Under These Circumstances, He Was Forced
To Turn Back Three Leagues To A Place Where He Had Observed A Large River
Discharging Itself Into The Sea, Forming A Good Harbour, Though Open To
The North-West.
He landed at an Indian town on this river, and found a
delightful plain, some way up the river;
At which place the river could
easily be drawn out in trenches or canals, to supply his intended town
with water, and might even be applied for the erection of mills, and all
other conveniencies. He therefore determined to build a town on this spot,
and ordered all the men and horses to be landed. To this place, which was
the first colony established in the West Indies, he gave the name of
Isabella, in honour of the queen of Castile, for whom he had
extraordinary respect. Finding abundance of stone and lime, and every
thing he could wish, and the land around being exceedingly fertile, he
applied himself diligently to build a church, magazines, and a house for
himself, all of stone, the others being of timber covered with thatch,
every person being allowed to build according to his own fancy and ability;
but the plan was regularly marked out in streets and squares.
As the people had been long at sea, to which they were unaccustomed, and
were now fatigued with much labour, while they were confined to short
allowance and disliked the country bread, they began to fall sick in great
numbers, though the country itself is very healthy, and many of them died.
They were much afflicted to find themselves reduced to such straits at a
vast distance from their native country, without hope of relief, and
disappointed in the prospect of acquiring that immense abundance of gold
which had induced them to embark in the expedition.
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Words from 138285 to 138590
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