Part 9 (2/2)

While the Adelantado was on shore, he beheld a great canoe arriving, as fronitude and contents It was eight feet wide, and as long as a galley, though forle tree In the centre was a kind of awning or cabin of palondolas of Venice, and sufficiently close to exclude both sun and rain Under this sat a cacique with his wives and children Twenty-five Indians rowed the canoe, and it was filled with all kinds of articles of the manufacture and natural production of the adjacent countries It is supposed that this bark had coues distant from this island

The Indians in the canoe appeared to have no fear of the Spaniards, and readily went alongside of the adht to hier, a collection of specimens of all the important articles of this part of the New World He exareat curiosity and interest, the contents of the canoe A various utensils and weapons si the natives, he perceived others of awood, formed not of stone but copper; wooden swords, with channels on each side of the blade, in which sharp flints were fir the sa the Mexicans There were copper bells and other articles of the saether with a rude kind of crucible in which to melt it; various vessels and utensils neatly formed of clay, of marble, and of hard wood; sheets and reat quantities of cacao, a fruit as yet unknown to the Spaniards, but which, as they soon found, the natives held in great estie also extracted fro beer Their provisions consisted of bread made of maize, and roots of various kinds, si these articles, Columbus collected such as were i the natives European trinkets in exchange, hich they were highly satisfied They appeared to manifest neither astonishment nor alarm when on board of the vessels, and surrounded by people who e and wonderful to them The women wore mantles, hich they wrapped themselves, like the female Moors of Granada, and the men had cloths of cotton round their loins Both sexes appeared s, and to have a quicker sense of personal modesty than any Indians Coluether with the superiority of their implements and manufactures, were held by the ad ain particular infor countries; but as they spoke a different language from that of his interpreters, he could understand them but imperfectly They informed him that they had just arrived from a country, rich, cultivated, and industrious, situated to the west They endeavored to inificence of the regions, and the people in that quarter, and urged him to steer in that direction Well would it have been for Columbus had he followed their advice Within a day or two he would have arrived at Yucatan; the discovery of Mexico and the other opulent countries of New Spain would have necessarily followed; the Southern Ocean would have been disclosed to him, and a succession of splendid discoveries would have shed fresh glory on his declining age, instead of its sinking alect, and disappointment

The admiral's wholethe strait As the countries described by the Indians lay to the west, he supposed that he could easily visit the the coast of Cuba, which he iined must continue on, so as to join them At present he was determined to seek the main-land, the mountains of which were visible to the south, and apparently notit steadfastly to the east, he th arrive to where he supposed it to be severed fro through this, he should soon make his way to the Spice Islands and the richest parts of India [128]

He was encouraged the more to persist in his eastern course by information from the Indians, that there were old Much of the infor these people was derived froent than the rest, who appeared to be an ancient navigator of these seas Colu the coast, and dis the island of Guanaja, he stood southwardly for the ues, discovered a cape, to which he gave the na covered with fruit trees, so called by the natives It is at present known as Cape Honduras Here, on Sunday the 14th of August, the Adelantado landed with the captains of the caravels and many of the seamen, to attend mass, which was perfor to the pious custom of the admiral, whenever circuain landed at a river about fifteen miles from the point, on the bank of which he displayed the banners of Castile, taking possession of the country in the name of their Catholic Majesties; from which circumstances he named this the River of Possession [129]

At this place they found upwards of a hundred Indians asseetables, and fruits of various kinds These they laid down as presents before the Adelantado and his party, and drew back to a distance without speaking a word The Adelantado distributed a them various trinkets, hich they ell pleased, and appeared the next day in the sareater numbers, with still more abundant supplies of provisions

The natives of this neighborhood, and for a considerable distance eastward, had higher foreheads than those of the islands They were of different languages, and varied from each other in their decorations Some were entirely naked; and their bodies were ures of various anis about the loins; others short cotton jerkins without sleeves: some wore tresses of hair in front The chieftains had caps of white or colored cotton When arrayed for any festival, they painted their faces black, or with stripes of various colors, or with circles round the eyes The old Indian guide assured the admiral that many of them were cannibals In one part of the coast the natives had their ears bored, and hideously distended; which caused the Spaniards to call that region _la Costa de la Oreja_, or ”the Coast of the Ear” [130]

Fro what is at present called the coast of Honduras, beating against contrary winds, and struggling with currents which swept from the east like the constant stream of a river He often lost in one tack what he had laboriously gained in two, frequently ues in a day, and never h fear of proceeding along an unknown coast in the dark, but was often forced out to sea by the violence of the currents[131] In all this time he experienced the same kind of weather that had prevailed on the coast of Hispaniola, and had attended him more or less for upwards of sixty days There was, he says, almost an incessant tempest of the heavens, with heavy rains, and such thunder and lightning, that it seemed as if the end of the world was at hand Those who know any thing of the drenching rains and rending thunder of the tropics, will not think his description of the storerated

His vessels were strained so that their sea were rent, and the provisions were dae The sailors were exhausted with labor, and harassed with terror

