E.G.B.

NARRATIVE OF THE THIRD VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS AS CONTAINED IN LAS CASAS'S

HISTORY

_May 30-August 31, 1498_

He started then (our First Admiral)[319-1] "in the name of the Most Holy

Trinity" (as he says and as he was always accustomed to say) from the

port of San Lucar de Barrameda, Wednesday, May 30, 1498, with the

intention of discovering new land not yet discovered, with his six ships,

"greatly fatigued," he says, "with my voyage, since as I was hoping for

some quietude, when I left the Indies, I experienced double hardships;"

they being the result of the labors, new obstacles and difficulties with

which he obtained the funds for his starting upon the expedition and the

annoyances in connection therewith received from the royal officials and

the hindrance and the evil reports the people around about the Sovereigns

gave concerning the affairs in the Indies, wherefore it appeared to him

that what he already had done was not sufficient but that he must renew

his labors to gain new credit. And because war had then broken out with

France,[319-2] he had news of a French fleet which was waiting for the

Admiral beyond the Cape of St. Vincent, to capture him. On this account

he decided to steal away as they say and make a detour, directing his

course straight to the island of Madeira.

He arrived at the island of Puerto Sancto, Thursday, June 7, where he

stopped to take wood, water and supplies and to hear mass, and he found

all the island disturbed and all the farms, goods and flocks guarded,

fearing that the new-comers might be French; and then that night he left

for the island of Madeira and arrived there the following Sunday, June

10. He was very well received in the town[320-1] and with much rejoicing,

because he was well known there, having been a citizen thereof during

some time.[320-2] He remained there six days, providing himself fully

with water and wood and the other necessities for his journey.

Saturday, June 16, he left the island of Madeira with his six ships and

arrived at the island of Gomera[320-3] the following Tuesday. At this

island he found a French corsair with a French vessel and two large ships

which the corsair had taken from the Castilians, and when the Frenchman

saw the six vessels of the Admiral he left his anchors and one vessel and

fled with the other vessel. The Admiral sent a ship after him and when

the six Spaniards who were being carried away on the captured ship saw

this ship coming to their aid, they attacked six Frenchmen who were

guarding them and by force they placed them below decks and thus brought

them back.

Here in the island of Gomera the Admiral determined to send three ships

directly to the island of Espanola, so that, if he should be detained

here, they might give news of him and cheer and console the Christians

with the supplies: and principally that they might give joy to his

brothers, the Adelantado[321-1] and Don Diego, who were very desirous of

hearing from him. He named Pedro de Arana, a native of Cordova, as

captain of one ship,--a very honorable and prudent man, whom I knew very

well, brother of the mother of Don Ferdinand Columbus,[321-2] the second

son of the Admiral, and cousin of that Arana who remained in the fortress

with the 38 men whom the Admiral on his return found dead. The other

captain of the second ship was called Alonso Sanchez de Carvajal,

governor of the city of Bacea, an honorable gentleman. The third captain

for the remaining ship was Juan Antonio Columbo,[321-3] a Genoese, a

relation of the Admiral, a very capable and prudent man and one of

authority, with whom I had frequent conversation.

He gave them suitable instructions, in which instructions he ordered

that, one week one captain, and another week another, each by turns

should be captain-general of all the ships, as regarded the navigation

and the placing of the night lantern, which is a lighted lantern placed

in the stern of the ship in order that the other ships may know and

follow where the captain guides. He ordered them to go to the west,

quarter south-west,[321-4] for 850 leagues and told them that then they

would arrive at the island of Dominica. From Dominica they should go

west-north-west and they would then reach the island of Sant Juan,[321-5]

and it would be the southern part of it, because that was the direct way

to go to the New Isabella,[321-6] which now is Santo Domingo. Having

passed the island of Sant Juan, they should leave the island of Mona to

the north and from there they should make for the point of this

Espanola,[322-1] which he called Sant Raphael, which now is the Cabo del

Engano, from there to Saona, which he says makes a good harbor between it

and this Espanola. Seven leagues farther there is another island, which

is called Santa Catherina, and from there to the New Isabella, which is

the port of Santo Domingo, the distance is 25 leagues. And he told the

captains that wherever they should arrive and land they should purchase

all that they needed by barter and that for the little they might give

the Indians, although they might be the canibales,[322-2] who are said to

eat human flesh, they would obtain what they wished and the Indians would

give them all that they had; and if they should undertake to procure

things by force, the Indians would conceal themselves and remain hostile.

He says further in the instructions that he was going by the Cape Verde

Islands (which he says were called in ancient times Gorgodes[322-3] or

according to others Hesperides) and that he was going in the name of the

Holy Trinity with the intention of navigating to the south of these

islands so as to arrive below the equinoctial line and to follow the

course to the west until this island of Espanola should lie to the

northwest, to see if there are islands or lands. "Our Lord," he says,

"guides me and gives me things which may serve Him and the King and

Queen, our Lords, and which may be for the honor of the Christians, for I

believe that no one has ever gone this way and that this sea is entirely

unknown."[323-1] And here the Admiral finished his instructions.

Having then taken water and wood and other provisions, especially cheese,

of which there are many and good ones there, the Admiral made sail with

his six ships on Thursday, June 21, towards the island of Hierro,[323-2]

which is distant from Gomera about fifteen leagues, and of the seven

Canaries is the one farthest to the west. Passing it, the Admiral took

his course with one ship and two caravels for the islands of Cape Verde,

and dismissed the other three ships in the name of the Holy Trinity; and

he says that he entreated the Holy Trinity to care for him and for all of

them; and at the setting of the sun they separated and the three ships

took their course for this island. Here the Admiral makes mention to the

Sovereigns of the agreement they had made with the King of Portugal that

the Portuguese should not go to the westward of the Azores and Cape Verde

Islands, and also mentions how the Sovereigns sent for him that he should

be present at the meetings in regard to the partition,[323-3] and that he

could not go on account of the grave illness which he had incurred in the

discovery of the mainland of the Indies, that is to say of Cuba, which he

always regarded as the mainland even until the present time as he could

not circumnavigate it. He adds further that then occurred the death of

Don Juan, before he could carry out the matter.[323-4]

Then the Admiral continuing on his way arrived at the Cape Verde Islands,

which according to what he says, have a false name, because he never saw

anything green but all things dry and sterile. The first thing he saw was

the island of La Sal, Wednesday, June 27: and it is a small island. From

there he went to another which is called Buenavista and is very sterile,

where he anchored in a bay, and near it is a very small island. To this

island come all the lepers of Portugal to be cured and there are not more

than six or seven houses on it. The Admiral ordered the boats to go to

land to provide themselves with salt and flesh, because there are a great

number of goats on the island. There came to the ships a steward[324-1]

to whom that island belonged, named Roderigo Alonso, notary public of the

exchequer[324-2] of the King of Portugal, who offered to the Admiral what

there was on the island of which he might be in need. The Admiral thanked

him and ordered that he should be given some supplies from Castile, which

he enjoyed very much.

Here he relates how the lepers came there to be cured because of the

great abundance of turtles on that island, which commonly are as large as

shields. By eating the flesh and constantly bathing in the blood of these

turtles, the lepers become cured.[324-3] The turtles in infinite number

come there three months in the year, June, July, and August, from the

mainland, which is Ethiopia,[324-4] to lay eggs in the sand and with the

claws and legs they scratch places in the sand and spawn more than five

hundred eggs, as large as those of a hen except that they have not a hard

shell but a tender membrane which covers the yolk, like the membrane

which covers the yolk of the hen's egg after taking off the hard shell.

They cover the eggs in the sand as a person would do, and there the sun

hatches them, and the little live turtles come out and then run in search

of the sea as if they had come out of it alive. They take the turtles

there in this manner: At night with lights which are torches of dry wood,

they go searching for the track of the turtle which is easily traced, and

find the turtle tired and sleeping. They come up quickly and turn it over

with the belly up and leave it, sure that it cannot turn itself back, and

go in search of another. And the Indians do the same in the sea; if they

come upon one asleep and turn it over it remains safe for them to take it

whenever they wish. The Indians, however, have another greater device for

taking them on the sea, which will be explained God willing when we give

a description of Cuba.[325-1]

The healthy persons on that island of Buenavista who lead a laborious

life were six or seven residents who have no water except brackish water

from wells and whose employment is to kill the big goats and salt the

skins and send them to Portugal in the caravels which come there for

them, of which in one year they kill so many and send so many skins that

they are worth 2000 ducats to the notary public, to whom the island

belonged. Such a great multitude of goats, male and female, have been

grown there, from only eight original head. Those who live there neither

eat bread nor drink wine during four or five months, nor anything else

except goat flesh or fish or turtles. All this they told to the Admiral.

