HISPANIOLA

Following his return to hispaniola,

In September 1494, Columbus was ill for five months. The colony was ruled by his younger brothers, Diego and Bartolome, who had crossed the sea to share in their brother's fortune. As foreigners, all three brothers were unpopular with the Spaniards. The Spanish settlers also felt that Columbus had lied to them about the wealth of Hispaniola. While Columbus lay on his sickbed, gangs of discontented Spaniards were roaming around the island, living by plundering Taino villages. The Tainos began to fight back.

Thunder-sticks

The battle began with the roar of musketeers firing their matchlock guns. To the Tainos, matchlocks were magic sticks that made thunder and spewed fire.

Reign of terror

The Tainos reacted to raids on their villages by ambushing stray Spaniards. Columbus did not want to risk upsetting his men. Instead of punishing them for their brutal behaviour, he sent them on an expedition against the Tainos. Hundreds of Tainos were killed or brought back to Isabela as slaves.

Shipment of slaves

In 1495, Columbus sent 500 Taino slaves back to Spain. He hoped that these slaves would make up for his failure to send the gold he had promised. But the king and queen were not happy with Columbus's "gift" — they had sent him to convert the Tainos to Christianity, not to enslave them.

Fact file

•  Between 1494 and 1496, a third of all the Tainos on Hispaniola died.

•  Apart from the Tainos killed by the Spaniards, thousands died of disease, starvation, and overwork. unable to cope with Spanish rule, others killed themselves by taking cassava poison.

•  In 1492, there were some 300,000 Tainos on Hispaniola. By 1548, there were less than 500 left.

•  In 1510, the Spaniards began to ship African slaves to Hispaniola, to replace the dwindling numbers of Tainos.

DECISIVE BATTLE

After recovering from illness, Columbus learned that the most powerful Taino caciques had joined together and raised a huge army, thousands strong. In March 1495, he set off to fight them. His 200 Spanish soldiers were vastly outnumbered, but they had superior weapons and devastated the Taino army.

The Tainos were terrified by the sight of armoured Spaniards on horseback.

They had never seen horses before.