His reception by Anacaona.

Anacaona, who had some suspicion of his intentions, summoned all her feudatories around her “to do horour” to him, when she heard of his coming.  She went out to meet Ovando with a concourse of her subjects, and with the same festivities of singing and dancing as in former days she had adopted when she went to receive the Adelantado.  Various pleasures and amusements were provided for the strangers, and probably Anacaona thought that she had succeeded in soothing and pleasing this severe looking governor, as she had done the last.  But the former followers of Roldan were about the governor, telling him that there certainly was an insurrection at hand, that if he did not look to it now, and suppress it at once, the revolt would be far more difficult to quell when it did break out.  Thus they argued, using all those seemingly wise arguments of wickedness which from time immemorial have originated and perpetuated treachery.  Ovando listened to these men; indeed he must have been much inclined to believe them, or he would hardly have come all this way.  He was now convinced that an insurrection was intended.

  Pretended tournament; massacre of Indian chiefs.

With these thoughts in his mind, he ordered that, on a certain Sunday, after dinner, all the cavalry should get to horse, on the pretext of a tournament.  The infantry, too, he caused to be ready for action.  He himself, a Tiberius in dissembling, went to play at quoits, and was disturbed by his men coming to him and begging him to look on at their sports.  The poor Indian queen hurried with the utmost simplicity into the snare prepared for her.  She told the governor that her caciques, too, would like to see this tournament, upon which, with demonstrations of pleasure, he bade her come with all her caciques to his quarters, for he wanted to talk to them, intimating, as I conjecture, that he would explain the festivity to them.  Meanwhile, he gave his cavalry orders to surround the building; he placed the infantry at certain commanding positions; and told his men, that when, in talking with the caciques, he should place his hand upon the badge of knighthood which hung upon his breast, they should rush in and bind the caciques and Anacaona.  It fell out as he had planned.  All these deluded Indian chiefs and their queen were secured.  She alone was led out of Ovando’s quarters, which were then set fire to, and all the chiefs burnt alive.  Anacaona was afterwards hanged and the province was desolated.

Humanity does not gain much, after all, by this man’s not taking the title of “Lordship” which he had a right to.

Finally, the governor collected the former followers of Roldan in Xaragua, and formed a town of their settlement, which he named “the city of the true peace” (La villa de la vera Paz), but which a modern chronicler well says might more properly havc been named “Aceldama, the field of blood.”  I observe that the arms assigned to this new settlement were a dove with the olive-branch, a rainbow, and a cross.