Ovando, it is true,
made some endeavours to act up to the spirit of these enactments; but in
view of the condition of the labour market and the clamourings of the
settlers it was, humanly speaking, impossible to carry this out.
As time went on both settlers and Governors accustomed themselves to
treat the aborigines rather as beasts of burden than as men, and they
were hunted, slain, or driven to labour with as little compunction as if
they had been pack-mules. The slightest sign of revolt was wont to be
punished by an outlet of blood which left the unfortunate folk cowering
in deeper terror and despair than before. The utter misery of the
Indians may be imagined when the measures they took to free themselves
are taken into consideration, for in the end they adopted the plan of
committing suicide as the only means of cheating the rapacity of their
white oppressors. Native families, and even entire villages, found
gloomy consolation in a self-sought death. Even in this they were not
invariably successful. Perhaps never has the irony of fate been more
strongly illustrated than in the tale that is told of one large
slave-owner and his human chattels.
These latter, having come to the end of their endurance, had determined
to follow the example of so many in the neighbourhood, and to do away
with themselves in a body.
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