COLUMBUS. 55 



received. "Wholly unacquainted with botany, (although 

 through the influence of Jewish and Arabian physicians 

 some superficial knowledge of plants had at that time 

 extended into Spain), the simple love of nature leads him 

 to discriminate truly between the many strange forms 

 presented to his view. He already distinguished in Cuba 

 seven or eight different kinds of palms " more beautiful and 

 loftier than date-trees," (variedades de palmas superiores a 

 las nuestras en su belleza y altura) ; he writes to his friend 

 Anghiera, that he has seen on the same plain palms and 

 pines, (palmeta and pineta), wonderfully grouped together; 

 he regards the vegetation presented to his view with a 

 glance so acute, that he was the first to observe that, on the 

 mountains of Cibao, there are pines whose fruits are not 

 fir cones, but berries like the olives of the Axarafe de 

 Sevilla ; and, to cite one more and very remarkable example, 

 Columbus, as I have already noticed ( 84 ), separated the 

 genus Podocarpus from the family of Abietinese. 



" The loveliness of this new land," says the discoverer, 

 " far surpasses that of the campina de Cordoba. The trees 

 are all bright with ever- verdant foliage, and perpetually laden 

 with fruits. The plants on the ground are tall and full of 

 blossoms. The breezes are mild like those of April in Castille ; 

 the nightingales sing more sweetly than I can describe. At 

 night other small birds sing sweetly, and I also hear 

 our grasshoppers and frogs. Once I came into a deeply 

 enclosed harbour, and saw high mountains which no human 

 eye had seen before, from which the lovely waters (lindas 

 aguas) streamed down. The mountain was covered with 

 firs, pines, and other trees of very various form, and adorned 

 with beautiful flowers. Ascending the river which poured 



