returned in high spirits to the village, and the next day returned to the admiral with the news. They afterwards found that the mines of Veragua were nearer Quibia's village, and that, to save his · own, he had sent the adelantado to those of Urira, which belonged to a cazique with whom he was at war.

February 16th, the admiral sent his brother,, with fifty men, to examine the coast to leeward. He got to a river called Urira, six or seven leagues to the westward; where a cazique, with twenty followers, came off to receive the Spaniards, and gave them a great quantity of provisions, and exchanged some gold plates: they then went together to the village, where the whole population came out to meet them. A large house was allotted for the Spaniards, and a quantity of divers sorts of food given to them. A neighbouring cazique, the lord of Dururi, with several followers, came to exchange their mirrors with the Spaniards, and advised them to go further on, to get more gold: this they did, to get rid of them.

The adelantado seeing the pacific disposition of the Indians, took thirty men, and went to explore the country: he came to a village, Zobrada, where the natives had more than six leagues of land cultivated and sown with maize. He passed on to Cateba, where he was well received, and got some plates in exchange for baubles : they were about the size of the plate of a chalice, some bigger, some less, and weighing from ten to twelve crowns: the Indians wore them hanging by a cord round the neck.

The adelantado returned to his brother with a considerable quantity of gold, and recommended the river Belen as the best place to establish a colony. From these favourable appearances, the admiral determined to leave his brother in that country, with the greater part of the men, and to return himself to Castile, and send out reinforcements. Eighty men were selected to remain, and they began to erect their huts in a bay of the river near the mouth, beyond a little creek, upon the right hand side as you enter the river. The huts were of wood, covered with leaves, and one larger than the rest for a store-house; but the principal part was kept on board one of the vessels which was to remain: and this was the first settlement made upon the main; it lasted but a short time. The Indians were expert fishers, and very dexterous in making nets, lines, and hooks. They had a fermented drink, both red and white, made from maize, and flavoured with spices; and another made from pine apples. The huts were built, and the admiral ready to sail; but the river was so low, that there was not water enough over the bar for the ships: they required a depth of fourteen " palmos," and there were only ten upon the bar. They were therefore obliged to wait until another heavy rain should swell the river again, and now prayed for the recurrence of an event which had nearly destroyed them before.

The Indians observing the Spaniards' preparations for remaining

in their country, began to alter their behaviour so much, that the adelantado determined to seize the cazique Quibia.

March 30th, he went with seventy-four men to the village of Veragua. Quibia, when he heard the adelantado was so near, sent to forbid his coming to his hut, which was upon a height over the river. The adelantado went with only five soldiers; ordering the others to get as near the hut, secretly, two and two together, as they could; and when they heard him fire his musket, to surround the house, and seize all who attempted to escape. When the adelantado got near the place, Quibia sent another messenger, to request him to stay where he was, and proposed to come out to meet him, although he was wounded. Quibia was jealous, and did not choose the Spaniards to see his wives. Accordingly, he seated himself at his door, and said that the adelantado only was to come to him. The Spaniards were directed to come up when the adelantado should take Quibia by the arm, which was to be the signal. The adelantado began by inquiring after his health and affairs, through the medium of an interpreter, and then requested to look at the wound, that he might assist the king with some dressings. He gave the signal; the four men came up, and the other fired off his musket: upon which the rest, who were concealed in the woods, rushed out, and made the greater part of fifty persons who were in the hut prisoners; among whom were Quibia's women and children, and other persons, who offered great riches, which they said they had concealed in the mountains, for their liberty. The adelantado sent off Quibia and the prisoners to the vessels, but remained behind himself, with some part of the men, to pursue the fugitives. The pilot who had the charge of carrying Quibia on board was particularly cautioned to prevent his leaping overboard. The cazique was bound, and so secure was the prisoner considered, that the pilot offered to suffer his beard to be pulled out if he escaped. When they got within half a league of the mouth of the river, it was dark. Quibia watched a favourable opportunity, threw himself overboard, and escaped.

