These observations and the daily spectacle of deeds of violence committed by the Spaniards, at last convinced the natives they must either throw off the yoke or forever wear it. They had courage enough to make the attempt. They took up arms and united themselves under their caciques into a large army, numbering about one hundred thousand. Columbus did not shrink before the danger confronting the colony though he deeply deplored the bitterness which had been caused among the natives by the outrages committed by his inferiors. His chief hope, that these poor and ignorant heathen might be led to accept the Christian religion, was now dissipated and he realized that blood must be shed among those who might have lived together peaceably. In the midst of these discouragements the faithful Guakanahari visited him and tendered him his sympathy and help. This steadfast friend of the Europeans had already incurred the enmity of the other caciques for protecting the strangers; and hence, in self-defence, it became necessary for him to side with the Spaniards. Columbus cordially thanked him and accepted the service of his warriors. Chapter XI The Natives are Subjugated—Columbus is Traduced in Spain—He Returns to Europe and Suffers Many Hardships on the Voyage With the two armies confronting one another the time had come which must decide for either the lives of the Spaniards or the freedom of the natives. Upon the one side were a hundred thousand Indians, armed with clubs, spears, and arrows, the latter tipped with bone or flint. Upon the other were only two hundred infantry and twenty cavalrymen, supported by a small force of Indians under the command of Guakanahari. The contrast was great, but what the Europeans lacked in numbers they made up in the science of war, as well as in their weapons, horses, and hounds—that hunted Indians as if they were game. The risk was equally great on both sides and the issue of the battle apparently uncertain. Columbus attacked the Indians fiercely. The roar of musketry, the neighing of horses, and bellowing of the hounds so bewildered the savages that after a brief and unorganized resistance they took to flight. Some of them fell by the sword, others were trampled upon by the horses or torn by the hounds, while others were taken prisoners. The rest fled to the forest. Thus was it decided that these innocent people should bow their necks to the yoke of European slavery. Columbus lost no time in taking advantage of his victory. He traversed the whole region and wherever he went established his authority without a shadow of resistance. In a few months the entire populous island was under Spanish rule.