A storm greeted him, followed by a calm, during which he was carried first southward by Jamaica, then northward past the western end of Cuba; after which, the wind freshening, he continued his course, and on the 30th of July came to a small elevated island, called by the natives Guanaja[IV-4], to which, from the trees that covered it, he gave the name Isla de Pinos. On going ashore, the adelantado found the island inhabited by people like those of Española and Cuba, except that they seemed more intelligent and knew more of the useful arts. Presently a large canoe appeared coming from the direction of Yucatan. It measured eight feet in its greatest width, and was rowed by twenty-five men. In the middle, under a palm-leaf awning, sat a cacique,[IV-5] or chief, who manifested neither surprise nor fear on being brought into the presence of the admiral. He signified to the Spaniards as best he was able the extent and power of Mexico, and displayed utensils of copper, stone, and wood, earthen-ware, and cotton cloth brought thence. Gold was plentiful there, he also said; but the imagination of the admiral had mapped his strait somewhere southward; so Mexico was kept for Cortés.
There was on the island an ancient aboriginal of scientific attainments sufficient to enable him to draw for the Spaniards a chart of the mainland coast, and tell them much of the country. Him they took on board, and after dismissing the cacique with presents, crossed to the continent, and anchored near a point which Columbus called Punta de Caxinas,[IV-6] from the native name of a certain fruit abounding thereabout. Here the Spaniards landed on the 14th of August, and celebrated mass; then proceeding eastward some fifteen leagues to the mouth of a river,[IV-7] they again landed on the 17th, and took formal possession for Spain. About a hundred painted savages displayed themselves, finer specimens than any on the islands, some naked, and others partially covered with white or colored cotton. They were friendly, and presented fruit and vegetables, fish, fowl, and maize. So conspicuously distended were the ears of the natives at one place that the name Costa de la Oreja was given to that vicinity.[IV-8]
DISCOVERY OF HONDURAS.
Proceeding, the discoverers encountered a succession of gales which continued more than forty days, and having weathered them safely they were so delighted that in sailing round the point of their deliverance they thanked God, and called it Cape Gracias á Dios.[IV-9] All this time Columbus suffered severely. Indeed, he was now but little better than a wreck in body and mind. On the after part of the deck his bed was placed, and there he lay overwhelmed with pain and melancholy, lost in endless mazes of speculation. Now and then he would rouse himself to translate his visions, or to direct the management of the ship, for though half his senses should leave him, he was still a sailor from instinct; but had it not been for the faithful energy of the adelantado, the voyage might as well never have been undertaken.
The mariners had now entered a smooth sea; with a favorable wind they passed rapidly down the Mosquito Coast, giving the name Limonares to a cluster of islands on which grew something like lemons or limes, and on the 16th of September anchored at the mouth of a large river. Boats were sent ashore for water, and in returning one was upset and the whole crew were drowned; from which melancholy occurrence the stream was named Rio del Desastre.[IV-10] Continuing, the 25th found the Spaniards off the Rio San Juan de Nicaragua, where, to escape a storm, they ran in behind an island, the native name of which was Quiriviri,[IV-11] but which from its verdant beauty Columbus called La Huerta, The Garden. There they rested several days, and found sweet speculation, easily inducing the savages to tell them such things as they should most delight to hear. Indeed, all along the coast had vague information been given, by signs ill interpreted, of a remarkable country called Ciguare, nine days' journey westward beyond the mountains. The people there were like the Spaniards, clothed, and armed with steel weapons, with horses and great ships. The women wore bands of coral and strings of pearls, and the commonest utensils were of gold. Ten days' journey from Ciguare must lie the river Ganges; and best of all, there was a passage thither by sea; all the Spaniards had to do was to keep right on; they could not miss the way. The Europeans gave full credit to these assertions. Thus from the beginning mankind have been directed, and oftentimes to the grandest discoveries, by mingled accident and ignorance, and wise men like Columbus have believed these supremely silly stories because it pleased them to do so. These savages may have had rumors of Mexico or Peru on which to build their brilliant fictions; their statements were fictions none the less.
SORCERIES, SAVAGE AND CIVILIZED.
And indeed as they came together there for the first time, the white men and the red, it is often difficult to tell on which side was the greater simplicity and credulity. The folly of the Spaniard was moulded into firmer consistence, was less inept and vapory than the folly of the Americans, and that was about all. For instance, at the village of Cariay,[IV-12] just opposite on the main-land, Columbus thought to raise the Spaniards in the estimation of the savages by declining to take the guanin, an inferior kind of gold which they presented; whereupon for the same reason, and in retaliation, the natives refused European trinkets. When the adelantado, seated on a knoll with the notary by his side, sought to transfix some of the wild knowledge of those parts, the natives fled terrorstruck, supposing some magic spell was being cast upon them by the pens, ink, and paper so solemnly drawn forth by the scribe. Presently with great caution they returned, and with exorcising gesticulations burned and scattered in the air an odorous powder. On the other hand, with equally enlightened common sense, the Christians, unable to fathom the incantations of savagism, fancied these heathen sorcerers bringing from the shades of their wilderness wrathful demons to hurl upon their adversaries; and ever after on the voyage all the ills that befell the Spaniards were attributed to the enchantments of the people of Cariay.[IV-13] At another port called Huiva, Columbus found the huts of the natives built in trees, which he attributed to fear of griffins. After a short excursion into the interior the adelantado returned to the ships. Near Cape Gracias á Dios the old man of Guanaja had been liberated with presents, as no longer of use; now, seven natives were seized and made to divulge what they knew of the country, two of them being retained as guides.
Sailing from Cariay the 5th of October, the second day they came to the Laguna de Chiriquí, the country thereabout being called by the natives Cerebaro.[IV-14] If some distance back Columbus had found The Garden, here was a pluralized paradise. The wonder was how nature contrived such glories. Round the entrance clustered islands whose outspread foliage brushed the venturesome sails that threaded the deep narrow channels. Celestial beauty irradiated the land, and a celestial brightness overspread the sea. But a small additional rent was necessary in the ragged imagination of the admiral to fancy himself already translated. The part of the laguna explored by this expedition was the north-western, known to-day as the Bahía del Almirante; the southern part was called by the natives Aburema.
GATHERING GOLD.
Hanging from the necks of the natives was pure gold in plates, now first found since touching these shores, but the owners were content to keep it. Further on, anywhere but here, they said, was plenty of gold, notably at a place called Veragua, twenty-five leagues distant, where these much-admired plates of gold were fabricated. Hastening forward, the Spaniards arrived, on the 18th, at a river twelve leagues to the eastward of Cerebaro, called by Fernando Colon, Guaiga, and by Porras, Guyga, where the savages attempted at first to drive them away by splashing water, brandishing wooden swords, beating drums, and sounding conchs; which demonstration being over they quietly traded sixteen of their gold-plates, valued at one hundred and fifty ducats, for three hawk-bells. The following day the Spaniards were met in like manner by other savages whom a shot sent scampering; after which they returned and traded dutifully.