FIRST VIEW OF AMERICAN CONTINENT
The first thing noticeable as he neared these shores, was that the trees grew well on the margin of the sea. There were houses and people,—and very beautiful lands, which reminded him, from their beauty and their verdure, of the gardens of Valencia as seen in the month of March. It was also to be observed that these lands were well cultivated.
On the following morning he continued in a westerly direction in search of a port, where he might take in water, and refit his ships, the timber of which had shrunk, from extreme heat, so that they sadly needed caulking. He did not find a port, but came to deep soundings somewhere near Point Alcatraz, where he brought to, and took in fresh water. This was on a Wednesday, the first of August. From the point where he now was, the low lands of the Orinoco must have been visible, and Columbus must have beheld the continent of America for the first time.[18] He supposed it to be an island of about twenty leagues in extent, and he gave it the somewhat insignificant name of Zeta.
[Footnote 18: The northern part of the continent had been discovered by
Sebastian Cabot, on the 24th of June, 1497.]
The same signs of felicity which greeted his eyes on his first sight of land, continued to manifest themselves. Farms and populous places[19] were visible above the water as he coasted onwards; with the trees flourishing close to the sea—a sure sign of the general mildness of the weather, wherever it occurs.
[Footnote 19: "Vido muchas labranzas por luengo de Costa y muchas
Poblaciones."—LAS CASAS, Hist. de las Indias, MS., lib. i cap. 132.]
The next day he proceeded westwards along the southern part of Trinidad, until he arrived It the westernmost point, which he called "La punta de Arenal;" and now he beheld the gulf of Paria, which he called "La Balena" (the gulf of the whale). It was just after the rainy season, and the great rivers which flow into that gulf were causing its waters to rush with impetuosity out of the two openings [20] which lead into the open sea. The contest between the fresh water and the salt water produced a ridge of waters, on the top of which the admiral was borne into the gulf at such risk, that, writing afterwards of this event to the Spanish court, he says, "Even to-day I shudder lest the waters should have upset the vessel when they came under its bows."
[Footnote 20: The Boca del Drago and the Boca de la Sierpe.]