“A cacique who ruled them all?” No, there
was no such thing.
“Had ships like ours and clothed men ever before
come to them?”
No, never! But then he seemed to say that there
was undoubtedly a tradition. Gods had come, and
would come again, and when they did so great things
would follow! But no cacique nor priest nor any
knew when the gods had come.
The Admiral made some question of Caribs. Again
there was gesture southward, though it seemed to us
that something was said of folk within this great
island who were at least like Caribs. And where
was the most gold and the greatest other wealth that
they knew of? Again south, though this time we
thought it rather south by west. The Admiral
sighed, and spoke of Cuba. Yes, Guacanagari knew
of Cuba. Had it end far yonder to the westward,
or no end? Had any one ever come to its end?
The cacique thought not, or knew not and assumed deliberation.
Luis and I agreed that we had not met among these
Indians any true notion of a continent. To them
Hayti was vast, Cuba was vast, the lands of the Caribs,
wherever they were, were vast, and vast whatever other
islands there might be. To them this was the
OEcumene, the inhabited and inhabitable world,
Europe—Asia—Africa? Their
faces stayed blank. Were these divisions of heaven?
Guacanagari would entertain and succor us. This
canoe —oh, the huge marvel!—was
too crowded! Yonder lay his town. All the
houses that we might want were ours, all the hammocks,
all the food. And he would feast the gods.
That had been preparing since yesterday, A feast with
dancing. He hoped the great cacique and his people
from far nearer heaven than was Guacanagari would
live as long as might be in his town. Guarico
was his town. A big, easy, amiable, likeable
man, he sat in nakedness only not utter, save for
that much like a big hidalgo offering sympathy and
shelter to some fire-ousted or foe-ousted prince!
As for the part of prince it was not hard for the Admiral
to play it. He was one naturally.
He thanked the cacique to whom, I could see, he had
taken liking. Seven houses would be enough.
To-night some of us would sleep upon the beach beside
the heaped goods. To-morrow we would visit Guacanapri.
The big, lazy, peaceable man expressed his pleasure,
then with a wide and dignified gesture dismissing
all that, asked to be shown marvels.
GUACANAGARI’S town was much perhaps as was
Goth town, Frank town, Saxon town, Latin town, sufficient
time ago. As for clothed and unclothed, that
may be to some degree a matter of cold or warm weather.
We had not seen that ever it was cold in this land.
Guacanagari feasted us with great dignity and earnestness,
for he and his people held it a momentous thing our
coming here, our being here. Utias we had and
iguana, fish, cassava bread, potato, many a delicious
fruit, and that mild drink that they made. And
we had calabashes, trenchers and fingers, stone knives
with which certain officers of the feast decorously
divided the meat, small gourds for cups, water for
cleansing, napkins of broad leaves. It was a
great and comely feast. But before the feast,
as in Cuba, the dance.
