172 



HISTOEY OF THE SEA. 



next land the name of Santa Maria V Antigoa ; it is now known 

 as Antigoa, simply. Another he called Santa Cruz, in honor 

 of the cross. Returning to Hispaniola, he found the fort de- 

 stroyed and the garrison massacred. Having founded the city 

 of Isabella upon another part of the island, he sent back twelve 

 of his ships to Spain, and with three of the remaining five, one 

 of which was the famous Nina, started upon a voyage of dis- 

 covery in the surrounding waters. He touched at Alpha and 

 Omega, and inquired of the savages where he could find gold. 

 They pointed to the south. Two days afterwards, Columbus 

 descried lofty mountains, with blue summits, upon an island to 

 which he gave the name of Jamaica, in honor of St. James. 

 Then returning to Cuba, and following the southern coast a dis- 

 tance sufficient to convince the three crews that it was a conti- 

 nent and not an island, he took possession of it as such. He 

 then wished to revisit the Caribbean Islands and destroy the 

 boats of the inhabitants, that they might no longer prey upon 

 their neighbors, but the direction of the winds would not permit 

 him to sail to the west. Returning to Isabella, he met his 

 brother Bartholomew, who had just arrived from Spain, bearing 

 a letter from the queen. He also found, to his extreme regret, 

 that the officers he had left in charge of the colony had tran- 

 scended their authority and had abandoned their duties. Mar- 

 garit, the commander, and Boil, the vicar, had departed in the 

 ship that had brought Bartholomew. Overcome by the toils and 

 privations he had undergone, and sick at heart at the sight of 

 the disasters under which the colony was laboring, he fell into a 

 deep lethargy, and for a long time it was doubtful whether he 

 would ever awake again. 



He did awake, however, but only to a poignant consciousness 

 of the miseries the Spanish invasion had brought upon the island. 

 The Spaniards and Indians had become, through the treachery 

 of the former, hostile during his absence, and battles, surprises, 

 and murders were of daily occurrence. Seeing the necessity of 



