four days after his arrival, that Columbus set out with the 

 two ships for an Indian village on the far side of Cabo 

 Caribata, where lived the Indian king, Guacanagari. For 

 the four preceding days the Spaniards had been joined 

 by Guacanagari's people in revehy and feasting. It was 

 now the day before Christmas, and the white men planned 

 to celebrate the holiday ashore at the Indian settlement. 



"The Admiral felt secure from banks and rocks," ac- 

 cording to the Journal, "because on the Sunday, when he 

 sent the boats to that king, they had passed a full three 

 leagues and a half to the east of the said Punta Santa, and 

 the sailors had seen all the coast and the shoals that there 

 are from the said Punta Santa to the east southeast for a 

 full three leagues, and they had found where it was pos- 

 sible to pass; he had not done this during the whole voy- 

 age." 



Before sunrise, the two ships weighed anchor with a 

 land breeze. Although the prevailing winds along this 

 north coast blow mainly from the northeast and east, mak- 

 ing it most difficult for an eastbound sailing ship to make 

 any headway, there is a short period each day in the early 

 morning when the breeze blows from the land. It is at this 

 time, even today, that sailing ships leave port to get clear 

 of the shore. 



So it was that early morning as Santa Maria and Niiia 

 maneuvered to clear the reefs and shoals at the mouth of 

 Acul bay. Then, finding themselves with litde wind, and 

 that coming from the east, it took them the whole day and 

 part of the night to reach the northeast end of Cap Haitien, 

 which Columbus called Punta Santa. 



As Sea Diver skirted the rocky hillsides of Cap Haitien, 

 we could pick out ahead of us Punta Santa, now Picolet 

 point. Crumbling stone fortifications from French colonial 

 days dotted the steeps; and as we came abreast of the point 

 itself, a lighthouse appeared halfway up the slope, look- 



166 Sea Diver 



