The Wind
Proving Rather Contrary, And Not Being Able To Make So Much Way As He
Wished, The Admiral Left
The coast of Jamaica and stood over for Cuba,
designing to keep along its coast for five or six hundred
Leagues, that he
might be satisfied whether it were an island or the continent. That day
while leaving Jamaica, a young Indian came on board desiring to be
carried into Spain, and when several of his kindred and others entreated
him to return he refused to change his resolution, and to avoid the
importunities of his friends, and not to see his sisters cry and sob, he
went where they could not come to him. The admiral admired his resolution,
and gave orders that he should be civilly treated.
Leaving Jamaica on Wednesday the 15th of May, the admiral came to that
point of Cuba which he named Cabo de Santa Cruz, or Cape Holy Cross. In
running along the coast they encountered a great storm of thunder and
lightning which, combined with numerous flats and strong currents,
occasioned much trouble and great danger, being obliged to struggle at the
same time against two evils which required opposite remedies; for it is
proper during thunder to strike the sails, whereas it is necessary to
spread them to avoid the flats, and had this double calamity lasted for
eight or ten leagues it had been quite insupportable. The worst of all was,
that all over this sea, both northwards, and to the north-east, the farther
they went the greater number of low little islands they met with, in some
of which there were trees, but others were sandy and scarcely appeared
above the surface of the water; some of these were a league in compass,
some more and some less. The nearer they kept to the coast of Cuba the
higher and pleasanter these small islands appeared; and it being difficult
and useless to give names to every one, the admiral called them all in
general Jardin de la Reyna, or the Queens Garden. They saw many more
islands next day to the north-east, north-west, and south-west, insomuch
that they counted 160 islands that day, all parted by deep channels, many
of which the ships sailed through. In some of these islands they saw many
cranes resembling those of Spain in shape and size, but of a scarlet
colour[12]. In others they found great numbers of turtles, or sea
tortoises, and immense quantities of their eggs, which are not unlike
those of a hen but with much harder shells. The female turtle deposits her
eggs in holes on the sand, and covering them up leaves them to be hatched
by the heat of the sun, which brings forth the little turtles, which grow
in time to be as large as a buckler or great target. In these islands they
also saw crows and cranes like those of Spain, and sea crows, and infinite
numbers of small birds which sung delightfully, and the very air was sweet,
as if they had been among roses and the finest perfumes; yet the danger
was very great on account of the innumerable channels among the islands,
by which much time was spent in finding the way through.
In one of these channels they observed a canoe with Indian fishermen, who
very quietly awaited our boat coming towards them, and made signs not to
approach near till they had done fishing. Their manner of fishing was so
strange and new to our people that they willingly complied, and looked on
with astonishment. They had tied certain small fishes which they call
reves by the tail with a long line and let them into the water, where
these reves attached themselves to other fishes, by means of a certain
roughness which they have from the head to the middle of the back, and
stick so fast that the Indians drew both up together. It was a turtle our
men saw taken in this manner, and the reve clung close to its neck,
which place they usually fasten upon because safe from being bitten by the
other fish, and they sometimes fasten upon vast sharks. When the Indians
in the canoe had thus taken the turtle, having already two others, they
came in a very friendly manner to know what our men would have, and went
by their direction on board the admiral who treated them courteously, and
to whom they would have freely given all they had; but he would only allow
their fish to be taken, and refused their nets, hooks, and calabashes
full of water which they had on board to drink, for which he gave them
some trifles with which they went away very well contented. From these
Indians he learnt that there were an infinite multitude of islands in that
sea, and he held on his course. But beginning to want provisions he could
not continue much longer, otherwise he meant to have gone west about
before returning to Hispaniola, although much spent, having never had it
in his power to go to bed, except eight nights, from the time he left
Hispaniola on the 24th of April till now, which was the 19th of May. He
always had much care and anxiety in his voyages, but infinitely greater
this time by reason of the innumerable islands among which he was sailing,
insomuch that on the 20th of May they counted seventy-one, besides a great
many more that were seen about sun-set. These islands are not only
dangerous on account of their numbers, but there rises from them every
night a heavy fog to the eastwards, so dismal to behold as if some great
shower of hail would fall, and it is generally accompanied by violent
thunder and lightning; but when the moon rises it all vanishes, partly
turning to rain and wind. These phenomena are so natural and usual in
these seas that they not only took place all those nights on which the
admiral was there, but I saw the same among those islands in the year 1503
on my return from the discovery of Veragua; and generally, the wind here
is every night from the north, coming from the island of Cuba, and
afterwards when the sun rises it comes about east, and follows the sun
till it comes to the west.
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