He left there Saturday, June 30, at night for the island of Santiago,

where he arrived on Sunday at the hour of vespers, because it is distant

28 leagues: and this is the principal one of the Cape Verde Islands. He

wished to take from this island a herd of black cattle in order to carry

them to Espanola as the Sovereigns had ordered, and he was there eight

days and could not get them; and because the island is very unhealthy

since men are burned with heat there and his people commenced to fall

ill, he decided to leave it. The Admiral says again that he wishes to go

to the south, because he intends with the aid of the Most Holy Trinity,

to find islands and lands, that God may be served and their Highnesses

and Christianity may have pleasure, and that he wishes to see what was

the idea of King Don Juan of Portugal, who said that there was mainland

to the south: and because of this, he says that he had a contention with

the Sovereigns of Castile, and finally the Admiral says that it was

concluded that the King of Portugal should have 370 leagues to the west

from the islands of the Azores[326-1] and Cape Verde, from north to

south, from pole to pole. And the Admiral says further that the said King

Don Juan was certain that within those limits famous lands and things

must be found.[326-2] Certain principal inhabitants of the island of

Santiago came to see them and they said that to the south-west of the

island of Huego, which is one of the Cape Verde Islands distant 12

leagues from this, may be seen an island, and that the King Don Juan was

greatly inclined to send to make discoveries to the south-west, and that

canoes had been found which start from the coast of Guinea and navigate

to the west with merchandise. Here the Admiral says again as if he was

speaking with the Sovereigns,--"He that is Three and One guides me by His

pity and mercy that I may serve Him and give great pleasure to your

Highnesses and to all Christianity, as was done in the discovery of the

Indies which resounded throughout all the world."

Wednesday, July 4, he ordered sail made from that island in which he says

that since he arrived there he never saw the sun or the stars, but that

the heavens were covered with such a thick mist that it seemed they could

cut it with a knife and the heat was so very intense that they were

tormented, and he ordered the course laid to the way of the south-west,

which is the route leading from these islands to the south, in the name,

he says, of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, because then he would be on

a parallel with the land of the sierra of Loa[327-1] and cape of Sancta

Ana in Guinea, which is below the equinoctial line, where he says that

below that line of the world are found more gold and things of value; and

that after, he would navigate, the Lord pleasing, to the west, and from

there would go to this Espanola, in which route he would prove the theory

of the King John aforesaid; and that he thought to investigate the report

of the Indians of this Espanola who said that there had come to Espanola

from the south and south-east, a black people who have the tops of their

spears made of a metal which they call _guanin_, of which he had sent

samples to the Sovereigns to have them assayed, when it was found that of

32 parts, 18 were of gold, 6 of silver and 8 of copper.

Following this course to the south-west he commenced to find grasses like

those encountered in the direct way to these Indies; and the Admiral says

here that after having gone 480 miles which make 120 leagues, that at

nightfall he took the latitude and found that the North Star was in five

degrees. Yet it seems to me that he must have gone more than 200 leagues,

and that the text is in error because it is necessary to traverse more

than 200 leagues on that course from the Cape Verde Islands and Santiago

whence he started to put a ship within five degrees of the equator, as

any sailor will observe who will judge it by the map and by the latitude.

And he says that there, Friday, July 13, the wind deserted him and he

entered into heat so great and so ardent that he feared the ships would

take fire and the people perish. The ceasing of the wind and coming of

the excessive and consuming heat was so unexpected and sudden that there

was no person who dared to descend below to care for the butts of wine

and water, which swelled, breaking the hoops of the casks; the wheat

burned like fire; the pork and salted meat roasted and putrefied. This

ardent heat lasted eight days. The first day was clear with a sun which

burned them. God sent them less suffering because the seven following

days it rained and was clouded; however with all this, they could not

find any hope of saving themselves from perishing and from being burned,

and if the other seven days had been like the first, clear and with the

sun, the Admiral says here that it would have been impossible for a man

of them to have escaped alive. And thus they were divinely succored by

the coming of some showers and by the days being cloudy. He determined

from this, if God should give him wind in order to escape from this

suffering, to run to the west some days, and then if he found himself in

any moderation of temperature to return to the south, which was the way

he desired to follow. "May our Lord," says he, "guide me and give me

grace that I may serve Him, and bring pleasing news to your Highnesses."

He says he remembered, being in this burning latitude, that when he came

to the Indies in the past voyages, always when he reached 100 leagues

toward the west from the Azores Islands he found a change in the

temperature from north to south, and for this he wished to go to the west

to reach the said place.

The Admiral must have been on that same parallel or rather meridian, on

which Hanno the Carthaginian was with his fleet, who departing from Cadiz

and going out into the Ocean to the left[328-1] of Lybia or Ethiopia

after thirty days' voyaging toward the south, among other distresses that

he suffered the heat and fire were so intense that it seemed as if they

were roasting; they heard such thundering and lightning that their ears

pained them and their eyes were blinded and it appeared no otherwise than

as if flames of fire fell from heaven. Amianus narrates this--a Greek

historian, a follower of the truth, and very famous--in the _History of

India_ near the end, and Ludovico Celio quotes it in Book I., ch. XXII.,

of the _Lectiones Antiguas_.[329-1] Returning to these days of toil:--

Saturday, which they counted July 14, the Guards[329-2] being on the left

hand, he says the _North_ was in seven degrees: he saw black and white

jays,[329-3] which are birds that do not go far from land, and from this

he considered it a sign of land. He was sick at this point of the

journey, from gout and from not sleeping; but because of this he did not

cease to watch and work with great care and diligence.

Sunday and Monday, they saw the same birds and more swallows, and some

fish appeared which they called _botos_,[329-4] which are little smaller

than great calves, and which have the head very blunt. The Admiral says

here incidentally that the Azores Islands which in ancient times were

called Caseterides,[329-5] were situated at the end of the fifth

clime.[329-6]

Thursday, July 19, there was such intense and ardent heat that they

thought the men and ships would burn, but as our Lord at sight of the

afflictions which He gives is accustomed by interfering to the contrary

to alleviate them, He succored him by His mercy at the end of seven or

eight days, giving him very good weather to get away from that fire; with

which good weather he navigated towards the west 17 days, always

intending to return to the south, and place himself, as above said, in

such a region, that this Espanola should be to the north or

_septentrion_, where he thought he must find land before or beyond the

said place: and thus he intended to repair the ships which were already

opening from the past heat, and the supplies, of which he had a large

quantity, because of the necessity of taking them to this island and the

great difficulty in getting them from Castile, and which were becoming

worthless and damaged.

Sunday, July 22, in the afternoon, as they were going with good weather,

they saw innumerable birds pass from the west-south-west to the

north-east: he says that they were a great sign of land. They saw the

same the Monday following and the days after, on one of which days a

pelican came to the ship of the Admiral, and many others appeared another

day, and there were other birds which are called "frigate

pelicans."[330-1]

On the seventeenth day of the good weather which they were experiencing,

the Admiral was hoping to see land, because of the said signs of the

birds, and as he did not see it Monday, or the next day, Tuesday, July

31, as they lacked water, he decided to change his route, and this was to

the west, and to go to the right, and make for the island of Dominica, or

some of the islands of the Canibales, which to-day are called the

Caribes, and thus he ordered the course to the north, quarter north-east,

and went that way until midday. "But as His Divine Majesty," he says,

"has always used mercy with me, a sailor from Guelva,[330-2] my servant,

who was called Alonso Perez, by chance and conjecture ascended to the

round top and saw land to the west, and he was 15 leagues from it, and

that part which appeared were three rocks or mountains." These are his

words. He named this land "The Island of the Trinity,"[331-1] because he

had determined that the first land he discovered should be named thus.

"And it pleased our Lord," he says, "by His Exalted Majesty, that the

first lands seen were three rocks all united at the base, I say three

mountains, all at one time and in one glance." "His High Power by His

pity guides me," he says, "in such a manner, that He may have much

service, and your Highnesses much pleasure: as it is certain that the

discovery of this land in this place was as great a miracle as the

discovery of the first voyage." These are his words. He gave infinite

thanks to God as was his custom, and all praised the divine goodness, and

with great rejoicings and merriment the _Salve Regina_[331-2] was sung

with other devout songs which contain praises of God and our Lady,

according to the custom of sailors, at least our sailors of Spain, who in

tribulations and rejoicings are accustomed to say them.

