THE REPARTIMIENTO SYSTEM.

21

16

of the Admiral the colony lapsed into that condition of licentious indulgence and insubordination which for a long period characterized the Spanish settlements abroad. The internal dissensions often culminated in open warfare between the Spaniards, and were the source of all manner of disasters to them. The return of Columbus, whose followers as before included a number of malefactors and men of the worst dispositions, effected little towards the suppression of the disturbed condition of Hispaniola.

In 1499, the Viceroy found himself seriously embarrassed by the turbulent element in his jurisdiction and, with a view to placating them, he had recourse to a measure which was the inception of a system of virtual slavery that prevailed for more than a century throughout the Spanish colonies. This system had two, slightly differing, forms, which were called respectively repartimiento and encomienda. The former was a grant of land which carried with it the right to the labor of Indians who might be resident upon it or transported to it. The latter was a grant of Indians irrespective of the land. It is only fair to the Spanish Government which authorized the establishment of these institutions, to say that in connection with these and other matters concerning the natives the most humane regulations were promulgated for the guidance of the colonists. In fact the Laws of the Indies, in which these regulations became incorporate, is a model of wise and

humane consideration for the rights and welfare of the subject peoples in the Spanish colonies, but the authorities in the mother country never seem to have secured the honest co-operation of their representatives abroad in the laudable design of governing the natives with mildness and justice. The encomienderos were absolute slave-owners in everything but name, and they exhibited a diabolical cruelty in the treatment of the Indians, which would be incredible were it not vouched for on the indisputable testimony of their own countrymen. The reader, who cares for details, may find a surfeit of horrors in the first-hand accounts of Las Casas and Peter Martyr, the latter of whom declared that "in the whole history of the world such enormities had never before been practised."

RAPID EXTERMINATION OF THE ABORIGINES.

Forty-five years after the arrival of the Spaniards, there were not in Hispaniola, according to Oviedo, five hundred of the original inhabitants alive. A similar system of murderous persecution and merciless oppression in the other islands resulted in a few. years in the utter extinction of the aborigines.

Before the close of the century Spanish settlements had been extended to other parts of the island and a strong military post had been established in the highlands of the interior, which formed the district

COLUMBUS DEALS IN SLAVES.

223

of Cibao, to which the adventurers had so often been directed as the chief source of gold in the archipelago. Here the Spaniards found the precious metal in a loose state and in large quantities. In the following century heavy shipments were made to the mother country, but the Spaniards only secured the vagrant accumulations of centuries, and the parent deposits have not been touched to this day.

COLUMBUS DESCENDS TO DEALING IN SLAVES.

Dur

The avarice of Columbus prompted him to a traffic which is not the only stain upon a great name. ing the latter years of his governorship we find no indication of the spirit with which he first ap proached these islands. He appears to have soon become forgetful of the kindly treatment with which the natives received him, and to have become infected with the cruelty and rapacity of his followers. He made several shipments of natives to Europe, as many as five hundred at one time, and declared that he could send as many as a market could be found for. Thus the slave-trade of America originated with the great Discoverer himself. It was not encouraged by his sovereigns. Queen Isabella, in particular, expressed her indignation at his conduct and ordered a cessation of the traffic.

In 1506 Christopher Columbus died in poverty and undeserved disgrace, spurned and neglected by

those who had given him "chains for a crown, a prison for a world." When, three years later, Martin Waldzeemüller invented the word America, the greatest explorer of all time was robbed of the honor of giving his name to the continent he discovered, and the distinction fell to a petty Florentine pilot.

Diego, after vain application to King Ferdinand for recognition of the offices and privileges which legally reverted to him as the fruit of his father's services, appealed to the Council of the Indies. This body issued a decree confirming the claim, and, in 1509, Diego Columbus sailed for Hispaniola, where he superseded Ovando in the position of viceroy.

DIEGO SUCCEEDS TO HIS FATHER'S VICEROYALTY.

Diego was accompanied by his wife, his brother, other relatives, and a number of Spanish men and women of good families, whose presence in the colony promised to give to it a much needed character of permanency and respectability.

By this time adventurers were crowding over the path opened by Columbus, and, he had complained: Now there is not a man, down to the very tailors, who does not beg permission to be a discoverer." Exploration along the coast of the mainland, which had been the object of the two last voyages of Co

PONCE DE LEON, SOLDIER AND DISCOVERER.

25

lumbus, became the concern of all the maritime nations of Europe. As the enterprise of Spain extended in this direction, Cuba became the center of her American possessions, and after 1513 occupied the place that had been held by Hispaniola, or Haiti.

In 1508, Sebastian de Ocampo circumnavigated Cuba, by order of Ovando, and established the fact that it was an island. No attempt at colonization was made until three years afterwards, when Diego Columbus planned an expedition for the conquest of the country which his father had named Juana. Three hundred men-at-arms under the command of Diego Velasquez, who was accompanied by many persons of distinction, set out from Hispaniola and effected the occupation of Cuba without opposition. Velasquez, who had accompanied the elder Columbus on his second voyage, was appointed captaingeneral, being the first of the long line which ended with Blanco.

PONCE DREAMS OF YOUTH AND DISCOVERS FLORIDA.

The formal occupation of Porto Rico had been accomplished in 1509 by Ponce de Leon, whose chief claim to memory lies in the discovery of Florida. This extraordinary man had been a soldier from his youth, and had distinguished himself in the wars of Granada. His services in Hispaniola had been rewarded by Ovando with the governor