In Boarding, The Canoe Was Overset, And One Of The Indians Discharged His Bow Very Vigorously While Swimming.

Holding on their course, so many islands were seen close together that they could not be numbered, or separately named.

The admiral called the largest of these the island of St Ursula, and the rest the Eleven thousand Virgins. He came afterwards to another large island, called Borriquen by the natives, but which he named the island of St John the Baptist. It is now called San Juan de Puerto Rico. In a bay on the west coast of this island, the seamen took several kinds of fish in great plenty, such as skate, olaves, pilchards, and some others. On this island many good houses were seen, all of timber and thatched, each having a square inclosure and a clean well beaten path to the shore. The walls of these houses were made of canes woven or wattled together, and they were curiously ornamented with creeping plants or greens, as is usual at Valencia in Spain. Near the sea there was a sort of balcony or open gallery of the same kind of structure, capable to hold twelve persons: But no person was to be seen about the place, all the inhabitants having fled into the interior. On Friday the 22d of November, the first land of Hispaniola was seen on the north side, to which they went straight over from the extreme point of Porto Rico, the two islands being fifteen leagues distant. At this place, which was in the province or district of Samona, the admiral put one of the Indians on shore who had been in Spain, desiring him to tell the natives all the wonderful things he had seen, to induce them to enter into friendship with the Christians. He readily undertook this commission, but was never more heard of, so that he was believed to have died.

The admiral continued to sail along the northern coast of Hispaniola, where at point Angel, some Indians came aboard in canoes with provisions and other things to barter with the Spaniards. Anchoring afterwards off Monte Christo, one of the boats entered a river, were they found two dead men, one young and the other old. The latter had a rope about his neck made of Spanish esparto, his arms stretched out and his hands tied to a stick. It could not be ascertained whether these men were Christians or Indians, on which account the admiral was much troubled, lest some calamity had befallen the people he had left on the island. Next day, being Tuesday the 26th November, the admiral sent several men in different directions, to endeavour to learn if any news could be got of those whom he had left at the Nativity. Many of the Indians came up to the Spaniards, without fear, touching their dress, and saying tubon camisa that is doublet and shirt, to shew that they knew the Spanish names of these articles. These circumstances gave great comfort to the admiral, as he supposed the Indians would have been afraid, if those he had left in the new town were dead.

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