EARLY TIMES.
WE find Columbus sailing into one of its harbours after his second
trip across the great Atlantic Ocean. The trees and plants look very
beautiful to him. But he notices other things; he sees rivers flowing
down into the sea, and the natives tell him of stores of gold to be
found in the beds of these streams. For this reason he calls it "Puerto
Rico," or the "Rich Port," and so it has been called to this day.
He and his men are full of interest in the strange sights around them.
In the waters about Porto Rico are wonderful creatures they have never
seen before. Among these is the manatee, which, rising up out of the
water, looks at a distance somewhat like a human being.
"It is a mermaid," cries Columbus, "but, alas! it is not as beautiful
as I expected." He wrote of it in this way in the account of his voyage.
In those days of long ago people had many queer ideas. One of these
notions was that beings lived in the sea who had heads and arms like
men and women, but the lower parts of their bodies were shaped like
fishes. They were, therefore, half human and half fish. Their home was
far down in cool groves at the bottom of the sea. A diver once said
he had visited the very place. He found the water perfectly clear,
and lighted up by crystal pyramids. There were gardens of beautiful
sea-weeds, furniture all made of precious stones, and the strange
beings dwelling there wore ornaments and combs of shining gold.
They believed that these beings of the sea rose sometimes to the
surface of the water. There they would sing sweet songs as they combed
their long yellow hair. But they sang only to make the sailors forget
their own homes and to lead them into harm.
It was no wonder that Columbus was disappointed when he discovered
the manatee, and believed he had at last seen the mermaids of whom he
had read so many stories. The sea-cow is certainly not a beautiful
creature. It looks somewhat like a small whale; it has a fat body, with
small eyes and ears. It is very timid, and probably swam off as fast
as it could when it found the vessels of Columbus near. Of course,
the great sailor did not get a good view of it or he could not have
believed it to be the mermaid described in song and story.
Not many years after Columbus discovered Porto Rico, Ponce de Leon led
a company of Spaniards to its shores and settled there. The Indian
chief of the country was very kind to the strangers. He gave them
provisions and rich presents, and showed them the fruits and vegetables
which grew there. He shared his treasures with them, and, most
important of all, he led them to a river where stores of gold could be
found in its bed.
Gold! It filled the Spaniards' hearts with greed. This was what they
had longed for; now they could go back to their own country with great
fortunes.
How did they return the kindness of the gentle, trusting natives? By
treating them like slaves! By making them do the hardest labour, and
then rewarding them with cruelties.
When they first came to the shores of the island they had said to the
Indians: "We are immortal; we cannot die; we will live on for ever."
But when the poor Indians had suffered for a long time at their hands,
and when many of their kindred had died from the ill-treatment of the
Spaniards, they said:
"We will prove what these cruel strangers have told us."
They seized a Spanish soldier and held his head under water for two
hours. Then they carried his body to the shore of the river, and sat
down beside it for two whole days. But it showed no signs of life. At
the end of that time they took the body to their chief, who said:
"They have deceived us, for this man has died, even as we would die."
You can easily imagine what followed. There was war between the natives
and the strangers. But the poor Indians had little chance. They had
only bows and arrows, rough spears of wood, and battle-axes of stone.
The Spaniards were armed with swords and guns. Those Indians who were
not killed were made prisoners and set to work in the gold mines and
sugar fields, where they rapidly died from their hard labour.
Years passed by. Ponce de Leon was growing old. His hair was gray; his
face was wrinkled; the top of his head was bald. He had many pains in
his body and was often ill.
Then he thought of the stories told by his Indian slaves of a wonderful
fountain not far away. They declared that its waters were always fresh
and pure; not only this, but each draught that a person swallowed would
make him younger and happier.
"Ah!" sighed the old man, "I wish I might find this spring of living
water, and rid myself of stiff joints and rheumatism. I will start out
in search of it at once. If I can only reach it, I shall become young
and handsome again, and shall never die."
This was the reason the conqueror of Porto Rico sailed away to find the
wonderful Fountain of Eternal Youth of which the Indians had told him.
You probably know the story of the coming of Ponce de Leon to Florida
one beautiful Easter Sunday, which in the Spanish language is called
_Pascua Florida_. So he called the country Florida, saying:
"In this beautiful land must be the wondrous fountain."
Soon afterward, while searching for it, he was shot with a poisoned
arrow, and died on the voyage back to the island.