The inscription upon his monument reads as follows:
Mole sub hac fortis requiescunt ossa Leonis Qui vicit factis nomina magna suis.
These words may be translated into English as follows:
"This narrow grave contains the remains of a man who was a Lion by name, and much more so by his deeds."
His cruel treatment of the gentle natives, inspired though it may have been and probably was by the home government, by no means causes him to deserve so flattering an epitaph.
CHAPTER II.
STRUGGLES OF THE PAST.
Ever since the days of Ponce de Leon, Porto Rico has been a Spanish possession. It has never been captured, although many attempts have been made to take it both by external and internal forces.
None of these attacks seriously affected Spanish authority on the island.
But although the island has never been taken, it has been sacked. It may be said that it was pirates who did this, for while the commanders of several of the expeditions against the island bore great names, they were really little more or less than pirates.