From
The Log of Christopher Columbus.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1.
He did not start as the wind was still contrary and as it rained
hard. He placed a large cross at the entrance of that harbour which
I believe he called the Puerto Santo, in some solid rocks. The
point is the one on the south-eastern side at the entrance to the
harbour and whoever is obliged to enter this harbour must approach
nearer to the point on the north-west than to the other on the
south-east. Although at the foot of both points, next to the rock,
there are twelve fathoms of water and it is very clear, yet at the
entrance to the harbour, off the south-east point there is a shoal
which shows above the surface of the water, which is far enough
distant from the point so that one can pass between them if
necessary, because at the foot of the shoal and of the cape the
water is all twelve or fifteen fathoms deep, and at the entrance the
prow must be turned to the south-west.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2.
The wind was still contrary and he could not start. He says that
every night there is a land breeze and that all the ships that may
come there need have no fear of all the tempests in the world
because they cannot reach the ships inside, on account of a shoal
which is at the entrance to the harbour, etc. In the mouth of that
river he says a ship's boy found certain stones which appeared to
contain gold, and he brought them to show to the Sovereigns. He
says that at a distance of a lombard shot from that place there are
large rivers.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 3.
As the wind continued contrary he did not start from that harbour
and he decided to go and see a very beautiful cape a quarter of a
league from the harbour in the direction of the south-east: he went
with the boats and some armed people: at the foot of the cape there
was the mouth of a good river. He turned his prow to the south-east
in order to enter and it was a hundred paces in width: it was a
fathom deep at the entrance or in the mouth; but inside it was
twelve fathoms, or five, and four, and two, and would contain as
many ships as there are in Spain. Passing a branch of that river he
went to the south-east and found a small bay or inlet in which he
saw five very large rafts which the Indians call canoes, like
fustas, very beautiful, and carved so that he says it was a pleasure
to see them and at the foot of the mountain he saw that the land was
all cultivated. They were under some very thick trees and in going
along a path which led to them, they came across a ship yard very
well arranged and covered so that neither the sun nor the water
could do injury, and in it there was another canoe made of wood like
the rest, like a fusta with seventeen benches for the rowers: it was
a pleasure to see how it was constructed and its beauty. He
ascended a mountain and then he found it all level and sowed with
many products of the land and gourds, and it was delightful to see
it: and in the midst of it there was a large village. He came
suddenly upon the people of the village and as they saw the
Spaniards they started to flee. The Indian whom the Spaniards had
with them reassured them saying that they must not be afraid as they
were good people. The Admiral caused them to be given hawks' bells
and rings of brass and little green and yellow glass beads, with
which they were much pleased. He saw that they had no gold nor any
other precious thing and that it was sufficient to leave them in
security and that all the surrounding territory was populated and
that at the others fled through fear: and the Admiral assures the
Sovereigns that ten men cause ten thousand Indians to flee. They
are such cowards and so fearful that they carry no arms except
spears, and on the end of the spears they have a small sharp stick
which is hardened. He decided to return. He says that he easily
took all the spears away from them, trading for them so that they
gave away all they had. Having returned to the place where he had
left the boats he sent certain Christians to the place where he had
ascended, because it appeared to him that he had seen a large
apiary. Before these people whom he had sent, returned, many
Indians gathered and came to the boats where the Admiral had already
united all his people. One of them went forward into the water near
to the stern of the boat, and made a long speech which the Admiral
did not understand, except that the other Indians from time to time
raised their hands to heaven and shouted loudly. The Admiral
thought they were re-assuring him and that his coming pleased them;
but he saw the Indian he was taking with him change countenance and
become yellow like wax and tremble greatly, saying by signs that the
Admiral must go away out of the river as the Indians wished to kill
them: and he approached a Christian who had a loaded cross-bow and
showed it to the Indians and the Admiral understood that he said to
them that it would kill them all because that cross-bow went a long
ways and killed. He also took a sword and drew it from the
scabbard, showing it to them and saying the same thing and when they
heard that, they all commenced to flee, leaving the said Indian
still trembling through cowardice and lack of courage, and he was a
strong man and of good stature. The Admiral would not go out of the
river but rather made them row inland toward the place where the
Indians were, who were in great number, all stained with red and
naked as their mothers gave them birth and some of them had feathers
upon their heads and other plumes, and they all had handfuls of
spears. "I approached them and gave them some mouthfuls of bread
and asked them for their spears and I gave them for the spears, to
some a small hawk's bell, to others a cheap little brass ring, and
to others some worthless little beads: so that they all became
pacified and they all came to the boats and gave us whatever they
had for whatever was given them. The sailors had killed a tortoise
and the pieces of the shell lay in the boat and the boys gave the
Indians a piece as large as the finger nail, and the Indians gave
them a handful of spears. They are people like the others I have
found (says the Admiral) and have the same belief, and they believe
that we came from heaven and whatever they have they without saying
that it is little then give for whatever may be given them, and I
believe that they would do the same with spices and gold if they had
them. I saw a beautiful house not very large and having two doors,
as they are all built so, and I entered it and saw a wonderful
arrangement like chambers constructed in a certain manner which I do
not know how to describe, with shells and other things fastened to
the ceiling. And I thought it was a temple, and I called them and
asked by signs if they prayed in it, and they said no, and one of
them went up overhead and gave me all they had there, and I took
some of it."
