Hence All The Gold Of The Island Amounted To 460,000
Pesos Yearly, Equal To L.150,000 Sterling; Which
Yielded 4,600 pesos, or
L.150 yearly to Alcacar, which was then thought a very considerable
revenue, insomuch that
The grant was revoked by their Catholic majesties.
It seldom happened that the adventurers at the mines were gainers,
notwithstanding the vast quantities of gold procured, as they always lived
luxuriously and upon credit; so that their whole share of the gold was
often seized at melting times for their debts, and very frequently there
was not enough to satisfy their creditors.
SECTION II.
Settlement of the Island of Porto Rico, under the command of Juan Ponce
de Leon.
A war which took place in a province of Hispaniola, called Higuey, added
greatly to the power of the Spaniards, as Obando appointed Juan Ponce de
Leon to keep the Indians of that quarter under subjection. This man was
possessed of good sense and great courage, but was of an imperious and
cruel disposition, and soon formed projects of extending his authority
beyond the narrow bounds which had been assigned him. Learning from the
Indians of his province, that the island of St Juan de Puerto Rico,
called Borriquen by the natives, was very rich in gold, he was anxious
to inquire into this circumstance personally. For this purpose, he
communicated the intelligence he had received to Obando, whose leave he
asked to go over to that island, to trade with the natives, to inquire
into the circumstance of its being rich in gold, and to endeavour to make
a settlement. Hitherto nothing more was known of that island than that it
appeared very beautiful and abundantly peopled to those who sailed along
its coasts. Having received authority from Obando, Juan Ponce went over to
Porto Rico in a small caravel, with a small number of Spaniards, and some
Indians who had been there. He landed in the territories of a cacique
named Aguey Bana, the most powerful chief of the island, by whom, and
the mother and father-in-law of the chief, he was received and entertained
in the most friendly manner. The cacique even exchanged names with him, by
a ceremony which they call guaticos, or sworn-brothers. Ponce named the
mother of the cacique, Agnes, and the father-in-law Francis; and though
they refused to be baptized, they retained these names. These people were
exceedingly good-natured, and the cacique was always counselled by his
mother and father-in-law to keep on friendly terms with the Spaniards.
Ponce very soon applied himself to make inquiries as to the gold mines,
which the natives of Hispaniola alleged to be in this island, and the
cacique conducted him all over the island, shewing him the rivers where
gold was found. Two of these were very rich, one called Manatuabon and the
other Cebuco, from which a great deal of treasure was afterwards drawn.
Ponce procured some samples of the gold, which he carried to Obando in
Hispaniola, leaving some Spaniards in the island, who were well
entertained by the cacique, till others came over to settle in the island.
The greatest part of the island of Porto Rico consists of high mountains,
some of which are clothed with fine grass, like those of Hispaniola.
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