[Note 6: Quiribiri. Columbus arrived there on September 25th.]
[Note 7: Suspicion and mistrust were mutual, for Columbus thought the natives were practising magic when they cast perfumes before them, as they cautiously advanced towards him; he afterwards described them as powerful magicians.]
They sent two young girls, virgins of remarkable beauty, to our men, and gave it to be understood that they might take them away. These young girls, like all the other women, wore waist-cloths made of bandelets of cotton, which is the costume of the women of Cariai. The men on the contrary go naked. The women cut their hair, or let it grow behind and shave the forehead; then they gather it up in bands of white stuff and twist it round the head, just as do our girls. The Admiral had them clothed and gave them presents, and a bonnet of red wool stuff for their father; after which he sent them away. Later all these things were found upon the shore, because he had refused their presents. Two men, however, left voluntarily with Columbus, in order to learn our language and to teach it to their own people.
The tides are not very perceptible on that coast. This was discovered by observing the trees growing not far from the shore and on the river banks. Everybody who has visited these regions agrees on this point. The ebb and flow are scarcely perceptible, and only affect a part of the shores of the continent, and likewise of all the islands. Columbus relates that trees grow in the sea within sight of land, drooping their branches towards the water once they have grown above the surface. Sprouts, like graftings of vines, take root and planted in the earth they, in their turn, become trees of the same evergreen species. Pliny has spoken of such trees in the second book of his natural history, but those he mentions grew in an arid soil and not in the sea.
The same animals we have above described exist in Cariai. There is, however, one of a totally different kind, which resembles a large monkey, but is provided with a much larger and stronger tail. Hanging by this tail, it swings to and fro three or four times, and then jumps from tree to tree as though it were flying.[8] One of our archers shot one with his arrow, and the wounded monkey dropped onto the ground and fiercely attacked the man who had wounded it. The latter defended himself with his sword and cut off the monkey's arm, and despite its desperate efforts, captured it. When brought in contact with men, on board the ship, it gradually became tame. While it was kept chained, other hunters brought from the swamps a wild boar which they had pursued through the forests, desiring to eat some fresh meat. The men showed this enraged wild boar to the monkey, and both animals bristled with fury. The monkey, beside itself with rage, sprang upon the boar, winding its tail about him, and with the one arm its conqueror had left him, seized the boar by the throat and strangled it. Such are the ferocious animals and others similar, which inhabit this country. The natives of Cariai preserve the bodies of their chiefs and their relatives, drying them upon hurdles and then packing them in leaves; but the common people bury their dead in the forest.
[Note 8: Possibly the simia seniculus.]
Leaving Cariai and sailing a distance of twenty leagues the Spaniards discovered a gulf of such size that they thought that it must have a circumference of twelve leagues. Four small fertile islands, separated from one another by narrow straits, lie across the opening of this gulf, making it a safe harbour.
We have elsewhere called the port, situated at the extreme point, by its native name of Cerabaroa; but it is only the right coast upon entering the gulf bears that name, the left coast being called Aburema. Numerous and fertile islands dot the gulf, and the bottom affords excelent anchorage. The clearness of the water makes it easily discernible, and fish are very abundant. The country round about is equal in fertility to the very best. The Spaniards captured two natives who wore gold necklaces, which they called guanines. These collars are delicately wrought in the form of eagles, lions, or other similar animals, but it was observed that the metal was not very pure. The two natives, brought from Cariai, explained that both the regions of Cerabaroa and Aburema were rich in gold, and that all the gold their countrymen required for ornaments was obtained from thence by trading. They added that, in six villages of Cerabaroa, situated a short distance in the interior of the country, gold was found; for from the earliest times they had traded with those tribes. The names of those five villages are Chirara, Puren, Chitaza, Jurech, and Atamea.
All the men of the province of Cerabaroa go entirely naked, but they paint their bodies in different ways, and they love to wear garlands of flowers on their heads, and bands made from the claws of lions and tigers. The women wear narrow waist-cloths of cotton.
Leaving this harbour and following along the same coast, a distance of eighteen leagues, the Spaniards came upon a band of three hundred naked men, upon the bank of the river they had just discovered. These men uttered threatening shouts and, filling their mouths with water and the herbs of the coast, spat at them. Throwing their javelins, brandishing their lances and machanes, which we have already said were wooden swords, they strove to repel our men from the coast. They were painted in different fashions; some of them painted the whole body except the face, others only a part. They gave it to be understood that they wished neither peace nor trading relations with the Spaniards. The Admiral ordered several cannon-shots to be fired, but so as to kill nobody, for he always showed himself disposed to use peaceable measures with these new people. Frightened by the noise, the natives fell on the ground imploring peace, and in this wise trading relations were established. In exchange for their gold and guanines they received glass beads and other similar trifles. These natives have drums and sea-shell trumpets, which they use to excite their courage when going into battle.