FEWKEs] POLITICAL DIVISIONS 37 



ill these war dances, called areltox^ to reveal the purpose of the war 

 and to enact scenes characteristic of such conflicts. Knowing this 

 custom, and having been told of the invitation, Sotomavor sent a spy 

 to discover what was to happen. At this point appears Juan Gonzales, 

 called by Oviedo a servant {eriadoi% by others a soldier of Sotomaj'or. 



Gonzales attended the arelto, disguised and painted as an Indian, 

 took part in it, and, having learned the intention of Aguebana by 

 seeing the events enacted in the ceremonial dramatization, returned 

 to Sotomayor to confirm the report that the intention of the Indians 

 was to kill him. Even then Sotomayor apparentlj' was not wholly con- 

 vinced of the unfriendly intentions of the natives, or possibly felt him- 

 self able to resist them if they made an}- hostile move. Followed by 

 several of his men, he started for an Indian settlement in the neigh- 

 borhood of the old Indian village. Juan Gonzales, who was one of 

 the followers of Sotomayor, was overtaken by the hostiles and wounded 

 by them. He escaped death by promising Aguebana to become his 

 slave. But Aguebana pursued Sotomayor and killed him with his 

 macana, or war club. 



After slaying Sctomaj'or, however, Aguebana repented having 

 spared Juan Gonzales and returned to kill him also, but this man had 

 hidden in the woods, from which he ultimately escaped, making his 

 way over the Xacagua mountains to a ranch called Coa, where he 

 reported to the Spaniards settled at that place what had happened. 

 Later Gonzales went to Caparra, the old settlement of San Juan, 

 where Ponce then was, bearing to the governor news of the death of 

 Sotomaj'or and of the plight of the latter's followers. 



In his account of this event Oviedo says that Juan Gonzales thought 

 he was at Utuo (Utuado) when he reached the ranch Coa (Toa Alta), 

 but later remembered that Utuao " was in hostile territory, it being situ- 

 ated in the caciquedom of Guarionex, who at that time was on the 

 war path with .3,000 warriors, intending to take part with Aguebana 

 the Second in the destruction of Sotomayor's colony near Aguada. 



The above-recorded event prompts one to more than a passing 

 interest in Juan Gonzales. Who was he ? Oviedo writes that Gonzales 

 was very familiar with the Indian language, which is significant, for 

 at the time when the tragedy above mentioned occurred the Spaniards 

 had been in the western settlements or, indeed, on the island of Porto 

 Rico, only about a yQnv or two. The questions naturallv arise how and 

 where did he become a "good interpreter? " Where did he learn the 

 language? It might be suggested that he had picked it up in Santo 

 Domingo, but there are some other circumstances which maj' be men- 

 tioned as bearing on his nationality. When Aguebana the Second 

 attempted to kill Gonzales before the death of Sotoma3-or, Gonzales 

 begged for his life, promising that he would be the cacique's vassal. 



a Utuao is evidently the site of the modern town or district I'tuado. 



