“The country is called Lariab by the natives. We sailed along its coast always in sight of land and ran on the whole course toward the northwest eight hundred and seventy leagues.[196] ... We found gold in some places but not much. The discovery of the country and the knowledge that gold was in it satisfied us....
“On our return we sailed toward the sea going between the north and east, and after seven days we reached some islands.... We landed on one of them, where we found many people, who called the island Iti [Hayti?].... We set sail for Spain with two hundred and twenty-two slave-prisoners, and arrived at the port of Cadiz on the fifteenth of October, 1498,[197] where we were well received, and sold our slaves. This is what happened to me in this my first voyage that may be considered noteworthy.”[198]
“Shortly after the departure of the fleet with which Vespucci went to the New World, Columbus complained to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella that the permission given by them in 1495 to those who desired to go on voyages of discovery toward the west was prejudicial to the privileges previously granted him by their Spanish majesties. The latter therefore revoked their letters-patent of the tenth of April, 1495, on the second of June, 1497, declaring that it should “have no force nor effect at any time, or in any manner whatever, so as to be prejudicial to the said admiral, and to whatever we have thus granted and confirmed to him.”[199]
“The fitting out of the fleet [for Columbus’s third voyage to the Indies] was delayed much longer than was necessary through the negligence and bad management of the king’s officers, and particularly that of Don Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, archdeacon of Seville. Hence it happened that Don Juan, who was afterward bishop of Burgos, was, from that time onward, a bitter enemy to the admiral and his affairs, and was the chief person among those who brought him into disgrace with their catholic majesties.[200] ... The admiral made his preparations for the voyage with all possible diligence, and on the thirtieth of May, 1498, set sail from the bay of San Lucar de Berrameda, with six ships, freighted with provisions and other necessaries for the relief of the planters in Española and the peopling of that island.”[201]
On Thursday, the fifth of July, Columbus steered westward from the islands of Cape Verd, and on the last day of the month altered his course and stood to the north. “One day about noon as he was thus sailing [off the coast of Venezuela, South America, north of the mouths of the Orinoco river], Alonso Perez Nirando, a sailor of the town of Huelva, while going up to the round-top, saw the peaks of three mountains to the westward, distant about fifteen leagues. Not long afterward they beheld land extending northeastwardly as far as they could see. When they had given thanks to God and said the Salve Regina and other prayers used by seamen in times of distress or joy, the admiral called the discovered island, la Isla de Trinidad (the island of the Trinity), for he had thought of giving this name to the first land they should find on the voyage, and now God had graciously granted him the sight of three mountains near together as has been mentioned. The fleet stood directly west to reach a point of land on the south side of the island, and then coasted along that side of it until the anchors were cast, five leagues beyond the cape, which Columbus called Punta de la Galera (Point of the Galley), which name was suggested by a rock on the headland, resembling, at a distance, a galley under sail. On the following morning, Wednesday, Columbus continued his course westward, for there was only one cask of water on board his ship, and one on each of the other vessels, and at the last anchorage no convenient place had been found to obtain more. At the next headland, which he called Punta de la Playa (Point of the Strand), the ships anchored and the crews went to a small brook and obtained a supply of fresh water. No town or people were seen here, although they had observed many houses and towns along the coast.... This day, which was the first of August, when the vessels were sailing between Punta de la Galera and Punta de la Playa, they discovered the continent, distant about twenty-five leagues as they guessed. Inasmuch as they thought it was another island, they called it Isla Santa (Holy Island).”
When the ships anchored at the southwestern extremity of the island of Trinidad, which point of land Columbus called Punta del Arenal, “a large canoe,” the admiral writes, “came from the eastward, containing twenty-four men, all in the prime of life, fully armed with bows, arrows, and shields. As I have said, they were all young, well proportioned, and not dark black, but whiter than any other Indians that I had seen.... They wore their hair long and straight, cut in the Spanish fashion. Their heads were encircled with cotton scarfs elaborately colored, like the head-dresses of the Moors. Some wore these scarfs round their bodies as a covering in the place of breeches. When I reached Punta del Arenal I found that the island of Trinidad was separated from the land of Gracia (la tierra de Gracia)[202] by a strait two leagues wide....
“I discovered beyond the point which I called Punta de la Aguda, one of the most attractive countries in the world, and very densely populated.... Some of the natives immediately came in canoes to the ship to request me in the name of their king to come on land. When they saw that I paid no attention to them, they came in great numbers in their canoes to the ship, many of them wearing pieces of gold on their breasts, and some of them bracelets of pearls on their arms. When I saw these I was exceedingly pleased, and I made many inquiries to learn where the people found them. They informed me that they were obtained in the neighborhood and also at a place north of the country.... Desiring to get some pearls like those I had seen, I sent some men ashore for that purpose.... They related that when the boats reached the shore, two chiefs, whom they took for father and son, came to them from the throng of the people and conducted them to a very large house, at two springs, not round and tent-shaped as the other houses. In this house were many seats, on which they seated our men and themselves. They then caused bread to be brought with many kinds of fruit and various wines, both white and red, not made from grapes but apparently from different fruits.... The men were congregated at one end of the building and the women at the other. Great vexation was felt by both parties because they could not understand each other’s language, for they each desired to ask questions concerning their respective countries.”
Columbus, describing that part of South America which he called Gracia, now known as Venezuela, and also referring to the Orinoco River pouring its flood of fresh water into the Gulf of Paria, which he called Golfo de las Perlas (Gulf of Pearls), remarks: “I think that if the mentioned river does not flow from the earthly paradise that it comes from a vast extent of land in the south, of which nothing hitherto has been known.”
In the letter containing this information respecting South America the admiral speaks of sending to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, to whom the letter was addressed, a map of the country (la pintura de la tierra).[203]