366 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



known to the natives by the name of Cuzamil, sig- 

 nifying in their language the Island of Swallows. 

 Before setting out from home I had fixed upon this 

 island as one of the points of our journey. My at- 

 tention was directed to it by the historical accounts 

 of its condition when it first became known to the 

 Spaniards. It was discovered accidentally in 1518 

 by Juan de Grijalva, who, in attempting to follow 

 in the track of Cordova, was driven in sight of it. 

 The itinerary of this voyage was kept by the chap- 

 lain-in-chief of the fleet, under the direction of Gri- 

 jalva, and, with a collection of original narratives 

 and memoirs, was published for the first time in 

 183S at Paris. The itinerary opens thus : 



" Saturday, the first of March of the year 1518, 

 the commandant of the said fleet sailed from the 

 island of Cuba. On the fourth of March we saw 

 upon a promontory a white house. * * -^^ * * All 

 the coast was lined with reefs and shoals. We di- 

 rected ourselves upon the opposite shore, when we 

 distinguished the house more easily. It was in the 

 form of a small tower, and appeared to be eight 

 palms in length and the height of a man. The 

 fleet came to anchor about six miles from the coast. 

 Two little barks called canoes approached us, each 

 manned by three Indians, which came to within a 

 cannon shot of the vessel. We could not speak to 

 them nor learn anything from them, except that in 

 the morning the cacique, i. e., the chief of that 

 place, would come on board our vessel. The next 