Here he makes a digression and recapitulation of the services he has

rendered the Sovereigns, and of the will he always had keen to serve

them, "not as false tongues," says he, "and as false witnesses from envy

said."[331-3] And surely, I believe that such as these God took for

instruments to chasten him because he loved him since many without cause

and without object maligned him and disturbed these efforts, and brought

it about that the Sovereigns grew lukewarm and wearied of expense and of

keeping up their attachment and expectation that these Indies were likely

to be of profit, at least that it should be more than the expenses with

increase that came to them. He repeats a mention of the heat he suffered,

and how they were nevertheless now going by the same parallel, except

they had drawn near to the land when he ordered the course directed to

the west, because the land emits coolness from its fountains and rivers,

and by its waters causes moderation and softness; and because of this he

says the Portuguese who go to Guinea which is below the equinoctial line

are able to navigate because they go along the coast. He says further,

that now he was in the same parallel from which the King of Portugal

brought gold, from which he believed that whoever would search those seas

would find things of value. He confesses here that there is no man in the

world for whom God has shown so much grace, and entreats Him that He will

furnish something from which their Highnesses and Christianity may

receive great pleasure; and he says that, although he should not find any

other thing of benefit except these beautiful lands, which are so green

and full of groves and palms, that they are superior to the gardens of

Valencia in May, they would deserve to be highly valued. And in this he

speaks the truth and later on he will place a still higher value on it

with much reason. He says that it is a miraculous thing that the

Sovereigns of Castile should have lands so near the equinoctial as 6

degrees, Ysabela being distant from the said line 24 degrees.

Having seen the land then to the great consolation of all, he left the

course which he desired to follow in search of some of the islands of the

Canibales in order to provide himself with water, of which he was greatly

in need, and made a short excursion towards the land which he had seen,

towards a cape which appeared to be to the west, which he called "Cabo de

la Galera,"[332-1] from a great rock which it had, which from a distance

appeared like a galley sailing. They arrived there at the hour of

compline.[332-2] They saw a good harbor but it was not deep, and the

Admiral regretted that they could not enter it. He pursued his course to

the point he had seen, which was seven leagues toward the south. He did

not find a harbor. On all the coast he found that the groves reached to

the sea, the most beautiful coast that eyes ever saw. He says that this

island must be large; a canoe appeared at a distance filled with people

who must have been fishing, and made towards the land to some houses

which appeared there. The land was very cultivated and high and

beautiful.

Wednesday, August 1, he ran down the coast toward the west, five leagues,

and arrived at a point, where he anchored with all three ships, and took

water from fountains and streams. They found signs of people, instruments

for fishing, signs of goats, but they were only of deer of which there

are many in those lands. He says that they found aloes and great groves

of palms, and very beautiful lands: "for which infinite thanks may be

given to the Holy Trinity." These are his words. He saw much tilled land

along the coast and many settlements. He saw from there towards the

south, another island, which is distant more than 20 leagues. (And he

might well say five hundred since this is the mainland which, as he saw a

part of it, seemed to him to be an island); to this he gave the name of

"Ysla Sancta." He says here that he would not take any Indians in order

not to disturb the land. From the Cape of Galera to the point where he

took the water, which I believed he named "Punta de la Playa," he says

that having been a great way, and running east-west (he should say that

he went from east to west) there was no port in all that way, but the

land was well populated and tilled, and with many trees and thick groves,

the most beautiful thing in the world, the trees reaching to the sea.

Here it may be remarked that when the trees of the country grow down to

the water's edge it indicates that such a coast is not exposed to high

seas, because when the coast is so exposed trees do not grow down to the

water, but there is an open sandy shore. The current, _surgente_, which

is that which comes down, and the _montante_, which is that which ascends

from below, he says appear to be great. The island which lies to the

south he says is very large, because he was already going along with the

mainland in sight although he did not think so, but that it was an

island.

He says that he came to search for a harbor along the island of Trinidad,

Thursday, August 2, and arrived at the cape of the island of Trinidad,

which is a point, to which he gave the name "Punta del Arenal,"[334-1]

which is to the west: so that he had in a sense already entered in the

gulf which he called "de la Ballena,"[334-2] where he underwent great

danger of losing his ships, and he as yet did not know that he was

becoming encircled by land as will be seen. This gulf is a wonderful

thing and dangerous on account of the very great river that flows into it

which is called the Yuyapari,[334-3] the last syllable long. It comes

from more than 300 and I believe more than 400 leagues, and it has been

traversed for 300 leagues up stream partly with a ship, partly with

brigantines and partly with large canoes. And since the force of the

water is very great at all times and particularly so in this season of

July and August in which the Admiral was there, which is the season of

high water as in Castile in October and November, and since it wants

naturally to get to the sea, and the sea with its great mass under the

same natural impulse wants to break upon the land, and since this gulf is

enclosed by the mainland on one side and on the other by the island of

Trinidad, and since it is very narrow for such a violent force of

contrary waters, it must needs be that when they meet a terrific struggle

takes place and a conflict most perilous for those that find themselves

in that place.

He says here that the island of Trinidad is large, because from the Cape

of Galera to the Point of Arenal, where he was at the present time, he

says it is 35 leagues. I say that it is more than 45, as he that desires

may see by the charts, although now those names are not written on the

charts as they have been forgotten, and to understand the matter they

must consider the course the Admiral pursued until he arrived there, and

at what point he first saw land, and from there where he went till he

stopped, and in that way, one will find out what he called the Cape of

Galera and what the Point of Arenal. It is not a matter of surprise that

the Admiral did not make an accurate estimate of the leagues of the

island because he went along it piece by piece.

He ordered that his people should land on this Point of Arenal, the end

of the island toward the west, to enjoy themselves and obtain recreation,

because they had become wearied and fatigued; who found the land very

much trampled by deer, although they believed they were goats. This

Thursday, August 2, a large canoe came from towards the east, in which

came twenty-five men, and having arrived at the distance of a lombard

shot, they ceased to row, and cried out many words. The Admiral believed,

and I also believe, that they were asking what people they were, as the

others of the Indies were accustomed to do, to which they did not respond

in words, but by showing them certain small boxes of brass and other

shining things, in order that they should come to the ship, coaxing them

with motions of the body and signs. They approached somewhat, and

afterwards became terrified by the ship; and as they would not approach,

the Admiral ordered a tambourine player to come up to the poop deck of

the ship and that the young boys of the ship should dance, thinking to

please them. But they did not understand it thus, but rather, as they saw

dancing and playing, taking it for a signal of war, they distrusted them.

They left all their oars and laid hold of their bows and arrows; and each

one embracing his wooden shield, they commenced to shoot a great cloud of

arrows. Having seen this, the Admiral ordered the playing and dancing to

cease, and that some cross-bows should be drawn on deck and two of them

shot off at them, nothing more than to frighten them. The Indians then,

having shot the arrows, went to one of the two caravels, and suddenly,

without fear, placed themselves below the poop, and the pilot of the

caravel, also without any fear, glided down from the poop and entered

with them in the canoe with some things which he gave them; and when he

was with them he gave a smock frock and a bonnet to one of them who

appeared to be the principal man. They took them and as if in gratitude

for what had been given them, by signs said to him that he should go to

land with them, and there they would give him what they had. He accepted

and they went away to land. The pilot entered the boat and went to beg

permission of the Admiral on the ship, and when they saw that he did not

go directly with him, they did not expect him longer, and so they went

away and neither the Admiral nor any other ever saw them more. From the

sudden change in their bearing because of the playing on the tambourine

and the dancing, it appears that this must be considered among them a

sign of hostility.

A servant of the Admiral, called Bernaldo de Ibarro, who was on this

voyage with him, told me and gave it to me in writing and I have this

writing in my possession to-day, that a cacique came to the ship of the

Admiral and was wearing upon his head a diadem of gold; and he went to

the Admiral who was wearing a scarlet cap and greeted him and kissed his

own diadem, and with the other hand he removed the cap of the Admiral and

placed upon-him the diadem, and he himself put upon his own head the

scarlet cap, appearing very content and pleased.

The Admiral says here that these were all youths and very well shaped and

adorned, although I do not believe they wore much silk or brocade, with

which, also, I believe the Spaniards and the Admiral might be more

pleased; but they came armed with bows and arrows and wooden shields.

They were not as short as others he had seen in the Indies and they were

whiter, and of very good movements and handsome bodies, the hair long and

smooth and cut in the manner of Castile. They had the head tied with a

large handkerchief of cotton, symmetrically woven in colors, which the

Admiral believed to be the _almaicar_;[336-1] he says that others had

this cloth around them, and they covered themselves with it in place of

trousers. He says that they are not black although they are near the

equinoctial,[337-1] but of an Indian color like all the others he has

found. They are of very fine stature, go naked, are warlike, wear the

hair very long like the women in Castile, carry bows and arrows with

plumes, and at the end of the arrows a sharp bone with a point like a

fish-hook, and they carry wooden shields, which he had not seen before;

and according to the signs and gestures which they made, he says he could

understand from them that they believed the Admiral came from the south,

from which he judged that there must be great lands toward the south, and

he said well since the mainland is so large that it occupies a large part

of the south.