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4.
He made sail with a light wind arid went out of that port which he
named Puerto Santo: at a distance of two leagues he saw a good
river of which he spoke yesterday. He went along the coast and all
the land beyond the said cape extended east-south-east and
west-north-west as far as Cabo Lindo which is to the east of the
Cabo del Monte quarter south-east, and it is five leagues from one
to the other. A league and a half from the Cabo del Monte there is
another large river, somewhat crooked, and it appeared to have a
good entrance and to be very deep; and three-quarters of a league
from there he saw another very large river and it must flow from a
long distance. It was a good one hundred paces wide at the mouth
and there was no shoal in it and it was eight fathoms deep and had a
good entrance, because he sent a boat to see it and sound it: and
the water is fresh at some distance out into the sea and it is one
of the richest he has found and must have large villages. Beyond
Cabo Lindo there is a large bay which extends some distance to the
east-north-east and south-east and south-south-west.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5.
During all this night he beat about off Cabo Lindo, where he was at
nightfall, in order to see the country which extended to the east
and at sunrise he saw another cape two leagues and a half to the
east: having passed that he saw that the coast turned to the south
and inclined to the south-west and then saw a very high and
beautiful cape in the said course and it was distant seven leagues
from the other: He would have liked to go there had it not been
that he was desirous of going to the island of Babeque which lay to
the north-east according to what the Indians he was taking with him
said, so he left it. Neither could he go to Babeque because the
wind which was prevailing was north-east. While going along in this
manner he looked to the south-east and saw land I and it was a very
large island of which he says he had already been told by the
Indians and that they called it Bohio and it was inhabited. He says
that the inhabitants of Cuba or Juana and of all the other islands
are very much afraid of these people, because he says that they eat
men. The said Indians told him other very wonderful things by
signs: but the Admiral does not say that he believed them, only that
the natives of that island of Bohio must be more astute and
intelligent in order to capture the others, as they were very much
lacking in courage. Therefore as the wind was north-east and was
becoming north, he determined to leave Cuba or Juana, which up to
that time he had considered to be the continental land on account of
its size as he had gone fully one hundred and twenty leagues on one
of its coasts, and he started to the south-east quarter east;
although the land which he had seen receded to the south-east this
insured protection, because the wind always changed around from
north to north-east and from there to the east and south-east. The
wind changed a great deal and he carried all his sails, the sea was
calm and the current helped him so that from morning until one
o'clock he made eight miles an and that was not quite six hours,
because they say there that the nights are about fifteen hours;
afterwards he went ten miles an hour: and in this manner he went
until sunset eighty-eight miles, which are twenty-two leagues all to
the south-east. And as it was getting towards night, the Admiral
ordered the caravel Nina to go onward and see the harbour by
daylight, as she was a fast sailor: and on reaching the mouth of the
harbour which was like the bay of Cadiz and as it was already night,
the Nina sent her boat to sound the harbour which boat carried a
lighted candle: and before the Admiral reached the place where the
caravel was beating about and waiting for the boat to make signals
to enter the harbour, the light in the boat was extinguished. As
they saw no light the caravel ran out and made a light for the
Admiral to see and he having reached them, they told him what had
happened. While they were in this situation, the people in the boat
made another light. The caravel went to the boat and the Admiral
was not able to do so and remained all that night beating about.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6.
