1492

by Mary Johnston

  CHAPTER XLII

  PUERTO BELLO! Beautiful truly, and a harbor where might ride a navy. Butno gold; and now came back very evilly the evil weather. Seven days ablast rocked us. We strained eyes to see if the _Margarita_ yet lived.The _San Sebastian_ likewise was in trouble. No break for seven days. Itwas those enchanters of Cariari--magic asleep for a while but now awake!

  Storm. And two ships nigh to foundering. When wind sank and blue cameback, we left Puerto Bello and turned again south by east, but now withcrazy, crazy ships, weather-wrenched and worm-eaten, _teredo_ pierced.They looked old, so old, with their whipped and darkened sails. Andwhen we dropped anchor in some bight there was no gold, but all night weheard that harsh blowing of shells and beating of drums.

  Francisco and Diego de Porras, Alonso de Zamorra, Pedro de Villetoro,Bernardo the Apothecary and others, the most upon the _Consolacion_,others on the _Margarita_ and the _Juana_, now began to brew mutiny.

  We sailed on, and upon this forlorn coast we met no more gold. Our shipsgrew so worn that now at any threat in the sky we must look and lookquickly for harborage, be it good or indifferent bad. To many of us thecoast now took a wicked look. It was deep in November.

  No gold. These Indians--how vast anyhow was India?--were hostile, notfriendly. Our ships were dying, manifestly. If they sank under us and wedrowned, the King and Queen--if the Queen still lived--never would cometo know that Christopherus Columbus had found Veragua thrice moregolden even than Paria! Found Veragua, met men of Yucatan; and heard ofCiguarre.

  At last not only the mutinous but steadfast men cried, "If there is astrait it is too far with these ships!"

  For a time he was obstinate. _It must be found,--it must be found!_ Butone night there fell all but loss of the Margarita. When next he slepthe had a dream. "The good Queen came to me and she had in her handa picture of five stout ships. Out of her lips came a singing voice.'Master Christopherus, Master Christopherus, these wait for you, ridingin Cadiz harbor! But now will you slay your son and your brother and allyour men?' Then she said, 'The strait is hidden for a while,' and went."

  That day we turned. "We will go back to Veragua and lade with gold, andthen we'll sail to Jamaica and to Hispaniola where this time we shall bewelcome! Then to Spain where the Queen will give me a stronger fleet."

  Our ships hailed the turning. Even the Adelantado, even Diego Mendez andJuan Sanchez and Bartholomew Fiesco who were of the boldest drew longbreath as of men respited from death.

  Not so many have known and lived to tell of such weather as now we metand in it rolled from wave to wave through a long month.

  Would we put to land we were beaten back. We had never seen such waves,and at times they glowed with cold fire. The sea with the wind twisted,danced and shouted. We were deaf with thunder and blind with lightning.When the rain descended, it was as though an upper ocean were comingdown. A little surcease, then return of the tempest, like return ofPolyphemus. Men died from drowning, and, I think, from pure fright. Oneday the clouds drove down, the sea whirled up. There was made a hugewater column, a moving column that fast grew larger. Crying out, oursailors flung themselves upon their knees. It passed us with a mightysound, and we were not engulfed.

  The Admiral said, "God tries us, but he will not destroy us utterly!"

  The boy Fernando, in a moment's wild terror who was ordinarilycourageous as any, clung to him. "O my son! I would that you were in LaRabida, safe beside Fray Juan Perez! My son and my brother Bartholomew!"

  Now came to us all scarcity of food and a misery of sickness. Now twothirds would have mutinied had we not been going back--but we were goingback--creeping, crawling back as the tempest would allow us.

  Christmas! We remembered our first Christmas in this world, by Guaricoin Hispaniola, when the _Santa Maria_ sank. Again we found a harbor, andwe lay there between dead and alive, until early January. We sailed andon Epiphany Day entered a river that we knew to be in golden Veragua.The Admiral called it the Bethlehem.

