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take'care of the Cafits of Wine and Water that Were fal- 
ling in Pieces, the PIoops flying off them ; the Wdieat 
parched, tne Bacon and ialt lelcac fried i 1 his Pieat coA** 
tinucd, eight Days , the firft of them was tan, fo that thv^ 
Sun parched them j the other feven it rained and was 
cloudy, and yet they found no Relief, but were all in 
a Manner melted. On the 14th of July he lound him- 
fell in y° of North Xjatitude, and they faw fome black 
and white Daws, which are Birds that do not go far from 
Land. On the 15th the Admiral fell ill of the Gout 
for want of Sleep, and yet ftill he kept up. 
On the 1 9th* the Air was fo burning hot that they 
thought they fhould have been deftroyed in the Ships, but 
there foon fprung a fair Gale that delivered them from 
that Heat, and they failed feventeen Days to the Weft- 
ward, dehgning to turn again to the South, fo that^ Hif- 
paniola might bear North, where the Admiral believed 
he might find Land, either before or after he came ^ to 
that Point j and there he hoped to refit his Ships, which 
were very leaky, and to recover the Provifions in order 
to carry them to Hifpcinioldf tnough they were alieady 
damaged. Upon the 2 2d a multitude of Biids were 
feen flying from the Weft South-weft towards the North- 
eaft, and by reafon of thefe Tokens he hoped to fee Land 
very foon-, and the 31ft of July being come and no 
Land appearing, and Water growing fliort, he refolved 
to alter his Courfe, and ftood to the ¥feftward, ftill 
inclining to the right Hand, to fall in upon Dominica^ 
or fome one of the Iflands of the Canihals^ now called 
Carihhee Iflands, fteering North and by Eaft, which he 
held till Noon-, a Sailor went up to the round Top and 
fpied Land to the South-eaft, about fifteen Leagues dif- 
tant, and feemed to be three Mountains ^ they im- 
mediately fung the Hymn Salve Regina : Having thus 
fpied Land, he altered his Courfe from the Carihhee Iflands, 
■'.vhere he defigned to have watered, and ftood for a Cape 
that appeared to the Weftward, which he called de la 
idalera, or the Gaily Point, on account of a great Rock 
on it, which, at a Diftance, looked like a Gaily under 
fail. When they came to Land they found a good Port, 
but could not enter becaufe it had not Water enough. 
He paired on to the Point he had feen, being feven 
Leagues to the Southward, without finding any Har- 
bouig and obferved that the Woods reached down to 
the Sea, all along the Coaft ; fome Men were feen in a 
Canoe, at a Diftance, but they fled, and it appeared that 
this was an Ifland which he called la Prinadada, or the 
Prinity, having promifed to give that Name to the firft 
he ftiould difcoverj the Land was high, pleafant, and 
well cultivated. 
On the firft of Augujl the Admiral advanced five 
Leagues along the Coaft to the W^eftward, and came to 
a Point where he anchored with his three Ships, and 
took in Water, to the great Satisfadfion of the Men. 
They found the Track of People, Fiftiing-tackle, and 
the Foot-fteps of Goats, as they thought, which proved 
to be Deer, there being many in the Ifland. Having 
feen many Towns in this Ifland they faw another to the 
Southward, which feemed to be twenty Leagues long, 
and he called it IJla Santa, or Holy Ifland. All the W ay 
from Punt a de la Galera, to the Point where they water- 
ed, which he named Punt a de la Play a, or the Point of 
Strand, though the Land was good, there was no Har- 
bour, but there were many Rivers and Woods very agree- 
able, and ftill the Length of the Holy Ifland feemed 
greater. Seeking for a Harbour, on the 2d of Augufi 
he arrived at the Point ot the Ifland of the Prinity, 
which he called Punta delArenal, or Sandy Point, being 
to the Weftward, and he was then got into the Bay he 
called de la Ballena, or of the Whale, without knowing 
that he was near the Continent. He guefTed that the 
Ifland of the Prinity extended, in length, from Cape de 
la Galera, to Punt a del Arenal, thirty-five Leagues, though 
it is above forty-five ; but the Admiral proceeding along 
it, at feveral times, could not make an exadt Computa- 
tion. 
