Oviedo and Navarro, whose narratives of these events are repeated by
Abbad, state that the Boriquen Indians, despairing of being able to
vanquish the Spaniards, called the Caribs of the neighboring islands
to their aid; that the latter arrived in groups to make common cause
with them, and that some time after the battle of Coayuco, between
Caribs and Boriquenos, 11,000 men had congregated in the Aymaco
district.
But Mr. Brau[19] calls attention to the improbability of such a
gathering. "Guaybana," he says, "had been able, after long
preparation, to bring together between 5,000 and 6,000 warriors--of
these 200 had been slain, and an equal number, perhaps, wounded and
made prisoners, so that, to make up the number of 11,000, at least as
many Caribs as the entire warrior force of Boriquen must have come to
the island in the short space of time elapsed since the first battle.
The islands inhabited by the Caribs--Santa Cruz, San Eustaquio, San
Cristobal, and Dominica--were too distant to furnish so large a
contingent in so short a time, and the author we are quoting justly
remarks that, admitting that such a feat was possible, they must have
had at their disposition a fleet of at least 200 canoes, each capable
of holding 20 men, a number which it is not likely they ever
possessed."
There is another reason for discrediting the assertions of the old
chroniclers in this respect.
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