Upon the 1st of March, the adelantado, finding it hopeless to follow the fugitives through the woods, resolved to return with his plunder to the admiral, it consisted of golden plates, eagles, and crowns, and was worth 300 ducats. The royal fifth was deducted, and the rest divided, by the admiral's directions, amongst the captors. The rains had now swoln the river, and the admiral took leave of his brother, and with three vessels stood out to sea. When he was over the bar, he sent a boat to his brother, with some things which he thought might be useful. She got near the new settlement at the moment that Quibia was attacking it by surprise. The adelantado behaved most gallantly: the assailants were repulsed, with the loss of several arms and legs, and pursued by a bloodhound, who did his masters good service that night. One Spaniard

Herrera, 1. 6, 1,

was killed and eight wounded, among whom was the adelantado by a dart in the breast.

The men in the boat never offered the least assistance to their countrymen, but stood up the river for fresh water, where they met with an unhappy fate. The natives surrounded her with their canoes: the captain was killed by a dart striking him in his right eye, and all the crew but one were killed-that one escaped by diving, and got on shore unseen by the Indians: he carried the melancholy news to his dispirited countrymen, who determined to quit the place without the adelantado's leave. Accordingly, they attempted to get off in the vessel, but soon found that they could not get over the bar, upon which the sea broke with great violence; neither could they send any intelligence to the admiral of their distressed situation. He was at an anchor on the outside without a boat, and very anxious about the fate of the boats and of the colonists, who saw the swoln carcases of those who had been killed in the bark and on shore, float by, covered with carrion birds.

The Indians, emboldened by success, became every day more troublesome; and the adelantado found it necessary to shift the colony to a clearer place upon the east side of the river, where they made a fort with the provision casks, and placed their artillerythe Indians being afraid to leave the woods, and come near the guns in an open place.

The admiral, after waiting ten days, hoped the surf would enable him to send to his brother. Quibia's sons and kinsmen contrived to break open the hatchway and jump overboard, although the ship was a league off the shore: some that were prevented from escaping destroyed themselves. Some Spaniards now offered to swim on shore to their countrymen, if they were taken as near the breakers as possible. This gallant offer was accepted by the admiral; and Pedro de Ledesma, a pilot, a native of Seville, made the attempt: the surf rolled over him frequently, but he landed at last in safety, and found his countrymen unanimous in their request to be taken off, and in a state of mutiny. With this news Pedro de Ledesmo swam across the bar back again to the vessel, which was waiting for him.

The admiral resolved to withdraw the colony; by lashing two canoes together, and their own boat, and taking the opportunity of a calmer day, they got safely over the bar, with all their stores, leaving only the worm-eaten hull of the vessel for the Indians.

The admiral went to Porto Belo, where he was obliged to abandon one of his vessels, she was so leaky: he then worked to windward, until he got ten leagues to windward of the "Golfo de San Blas ;" and then, upon the 1st of May, he stood to the northward for Española, and in ten days came in sight of two islands, which he called "les Tortugas," because the sea all around them was covered with turtle, which gave it the appearance of being rocky. From

hence he stood on to the coast of Cuba, and anchored in the "Jardin de la Reyna;" his men suffering from hunger, and working day and night at the pumps. In addition to this, in a heavy gale of wind, the other vessel, in the night, drove foul of the admiral, stove in her own stern, carried away his stem, broke him adrift, and placed both in great danger. They afterwards landed at Macaca, in Cuba, where the Indians supplied them with refreshments; and then, finding their vessels too leaky to work up against wind and current to Española, they put into Puerto Bueno in Jamaica; but finding neither fresh water or provisions, stood the following day into Porto "Santa Gloria," and run their worm-eaten vessels on shore, about cross-bow shot from the land, and close alongside each other; then shored them up securely: and, as the water was almost up to the deck, they covered the vessels over from stem to stern, and lived upon deck.

