This beautiful cluster of islands is called the Antilles. They extend from the eastern end of Porto Rico to the coast of Paria on the southern continent, forming a kind of barrier between the main ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Here was the country of the Caribs. Columbus had heard of the Caribs during his stay at Hayti and Cuba, at the time of his first voyage. The timid and indolent race of Indians in those pleasant islands were afraid of the Caribs, and had repeatedly besought Columbus to assist them in overcoming these their ferocious enemies. The Caribs were represented as terrible warriors, and cruel cannibals, who roasted and ate their captives. This the gentle Haytians thought, truly enough, was a good pretext for warning the Christians against such foes. Columbus did not at first imagine that the beautiful paradise he saw, as he sailed onward among these green and spicy islands, could be the residence of cruel men; but on landing at Guadaloupe, he soon became convinced he was truly in a Golgotha, a place of skulls. He there saw human limbs hanging in the houses, as if curing for provisions, and some even roasting at the fire for food. He knew then that he was in the country of the Caribs. On touching at the island of Montserrat, Columbus was informed that the Caribs had eaten up all the inhabitants. If that had been true, it seems strange how he obtained his information. It is probable many of these stories were exaggerations. The Caribs were a warlike people, in many respects essentially differing in character from the natives of the other West India islands. They were enterprising as well as ferocious, and frequently made roving expeditions in their canoes to the distance of one hundred and fifty leagues, invading the islands, ravaging the villages, making slaves of the youngest and handsomest females, and carrying off the men to be killed and eaten. These things were bad enough, and it is not strange report should make them more terrible than the reality. The Caribs also gave the Spaniards more trouble than did the effeminate natives of the other islands. They fought their invaders desperately. In some cases the women showed as much bravery as the men. At Santa Cruz the females plied their bows with such vigor, that one of them sent an arrow through a Spanish buckler, and wounded the soldier who bore it.