Sugar canes budded in seven days. All this wonderful rapidity of vegetation proceeded from the temperature of the climate, which was not unlike that of the south of Spain, being rather cool than hot at the present season of the year. The waters likewise were cold, pure, and wholesome; so that upon the whole the admiral was well satisfied with the soil and air, and with the people of the country.
On Tuesday the 1st of April, intelligence was brought by a messenger from fort St Thomas, that all the Indians of that country had withdrawn from the neighbourhood, and that a cacique named Caunabo was making preparations to attack the fort. Knowing how inconsiderable the people of that country were, the admiral was very little alarmed by this news, and was especially confident in the horses which were in that garrison, as he knew the Indians were particularly afraid of them, and would not enter a house where a horse stood lest they should be devoured. But, as he designed to go out from Isabella with the three caravels he had detained there on purpose to discover the continent, he thought fit to send more men and provisions to the fort, that every thing might remain quiet and safe during his absence. Wherefore, on Wednesday the 2d of April he sent 70 men with a supply of provisions and ammunition to fort St Thomas. Of these, 25 were appointed to strengthen the immediate garrison, and the others were directed to assist in making a new road between the puerto and the fort, the present one being very troublesome and difficult, as well as the fords of the rivers, which were ordered to be cleared. While the ships were fitting out to go upon the new discovery, the admiral attended to order all things necessary and useful for the town of Isabella, which he divided into regular streets, and provided with a convenient market-place. He likewise endeavoured to bring the river water to the town along a large canal, because the river being almost a gun-shot distant, occasioned much trouble to the people in supplying themselves with water; more especially as most of them were then weak and indisposed, owing to the sharpness of the air, which did not agree with them. They had now no other Spanish provisions except bread and wine, owing partly to the bad management of the captains of the ships, and partly because nothing keeps so well in that country as in Spain; and though they had abundance of the provisions of the country, yet not being used to that food it did not agree with them, and many of them were sick. Taking all these circumstances into consideration, he resolved to send back part of the people into Spain, retaining only 300 men in the island, which number he considered as quite sufficient for keeping the country under subjection. In the mean time, as biscuit began to grow scarce and they had no flour to make more, though wheat was in plenty, he resolved to construct some mills, although there was no fall of water fit for the purpose within less than a league from the town; in this and all other works he was under the necessity of constantly superintending the workmen, who all endeavoured to save themselves from any labour or fatigue.
To husband the remaining provisions, Hojeda was sent from Isabella on Wednesday the 29th of April with 400 men, leaving none in the town who were in health except handicrafts and artificers. These were ordered to march about the country in various directions to strike terror into the Indians, to accustom them to subjection, and to enure the Spaniards to the food of country. Hojeda was ordered to march in the first place to fort St Thomas, of which he was to take the command as the first discoverer of the province of Cibao, which in the Indian language means the stony country. Don Pedro Marguerite was then to take charge of marching with this little army about the country. While on his outward march, Hojeda apprehended a cacique who resided on the other side of the Rio del Oro, together with his brother and nephew, sending them in irons to the admiral, and cut off the ears of one of his subjects in the great place of his town, for the following reason: This cacique had sent five Indians along with three Christians who were travelling from St Thomas to Isabella to carry their clothes over the river at the ford, and they being come to the middle of the river returned to the town with the clothes, when the cacique, instead of punishing the people for the robbery, took the clothes to himself and refused to restore them. Another cacique who dwelt beyond the river, relying on the service he had done the Christians, went along with the prisoners to Isabella to intercede with the admiral for their pardon. The admiral received him very courteously, but ordered that the prisoners should be brought out into the market-place with their hands bound, and sentenced them to die. On seeing this the friendly cacique petitioned for their lives with many tears, promising that they should never be guilty of any other offence; at length the admiral relented and discharged them all. Soon afterwards a person came on horseback from St Thomas, and reported that he had found five Christian prisoners in the town of the cacique who had just been pardoned, who had been taken by his subjects while going from Isabella; that by frightening the Indians with his horse he had obtained the relief of the prisoners, above 400 of the Indians running away from him alone, two of whom he wounded in the pursuit; and that when he crossed the river the Indians turned back upon the Christians to retake them, but by making as if he would go against them, they all ran away lest the horse should fly over the river.