The temperature of this land, he says, is very high, and according to him

this causes the color of the people, and the hair which is all flowing,

and the very thick groves which abound everywhere. He says it must be

believed that when once the boundary is passed, 100 leagues to the west

of the Azores, that many times he has said that there is a change in the

sky and the sea and the temperature, "and this," he says, "is manifest,"

because here where he was, so near to the equinoctial line, each morning,

he says, it was cool and the sun was in Leo. What he says is very true,

since I who write this have been there and required a robe nights and

mornings especially at Navidad.[337-2]

The waters were running toward the west with a current stronger than the

river of Seville; the water of the sea rose and fell 65 paces and more,

as in Barrameda so that they are able to beach carracks;[337-3] he says

that the current flows very strongly going between these two islands,

Trinidad and that one which he called Sancta, and the land which

afterwards and farther on he called Isla de Gracia. And he calls the

mainland an island, since he was already between the two which are two

leagues apart which [_i.e._, the channel] is like a river as it appears

on the map. They found fruits[338-1] like those of this Espanola, and the

trees and the soil, and the temperature of the sky. In this Espanola they

found few fruits native to the soil. The temperature of that country is

much higher than it is in this Espanola, except in the mines of Cibao and

in some other districts, as has been said above.

They found _hostias_ or oysters, very large, infinite fish, parrots as

large as hens, he says. In this land and in all the mainland the parrots

are larger than any of those in these islands and are green, the color

being very light, but those of the islands are of a green somewhat

darker. Those of the mainland have the yellow with spots and the upper

part of the wings with reddish spots, and some are of yellow plumage;

those of the islands have no yellow, the neck being red with spots. The

parrots of Espanola have a little white over the back; those of Cuba have

that part red and they are very pretty. Those of the island of San Juan I

believe are similar to those of this island [Espanola] and I have not

observed this feature in those of Jamaica. Finally it appears that those

of each island are somewhat different. In this mainland where the Admiral

is now, there is a species of parrots which I believe are found nowhere

else, very large, not much smaller than hens, reddish with blue and

black feathers in the wings. These never speak nor are attractive except

in appearance. They are called by the Indians _guacamayas_. It is

marvellous how all the other kinds can speak except the smallest, which

are called _xaxaues_.

Being at this Point of Arenal, which is the end of the island of

Trinidad, they saw toward the north, quarter north-east,[339-1] a

distance of 15 leagues, a cape or point of the same mainland, and this is

that which is called Paria. The Admiral believing that it was another

distinct island named it "Isla de Gracia": which island he says goes to

the west [Oeste] which is the west [_poniente_], and that it is a very

high land. And he says truly, for through all that land run great chains

of very high mountains.

Saturday, August 4, he determined to go to the said island of Gracia and

raised the anchors and made sail from the said Point of Arenal, where he

was anchored; and because that strait by which he entered into the Gulf

of Ballena was not more than two leagues wide between Trinidad on one

side and the mainland on the other, the fresh water came out very

swiftly. There came from the direction of the Arenal, on the island of

Trinidad, such a great current from the south, like a mighty flood (and

it was because of the great force of the river Yuyapari which is toward

the south and which he had not yet seen), with such great thundering and

noise, that all were frightened and did not think to escape from it, and

when the water of the sea withstood it, coming in opposition, the sea was

raised making a great and very high swell[339-2] of water which raised

the ship and placed it on top of the swell, a thing which was never heard

of nor seen, and raised the anchors of the other ship which must have

been already cast and forced it toward the sea, and the Admiral made sail

to get away from the said slope. "It pleased God not to injure us," says

the Admiral here, and when he wrote this thing to the Sovereigns he said,

"even to-day I feel the fear in my body which I felt lest it should

upset the ship when it came under her."[340-1] For this great danger, he

named the mouth "Boca de la Sierpe."[340-2]

Having reached that land which he saw in that direction and believed was

an island, he saw near that cape two small islands in the middle of

another channel which is made by that cape which he called Cabo de Lapa

and another cape of the Trinidad which he called Cabo Boto, because of

being thick and blunt,--the one island he named El Caracol, the other El

Delfin.[340-3] It is only five leagues in this strait between the Point

of Paria and Cape Boto of Trinidad, and the said islands are in the

middle of the strait. The impetus of the great river Yuyapari and the

tempestuous waves of the sea make the entrance and exit by this strait

greatly dangerous, and because the Admiral experienced this difficulty

and also danger, he called that difficult entrance Boca del Drago[340-4]

and thus it is called to this day. He went along the coast of the

mainland of Paria,[340-5] which he believed to be an island, and named it

Isla de Gracia, towards the west in search of a harbor. From the point of

the Arenal, which is one cape of Trinidad as has been said, and is

towards the south, as far as the other Cape Boto, which is of the same

island and is towards the sea, the Admiral says it is 26 large leagues,

and this part appears to be the width of the island, and these two said

capes are north and south. There were great currents, the one against the

other; there came many showers as it was the rainy season, as aforesaid.

The Isla de Gracia is, as has been said, mainland. The Admiral says that

it is a very high land and all full of trees which reach to the sea; this

is because the gulf being surrounded by land, there is no surf and no

waves which break on the land as where the shores are uncovered. He says

that, being at the point or end of it, he saw an island of very high

land to the north-east, which might be 26 leagues from there. He named it

"Belaforma," because it must have looked very well from a distance, yet

all this is the mainland, which, as the ships changed their position from

one side to the other within the gulf enclosed by land, some inlets

appeared as if they separated lands which might be detached, and these

the Admiral called islands; for such was his opinion.[341-1]

He navigated Sunday, August 5, five leagues from the point of the Cape of

Lapa, which is the eastern end of the island of Gracia. He saw very good

harbors adjacent to each other, and almost all this sea he says is a

harbor, because it is surrounded by islands and there are no waves. He

called the parts of the mainland which disclosed themselves to him

"islands," but there are only the island of Trinidad and the mainland,

which inclose the gulf which he now calls the sea. He sent the boats to

land and found fish and fire, and traces of people, and a great house

visible to the view. From there he went eight leagues where he found good

harbors. This part of this island of Gracia he says is very high land,

and there are many valleys, and "all must be populated," says he, because

he saw it all cultivated. There are many rivers because each valley has

its own from league to league; they found many fruits, and grapes like

[our] grapes and of good taste, and myrobolans[341-2] very good, and

others like apples, and others, he says, like oranges, and the inside is

like figs. They found numberless monkeys.[341-3] The waters, he says, are

the best that they saw. "This island," he says, "is all full of harbors,

this sea is fresh, although not wholly so, but brackish like that of

Carthagena"; farther down he says that it is fresh like the river of

Seville, and this was caused when it encountered some current of water

from the sea, which made that of the river salty.

He sailed to a small port Monday, August 6, five leagues from whence he

went out and saw people, and then a canoe with four men came to the

caravel which was nearest the land and the pilot called the Indians as if

he wished to go to land with them, and in drawing near and entering he

submerged the canoe, and they commenced swimming; he caught them and

brought them to the Admiral. He says that they are of the color of all

the others of the Indies. They wear the hair (some of them) very long,

others as with us; none of them have the hair cut as in Espanola and in

the other lands. They are of very fine stature and all well grown; they

have the genital member tied and covered, and the women all go naked as

their mothers gave them birth. This is what the Admiral says, but I have

been, as I said above, within 30 leagues of this land yet I never saw

women that did not have their private parts, at least, covered.[342-1]

The Admiral must have meant that they went as their mothers bore them as

to the rest of the body.

"To these Indians," says the Admiral, "as soon as they were here, I gave

hawks' bells and beads and sugar, and sent them to land, where there was

a great battle among them, and after they knew the good treatment, all

wished to come to the ships. Those who had canoes came and they were

many, and to all we gave a good welcome and held friendly conversation

with them, giving them the things which pleased them." The Admiral asked

them questions and they replied, but they did not understand each other.

They brought them bread and water and some beverage like new wine; they

are very much adorned with bows and arrows and wooden shields, and they

almost all carry arrows poisoned.

