A BIT OF HISTORY
When Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage, he left on the
island of Hispaniola, now called Haiti, a little colony of about forty
men.
On his second voyage he sailed first to this same place, arriving in
November, late at night. A salute was fired to let the settlers know
that their friends had returned, but no answer came, and it was feared
that something was wrong. Sure enough, when the voyagers went ashore in
the morning they found eleven dead bodies and no living men. The fort
had been destroyed and the tools and provisions were gone.
This was a sad welcome; all the sadder because it need not have happened
but for the evil doings of the colonists. After the departure of
Columbus they had soon quarreled among themselves and had treated the
inoffensive natives so cruelly that, unable to endure it, they had risen
against the Spaniards and killed them all.
Columbus at once went to work to build another little town, not far from
the first, and called it Isabella. A church was erected, a number of
houses built, and the whole surrounded by a strong wall. This being
done, he placed his brother Diego in charge, and started off with three
ships to make further explorations.
On this voyage he coasted along the southern shore of Cuba, discovered
Jamaica and a number of smaller islands, and sailed all around
Hispaniola. But he was worn out with excitement and fatigue. Discovering
new countries is hard work, and it is still harder to try to govern
unruly and evil men. He became very ill, and was brought back to
Isabella quite unconscious. When at length he came to himself he found
his brother Bartholomew beside him. This was a great comfort, for the
brothers were very fond of each other, and Columbus needed all the help
he could get. He made Bartholomew governor of Hispaniola, but no
governor could do very much with such a company of lawless adventurers
as were these Spaniards. Like a great many people of to-day, they wanted
to get rich quickly and without working. They spent their time in
fighting, roaming about the country, abusing the Indians, and killing
them and one another. At length the natives, exasperated beyond
endurance, rose against them as before, and many Spaniards lost their
lives.
In the end, however, of course it was the Indians that suffered the
most. They could not stand against the white men. Their bows and arrows
would not pierce the soldiers' armor, and they ran in terror from the
sight of a horse, an animal that they had never seen before. Twenty
great bloodhounds were let loose upon them also, which tore them in
pieces; and at length, in despair, they submitted to their enslavers.
They were used as slaves by the white men, being forced to cultivate the
land for their conquerors and to work in the gold mines. The poor
creatures, whose lives had been so simple as to require no hard labor,
died by the thousands, and many were whipped to death or killed
outright, so that in a little while that beautiful island became a place
of great suffering, and the Spaniards were feared and hated by those
gentle natives, who at their coming had been ready to welcome them as
friends.
Many of the colonists grew dissatisfied because they were not getting
rich as fast as they wished, and some returned to Spain with complaints
of Columbus. Finally Francisco Bobadilla was sent out to look into
matters. He treated the great Admiral very unjustly and cruelly, sending
him back to Spain in chains; but in this action he far exceeded his
instructions. Ferdinand and Isabella, grieved for the indignity that had
been put upon the man who had given them a new country, caused him to be
released at once, and recalled Bobadilla.
Nicholas de Ovando was now appointed to rule Hispaniola, and it was
with him that Las Casas went out, as we shall see in the next chapter.