Not one man escaped.
Thus ended Columbus's second trip westward across the Atlantic. What a
landing! Blackened ruins, dead bodies, the enmity of the natives, and--
no gold; all this where he had hoped to be greeted by happy, prosperous
men. Here were the first fruits of his great discovery; here the first
sample of Spanish ability at colonizing; here the first specimen of what
the white man could do in a new and peaceful land; and our great
Admiral, thinking of the mixed band he had brought out from Spain to
colonize, dropped his head and covered his face with his hands.
All were anxious to leave the scene of this tragedy; but before they
left, the native king, Guacanagari, who appeared as friendly as ever,
expressed a desire to visit Columbus's ship. While on it he managed to
talk with the Caribbean Indians who were aboard. That night the
captives, including a woman whom the Spaniards had named Catalina, made
their escape and were picked up in waiting canoes. Next day when
Columbus sent to Guacanagari to demand their return, the king and his
whole village had disappeared. It would appear that this simple savage
had grown into a far shrewder person than his European host since that
Christmas night when the _Santa Maria_ ran aground.
La Navidad having disappeared, the next concern was to found another
settlement.
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