SUPPOSED WIIITE RACES. 189 



effort. The ground was covered with wounded birds 

 struggling in death. At our arrival a profound calm pre- 

 vailed in this secluded spot ; now, everything seemed to 

 say : Man has passed this way. 



The sky was veiled with reddish vapours, which however 

 dispersed in the direction of south-west ; we hoped, but in 

 vain, to discern the heights of the island of Pinos. Those 

 spots have a charm in which most parts of the New World are 

 wanting. They are associated with recollections of the 

 greatest names of the Spanish monarchy those of Christo- 

 pher Columbus and of Hernan Cortez. It was on the 

 southern coast of the island of Cuba, between the bay of 

 Xagua and the island of Pinos, that the great Spanish Admi- 

 ral, in his second voyage, saw, with astonishment, "that 

 mysterious king who spoke to his subjects only by signs, and 

 that group of men who wore long white tunics, like the 

 the monks of La Merced, whilst the rest of the people were 

 naked." " Columbus in his fourth voyage found in the 

 Jardinillos, great boats filled with Mexican Indians, and 

 laden with the rich productions and merchandise of 

 Yucatan." Misled by his ardent imagination, he thought 

 he had heard from those navigators, " that they came from 

 a country where the men were mounted on horses,* and 



* Compare the Lettera rarissima di Christoforo Colombo, di 7 di Julio, 

 1503; with the letter of Herrera, dated Dec. 1. Nothing can be more 

 touching and pathetic than the expression of melancholy which prevails in 

 the letter of Columbus, written at Jamaica, and addressed to King Fer- 

 dinand and Queen Isabella. I recommend to the notice of those who 

 wish to understand the character of that extraordinary man, the recital of 

 the nocturnal vision, in which he imagined that he heard a celestial voice, 

 in the midst of a tempest, encouraging him by these words : " Iddio 

 maravigliosamente fece sonar tuo nome nella terra. Le Indie que sono 

 pa te del mondo cosi ricca, te le ha date per tue; tu le hai repartite dove 

 ti e piaciuto, e ti dette potenzia per farlo. Delli ligamenti del mare 

 Uceano che erano serrati con catene cosi forte, ti dono le chiave," &o. 

 fGod marvellously makes thy name resound throughout the world. The 

 Indies, which are so rich a portion of the world, he gives to thee for 

 thyself; thou mayest distribute them in the way thou pleasest, and God 

 gives thee power to do so. Of the shores of the Atlantic, which were 

 closed by such strong chains, he gives thee the key.] This fragment has 

 been handed down to us only in an ancient Italian tradition ; for the 

 Spanish original mentioned in the Biblioteca Nautica of Don Antonio 

 Leon has not hitherto been found. I may add a few more lines, charao 



