No sooner than Santo Domingo was found to be a paradise of wealth than the other islands were made ready for the unwilling African. He was carried to the mainland of Panama, where Balboa was surprised to find a colony of Negroes whose origin has baffled the mind of the most learned men of that age. To this day no solution has been found for the problem of the coming of these Negroes of Quareca. Gomora says, "That Conquistador entered the Province of Quareca; he found no gold, but some blacks who were slaves of the lord of the place. He asked this lord whence he had received them, who replied that men of that color lived near the place, with whom they were constantly at war. "These Negroes," adds Gomora, "exactly resemble those of the Guinea; and no others have since been seen in America. It may be stated here that every hypothesis has been advanced to show that these men must have been people other than Negroes, but since the natives of the kingdoms of Congo and Guinea were known to have enjoyed friendly relations with each other and sailed the rivers in large oared boats, it is very probable that some of them crossed the Atlantic in like manner as the Caribs in their piraguas traveled from the islands to the mainland and vice versa. The nearest distance from Brazil to Africa is along the Tropic of Cancer, and any number of large boats may have lost their bearing in a storm and got ship-wrecked on the American mainland. This hypothesis is well within the range of probability in view of the fact that the trade winds blow from east to west and the Gulf Stream flows rapidly, and is noted for periodical variation in its course. The Negroes that were originally carried into Santo Domingo from Spain became devoted to the early priests, for it must be conceded that the Jesuits were the friends who maintained a benevolent attitude toward these outcast sons of men. One of these Negroes, known as Estevanico, was the discoverer of the Seven Cities of Cibola, and what is known as Arizona and New Mexico. Negroes were in Mexico with the vanguard of the Spaniards, and to that country must be credited one of the earliest Negro poets. He lived in Mexico City, and was, by trade, a carpenter and maker of artificial flowers, and was always sought by the elite, because of his ready wit and quickness to rhyme on any theme given him.