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exchange for any trifle without saying it is little; and I believe they would do the same with gold and spices if they had any. I saw a fine house, not very large, and with two doors, as all the rest have. On entering, I saw a marvellous work, there being rooms made in a peculiar way, that I scarcely know how to describe it. Shells and other things were fastened to the ceiling. I thought it was a temple, and I called them and asked, by signs, whether prayers were offered up there. They said that they were not, and one of them climbed up and offered me all the things that were there, of which I took some." Tuesday, 4th of December.- The Admiral made sail with little wind, and left that port, which he called Puerto Santo. After going two leagues, he saw the great river* of which he spoke yesterday. Passing along the land, and beating to windward on S.E. and W.N.W. courses, they reached Cabo Lindo,† which is E.S.E. 5 leagues from Cabo del Monte. A league and a half from Cabo del Monte there is an important but rather narrow river, which seemed to have a good entrance, and to be deep. Three-quarters of a league further on, the Admiral saw another very large river, and he thought it must have its source at a great distance. It had a hundred paces at its mouth, and no bar, with a depth of 8 fathoms. The Admiral sent the boat in, to take soundings, and they found the water fresh until it enters the sea.

This river had great volume, and must have a large population on its banks. Beyond Cabo Lindo there is a great bay, which would be open for navigation to E.N.E. and S.E. and S.S.W.

Wednesday, 5th of December. All this night they were beating to windward off Cape Lindo, to reach the land to the east, and at sunrise the Admiral sighted another cape, two and a half leagues to the east. Having passed it, he saw that the land trended S. and S.W., and presently saw a fine high cape in that direction, 7 leagues distant.§ He would have wished to go there, but his object was to reach the island of Babeque, which, according to the Indians, bore N.E.; so he gave up the intention. He could not go to Babeque either,

Rio Boma.- N.

† Punta del Fraile.-N.

Punta de los Azules.-N.

The eastern end of Cuba, called Punta del Maici.-N. Las Casas says that Punta del Maici was not the extreme point. It was the point named by the Admiral "Cabo de Cuba." He must be correct, for he had the chart drawn by the Admiral himself, in his possession. The Admiral named the extreme east point of Cuba "Alpha et Omega"; and Las Casas says that in his time it had the native name of "Punta de Bayatiquiri."

because the wind was N.E.* Looking to the S.E., he saw land, which was a very large island, according to the information of the Indians, well peopled, and called by them Bohio,† The Admiral says that the inhabitants of Cuba, or Juana,‡ and of all the other islands, are much afraid of the inhabitants of Bohio, because they say that they eat people. The Indians relate other things, by signs, which are very wonderful; but the Admiral did not believe them. He only inferred that those of Bohio must have more cleverness and cunning to be able to capture the others, who, however, are very poor-spirited. The wind veered from N.E. to North, so the Admiral determined to leave Cuba, or Juana, which, up to this time, he had supposed to be the mainland, on account of its size, having coasted along it for 120 leagues. §

COLUMBUS ON THE SOUTH COAST OF CUBA.

From Irving's Account of the Second Voyage, 1494.

Animated by one of the pleasing illusions of his ardent imagination, Columbus pursued his voyage, with a prosperous breeze, along the supposed continent of Asia. He was now opposite to that part of the southern side of Cuba where, for nearly thirty-five leagues, the navigation is unembarrassed by banks and islands. To his left was the broad and open sea, whose dark blue color gave token of ample depth; to his right extended the richly wooded province of Ornofay, gradually sweeping up into a range of interior mountains; the verdant coast watered by innumerable streams, and studded with Indian villages. The appearance of the ships spread wonder and joy along the seaboard. The natives hailed with acclamations the arrival on their shores of these wonderful beings, whose fame had circulated more or less throughout the island, and who brought with them the blessings of the skies. They came off swimming, or in their canoes, to offer the fruits and

* Babeque is a name that does not occur again. Probably its use by the Admiral arose from some word that had been misunderstood.

† Hayti, or Española. The name Bohio is a mistake (Las Casas).

The Admiral gave the name of Juana to Cuba, in honour of Prince Juan, only son of Ferdinand and Isabella.

§"I found it so large that I thought it must be the mainland the province of Cathay" (Letter to Santangel). Further on he says: "I learnt from Indians whom I seized, that their land was certainly an island" (Ibid.). But he remained in doubt.

productions of the land, and regarded the white men almost with adoration. After the usual evening shower, when the breeze blew from the shore, and brought off the sweetness of the land, it bore with it also the distant songs of the natives, and the sound of their rude music, as they were probably celebrating, with their national chants and dances, the arrival of the white men. So delightful were these spicy odors and cheerful sounds to Columbus, who was at present open to all pleasurable influences, that he declared the night passed away as a single hour. . . .

The information derived from these people concerning the coast to the westward was entirely vague. They said that it continued for at least twenty days' journey, but whether it terminated there they did not know. . . .

For several days Columbus continued exploring this perplexed and lonely coast. . . . As he proceeded, however, he found that the coast took a general bend to the south-west. This accorded precisely with the descriptions given by Marco Polo of the remote coast of Asia. He now became fully assured that he was on that part of the Asiatic continent which lies beyond the boundaries of the old world, as laid down by Ptolemy. He had but to continue on, to arrive before long to where this range of coast towards the south-west terminated in the Aurea Chersonesus of the ancients.

