West Coast - Puerto Rico - page 374

History
Mona was first settled about 1000 years ago as pre-Columbian peoples migrated north
through the Caribbean archipelago. Petroglyphs in some caves and the subtle ruins of
bateyes (Taíno ball courts) are the chief remnants of the Indian presence. Columbus
stopped here on September 24, 1494 (at the end of his second New World voyage) and re-
mained several days to gather water and provisions for the long trip back to Spain. When
the Spaniards returned in 1508, with an expedition led by Juan Ponce de León, Mona had
become a sanctuary for Taíno people escaping slavery.
The Spanish eventually claimed the island to guard the ship traffic to and from the gold
coast of the Americas, but abandoned it after two decades when they couldn't afford it. Un-
inhabited and defenseless, Mona was a haven for pirates by the late 1500s, when French
corsairs used it as staging ground for their attacks on the Spanish colony at San Germán.
During the next 300 years, Mona became the refuge of a host of privateers, including
Sirs Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake, John Hawkins, William Kidd and the Puerto Rican
buccaneer Roberto Cofresí.
In the early 20th century it was mined for bat guano (exceptional agricultural fertilizer!)
and made headlines when a German submarine fired on the island, thinking it was a post
for the Allies, in the early 1940s.
Following Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) activities on the island, the comings and
goings of treasure hunters, WWII and a scam to turn Mona into an airbase, the govern-
ment of Puerto Rico slowly began to take seriously its duty to protect the island as a nature
preserve, and eventually prohibited development. Finally, after almost 500 years of human
interference, Mona returned to her wild state.
Wildlife
Although the dry, semitropical climate might suggest an area with little variety in vegeta-
tion, Mona claims about 600 species of plants and 50 species of trees. Four of the plant spe-
cies are endemic, unknown to the rest of the world. If you are exploring here, wear protect-
ive clothing. Mona has four types of venomous trees and bushes: indio, papayo, manzanillo
and carrasco. Almost 3000 acres of the island consist of cactus thickets, while 11,000 acres
are in scrub forest.
The biggest stars of the island's wildlife menagerie are the giant rock iguanas, Cyclura
stejnegeri (similar to the iguanas at Anagada in the British Virgin Islands and Allan's Cays
in the Bahamas), ferocious little buggers with sharp teeth and claws, and which charge
when threatened.