Tuesday, August 7, there came an infinite number of Indians by land and

by sea and all brought with them bread and maize and things to eat and

pitchers of beverages, some white, like milk, tasting like wine, some

green, and some of different colors; he believes that all are made from

fruits. Most or all of it is made from maize but as the maize itself is

white or violet and reddish, it causes the wine to be of different

colors. I do not know of what the green wine is made. They all brought

their bows and poisoned arrows, very pointed;[343-1] they gave nothing

for beads, but would give as much as they had for hawks' bells, and asked

nothing else. They gave a great deal for brass. It is certain that they

hold this in high estimation and they gave in this Espanola for a little

brass as much gold as any one would ask, and I believe that in the

beginning it was always thus in all these Indies. They called it _turey_

as if it came from Heaven because they called Heaven _hureyo_.[343-2]

They find in it I do not know what odor, but one which is agreeable to

them. Here the Admiral says whatever they gave them from Castile they

smelled it as soon as it was given them. They brought parrots of two or

three kinds, especially the very large ones like those in the island of

Guadeloupe, he says, with the large tail. They brought handkerchiefs of

cotton very symmetrically woven and worked in colors like those brought

from Guinea, from the rivers of the Sierra Leona and of no difference,

and he says that they cannot communicate with the latter, because from

where he now is to Guinea the distance is more than 800 leagues; below he

says that these handkerchiefs resemble _almayzars_.[343-3] He desired, he

says, to take a half-dozen Indians, in order to carry them with him, and

says that he could not take them because they all went away from the

ships before nightfall.

But Wednesday, August 8, a canoe came with 12 men to the caravel and they

took them all, and brought them to the ship of the Admiral, and from them

he chose six and sent the others to land. From this it appears that the

Admiral did it without scruple as he did many other times in the first

navigation, it not appearing to him that it was an injustice and an

offence against God and his neighbor to take free men against their will,

separating fathers from their sons and wives from their husbands and [not

reflecting] that according to natural law they were married, and that

other men could not take these women, or those men other women, without

sin and perhaps a mortal sin of which the Admiral was the efficient

cause--and there was the further circumstance that these people came to

the ships under tacit security and promised confidence which should have

been observed toward them; and beyond this, the scandal and the hatred of

the Christians not only there, but in all the earth and among the peoples

that should hear of this.

He made sail then towards a point which he calls "de l'Aguja,"[344-1] he

does not say when he gave it this name, and from there he says that he

discovered the most beautiful lands that have been seen and the most

populated, and arriving at one place which for its beauty he called

Jardines,[344-2] where there were an infinite number of houses and

people, and those whom he had taken told him there were people who were

clothed, for which reason he decided to anchor, and infinite canoes came

to the ships. These are his words. Each one, he says, wore his cloth so

woven in colors, that it appeared an _almayzar_, with one tied on the

head and the other covering the rest, as has been already explained. Of

these people who now came to the ships, some he says wore gold

leaf[344-3] on the breast, and one of the Indians he had taken told him

there was much gold there, and that they made large mirrors of it, and

they showed how they gathered it. He says mirrors, wherefore the Admiral

must have given some mirrors and the Indian must have said by signs that

of the gold they made those things, for they did not understand the

language. He says that, as he was going hastily along there, because he

was losing the supplies which it had cost him so much labor to obtain,

and this island Espanola is more than 300 leagues from there, he did not

tarry, which he would have wished very much in order to discover much

more land, and says that it is all full of very beautiful islands, much

populated, and very high lands and valleys and plains, and all are very

large. The people are much more politic than those of Espanola and

warlike, and there are handsome houses. If the Admiral had seen the

kingdom of Xaragua as did his brother the Adelantado and the court of the

King Behechio[345-1] he would not have made so absolute a statement.

Arriving at the point of Aguja, he says that he saw another island to the

south 15 leagues which ran south-east and north-west, very large, and

very high land, and he called it Sabeta, and in the afternoon he saw

another to the west, very high land. All these islands I understand to be

pieces of the mainland which by reason of the inlets and valleys that

separate them seem to be distinct islands notwithstanding that he went

clear inside the gulf which he called Ballena enclosed as is said by

land; and this seems clear since when one is, as he was, within the said

gulf no land bears off to the south, except the mainland; next, the

islands which he mentioned were not islands but pieces of the mainland

which he judged to be islands.

He anchored at the place he had named the Jardines, and then there came

an infinite number of canoes, large and small, full of people, according

to what he says. Afterwards in the afternoon there came more from all the

territory, many of whom wore at the neck pieces of gold of the size of

horseshoes. It appeared that they had a great deal of it: but they gave

it all for hawks' bells and he did not take it. And this is strange that

a man as provident as the Admiral and desiring to make discoveries should

not have seized this opportunity for trading, as he did on his first

voyage. Yet he had some specimens from them and it was of very poor

quality so that it appeared plated. They said, as well as he could

understand by signs, that there were some islands there where there was

much of that gold, but that the people were canibales, and the Admiral

says here that this word "Canibales" every one there held as a cause for

enmity, or perhaps they said so because they did not wish the Christians

to go yonder, but that they should remain there all their life. The

Christians saw one Indian with a grain of gold as large as an apple.

Another time there came an infinite number of canoes loaded with people,

and all wore gold and necklaces, and beads of infinite kinds, and had

handkerchiefs tied on their heads as they had hair well cut, and they

appeared very well. It rained a great deal, and for this reason the

people ceased to go and come. Some women came who wore on the arms

strings of beads, and mingled with them were pearls or _aljofars_,[346-1]

very fine, not like the colored ones which were found on the islands of

Babueca; they traded for some of them, and he says that he would send

them to their Highnesses.

I never knew of these pearls that were found in the islands of Babueca,

which are near Puerto de Plata, in this Espanola; and these besides are

low under the water and not islands, and they are very dangerous to ships

that pass that way if they are not aware of them; and so they have the

name Abre el Ojo.[346-2]

The Admiral asked the Indians where they found them or fished them, and

they showed him some mother-of-pearl where they are formed; and they

replied to him by very clear signs, that they grow and are gathered

towards the west, behind that island, which was the Cape of Lapa, the

Point of Paria and mainland, which he believed to be an island, but it

was the mainland. He sent the boats to land to know if there was any new

thing which he had not seen, and they found the people so tractable, says

the Admiral, that, "although the sailors did not go intending to land,

there came two principal persons with all the village, who induced them

to descend and who took them to a large house, built near two streams

and not round, like a camp-tent, in the manner of the houses of the

islands, where they received them very well and made them a feast and

gave them a collation, bread and fruit of many kinds; and the drink was a

white beverage which had a great value, which every one brought there, at

this time, and some of it is tinted and better than the other, as the

wine with us. The men were all together at one end of the house and the

women at the other. Having taken the collation at the house of the older

man, the younger conducted them to the other house, where they went

through the same function. It appeared that one must be the cacique and

lord, and the other must be his son. Afterwards the sailors returned to

the boats and with them went back to the ships, very pleased with this

people." These are all the words of the Admiral. He says further: "They

are of very handsome stature, and all uniformly large," and whiter than

any other he had seen in these Indies, and that yesterday he saw many as

white as we are, and with better hair and well cut, and of very good

speech. "No lands in the world can be more green and beautiful or more

populated; moreover the temperature since I have been in this island,"

says he, "is, I say, cool enough each morning for a lined gown, although

it is so near the equinoctial line; the sea is however fresh. They called

the island Paria." All are the words of the Admiral. He called the

mainland an island, however, because so he believed it to be.

Friday, August 10, he ordered sail to be made and went to the west of

that which he thought to be an island, and travelled five leagues and

anchored. For fear of not finding bottom, he went to search for an

opening [mouth] by which to get out of that gulf, within which he was

going, encircled by mainland and islands, although he did not believe it

to be mainland, and he says it is certain that that was an island,

because the Indians said thus, and thus it appears he did not understand

them. From there he saw another island facing the south, which he called

Ysabeta,[347-1] which extends from the south-east to north-west,

afterwards another which he called La Tramontana,[348-1] a high land and

very beautiful, and it seemed that it ran from north to south. It

appeared very large. This was the mainland. The Indians whom he had taken

said--according to what he understood--that the people there were

_Canibales_ and that yonder was where the gold was found and that the

pearls which they had given the Admiral they had sought and found on the

northern part of Paria toward the west. The water of that sea he says was

as fresh as that of the river of Seville and in the same manner muddy. He

would have wished to go to those islands except for turning backward

because of the haste he felt in order not to lose the supplies that he

was taking for the Christians of Espanola, which with so much labor,

difficulty and fatigue he had gathered for them; and as being a thing for

the sake of which he had suffered much, he repeats this about the

provisions or supplies many times. He says he believes that in those

islands he had seen, there must be things of value because they are all

large and high lands with valleys and plains and with many waters and

very well cultivated and populated and the people of very good speech, as

their gestures showed. These are the words of the Admiral.

