Santo Domingo | Page 4

remaining caravels, the Santa
Maria and the Niña, Columbus reached Cape Maisi, the easternmost
point of Cuba, where he sighted a high mountainous land lying in a
southeasterly direction. On the following day, December 6, 1492, he
reached this land, which he called la Española, because it reminded him
of Andalusia. In English histories the name is modified to Hispaniola.
The port Columbus called San Nicolas, as he had entered it on St.
Nicholas day, and it is now known as Mole St. Nicolas.
Columbus then sailed along the north coast of the island and entered
the pretty little port known to-day as Port-à-l'Ecu. Here, on December
12, he solemnly took possession of the country in the name of his
sovereigns, erecting a wooden cross on a high hill on the western side
of the bay. He then visited Tortuga Island, to the north, giving it this
name on account of its shape and the great number of turtles in the
water near its coast. After stopping in a harbor which he called Puerto
de Paz, Port of Peace, because of the harmony which prevailed at the
meetings with the natives, Columbus continued in an easterly direction,
but adverse winds compelled him to put into the bay of Santo Tomas,
to-day bay of l'Acul, where the cordial intercourse with the natives was
renewed. Here he received an embassy from the chief of the district,
Guacanagari, inviting him to visit the cacique's residence, further along
the coast, and bringing him as presents a wampum belt artistically
worked and a wooden mask with eyes, tongue and nose of gold.

To accept the invitation Columbus set sail on the morning of December
24. In the evening when the admiral had retired the helmsman
committed the indiscretion of confiding the helm to a ship's boy. About
midnight when off Cape Haitien, near their destination, the vessel was
caught in a current and swept upon a sandbank where she began to keel
over. During the confusion which followed, Columbus had the
mainmast chopped down but all efforts to right the ship were in vain,
and Columbus and the crew were obliged to take refuge on the little
Niña.
As soon as Guacanagari received news of the disaster he sent large
canoes filled with men to help the strangers transport their stores to the
shore. The relations between the Spaniards and the Indians became
most cordial, especially as the Spaniards were gratified to obtain much
gold in exchange for articles of insignificant value, owing to which
circumstances and to the natural advantages of the location, Columbus
determined to build a fort with the wreckage of his vessel. The fort was
on a hill east of the site of the present town of Cape Haitien. Columbus
gave it the name of La Navidad because he had entered the bay on
Christmas day, and leaving thirty-nine men as colonists set out on the
Niña on January 4, 1493, on his return trip to Spain.
Near the great yellow promontory on the north of the island, to which
Columbus gave the name it still retains of Monte Cristi, the Pinta,
which had deserted the other vessels off Cuba, was sighted. Columbus
having heard the excuses of the Pinta's captain, took no action with
respect to the latter's delinquency, but set about exploring a large river
in the vicinity to which he gave the name of Rio de Oro and which
to-day is called the Yaque. Continuing the journey along the coast of
the island the vessels rounded the giant promontory of Cape Cabron
and that of Samana and entered the great bay of Samana which
Columbus at first took to be an arm of the sea. Here it was that the first
armed encounter between sons of the old world and the new took place.
The Indians set upon the Spaniards when they landed but were quickly
driven to flight, one of their number being severely wounded. On the
following day, however, a more pleasant meeting took place and
presents were exchanged. On January 16 the two vessels set sail for

Spain.
The immense excitement produced in Spain by the discoveries of
Columbus made the preparation of another expedition an easy matter,
and on September 25, 1493, the admiral again set out from Spain, this
time with sixteen ships and some 1300 men. After touching at several
of the Leeward Islands and Porto Rico, the fleet sighted the Samana
peninsula on November 22, 1493, and three days later arrived at Monte
Cristi. Here the finding of two corpses of Spaniards filled the members
of the expedition with grave apprehensions, which proved justified
when two days later they arrived at La Navidad and found the fort
completely destroyed, the Indian village burnt to the ground, and the
whole neighborhood silent and desolate.