 
With the two armies confronting one another the time had come which must decide for either the lives of the Spaniards or the freedom of the natives. Upon the one side were a hundred thousand Indians, armed with clubs, spears, and arrows, the latter tipped with bone or flint. Upon the other were only two hundred infantry and twenty cavalrymen, supported by a small force of Indians under the command of Guakanahari. The contrast was great, but what the Europeans lacked in numbers they made up in the science of war, as well as in their weapons, horses, and hounds—that hunted Indians as if they were game. The risk was equally great on both sides and the issue of the battle apparently uncertain. Columbus attacked the Indians fiercely. The roar of musketry, the neighing of horses, and bellowing of the hounds so bewildered the savages that after a brief and unorganized resistance they took to flight. Some of them fell by the sword, others were trampled upon by the horses or torn by the hounds, while others were taken prisoners. The rest fled to the forest. Thus was it decided that these innocent people should bow their necks to the yoke of European slavery. Columbus lost no time in taking advantage of his victory. He traversed the whole region and wherever he went established his authority without a shadow of resistance. In a few months the entire populous island was under Spanish rule. Margrite and Buil, the two deadly enemies of Columbus, meanwhile had reached Spain. He knew that they would spare no pains to belittle his services in every way they could and to convince the suspicious King of Spain that the discoveries made by him were of very small account. He saw a storm coming which would certainly overwhelm him if he did not take measures to avert it. The only means of doing this was to send the Spanish Court some conspicuous proof of the wealth which he had promised would accrue from his discoveries; and to place himself in a position to furnish such proof, he found it necessary to make extortionate demands upon the poor Indians for contributions. He ordered that the islanders living in the gold region should bring to him quarterly a certain quantity of gold-dust and all the others twenty-five pounds of cotton wool. This was more than the poor people could furnish. As they had been accustomed from youth to a life of idleness, it became unendurable for them to search for gold and gather cotton wool day after day like slaves. Their sustenance was growing scarcer each week and yet the Europeans cruelly drove them to their tasks. As they could not furnish what was demanded of them, even with their utmost exertions, they determined to carry out a plan possible only for those in a desperate condition. Counting upon the gluttony of the Europeans, they thought it feasible to compel them to leave the island if they stopped planting maize and cassava. They unanimously destroyed their crops and fled into unapproachable mountain places, where they subsisted upon fruits and wild turnips, but the unfortunates were soon the victims of their own scheme. They quickly felt the pangs of that hunger which they thought would overcome their oppressors. Some of them were swept away in a lamentable manner, others were carried off by contagious diseases, and the remainder were so exhausted that they could not bear the burdens imposed upon them. As far as the Spaniards were concerned they did not suffer much from this desperate scheme, for by their own exertions and by the arrival of subsistence from Europe they were protected from utter want. The hope of the poor natives, that they might survive the intruders, perished. In the meantime the storm which Columbus saw rising in the distance at last burst upon him. Margrite and Buil had so belittled the importance of his discoveries and pictured his accomplishment in such odious colors that the Spanish Court lost its confidence in him. The King decided to send a representative to the West Indies to investigate affairs and report. This man, Juan Aguado, was far from having the ability or insight to discharge such a duty. Puffed up with his new importance, Aguado came to Hispaniola and hastened to impress the Admiral with his dignity. He met Columbus in a most contemptuous manner and invited all—Spaniards as well as natives—who had any complaints to make, to appear before him. He eagerly seized upon every charge which the discontented brought against Columbus, without inquiring into its truth or falsity, so that he might collect a mass of individual complaints which should exhibit the man whom he hoped to destroy in the worst possible light. Columbus, as we know, could endure much, but this new affliction bore heavily upon him. He resolved to go to Spain at once and make a personal explanation to the King and Queen, leaving the issue to their sense of justice. In pursuance of his plan he appointed his brother Bartolomeo as adelantado, or governor of the island, during his absence, and a certain man, named Roldan, to have military command. This was unfortunate as the latter was an unprincipled adventurer. On the tenth of May |
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