From
The Log of Christopher Columbus.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17.
He entered the boat in the morning and went to see the islands which
he had not seen, in the direction of the south-west: he saw many
others very fertile and very delightful and between them the sea was
very deep. Some of them were divided by streams of fresh water, and
he believed that that water and those streams came from springs
which proceeded from the tops of the mountain ranges on the islands.
Going onward from here he found a very beautiful river of fresh
water and it flowed very cold through the dry part of the island:
there was a very pretty meadow and many palms, much taller than
those he had seen. He found large nuts like those of India, I
believe he says, and large rats, also like those of India, and very
large craw-fish. He saw many birds and smelled a powerful odour of
musk {almazique}, and believed that there must be some there.
To-day, of the six youths whom he took in the river of Mares and
whom he ordered should go on the caravel Nina, the two oldest ones
fled.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18.
He proceeded in the boats again with many people from the ships and
went to place the great cross which he had ordered made of the said
two timbers at the mouth of the entrance of the said Puerto del
Principe, in a sightly place and free from trees: It was very high
and commanded a very beautiful view. He says that the sea rises and
falls there much more than in any other harbour which has been seen
in that country, and that it is not very wonderful by reason of the
many islands, and that the tide is the reverse of ours, because
there when the moon is to the south-west quarter south, it is low
tide in that harbour. He did not start from there as it was Sunday.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19.
He started in a calm before sunrise, and after mid-day it blew some
to the east and he navigated to the north-north-east; at sunset the
Puerto del Principe was to the south-south-west, and was about seven
leagues from him. He saw the island of Babeque exactly to the east,
about sixty miles distant. He sailed slowly all this night to the
north-east; he went about sixty miles and until ten o'clock in the
day, Tuesday, another twelve, which are in all eighteen leagues, and
in the direction of the north-east quarter north.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20.
Babeque or the islands of Babeque were to the east-south-east, from
which direction the wind blew, which was contrary. And seeing that
it did not alter and the sea was changing, he decided to make a
short excursion to the Puerto del Principe, from whence he had come,
which was at a distance of twenty-five leagues. He did not wish to
go to the small island which he called Isabella which was at a
distance of twelve leagues where he might have gone to anchor that
day, for two reasons: one reason, because he perceived two islands
to the south which he wished to see, the other that the Indians he
was carrying, whom he had taken in Guanahani which he called San Salvador which was eight leagues from Isabella, might not get away
from him, of whom he says he has need, in order to bring them to
Castile, etc. They had understood, he says, that on finding gold
the Admiral would allow them to return to their country. He arrived
at the place of the Puerto del Principe: but he could not make it
because it was night and because the currents caused him to decline
to the north-west. He came back again and turned his prow to the
north-east with a strong wind: it calmed and the wind changed at the
third quarter of the night, and he turned his prow to the east,
quarter north-east: the wind was south-south-east and it changed at
dawn entirely to the south, and touched upon the south-east. At
sunrise he marked the Puerto del Principe, and it was south-west of
him and almost in the quarter of the west, and it was about 48 miles
distant from luni, which are twelve leagues.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21.
At sunrise he navigated to the east with the wind south. He made
little headway on account of the contrary sea: until the hour of
vespers he had gone twenty-four miles, Then the wind changed to the
east and he went to the south, quarter south-east and at sunset lie
had gone twelve miles. There the Admiral found himself forty-two
degrees from the equinoctial line in the direction of the north as
in the harbour of Mares: but here he says that he has abandoned the
use of the quadrant until he reaches land in order to repair it. So
that it appeared to him that he could not be so far distant, and he
was right, because it was not possible for these islands to be only
in {lacuna} degrees. He was moved to believe, he says, that the
quadrant was correct by seeing that the North Star was as high as in
Castile, and if this is true he had drawn very near to, and was as
high as the coast of Florida: but,--where then, are now these
islands which he had under consideration. He was persuaded to
believe this because it was very warm: but it is clear that if he
was on the coast of Florida that it would not be warm but cold: and
it is also manifest that in forty-two degrees in no part of the
earth is it believed to be warm without it might be for some cause
per accidens, which I do not believe is known up to the present
time. On account of this heat which the Admiral says he suffered
there, he argues that in these Indies and in the place where he was,
there must be a great deal of gold. This day Martin Alonso Pinzon
went away with the caravel Pinta without the will and command of the
Admiral, through avarice, he says, thinking that an Indian whom the
Admiral had ordered placed on the caravel, could show him much gold,
and so he went away without waiting and without its being on account
of bad weather, but because he wished to do so. And the Admiral
says here, "He has done and said many other things to me."