They many times confessed their sins to each other, and prepared for death ”I have seen many te duration” He alludes to the whole series of storms for upwards of two o

During a great part of this tiravated by his watchfulness and anxiety His illness did not prevent his attending to his duties; he had a small cabin or chamber constructed on the stern, whence, even when confined to his bed, he could keep a look-out and regulate the sailing of the shi+ps Many ti His anxious mind was distressed about his brother the Adelantado, whoainst his will to come on this expedition, and as in the worst vessel of the squadron He la hie to such perils and hardshi+ps, although the youth bore thee and fortitude of a veteran Often, too, his thoughts reverted to his son Diego, and the cares and perplexities into which his deathfor upwards of forty days since leaving the Cape of Honduras, to ues, they arrived on the 14th of Septele, turned directly south, so as to give the the point, they swept off with flowing sails and hearts filled with joy; and the admiral, to coave to the Cape the name of _Gracias a Dios_, or Thanks to God[133]

Chapter III

Voyage along the Mosquito Coast, and Transactions at Cariari

[1503]

After doubling Cape Gracias a Dios, Colu what is at present called the Mosquito shore The land was of varied character, so into the sea, at other places verdant and fertile, and watered by abundant strearew ih: they abounded with fish and tortoises, and alligators basked on the banks At one place Colurew a fruit rese the lemon, on which account he called the about sixty-two leagues along this coast, being greatly in want of wood and water, the squadron anchored on the 16th of September, near a copious river, up which the boats were sent to procure the requisite supplies As they were returning to their shi+ps, a sudden swelling of the sea, rushi+ng in and encountering the rapid current of the river, caused a violent commotion, in which one of the boats ed up, and all on board perished This loomy effect upon the crews, already dispirited and care-worn fro their dejection, gave the stream the sinister name of _El rio del Desastre_, or the River of Disaster

[135]

Leaving this unlucky neighborhood, they continued for several days along the coast, until, finding both his shi+ps and his people nearly disabled by the buffetings of the tempests, Columbus, on the 25th of September, cast anchor between a small island and the htful situation The island was covered with groves of palrant fruit, which the admiral continually mistook for the mirabolane of the East Indies The fruits and flowers and odoriferous shrubs of the island sent forth grateful perfuave it the name of La Huerta, or the Garden It was called by the natives Quiribiri Iue's distance, was an Indian village, named Cariari, situated on the bank of a beautiful river The country around was fresh and verdant, finely diversified by noble hills and forests, with trees of such height, that Las Casas says they appeared to reach the skies

When the inhabitants beheld the shi+ps, they gathered together on the coast, armed with bows and arroar-clubs, and lances, and prepared to defend their shores The Spaniards, however,day, but re and drying the dae When the savages perceived that these wonderful beings, who had arrived in this strange manner on their coast, were perfectly pacific, and made no movement to molest them, their hostility ceased, and curiosity predo theirthe Spaniards to land

Growing stilloff mantles and tunics of cotton, and ornauanin, which they wore about their necks These they offered to the Spaniards The ad the to impress them with a favorable idea of the liberality and disinterestedness of the white es was touched at the refusal of their proffered gifts, and this supposed contempt for their manufactures and productions

They endeavored to retaliate, by pretending like indifference On returning to shore, they tied together all the European articles which had been given the on the strand, where the Spaniards found theers still declined to coain their confidence, and dispel the distrust which their hostile de the shore cautiously one day, in quest of some safe place to procure water, an ancient Indian, of venerable de a white banner on the end of a staff, and leading two girls, one about fourteen years of age, the other about eight, having jewels of guanin about their necks These he brought to the boat and delivered to the Spaniards, es while the strangers should be on shore Upon this the Spaniards sallied forth with confidence and filled their water-casks, the Indians re the strictest care, neither by word nor movement to cause any new distrust When the boats were about to return to the shi+ps, the old Indian irls should be taken on board, nor would he adirls showed no signs of grief nor alarh surrounded by what to thes Columbus was careful that the confidence thus placed in hi fe them to be clothed and adorned with various ornaht, however, had fallen, and the coast was deserted They had to return to the shi+p, where they reht under the careful protection of the ad he restored them to their friends The old Indian received therateful sense of the kind treat, however, when the boats went on shore, the young girls appeared, accompanied by a multitude of their friends, and returned all the presents they had received, nor could they be prevailed upon to retain any of thereatly was the pride of these savages piqued at having their gifts refused

On the following day, as the Adelantado approached the shore, two of the principal inhabitants, entering the water, took hi hirassy bank Don Bartholo the country, and ordered the notary of the squadron to write down their replies The latter immediately prepared pen, ink, and paper, and proceeded to write; but no sooner did the Indians behold this strange andit for soht upon them, they fled with terror After sorant powder in the air, and burning some of it in such a direction that the smoke should be borne towards the Spaniards by the wind This was apparently intended to counteract any baleful spell, for they regarded the strangers as beings of a mysterious and supernatural order