On Returning To The Coast Of Cuba, He Discovered A Cape Or Point, Which He
Called Cabo De Cruz, Or
Cape Cross; and continued to sail along the
coast, accompanied by much rain, and a great deal of thunder and
Lightning.
In this course he was greatly perplexed by numerous shoals and islands,
which increased in number the farther he went, some of the Islands being
bare sand, while others were covered with trees. The nearer these islands
were to the shore of Cuba, they appeared the higher, greener, and more
beautiful, some of them being a league or two in compass, and others,
three or four. On the first day he saw many, and the next still more; and
considering that they were so numerous that it was impossible to give each
a name, he called the whole group or range El Jarden de la Reyna, or the
Queen's Garden. Between these islands there were many channels through
which the ships could pass; and in some of them they found a sort of red
cranes, or flamingos, which are only found on the coast of Cuba and
among the small islands, living on the salt water upon some kind of food
which they there find. These birds are often domesticated, and are then
fed on cazabi, or casada, which is the Indian bread, and which is given
them in pans of salt water. They saw cranes likewise, resembling those in
Spain; also crows, and many kinds of singing-birds, and abundance of
tortoises or turtles as large as bucklers.
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