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22.
Wednesday in the night he navigated to the south quarter south-east
with the wind east, and it was almost a calm: at the third quarter
it blew north-north-east. He was yet going toward the south in
order to see that country which lay in that direction from him and
when the sun rose he found himself as far distant as on the past day
because of the contrary currents, and the land was a distance of
forty miles from him. This night Martin Alonso followed the course
to the east in order to go to the island of Babeque, where the
Indians say there is a great deal of gold, and he was going in
sight of the Admiral and might have been at a distance of sixteen
miles. The Admiral went in sight of land all night and he caused
some of the sails to be taken in and burned a torch all night,
because it appeared to him that Martin Alonso was returning to him;
and the night was very clear and there was a nice little breeze by
which to come to him if he wished.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23.
The Admiral navigated toward land all day, always to the south with
a light wind, and the current never permitted him to reach land, but
rather he was as far from it to-day at sunset as he was in the
morning. The wind was east-north-east and favourable to go to the
south, but it was light: and beyond this cape there was another land
or cape which also extends to the east which the Indians he was
carrying called Bohio, and which they said was very large and had
upon it people who had an eye in the forehead and others which were
called cannibals of whom they showed great fear. And as soon as
they saw that they were taking that course, he says that they could
not talk, as they said cannibals ate them and they are a people who
are very well armed. The Admiral says he well believes there was
some truth in it, although since they were armed they must be an
intelligent people, and he believed that they had captured some of
the other Indians and that because they did not return to their own
country, they would say that they ate them. They believed the same
in regard to the Christians and the Admiral, when some of them first
saw them.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24.
He navigated all that night and at the hour of "tercia" he made land
off the level island, in that same place where he had put into
harbour the past week when he was going to the island of Babeque.
At first he did not dare to land because it appeared to him that the
sea broke heavily in that opening in the mountain ranges. And
finally he arrived at the Mar de Nuestra Senora where the many
islands were, and he entered the harbour near the mouth of the
entrance to the islands, and he says that if he had known this
harbour before and had not occupied himself in seeing the islands of
the Sea of Our Lady {Mar de Nuestra Senora} that it would not have
been necessary for him to turn backward although he says that he
considers it time well employed in having seen the said islands. So
that on arriving at land he sent the boat and tried the harbour and
found it a very good bar, six fathoms deep and sometimes twenty, and
clear, and all with a sandy bottom: he entered it, turning the prow
to the south-west, and afterwards turning to the west, leaving the
flat island toward the north, which with another near to it makes a
bay in the sea, in which all the ships of Spain could be contained,
and could be safe from all the winds without anchorage. And this
entrance on the south-eastern part which may be entered by placing
the prow to the south-south-west, has an outlet to the west, very
deep and very wide: so that whoever might come from the sea on the
northern part can pass between the said islands and obtain knowledge
of them, as it is the direct passage along this coast. These said
islands are at the base of a great mountain which extends lengthwise
from east to west, and is exceedingly long and higher and longer
than any of all the others which are upon this coast where there is
an infinite number, and a rocky reef extends outside along the said
mountain like a bar, which reaches as far as the entrance. All this
is on the south-eastern part and also on the side of the flat island
there is another reef, although this is small, and thus between both
there is great width and great depth of water as has been said.
Then at the entrance on the south-eastern side, inside in the same
harbour, they saw a large and very beautiful river, and with more
water than they had seen until that time and the water of which was
fresh as far as the sea. It has a bar at the entrance but
afterwards inside it is very deep, eight or nine fathoms. The land
is all covered with palms and has many groves like ours.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25.
