Each Of The Boats Brought Off
A Youth, Who Agreed In Saying That They Were Not Of That Island, But Of
Another Which They Called Borriquen, Now St John; And That The
Inhabitants Of Guadaloupe Were Caribs Or Canibals, And Had Taken Them
Prisoners From Their Own Island.
Soon afterwards, the boats returned on
shore to bring off some Christians who had been left, and found six
Women
who had fled to them from the Caribs, and came off willingly to the ships.
To allure the Indians, the admiral would not keep them, but set them on
shore against their wills, giving them some glass beads and bells. This
was not done unadvisedly, for as soon as they landed, the Caribs even in
sight of the Christians, took away all the trinkets which had been given
them. Therefore, either through hatred or fear of the Caribs, when the
boats returned some time afterwards for wood and water, the women got into
them and requested to be carried back to the ships, and gave the seamen to
understand by signs that those people eat men and make slaves of the women,
and therefore they would not remain with them. Yielding to their
entreaties, the seamen brought them back, with two children and a young
man who had escaped from the Caribs; these people thinking themselves
safer in the hands of strangers whom they had never seen or heard of,
than among the cruel and wicked Caribs who had eaten their husbands and
children, but who are said not to eat women, whom they keep as slaves. One
of the women said there were many islands to the south, some inhabited and
others not, which they severally named Giamachi, Cairvaco, Huino, Buriari,
Arubeira, and Sixibei. They said that the continent was very large, and
both they and the inhabitants of Hispaniola named it Zuanta; saying, that
in former times canoes had come from that land to the islands to barter
with abundance of lads, of whom there were two thirds in an island not far
distant[7]. They also said that the king of the island, from which they
fled, was gone with ten large canoes and 300 men to make incursions into
the neighbouring islands to take prisoners to eat. The women likewise gave
information where Hispaniola lay; for though the admiral had inserted it
in his chart, yet he was inclined to hear what the natives of these
islands knew respecting it for his better guidance.
The admiral now wished to proceed on his voyage, but was told that one
Captain Mark had gone on shore before day with eight men without his leave,
and had not yet returned. He was therefore obliged to send out to look for
him, though in vain, by reason of the thickness of the trees. Therefore,
that they might not be lost or be obliged to leave a ship for them, which
might afterwards miss its way to Hispaniola, the admiral resolved to
remain till next day; and because the country was full of extensive and
thick woods, he ordered them to be carefully sought after, making a great
noise with trumpets and muskets to lead them on the right way. But the
people having searched the whole day ineffectually, returned to the ships
in the evening without finding them, or hearing any thing of them. It was
now Thursday morning, and no news had been heard of them since Tuesday;
and considering that they had gone without leave, the admiral declared his
resolution to continue the voyage, or at least made a shew of doing so to
deter others from doing the like in future; but he allowed himself to be
prevailed on by some of the kindred and friends of the stragglers to stay
a little longer, and gave orders in the meantime for all the ships to
complete their wood and water, and for the people to wash their linens;
and he sent Captain Hojeda with forty men to look out for those who were
amissing, and to examine into the nature of the country. Hojeda found
mastick, aloes, sandal, ginger, frankincense, and some trees resembling
cinnamon in taste and smell, and abundance of cotton. He saw many falcons,
and two of them pursuing the other birds; also kites, herons, daws,
turtles, partridges, geese, and nightingales; and he affirmed, that in
travelling six leagues they had crossed twenty-six rivers, several of
which were very deep; but I am apt to believe, as the country was very
woody and uneven, that they had often crossed the same river. While the
party under Hojeda were admiring the beauties of the country, and other
parties were going about in all directions in search of the stragglers,
they returned to the ship on Friday the 8th of November without having
been met by any of those who looked for them. They excused themselves by
saying that they had lost their way in the woods; but to punish their
presumption, the admiral ordered the captain to be put in irons, and that
the rest should have their allowance of provisions retrenched. The admiral
then landed and went to some of the houses, where he saw all the
particulars which have been already mentioned; likewise abundance of
cotton, both spun and unspun, and looms for weaving, many human skulls
hung up, and baskets full of human bones. The houses in this island were
better, and more plentifully furnished with provisions and other things
used by the Indians, than any which he had seen in his first voyage.
On Sunday the 10th of November the admiral weighed anchor, standing with
the whole fleet towards the N.W. along the coast of Guadaloupe, and came
to an island which he named Monseratte on account of its height; and was
informed by the Indians on board that the Caribs had entirely dispeopled
it by devouring all the inhabitants. He thence proceeded by St Mary
Redonda, so named on account of its round and upright shape, insomuch,
that there seemed no possibility of getting up to it without ladders.
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