Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Agüeynaba

AGÜEYNABA (ahg-way-nah'-ba). I. Sachem of the island of Porto Rico when the Spaniards, under command of Juan Ponce de Leon, took possession of that part of the West Indies. He was friendly to Ponce, and accompanied him in an expedition to Santo Domingo. Soon after returning to his native land he died, in 1510. II. Sachem, brother of the preceding, whom he succeeded early in 1511. He promoted rebellion among his fellow-Indians, who attacked the Spaniards and killed many of them. At first the Indians refused to follow him, fearing the result of a war, as they believed the Europeans to be immortal; but he convinced them of the contrary by having a young Spaniard kept under water until dead, and then preserved until marks of decomposition became visible. Thus encouraged, the natives rebelled, but they were defeated, and the sachem fell in battle.