Before sunset he entered the boat and went to see a cape or point of
land to the south-east of the small flat island, a matter of a
league and a half because it appeared to him that there must be some
good river there. Then at the entrance of the cape on the
south-eastern part, at a distance of two cross-bow shots, he saw a
large stream of very fine water flowing, which descended from a
mountain and made a great noise. He went to the river and saw in it
some glittering stones with spots on them of the colour of gold, and
he remembered that in the river Tejo {Tagus}, at the foot of it near
the sea, gold was found and it appeared to him that there certainly
must be gold here and he ordered certain of those stones to be
gathered to carry them to the Sovereigns. While they were in this
place the ship-boys cried out saying that they saw pines. He looked
toward the mountain ranges and saw them the pines, so large and
wonderful that he could not exaggerate their height and
straightness, like spindles, both thick ones and slender ones. From
these he knew that ships could be made and a great quantity of
timber and masts for the largest vessels of Spain. He saw oak-trees
and strawberry-trees and a good river and the materials necessary
for saw-mills. The land and the breezes were more temperate than up
to the present time, on account of the height and beauty of the
mountain ranges. He saw along the beach many other stones of the
colour of iron, and others which some said were from silver mines,
all of which were brought by the river. There he got a lateen yard
and mast for the mizzen of the caravel Nina. He reached the mouth
of the river and entered a bay at the foot of that cape on the
south-eastern side which was very large and deep and which would
contain a hundred ships without any cables or anchors and eyes never
saw such another harbour. The chains of mountains were very high,
from which many delightful streams descended: and all the ranges
were covered with pines and everywhere there were the most diverse
and beautiful thickets of trees. There were two or three other
rivers which lay behind him. He praises all this highly to the
Sovereigns and shows that he experienced inestimable joy and
pleasure in seeing it, and especially the pines, because as many
ships as desired could be built there by bringing the necessary
implements, except wood and fish of which there is an enormous
quantity there. And he affirms that he has not praised it a
hundredth part as much as it deserves and that it pleased our Lord
to continually show him something better and always in what he had
discovered up to the present time he had been going from good to
better, as well in the trees and forests and grasses and fruits and
flowers, as in the people and always in a different manner and in
one place the same as in another. The same was true in regard to
the harbours and the waters. And finally he says that when he who
sees it wonders at it so greatly, how much more wonderful it will
seem to those who hear of it, and that no one will be able to
believe it until he sees it.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26.
At sunrise he weighed the anchors from the harbour of Santa Catalina
where he was, inside the low island, and navigated along the coast
in a rather light wind south-west in the direction of the Cabo del Pico, which lay to the south-east. He reached the cape late because
the wind calmed, and having arrived he saw to the south-east,
quarter east, another cape which might have been sixty miles distant
and near there he saw another cape which was about south-east of the
ship, quarter south, and it appeared to him that it might have been
twenty miles distant, which he named Cabo de Campana and which he
could not reach in the day-time because the wind calmed again
altogether. He went during that entire day about thirty-two miles
which are eight leagues. Within that distance he noted and marked
nine very distinct harbours which all the seamen considered
wonderful, and five large rivers, because he went near to the land
all the time in order to see everything well. All that country
consists of very high and beautiful mountains and they are not dry
or rocky but are all accessible and there are most beautiful
valleys. And the valleys as well as the mountains were covered with
tall and verdant trees, so that it was a pleasure to look at them,
and it appeared that there were many pines. And also beyond the
said Cabo del Pico on the south-eastern side, there were two small
islands which were each about two leagues around and in them there
were three wonderful harbours and two large rivers. On all this
coast he saw no town whatever from the sea. It might have been that
there were people and there are signs of them, because whenever they
went on land they found signs of habitations and many fires. He
thought that the country he now saw in the south-east direction from
the Cabo de Campana was the island which the Indians called Bohio:
it appears so to him because the said cape is separated from that
land. All the people that he has found up to the present time, he
says are in great tear of the people of Caniba or Canima, and they
say they live on this island of Bohio. This island must be very
large, as it appears to him, and he believes that the people on it
to and take the other Indians and their lands and houses, as they
are very cowardly and do not know about arms. And for this cause it
appeared to him that those Indians he was taking with him were not
accustomed to settle on the coast of the sea, on account of being
near this country. These Indians, he says, after they saw him take
the course to this country, could not speak, fearing that they were
to be eaten, and he was not able to free them from fear, and they
said that the people there had only one eye and the face of a dog
and the Admiral believed that they lied: and the Admiral felt that
they must belong to the domains of the Great Khan, who captured
them.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27.
