Part 1 (1/2)

Santo Domingo.

by Otto Schoenrich.

PREFACE

It is remarkable how little has been written about the Dominican Republic, a country so near to our sh.o.r.es, which has for years had intimate commercial and political relations with our country, which is at present under the provisional administration of the American Government, and which is destined to develop under the protection and guidance of the United States. The only comprehensive publications on the Dominican Republic, in the English language, are the Report of the United States Commission of Inquiry to Santo Domingo, published in 1871, Hazard's ”Santo Domingo, Past and Present,” written about the same time, and Professor Hollander's notable Report on the Debt of Santo Domingo, published in 1905. The first and the last of these publications are no longer obtainable; hence, Hazard's book, written almost half a century ago, is still the chief source of information.

These considerations prompted me to indite the following pages, in which I have essayed to give a bird's-eye view of the history and present condition of Santo Domingo. The task has been complicated by two circ.u.mstances. One is the extraordinary difficulty of obtaining accurate data. The other is the fact that the country has arrived at a turning point in its history. Any description of political, financial and economic conditions can refer only, or almost only, to the past; the American occupation has already introduced fundamental innovations which will shortly be further developed, and a rapid and radical transformation is in progress. Santo Domingo at this moment is a country which has no present, only a past and a future.

My personal acquaintance with Santo Domingo and Dominican affairs is derived from observations on several trips to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, from friends.h.i.+ps formed with prominent Dominican families during a residence of many years in Latin America, and from experience as secretary to the special United States commissioner to investigate the financial condition of Santo Domingo in 1905, and as secretary to the Dominican minister of finance during the 1906 loan negotiations.

SANTO DOMINGO

CHAPTER I

HISTORICAL SKETCH.--DAYS OF THE CONQUEST.--1492 to 1533

Aborigines.--Discovery.--Founding of Isabela.--Disaffection of the colonists.--Indian wars.--Oppression of the Indians.--Founding of Santo Domingo City.--Roldan's insurrection.--Humiliation of Columbus,--Ovando's administration.--Extermination of the natives.--Administrations of Diego Columbus.--Treaty with Indian survivors.

When Columbus, in December, 1492, sailed along the northern coast of the island of Haiti or Santo Domingo, he was more enchanted with what he saw than he had been with any of his previous discoveries. Giant mountains, covered with verdant forests, seemed to rise precipitately from the blue waters and lift their heads to the very clouds.

Beautiful rivers watered fertile valleys, luscious fruits hung from the trees, fragrant flowers carpeted the ground, and the air was filled with the songs of birds of gay plumage. There were scenes of nature's magnificence such as are found only in the tropics. Columbus, as he gazed upon them in admiration, little thought that this beautiful island was to witness his greatest sorrows, that it was to be his final resting place, and that it was in later generations to become the theater of long years of war and carnage.

At the time of its discovery the island of Santo Domingo was thickly inhabited. The native Indians were Arawaks belonging to the same race as those who occupied the other larger West India Islands. Unlike the fierce Caribs who inhabited some of the smaller Antilles, the Arawaks were of a gentle and meek disposition. They were inclined to idleness and sensuality. Columbus lauded their kindliness and generosity; the possession of these traits, however, did not prevent them from fighting bravely when exasperated.

Living in the stone age, they knew none of the useful metals, but gold ornaments were used for adornment. Older men and married women wore short ap.r.o.ns of cotton or feathers; all other persons went entirely nude. Their favorite amus.e.m.e.nts were ball games and savage dances with weird, monotonous music; their religion was the wors.h.i.+p of a great spirit and of subordinate deities represented by idols, called ”zemis,” carved of wood and stone in grotesque form, and of which some are still occasionally found in caverns or tombs. They dwelt in rude palm-thatched huts, the princ.i.p.al article of furniture being the hammock. Simple agriculture, hunting and fis.h.i.+ng provided their means of livelihood.

The natives called the island Haiti, signifying ”high ground,” but the western portion was also called Babeque or Bohio, meaning ”land of gold” and the eastern part Quisqueya, meaning ”mother of the earth.”

The name Quisqueya is the one by which Dominican poets now refer to their country. The inhabitants lived in communities ruled by local caciques, and the country was divided into five princ.i.p.al regions, each under an absolute chief cacique, as follows:

Magua, signifying ”watered plain,” the northeastern part of the island and comprising most of what is to-day known as the Cibao--that part of the Dominican Republic lying north of the central mountain-range. The chief was Guarionex.

Marien, or Mariel, comprised the northwestern portion of the island and was ruled by Guacanagari.

Jaragua comprised the southwestern part, its chief being Bohechio, the oldest of the caciques.

Maguana extended from the center of the island to the south coast near Azua and was ruled by the proud Caonabo.

Higuey, or Higuayagua, the most bellicose portion of the country, comprised the entire southeast and was ruled by Cayacoa.

Columbus happened upon the island on his first voyage. After discovering Guanahani on October 12, 1492, and vainly searching for j.a.pan among the Bahama Islands, he discovered Cuba and while skirting along the north sh.o.r.e of what he supposed to be the mainland heard of an island said to be rich in gold, lying to the east. Taking an easterly course, he was abandoned by the Pinta, one of his caravels, whose captain, disregarding the admiral's signals, sailed away to seek his fortune alone. Continuing with his remaining caravels, the Santa Maria and the Nina, Columbus reached Cape Maisi, the easternmost point of Cuba, where he sighted a high mountainous land lying in a southeasterly direction. On the following day, December 6, 1492, he reached this land, which he called la Espanola, because it reminded him of Andalusia. In English histories the name is modified to Hispaniola. The port Columbus called San Nicolas, as he had entered it on St. Nicholas day, and it is now known as Mole St. Nicolas.

Columbus then sailed along the north coast of the island and entered the pretty little port known to-day as Port-a-l'Ecu. Here, on December 12, he solemnly took possession of the country in the name of his sovereigns, erecting a wooden cross on a high hill on the western side of the bay. He then visited Tortuga Island, to the north, giving it this name on account of its shape and the great number of turtles in the water near its coast. After stopping in a harbor which he called Puerto de Paz, Port of Peace, because of the harmony which prevailed at the meetings with the natives, Columbus continued in an easterly direction, but adverse winds compelled him to put into the bay of Santo Tomas, to-day bay of l'Acul, where the cordial intercourse with the natives was renewed. Here he received an emba.s.sy from the chief of the district, Guacanagari, inviting him to visit the cacique's residence, further along the coast, and bringing him as presents a wampum belt artistically worked and a wooden mask with eyes, tongue and nose of gold.

To accept the invitation Columbus set sail on the morning of December 24. In the evening when the admiral had retired the helmsman committed the indiscretion of confiding the helm to a s.h.i.+p's boy. About midnight when off Cape Haitien, near their destination, the vessel was caught in a current and swept upon a sandbank where she began to keel over.

During the confusion which followed, Columbus had the mainmast chopped down but all efforts to right the s.h.i.+p were in vain, and Columbus and the crew were obliged to take refuge on the little Nina.

As soon as Guacanagari received news of the disaster he sent large canoes filled with men to help the strangers transport their stores to the sh.o.r.e. The relations between the Spaniards and the Indians became most cordial, especially as the Spaniards were gratified to obtain much gold in exchange for articles of insignificant value, owing to which circ.u.mstances and to the natural advantages of the location, Columbus determined to build a fort with the wreckage of his vessel.