on
the island "by fair means or foul," according as they found the natives
friendly or unfriendly.

Columbus, meanwhile, with his half the crew, was waiting. He had
established as good order as he could between his men and the natives,
but he was obliged to keep a strict watch over such European food as he
still had, knowing how necessary it was for the sick men in his number.
On the other hand, the Indians, wholly unused to regular work, found it
difficult to supply the food which so many men demanded.

The supplies fell off from day to day; the natives no longer pressed
down to the harbor; the trinkets, with which food had been bought, had
lost their charm; the Spaniards began to fear that they should starve on
the shore of an island which, when Columbus discovered it, appeared to
be the abode of plenty. It was at this juncture, when the natives were
becoming more and more unfriendly, that Columbus justified himself
by the tyrant's plea of necessity, and made use of his astronomical
science, to obtain a supernatural power over his unfriendly allies.

He sent his interpreter to summon the principal caciques to a
conference. For this conference he appointed a day when he knew that a
total eclipse of the moon would take place. The chiefs met as they were
requested. He told them that he and his followers worshipped a God
who lived in the heavens; that that God favored such as did well, but
punished all who displeased him.

He asked them to remember how this God had protected Mendez and his
companions in their voyage, because they went obedient to the orders
which had been given them by their chief. He asked them to remember that
the same God had punished Porras and his companions with all sorts of
affliction, because they were rebels. He said that now this great God
was angry with the Indians, because they refused to furnish food to his
faithful worshippers; that he proposed to chastise them with famine and
pestilence.

He said that, lest they should disbelieve the warning which he gave,
a sign would be given, in the heavens that night, of the anger of the
great God. They would see that the moon would change its color and would
lose its light. They might take this as a token of the punishment which
awaited them.

The Indians had not that confidence in Columbus which they once had.
Some derided what he said, some were alarmed, all waited with anxiety
and curiosity. When the night came they saw a dark shadow begin to