File:The storied West Indies (1900) - Santa María (ship, 1892).jpg

English: Identifier: storiedwestindie00ober

Title: The storied West Indies Year: 1900 (1900s) Authors: Ober, Frederick A. (Frederick Albion), 1849-1913 Subjects: Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and company Contributing Library: The Library of Congress Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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Text Appearing Before Image: arico (gwa-ri-co),the seat of King Guacanagaris court, and which Ihave ascertained to be near and on the shore of thebay at present called Cape Haitien. Appealed to bythe messenger of Co-lumbus, the caciquepromptly sent out afleet of canoes, and sozealous and industri-ous were his Indiansubjects that everyarticle on the ship wassoon carried ashore,the wreck dismantledand the wreckage alsosent to Guarico. Thesedetails have been pre-served through the accounts given by Columbus andby local traditions, and can be relied upon as accurate.And thus it came about that, perforce, Columbus, asthe guest of an Indian king, celebrated the firstChristmas ever observed in the Xew World. It wason Monday evening that he set out to visit the cacique,and shortly after midnight that the ship ran aground.Christmas fell on a Tuesday the year in which Amer-ica was discovered by Columbus; the morn had dawnedand the day was well begun—probably it was by thattime midday—and the wreckage of the Santa Maria

Text Appearing After Image: The Santa Maria. 46 TIIE STORIED WEST INDIES was ashore at Guarico, before the Admiral could bringhimself to leave his ill-fated craft. Then he wascarried in a en hoc to the Indian village, where thecacique received him with deepest sympathy, evenshedding tears, it is said, over his mishaps, and placedall he had at his disposal. It was here, at Guarico, that the bartering oftrinkets for gold was carried on with such profit tothe Spaniards; for, 1 hough the Indians had all theirwreckage and merchandise in their possession andcare, every article of which was incomparably pre-cious in their estimation, yet they scorned to appro-priate a single thing. Their honesty was thus wellproved, and it is no matter of wonder that Columbusdeclared them and their king to be pre-eminent invirtue, and the finest people he had ever met. Not quite content with giving them shelter andsuccor, King Guacanagari ordered a great feast pre-pared, after the Nina had been taken to an anchor-age abreast the town,

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