XV
SANTO  DOMINGO
The  Dominican  Republic  occupies  the
eastern  and  larger  section  of  the  island  known
as  Santo  Domingo  or  Haiti.
This  island  was  discovered  by  Columbus  on
his  first  voyage  December  6,  1492.  The
peaceable  aborigines  whom  he  found  on  landing ­
  were  so  abused  under  the  Spanish  rule,
that  by  the  year  1500  fully  90  per  cent,  had
died  and  the  colonists  turned  to  Africa  for
slaves  to  work  their  estates,  4000  being  brought
here  in  1517.
French,  Dutch  and  English  buccaneers
made  this  island  their  rendezvous  owing  to  its
favorable  location.  France  recognized  them
as  constituting  a  state  in  1630  and  gave  them
the  protection  of  the  home  government.  In
1697  France  secured  control  over  the  western
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