290 THE SEA. 



canoes ranged in size from such as were only capable of holding one person to those 

 built for forty or more men, and were always hollowed in one piece, as among the 

 northern Indians of British Columbia to-day, where canoes are to be seen which 

 will carry fifty to sixty persons and two or three masts with sails. They had very 

 little to offer in exchange for the toys and trinkets which had been provided for use 

 on the expedition, but the avarice of the discoverers was soon excited by the sight of 

 small ornaments of gold among them, with which they parted as readily as with 

 anything else. Gold, in enterprises of discovery, being a royal monopoly, Columbus 

 forbade any traffic in it, except by express permission. Parrots were a prime article of 

 exchange among them, and cotton yarn. If they saw any trifle on board that struck 

 their fancy they were as likely to jump into the sea with it as to offer anything for 

 it, and, on the other hand, the Spaniards, after the manner of explorers, did not 

 hesitate to accept their valuables in exchange for the merest trifles. The Indians would 

 give twenty-five or so pounds of cotton for three Portuguese brass coins not worth 

 a farthing. Enough; the story of their dealings is that of all times. It is scarcely 

 more than twelve years since the writer saw the same kind of thing going on in 

 Northern Alaska among unsophisticated natives. And, after all, " value " is a somewhat 

 indefinite term. The luxuries of some climes are the drugs of others. The poor people 

 met by Columbus highly valued a piece of broken glass or earthenware, because unknown 

 to them, and because the possession of a fragment bestowed a proud distinction. Cannot 

 we see the same kind of thing among the most civilised? The rare aud scarce must 

 of necessity be always the most valuable. 



Columbus, continuing his voyage, discovered several minor islands. Everywhere he 

 inquired for gold, and everywhere he was informed that it came from the south. He 

 began to hear of an island in that direction named Cuba, which, from the mistaken 

 ideas of geography current at the time, he took for Marco Polo's famed gold island 

 of Cipango. He determined to proceed there, and eventually seek the mainland of India, 

 which must be within a few days' sail, and then he would deliver the letters of their 

 Castilian Majesties to the Great Khan, and return triumphantly to Spain. Filled with 

 this magnificent scheme, he set sail. We need not say that he reached neither Cipango, 

 India, nor the Khan ; but he did discover Cuba, that beautiful island of the Caribbean Sea 

 long dear to the heart of every consumer of the fragrant weed. Every smoker of a good 

 havana should think of Columbus with deepest gratitude. The Spaniards were struck with 

 astonishment at seeing the natives roll up certain dried herbs, light up one end, and 

 putting the other in their mouth, exhale smoke. Cigars as fresh as these are often smoked 

 in Cuba to this day. Columbus extols the beauty of the verdure and scenery of the island, 

 and states, as a proof of the gigantic nature of some of their trees, that he saw a canoe 

 formed from one trunk capable of carrying 150 people. 



While Columbus, on leaving the eastern end of Cuba, was somewhat undetermined 

 which course to take, he descried land to the south-east, gradually increasing to the view, 

 and giving promise of an island of large extent. The Indians on beholding it called out 

 " Bohio " with obvious signs of terror, and implored him not to go near it, as the inhabitants 

 were one-eyed cannibals, fierce and cruel. He, however, sailed closer and closer, till the 