When dawn came he found himself four leagues from the harbour. He
named it Puerto Maria and he saw a beautiful cape to the south,
quarter south-west which he named Cabo del Estrella, and it
appeared to him that it was the last land of that island toward the
south, and that the Admiral was about twenty-eight miles distant
from it. Another country appeared to the east, like an island of no
great size, at a distance of about forty miles. Another very
beautiful cape of good shape lay to the east quarter south-east
which he named Cabo del Elefante, and it was fifty-four miles
distant from him. Another cape lay to the east-south-east which he
named Cabo de Cinquin, and it was about twenty-eight miles distant
from him. There was a large opening or arm of the sea which
appeared like a river to the south-east a little on the quarter of
the east and it was a matter of twenty miles distant from him. It
appeared to him that between the Cabo del Elefante and Cinquin there
was a very large channel and some of the sailors said it was a
division of the island: he named that the Isla de la Tortuga. That
great island appeared to be a very high land, not encircled by
mountains but level like beautiful fields and it appeared to be all
cultivated or a large part of it and the crops looked like wheat in
the month of May in the country of Cordova. They saw many fires
that night and by day much smoke like watch towers which appeared to
be to guard against some people with whom they might be at war. At
the coast of this land extends to the east. At the hour of vespers
they entered the said harbour and as it was the day of St. Nicholas
he named it Puerto de San Nicolao his honour, and at the entrance of
the harbour they wondered at its beauty and goodness. And although
he has praised the harbours of Cuba greatly, still without doubt he
says that this one is not inferior hut rather surpasses them and
none of them are similar to it. At the mouth and entrance it is a
league and a half wide and the prow is turned to the
south-south-east, although on account of the great width the prow
can be turned wherever desired. It extends in this manner to the
south-south-east two leagues: and at its entrance in the direction
of the south it forms something like a promontory and from there it
extends thus level as far as the cape where there is a very
beautiful beach and a field of trees of a thousand kinds and all
loaded with fruits which the Admiral believed to be spices and
nutmegs but as they were not ripe he did not recognise the kind: and
there was a river in the middle of the beach. The depth of this
harbour is wonderful as up to arriving at land for a length of
{lacuna} the lead did not touch the bottom at forty fathoms and
there is, up to this stretch of water, a depth of fifteen fathoms
and it is very clear, and so all the said harbour from each point up
to the distance of a pace from land, is fifteen fathoms deep and
clear. And in this manner all the water along the coast is very
deep and clear so that not a single shoal appears: and at the foot
of the land at about the distance of a boat's oar from it, it is
five fathoms in depth and beyond the space of the said harbour,
extending to the south-south-east, in which harbour a thousand
caracks could beat about, an inlet of the harbour extends to the
north-east a good half league inland, and always of the same width
as if it were measured with a cord. It is so situated that being in
that inlet which is twenty-five paces in width, the mouth of the
large entrance cannot be seen, so that this harbour is inclosed; and
the depth of this inlet from the beginning to the end is eleven
fathoms and it all has a sandy bottom and it is eight fathoms deep
up to where the vessels can touch land. All the harbour is very
breezy and desabahado shelterless and there are no trees around
it. All this island appears to have more rocks than any other which
has been found: the trees are smaller and many of them are the same
kind as those in Spain such as evergreen oaks and strawberry trees
and others, and the same thing is true in regard to the grasses.
The land is very high and all smooth and the breezes are very good,
and it has not been as cold anywhere as here, although it is not to
be considered as cold, but the Admiral called it so in comparison
with the other countries. Opposite that harbour there was a
beautiful plain and in the centre of it the aforesaid river: and in
that region, he says, there must be great numbers of people since
they saw the canoes in which so many of them navigate and some of
them as large as a "fusta" with fifteen benches for the rowers. All
the Indians fled when they saw the ships. Those Indians he was
taking with him from the small islands were so desirous of going to
their country, that they thought says the Admiral that after he
left this place he was to take them to their homes, and that already
they were suspicious because he did not take the route for their
homes. On this account he says that he did not believe what they
said nor did he understand them well nor did they understand him,
and he says they were in the greatest fear in the world of the
people of that island. So that if he had desired to talk with the
people of that island it would have been necessary for him to remain
there some days in that harbour, but he did not do it on account of
seeing so much land and as he was doubtful that the good weather
would continue. He hoped in the Lord that the Indians he was
carrying would know his language and he would know theirs, and then
he would return and would talk with this people, and that it would
please the Lord (he says) that he should find a good trade in gold
before he returned.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7.