Yesterday at sunset be arrived near a cape which he called Campana
and as the sky was clear and the wind light he did not wish to go to
land to anchor although he had five or six wonderful harbours to the
leeward, because he was detained more than he desired by the
pleasure and delight he felt and experienced in seeing and gazing on
the beauty and freshness of those countries wherever he entered, and
as he did not wish to be delayed in prosecuting what he was engaged
upon. For these reasons he remained that night beating about and
standing off and on until day. And as the rapid currents that night
had taken him more than five or six leagues farther to the
south-east than he was at nightfall where the country of Campana had
appeared to him: and beyond that point there appeared a great inlet
which seemed to divide one country from the other, and made the
appearance of an island in the middle: he decided to turn backward
with the wind south-west, and he arrived where the opening had
appeared to him, and he found that it was only a large bay and at
the head of it on the south-eastern side was a point upon which
there was a high and square mountain which appeared like an island.
The wind changed to the north and he again took his course to the
south-east in order to go along the coast and discover all that
there might be there. And he saw then at the foot of that Cabo de
Campana a wonderful harbour and a large river and a quarter of a
league from there another river and a half league from there another
river and another half league from there another river, and a league
from there another river, and another league from there another
river, and another quarter of a league from there another river, and
another league from there another large river, from which latter
river to the Cabo de Campana it was about twenty miles, and they lay
south-east of him. And the greater part of these rivers had large
mouths, wide and clear, with wonderful harbours for very large
ships, without rocky or sandy bars or reefs. Coming thus along the
coast in the direction of the south-east from the said last river he
found a large village, the largest he had found until then, and he
saw a great number of people come to the sea-shore crying out
loudly, all naked and with their spears in their hands. He desired
to speak with them and lowered the sails and anchored and sent the
boats from the ship and the caravel in an orderly manner, that the
Spaniards might not do and harm to the Indians or receive any front
them, commanding them to give the Indians some trifles from their
articles of barter. The Indians made an appearance of not allowing
them to land and of resisting them. And seeing that the boats
approached nearer to the land and that the Spaniards were not
afraid, they withdrew from the sea. And believing that if two or
three men got out of the boats they would not be afraid, three
Christians landed telling them in their language not to be afraid,
as they knew something of the language from conversation with the
Indians they were taking with them. Finally they all started to
flee so that neither a grown person nor child remained. The three
Christians went to the houses which are made of straw and of the
same shape as the others they had seen, and they found no one and
nothing in any of them. They returned to the ships and spread the
sails at mid-day to go to a beautiful cape which lay to the east, at
a distance of about eight leagues. Having gone half a league along
the same bay the Admiral saw in the direction of the south a very
remarkable harbour and in the direction of the south-east some
wonderfully beautiful countries, similar to a hilly tract of
fruitful ground surrounded by mountains, and a great quantity of
smoke and large villages appeared in it and the lands were highly
cultivated. On this account he determined to go down to this
harbour and try and see if he could have speech and intercourse with
the people. He says that if he had praised the other harbours, this
one was such that he praised it more, together with the countries
and their surroundings and the temperate climate and the population:
he says wonders about the beauty of the land and of the trees where
there are pines and palms, and about the great plain which however
is not entirely level {no es llanode llano} and extends to the
south-south-east, but is full of low smooth mountains, the most
beautiful thing in the world, and many streams of water flow out
from it, which descend from these mountains. After having anchored
the vessel the Admiral jumped into the boat to sound the harbour,
which is shaped like a small hammer: and when he was facing the
entrance to the south he found the mouth of a river which was wide
enough for a galley to enter it and so situated that it could not be
seen until it was reached, and in entering it a boat's length it was
five fathoms and eight fathoms in depth. In going along this river
it was a wonderful thing to see the groves and verdure and the very
clear water and the birds and the agreeableness, so that he says it
appeared to him that he did not wish to leave there. He went on,
saying to the men he had in his company that in order to make a
relation to the Sovereigns of the things they saw, a thousand
tongues would not be sufficient to tell it nor his hand to write it,
as it appeared to him that he was enchanted. He desired that many
other prudent persons and of good credit should see it, so as to be
certain. He says, that they did not praise these things less than
he did. The Admiral further says these words here:
"How great will be the benefit which can be derived from here, I do
not write. It is certain, Lords and Princes, that where there are
such lands there must be an infinite quantity of profitable things:
but I do not stop in any harbour because I would like to see the
greatest number of lands that I can, so as to tell your Highnesses
about them, and also do not know the language, and the people of
these lands do not understand me nor do I or any other person I have
with me, understand them: and these Indians I am taking with me,
many times understand things contrary to what they are, neither do I
trust much to them because they have attempted flight several times.
