“Certainly,” replied the monk; “but only the good ones.”
“That is good for nothing,” answered Hatuey, “I will go to no place where I shall be in danger of meeting one of them.”
This dreadful act of barbarity inspired the natives all over Cuba with such fear that they no longer thought of resistance but willingly subjected themselves to the Spanish yoke. Thus in a few days the Spaniards conquered one of the greatest and most beautiful islands in the world without losing a man. About this time various expeditions were sent out to the mainland and preparations were made to establish colonies and subject the natives.
Ponce, the conqueror of Porto Rico, heard from several natives a story that was commonly believed by those simple people. According to this story there was an island toward the north and a wonderful fountain upon it whose water had the remarkable effect of making the person who drank it young and strong again. Absurd as the story was, it so excited the curiosity of the credulous Ponce that he determined to search for the wonderful fountain.
With this purpose in view he set sail from Porto Rico, directing his course northward toward the Lucayan Islands. After reaching the twenty-sixth degree of north latitude he changed his course to the west and found to his great delight a large, beautiful country, which we now know to have been a part of North America, to which Ponce afterward gave the name of Florida, either because it had such a blooming appearance or because its discovery was made at the season which is known as Easter day, or, as it is called in Spanish, “Pascua florida,” or “Flowery Easter.” Thus a very silly story led to a most important discovery.
The attention of the Spaniards was shortly directed to another part of the world, which had hitherto been entirely unknown to them. They conjectured the existence of a country in the same latitude as that of the great rich Mexico, but no one had yet tried to find it.
The famous man who opened up this country to Europeans was Cortes.
Footnotes
[1]The largest of the Canary Islands, traversed by mountains and containing the famous peak. The capital of the group, Santa Cruz de Santiago, is located there.
[2]The Guanches were a variety of the Berbers, and of Arab descent.