This Land Is Situated In The Torrid Zone, Directly Under The
Parallel Described By The Tropic Of Cancer, And In The Second Climate,
Where The Pole Is Elevated 23 Degrees Above The Horizon[9].
While there, a
prodigious number of people came to see us, wondering at our colour and
appearance, and inquiring whence we came.
We answered, that we had come
down from heaven to visit the earth, and they believed us. We constructed
several fonts in this place, at which a prodigious number of people came
to be baptized, calling themselves charaibs, which word in their
language signifies wise men. The country is by them named Parias.
Leaving the before-mentioned harbour, we sailed along the coast, which we
kept always in sight for the space of 860[10] leagues, during which we had
to make many tacks and circuitous courses, always holding intercourse with
the numerous nations on the coast. We procured gold in many places, but
not in any considerable quantities, as our principal object was to
discover and explore these regions, and to learn whether they produced any
gold. Having employed thirteen months already in our voyage, and nearly
expended our stores and provisions, and our men being worn out with
continual watching and fatigue, we determined to take measures for
repairing our ships, which let in water on all sides, that we might return
into Spain. For the purpose, therefore, of repairing our ships, we entered
one of the best harbours in the world, where we were received in a most
friendly manner by the natives, who were here very numerous.
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