CHAPTER XII. - THE IDEAL COLONY. FATE OF THE COLONISTS. FAILURE OF THE ENTERPRISE
Some time before the events just recounted, Franciscan friars from Picardy had been sent to the Pearl Coast by the Prior Pedro de Cordoba, under the leadership of Fray Juan Garceto, and this little community heard the news of Las Casas's coming with profound joy. Upon his arrival, they came to meet him singing Te Deum Laudamus and Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. The convent was modest enough, being rudely constructed of wood and thatch, and the life of the friars in the midst of the vast wilderness about them was one of the most apostolic simplicity. The house stood about a musket-shot back from the Cumaná River in a beautiful garden which, in such a climate, was not a difficult achievement. Las Casas built a large storehouse on one side of the garden for his trading merchandise and, through the friars and an Indian woman called Maria, who had learned Spanish, he published among the Indians that he had been sent by the new King of the Christians in Spain, and that henceforth there would be no more fighting, but all were to live together in peace [pg 163] and friendship. In order to attract them, he made them presents from his stores; but it was not unnatural that the diffidence of the Indians should yield but slowly to these blandishments after the deceptions of which they had been the victims, and besides, Las Casas could not trust his own dependents, but had to keep a sharp eye continually on them, to prevent them scandalising and offending the natives. Under such discouraging circumstances, progress was inevitably slow.
Not only were the Spaniards under his own control in little harmony with the spirit of his intentions and as refractory as they dared be to his orders, but the pearl fishers on the island of Cubagua, who were a typical lot of godless ruffians, frequently came to the mainland, with the valid excuse that the absence of sweet water on their island obliged them to fetch their supply from the Cumaná River. These expeditions for water were usually accompanied by some disturbances with the Indians, some of whom were frequently captured and carried off to work in the pearl fisheries.
To put a stop to these incursions into his territory, Las Casas contracted with a mason, for eight dollars in gold per month, to build him a fort at the mouth of the river; but the people at Cubagua, hearing of this project which would interrupt and control their movements, contrived to so influence the mason that he threw up his contract and abandoned the work, thus leaving the country defenceless. The Cubaguans seduced and ruined the Indians, chiefly by offering them liquors and spirits, which [pg 164] have always proved the white man's most attractive and destructive products to the savage and have ever gone in the vanguard of civilisation. The Indians gave everything they possessed for alcohol even selling their fellows as slaves, in exchange for wines; these they drank to inordinate excess, and in the fury of their debauch quarrels broke out amongst them which ended in murders and a state of the most riotous disorder, against which Las Casas and the monks struggled in vain. The strongest representations and protests were made to the alcalde of Cubagua, whither Las Casas went in person, but, far from producing the desired result, his efforts to protect his own territory only served to excite increased resentment on the part of his lawless neighbours, and neither his own life nor that of the Franciscans was any longer safe from the threatened reprisals of their hostile countrymen. The situation was one of the greatest gravity and even peril; instead of showing promise of improvement, it grew daily worse; for, though the men at Cubagua were somewhat restrained from venturing upon open acts of hostility directed against him since they had seen what powers the royal cedulas gave him, their ingenuity in devising vexations, inventing contrarieties, and creating obstacles which effectually nullified all his efforts, was extraordinarily fertile. Fray Juan Garceto was of the opinion that Las Casas should return to Hispaniola to complain to the Audiencia and demand that some effective restraint be exercised upon the Spaniards at Cubagua or, failing of success there, that he should even go [pg 165] to the King himself to obtain redress and the punishment of the offenders. This advice did not accord with Las Casas's own view, for he had reason to know how difficult it was to obtain anything from the Audiencia and how easy it was to evade even the most explicit provisions of royal cedulas, when it suited the interest of those concerned to do so. His absence at such a critical moment would also remove the one effective restraint on the lawlessness of the Cubaguans and doubtless result in the total destruction of his stores, which were valued at fifty thousand castellanos. Two vessels were lying off the coast, loading salt for Hispaniola, and during the days previous to their sailing both Las Casas and Fray Juan gave themselves up to earnest prayer and each offered his daily mass to obtain some divine guidance as to the right course to pursue, since they were in absolute disagreement. Las Casas prepared a full statement of the situation, and a petition asking the Audiencia to furnish the necessary remedy without delay, which he intended to despatch by one of the ship's captains in case he did not go himself when the sailing day came. The last day finally arrived, and Fray Juan, after saying his mass, sought Las Casas and said, “It is your duty, sir, to go and on no account to stop here.” “God knows,” replied Las Casas, “how much this goes against my judgment and my wishes but, since it seems right to your Reverence, I am willing to do it; if it is an error, I would rather err by the judgment of another than be right by my own, for I hope in God.” The wisdom of submitting his [pg 166] judgment as an act of religious humility in a matter concerning his own spiritual welfare would have been laudable, but Las Casas was far more qualified to judge on a question of policy affecting the