68

YOUNG CACIQUE.

CHAPTER VIII.

IN the last chapter, I intimated to you, that the Spaniards requited the kindness of the Indians with cruelty; but while they were few in number, and under the control of Columbus, this unworthy con duct was not permitted. The timidity of the Indians was soon encouraged by kindness, and they all regarded the strangers with cordiality, and treated them as superior beings. The dignity and state of their princes, as well as their liberal feelings, is evinced by the following relation.

"While detained by contrary winds at Port Conception, Columbus was visited by a young cacique, of apparently great importance. He was borne by four men on a sort of litter, and attended by two hundred of his subjects. The admiral being at dinner when he arrived, the young chieftain ordered his followers to remain without, and, entering the cabin, took his seat beside Columbus, not permitting him to rise, or use any ceremony. Only two old men entered with him, who appeared to be his counsellors, and seated themselves at his feet. If any thing was given him to eat and drink, he merely tasted it, and sent it to his followers, maintaining an air of great gravity and dignity. He spoke but little, his two counsellors watching his lips, and catching and communicating his ideas.

"After dinner, he presented the admiral with a belt, curiously wrought, and two pieces of gold. Columbus gave him a piece of cloth, several amber beads, coloured shoes, and a flask of orange-flower water.

He showed him Spanish coin, on which were the likenesses of the king and queen, and endeavoured to explain to him the power and greatness of those sovereigns. The cacique could not be made to believe that there was a region on earth which produced these wonderful people and wonderful things; he joined in the common idea, that the Spaniards were more than mortal, and that the country and sovereigns they talked of, must exist somewhere in the skies."

In the evening, this prince departed in the style in which he had come. Near him were his son and brother; the former borne along, and attended like his father; the latter on foot with two attendants. The gifts of the admiral to these courtly personages, were carried before the procession with becoming

state.

Columbus continued to explore the northern coast of Hayti, and, on the 20th of December, anchored at a place at present called the Bay of Acal. The inhabitants came out to the ships in canoes, bringing with them delicious fruits, and readily giving the Spaniards small ornaments of gold. Among the visiters, were caciques of different villages, who invited the Spaniards to accompany them to their homes, where they were hospitably entertained.

On the 22d of December, a grand cacique, named Guacanagari, who governed that part of the island, sent a mission to invite the admiral to visit him; at the same time, presenting him with a wrought belt, and a wooden mask, of which, the eyes, nose, and tongue, were of gold. It was not convenient for the admiral to comply immediately with this invitation, but he sent several of his men to make the desired visit. The town in which Guacanagari resided, was

70

THE SHIPWRECK.

larger and better built than any they had yet seen. The cacique received the Spaniards in a public square, which had been swept and put in order to receive the honoured strangers. Here, as on every similar occasion, presents were made by the Indians to their guests.

The night of the 24th was very unfortunate for Columbus. He, in general, kept a vigilant observation wherever there was any possible danger. On the previous morning, he had set sail for the harbour of Guacanagari, and had nearly reached it on Christmas eve. The sea was calm, and the vessel scarcely moved. Columbus had slept little the night before, and, feeling himself safe in the man who held the helm, (that part of the vessel which directs its course,) he went to rest. But the unfaithful steersman, against the admiral's regulations, gave the helm in charge to a careless and ignorant boy, and betook himself to his bed. The rest of the mariners, who, for the security of the ship, were set upon the watch, followed his example. In consequence of this carelessness, the ship was forced upon a sand bank, from which it was found impossible to remove her, and, had not the winds and waters been uncommonly calm, she would have been destroyed, and all her crew would have perished. Fortunately, they were favoured by the weather, and enabled to take refuge on board the Nina.

When this misfortune was reported to Guacanagari, he shed tears of commiseration, and immediately sent out his people with all the canoes they could muster, to unload the vessel. When this was done, all the articles taken from the ship, were safely deposited near the dwelling of the cacique, without injury, or the loss of the least of them. On the 26th

of December, the cacique paid the admiral a visit on board the Nina, and consoled him by every expression of kindness.

When Columbus returned this visit; he was received by the cacique with such courtesy and gracefulness, that he appeared to the admiral with a dignity becoming the majesty of a prince, born and educated in a European country. The fish, flesh, roots, and fruits of the country, were offered to the Spaniards as a refreshment. The manners of Guacanagari were singularly refined and decorous in respect to his eating. He was slow, and moderate in the indulgence of his appetite, and when he had satisfied himself, washed his hands, and rubbed them with odoriferous herbs.

After the entertainment, Columbus was conducted to the groves which surrounded the habitation of the chief. There were about a thousand Indians, all naked; these were ordered by the cacique to perform their national games and dances, for the entertainment of the admiral and his attendants. Columbus, in his turn, exhibited to them the novel spectacle of Moorish bows and arrows, and European firearms.

The cacique told the admiral, that the Caribs, the enemies of his countrymen, made descents upon them, armed with weapons similar to his bows and arrows. When the Indians heard the report of a cannon, and an arquebuse, and perceived that the trees were shivered by them as with lightning, they fell to the ground in astonishment and dismay. But their fears were removed by the assurance, that the Spaniards would be their protectors, and only employ these destructive engines in their defence against the Caribs.

The friendliness of the cacique, the mild manners

72

WARM COUNTRIES.

of his people, and quantities of gold which were daily exchanged for the poorest trifles, together with reports that gold abounded in the interior of the country, all contributed to console the admiral for his misfortune. The shipwrecked crew were delighted with the indolence and ease with which they were permitted to live, and began to prefer the habits of savages to those of civilized man.

In a warm country, the people have no need of the various garments, or expensive houses, which in cold climates, are an indispensable protection from the elements; and their simple food of fruits and fish, is procured without the industry and fatigue which our agriculture requires. We must labour for our comforts. By the sweat of man's brow, among us, he must be fed, sheltered, and clothed; but in tropical countries, the desire of every living thing is immediately satisfied by the spontaneous growth of the soil, and a very little effort to apply its uses. The light trunks of their trees, placed at proper distances, and covered with the interweaving of their ample leaves, form a comfortable dwelling; clothing is not wanted in their soft atmosphere, and earth yields her increase to them with unsparing bounty, without their care; so that they can eat, drink, and live, without the toils of seed time and harvest, and without concern how they shall be warmed and sustained.

The Spaniards loved this lazy luxury, and many of the seamen entreated the admiral, that, when he should return to Spain, they might be permitted to remain on the island.

Perhaps you would like to know how the cacique obtained his power, and how he exercised it. I will tell you. The sovereignty was hereditary. On the decease of a cacique his son succeeded him; but if