But Especially Because He Had Learnt That Many Malicious And Envious Persons Had Given False Information At Court Respecting The Affairs Of The Indies, To The Great Prejudice And Dishonour Of Him And His Brothers.

For these reasons he embarked on Thursday the tenth of March 1496, with 225 Spaniards and thirty Indians in two caravels, the Santa Cruz and the Nina, and sailed from Isabella about day-break.

Holding his course eastwards along the coast, he lost sight of the eastern point of Hispaniola on Tuesday the twenty-second of March, keeping an easterly direction as far as the wind would permit; but the wind for the most part continuing from the east, and provisions falling short, by which the men were much discouraged, he deviated southwards towards the Caribbee islands, and anchored at Marigalante on Saturday the ninth of April. Although it was not his custom to set sail from any port of a Sunday, yet as his men muttered, saying that when in want of food it was not necessary to keep so strictly to the observation of particular days, he therefore set sail next day.

He next anchored at the island of Guadaloupe and sent the boats on shore well armed. These were opposed by a great number of women, who came out of a wood armed with bows and arrows and decorated with feathers; seeing whom the people in the boats kept aloof, and sent two women of Hispaniola on shore by swimming to parley with the natives; who, understanding that the Christians only desired to have provisions in exchange for such commodities as they had to barter, desired them to go with their ships to the north side of the island where their husbands then were, who would furnish them with what they wanted. The ships did accordingly, and sailing close to the shore saw abundance of people, who came down to the sea-side and discharged their arrows in vain against our people, setting up loud cries, but their weapons all fell short. When our boats well armed and full of men drew near the shore, the Indians retired into an ambush, whence they sallied forth to hinder our people from landing; but terrified by some discharges of cannon from the ships, they fled into the woods, abandoning their houses and goods, when the Christians took and destroyed all they found. Being acquainted with the Indian method of making bread, they fell to work and made enough to supply their want, as they found abundance of materials[5].

Among other things which they found in the Indian houses on this island, were parrots, honey, wax, and iron, of which last they had hatchets[6]: and they likewise found looms like those used in Europe for weaving tapestry[7], in which the natives weave their tents. Their houses, instead of the ordinary round forms which had been hitherto met with in the West Indies, were square; and in one of them the Spaniards found the arm of a man roasting at a fire upon a spit.

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