  Gold again, gold! Not on the Bethlehem, but on the river of Veragua, notfar away, to which the Admiral sent the Adelantado and two long boatsfilled with our stoutest men. They brought back gold, gold, gold!

  The cacique of these parts was Quibian, a barbarian whom at the last,not the first, we concluded to be true brother of Caonabo.

  With threescore of our strongest, the Adelantado pushed again up theriver of Veragua, too rough and shallow for our ships. He visitedQuibian; he traded for gold; he was taken far inland and from a hillobserved a country of the noblest, vale and mountain and Indian smokes.The mountains, the Indians said, were packed with gold. He brought backmuch gold, Indians bearing it for him in deep baskets that they made.

  Quibian paid us a visit, looked sullenly around, and left us. Not inthe least was he Guacanagari! But neither, quite yet, did he turn intoCaonabo.

  The Admiral sat pondering, his hands before him between his knees, hisgray-blue eyes looking further than the far mountains. Later, on theshore, he and the Adelantado walked up and down under palm trees. Thecrews watched them, knowing they were planning.

  What they planned came forth the next day, and it was nothing short of acolony, a settlement upon the banks of the river Bethlehem.

  Christopherus Columbus spoke,--tall, powerful, gaunt, white-headed,gray-eyed, trusted because he himself so trusted, suasive, filled withthe power of his vision. His frame was growing old, but he himselfstayed young. His voice never grew old, nor the gray-blue light fromhis eyes. Here was gold at last, and Veragua manifestly richer than allHispaniola; aye, richer than Paria! Behind Veragua ran Ciguarre that wasfabulously rich, that was indeed India sloping to Ganges. The Indianswere friendly enough for all their drum-beating and shell-blowing.Quibian's first frowning aspect had been but aspect. A scarlet cloakand a sack full of toys had made all right. There was rest on land, withfruit and maize as we saw. Build a fort--leave a ship--divide our force.A half would rest here, first settlers of a golden country with allfirst settlers' advantage. Half sail with Christopherus Columbus backto Spain--straight to Spain--for supplies and men. He would return, heswore it, with all speed. A ship should be left, and beyond the ship,the Adelantado.--It was for volunteers for the fortress and city ofVeragua!

  In the end eighty men said "We will stay." We began to build. How longsince we had built La Navidad!

  The River Bethlehem, that had been full when we entered, now was halfempty of its waters. The _Consolacion_, the _Juana_, and the _SanSebastian_ that were to depart for Spain could not pass. The Admiralhung, fitted to go, but waiting perforce for rains that should lift theships so they might pass the bar.

  Again Juan Lepe was to stay--so surely would the staying need aphysician.

  "It is March," said the Admiral. "God aiding, I and Fernando shall beback in October at latest."

  These Indians seemed to us to have Carib markings. Yet they allprofessed amity and continuously brought in gold. We began to build bythe fort a storehouse for much gold.

  Suddenly we found--Diego Mendez, bold enough and a great wanderer, doingthe finding--that Quibian's village up the river of Veragua containedmany too, many young men and men in their prime, and that by day andnight these continued to pour in. It had--Diego Mendez thought--much theaspect of a camp whose general steadily received reenforcement.

  Next day came to the Admiral an Indian who betrayed his people. Quibiannever meant to have in Veragua a swarm of white caciques! When he hadabout him every young man, he was coming, coming, coming through thewoods!

  The Admiral sent the Adelantado. That strong man chose fourscoreSpaniards, armed them and departed. By boat and through thick forest hereached Quibian's village, descended upon it like a hurricane and seizedQuibian, much as long ago--long, long ago it seemed to us--Alonso deOjeda had seized Caonabo.

  Juan Sanchez the pilot held Quibian in the long boat while theAdelantado still wrought upon the land. Juan Sanchez was strong andwary, and watchful; so they swore were all the Spaniards in the boat.Yet when n
ight was fallen that Indian, bound as he was, broke with ashout from them all and leaped from boat into black river.

