54- 



Abundance of Pearl.' 



lft> 



Ctlumlws is 



«Unga . 



great 



KjAianus Xivunts of- t 

 pofes Cttumbus. 



Strange Iniinnsl 



A M E%,ISJ. Chap. III. 



ftill looking about continually with great admiration on the Ships : whereup- 

 on he commanded them to beat their Drums, and found their Trumpets, that 

 they might by that means entice them aboard • but they rather taking it as a 

 fignofWar, made ohemfelves ready for refiftance : mean wjiile the Spaniards 

 overtook the Indian Boat, into which they threw a Hat, and other trifles j the 

 Iflanders amaz'd thereat, made figns to them to row afhore y but foon after 

 they fled. 



Qolmnbus proceeding on his Journey came to Taria, where he found a Fifli* 

 crs Pink loaden with Oyftcrs * which opening and taking out the Meat, were 

 found full of Pearls, which becaufe of their abundance were not regarded 

 there - y for a broken Difh and a rufty Knife, th ^Spaniards had four long Strings 

 of Pearl, 



From thence anchoring in the River of Cumana, feveral naked Men came 

 aboard, adorn'd with Golden Armlets, and Strings of Pearl, Thefe inform'd 

 him, that they gather'd their Gold from the Mountains and Rivers, and caught 

 their Pearl-oyfters in the adjacent Seas. Some of the Spaniards were nobly 

 entertained by the King and his Son, who leading them into their Palace, pla- 

 ced them on Benches of Ebony-wood, curioufly wrought, and on a fudden fe- 

 veral Servants came in with variety of Dainties, and well=tafted Wine. But 

 becaufe Provifions grew fcarce amongftthe Sea-men, and their Meat tainted, 

 Columbus thought it convenient to leave the PearUtrade till fome better opportu* 

 nity. Then fetting forward,the farther he went,the fhallower he found the Sea, 

 infomuch that his Ship fcarce had Water enough to fwim. This inconveni- 

 ence was followed by a fecondjfor the Sea being full of Weeds and Grafs,fcarce 

 fufFer'd any Paflage. A River thirty Yards deep, and twenty Leagues broad, 

 came rufhing out betwixt two Shores into this Sea with fuch force, that the 

 Waves went high like Mountains, which made Columbus judge himfelf in the 

 greatefl danger imaginable, and withall Tack about ; fo that he came on the 

 eight and twentieth of Augufi Anno 1408. to an Anchor before Hijpaniola, where 

 all things were ftill in a lad confufion, as we before related. 



^oldanus Ximenes refused to follow Chrijlopber Columbus's, order and writ Let- 

 ters to the King of Spain,in which he exceedingly afperfed both the Admiral Co- 

 lumbus and his Br other - y who were not backward in giving an account quite 

 contrary by their Letters, of the horrid Villanies perpetrated by this Ximeties, 

 and defir'd aid, that fo great an Offender might receive condign punifhment. 

 Mean while the Ciauano's came marching down with fixthoufand Men, which 

 Bartholomew went to meet with eighty Foot and fome few Horfe : The Indians 

 which he was to encounter with, rather feeming like Furies than Men, for all 

 of them were daub'd over with black fmuts on their bare Skins from Head to 

 Foot, and their hard Hair picked in terrible, not in Lovelocks, hung playing, 

 or dangling over their Shoulders. /When the Spaniards in their March draw- 

 ing up to a River where it was bed fordable, had no iooner left the Bank, and 

 taken the Water, endeavoring to wade over, but the Salvages rufh'd forth out 

 of the Woods, and letflye a fliowre of Arrows, that had they not been provi- 

 ded with Shields and Targets, to keep ofFiuch a deadly Storm, fo thick they 

 flew, and fo well aim'd, moft of them had perifh'd there : but having re- 

 cover'd the oppofite Bank, the Enemy play'd all hid, and in a thought fliel- 

 ter'd themfelves under the prote&ion of the Woods j where the Conqueror 

 purfuing,found the Service very difficult and dangerous, for their Armes,efpeci- 

 ally their Shields, flopping and intangling them a»s in a Net, among the (hrub* 



by 



