiral gave orders that all the captains should come with their barges to proceed to the shore, for already on that morning, previous to our departure, the aforesaid brother of Guacamari had come to speak to the admiral to urge his visit. Then the admiral went on shore accompanied by all the principal officers, so richly dressed that they would have made a distinguished appearance even in any of our chief cities: he took with him some articles as presents, having already received from Guacamari a certain quantity of gold, and it was reasonable that he should make a commensurate response to his acts and expressions of good-will: Guacamari had also provided himself with a present. When we arrived, we found him stretched upon his bed, which was made of cotton net-work, and, according to their custom, suspended.[138] He did not arise, but from his bed made the best gesture of courtesy of which he was capable. He showed much feeling; with tears in his eyes lamented the death of the Spaniards, and began by explaining to the best of his power, how some died of disease, others had gone to Caonabó in search of the mine of gold, and had there been killed, and that the rest had been attacked and slain in their own town. According to the appearance of the dead bodies, it was not two months since this had happened. He then presented the admiral with eight marks and a half of gold, five or six hundred pieces of jewellery of various colours, and a cap with similar jewel-work, which I think they must value very highly, because in it was a jewel which was presented with great reverence. It appears to me that these people put more value upon copper than gold. The surgeon of the fleet and myself being present, the admiral told Guacamari that we were skilled in the treatment of human disorders, and wished that he would shew us his wound. He replied that he was willing; upon which I said it would be necessary that he should, if possible, go out of the house, because we could not see well on account of the place being darkened by the throng of people; to this he consented, I think more from timidity than inclination, and left the house leaning on the arm of the admiral. After he was seated, the surgeon approached him and began to untie his bandage; then he told the admiral that the wound was made with a _ciba_, by which he meant with a stone. When the wound was uncovered, we went up to examine it: it is certain that there was no more wound on that leg than on the other, although he cunningly pretended that it pained him much. Ignorant as we were of the facts, it was impossible to come to a definite conclusion. There were certainly many proofs of an invasion by a hostile people, so that the admiral was at a loss what to do. He with many others thought, however, that for the present, and until they could ascertain the truth, they ought to conceal their distrust; for, after ascertaining it, they would be able to claim whatever indemnity they thought proper. That evening Guacamari accompanied the admiral to the ships, and when they showed him the horses and other objects of interest, their novelty struck him with the greatest amazement: he took supper on board, and returned that evening to his house. The admiral told him that he wished to settle there and to build houses; to which he assented, but said that the place was not wholesome, because it was very damp: and so it most certainly was.

All this passed through the interpretation of two of the Indians who had gone to Spain in the last voyage, and who were the sole survivors of seven that had embarked with us; five died on the voyage, and these but narrowly escaped. The next day we anchored in that port: Guacamari sent to know when the admiral intended leaving, and was told that he should do so on the morrow. The same day Guacamari’s brother, and others with him, came on board, bringing gold to barter: on the day of our departure also they bartered a great quantity of gold. There were ten women on board, of those which had been taken in the Caribbee islands, principally from Burenquen, and it was observed that the brother of Guacamari spoke with them; we think that he told them to make an effort to escape that night; for certainly during our first sleep they dropped themselves quietly into the water, and went on shore, so that by the time they were missed they had reached such a distance that only four could be taken by the boats which went in pursuit, and these were secured when just leaving the water: they had to swim considerably more than half a league. The next morning the admiral sent to desire that Guacamari would cause search to be made for the women who had escaped in the night, and that he would send them back to the ships. When the messengers arrived they found the place forsaken and not a soul there; this made many openly declare their suspicions, but others said they might have removed to another village, as was their custom. That day we remained quiet, because the weather was unfavourable for our departure. On the next morning the admiral resolved that as the wind was adverse, it would be well to go with the boats to inspect a harbour on the coast at two leagues distance further up,[139] to see if the formation of the land was favourable for a settlement; and we went thither with all the ship’s boats, leaving the ships in the harbour. As we moved along the coast the people manifested a sense of insecurity, and when we reached the spot to which we were bound all the natives had fled. While we were walking about this place we found an Indian stretched on the hill-side, close by the houses, with a gaping wound in his shoulder caused by a dart, so that he had been disabled from fleeing any further. The natives of this island fight with sharp darts, which they discharge from cross-bows in the same manner as boys in Spain shoot their small arrows, and which they send with considerable skill to a great distance; and certainly upon an unarmed people these weapons are calculated to do serious injury. The man told us that Caonabó and his people had wounded him and burnt the houses of Guacamari. Thus we are still kept in uncertainty respecting the death of our people, on account of the paucity of information on which to form an opinion, and the conflicting and equivocal character of the evidence we have obtained. We did not find the position of the land in this port favourable for healthy habitation, and the admiral resolved upon returning along the upper coast by which we had come from Spain, because we had had tidings of gold in that direction. But the weather was so adverse that it cost more labour to sail thirty leagues in a backward direction than the whole voyage from Spain; so that, what with the contrary wind and the length of the passage, three months had elapsed before we set foot on land. It pleased God, however, that through the check upon our progress caused by contrary winds, we succeeded in finding the best and most suitable spot that we could have selected for a settlement, where there was an excellent harbour[140] and abundance of fish, an article of which we stood in great need from the scarcity of meat. The fish caught here are very singular and more wholesome than those of Spain. The climate does not allow the fish to be kept from one day to another, for all animal food speedily becomes unwholesome, on account of the alternate heat and damp.