Part 32 (1/2)

[331-3] _I.e._, that his will was not to serve the sovereigns but to advance himself.

[332-1] Cape of the Galley. To-day, Cape Galeota.

[332-2] The last of the canonical hours of prayer, after sunset or early evening.

[334-1] Sandy Point.

[334-2] Of the whale.

[334-3] One of the native names of the Orinoco, here referring to one of the northern branch mouths. A detailed map of the region is given Winsor's _Columbus_, p. 353.

[336-1] ”A sort of veil, or head attire used by the Moorish women, made of thin silk, striped of several colors, and s.h.a.gged at the ends, which hangs down on the back.” John Stevens, _A New Dictionary, Spanish and English_, etc. (London. 1726.)

[337-1] The exploration of the west coast of Africa, the only equatorial regions then known to Europeans, had led to the conclusion that black was the natural color of the inhabitants of the tropics.

[337-2] The Navidad referred to by Las Casas was near the Gulf of Paria.

(Thacher.)

[337-3] _Poner a monte carracas._ _Poner a monte_ is not given in the Spanish dictionaries, and is apparently a sea phrase identical with the Portuguese ”por um navio a monte,” to beach or ground a vessel. The translator went entirely astray in this pa.s.sage. See Thacher's _Columbus_, II. 388. The figure here given and the use of word _pasos_, normally, a land measure of length, instead of _braza_, ”fathom,” would seem to indicate that the 65 paces refers to the extent of sh.o.r.e laid bare, and not to the height of the tide. The corresponding pa.s.sage in the _Historie_ reads: ”so that it seemed a rapid river both day and night and at all hours, notwithstanding the fact that the water rose and fell along the sh.o.r.e (_per la spiaggia_) more than sixty paces between the waves (_alle marette_) as it is wont to do in San Lucar di Barrameda where the waters [of the river] are high since although the water rises and falls it never ceases to run toward the sea,” _Historie_ (London ed.), p. 229.

In this pa.s.sage _maree_, ”tides,” should be read instead of _marette_.

[338-1] Accepting the emendation of de Lollis which subst.i.tutes _fructas_ for _fuentes_, ”springs.”

[339-1] _I.e._, north by east.

[339-2] _Loma._

[340-1] Las Casas here quotes Columbus's letter to Ferdinand and Isabella on this voyage. See Major, _Select Letters of Columbus_, p. 123.

[340-2] Serpent's mouth. The name is still retained.

[340-3] _Lapa_ means barnacle; _caracol_, periwinkle; and _delfin_, dolphin.

[340-4] Dragon's mouth. The name is still retained.

[340-5] _I.e._, along the south sh.o.r.e of the peninsula of Paria in the Gulf of Paria.

[341-1] The grammatical form of this sentence follows the original, which is irregular.

[341-2] See p. 311, note 2.

[341-3] _Galos paules_ (Cat-Pauls). A species of African monkey was so called in Spain. The name occurs in Marco Polo. On its history and meaning, see Yule's _Marco Polo_, II. 372.

[342-1] Im Thurn, _Among the Indians of Guiana_, p. 193, says, ”Indians after babyhood are never seen perfectly naked.”

[343-1] _Flechas con hierba muy a punto_, literally, arrows with gra.s.s very sharp. Gaffarel, _Histoire de la Decouverte de l'Amerique_, II. 196, interprets this to mean arrows feathered with gra.s.s; but _hierba_ used in connection with arrows usually means poison. _Cf._ Oviedo, lib. IX., t.i.tle of cap. XII., ”_Del arbol o mancanillo con cuya fructa los indios caribes flecheros hacen la hierba con que tiran e pelean_.”

[343-2] _Hureyos_ is _Tureyos_ in the printed edition of Las Casas, an obvious correction of the ma.n.u.script reading. On _turey_, see above, p.

310.