Inland, far away from his original abode, the king
was found who had so kindly helped Columbus when the
Santa Maria was wrecked—King Guacanagari.
From him came the only account ever obtained of the
fate of the colony; a true account apparently, for
later investigations confirmed it. The Spaniards,
with the exception of their leader, Arana, had behaved
very badly toward each other and toward the natives.
They wanted wives, and had stolen all the young women
from Guacanagari’s village and then had fought
with each other for the prettiest. Having obtained
wives, some deserted the little European colony and
went to live as savages among the Indians. Others
had gone to find the gold mines, which quest took
them to the eastern part of the island where the fierce
chief Caonabo ruled. So enraged was this chief
at their invasion that he not only killed them,
but descended upon their compatriots at La Navidad,
and attacked them one night when all was still and
peaceful. Guacanagari heard the savage war whoops,
and out of friendship for the Admiral he tried to
drive off the assailants, but he himself was wounded
and his house was burned. The Spanish fort was
fired; the inmates rushed out, only to be butchered
or driven into the sea and drowned. Not one man
escaped.
Thus ended Columbus’s second trip westward across
the Atlantic. What a landing! Blackened
ruins, dead bodies, the enmity of the natives, and—
no gold; all this where he had hoped to be greeted
by happy, prosperous men. Here were the first
fruits of his great discovery; here the first sample
of Spanish ability at colonizing; here the first specimen
of what the white man could do in a new and peaceful
land; and our great Admiral, thinking of the mixed
band he had brought out from Spain to colonize, dropped
his head and covered his face with his hands.
All were anxious to leave the scene of this tragedy;
but before they left, the native king, Guacanagari,
who appeared as friendly as ever, expressed a desire
to visit Columbus’s ship. While on it he
managed to talk with the Caribbean Indians who were
aboard. That night the captives, including a
woman whom the Spaniards had named Catalina, made
their escape and were picked up in waiting canoes.
Next day when Columbus sent to Guacanagari to demand
their return, the king and his whole village had disappeared.
It would appear that this simple savage had grown
into a far shrewder person than his European host since
that Christmas night when the Santa Maria ran
aground.
La Navidad having disappeared, the next concern was
to found another settlement. A point some distance
east was chosen, where a beautiful green vega, or
plain, stretched far back from the shore. The
city was to be called Isabella, in honor of the queen
who had made possible the discovery of the new lands.
Streets were laid out, a fine church and a storehouse
were planned to be built of stone, and many private
houses, to be built of wood or adobe or any convenient
