The History of Puerto Rico | Page 8

series
of insurrections broke out, headed successively by Diaz, Margarit,
Aguado, Roldán, and others, supported by the convict rabble that, on
the Admiral's own proposals to the authorities in Spain, had been
liberated from galleys and prisons on condition that they should join
him on his third expedition. These men, turbulent, insubordinate, and
greedy, found hunger, hardships, and sickness where they had expected
to find plenty, comfort, and wealth. The Admiral, who had indirectly
promised them these things, to mitigate the universal and bitter
disappointment, had recourse to the unwarrantable expedients of
enslaving the natives, sending them to Spain to be sold, of levying
tribute on those who remained, and, worst of all, dooming them to a
sure and rapid extermination by forced labor.
The natives, driven to despair, resisted, and in the encounters between
the naked islanders and the mailed invaders Juan Ponce distinguished
himself so that Nicolos de Ovando, the governor, made him the
lieutenant of Juan Esquivél, who was then engaged in "pacifying" the
province of Higüey.[8] After Esquivél's departure on the conquest of
Jamaica, Ponce was advanced to the rank of captain, and it was while
he was in the Higüey province that he learned from the Boriquén
natives, who occasionally visited the coast, that there was gold in the
rivers of their as yet unexplored island. This was enough to awaken his
ambition to explore it, and having asked permission of Ovando, it was

granted.
Ponce equipped a caravel at once, and soon after left the port of
Salvaleon with a few followers and some Indians to serve as guides and
interpreters (1508).
They probably landed at or near the same place at which their captain
had landed fifteen years before with the Admiral, that is to say, in the
neighborhood of la Aguáda, where, according to Las Casas, the ships
going and coming to and from Spain had called regularly to take in
fresh water ever since the year 1502.
The strangers were hospitably received. It appears that the mother of
the local cacique, who was also the chief cacique of that part of the
island, was a woman of acute judgment. She had, no doubt, heard from
fugitives from la Española of the doings of the Spaniards there, and of
their irresistible might in battle, and had prudently counseled her son to
receive the intruders with kindness and hospitality.
Accordingly Ponce and his men were welcomed and feasted. They
were supplied with provisions; areitos (dances) were held in their honor;
batos (games of ball) were played to amuse them, and the practise,
common among many of the aboriginal tribes in different parts of the
world, of exchanging names with a visitor as a mark of brotherly
affection, was also resorted to to cement the new bonds of friendship,
so that Guaybána became Ponce for the time being, and Ponce
Guaybána. The sagacious mother of the chief received the name of
Doña Inéz, other names were bestowed on other members of the family,
and to crown all, Ponce received the chief's sister in marriage.
Under these favorable auspices Ponce made known his desire to see the
places where the chiefs obtained the yellow metal for the disks which,
as a distinctive of their rank, they wore as medals round their neck.
Guaybána responded with alacrity to his Spanish brother's wish, and
accompanied him on what modern gold-seekers would call "a
prospecting tour" to the interior. The Indian took pride in showing him
the rivers Manatuabón, Manatí, Sibucó, and others, and in having their
sands washed in the presence of his white friends, little dreaming that

by so doing he was sealing the doom of himself and people.
Ponce was satisfied with the result of his exploration, and returned to la
Española in the first months of 1509, taking with him the samples of
gold collected, and leaving behind some of his companions, who
probably then commenced to lay the foundations of Capárra. It is
believed that Guaybána accompanied him to see and admire the
wonders of the Spanish settlement. The gold was smelted and assayed,
and found to be 450 maravedis per peso fine, which was not as fine as
the gold obtained in la Española, but sufficiently so for the king of
Spain's purposes, for he wrote to Ponce in November, 1509: "I have
seen your letter of August 16th. Be very diligent in searching for gold
mines in the island of San Juan; take out as much as possible, and after
smelting it in la Española, send it immediately."
On August 14th of the same year Don Fernando had already written to
the captain thanking him for his diligence in the settlement of the island
and appointing him governor ad interim.
Ponce returned to San Juan in July or the beginning of August, after