450 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 
“We had already been told by one of the Indians who, as inter- 
preters, were carried to Spain and brought back with us, and who 
had conversed on board with the natives that came in their canoe 
to talk to the admiral, that all the Christians left on that island 
had been killed, but we did not believe it. Caonabd and Mayreni 
with their warriors had made an attack upon them, and burnt down 
the buildings. 
“We went to the place where Guacamari was. When we arrived 
there, we found him stretched upon his bed, which was made of 
cotton net-work, and according to their custom, suspended.*. He 
did not arise, but from his bed made the best gesture of courtesy 
of which he was capable. He showed much feeling, and began by 
explaining to the best of his persuasive power how the Christians 
had died of disease, others had gone to the province where Caonabo 
was king, in search of gold mines, and had been killed there, and 
the rest had been attacked and slain in their own houses. Judging 
by the condition in which the dead bodies were found, I think it 
was not yet two months since this calamity had occurred. 
“ Guacamari then made a present of eight marks and a half of 
gold to the admiral,’ five or six hundred pieces of precious stones 
of different colors,® and a cap ornamented with similar stones, which 
I think the Indians must value very highly because that cap was 
delivered with a great deal of reverence.* 
“Tt appears to me that these people put more value upon copper 
than gold. They beat the gold they find into very thin plates, in 
order to make masks of it, and then set it in a cement which they 
prepare for that purpose. Other ornaments they also make of the 
gold, which they wear on the head and hanging from their ears and 
nostrils,°> and for this object it is equally required that the gold 
should be in the shape of a thin plate. But it is not the costliness 
This is the first mention in history of a hammock, called hamaca by those 
Indians, and still so named in Spanish. 
2The Spanish mark, as a measure for gold and silver money, weighed eight 
Spanish ounces, equivalent to two-thirds of a Troy pound, and in money value 
was equal to 50 castellanos, or pesos as this standard Spanish coin is now 
called. The 50 castellanos in bullion value to-day would be worth about $150 
in U. S. currency. 
3The diamond was not included in these precious stones, for it has never 
been found in the Antilles, nor the emerald, ruby, or sapphire. 
4These Indians called this covering for the head, chuco, and it was worn 
in battle by the caciques like a helmet. 
5These gold ornaments hanging from the ears or nostrils were called 
by the Lucayans, chaquina, and when used around the neck or the wrist 
like a necklace or bracelet, chaquira. 
; 
: 
— 
