If you look on the map of South America, you will see up in the northeast corner the island of Trinidad, and close by, indenting the coast of the mainland, the Gulf of Para. Stretching west from about this point was what was called the Pearl Coast, and it was in this region that was situated the land that had been granted to Las Casas for his company of the Knights of the Golden Spur. Now while he was in Spain events had taken place in this territory that made the founding of a colony very difficult indeed. Both the Franciscans and the Dominicans had been trying to do missionary work among the natives, as we know, and both orders had monasteries there. For a time all went well, until a Spaniard named Ojeda, engaged in the pearl fishery, had come over from the island of Cubagua, seeking slaves. This pearl fishing was carried on by use of the Indians in a most heartless manner. The poor creatures were kept swimming about under water from early morning until sunset. When they came up with their nets, in which they put the oysters,--from the shells of which the pearls were taken,--if they stopped to rest, a man in a boat, who kept rowing about all day for this purpose, drove them in again with blows, sometimes seizing them by the hair and throwing them in. They were half starved, their only food being the oysters or fish and a very little bread. At night they were put in the stocks to prevent them from running away. The consequence of such treatment was that they did not live long, and it was necessary to supply the places of those that died with others. For this reason slave raids were very frequent. This Ojeda, then, came over to the mainland to get more slaves, and carried off a large number of the Indians. Of course this made the natives very angry and they resolved to kill him and the white men with him. Because Ojeda had stopped at the Dominican convent the natives supposed that the monks were his friends. And when the slave hunter came ashore again a few days afterward the infuriated Indians killed him and his men, and a week later they attacked the convent and killed the monks also. When the news of this revolt of the natives was heard at San Domingo, the officers of the colony resolved to send an expedition to avenge the murder of the Dominicans, and a captain, named Ocampo, was placed in command of it. This force started at once, and had reached Porto Rico when Las Casas and his laborers landed. Perhaps you can imagine how the clerico felt when he knew that Ocampo and his soldiers were going to the very country that had been granted to him for his settlement and were to punish the Indians there, where he had hoped to set up a sort of city of refuge for them. He hurried to show Ocampo his papers ordering that no one should go to that part of the country except Las Casas and the monks, and that the natives were to be in his care and not enslaved.