At the passing of the quarter of dawn he made sail and started out
of that Puerto de San Nicolas and navigated with the wind south-west
two leagues to the north-east as far as a point which the Carenero
makes, and a small promontory lay to the south-east and the Cabe de
la Estrella to the south-west and from this the Admiral was
twenty-four miles distant. From there he navigated to the east
along the coast as far as Cabo Cinquin, a distance of about
forty-eight miles. It is true that twenty miles of this extended to
the east, quarter north-east and that coast is all a very high land
and the water of great depth; it is twenty and thirty fathoms up to
the edge of the land and at a distance of a lombard shot from land
the bottom cannot be readied. The Admiral proved all this on that
day along the coast, much to his pleasure, with the wind south-west.
The promontory above mentioned, he says, reaches within a lombard
shot of the Puerto de San Nicolas, and if it were cut off and made
an island, it would be about three or four miles around. All that
country was very high and did not have large trees but only
evergreen oaks and strawberry-trees the same he says, as in the land
of Castile. Before he reached the Cabo Cinquin and within two
leagues, he discovered a small opening like a cut in the mountain,
through which he discovered a very large valley and he saw that it
was all sown with barley and he thought that there must be a great
many people in that valley and on the borders of it there were large
and high mountains and when he reached the Cabo de Cinquin the Cabo
de la Tortuga lay to the north-east at a distance of about
thirty-two miles, and off this Cabo Cinquin at the distance of a
lombard shot is a rock in the sea which stands high up and which can
be seen very well. And the Admiral being off the said Cape the Cabo del Elefante lay to the east, quarter south-east and was at a
distance of about seventy miles and all the land was very high. And
at a distance of six leagues he saw a large bay and he saw in the
land within very large valleys and tracts of arable land and very
high mountains, all like those in Castile. And then at a distance
of eight miles he found a very deep river but very crooked, although
one carack could enter it very well and the mouth was free from
banks or shoals. And then at a distance of sixteen miles he found a
very wide harbour, and so deep that he did not find the bottom at
the entrance and only at three paces from the shore, where it was
fifteen fathoms and it extends inland a quarter of a league. And
although it was still very early being one o'clock after mid-day and
the wind was in the stern and very strong, still because the sky
looked as though it would rain very hard and it was very dark and
cloudy,--which if it is dangerous in a familiar country is much more
so when it is unfamiliar,--he decided to enter the harbour which he
named Puerto de la Concepcion, and went to land in a rather small
river which is at the end of the harbour, and which flows through
some plains and level tracts of arable land which were wonderful to
see on account of their beauty. He took nets to fish, and before he
reached land a mullet {lisa} like those in Spain, jumped into the
boat and until that time no fish had been seen like those in
Castile. The sailors fished and killed others, also soles and other
fish like those in Castile. He went a short distance along that
country which is all cultivated and he heard the nightingales sing
and other small birds like those of Castile. They saw five men, but
they would not wait and fled. He found myrtle and other trees and
grasses like those in Castile and the country and the mountains are
like Castile.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8.
There in that harbour it rained hard with the wind in the north and
very strong. The harbour is safe from all the winds except the
north wind although it cannot do any damage to vessels because there
is a great surf or undertow which does not allow the ship to work
upon the cables nor the water from the river {que no da lugar a que
la nas labore sobre las amarras ni el agua del rio}. After midnight
the wind shifted to the north-east and afterward to the east. This
harbour is well sheltered from these winds by the island of Tortuga
which is opposite it at a distance of thirty-six-miles.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9.
This day it rained and the weather was wintry the same as in Castile
in the month of October. No village had been seen except one very
beautiful house in the Puerto de S. Nicolas and which was
constructed better than those which had been seen in other places.
