The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-02-14
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CONTINUED

responded to the love of gold within
his soul-told him that on this
charmed spot he would yet find the
treasure he sought.
saThe natives on this island were in
every way superior to any the Span
ish adventurers had yet encountered,
but they were simple in nature; and,
as the others had done, they firmly
believed Columbus and his followers
TO be angelic visitors descended from
the sky. :. They said, in answer to the
usual Inquiries for gold, that the isl
and abounded With the precious
metal, but must be sought in the in
terror, where lived great prince,
surrounded by warriors, all of whom
wore ornaments of gold and whose
wives and daughters wore strings OF
pearls and precious stones about their
necks and on their arms and ankles.
''This was joyful tidings for Colum-
bus, who felt that he had now reached
the true Eldorado. He determined
to send envoys to the court of this
barbaric prince, while he and the rest
Of his followers investigated more
closely the shores of the island. The
natives had told him that the prince
lived long distance away-a four
days' iourney-and he was not ex-
pecting the return of his. messengers
within eight or ten days; for he had
commanded. them to bring back full
accounts of all they should find and
also specimens of the gold and treas
ure oi the interior. When, therefore,
they returned several days sooner
than he expected them, reporting that
neither prince nor gold nor any kind
of treasure was to be discovered, he
was bitterly disappointed; but Pedro
Mendoza, who had been one of the
messengers, e1ulted. In the disap-
pointment of Columbus he saw his
own triumph; the hour for which He
had waited and hoped was now at
hand.
The admiral at once decided to
leave this island and sail further In
search of the river whose waters
flowed over sands of gold. A young
Indian girl had described this river to
him as being in an adjacent island
called Babeque. 1t is supposed
that this word was not the name OF
the island, but al epithet descriptive
of it's people or its productiveness,
and that the admiral's ignorance Of
the Indian language caused him to
mistake it for the name Of place. 10
the great delight of Mendoza, and to
the dissatisfaction of the rest of the
crew, he decided at once to set sail in
quest of Babeque. Discomfort had
again broken forth among the sailors,
although as yet nothing of it had
reached the ears of Columbus; but
Pedro knew that Martin Alfonso, cup
tain of the Pinta, had sworn to part
from Columbus, in order to make dis
covery on his own account. Pinzon
and his crew, and indeed all the
sailors, considered that Columbus
made too great haste to leave these
islands before he had thoroughly in
vestigated their resources or even per-
mitted his men the enjoyment of
change from ocean to land.
1.-The threatened desertion Of the
Pinta gave Mendoza the opportunity
for which he had been watching,
When the order was given to return
to the boats he concealed himself and
vas nowhere seen, He feared a search
might be made for him if his absence
was observed, but he had given out
among his fellows an intention to
3oin the crew of the Pinta, This
would, of course, anger the admiral,
whom be hated; but as the Pinta
would also have deserted before the
morning, anger would be useless. It
pleased Mendoza to think of comman-
der's dismay when he should discover
the desertion OF Martin Alenzo with his
ship and crew; and it pleased him
still more to picture to himself the
distress of Columbus at the loss of a
faithful follower, if he should ever be
rejoined by the Pinta, This man
hated the admiral with the instructive
bate of evil toward good and for per-
sonal reasons besides. The reward
for the first sight of land had been
awarded to the sailor on board the
Pinta, although Mendoza swore that
he had first proclaimed it.. This re-
ward was finally given to the comman-
der himself, es being the real discov-
erer, from his having first descried
light moving along the shore of San
Salvador.
But this act Pedro Mendoza never
knew; and if he had, it would only
have intensified his hate of Christie
phcr Columbus. With a triumphant
heart he watched the preparations for
leaving the island; and from a secure
hiding place his gaze followed the
other sailors, accompanied by great
numbers of the natives, as they slow
~ took their way to the waters edge,
where they entered the boats and soon
rowed to the three ships at anchor in
the beautiful bay.
1T wes characteristic of this singu-
lar and self-conta:ned being that even
while he beheld the departing yes
sells lessening every moment rs the
shades Of night fell over them like a
purple veil, his feelings were all Of
exnltation and not OF sadness. He
remembered, indeed, that he was
alone on this island, surrounded> by
savages, of whose; Language he was
ignorant and of whose real disposi-
tion he could not, from his .bfief ae-
Guair,ance with them. possess much
knowledge. He had taken care, how
ever, 70 provide himself. with arms,
and lie knew that the Indian ascribed
s,noruo,ursI nowsr tn everything an