228 JOURNAL OF GALLEGO. 



leeward of the port, which we tried in vain to reach ; and since we 

 kept falling to leeward, I was compelled to take the brigantine and 

 go in search of another anchorage, with the understanding that 

 when I had found one, I should signal to the ships to follow the 

 brigantine. The signal being made, I guided the ships to the 

 brigantine, which lay outside a point of reefs that formed the 

 harbour ; and so we entered it. 



" It is a good and secure anchorage ; and there is a town there 

 which has eighty houses. The General landed with the captains 

 and the soldiers to obtain provisions and to take possession of 

 the island, in the name of His Majestj^ which we did without 

 opposition, for the Indians received us peacefully. The same 

 evening we landed, and went in marching order to see the 

 town, but without doing them any injury ; and we returned to 

 the ships with the agreement that on the following morning 

 we should revisit the town to get provisions, of which we were 

 in need. 



'•' On the morning of the 1st of July, we all landed with the 

 determination to obtain provisions for our present necessities ; and 

 the General entered one part of the town with the greater number 

 of our people, whilst Pedro Sarmiento with twelve soldiers entered 

 another part. When the Indians saw our determination, and that 

 we entered the town in two places, they began to arouse them- 

 selves and to take up their weapons, making signs that we should 

 embark. They held a consultation in a small hollow, where Pedro 

 Sarmiento and his party entered. One of the headmen was seen 

 to make incantations and invocations to the devil, which caused 

 real terror, because it seemed as though his body was possessed of 

 a devil. There were two other -Indians, who, whilst making great 

 contortions with their faces and violently shaking themselves, 

 scraped up the sand with their feet and hands and threw it into the 

 air. They then made towards the boats with loud shouting and 

 yells of rage, and tossed the water in the air. At this, our 

 people sounded the trumpets to assemble where the General was ; 

 for there were all the Indjans with their bows and arrows and darts 

 aiid clubs, which are the weapons with which they fight. They 

 came very close to us, bending their bows and bidding us to depart. 

 It became necessary for us to fire ; and accordingly some were 

 killed and others were wounded. Thereupon they fled and 

 abandoned the town, in which there was a great quantity of panaes 



