Which treats of the death of Don Cristobal de Sotomayor and other Christians; and how Juan Gonzalez, the interpreter, escaped with four great wounds, and what he traversed so wounded in a single night, without treatment, and other matters concerning the course of our history.

    Getting back to the story of the Indian uprising I shall say that after their chief agreed to the rebellion, it fell the lot of Chief Agueybana, who was the principal lord of the island, to kill his master Don Cristobal de Sotomayor, whom the chief himself was serving and to whose encomienda he had been assigned by re partimiento, as I have said, and in whose house he was; and they played ball for it, or the game that they called batey. And a sister of the chief, who was mistress of Don Cristobal, warned him and said: "Sir, go away from here: this brother of mine is a knave and wants to kill you." And an interpreter that Don Cristobal had, named Juan Gonzalez,17 stripped himself one night and daubed or painted himself with that red ointment described in Book VIII, Chapter VI, which the Indians call bixa, with which they paint themselves to go to fight, or for their areytos and chants and when they want to look good.

    And as Juan Gonzalez came naked and painted and it was night and he mingled with those who were chanting the chorus of the areyto, he saw and heard how they were sing­ing of the death of Don Cristobal de Sotomayor and the Christians who were with him; and leaving the singing when he saw an appropriate opportunity, he warned Don Cristobal and told him of the wickedness of the Indians and what they had sung in their areyto and what they agreed to do. The master had such poor understanding that as he had not believed the Indian chieftainess neither did he believe Juan Gonzalez: the interpreter said to him: "Sir, we can go tonight, and look that your life depends on it: I will take you where they can't find us." But as his hour was at hand, he did not wish to do it. In spite of all that, when the next day dawned, his spirit was aroused and like a suspicious fellow, he agreed to go; but he no longer had any time: and he told the chief that he wanted to go to where the governor Juan Ponce de Leon was, and the chief told him to go in good hour, and immediately ordered Indians to come to accom­pany him and carry his baggage and clothing; and he in­structed them carefully as to what they were to do; and he commanded them that, when they saw his men, they should make off with the horses and what they were carrying, and so it came about.

      After Don Cristobal had departed, the chief himself went out after him with warriors and overtook him a league from his dwelling on a river that is called the Cauyo. And be­fore they reached him, they overtook the interpreter, Juan Gonzalez, and took his sword and gave him several large wounds, and tried to finish him off ; and as Agueybana came up at that moment, the interpreter said to him in Indian language: "Sir, why do you order them to kill me? I will serve you and be your slave"; and then the chief said: "Forward, forward, and at my datihao (which means my lord, or the one with the same name as myself ); leave that knave." So they left him, but with three large and dangerous wounds, and they passed on and killed Don Cristobal and the other Christians who were going with him (there were four others) with blows of their war clubs, I mean those clubs they use as weapons, and by shooting arrows into them.

      And having done this they turned back to finish killing Juan Gonzalez the interpreter; but he had climbed a tree and he saw that they were looking for the trail of his blood; and God willed that they should neither see nor find him; because as the terrain was thick with trees and branches, and he had left the trail and entered the thickets, he escaped in this fashion. It would have been a great tragedy if this Juan Gonzalez had died there; for he was a great interpreter.
      After it was dark, he came down from the tree and walked so far that he crossed the Sierra of Xacagua, and it is believed that he was guided by God or the angel, and with His favor he had strength and life to do it although badly wounded. Finally he came out at Coa, which was a royal es­tate, but he thought it was Otuao, where he thought they would kill him, because it was rebel territory and part of the enemy land; but his guess was child of the fear with which he traveled; and he had walked fifteen leagues further than he thought. And as there were Christians there, they saw him; and he was so weakened from loss of blood that he fell blindly to the earth. But as they saw him in such condition they succored him with food and drink, and he recovered some of his strength and vigor and was able to talk, although with difficulty, and he told what had happened.

    Word was immediately sent to Captain Juan Ponce, advising him of everything we have said: he immediately readied his troops to punish the Indians and make war on them. At that season Diego de Salazar arrived with the people who had escaped with him, as was related in the previous chapter. And forthwith Juan Ponce sent Captain Miguel de Toro with fifty men to look for Don Cristobal, whom they found buried (because the chief had ordered him buried) and so summarily or poorly covered that his feet were sticking out. And this captain and his companions prepared a sepulcher in which they buried him well and erected a large, tall cross beside it. And this was the beginning and cause of the war against Agueybana and the other Indians of the island of Boriquen, now called San Juan.