Of how the Indians considered the Christians immortal when they first came to San Juan, and how they planned to rebel and did not dare to undertake it until they had determined whether or not Christians were mortal. And the method they took to ascertain this.

From what the Indians of the island of San Juan had heard of the conquests and wars which took place on this island of Hispaniola, and knowing, as they did, that this island is very large and that it was densely populated and full of native peoples, they believed that Christians could not possibly have conquered it had they not been immortal and incapable of dying from wounds or other disaster; and that, as they had come from the direction of the sunrise, they fought the way they did; and that they were a celestial people and children of the sun, and Indians were not strong enough to be able to hurt them.
     And when they saw that Christians had already invaded the island of San Juan and made themselves masters of the island, although there were only some two hundred men, more or less, capable of bearing arms among the Christians, the Indians determined not to allow themselves to be subjugated by such a small number of persons; and they wished to secure their freedom and to stop serving them. And when the rulers of the island had secretly assembled, they decided that it would be good to put this question to a test and to resolve their doubts, and to carry out an experiment on some stray Christian or one whom they might be able to take by himself and alone; and a chief named Urayoan, lord of the province of Yaguaca, took it upon himself to investigate the matter, which he did in this wise.
      There happened to be in his land a young man named Salcedo who was on his way to join other Christians, and under the pretext of showing him courtesy and of helping him with his baggage this chief sent fifteen or twenty Indians along with him, after he had fed him well and shown great affection for him. So this man went on his way feeling himself free from danger and very grateful to the chief for his warm reception; and when he came to the Guarabo River, which is in the western part and flows into the bay on which the town and settlement of San German is now located, they said to him: "Sir, would you like for us to carry you across so you won't get wet?" And he said "Yes" and was delighted at their suggestion, which he should not have been, for besides incurring the well-known peril common to those who place trust in their enemies, men who do such things declare themselves wanting in common sense. The Indians took him up on their shoulders, selecting their stoutest and strongest companions for this purpose, and when they reached the middle of the stream they pushed him under water and both those who had been carrying him and those who had stayed behind to watch piled on him, because all with one accord sought his death, and they drowned him; and after he was dead they pulled him out on the shore and river bank, and they said to him: "Mr. Salcedo, get up and forgive us; we fell down with you, we'll be on our way." And they entertained him with these and similar questions for three days, until he stank; and even then they were not sure that man was dead nor that Christians did die. And after they had satisfied themselves in the fashion I have related that Christians were mortal, they so informed their chief who then sent Indians everyday to find out whether Salcedo would get up; and he was still not convinced they were telling him the truth, so he decided to go in person, and several days having passed, he found that sinner even more decomposed and putrescent. And from that point on they grew bolder and more selfconfident about their intention to rebel, and they carried out the slaughter of Christians and uprising and other activities I have described in the foregoing chapter.