welfare of his enterprise than was Fray Juan Garceto, and the responsibility for repeating the blunder he had made in Puerto Rico of abandoning his colony while he went off to protest to the Audiencia, must rest where it belongs—on his own shoulders—and not where he sought to put it—on those of the humble Franciscan. If somebody had to go—and it seems that the necessity was urgent—then Fray Juan had better have taken the letters and gone himself before the Audiencia, leaving Las Casas to withstand his enemies and keep his colony together as best he could, until the Audiencia despatched some authority to effectively restrain the Cubaguans. His resolution taken, in accordance with the friar's inspiration, Las Casas appointed Francisco de Soto, a native of Olmedo, as captain during his absence and gave him full instructions for his guidance. It was especially impressed upon the captain that on no account should he permit the two vessels which the colony possessed to leave the harbour; he was to be on the alert and in case of open hostilities he was to load the merchandise on board if possible, but if not, then to save all his people and take refuge at Cubagua. Much preoccupied as to the fate of those he left behind and uncertain as to the wisdom of his course, Las Casas set out for Hispaniola, leaving all he possessed in the convent, save [pg 167] one box of his clothing and another containing some books.
It is illustrative of the capricious and light-hearted spirit of disobedience to all authority, save what force imposed, which characterised Spanish officials in America, that the first thing De Soto did, before the ship bearing Las Casas was barely out of sight, was to send away his two vessels, one in one direction and the other in the opposite, to fish for pearls and, if possible, to capture Indians. The natives were in a state of unrest owing to the continual vexations of the people of Cubagua and also of Las Casas's men who, as soon as he was gone, became almost as bad as the others. The beautiful speeches in which peace and justice and friendship were promised for the future, under the powerful protection of the new King of Spain, had resulted in nothing, and the last illusion of the Indians vanished with the disappearance of the ship that bore their protector towards Hispaniola. A general massacre of the colony was concerted to take place about fifteen days after Las Casas left. The Franciscans got wind of it three days before the date fixed and though the Indian woman Maria, when asked, denied the plot in words, she conveyed to the friars by gestures that she had lied because the presence of other Indians intimidated her from telling the truth. A Spanish trading ship arrived in these days, but in spite of the colonists' prayers to be taken on board the captain refused, so the hapless men were left to their fate. At the last moment an effort was made to organise some defence and twelve [pg 168] or fourteen pieces of artillery were mounted around the storehouse, but when they came to examine the powder, it was found—oh, Spanish improvidence!—to be so damp that it was useless. At sunrise they thought to dry it, but they were too late, for with fierce war-whoops, the Indians were upon them; three of their number were killed and the store-house, in which the others had barricaded themselves, was set on fire. Fortunately there was a small door that gave access to the garden, through which they escaped from the burning building. De Soto, who had been out to reconnoitre the town was wounded with a poisoned arrow, but managed to reach the garden where the others were. The friars had constructed a canal through their garden leading to the river and on this they had a large Indian canoe capable of holding fifty persons. This canoe was now their sole hope of safety and everybody managed to get into it, save one unfortunate lay-brother who had taken refuge among some reeds along the bank and was only discovered after the canoe had pushed off. Seeing his companions borne swiftly away on the saving current, he rose from his hiding-place with despairing gestures of appeal, but though every effort was made to reach him it was in vain, and he, poor man, seeing that his situation was hopeless, signalled to them with pathetic heroism to leave him and save themselves while they could. He was killed a few moments later when the Indians, not knowing of the egress into the garden and believing that all the Spaniards were inside the burning building, came [pg 169] round to the other side of the Storehouse. When they caught sight of the fugitives in the canoe, they quickly launched a swift pirogue and set out in pursuit of the canoe. The Spaniards had already doubled the point called Hraga and were a league down the river, but they were exhausted with hard rowing and the light pirogue of their pursuers gained so rapidly upon them that their only hope was to take refuge in the thick underbrush along the shore, where the Indians, being naked, could not penetrate on account of the thorns. The canoe and the pirogue touched land almost at the same time and not far from one another. Fray Juan afterwards recounted to Las Casas how he was overtaken by an Indian and, seeing the club raised to strike him, he threw himself on his knees, closed his eyes, and prepared for death; the blow did not fall, and on opening his eyes he found himself alone, with no Indian in sight. Finding it impossible to reach the Spaniards in their refuge in the thorny thicket, the Indians withdrew and the Christians, covered with blood from their many wounds, managed, though in a truly pitiable plight, to reach some boats which were loading salt not far off. It was then noticed for the first time that their captain, Francisco de Soto, was missing and, as some one remembered having seen him concealed under a great rock in the thicket, a boat was sent to look for him. After three days' search he was found, dying of thirst, and on being brought on board and given water, he finished himself by drinking to excess. Thus the author of all the mischief paid [pg 170] the penalty of his imprudence and disobedience with his life.
