Beyond This Pass He Entered Upon A Large Plain Over Which He Marched Five
Leagues The Next Day, And Halted On The Banks Of A Large River Called The
River Of Canes, Which Falls Into The Sea At Monte Christo, And Over Which
The People Crossed On Rafts And In Canoes.
In the course of the journey
they passed many Indian towns, consisting of round thatched houses, with
such small doors that it requires a person entering to stoop very low.
As
soon as the Indians from Isabella who accompanied the march entered any
of those houses they took what they liked best, and yet the owners seemed
not to be at all displeased, as if all things were in common among them.
In like manner the people of the country were disposed to take from the
Christians whatever they thought fit, thinking our things had been in
common like theirs; but they were soon undeceived. In the course of this
journey they passed over mountains most delightfully wooded, where there
were wild vines, aloes, and cinnamon trees[8]; and another sort that
produces a fruit resembling a fig, which were vastly thick at the foot,
but had leaves like those of our apple trees.
The admiral continued his march from the River of Canes on Friday the 14th
March, and a league and a half beyond it he came to another which he
called the River of Gold, because some grains of gold were gathered in
passing. Having crossed this river with some difficulty, the admiral
proceeded to a large town, whence many of the inhabitants fled to the
mountains; but most of them fortified their houses by barring the doorways
with large canes, as if that had been a sufficient defence to hinder
any body from coming in; for according to their customs, no one dares to
break in at a door that is barred up in this manner, as they have no
wooden doors or any other means of shutting up their houses.
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