He says also that if the pearls are born as Pliny[348-2] says from the

dew which falls in the oysters while they are open, there is good reason

for having them there because much dew falls in that place and there are

an infinite number of oysters and very large ones and because there are

no tempests there, but the sea is always calm, a sign of which is that

the trees enter into the sea, which shows there is never a storm there,

and every branch of the trees which were in the water (and there are also

roots of certain trees in the sea, which according to the language of

this Espanola are called _mangles_[348-3]) was full of an infinite number

of oysters so that breaking a branch, it comes out full of oysters

attached to it. They are white within, and their flesh also, and very

savory, not salt but fresh and they require some salt, and he says that

they do not know or spring from mother-of-pearl. Wherever the pearls are

generated, he says, they are extremely fine and they pierce them as in

Venice. As for this that the Admiral says that the branches were full of

oysters there, we say that those oysters that he saw and that are on the

branches above the water and a little under the water are not those that

produce pearls, but another species; because those that bear pearls are

more careful from their natural instinct to hide themselves as much

further under water as they can than those he saw on the

branches....[349-1]

Returning to where I dropped the thread of the history, at this place the

Admiral mentions many points of land and islands and the names he had

given them, but it does not appear when. In this and elsewhere the

Admiral shows himself to be a native of another country and of another

tongue, because he does not apprehend all the signification of the

Castilian words nor the manner of using them. He gave names to the Punta

Seca, the Ysla Ysabeta, the Ysla Tramontana, the Punta Llana, Punta Sara,

assuming them to be known, although he has said nothing of them or of any

of them. He says that all that sea is fresh, and he does not know from

whence it proceeds, because it did not appear to have the flow from great

rivers, and that, if it had them, he says it would not cease to be a

marvel. But he was mistaken in thinking there were no rivers, since the

river Yuyapari furnished so great a flow of fresh water, as well as

others which come from near there.

Desiring to get out of this Gulf of Ballena, where he was encircled by

mainland and La Trinidad, as already said, in going to the west by that

coast of the mainland, which he called "de Gracia" towards the point

Seca, although he does not say where it was, he found two fathoms of

water, no more. He sent the small caravel to see if there was an outlet

to the north, because, in front of the mainland and of the other which

he called Ysabeta, to the west, there appeared a very high and beautiful

island. The caravel returned, and said that they found a great gulf, and

in it four great openings which appeared small gulfs, and at the end of

each one a river. This gulf he named Golpho de las Perlas, although I

believe there are no pearls there. It appears that this was the inside

corner of all this great gulf,[350-1] in which the Admiral was going

enclosed by the mainland and the island of Trinidad; those four bays or

openings, the Admiral believed were four islands, and that there did not

appear to be a sign of a river, which would make all that gulf, of 40

leagues, of sea, all fresh; but the sailors affirmed that those openings

were mouths of rivers. And they say true, at least in regard to two of

these openings, because by one comes the great river Yuyapari and by the

other comes another great river which to-day is called the river of

Camari.[350-2]

The Admiral would have liked very much to find out the truth of this

secret, which was the cause of this great gulf being 40 leagues in length

by 26 in width, containing fresh water, which was a thing, he says, for

wonder, (and he was certainly right), and also to penetrate the secrets

of those lands, where he did not believe it to be possible that there

were not things of value, or that they were not in the Indies, especially

from having found there traces of gold and pearls and the news of them,

and discovered such lands, so many and such people in them; from which

the things there and their riches might easily be known; but because the

supplies he was carrying for the people who were in this Espanola, and

which he carried that they who were in the mines gathering gold might

have food, were being lost, which food and supplies he had gathered with

great difficulty and fatigue, he did not allow himself to be detained,

and he says that, if he had the hope of having more as quickly, he would

postpone delivering them, in order to discover more lands and see the

secrets of them; and finally he resolves to follow that which is most

sure, and come to this island, and send from it moneys to Castile to

bring supplies and people under hire, and at the earliest opportunity to

send also his brother, the Adelantado, to prosecute his discovery and

find great things, as he hoped they would be found, to serve our Lord and

the Sovereigns.

Yet, just at the best time, the thread was cut, as will appear, of these

his good desires, and he says thus: "Our Lord guides me by His pity and

presents me things with which He may be served, and your Highnesses may

have great pleasure, and certainly they ought to have pleasure, because

here they have such a noble thing and so royal for great princes. And it

is a great error to believe any one who speaks evil to them of this

undertaking, but to abhor them, because there is not to be found a prince

who has had so much grace from our Lord, and so much victory from a thing

so signal and of so much honor to their high estate and realms, and by

which God may receive endlessly more services and the people of Spain

more refreshment and gains. Because it has been seen that there are

infinite things of value, and although now this that I say may not be

known, the time will come when it will be accounted of great excellence,

and to the great reproach of those persons who oppose this project to

your Highnesses; and although they may have expended something in this

matter, it has been in a cause more noble and of greater account than any

undertaking of any other prince until now, nor was it proper to withdraw

from it hastily, but to proceed and give me aid and favor; because the

Sovereigns of Portugal spent and had courage to spend in Guinea, for four

or five years, money and people, before they received any benefit, and

afterward God gave them advantages and gold. For certainly, if the people

of the kingdom of Portugal be counted, and those of them who died in this

undertaking of Guinea be enumerated, it would be found that they are more

than half of the kingdom;[352-1] and certainly, it would be the greatest

thing to have in Spain a revenue which would come from this undertaking.

Your Highnesses would leave nothing of greater memory; and they may

examine, and discover that no prince of Castile may be found, and I have

not found such by history or by tradition,--who has ever gained land

outside of Spain. And your Highnesses will gain these lands, so very

great, which are another world,[352-2] and where Christianity will have

so great pleasure, and our faith in time so great an increase.[352-3] All

this I say with very honest intention, and because I desire that Your

Highnesses may be the greatest Lords in the world,[352-4] I say Lords of

it all; and that it may all be with great service and contentment of the

Holy Trinity, for which at the end of their days they may have the glory

of Paradise, and not for that which concerns me myself, whose hope is in

His High Majesty, that Your Highnesses will soon see the truth of it,

and this is my ardent desire." All these are the actual words of the

Admiral....[353-1]

So, in order to get out of this gulf, within which he was surrounded by

land on all parts, with the intention already told of saving the supplies

which he carried, which were being lost, in coming to this island of

Espanola,--Saturday, August 11, at the appearance of the moon, he raised

the anchors, spread the sails, and navigated toward the east (_el

leste_), that is towards the place where the sun rises,[353-2] because he

was in the corner of the gulf where was the river Yuyapari as was said

above, in order to go out between the Point of Paria and the mainland,

which he called the Punta or Cabo de Lapa, and the land he named Ysla de

Gracia, and between the cape which he called Cabo Boto of the island of

Trinidad.

He arrived at a very good harbor, which he called Puerto de Gatos,[353-3]

which is connected with the mouth where are the two little islands of the

Caracol and Delfin, between the capes of Lapa and Cape Boto. And this

occurred Sunday, August 12.

He anchored near the said harbor, in order to go out by the said mouth in

the morning. He found another port near there, to examine which he sent a

boat. It was very good. They found certain houses of fishermen, and much

water and very fresh. He named it Puerto de las Cabanas.[353-4] They

found, he says, myrobolans on the land: near the sea, infinite oysters

attached to the branches of the trees which enter into the sea, the

mouths open to receive the dew which drops from the leaves and which

engenders the pearls, as Pliny says and as is alleged in the vocabulary

which is called _Catholicon_.[353-5]

Monday, August 13, at the rising of the moon, he weighed anchor from

where he was, and came towards the Cape of Lapa, which is Paria, in order

to go to the north by the mouth called Del Drago, for the following cause

and danger in which he saw himself there; the Mouth of the Dragon, he

says, is a strait which is between the Point of Lapa, the end of the

island of Gracia, which is at the east end of the land of Paria and

between Cape Boto which is the western end of the island of Trinidad. He

says it is about a league and a half between the two capes. This must be

after having passed four little islands which he says lie in the centre

of the channel, although now we do not really see more than two, by which

he could not go out, and there remained of the strait only a league and a

half in the passage. From the Punta de la Lapa to the Cabo de Boto it is

five leagues. Arriving at the said mouth at the hour of tierce,[354-1] he

found a great struggle between the fresh water striving to go out to the

sea and the salt water of the sea striving to enter into the gulf, and it

was so strong and fearful, that it raised a great swell, like a very high

hill, and with this, both waters made a noise and thundering, from east

to west, very great and fearful, with currents of water, and after one

came four great waves one after the other, which made contending

currents; here they thought to perish, no less than in the other mouth of

the Sierpe by the Cape of Arenal when they entered into the gulf. This

danger was doubly more than the other, because the wind with which they

hoped to get out died away, and they wished to anchor, because there was

no remedy other than that, although it was not without danger from the

fierceness of the waters, but they did not find bottom, because the sea

was very deep there. They feared that the wind having calmed, the fresh

or salt water might throw them on the rocks with their currents, when

there would be no help. It is related that the Admiral here said,

although I did not find it written with his own hand as I found the

above, that if they escaped from that place they could report that they

escaped from the mouth of the dragon, and for this reason that name was

given to it and with reason.

