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The National Geographic Magazine 



the New World, which was dignified by 

 the name of his queen and patron, 

 Isabella. 



The position of the town had the only 

 advantage of being contiguous to the gold 

 country, which was the real objective of 

 the party ; consequently the center of ac- 

 tivities was soon transferred to other 

 parts of the island, and Isabella became 

 only a name with a few ruins to show 

 from whence the first expedition into the 

 interior had started. 



Leaving a small force at Isabella, 

 Columbus set out for the gold fields in 

 the interior which he had been led to be- 

 lieve existed there. Passing up the 

 banks of the river Bijo-Bonico, he 

 crossed the mountains through a pass 

 which he called El Puerto de los Hidal- 

 gos, or "Gentlemen's Pass," in honor of 

 the gentlemen who composed his party. 

 Here opened out the beautiful Yaqui 

 Valley, through which flows the river to 

 which he gave the name of the Rio del 

 Oro, or River of Gold. The valley he 

 called Vega Real, or Royal Valley, as it 

 was the most beautiful he had ever seen. 



The natives, resenting the intrusion of 

 the foreigners, swarmed in great num- 

 bers to contest their passage into the gold 

 fields ; but the unarmed hosts of the island 

 were no match for the disciplined troops 

 of Spain, and they were overcome and 

 slaughtered in great numbers. A fort- 

 ress was established on the Janico River, 

 called Saint Tomas, which the natives at- 

 tempted to take with such disastrous re- 

 sults that they gave up for a time all 

 further resistance to the conquerors. 

 Columbus was now fully satisfied that he 

 had reached the Cipango of the East 

 Indies, for which place he had originally 

 set out. 



AN UNHAPPY MARRIAGE 



But the course of empire was still 

 south, and soon Santo Domingo City be- 

 came the center of the colonial activities. 



A little love affair connected with the 

 growth of this city is interesting in this 

 connection. One of the Spanish party, 

 Miguel Dias, having gotten into difficulty 



with an officer, severely wounding him in 

 combat, fled to escape punishment. Find- 

 ing shelter in an Indian village and being 

 received with much cordiality and hospi- 

 tality, he in return gave his heart to the 

 young Caguisas, who was then govern- 

 ing the tribe. His protestations met with 

 favor, and the young Spaniard soon 

 found himself the consort of a queen of 

 no mean accomplishments. But he soon 

 wearied of his environment and sighed 

 for his old companions. The queen, 

 seeing his discontent and fearing to lose 

 him, gave him the secret of her vast 

 wealth and, loading him with the precious 

 metal, sent him back to the Spaniards to 

 induce them to return with him and settle 

 in her country. Dias delivered this mes- 

 sage to Columbus, who immediately 

 ordered an exploration of that part of 

 the island to ascertain the truth of the 

 Spaniard's report. 



The sequel to this little love affair is 

 also interesting, but most pathetic. Zam- 

 caca, after giving her all to her lover, 

 who was thereby promoted to high honors 

 in the colony, being the first alcalde of the 

 new city, was so disheartened by the cruel 

 treatment accorded her people that she 

 fled from civilization and affluence to the 

 wilds of the forests, leaving her two 

 children and still faithful husband to 

 mourn her loss, and was never heard 

 from again. 



From this origin, so casual and domes- 

 tic, arose the first permanent city of the 

 New World. 



Thus the Spaniards were drawn to the 

 south of the island, where they built a 

 fort called New Isabella, and Columbus, 

 who was about to return to Spain, was 

 so impressed by the glowing accounts of 

 the section given him by his men that he 

 ordered his brother, Don Bartholomew, 

 to select a site and build a town. A place 

 was chosen on the banks of the Ozamas 

 River, and here arose the first permanent 

 city of the New World, which was named 

 Santo Domingo, after Columbus' father. 

 Soon after the Great Admiral took his 

 departure for Spain, discord became rife 

 among his subjects, and, this eventually 