At Punta del Arenal he ordered the Men afhore to 
refrefh themfelves, becaufe they were much fatigued : 
A Cazique of the Ifland was come thither, and obferv- 
ing that the Admiral had a Cap on of Crimfon Velvet, 
T- o f'-'t 
paid him great RdpeCt, took off a Circle of Gold he 
liad ■ on his own Flead, and put it on the Admirars 5 
and with the other Hand took off his Cap and put it 011 
I'he fame 
his own, being very much pleafed wdth it 
Day a great ''Canoe, carrying twenty-five Men 
caipx 
frornthe^'Eaftwards, towards the Ships, and being about 
a Mulket-ftnot from them, they gave over rov/ingi and 
cried aloud, which the Admiral fuppofed vras to aflt 
who they were, as is ufual among thole People 5 by wu.y 
of anfwer, he (hewed them fome little Brafs Bafons and 
other glittering things to entice them to come near the 
Ships -, but they advancing very little, the Admiral or- 
dered his Men to play on a Tabor and Pipe, and the 
Youths to dance, thinking to pleafe them, which proved 
quite contrary, for they took it for a Signal of War; 
and, quitting their Oars, laid hold of their Targets and 
Bows, and fliot a great flight of Arrows. 
The Admiral then ordered the Mufic to ceafe, and 
fome Crofs-bov/s to be brought, but only two of them 
to be ftiot, whereupon the Indians immediately laid 
down their Arms, and ran in clofe under the Stern cf 
another Caravel-, the Pilot whereof went down into the 
Canoe, entertained them, and gave one, that feemed to 
be a principal Perfon, a red Cap. They defired him to 
go afhore and they would give him luch as they had; 
but as he was going in his Boat to aflc leave of the Ad- 
miral, the Indians went away. They were young, well 
adorned after their W ay, of agreeable Countenances, and 
whiter than the Indians of tlie Iflands. Their Flair 
was long and fmooth, cut after the Spanijh Fafhion ; 
about their Fleads they tied a Cotton Cloth, curioufly 
wrought of feveral Colours; and another about their 
Waift to cover their Nakednefs. The Admiral wonder- 
ed, that being fo near the Equinoffial, he felt Cold 
every Morning, though it was in the Dog Days ; as alfo, 
that the Waters ran ftronger to the Weft, than the River 
of Seville-, that the Sea Water ebbed and flowed above 
flxty-five Paces more than at San Lucar ; and that the 
Currents fet fo ftrong between the Ifland of the P rinity 
and Santa, which are two Leagues afunder (by him af- 
terwards called Gracia not knowing as yet that it was 
the Continent) that it run like a rapid River. They 
found the fame Sorts of Fruit as in Hifpaniola, and the 
Trees, Soil, and Climate, were alike ; they alfo caught 
very large Oyfters, and infinite quantities of F’ifli, Par- 
rots as large as Pullets, of a light green, fome whitifliy 
and others intermixt with red and yellow. 
The Admiral being at Point del Arenal, \N\I\ch. is the laft 
Cape of the Ifland of P rinity, he faw towards the North- 
weft about fifteen Leagues the P oint of that he till then 
called Ifla Santa, or Holy Ifland, which proved to be the 
Province he afterwards called Paria and believing it to 
be another Ifland, he gave it the Name of Gracia, or 
Grace, as has been laid ; and he thought it extraordinary 
high Land, and fo it is, for a vaft Ridge of Moun- 
tains runs along there. Being come up to the Continent, 
which he, at this time, thought to be an Ifland, he fpied 
near the aforefaid Point two fmaii Iflands in the Midft 
of another Mouth or Entrance, forming that Cape which 
he called Boto, that is blunt, becaufe it appeared fo ; and 
another Cape of the Ifland of Prinity he called de Lapa t 
The Difl:ance between them being five Leagues, with 
two little Iflands in the Middle, one of which he named 
el Caracal, or the Snail ; and the other el Dolfin, or the 
Dolphin. The Narrownefs of the Place, the Violence 
of the great River P'ayapari, and the 'Waves of the Sea, 
going into, and out of this Bay, are dangerous, and there- 
fore the Admiral called that Streight the Dragon's 
Mouth, which Name it holds to this Day ; this River 
that falls into the Bay of la Balena runs through the 
Country above four hundred Leagues, and as it brings 
down an immenfe Quantity of Water, efpecially in 
July and Auguft, about which time the Admiral was 
there, the Rains falling then, as they do in Spain in 
Odtoher and Novemher, and the Paffage between the 
Continent and the Ifland of the Prinity being too nar- 
row for luch a Quantity of oppofite Waters ; . when 
they meet there is a mighty Struggle between them, 
,5. While the Admiral lay at Cape de Lapa, he difco- 
vered very high Land to the North- weft, which he named' 
Bellajorma, 
