The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, vol 2 | Page 3

a friendly reception on the part of her tribe
was faithfully performed.
On a commanding bank of the harbor, Don Bartholomew erected a
fortress, which at first was called Isabella, but afterwards San Domingo,
and was the origin of the city which still bears that name. The
Adelantado was of an active and indefatigable spirit. No sooner was the

fortress completed, than he left in it a garrison of twenty men, and with
the rest of his forces set out to visit the dominions of Behechio, one of
the principal chieftains of the island. This cacique, as has already been
mentioned, reigned over Xaragua, a province comprising almost the
whole coast at the west end of the island, including Cape Tiburon, and
extending along the south side as far as Point Aguida, or the small
island of Beata. It was one of the most populous and fertile districts,
with a delightful climate; and its inhabitants were softer and more
graceful in their manners than the rest of the islanders. Being so remote
from all the fortresses, the cacique, although he had taken a part in the
combination of the chieftains, had hitherto remained free from the
incursions and exactions of the white men.
With this cacique resided Anacaona, widow of the late formidable
Caonabo. She was sister to Behechio, and had taken refuge with her
brother after the capture of her husband. She was one of the most
beautiful females of the island; her name in the Indian language
signified "The Golden Flower." She possessed a genius superior to the
generality of her race, and was said to excel in composing those little
legendary ballads, or areytos, which the natives chanted as they
performed their national dances. All the Spanish writers agree in
describing her as possessing a natural dignity and grace hardly to be
credited in her ignorant and savage condition. Notwithstanding the ruin
with which her husband had been overwhelmed by the hostility of the
white men, she appears to have entertained no vindictive feeling
towards them, knowing that he had provoked their vengeance by his
own voluntary warfare. She regarded the Spaniards with admiration as
almost superhuman beings, and her intelligent mind perceived the
futility and impolicy of any attempt to resist their superiority in arts and
arms. Having great influence over her brother Behechio, she counseled
him to take warning by the fate of her husband, and to conciliate the
friendship of the Spaniards; and it is supposed that a knowledge of the
friendly sentiments and powerful influence of this princess in a great
measure prompted the Adelantado to his present expedition. [4]
In passing through those parts of the island which had hitherto been
unvisited by Europeans, the Adelantado adopted the same imposing

measures which the admiral had used on a former occasion; he put his
cavalry in the advance, and entered all the Indian towns in martial array,
with standards displayed, and the sound of drum and trumpet.
After proceeding about thirty leagues, he came to the river Neyva,
which, issuing from the mountains of Cibao, divides the southern side
of the island. Crossing this stream, he dispatched two parties of ten men
each along the sea-coast in search of brazil-wood. They found great
quantities, and felled many trees, which they stored in the Indian cabins,
until they could be taken away by sea.
Inclining with his main force to the right, the Adelantado met, not far
from the river, the cacique Behechio, with a great army of his subjects,
armed with bows and arrows and lances. If he had come forth with the
intention of opposing the inroad into his forest domains, he was
probably daunted by the formidable appearance of the Spaniards.
Laying aside his weapons, he advanced and accosted the Adelantado
very amicably, professing that he was thus in arms for the purpose of
subjecting certain villages along the river, and inquiring, at the same
time, the object of this incursion of the Spaniards. The Adelantado
assured him that he came on a peaceful visit to pass a little time in
friendly intercourse at Xaragua. He succeeded so well in allaying the
apprehensions of the cacique, that the latter dismissed his army, and
sent swift messengers to order preparations for the suitable reception of
so distinguished a guest. As the Spaniards advanced into the territories
of the chieftain, and passed through the districts of his inferior caciques,
the latter brought forth cassava bread, hemp, cotton, and various other
productions of the land. At length they drew near to the residence of
Behechio, which was a large town situated in a beautiful part of the
country near the coast, at the bottom of that deep bay called at present
the Bight of Leogan.
The Spaniards had heard many accounts of the soft and delightful