  They thought he perished, seeing him no more for all their moving aboutand bringing the boat to the land. Juan Sanchez was certain he sank,bound as he was. With other captives and with a great mass of goldenornaments, came back to the ships the Adelantado. The Indian camp wasbroken, dispersed.

  The rains began to fall. The river swelled; the fort and store place andother houses were builded.

  The eighty who were to stay and the something under that number who wereto go prepared to say farewell. We went to mass under three palm trees,before our fort on the river Bethlehem. That over, those who were to gowent aboard the three ships, and the sails were made, and they began tosing as they passed down the Bethlehem. The _Margarita_ and we watchedtheir going.

  They went a league, and then another--we thought they were wholly gone.But out of the river, though the skies were clear, again rushed againstthem an enemy wind. They lay at anchor in river mouth, waiting onpropitiousness. But we, up the river, thought they were gone. Thatnight, before dawn, Quibian attacked us.

  We had several killed, and the Adelantado was hurt in the breast, andmany others had their wounds. But we thundered with our cannon and weloosed two bloodhounds and we charged. For a time the brown, naked foefought desperately, but at last he broke. Far streamed five hundredfleeing particles into the gloomy, the deep, the matted forest. Up theriver came a long boat, and we found it to hold Diego Tristan and eightmen sent by the Admiral with a forgotten word for the Adelantado. Muchwe rejoiced that the ships were not clean gone!

  Diego Tristan took our news. The Adelantado--his hurt was slight--wroteagain to the Admiral. Again we said farewell to Diego Tristan. The longboat passed a turn in the Bethlehem; out of our sight. Once we thoughtwe heard a faint and distant shouting, but there was no telling. Butin five hours there staggered into fort Juan de Noya who alone lived ofthat boatful, set upon by Quibian. Diego Tristan dead, and seven men.

  All that night we heard in the wood those throbbing Indian drums andwild-blowing shells.

  They were Caribs, now we were sure, and Quibian lived and preached aholy war. Though we had driven them off, we heard them mustering again.If we could not get food--perhaps not water?

  Sixty of ours came to the Adelantado. In truth, all might have come,for massacre, slow or swift, was certain if we stayed in Veragua. I readthat the Adelantado, who was never accused of cowardice or fickleness,was himself determined. The settlement below the golden mines of goldenVeragua must wait a little.

  We took our wounded and with the Adelantado, turned Mars in these threedays, came down to the Bethlehem, to a pebbly shore from which the waterhad shrunken. Here at least was our ship with us, and the river thatbore to the sea. Here, for the weather was ferocious and Quibian howlingaround us, we built what shelter we might. Here in much misery we waiteddays for the long and wild storm to cease. We hoped the Admiral was yetat the mouth of the Bethlehem, but could not do more than hope.

  Then came through every peril that might be Pedro Ledesma, from theships. They waited! Break through--come down!

  The _Margarita_ could never pass the bar that now the falling water leftexposed. We made rafts, we dismantled her and took what we could; weleft her in Veragua for Quibian to walk her deck and sail her if hemight. Through danger in multitude, with our rafts and two boats, withthe loss of six men, we went down the Bethlehem. Some of ours wept whenthey saw the ships, and the Admiral wept when he and the Adelantado met.

  Away from Veragua!

  Is it only the Spaniards who suffer, and for what at the last, notat the first, did Quibian fight? In that strong raid when we thoughtQuibian perished had been taken captive brothers and kinsmen of thatcacique. These were prisoned upon the _Juana_, to be taken to Spain,shown, made Christian, perhaps sold, perhaps--who knows?--returned totheir land, but never to freedom.

  While the _Juana_ tossed where Bethlehem met the sea, these Indiansbroke in the night time up through hatchway and made for the side tothrow themselves over. But the watch gave a great cry and sprang uponthem, and other Spaniards came instantly. All but two were retaken.These two, wrenching themselves free, sprang away into rough water anddark night, and it is most likely that they drowned, being a mile fromshore. But the others were thrust back and down under hatch which thenwas chained so that they might not again lift it. But in the morningwhen the captain of the _Juana_ went to look, all, all were dead, havinghanged themselves.