Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 16, 2025
A tenacious persecution of the Indians who would not become slaves was instituted and but few were able to hide in the mountains of the interior. In 1503 the subjugation of the last remaining independent chieftain, Cotubanama, lord of Higuey, in the extreme eastern part of the island, was undertaken.
The distance from Santo Domingo to Sabana la Mar is something over sixty miles. Road from Santo Domingo to Higuey. This road is the same as the Sabana la Mar road as far as Guerra, then traverses small forests and grassy plains to Seibo, passing through the important towns of Los Llanos and Hato Mayor.
Silver has been discovered at Tanci, near Yasica, in the commune of Puerto Plata. The old chronicles refer to silver mines at Jarabacoa and Cotui in La Vega province, also to others near Santiago, near Higuey and on the Jaina River. Platinum occurs at Jarabacoa, traces of quicksilver have been found near Santiago, Banica and San Cristobal, and tin in Seibo and Higuey.
In the same way Higuey in the eastern part of the island is specially noted for its shrine of the "Altagracia," a picture of the Virgin, of which tradition says that in the early days of the colony it was given by an aged mysterious stranger to the father of a devout maiden who had pined therefor.
The natives, driven to despair, resisted, and in the encounters between the naked islanders and the mailed invaders Juan Ponce distinguished himself so that Nicolos de Ovando, the governor, made him the lieutenant of Juan Esquivél, who was then engaged in "pacifying" the province of Higüey.
That chieftain had retired to the little island of Saona, about two leagues from the coast of Higuey, in the centre of which, amidst a labyrinth of rocks and forests, he had taken shelter with his wife and children in a vast cavern. A caravel, recently arrived from the city of San Domingo with supplies for the camp, was employed by Esquibel to entrap the cacique.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking