Such were the Maroons, or mountain-dwelling fugitives of Jamaica,
whose story is well worth telling.
First we must say something about the history of this island, and how it
came into English hands. It was long held by the Spaniards, being
discovered by Columbus in his second voyage, in 1494. In his last voyage
he had a dismal experience there. With his vessels battered and ready to
sink, after running through a severe wind storm, he put into the harbor of
Porto Bueno, in northern Jamaica. He afterwards left this for a small bay,
still known after him as Don Christopher's Cove, and here, attacked by the
warlike natives, and unable to put to sea, he was kept captive in his
shattered hulks for a whole year.
The Indians refused him food, and the tradition goes that he got this at
length by a skilful artifice. Knowing that a total eclipse of the moon
would soon take place, he sent word to the dusky chief that the lights in
the sky were under his control, and if they did not give him supplies he
would put out the light of the moon and never let it shine again on their
island.
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