The pilots of the great fleet derided Columbus' prediction and the ships set sail. They had not reached the easternmost point of the island when a terrific hurricane broke loose. All but two of the vessels were lost, and by a strange coincidence one of these two bore Rodrigo de Bastidas, the friend of Columbus, while the other, the smallest and weakest vessel of the fleet, was the one that carried Columbus' property. Bobadilla, Roldan and other enemies of the admiral, and many other passengers and Indian captives perished and large stores of gold were lost. Columbus' squadron rode out the storm in safety in a cove of the bay of Azua, whereupon he continued his voyage. On land, too, the hurricane wrought great destruction. The houses of the town of Santo Domingo were demolished and as the right bank of the Ozama was higher and seemed more suitable, Ovando ordered that the town be rebuilt on that side, where it now stands. Ovando now inaugurated a period of general prosperity. He established peace and order, issued rules for the different branches of the public service, placed honest men in the posts of responsibility and encouraged industry and agriculture. Yet, strange mixture of energy and cruelty, of valor and bigotry that he was, his treatment of the Indians was most oppressive. To each Spanish landholder was assigned a number of Indians under the pretext that they were to be given religious instruction and accustomed to work; but so onerous and unremitting was the labor imposed that they succumbed to disease by thousands, while thousands of others perished by their own hand in an epidemic of suicide which swept through the country, and many fled to almost inaccessible mountain regions.