The name was afterwards changed
to Santo Domingo in honor, so tradition has it, of the saint to whom
the day of its foundation was dedicated. As the location of this city
was much healthier than that of fever-ridden Isabela on the north
coast, the settlers in an ever increasing stream removed to the new
town which flourished as the other decayed, until after a few years
Isabela was entirely abandoned. The only vestiges now remaining of it
are a few ruined foundation walls and shapeless heaps of stone
overgrown with rank tropical vegetation.
Bartholomew Columbus busied himself with further explorations of the
interior, founding a number of strongholds, among them Santiago de los
Caballeros, which commanded the Royal Plain. While at Concepcion de la
Vega he was informed that several Indians had burned an altar erected
by friars in the interior, and had buried the sacred images. The
bigoted governor had the Indians apprehended and burnt alive in the
public square. This cruel act induced fourteen caciques to conspire
for an uprising; but their designs being betrayed, they were captured
by a bold stroke and two of them executed.
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