The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-10-12

Coasting in and out among the many little bays along it's southern coast-all fringed with cocoa-palms above beech es of glistening sand-the Spaniards feasted their eyes upon a succession of hills and mountains, clothed to the tops with magnificent forests; and though surfeited with the beauty of hundreds of islands before discovered, they un- hesitatingly pronounced this one the most beautiful of all. To-day, as then, cool, sweet waters gush forth in great volume from the fair island miles of cocoa palms fringe it's shores, backed by softly rounded hills, the only visible change, after four hundred years, being that the hills are now cul- tivated to their summits.
 Here too came Juan Ponce de Leon, governor of Santo Domingo, Gin 15OS I believe), to investigate the reports he had heard concerning the mineral wealth of Porto Rico. Landing at this very spot with his caraval of soldiers, he was hospitably received by the Ca rib Caicque, who-simple soul!-showed the greedy Spaniards some rivers with gold dust and tiny nuggets in them, and thus, unwittingly sealed his own doom and that of his people, History tells us how Leon hastened back to Santo Domingo, whence he soon re- turned with an armament and estab- lished the city of Caparra, across the bay, southwest from the present capi- tai, and then proceeded to distribute the wondering natives among his rough fo11 cl ac 10 Santo Domingo. But the seven hun- dred thousand Indians of Borinquin, the original name of the island, who had never been subject to any re- straint, revolted when they realized what was going on and killed many of the Spaniards, being almost extermina- ted themselves in the unequal contest.
 By the way, Ponce de Leon is unde- servedly famed for being one of the most generous and chivalrous of all those iron-hearted old Conquistadores- perhaps because he is so often con- founded with his equally illustrious namesake, Luis Ponce de Leon, the priest and poet, who died in Madrigal late in the same century. Juan Ponce though a religious enthusiast, who nev- eT HGSlGClSu the COINeTSlOH or llQld1 souls, while converting their persons and property to his own uses, em- ployed the most barbarous methods for subjugating the peaceful peaple whc had shown him nothing but kindness The fame of his ferocious blood hound the great dog Berezillo, which at the masters command, sprang upon men women and children and tore them in pieces, has survived nearly four centu- ries, while millions of mere human be- ings have lived their little day and died and been forgotten. It is related that the services of the vicious brute were so highly valued by the conquerors that he drew the pay of a crossbow- man, which of course went into his masters pocket.
 For some unexplained reason Capar- "a, now known as Purto Viejo (Old PorD, was abandoned after time, and in 1511 Leon founded another city, the same San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico that stands to day the capital and chief town of the island But it is by no means the leading one in point of population, having only about twenty five thousand in time of peace while Ponce on the other side of the island is credited with about thirty-eight thou. sand, according to the latest census and San Germain something over thir- ty thousand. Owing to the course o1