It pleased the goodness of God that from the same danger safety and

deliverance came to them and the current of the fresh water overcame the

current of the salt water and carried the ships safely out, and thus they

were placed in security; because when God wills that one or many shall be

kept alive, water is a remedy for them.[355-1] Thus they went out,

Monday, August 13, from the said dangerous Gulf and Mouth of the Dragon.

He says that there are 48 leagues from the first land of La Trinidad to

the gulf which the sailors discovered whom he sent in the caravel, where

they saw the rivers and he did not believe them, which gulf he called "de

las Perlas," and this is the interior angle of all the large gulf, which

he called "de la Ballena," where he travelled so many days encircled by

land. I add that it is a good 50 leagues, as appears from the chart.

Having gone out of the gulf and the Boca del Drago and having passed his

danger, he decides to go to the west by the coast below[355-2] of the

mainland, believing yet that it was the island of Gracia, in order to get

abreast, on the right, of the said Gulf of the Pearls, north and south,

and to go around it,[355-3] and see whence comes so great abundance of

water, and to see if it proceeded from rivers, as the sailors affirmed

and which he says he did not believe because he had not heard that either

the Ganges, the Nile or the Euphrates[355-4] carried so much fresh

water. The reason which moved him was because he did not see lands large

enough to give birth to such great rivers, "unless indeed," he says,

"that this is mainland." These are his words. So that he was already

beginning to suspect that the land of Gracia which he believed to be an

island is mainland, which it certainly was and is, and the sailors had

been right, from which land there came such a quantity of water from the

rivers, Yuyapari and the other which flows out near it, which we now call

Camari, and others which must empty there, so that, going in search of

that Gulf of the Pearls, where the said rivers empty, thinking to find it

surrounded by land, considering it an island and to see if there was an

entrance there, or an outlet to the south, and if he did not find it, he

says he would affirm then that it was a river, and that both were a great

wonder,--he went down the coast that Monday until the setting of the sun.

He saw that the coast was filled with good harbors and a very high land;

by that lower coast he saw many islands toward the north and many capes

on the mainland, to all of which he gave names: to one, Cabo de Conchas;

to another, Cabo Luengo; to another, Cabo de Sabor; to another, Cabo

Rico. A high and very beautiful land. He says that on that way there are

many harbors and very large gulfs which must be populated, and the

farther he went to the west he saw the land more level and more

beautiful. On going out of the mouth, he saw an island to the north,

which might be 26 leagues from the north, and named it La Isla de la

Asuncion; he saw another island and named it La Concepcion, and three

other small islands together he called Los Testigos.[356-1] They are

called this to-day. Another near them he called El Romero, and three

other little small islands he called Las Guardias. Afterwards he arrived

near the Isla Margarita, and called it Margarita, and another near it he

named El Martinet.

This Margarita is an island 15 leagues long, and 5 or 6 wide, and is very

green and beautiful on the coast and is very good within, for which

reason it is inhabited; it has near it extending lengthwise east and

west, three small islands, and two behind them extending north and south.

The Admiral did not see more than the three, as he was going along the

southern part of Margarita. It is six or seven leagues from the mainland,

and this makes a small gulf between it and the mainland, and in the

middle of the gulf are two small islands, east and west, beside each

other: the one is called Coche, which means deer, and the other Cubagua,

which is the one we have described in chapter 136, and said that there

are an infinite quantity of pearls gathered there. So that the Admiral,

although he did not know that the pearls were formed in this gulf,

appears to have divined that fact in naming it Margarita; he was very

near it, although he does not express it, because he says he was nine

leagues from the island of Martinet, which he says was near Margarita, on

the northern part, and he says near it, because as he was going along the

southern part of Margarita, it appeared to be near, although it was eight

or nine leagues away; and this is the small island to the north, near

Margarita, which is now called Blanca, and is distant eight or nine

leagues from Margarita as I said. For here it seems that the Admiral must

have been close to or near Margarita and I believe that he anchored

because the wind failed him. Finally of all the names that he gave to the

islands and capes of the mainland which he took for the island of Gracia

none have lasted or are used to-day except Trinidad, Boca del Drago, Los

Testigos, and Margarita.

There the eyes of the Admiral became very bad from not sleeping. Because

always, as he was in so many dangers sailing among islands, it was his

custom himself to watch on deck, and whoever takes ships with cargo

should for the most part do that very thing, like the pilots, and he says

that he found himself more fatigued here than when he discovered the

other mainland, which is the island of Cuba, (which he regarded as

mainland even until now), because his eyes were bloodshot; and thus his

labors on the sea were incomparable. For this reason he was in bed this

night, and therefore he found himself farther out in the sea than he

would have been if he had himself watched, from which he did not trust

himself to the sailors, nor should any one who is a diligent and perfect

pilot trust to anybody, because dependent on him and on his head are all

those who go in the ship, and that which is most necessary and proper to

his office is to watch and not sleep all the time while he navigates.

The Admiral appears to have gone down the coast after he came out of the

Mouth of the Dragon, yesterday Monday and to-day Tuesday, 30 or 40

leagues at least, although he does not say so, as he complains that he

did not write all that he had to write, as he could not on account of his

being so ill here. And as he saw that the land was becoming very extended

below to the west, and appeared more level and more beautiful, and the

Gulf of the Pearls which was in the back part of the gulf, or fresh-water

sea, whence the river of Yuyapari flowed, in the search of which he was

going, had no outlet, which he hoped to see, believing that this mainland

was an island, he now became conscious that a land so great was not an

island, but mainland, and as if speaking with the Sovereigns, he says

here: "I believe that this is mainland, very great, which until to-day

has not been known. And reason aids me greatly because of this being such

a great river and because of this sea which is fresh, and next the saying

of Esdras aids me, in the 4th book, chapter 6th, which says that the six

parts of the world are of dry land and the one of water.[358-1] Which

book St. Ambrose approves in his Examenon[358-2] and St. Augustine on the

passage, 'Morietur filius meus Christus,' as Francisco de Mayrones

alleges.[359-1] And further, I am supported by the sayings of many

Canibales Indians, whom I took at other times, who said that to the south

of them was mainland, and at that time I was on the island of Guadeloupe,

and also I heard it from others of the island of Sancta Cruz and of Sant

Juan, and they said that in it there was much gold, and, as your

Highnesses know, a very short time ago, there was no other land known

than that which Ptolemy wrote of, and there was not in my time any one

who would believe that one could navigate from Spain to the Indies; about

which matter I was seven years in your Court, and there were few who

understood it; and finally the very great courage of your Highnesses

caused it to be tried, against the opinion of those who contradicted it.

And now the truth appears, and it will appear before long, much greater;

and if this is mainland, it is a thing of wonder, and it will be so among

all the learned, since so great a river flows out that it makes a

fresh-water sea of 48 leagues." These are his words....[359-2]

Having finished this digression let us return then to our history and to

what the Admiral resolved to do in the place where he was, and that is,

going as fast as possible, he wished to come to this Espanola, for some

reasons which impelled him greatly: one, because he was going with great

anxiety and affliction, as he had not had news of the condition of this

island for so many days; and it would seem that he had some, premonition

of the disorder and the losses and the travail which with the rising of

Francisco Roldan[360-1] all this land and his brothers were suffering;

the other in order to despatch immediately the Adelantado, his brother,

with three ships, to continue his discovery of the mainland which he had

already begun to explore; and it is certain that if Francisco Roldan with

his rebellion and shamelessness had not prevented him, the Admiral or his

brother for him would have discovered the mainland as far as New Spain;

but, according to the decree of Divine Providence, the hour of its

discovery had not come, nor was the permission recalled[360-2] by which

many were being enabled to distinguish themselves in unjust works under

color of making discoveries.

The third cause which hastened him in coming to this island, was from

seeing that the supplies were spoiling and being lost, of which he had

such great need for the relief of those who were here, which made him

weep again, considering that he had obtained them with great difficulties

and fatigues, and he says that, if they are lost, he has no hope of

getting others, from the great opposition he always encountered from

those who counselled the Sovereigns, "who," he says here, "are not

friends nor desire the honor of the high condition of their Highnesses,

the persons who have spoken evil to them of such a noble undertaking. Nor

was the cost so great that it should not be expended, although benefits

might not be had quickly to recompense it, since the service was very

great which was rendered our Lord in spreading His Holy Name through

unknown lands. And besides this, it would be a much greater memorial

than any Prince had left, spiritual and temporal." And the Admiral says

further, "And for this the revenue of a good bishopric or archbishopric

would be well secured, and I say," says he, "as good as the best in

Spain, since there are here so many resources and as yet no priesthood.