:

The Indians came off in canoes to sell provisions; and the admiral, that there might not be any disputes, appointed two persons to traffic with them, who were every evening to divide among the men what had been gained, because there were no other provisions on board. To prevent the possibility of giving offence to the natives, upon whose supplies they were thus obliged to depend, the admiral ordered that nobody should go on shore without leave. Ten canoes were purchased from the Indians for the service of the vessels and it was determined upon, as the only way of getting off the island, that intelligence of their situation should be sent to Ovando, and to Alonso Sanchez de Carvajal, Columbus's agent, and to procure a vessel to take them away. This was a difficult undertaking, as the messengers had to cross from Jamaica to Española, in an open canoe. Diego Mendez de Segura and Bartolome Fiesco Ginoves were chosen for this service: each took six Spaniards and ten Indians in the canoe with him. The admiral ordered Diego Mendez, after his landing in Española, to proceed to Castile with dispatches for the King, and with his journal of the voyage. Bartolomew Fiesco was ordered to return to Jamaica, to report how Diego Mendez got on.

In this dispatch, the admiral gave their Majesties an account of his voyage-of the misfortunes and dangers which he had suffered -of the new lands which he had discovered-and of the rich mines of Veragua; repeating the services which he had performed in the discovery of the New World, and the sufferings he had endured in it; he lamented the imprisonment of himself and his brothers, the loss of his property, and the disgrace of being deprived of the honours and state gained by such services, as no man had ever rendered to any King before. He implored the restitution of his honours, satisfaction for his wrongs, and the punishment of those who unjustly had been his enemies. He invoked heaven and earth, and all who possessed charity, virtue, or justice, to pity him; he declared,

Herrera, 1. 6. 3.

that after twenty years of most dangerous service, he had not a shed to house himself, and was obliged to go to an inn to eat and to sleep. He was infirm and full of gout; and if at that time he was to die, it would be without the Holy Sacraments. He affirmed that he had not made that voyage to gain honours or riches, but to serve their Majesties, and supplicated permission to go from Spain to Rome, and on other pilgrimages. He wrote to the governor at Española also, informing him of his necessitous situation, recommending his messengers, and begging him to advise and favour them, that at his own expense a vessel might be sent for him.

July 7th, the canoes set off; the Spaniards carrying their provisions, swords, and shields, the Indians their calabashes of water, axi, and cazabi, as much as the canoes would hold, which was but little. The adelantado, with a party of soldiers, accompanied the canoes to the end of the island, where they waited some days for calm weather; and then, taking leave of the adelantado, and commending themselves to God, they set off in a calm night; the Indians rowing, and bathing occasionally, to refresh themselves. At night-fall they lost sight of the land.

The next day the whole were very tired; but the two captains encouraged them by their example, rowing occasionally. At noon, the heat of the sun, and the fatigue of rowing, had quite exhausted the Indians, who had drank all their water. The Spaniards supplied them occasionally with water, and thus supported them until the cool of the evening. Their greatest fear, after rowing one night and two days, was, that they had mistaken their course, which was for the island of Nevasa, where they expected to have arrived before that night. One of the Indians died of thirst, others were dismayed, and the most vigorous of them were quite disheartened, expecting death every moment. But it pleased God to console them. Diego Mendez saw the moon set behind the island; the land covering half the moon, as though it was eclipsed. But for its setting in that direction, they could not have seen the land. The Indians recovered their spirits at the joyful sight, pulled lustily, and they landed to refresh themselves. Some of the Indians died from drinking to excess, and others were very ill. They remained until evening upon the island, catching shell-fish. They made a fire, with the hope that it would be seen at Cape "St. Miguel," now called Tiburon. At sun-set they embarked again, and by daylight of the fourth day, landed in Española.

After they had rested two days, Bartolomew Fiesco wished to return, as the admiral had ordered; but neither Spaniards or Indians would go with him; they did not choose to undergo a repetition of such hardships, and therefore determined to remain in Española. Diego Mendez coasted in his canoe to Xaragua, where he found Ovando, who received Columbus's dispatch with expressions of satisfaction; but doubting the admiral's sincerity, he