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tidings that the admiral was in high favour at court, and on the point of coming out with a powerful squadron, struck consternation into the rebels, who had presumed upon his having fallen into disgrace. The Adelantado immediately hastened to San Domingo, nor was there any attempt made to molest him on his march. When he found himself once more secure, his magnanimity prevailed over his indignation, and he sent Pedro Hernandez Coronal, to offer Roldan and his band amnesty for all offences, on condition of instant obedience. Roldan feared to venture into his power, and determined to prevent the emissary from communicating with his followers, lest they should be induced to return to their allegiance. When Coronal approached the encampment of the rebels, therefore, he was opposed in a narrow pass by a body of archers with their crossbows levelled. "Halt there, traitor!" cried Roldan : "had you arrived eight days later, we should all have been united."

It was in vain that Coronal endeavoured to win this turbulent man from his career. He professed to oppose only the tyranny and misrule of the Adelantado, but to be ready to submit to the admiral on his arrival, and he and his principal confederates wrote letters to that effect to their friends in San Domingo.

When Coronal returned with accounts of Roldan's contumacy, the Adelantado proclaimed him and his followers traitors. That shrewd rebel, however, did not suffer his men to remain within the reach either of promise or menace. He proposed to them to march off, and establish themselves in the remote province of Xaragua. The Spaniards, who had been there,

had given the most alluring accounts of the country and its inhabitants, and above all of the beauty of the women, for they had been captivated by the naked charms of the dancing nymphs of Xaragua. In this delightful region, emancipated from the iron rule of the Adelantado, and relieved from the necessity of irksome labour, they might lead a life of perfect freedom and indulgence, with a world of beauty at their command. In short, Roldan drew a picture of loose sensual enjoyment, such as he knew to be irresistible with men of idle and dissolute habits. His followers acceded with joy to his proposition; so, putting himself at their head, he marched away for Xaragua.

Scarcely had the rebels departed, when fresh insurrections broke out among the Indians of the vega. The cacique Guarionex, moved by the instigations of Roldan, and forgetful of his gratitude to Don Bartholomew, entered into a new league to destroy the Spaniards, and surprise Fort Conception. The plot exploded before its time, and was defeated; and Guarionex hearing that the Adelantado was on the march for the vega, fled to the mountains of Ciguay, with his family, and a small band of faithful followers. The inhabitants of these mountains were the most robust and hardy tribe of the island, and the same who had skirmished with the Spaniards in the Gulf of Samana, in the course of the first voyage of Columbus. The reader may remember the frank and confiding faith with which their cacique trusted himself on board of the caraval of the admiral, the day after the skirmish. It was to this same cacique, named Mayonabex, that the fugitive chieftain of

the vega applied for refuge, and he received a promise of protection.

Indignant at finding his former clemency of no avail, the Adelantado pursued Guarionex to the mountains, at the head of ninety men, a few cavalry, and a body of Indians. It was a rugged and difficult enterprise; the troops had to climb rocks, wade rivers, and make their way through tangled forests, almost impervious to men in armour, encumbered with targets, crossbows, and lances. They were continually exposed, also, to the ambushes of the Indians, who would rush forth with furious yells, discharge their weapons, and then take refuge again among rocks and thickets, where it was in vain to follow them. Don Bartholomew arrived, at length, in the neighbourhood of Cape Cabron, the residence of Mayonabex, and sent a messenger, demanding the surrender of Guarionex, promising friendship in case of compliance, but threatening to lay waste his territory with fire and sword, in case of refusal. "Tell the Spaniards," said the cacique, in reply, "that they are tyrants, usurpers, and shedders of innocent blood, and I desire not their friendship. Guarionex is a good man, and my friend. He has fled to me for refuge; I have promised him protection, and I will keep my word."

The cacique, in fact, adhered to his promise with admirable faith. His villages were burnt, his territories were ravaged, himself and his family driven to dens and caves of the mountains, and his subjects assailed him with clamours, urging him to give up the fugitive, who was bringing such ruin upon their tribe. It was all in vain. He was ready, he

declared, to abide all evils, rather than it should ever be said Mayonabex betrayed his guest.

For three months the Adelantado hunted these caciques among the mountains, during which time he and his soldiers were almost worn out with toil and hunger, and exposures of all kind. The retreat of Mayonabex was at length discovered. Twelve Spaniards, disguising themselves as Indians, and wrapping their swords in palm leaves, came upon him secretly, and surprised and captured him, with his wife and children, and a few attendants. The Adelantado returned, with his prisoners, to Fort Conception, where he afterwards released them all, excepting the cacique, whom he detained as a hostage for the submission of his tribe. The unfortunate Guarionex still lurked among the caverns of the mountains, but was driven, by hunger, to venture down occasionally into the plain, in quest of food. His haunts were discovered, he was waylaid and captured by a party of Spaniards, and brought in chains to Fort Conception. After his repeated insurrections, and the extraordinary zeal displayed in his pursuit, he anticipated death from the vengeance of the Adelantado. Don Bartholomew, however, though stern in his policy, was neither vindictive nor cruel; he contented himself with detaining him a prisoner, to insure the tranquillity of the vega; and then returned to San Domingo, where, shortly afterwards, he had the happiness of welcoming the arrival of his brother, the admiral, after a separation of nearly two years and a half.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Rebellion of Roldan.
[1498.]

ONE of the first measures of Columbus, on his arrival, was to issue a proclamation, approving of all that the Adelantado had done, and denouncing Roldan and his associates. That turbulent man had proceeded to Xaragua, where he had been kindly received by the natives. A circumstance occurred to add to his party and his resources. The three

caravals detached by Columbus from the Canary Islands, and freighted with supplies, having been carried far west of their reckoning by the currents, arrived on the coast of Xaragua. The rebels were at first alarmed lest they should be vessels despatched in pursuit of them. Roldan, who was as sagacious as he was bold, soon divined the truth. Enjoining the utmost secrecy on his men, he went on board, and pretending to be in command at that end of the island, succeeded in procuring a supply of arms and military stores, and in making partisans among the crews, many of whom were criminals and vagabonds from Spanish prisons, shipped in compliance with the admiral's ill-judged proposition. It was not until the third day that Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal, the most intelligent of the three captains,

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