The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, vol 2 | Page 8

yet
even him they with difficulty brought themselves to obey. The
Adelantado, on the contrary, was regarded by many as a mere intruder,
assuming high command without authority from the crown, and
shouldering himself into power on the merits and services of his
brother. They spoke with impatience and indignation, also, of the long
absence of the admiral, and his fancied inattention to their wants; little
aware of the incessant anxieties he was suffering on their account,
during his detention in Spain. The sagacious measure of the Adelantado
in building the caravels for some time diverted their attention. They
watched their progress with solicitude, looking upon them as a means
either of obtaining relief, or of abandoning the island. Aware that
repining and discontented men should never be left in idleness, Don
Bartholomew kept them continually in movement; and indeed a state of
constant activity was congenial to his own vigorous spirit. About this
time messengers arrived from Behechio, cacique of Xaragua, informing
him that he had large quantities of cotton, and other articles, in which
his tribute was to be paid, ready for delivery. The Adelantado
immediately set forth with a numerous train, to revisit this fruitful and
happy region. He was again received with songs and dances, and all the
national demonstrations of respect and amity by Behechio and his sister
Anacaona. The latter appeared to be highly popular among the natives,
and to have almost as much sway in Xaragua as her brother. Her

natural ease, and the graceful dignity of her manners, more and more
won the admiration of the Spaniards.
The Adelantado found thirty-two inferior caciques assembled in the
house of Behechio, awaiting his arrival with their respective tributes.
The cotton they had brought was enough to fill one of their houses.
Having delivered this, they gratuitously offered the Adelantado as
much cassava bread as he desired. The offer was most acceptable in the
present necessitous state of the colony; and Don Bartholomew sent to
Isabella for one of the caravels, which was nearly finished, to be
dispatched as soon as possible to Xaragua, to be freighted with bread
and cotton.
In the meantime, the natives brought from all quarters large supplies of
provisions, and entertained their guests with continual festivity and
banqueting. The early Spanish writers, whose imaginations, heated by
the accounts of the voyagers, could not form an idea of the simplicity
of savage life, especially in these newly-discovered countries, which
were supposed to border upon Asia, often speak in terms of oriental
magnificence of the entertainments of the natives, the palaces of the
caciques, and the lords and ladies of their courts, as if they were
describing the abodes of Asiatic potentates. The accounts given of
Xaragua, however, have a different character; and give a picture of
savage life, in its perfection of idle and ignorant enjoyment. The
troubles which distracted the other parts of devoted Hayti had not
reached the inhabitants of this pleasant region. Living among beautiful
and fruitful groves, on the borders of a sea apparently for ever tranquil
and unvexed by storms; having few wants, and those readily supplied,
they appeared emancipated from the common lot of labor, and to pass
their lives in one uninterrupted holiday. When the Spaniards regarded
the fertility and sweetness of this country, the gentleness of its people,
and the beauty of its women, they pronounced it a perfect paradise.
At length the caravel arrived which was to be freighted with the articles
of tribute. It anchored about six miles from the residence of Behechio,
and Anacaona proposed to her brother that they should go together to
behold what she called the great canoe of the white men. On their way

to the coast, the Adelantado was lodged one night in a village, in a
house where Anacaona treasured up those articles which she esteemed
most rare and precious. They consisted of various manufactures of
cotton, ingeniously wrought; of vessels of clay, moulded into different
forms; of chairs, tables, and like articles of furniture, formed of ebony
and other kinds of wood, and carved with various devices,--all evincing
great skill and ingenuity, in a people who had no iron tools to work
with. Such were the simple treasures of this Indian princess, of which
she made numerous presents to her guest.
Nothing could exceed the wonder and delight of this intelligent woman,
when she first beheld the ship. Her brother, who treated her with a
fraternal fondness and respectful attention worthy of civilized life, had
prepared two canoes, gayly painted and decorated; one to convey her
and her attendants, and the other for himself and his chieftains.
Anacaona, however, preferred to embark, with her attendants, in the
ship's boat with the Adelantado. As they approached the caravel, a
salute was fired. At the report of