eautiful Indian girl of good lineage and, with the Indians under his
rule, was assigned in repartimiento to a Spaniard named Valenzuela, who
began by robbing him of a valuable mare and ended by taking from him his
wife.

The cacique's protests were answered with a beating, and his complaints to
the governor of St. Juan de la Maguana, one Pedro Vadillo, were
disregarded.

This grievance led to an organised rebellion of the natives under Enrique,
who assembled numerous forces. By constantly moving from place to place,
he was able to elude the several Spanish expeditions sent against him.
The course of these alternate hostilities and negotiations to obtain the
submission of Enrique, and the dispersal of his people, are described at
length in chapters 125 and 126 of the _Historia General_. Even the
intervention of Fray Remigio, one of the Franciscans who had come from
Picardy to Hispaniola, and who had been one of Enrique's teachers in the
convent, failed induce the offended cacique to surrender. News of the
continued success of the rebellion reached Spain, and in 1527, Don
Sebastian de Fuenleal was sent out as President of the Audiencia and
Bishop of Santo Domingo, with special instructions to subdue Enrique. His
efforts proved as fruitless as the preceding attempts, and in 1528 the
King wrote still more urgently that the campaign must be brought to a
successful issue. The Bishop-President, being in sore perplexity to
devise means for satisfying the royal commands, showed this embarrassing
letter to Fray Bartholomew.

"My lord," said Las Casas, "how many times has your lordship and this
Audiencia tried to subdue this man to the King's service by waging war
against him."

"Many times," answered the Bishop, "almost every year a force has been
organised and so it will go on till he dies or submits." "And how often,"
asks Las Casas, "have you tried to win him by peaceful means?" "I don't
know that there was but the one time," answered Fuenleal. Fray Bartolomew
then affirmed that he was confident that he could arrange a peace and, the
Bishop-president having accepted his offer to act as ambassador to
Enrique, he fulfilled his mission as much to the astonishment as to the
satisfaction of everybody.

The Spanish historian Quintana rejects the account of these events which
is given by Remesal and has ever since been accepted by historians as
authentic, declaring it to be fabulous, and limiting the part Las Casas
playe