hostile disposition on the part of the Indians in the
valley, and a reinforcement of fifty men was dispatched.
T he Spaniards dealt in a grasping and
cruel manner with the subjects of Coanabo, and
when a force of five hundred men, under Margarita,
was sent exploring about the Cibao region, Don
Alonso de Ojeda taking command of the fort, a
dangerous spirit was aroused among the subjects
of the implacable Carib of the mountains.
Columbus, having got his colony started upon its
career of gathering gold, deemed all safe, and putting
a council presided over by his brother in charge,
took to the water again. He explored along the
southern coast of Cuba to the westward for some
distance, and then turned south and discovered
Jamaica. He called it Santiago, but the native
name Xaymaca, “ land of the fountains,” has prevailed,
just as the original designation for the central
part of Cuba has displaced Juana and several
other appellations for that island. The navigator
turned back to the Cuban coast and continued to
tracerit westward until he positively declared that it
was part of the mainland of Cathay. In fact, he
had an instrument drawn up to that effect and attested
before a notary, which did not prevent Cuba
from terminating in a cape to the west. T h e small
islands among which he passed on a part of his
course he called the Garden of the Queen. Having
decided that there was no end to Cuba, he turned
east again, skirted the whole southern coast of Haiti,
and landed on the island of Mona, which received
its name from him. I t was now that he is said to
THE PROCESS OF DISCOVERY 45
have “ fallen into a letharg y,” and was taken to
Isabella in September, 1494, where he lay sick for
several months.
The colony did not flourish. I t was surrounded
by swamps and proved to be unhealthy, and the
greedy quest for gold and the reckless treatment of
the natives had bred serious trouble. A s soon as
the great Columbus was on his feet again, he and
his brother Bartholomew took energetic measures to
put down the troublesome natives who objected to
being plundered. Ojeda, who had been left in command
of the fort, had succeeded in capturing the
intractable Carib cacique in the Cibao Mountains,
and now an army with horses and guns and bloodhounds
marched up the valley, and spread slaughter
and devastation among the villages of the terrified
natives. There was no more resistance in that
quarter, and Guarionex, the cacique of Samana,
was forced to pay tribute in nuggets of gold. Five
shiploads of the subjugated natives were sent to
Seville to be sold as slaves, of which Queen Isabella,
greatly to her credit, did not approve.
Columbus was losing ground in the royal favour
during his prolonged absence, and one Juan Aguado
was sent out to inquire into his doings. This the
bold discoverer did not lik e ; and after some high
words with the envoy, he left his brother Bartholomew
in command as Adelantado, and set out for
Spain with t\\& Nina, March 10, 1496- He arrived at
Cadiz in bad spirits, but his reception cheered him up,
and he undertook to get up another expedition for
the “ Indies.” I t was May 3 1 ,14 9 8,when he g o taw a y