But now, our Lord pleasing, I will see the most that I can, and
little by little I will go investigating and learning, and will
cause this language to be taught to persons of my house because I
see that the language is all one up to the present: and then the
benefits will be known, and one will labour to make all these
peoples Christians as it can be done easily, because they have no
sect nor are they idolaters, and your Highnesses will order a city
and fortress to be built in these regions and these countries will
be converted. And I certify to your Highnesses that it does not
appear to me that there can be under the sun countries more fertile,
more temperate in heat and cold, with a greater abundance of good
and healthy waters, not like the rivers of Guinea which are all
pestilent; because, praised be our Lord, until to-day, of all my
people I have not bad a person who has had the headache or has been
in bed from sickness, except one old man through pain from gravel,
from which he has suffered all his life, and then he became well at
the end of two days. I say this in regard to all three ships. So
that it will please God that your Highnesses shall send learned men
here, or they shall come and they will then see the truth of
everything. And as previously I have spoken of the site of a
village or fortress on the Rio de Mares on account of the good
harbour and the surrounding territory: it is certain that all I have
said is true, but there is no comparison between that place and
this, neither with the Mar de Nuestra Senora: as here there must be
large villages and an innumerable population inland and things of
great profit: because here and in all the other countries I have
discovered and which I hope to discover before I go to Castile, I
say that Christendom will enter into negotiations, and Spain much
more than the rest, to which all must be subject. And I say that,
your Highnesses must not consent that any foreigner set foot here or
trade but only Catholic Christians, since this was the beginning and
the end of the proposition that it should be for the increase and
glory of the Christian religion, and that no one should come to these regions who is not a good Christian." All are his words. He
ascended the river there and found some branches and going around
the harbour he found at the mouth of the river there were some very
pleasant groves like a most delightful orchard, and there he found
a raft or canoe made of a timber as large as a fusta with twelve
benches for the rowers and very beautiful, stranded under a shed
made of wood, and covered with great palm leaves, so that neither
the sun nor the water could injure it and he says that there was
the right place to build a village or city and fortress on account
of the good harbour, good waters, good lands, good surroundings and
great quantity of wood.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28.
He remained in that harbour that day because it rained and was
very dark and cloudy, although he could have run along the coast
with the wind, which was south-west and would be at the stern a
popa, but as he could not see the land well and not being
acquainted with it, it was dangerous to the ships, and he did not
start. The people of the ships landed to wash their clothes and
some of them went inland a little ways and found large villages and
empty houses because all the people had fled. They returned down
along another river, larger than the one where they were, in the
harbour.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29.
As it rained and the sky was clouded they did not start. Some of
the Christians reached another village near by in the direction of
the north-west, and they found nothing and no one in the houses: and
on the way they encountered an old man who could not flee from them:
they took him and said to him that they did not wish to do him harm,
and they gave him some trifles from the articles of barter and left
him. The Admiral would have liked to see him to clothe him and talk
with him, because he was greatly pleased with the felicity of that
land and its disposition to make a settlement in it, and he judged
that there must be large villages. They found in one house a cake
of wax, which he brought to the Sovereigns and he says that where
there is wax there must also be a thousand other good things. The
sailors also found in one house the head of a man in a little basket
covered with another little basket and fastened to a post of the
house and in the same manner they found another in another village.
The Admiral believed that they must be the heads of some principal
persons of the family, because those houses were such that many
people could take refuge in one alone, and they must be relations
descended from one person alone.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30.
He could not start because the wind was east, very contrary to his
course. He sent eight men well armed and with them two Indians from
among those he was taking with him to see the villages within the
country and to talk with the inhabitants. They reached many houses
and found nothing nor any one, as all had fled. They saw four youths
who were digging in their fields, but as they saw the Christians
they fled and they could not overtake them. They went a long
distance, he says. They saw many settlements and very fertile
ground and all cultivated and large streams of water and near one
they saw a raft or canoe ninety-five palms long built of one single
timber and very beautiful, and it would hold one hundred and fifty
persons and they could navigate in it.