The History of Puerto Rico | Page 6

R.A. Van Middeldyk
and the beautiful waterfall on its flank. The
Admiral sent a small caravel close inshore to look for a port, which was
soon found. Perceiving some huts, the captain landed, but the people

who occupied them escaped into the forest as soon as they saw the
strangers. On entering the huts they found two large parrots
(guacamayos) entirely different from those seen until then by the
Spaniards, much cotton, spun and ready for spinning, and other articles,
bringing away a little of each, "especially," says the doctor, "four or
five bones of human arms and legs."
From this the Admiral concluded that he had found the islands
inhabited by the redoubtable Caribs, of whom he had heard on his first
voyage, and who were said to eat human flesh. The general direction in
which these islands were situated had been pointed out to him by the
natives of Guanahani and the Española; hence, he had steered a
southwesterly course on this his second voyage, "and," says the doctor,
"by the goodness of God and the Admiral's knowledge, we came as
straight as if we had come by a known and continuous route."
Having found a convenient port and seen some groups of huts, the
inhabitants of which fled as soon as they perceived the ships, the
Admiral gave orders that the next morning early parties of men should
go on shore to reconnoiter. Accordingly some captains, each with a
small band of men, dispersed. Most of them returned before noon with
the tangible results of their expeditions; one party brought a boy of
about fourteen years of age, who, from the signs he made, was
understood to be a captive from some other island; another party
brought a child that had been abandoned by the man who was leading it
by the hand when he perceived the Spaniards; others had taken some
women; and one party was accompanied by women who had
voluntarily joined them and who, on that account, were believed to be
captives also. Captain Diego Marquiz with six men, who had entered
the thickest part of the forest, did not return that night, nor the three
following days, notwithstanding the Admiral had sent Alonzo de Ojeda
with forty men to explore the jungle, blow trumpets, and do all that
could be done to find them. When, on the morning of the fourth day,
they had not returned, there was ground for concluding that they had
been killed and eaten by the natives; but they made their appearance in
the course of the day, emaciated and wearied, having suffered great
hardships, till by chance they had struck the coast and followed it till

they reached the ships. They brought ten persons, with them--women
and boys.
During the days thus lost the other captains collected more than twenty
female captives, and three boys came running toward them, evidently
escaping from their captors. Few men were seen. It was afterward
ascertained that ten canoes full had gone on one of their marauding
expeditions. In their different expeditions on shore the Spaniards found
all the huts and villages abandoned, and in them "an infinite quantity"
of human bones and skulls hanging on the walls as receptacles. From
the natives taken on board the Spaniards learned that the name of the
first island they had seen was Cayri or Keiree; the one they were on
they named Sibuqueira, and they spoke of a third, not yet discovered,
named Aye-Aye. The Admiral gave to Sibuqueira the name of
Guadaloupe.
Anchors were weighed at daybreak on November 10th. About noon of
the next day the fleet reached an island which Juan de la Cosa laid
down on his map with the name Santa Maria de Monserrat. From the
Indian women on board it was understood that this island had been
depopulated by the Caribs and was then uninhabited. On the same day
in the afternoon they made another island which, according to
Navarrete, was named by the Admiral Santa Maria de la Redonda (the
round one), and seeing that there were many shallows in the
neighborhood, and that it would be dangerous to continue the voyage
during the night, the fleet came to anchor.
On the following morning (the 13th) another island was discovered (la
Antigua); thence the fleet proceeded in a northwesterly direction to San
Martin, without landing at any place, because, as Chanca observes, "the
Admiral was anxious to arrive at 'la Española.'"
After weighing anchor at San Martin on the morning of Thursday the
14th, the fleet experienced rough weather and was driven southward,
anchoring the same day off the island Aye-Aye (Santa Cruz).
Fernandez, the Admiral's son, in his description of his father's second
voyage, says that a small craft (a sloop) with twenty-five men was sent

ashore to take some of the
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