Before proceeding on his intended voyage for discovering the continent, the admiral appointed a council to govern the island in his absence, of which he appointed his brother Don James Columbus president: the others were F. Boyl and Peter Fernandez Coronell regents, together with Alonzo Sanchez de Caravajal, rector of Bracca, and Juan de Luxan of Madrid, gentleman to their Catholic majesties. That there might be no want of flour for supporting the people, he hastened the building of the mills, notwithstanding the rain and floods which very much obstructed the work. Owing to these rains, in the admirals opinion, the great fertility of the island proceeded. So wonderful is this fertility that they eat the fruits of the trees in the month of November, while at the same time they are blossoming afresh, by which it is evident that they bear fruit twice every year. But herbs and seeds grow at all times indiscriminately, and nests with eggs and young birds are found on the trees throughout the whole year. As the fruitfulness of the island appeared so extraordinary, so daily accounts arrived of its abundant wealth, and of the discovery of new mines, which coincided with the reports of the Indians concerning the great quantity of gold to be met with in several parts of the island[11a]. But the admiral could not rest satisfied with these things, and resolved to prosecute his discoveries by sea, beginning with the coast of Cuba, not yet knowing whether it was an island or a continent.
[11a] All these mighty promises of mines turned out only torrents and rivulets, in the beds of which gold dust and grains were found with infinite labour, and which, after the destruction of the natives, were all abandoned as unprofitable.--E.
In the afternoon of Thursday the 24th of April 1494 the admiral sailed with three caravels from Isabella, and came to anchor that evening at Monte Christo, having shaped his course to the west. On Friday he went to Guacanagaris port, or the Nativity, thinking to find him there; but he fled, though his subjects falsely affirmed that he would soon return. Not caring to stay without sufficient cause, he departed on Saturday the 26th of April, and went to the island of Tortuga 6 leagues to the westwards. He lay here all that night in a calm with all his sails loose, the tide running back against the current. Next day the N.W. wind and a strong current setting to the west obliged him to go back to anchor in the river Guadalquiver in the same island, to wait for a wind sufficient to stem the current, which both then and the year before he found to run strong from the east. On Tuesday the 29th of April, the wind became fair and he was able to reach Cape St Nicholas, whence he crossed over to Cuba and run along its southern coast a league beyond Cape Fuerte, where he put into a large bay which he named Puerto Grande or the Great Harbour. The mouth of this port was 150 paces across, and had abundant depth of water. He cast anchor in this bay, where he procured refreshment of fish and oysters, which the Indians had in great abundance. On the first of May he continued his voyage along the coast, where he everywhere found commodious harbours, fine rivers, and lofty mountains. After leaving Tortuga the sea everywhere abounded with the same kind of weeds which he saw on the ocean in his voyages to and from Spain. While sailing along the coast many of the natives came off in their canoes, and thinking our people came down from heaven, freely bestowed their country bread and fish without asking any thing in return; but the admiral ordered them to be paid with beads, bells, and such like baubles, and sent them away well pleased.
On Saturday the third of May, having heard that there was much gold in Jamaica, he stood over for that island, which he discovered on Sunday the fourth of May. Upon Monday he came to an anchor there, and thought it the most beautiful of any island he had yet seen in the West Indies, and was astonished at the multitudes of people who came off to the ships in large and small canoes. Next day he ran along the coast in search of harbours. The boats being sent in to examine a harbour which the admiral named Puerto Bueno or the Good Port, so many canoes came out filled with armed natives to defend their country, that our people thought proper to return towards the ships, to avoid any quarrel with these people; but considering that to shew any signs of fear would make the Indians proud, they returned again towards the port; and as the Indians came to drive them off they gave them a flight of arrows from their cross-bows, by which six or seven of them were wounded, and they all retired. The fight ended upon this, and afterwards many natives came off to the ships in a peaceable manner to see our people and to barter provisions and other articles for such trifles as our people offered. In this bay, which is in the form of a horse shoe, the admiral repaired his ship which was leaky; and then sailed on the ninth of May, keeping along shore to the westwards, the Indians following continually in their canoes to trade or barter with our people. The wind proving rather contrary, and not being able to make so much way as he wished, the admiral left the coast of Jamaica and stood over for Cuba, designing to keep along its coast for five or six hundred leagues, that he might be satisfied whether it were an island or the continent. That day while leaving Jamaica, a young Indian came on board desiring to be carried into Spain, and when several of his kindred and others entreated him to return he refused to change his resolution, and to avoid the importunities of his friends, and not to see his sisters cry and sob, he went where they could not come to him. The admiral admired his resolution, and gave orders that he should be civilly treated.
