doubted. The Spaniard was the common enemy and the opportunity for
plunder was too good to be lost. But the primary cause of all the
so-called Carib invasions of Puerto Rico was the thirst for revenge
for the wrongs suffered, and long after those who had smarted under
them or who had but witnessed them had passed away, the tradition of
them was kept alive by the areytos and songs, in the same way as the
memory of the outrages committed by the soldiers of Pizarro in Peru
are kept alive _till this day_ among the Indians of the eastern slope
of the Andes. The fact that neither Jamaica nor other islands occupied
by Spaniards were invaded, goes to prove that in the case of Puerto
Rico the invasions were prompted by bitter resentment of natives who
had preferred exile to slavery, coupled, perhaps, with a hope of being
able to drive the enemies of their race from their island home, a hope
which, if it existed, and if we consider the very limited number of
Spaniards who occupied it, was not without foundation.

* * * * *

It was Nemesis, therefore, and not the mere lust of plunder, that
guided the Boriquén Indians and their Carib allies on their invasions
of Puerto Rico.

Diego Columbus during his visit in 1514 had founded a settlement with
50 colonists along the borders of the Daguáo and Macáo rivers on the
eastern coast.

They had constructed houses and ranchos, introduced cattle, and
commenced their plantations, but without taking any precautions
against sudden attacks or providing themselves with extra means of
defense.