e to say, so much am I
horrified.[3] Let us finish with this sad subject and return to the
charms of this admirable Hispaniola.

[Note 3: The _Brevissima Relacion de la Destruycion de las
Indias_, of Fray B. de las Casas, contains the most crushing
indictment of Spanish colonial government ever penned. When every
allowance has been made for the apostolic, or even the fanatical
zeal, with which Las Casas defended his proteges and denounced their
tormentors, the case against the Spanish colonists remains one of the
blackest known to history. Just what the native population of Haiti
and Cuba originally numbered is hardly ascertainable; twelve millions
is doubtless an excessive estimate; but within twenty-five years
of the discovery of America, the islanders were reduced to 14,000.
Between 1507 and 1513 their numbers fell from 14,000 to 4000, and
by 1750 not one remained. Consult Fabie, _Vida y Escritos de Fray
Bartolome de Las Casas_ (Madrid, 1879); MacNutt, _Bartholomew de las
Casas, his Life, his Apostolate, and his Writings_, New York, 1910.]

In the mountains of Cibao, which are situated in about the centre of
the island, and in the province of Cahibo where we have said the most
gold was found, there lies a district called Cotohi. It is amongst the
clouds, completely enclosed by mountain chains, and its inhabitants
are numerous. It consists of a large plateau twenty-five miles in
length and fifteen in breadth; and this plateau lies so high above the
other mountains that the peaks surrounding it appear to give birth to
the lesser mountains. Four seasons may be counted on this plateau:
spring, summer, autumn, and winter; and the plants there wither, the
trees lose their leaves and the fields dry up. This does not happen
in the rest of the island, which only knows spring-time and autumn.
Ferns, grass, and berry bushes grow there, furnishing undeniable proof
of the cold temperature. Nevertheless the country is agreeable and the
cold is not severe, for the natives do not suffer from it, nor are
there snow storms., As a proof of the fertility of the soil it is
alleged that the stalks of the ferns are thicker than javelins. The
neighbouring mountainsides contain rich gold deposits but these
mines will not be exploited because of the cold, which would make it
necessary to give clothing even to those miners who are accustomed to
that labour.

The natives are satisfied with very little; they are delicate and
could not endure