Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-10-01


fish. Their swords were Of palm wood,
as hard and heavy as iron; not sharp,
but broad, nearly of the thickness of two
fingers and capable, with one blow, of
cleaving through helmet to the very
Brains. Though thus prepared for com
bat, they made no attempt to molest the
Spaniards. On the contrary, they sold
them two Of their bows and several OF
their arrows, and one Of them was pre-
vailed upon to 60 on board Of the ad-
miral's ship
Columbus was persuaded, from. the fe-
rocious looks and hardy, undaunted
manner of this wild warrior, that he
and his companions were of the nation
of Caribs so much dreaded throughout
these seas, and that the gulf in which he
was anchored must be a strait separat-
ing their island from Hispaniola On
inquiring Of the Indian, however, he still
pointed to the east as the quarter where
lay the Caribbean islands He spoke
also Of an island called Mantinino, which
Columbus fancied him to say was peo-
pied merely By women, who received the
Caribs among them once year for the
sake of continuing the population of
their island. All the male progeny re-
sulting from such visits were delivered
to the fathers, the female remained with
the mothers.
This AmazonIan island Is repeatedly
mentioned in the course Of the voyages
Of Columbus, and is another Of his self
delusions. to be explained by the work
Of Marco Polo. That traveller described
two islands neai the coast Of Asia, one
inhabited solely by women, the other by
meu, between which q similar inter-
course subsisted, and Columbn suppos-
Ing himself in that vicinity, easily inter.
preted the signs Of the Indians 10 ocoincide
with the descriptions of the Venetian.
Having regaled the warrior and made
him various presents, the admiral sent
him on shore in hopes, through his me-
diation. of opening trade for gold with
his companions. As the boat approached
the land, upward Of fifty savages, armed
with bows and arrows, war clubs and
javelins, were seen lurking among the
trees. On word from the Indian who
was in the boat, they laid by their arms
and came forth to meet the Spaniards.
The latter, according to directions from
the admiral, endeavored to purchase sew
eral of their weapons, to take as curios-
tiles to Spain. They parted with two of
their bows, but, suddenly conceiving
some distrust or thinking to overpowe1
this handful Of strangers, they rushed to
the place where they had left their
weapons, snatched them up and re-
turned with cords, as if to bind the
Spaniards. The latter Immediately at
tackled them, wounded two, put the rest
to flight, and would have pursued them,
but were restrained by the pilot who
commanded the boat. This was the first
contest with the Indians, and the first
time that native blood was shed by the
white men in the New World
Columbus was grieved to see all his
sxartinrs tn maintain an nmicahla inter-
course vain; he consoled himself with
the idea, however, that if these were
Caribs or frontier Indians Of warlike
character they would be inspired with
dread of the force and weapons of the
white men, and be deferred from mo-
testing the little garrison of Fort Ma
tivity. The fact was that these were of
bold and hardy race, inhabiting q
mountainous district called Ciguay, ex.
tending five and twenty leagues along
the coast and several leagues into the in
terror. They differed in language, look
and manners from the other natives Of
the island, and had the rude but inde-
pendent and vigorous character Of noun
taineers.
Their frank and bold spirit was evinced
on the day after the skirmish when a
multitude appearing on the beach the
admiral sent large party, well armed,
on shore in the boat. The natives ap-
preached as freely and confidently as if
nothing had happened; neither did they
betray, throughout their subsequent in
tercourse, any signs Of lurking fear OF
enmity- The cacique who ruled over
the neighboring country was on the
shore. He sent to the boat a string of
beads formed of small stones, or rather
of the hard part of shells, which the
Spaniards understood to be a token and
assurance of amity; but they were not
yet aware Of the full meaning of this
symbol, the wampum belt, the pledge Of
peace, held sacred among the Indians.
The chieftain followed shortly after, and
entering the boat with only three attend
ants was conveyed Oh board Of the car
ayel
This frank and coniiding conduct, so
indicative of a brave and generous ma
ture, was properly appreciated by Co
lumbus; he received the cacique cordial
ly, set before him collation. such as the
caravel afforded, particularly biscuits
and honey, which were great dainties
with the Indians, aud after showing him
the wonders OF the vessel aud making
him and his attendants many presents,
sent them to land highly gratihed. The
residence Of the cacique was at such a
distance that he rouid not repeat his
visit, but as token Of high regard he
sent to the admiral his coronet of gold.
In speaking of these incidents the his
torians of Columbus have made 10 men,
ton of the name Of this mountain chief;
he was doubtless the sauls who, few
years afterward. appears in the history
Of the island under the uaine Of Mayo
nabex, cacique Of the Ciguayans. and
will be found acquitting himself with
valor, franl1ness and magnaninity nnder
the most trying circumstances.
Columbus remained day or two
longer in the bay, during which time
the most friendly intercourse prevailed
with the natives, who brought cotton
and various fruits and vegetables, but
still maintained their warrior character,
being always armed with bows and ar
rows. Four young Indians gave such
interesting accounts of the islands situ-
ated to the east that Columbus deter
mined to touch there on his way to
Spain, and prevailed on them to accom-
pany him as guides Taking advantage
of favorable wind, therefore, he sailed
before daylight on the 10th Of January
from this bay, to which. in consequence
of the skirmish with the natives, he gave
the name of Golfo de las Flechas, or the
Gulf of Arrows, but which is now known
by the name Of the Gulf Of Samana.
On leaving the bay, Columbus at first
steered to the northeast. in which direc-
ton the young Indians assured him he
would find the island Of the Caribs and
that Of Mantinino, the abode OF the Am
azons, 1t being his desire to take several
of-f ba mn titar rf narh f,r.nzp1t N, t1a