Calamities - Ponce's Second Expedition To Florida And Death

1520-1537



Among the calamities referred to by Friar Abbad as visitations of

Providence was one which the Spaniards had brought upon themselves.

Another epidemic raged principally among the Indians. In January, 1519,

the Jerome friars wrote to the Government from la Espanola: " ... It

has pleased our Lord to send a pestilence of smallpox among the Indians

here, and nearly one-third of them have died. We ar told that in the

island of San Juan the Indians have begun to die of the same disease."



Another scourge came in the form of ants. "These insects," says Abbad,

quoting from Herrera, "destroyed the yucca or casabe, of which the

natives made their bread, and killed the most robust trees by eating

into their roots, so that they turned black, and became so infected

that the birds would not alight on them. The fields were left barren

and waste as if fire from heaven had descended on them. These insects

invaded the houses and tormented the inmates night and day. Their bite

caused acute pains to adults and endangered the lives of children. The

affliction was general," says Abbad, "but God heard the people's vows

and the pests disappeared." The means by which this happy result was

obtained are described by Father Torres Vargas: "Lots were drawn to

see what saint should be chosen as the people's advocate before God.

Saint Saturnine was returned, and the plague ceased at once."



"Some time after there appeared a worm which also destroyed the yucca.

Lots were again drawn, and this time Saint Patrick came out; but the

bishop and the ecclesiastical chapter were of opinion that this saint,

being little venerated, had no great influence in heaven. Therefore,

lots were drawn again and again, three times, and each time the

rejected saint's name came out. This was clearly a miracle, and Saint

Patrick was chosen as advocate. To atone for their unwillingness to

accept him, the chapter voted the saint an annual mass, sermon, and

procession, which was kept up for many years without ever anything

happening again to the casabe ..."



To the above-described visitations, nature added others and more cruel

ones. These were the destructive tempests, called by the Indians

Ouracan.



The first hurricane since the discovery of the island by Columbus of

which there is any record happened in July, 1515, when the crown

officers reported to the king that a great storm had caused the death

of many Indians by sickness and starvation. On October 4, 1526, there

was another, which Juan de Vadillo described thus: " ... There was a

great storm of wind and rain which lasted twenty-four hours and

destroyed the greater part of the town, with the church. The damage

caused by the flooding of the plantations is greater than any one can

estimate. Many rich men have grown poor, among them Pedro Moreno, the

lieutenant-governor."



In July and August, 1530, the scourge was repeated three times in six

weeks, and Governor Lando wrote to Luis Columbus, then Governor of la

Espanola: " ... The storms have destroyed all the plantations, drowned

many cattle, and caused a great dearth of food. Half of the houses in

this city have been blown down; of the other half those that are least

damaged are without roofs. In the country and at the mines not a house

is left standing. Everybody has been impoverished and thinking of

going away. There are no more Indians and the land must be cultivated

with negroes, who are a monopoly, and can not be brought here for less

than 60 or 70 'castellanos' apiece. The city prays that the payment of

all debts may be postponed for three years."



Seven years later (1537), three hurricanes in two months again

completely devastated the island. " ... They are the greatest that

have been experienced here," wrote the city officers. " ... The floods

have carried away all the plantations along the borders of the rivers,

many slaves and cattle have been drowned, want and poverty are

universal. Those who wanted to leave the island before are now more

than ever anxious to do so."



The incursions of Caribs from the neighboring islands made the

existence of the colony still more precarious. Wherever a new

settlement was made, they descended, killing the Spaniards,

destroying the plantations, and carrying off the natives.






* * * * *



The first news of the wonderful achievements of Cortez in Mexico

reached San Juan in 1520, and stirred the old adventurer Ponce to

renewed action. On February 10, 1521, he wrote to the emperor: "I

discovered Florida and some other small islands at my own expense, and

now I am going to settle them with plenty of men and two ships, and I

am going to explore the coast, to see if it compares with the lands

(Cuba) discovered by Velasquez. I will leave here in four or five

days, and beg your Majesty to favor me, so that I may be enabled to

carry out this great enterprise."



Accordingly, he left the port of Aguada on the 26th of the same month

with two ships, well provided with all that was necessary for

conquest.



But the captain's star of fortune was waning. He had a stormy passage,

and when he and his men landed they met with such fierce resistance

from the natives that after several encounters and the loss of many

men, Ponce himself being seriously wounded, they were forced to

reembark. Feeling that his end was approaching, the captain did not

return to San Juan, but sought a refuge in Puerto Principe, where he

died.



One of his ships found its way to Vera Cruz, where its stores of arms

and ammunition came as a welcome accession to those of Cortez.



The emperor bestowed the father's title of Adelantado of Florida and

Bemini on his son, and the remains of the intrepid adventurer, who had

found death where he had hoped to find perennial youth, rested in

Cuban soil till his grandchildren had them transferred to this island

and buried in the Dominican convent.



A statue was erected to his memory in 1882. It stands in the plaza of

San Jose in the capital and was cast from the brass cannon left behind

by the English after the siege of 1797.