As Ojeda Had Travelled Before Into This Country, The Indians Had Some Knowledge Of The Christians; And Understanding That They Came In Search Of Gold, The Natives Came To Meet The Admiral Everywhere During The March With Small Quantities Of Gold Which They Had Gathered, And Bringing Presents Of Provisions.

Being now 18 leagues from Isabella[9], and the country he had marched over from the Pass of Cibao

Very rugged, the admiral ordered a fort to be constructed in a strong and very pleasant situation, to command the country about the mines, and to protect the Christians that might be employed there in procuring gold, and gave it the name of the castle of St Thomas. He gave the command of this new fort to Don Pedro Margarite, with a garrison of 56 men, among whom were workmen of all kinds for building the castle, which was constructed of clay and timber, as of sufficient strength to resist the efforts of any number of Indians that might come against it. On breaking ground for the foundations of the fort, and cutting a rock to form its ditches, at two fathoms below the surface, they found several nests made of hay and straw, containing instead of eggs three or four round stones as large as oranges, as artificially made as if they had been cannon-balls [10]. In the river that runs at the foot of the hill on which the castle was built, they found stones of several colours, some of them large, of pure marble, and others of jasper.

Leaving orders for finishing the fortifications of fort St Thomas, the admiral set out on his return for Isabella on Friday the 21st of March. Near the Green River he met the escort of mules with provisions, which he sent on to the fort[11]; and was constrained to remain some time at the green river on account of the excessive rains which then fell. While afterwards endeavouring to find the fords of the Rio Verde and Rio del Oro, which is larger than the Ebro, he had to remain for several days among the towns of the Indians, subsisting his whole party on the Indian bread and garlick, which the natives parted with for a small price. On Sunday the 29th of March he returned to Isabella, where melons were already grown and fit for eating, although the seed had only been put into the ground two months before. Cucumbers came up in twenty days. A wild vine of the country having been pruned, had produced large and excellent grapes. On the 30th of March a peasant gathered some ears of wheat which had only been sown in the latter end of January. There were vetches likewise, but much larger than the seed they had brought from Spain; these had sprung up in three days after they were sown, and the produce was fit to eat after twenty-five days. The stones of fruit set in the ground sprouted in seven days.

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