While the colonists were undergoing these sufferings, Las Casas found himself on board a vessel whose pilots, ignorant of the chart, carried him eighty leagues beyond the harbour of Hispaniola and wasted two months in beating against the currents to pass the little island La Beata. Seeing the hopeless incompetency of these men, he had himself put ashore at the harbour of Jaquimo some twenty leagues lower down, from whence he could go on to Jaguana and so across the island to the city of Santo Domingo. The news of the disaster at Cumaná had long since reached Hispaniola and Las Casas heard of it in the following manner, while journeying on foot across the island with several companions. One day, while he was taking his afternoon siesta under a tree, a party of travellers joined his companions, who enquired what news there was in Santo Domingo or from Spain. The newcomers answered that the only recent news was that of the murder of the clerigo Las Casas and all his colony at Cumana by the Indians. “We are witnesses to prove that that is impossible” replied the others, and the discussion which ensued awakened the clerigo who thus received the disheartening tidings, which he was inclined to believe, of the total destruction of his hopes. He afterwards attributed this catastrophe to his own weakness in allowing himself to be drawn into a partnership with godless men, whose sole object was to enrich themselves, by which he had offended God and [pg 171] merited punishment. He would have done better to keep to his original plan of forming a religious company of Knights of the Golden Spur, who, aided by the friars, would have embarked with him on the conversion of the natives without mingling any expectation of profitable trade with their project. The struggle for immediate and inordinate gain, in which the Spanish colonists were engaged, with its slave raids, extermination of the Indians by selling them alcoholic liquors and forcing them into the dangerous labours of mining and pearl diving, was incompatible with such a colony as Las Casas designed to found, and the agreement into which he entered with the Audiencia of Hispaniola was bound to wreck his projects.
Had the ability of Las Casas to direct his undertaking and to govern men been equal to his genius in the sphere of morals and intellect, and to the eloquence of his advocacy, the realisation of his ideal of justice and charity might have been assured. Certainly he contended against overwhelming odds in Spain, the Bishop of Burgos, who controlled American affairs, was implacably hostile; in America the colonial authorities and the entire population barring the friars and a possible handful of his friends, were vigilantly opposed to him; deceived and betrayed by his Squire Berrio, he was disobeyed by De Soto and abandoned by his colonists, while all hope of establishing friendly relations with the Indians in the territory conceded to him was annihilated by the Spaniards at Cubagua, whose aggressions kept the whole country in a state of alarm. [pg 172] These untoward conditions, which no foresight on his part could have avoided, were alone sufficient to explain the failure of his enterprise. His plans seem, however, to have involved a contradiction of a fundamental law of human progress which decrees the destruction of rudimentary forms of civilisation when brought into contact with a higher one. Neither humane civil legislation nor the higher principles of Christian charity have thus far served to save the weaker races of mankind from absorption or extermination. The fiercer and stronger tribes of American Indians receded before the Anglo-Saxon invasion of their territories, leaving a trail of blood behind them, while the weaker nations of the islands and Southern Americas went down before the Spaniards, with hardly more than a plaintive cry for mercy.
The price of civilisation is a high one, and as the peoples of Europe paid it, so were the aboriginal populations of America not exempted from the blood-tax. The obscure workings of the mysterious laws of race-survival were forced on and hastened by the cruelties against which Las Casas protested in vain, but the triumphal march of human progress has followed on. Cannibalism, idolatry, slavery, and other barbarisms have disappeared from the American continents; the Christian religion has replaced degrading superstitions, agriculture and commerce flourish, while literature and the arts adorn life in the several republics, whose meanest citizen enjoys a security of life and property unknown to the proudest of their [pg 173] ancestors under the rule of Montezuma or the Incas. Belief in the principles of equity and charity forbids us to doubt that these and even nobler results might have been achieved by the methods advocated by Las Casas, but history records no racial expansion along other roads than that opened by the sword.