The ardent imagination of Columbus was always sallying in the advance, and suggesting some splendid track of enterprise. Combining his present conjectures as to his situation with the imperfect lights of geography, he conceived a triumphant route for his return to Spain. Doubling the Aurea Chersonesus, he should emerge into the seas frequented by the ancients, and bordered by the luxurious nations of the east. Stretching across the gulf of the Ganges, he might pass by Trapoban, and, continuing on to the straits of Babelmandel, arrive on the shores of the Red Sea. From thence he might make his way by land to Jerusalem, take shipping at Joppa, and traverse the Mediterranean to Spain. Or should the route from Ethiopia to Jerusalem be deemed too perilous from savage and warlike tribes, or should he not choose to separate from his vessels, he might sail round the whole coast of Africa, pass triumphantly by the Portuguese, in their midway groping along the shores of Guinea, and, after having thus circumnavigated the globe, furl his adventurous sails at the pillars of Hercules, the ne plus

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ultra of the ancient world! Such was the soaring meditation of Columbus, as recorded by one of his intimate associates.

"The Journal of Columbus," says Mr. Clements R. Markham, the president of the Hakluyt Society, in the introduction to his critical edition of the Journal of Columbus during his First Voyage, "is the most important document in the whole range of the history of geographical discovery, because it is a record of the enterprise which changed the whole face, not only of that history, but of the history of mankind." The Journal covered the whole period of the first voyage, from Aug. 3, 1492, when Columbus sailed from Palos, to March 15, 1493, when he arrived in Spain upon his return. There was a prologue, addressed to the king and queen, in which he wrote: "As part of my duty, I thought it well to write an account of all the voyage very punctually, noting from day to day all that I should do and see and that should happen. I resolved to describe each night what passed in the day, and to know each day how I navigated." The Journal was duly forwarded to Ferdinand and Isabella; but it is now lost. It was used by Ferdinand Columbus in his Life of Columbus; and his version is in places more full than that of Las Casas, appearing to be copied word for word. Las Casas had access to the Journal when he wrote his history, and gives a very full abstract, which was printed by Navarrete in 1825. The prologue, or covering letter to Ferdinand and Isabella, is given in full. The rest is an abstract of the entries of each day; but there are long and frequent quotations, word for word, which are shown by the phrases, "The Admiral says," or "These are the Admiral's words."

"It must be remembered," says Markham, "that the letter of Toscanelli was his guide, and that the gold, pearls, and spices were the marks by which he was to know the provinces of the great Kaan, so that he was bound to make constant inquiries for these commodities. This search, however, only occupied part of his thoughts. Nothing seems to escape his observation. The feature which comes out most prominently is his enthusiastic admiration of scenery and of the natural beauties of the strange land. The Journal is a mirror of the man. It shows his failings and his virtues. It records his lofty aims, his unswerving loyalty, his deep religious feeling, his kindliness and gratitude. It impresses us with his knowledge and genius as a leader, with his watchful care of his people, and with the richness of his imagination. Few will read the Journal without a feeling of admiration for the marvellous ability and simple faith of the great genius whose mission it was to reveal the mighty secret of the ages,"

It was on the 12th of October, 1492, that Columbus landed on San Salvador. He continued to cruise among the Bahamas for a fortnight, hearing from the natives about a great and wonderful island to the south, which they called Cuba, and which he believed must be the Cipango (Japan) described by Marco Polo. "On the spheres [the globe of Martin Behaim, made in 1492] I saw, and on the delineations of the map of the world [the map of Toscanelli], Cipango is in this region." On Saturday evening, October 27, Cuba was sighted; and Columbus spent nearly six

weeks in exploring the north-eastern coast, sailing from the eastern point for Hayti, December 6. The portion of his Journal which gives the account of the discovery and exploration of the historic and beautiful island, which has now come into such close relations with the United States, is given in the present leaflet. In these pages we see Cuba through the first European eyes to which it was revealed.

The best edition of the Journal of Columbus is that prepared by Markham, and published by the Hukluyt Society. It is from this that the present leaflet is taken. The translation is from the text of Navarrete. An earlier translation by Samuel Kettell was published in Boston in 1827. In the present leaflet the foot-notes marked N. are by Navarrete: the others are by Markham.

On his second voyage, Columbus touched Cuba again, exploring the southern coast for a great distance, and becoming convinced at last that it was the mainland of Asia. The interesting accounts of this exploration are well summarized by Irving in his Life of Columbus; and a brief selection from this summary is given in the present leaflet. Irving here follows Bernaldez. Andrez Bernaldez, generally known by the title of the Cura de los Palacios, was a friend of Columbus, who in 1496 left many of his manuscripts with him, which the curate made use of in an account of the voyages of Columbus. This account gives the most accurate description of the Admiral's sailing along the southern side of Cuba, on the second voyage, in 1494.

In the series of Old South Leaflets there have already been printed three valuable Columbus leaflets: The Discovery of America, from the Life of Columbus by his son Ferdinand Columbus (No. 29); Columbus's Letter to Gabriel Sanchez, describing the first voyage and discovery (No. 33); and Columbus's Memorial to Ferdinand and Ísabella, sent from the new "city" of Isabella in Hayti in 1494.

PUBLISHED BY

THE DIRECTORS OF THE OLD SOUTH WORK,

Old South Meeting-house, Boston, Mass.

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