The island is very large and the Admiral says that it will not be
much to say that it measures two hundred leagues around {ne sera
mucho que boje doscientas leguas}. He has seen that it is all well
cultivated. He believed that all the villages must be at some
distance from the sea from which place they can see when he is
approaching, and so the inhabitants all fled and took with them all
they had and lighted signal fires as though they were war-like
people. This harbour is a thousand paces at the mouth which is a
quarter of a league. In it there is no bank or shoal but rather the
bottom can hardly be found until you go in to the shore of the sea
and inside it extends a thousand paces in length all clear and with
a sandy bottom, so that any ship whatever can anchor in it without
fear and enter without caution. At the head of the harbour there
are the mouths of two rivers which discharge a small quantity of
water. Opposite there are some of the most beautiful plains in the
world and which are almost like the lands of Castile only these are
better, and on this account he named the island Espanola.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10.
The wind blew hard from the north-east and caused the anchors to
drag half a cable's length at which the Admiral wondered, and he
thought it was because the anchors were near land and the wind blew
toward it. And having seen that the wind was contrary for him to go
where he desired, he sent six men well armed on land, with orders to
go two or three leagues inland to see if they could talk with
anyone. They went and returned not having found any people or
houses. They found nevertheless some huts and very wide roads, and
places where many fires had been made. They saw the best lands in
the world and they found many mastic trees and they brought some of
it and said that there was a great deal, but that now is not the
time to gather it because it does not now form into gum.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11.
He did not start on account of the wind which was still east and
north-east. In front of that harbour as has been said is the Isla
de la Tortuga and it appears like a large island and the coast
extends almost in the same direction as that of Espanola, and it may
be at the most, from one to the other, ten leagues: that is to say,
from the Cabo de Cinquin at the head of Tortuga, for then its coast
extends to the south. He says he would like to see that place
between these two islands in order to see the Isla Espanola, which
is the most beautiful thing in the world, and because according to
what the Indians he had with him said, one must go yonder to reach
the island of Babeque. These Indians said that it was a very large
island with very large mountains and rivers and valleys, and they
said that the island of Bohio was larger than Juana which they call
Cuba, and that it is not surrounded by water: and they appear to
give it to be understood as continental land which is here behind
this Espanola, and which they call Caritaba and say that it is of
infinite importance and they almost make it appear reasonable that
these countries may be harassed by astute people because the
inhabitants of all these islands live in great fear of the people of
Caniba, "and so I repeat as I have said at other times (he says)
that Caniba is no other than the people of the Great Khan who must
be very near here and have ships and come to capture these people,
and as the captives do not return they believe they have eaten them.
Each day we understand these Indians better and they understand us
better, although many times they may have understood one thing for
another (says the Admiral)." He sent people on land and they found
a great deal of mastic not coagulated, and he says the rains must do
this, and that in Xio they gather it in March and that in January
they could gather it in these countries as it is so temperate. They
caught many fish like those in Castile, dace, salmon, hake, doree,
pampano, lisas mullet, conger eels, shrimp, and they saw sardines.
They found a great deal of aloe.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12.
They did not start on this day on account of the aforesaid contrary
wind. He placed a large cross at the entrance of the harbour on the
western side, on a very slight elevation, "as a sign (he says) that
Your Highnesses hold the land for your own and principally as a sign
of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and in honour of Christianity." Having
placed the cross, three sailors started up the mountain to see the
trees and grasses and they heard a large crowd of people, all naked
like those they had seen, and they called to them and went after
them, but the Indians fled. "And finally they took a woman who
could go no farther because I (he says) had ordered them to take
some of the Indians in order to show them honour and cause them to
lose their fear and see if they had profitable things, as it
appeared it could not be otherwise on account of the beauty of the
country: and so they brought the woman, a very young and beautiful
girl, to the ship, and she talked with those Indians, because they
all had the same language." And the Admiral caused her to be
clothed and gave her glass beads and hawks' bells and brass rings,
and sent her to land again very honourably, according to his custom.
He sent some persons from the ship with her; and three of the
Indians he had with him, to talk with that people. The sailors who
went in the boat, when they took her to land, told the Admiral that
she did not wish to go out of the ship if she could not remain with
the other Indian women he had caused to be taken in the Puerto de
Mares de la Isla Juana of Cuba. All these Indians who came with
that Indian woman, he says, came in a canoe, which is their caravel
in which they navigate everywhere, and when they appeared at the
entrance of the harbour and they saw the ships they turned backward
and left the canoe yonder in some place, and went away on the road
to their village. The Indian woman showed the location of the
village. This woman wore a small piece of gold in her nose, which
was an indication that there was gold in that island.
Columbus's Log: December, 1492 - continued