CONQUEST MEANS CRUELTY

PEDRO DE ACEVEDO

Puerto Rico, 1493

As the cabin boy on this ship,

I am a witness to the excitement

of Colón, whose first journey reached

other islands.

Now, this second voyage brings us reality.

It won’t be easy to find the spice trees we seek.

When I see a boy around my age,

I learn his name, Guacarigua.

He will be one of the captives,

a person enslaved.