men had had such a hard time that they were not willing
to stay there, and all sailed away, leaving Las Casas with only a few
servants and one or two helpers. It was not much like the way he had
expected to begin his famous settlement. If it had not been for the
Franciscans, he would have been lonely indeed.

All might yet have gone well if it had not been for the Spaniards on the
island of Cubagua. They had no good water on that island, and this made
an excuse for coming to the mainland very often. They brought liquor
with them, which made the Indians drunk and unmanageable, and they
taught them many evil ways. This was a great perplexity to Las Casas
and the good monks. All the good they tried to do, all their teachings
of the Christian religion, were made of little use by the evil example
of these wicked men. Las Casas thought that perhaps if he had a fort at
the mouth of the river, he could mount the guns he had brought with him
and keep the unruly people in order. So he hired a mason to build one;
but the people on Cubagua found out what was going on and bribed the man
to stop work and come away, leaving the fort unfinished.

Things grew worse and worse, and all felt that something must be done.
The head of the Franciscans kept urging Las Casas to go to San Domingo
and get the officers there to help them. The clerico knew it was of no
use at all to appeal to those men, who had already hindered him so
greatly in his plans for the good of the Indians; therefore, for a long
time he refused to go. Finally, however, not wishing to be obstinate, he
agreed to do so, against his better judgment.

He appointed one of his men, Francisco de Soto, to take charge in his
absence, instructing him particularly not to let both of their boats
leave the settlement at the same time, as, if trouble arose with the
Indians, these boats might be their only means of escape. This man,
either because of stupidity or rebellion, did the very thing he had been
told not to. As soon as the clerico's back was turned he sent one boat
off one way and the other another; and sorry enough he must have been
for it before long, for trouble came almost at once.

The pearl fishers of Cubagua had not ceased to molest the Indians, and
it was hardly two weeks after Las Casas had sailed before the
Franciscans detected signs of danger. The woman who had been used by
Ocampo to make peace with the natives was still there, and the fathers
asked her whether the