They may have heard that here there are infinite peoples, which may have

determined the sending here of learned and intelligent persons and

friends of Christ to try and make them Christians and commence the work;

the establishment of which bishopric I am very sure will be made, please

our Lord, and the revenues will soon come from here and be carried

there." These are his words. How much truth he spoke and how clear a case

there was of inattention and remissness and lukewarmness of charity in

the men of that day, spiritual or ecclesiastical and temporal, who held

the power and resources, not to make provision for the healing and

conversion of these peoples, so disposed and ready to receive the faith,

the day of universal judgment will reveal.

The fourth cause for coming to this island and not stopping to discover

more, which he would have very much wished, as he says, was because the

seamen did not come prepared to make discoveries, since he says that he

did not dare to say in Castile that he came with intention to make

discoveries, because they would have placed some impediments in his way,

or would have demanded more money of him than he had, and he says that

the people were becoming very tired. The fifth cause, was because the

ships he had were large for making discoveries, as the one was of more

than 100 tons and the other more than 70, and only smaller ones are

needed to make discoveries; and because of the ship which he took on his

first voyage being large, he lost it in the harbor of Navidad, kingdom of

the King Guacanagari.[361-1] Also the sixth reason which very much

constrained him to leave the discoveries and come to this island, was

because of having his eyes almost lost from not sleeping, from the long

and continued watches or vigils he had had; and in this place he says

thus: "May it please our Lord to free me from this malady," he says. "He

well knows that I did not suffer these fatigues in order to find

treasures for myself, since surely I recognize that all is vanity which

is done in this age, save that which is for the honor and service of God,

which is not to amass pomps or riches, nor the many other things we use

in this world, in which we are more inclined than to the things which can

save us." These are his words.

Truly this man had a good Christian purpose and was very contented with

his own estate and desired in a moderate degree to maintain himself in

it, and to rest from such sore travail, which he fully merited; yet the

result of his sweat and toil was to impose a greater burden on the

Sovereigns, and I do not know what greater was necessary than had already

fallen to them, and even he had imposed obligations on them, except that

he kept seeing that little importance was made of his distinguished

services that he had performed, and that all at once the estimation of

these Indies which was held at first was declining and coming to naught,

through those that had the ears of the Sovereigns, so that he feared each

day greater disfavors and that the Sovereigns might give up the whole

business and thus his sweat and travail be entirely lost.

Having determined, then, to come as quickly as he could to this island,

Wednesday, August 15, which was the day of the Assumption of Our Lady,

after the rising of the sun, he ordered the anchors weighed from where he

was anchored, which must have been within the small gulf which Margarita

and the other islands make with the mainland (and he must have been near

Margarita as we said above, ch. 139), and sailed on the way to this

island; and, pursuing his way, he saw very clearly Margarita and the

little islands which were there, and also, the farther away he went, he

discovered more high land of the continent. And he went that day from

sunrise to sunset 63 leagues, because of the great currents which

supplemented the wind....[362-1]

Let us return to the voyage of the Admiral, whom we left started from the

neighborhood of the island of Margarita, and he went that day, Wednesday,

63 leagues from sun to sun, as they say. The next day, Thursday, August

16, he navigated to the north-west, quarter of the north,[363-1] 26

leagues, with the sea calm, "thanks be to God," as he always said. He

tells here a wonderful thing, that when he left the Canaries for this

Espanola, having gone 300 leagues to the west, then the needles declined

to the north-west[363-2] one quarter, and the North Star did not rise but

5 degrees, and now in this voyage it has not declined to the

north-west[363-2] until last night, when it declined more than a quarter

and a half, and some needles declined a half wind which are two

quarters;[363-3] and this happened suddenly last night. And he says each

night he was marvelling at such a change in the heavens, and of the

temperature there, so near the equinoctial line, which he experienced in

all this voyage, after having found land; especially the sun being in

Leo, where, as has been told, in the mornings a loose gown was worn, and

where the people of that place--Gracia--were actually whiter than the

people who have been seen in the Indies. He also found in the place where

he now came, that the North Star was in 14 degrees when the

Guardians[363-4] had passed from the head after two hours and a half.

Here he again exhorted the Sovereigns to esteem this affair highly, since

he had shown them that there was in this land gold, and he had seen in it

minerals without number, which will have to be extracted with

intelligence, industry and labor, since even the iron, as much as there

is, cannot be taken out without these sacrifices; and he has taken them a

nugget of 20 ounces and many others, and where this is, it must be

believed there is plenty, and he took their Highnesses a lump of copper

originally of six _arrobas_,[364-1] lapis-lazuli, gum-lac, amber, cotton,

pepper, cinnamon, a great quantity of Brazil-wood, aromatic gum,[364-2]

white and yellow sandalwood, flax, aloes, ginger, incense, myrobolans of

all kinds, very fine pearls and pearls of a reddish color, which Marco

Polo says are worth more than the white ones,[364-3] and that may well be

so in some parts just as it is the case with the shells that are gathered

in Canaria and are sold for so great a price in the Mine of Portugal.

"There are infinite kinds of spices which have been seen of which I do

not care to speak for fear of prolixity." All these are his words.

As to what he says of cinnamon, and aloes and ginger, incense,

myrobolans, sandal woods, I never saw them in this island, at least I did

not recognize them; what he says of flax must mean _cabuya_[364-4] which

are leaves like the _cavila_ from which thread is made and cloth or linen

can be made from it, but it is more like hemp cloth than linen. There are

two sorts of it, _cabuya_ and _nequen_; _cabuya_ is coarse and rough and

_nequen_ is soft and delicate. Both are words of this island Espanola.

Storax gum I never smelled except in the island of Cuba, but I did not

see it, and this is certain that in Cuba there must be trees of it, or of

a gum that smells like it, because we never smelled it except in the

fires that the Indians make of wood that they burn in their houses. It is

a most perfect perfume, certainly. I never knew of incense being found in

these islands.

Returning to the journey, Friday, August 17, he went 37 leagues, the sea

being smooth, "to God our Lord," he says, "may infinite thanks be given."

He says that not finding islands now, assures him that that land from

whence he came is a vast mainland, or where the Earthly Paradise is,

"because all say that it is at the end of the east, and this is the

Earthly Paradise,"[365-1] says he.

Saturday, between day and night, he went 39 leagues.

Sunday, August 19, he went in the day and the night 33 leagues, and

reached land; and this was a very small island which he called Madama

Beata, and which is now commonly so called. This is a small island of a

matter of a league and a half close by this island of Espanola, and

distant from this port of Sancto Domingo about 50 leagues and distant 15

leagues from the port of Yaquino, which is more to the west. There is

next to it another smaller one which has a small but somewhat high

mountain, which from a distance looks like a sail, and he named it Alto

Velo.[365-2] He believed that the Beata was a small island which he

called Sancta Catherina when he came by this southern coast, from the

discovery of the island of Cuba, and distant from this port of Sancto

Domingo 25 leagues, and is next to this island. It weighed upon him to

have fallen off in his course so much, and he says it should not be

counted strange, since during the nights he was from caution beating

about to windward, for fear of running against some islands or shoals;

there was therefore reason for this error, and thus in not following a

straight course, the currents, which are very strong here, and which flow

down towards the mainland and the west, must have carried the ships,

without realizing it, so low. They run so violently there toward La Beata

that it has happened that a ship has been eight months in those waters

without being able to reach this port and that much of delay in coming

from there here, has happened many times.

Therefore he anchored now between the Beata and this island, between

which there are two leagues of sea, Monday, August 20. He then sent the

boats to land to call Indians, as there were villages there, in order to

write of his arrival to the Adelantado; having come at midday, he

despatched them. Twice there came to the ship six Indians, and one of

them carried a crossbow with its cord, and nut and rack,[366-1] which

caused him no small surprise, and he said, "May it please God that no one

is dead." And because from Sancto Domingo the three ships must have been

seen to pass downward, and concluding that it certainly was the Admiral

as he was expecting him each day, the Adelantado started then in a

caravel and overtook the Admiral here. They both were very much pleased

to see each other. The Admiral having asked him about the condition of

the country, the Adelantado recounted to him how Francisco Roldan had

arisen with 80 men, with all the rest of the occurrences which had passed

in this island, since he left it. What he felt on hearing such news,

there is small need to recite.

He left there, Wednesday, August 22, and finally with some difficulty

because of the many currents and the north-east breezes which are

continuous and contrary there he arrived at this port of Sancto Domingo,

Friday, the last day of August of the said year 1498, having set out from

Isabela for Castile, Thursday the tenth day of March, 1496, so that he

delayed in returning to this island two years and a half less nine days.