human
One of their venerable caziques gave to Columbus, when he came the second time to the island, a basket of luscious fruit, saying to him, as he did so: 'Whether you are divinities or mortal men, we know not. You have come into these countries with a force, against which, were we inclined to resist, it would be folly. We are all, therefore, at your mercy; but if you are men, subject to morality, like ourselves, you cannot be unapprised that after this life there is another, wherein a very different portion is allotted to good and bad men. If, then, you expect to die, and believe, with us, that every one is to be rewarded in a future state according to his conduct in the present, you will do no hurt to those who do none to you.'
gpt
That old chief was certainly a very wise man for a heathen,
human
And how strange that the Spaniards could treat so shamefully such innocent and friendly people,
gpt
Yes, exclaimed Lucilla,
human
I think we may all be thankful that there is no Spanish blood in us.
gpt
Which fact makes us the more to be blamed if we indulge in oppression and cruelty,
human
Papa, did that old king live long enough to see how very cruel the Spaniards were to his people?
gpt
That I cannot tell, replied the Captain,
human
Why, exclaimed Ned,
gpt
Papa, were they--the Indians--heathen?
human
They had no images or altars, no temples, but they believed in a future existence and in a god living above the blue-domed sky, replied the Captain.
gpt
But they knew nothing of Jesus and the way of salvation, and it seems the Spaniards did not tell them of Him or give them the Bible.
human
No, said Grandma Elsie,
gpt
Rome did not allow them the Bible for themselves.
human
Are there a good many wild flowers in Cuba, papa?
gpt
Yes; a great many, and of every color and tint imaginable--flowers growing wild in the woods. The foliage of the trees is scarcely less beautiful, and their tops are alive with birds of gayly-colored plumage. I have been speaking of wild, uncultivated land. The scene is even more inviting where man has been at work transforming the wildwood into cultivated fields; he has fenced them off with stone walls, which have warm russet-brown tints and are covered here and there with vines and creepers bearing bright flowers. The walks and avenues are bordered with orange-trees in blossom and fruit at the same time, both looking lovely in their setting of deep green leaves. But you have seen such in Louisiana.
human
Yes, papa, and they are beautiful, said Elsie.
gpt
There must be a great deal worth seeing in Cuba, but I'll not care to land on it if you older people don't want to.
human
Well, we will leave that question to be decided in the future,
gpt
I think I have read, said Evelyn,