. The storied West Indies . inand of Spainhad sent as a present to the town of Isabella; whenthe latter was abandoned, it was hung in the belfryat Concepcion, and called the people to their de-votions. After the earthquake the bell disappeared,for the belfry was ruined. It was finally forgotten;but about a hundred years ago, as a hunter wasranging through the woods about the tower, he sawa strange object clasped in the branches of a wildfig tree. The fig of the island is a parasite, grow-ing upon other trees, and sometimes completely in-wrapping them in ligneous folds. One of these figshad sen
. The storied West Indies . inand of Spainhad sent as a present to the town of Isabella; whenthe latter was abandoned, it was hung in the belfryat Concepcion, and called the people to their de-votions. After the earthquake the bell disappeared,for the belfry was ruined. It was finally forgotten;but about a hundred years ago, as a hunter wasranging through the woods about the tower, he sawa strange object clasped in the branches of a wildfig tree. The fig of the island is a parasite, grow-ing upon other trees, and sometimes completely in-wrapping them in ligneous folds. One of these figshad sent its inquisitive feelers in among the bricksand stones of the ruined tower, and in its explorationshad come across the old bell, which had been hidden THE LAST CACIQUES 87 for centuries. No one knows how long it took thegrowing tree to lift the bell from its bed and hold itsuspended in midair; but that was the object thehunter saw as he looked aloft! He reported his dis-covery to others, and they cut down the tree, rescued. Bell tower of the church. the bell from its imprisonment, and ever since haveregarded it with peculiar veneration. Other ancient relics which I obtained at and nearConcepcion were a small lombard, exploded when itwas fired at the Indians, an iron cross, and one of 88 THE STORIED WEST INDIES the veritable cascabels, or hawk bells, taken to theisland for barter with the Indians. The cascabelfigures prominently in the history of the island, forit may be recalled that after the subjugation of SantoDomingo, Columbus ordered every man, woman, andchild to bring to him at Isabella at least a hawk bellfull of native gold. It was in vain that the caciqueof the region plead their inability to do this, andoffered instead to sow with maize the entire plain,from sea to sea, for the support of the Span-iards. Columbus was inexorable. Cold was what heand his myrmidons had come for; gold they musthave, to send to their grasping king and queen, who,as he explained to the Ind
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