Three Old Ports on the Spanish Main 623 



View in La Guaira 



until such time as airships shall have be- 

 come popular in Caribbean countries. 

 In these pages, however, with the read- 

 er's permission, the term will be applied, 

 in its original sense, to the sea only — to 

 the "golden, tropic sea," which, deserted 

 by its galleons, bereft of its romance and 

 its mystery, deserves, surely, to retain its 

 memories and its ancient glorious name. 



But the coast has its historic memories 

 as well — this far-famed coast of Tierra 

 Firme which Columbus declared to be 

 the site of the earthly Paradise, "the most 

 beautiful (lands) in the world, and very 

 populous." 



After Columbus came Alonzo de 

 Ojeda, who sailed westward to the Gulf 

 of Maracaibo, where he chanced upon 

 some Indian villages built on piles, and 

 so named the land Venezuela, or "Little 

 Venice." In the next year — the opening 

 year of the sixteenth century — Pere 

 Alonzo Nino sailed over the same course 



and, besides confirming the reports of his 

 predecessors as to the richness of the 

 vegetation and its numerous inhabitants, 

 was fortunate enough to secure a quan- 

 tity of pearls. Here, then, was a land 

 yielding pearls, and probably gold, for 

 the treasure-seeker ; and Indians, suitable 

 for slaves, so the Spaniards thought. To 

 Tierra Firme, therefore, an adventurous 

 rabble soon found their way, and the 

 horrors of the Spanish Conquest began. 

 For a moment, however, the black 

 shadow is lifted, and one Bartholomew 

 de Las Casas steps forth — a simple priest, 

 afterward a bishop, but "a figure," as 

 Fiske eloquently observes, "which is in 

 some respects the most sublime and beau- 

 tiful in the annals of Christianity since 

 the apostolic age." Las Casas had dedi- 

 cated his life to the protection and con- 

 version of the Indians, and, securing a 

 grant from the king for a tract of land 

 with two hundred and sixty leagues of 



