[Illustration: Globe]
[Illustration: In 1493 on his second voyage Columbus stopped at St.
Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was then “a very beautiful
and fertile” island cultivated by Carib Indians. A boat he sent
ashore met with a canoe full of Caribs. In an ensuing fight, one
Indian was killed and several captured—the first serious hostilities
with New World natives. Salt River Bay National Historical Park
preserves the scene of this fateful encounter.]