[163-1] This reef actually exists on the S.E. side of the entrance to this port, which is described with great accuracy by Columbus. (Navarrete.)
[163-2] Lombarda is the same as bombarda, bombard, the earliest type of cannon. The name has nothing to do with Lombardy, but is simply the form which was used in Castile in the fifteenth century while bombarda was used elsewhere in the peninsula and in Europe. The average-sized bombard was a twenty-five pounder. Diccionario Enciclopedico Hispano-Americano, art. lombardo, based on Aráutegui, Apuntes Históricos sobre la Artilleria Española en los Siglos XIV y XV.
[164-1] This line should be, “in which he saw five very large almadias [low, light boats] which the Indians call canoas, like fustas, very beautiful and so well constructed,” etc. “Canoe” is one of the few Arawak Indian words to have become familiar English.
[164-2] Rather, “He went up a mountain and then he found it all level and planted with many things of the country and gourds so that it was glorious to see it.” De Candolle believes the calabash or gourd to have been introduced into America from Africa. Cf. his Origin of Cultivated Plants, pp. 245 ff. Oviedo, however, in his Historia General y Natural de Indias, lib. VIII., cap. VIII., says that the calabaças of the Indies were the same as those in Spain and were cultivated not to eat but to use the shells as vessels.
[164-3] Rather, “rods.”
[166-1] Rio Boma. (Navarrete.)
[166-2] Punta del Fraile. (Id.)
[166-3] Punta de los Azules. (Id.)
[167-1] Las Casas, I. 359, says, “This high and beautiful cape whither he would have liked to go I believe was Point Maycí, which is the extreme end of Cuba toward the east.” According to the modern maps of Cuba it must have been one of the capes to the southwest of Point Maicí.
[167-2] Cf. note 57. Las Casas, I. 359, remarks, “Its real name was Haytí, the last syllable long and accented.” He thinks it possible that the cape first sighted may have been called Bohio.