peevish young Christian, who threw a sharp dart at this amiable and
domesticated fish. The dart did it no harm because of the thickness
of its skin, which is all rough and covered with points, but the fish
never forgot the attack, and from that day forth every time it heard
its name called, it first looked carefully about to see if it beheld
anybody dressed like the Christians. It loved to play upon the bank
with the servants of the cacique, and especially with the young son
who was in the habit of feeding it. It was more amusing than a monkey.
This manati was for long a joy to the whole island, and many natives
and Christians daily visited this animal.

It is said that the flesh of manatis is of good flavour, and they are
found in great numbers in the waters of the island. The manati Matu
finally disappeared. It was carried out to sea by the Attibunico, one
of the four rivers which divide the island into equal parts, during an
inundation accompanied by horrible typhoons which the islanders call
hurricanes. The Attibunico overflowed its banks and inundated the
entire valley, mingling its waters with those of all the lakes. The
good, clever, sociable Matu, following the tide of the torrent,
rejoined its former mother and the waters of its birth; it has never
since been seen. But enough of this digression.

Let us now describe this valley. The valley of Atici is bordered by
the Cibao and Cayguana Mountains, which enclose it in a southerly
direction to the sea. Beyond the mountains of Cibao towards the north
there opens another valley called the Guarionexius, because it has
always belonged, from father to son and by hereditary right, to the
caciques called Guarionexius. I have already spoken at length about
this cacique in my first writings on Hispaniola and in my First
Decade. This valley is one hundred and ninety miles long from east to
west, and between thirty and fifty miles broad at its widest part. It
begins at the district of Canabocoa, crosses the provinces of Huhabo
and Cahibo, and ends in the province of Bainoa and in the district of
Mariena. Along its borders extend the mountains of Cibao, Cahanao,
Cazacubana. There is not a province or a district in it which is not
noteworthy for the majesty of its mountains, the fertility of its
valleys, the forests upon its hills, or the number of rivers watering
it. Upon the slopes of all the mountains and hills, and in the river
beds, gold in abundance is found; and in th