Leaving Jamaica on Wednesday the 15th of May, the admiral came to that point of Cuba which he named Cabo de Santa Cruz, or Cape Holy Cross. In running along the coast they encountered a great storm of thunder and lightning which, combined with numerous flats and strong currents, occasioned much trouble and great danger, being obliged to struggle at the same time against two evils which required opposite remedies; for it is proper during thunder to strike the sails, whereas it is necessary to spread them to avoid the flats, and had this double calamity lasted for eight or ten leagues it had been quite insupportable. The worst of all was, that all over this sea, both northwards, and to the north-east, the farther they went the greater number of low little islands they met with, in some of which there were trees, but others were sandy and scarcely appeared above the surface of the water; some of these were a league in compass, some more and some less. The nearer they kept to the coast of Cuba the higher and pleasanter these small islands appeared; and it being difficult and useless to give names to every one, the admiral called them all in general Jardin de la Reyna, or the Queens Garden. They saw many more islands next day to the north-east, north-west, and south-west, insomuch that they counted 160 islands that day, all parted by deep channels, many of which the ships sailed through. In some of these islands they saw many cranes resembling those of Spain in shape and size, but of a scarlet colour[12]. In others they found great numbers of turtles, or sea tortoises, and immense quantities of their eggs, which are not unlike those of a hen but with much harder shells. The female turtle deposits her eggs in holes on the sand, and covering them up leaves them to be hatched by the heat of the sun, which brings forth the little turtles, which grow in time to be as large as a buckler or great target. In these islands they also saw crows and cranes like those of Spain, and sea crows, and infinite numbers of small birds which sung delightfully, and the very air was sweet, as if they had been among roses and the finest perfumes; yet the danger was very great on account of the innumerable channels among the islands, by which much time was spent in finding the way through.
[12] Flamingos.
In one of these channels they observed a canoe with Indian fishermen, who very quietly awaited our boat coming towards them, and made signs not to approach near till they had done fishing. Their manner of fishing was so strange and new to our people that they willingly complied, and looked on with astonishment. They had tied certain small fishes which they call reves by the tail with a long line and let them into the water, where these reves attached themselves to other fishes, by means of a certain roughness which they have from the head to the middle of the back, and stick so fast that the Indians drew both up together. It was a turtle our men saw taken in this manner, and the reve clung close to its neck, which place they usually fasten upon because safe from being bitten by the other fish, and they sometimes fasten upon vast sharks. When the Indians in the canoe had thus taken the turtle, having already two others, they came in a very friendly manner to know what our men would have, and went by their direction on board the admiral who treated them courteously, and to whom they would have freely given all they had; but he would only allow their fish to be taken, and refused their nets, hooks, and calabashes full of water which they had on board to drink, for which he gave them some trifles with which they went away very well contented. From these Indians he learnt that there were an infinite multitude of islands in that sea, and he held on his course. But beginning to want provisions he could not continue much longer, otherwise he meant to have gone west about before returning to Hispaniola, although much spent, having never had it in his power to go to bed, except eight nights, from the time he left Hispaniola on the 24th of April till now, which was the 19th of May. He always had much care and anxiety in his voyages, but infinitely greater this time by reason of the innumerable islands among which he was sailing, insomuch that on the 20th of May they counted seventy-one, besides a great many more that were seen about sun-set. These islands are not only dangerous on account of their numbers, but there rises from them every night a heavy fog to the eastwards, so dismal to behold as if some great shower of hail would fall, and it is generally accompanied by violent thunder and lightning; but when the moon rises it all vanishes, partly turning to rain and wind. These phenomena are so natural and usual in these seas that they not only took place all those nights on which the admiral was there, but I saw the same among those islands in the year 1503 on my return from the discovery of Veragua; and generally, the wind here is every night from the north, coming from the island of Cuba, and afterwards when the sun rises it comes about east, and follows the sun till it comes to the west.