The admiral distributed among the natives some of the cheap trinkets that he had brought with him, and it was a marvel to the sailors to see how little notion they had of the value of the glass beads and hawks’ bells, prizing the latter, indeed, above everything else, and being willing to barter anything they had for them.
Gold, however, was the one thing that the voyagers craved before everything else, and that they could not find; nor could they discover any means of conveying their wishes, except by showing the metal to the natives, and making signs of wishing to have the same. But as the natives had nothing of the shape of the things shown them they only shook their heads and indicated by other signs that they had nothing like what was shown.
Diego and Juan had been furnished by Martin Alonzo with some bells and beads, and they went about looking for objects for which to barter them. Indeed, it was such a pleasure to them to see the joy of the Indians—as the admiral had called them, thinking he had come upon India—that they gave most of what they had without any sort of exchange.
“REFRESHING THEMSELVES WITH THE FRUITS THAT WERE BROUGHT THEM BY THE NATIVES.”
But at last they stretched themselves luxuriously out in one of the charming groves and let themselves be waited on by the willing creatures, who brought them fresh fruits and roasted yuca root until they could eat no more, when they offered these young sybarites water in calabashes.
“I tell you, Juan,” said Diego, drowsily—for the luxury of all this, taken with the scant sleep of the night before, aided not a little by the quantities of food he had consumed, had made him sleepy—”this is better than fighting, is it not?”
“I think so, indeed,” was the prompt answer.
The boys had become sworn friends during the day, and had not been separated once.