22 
i:he V O Y 
not to do fo long, becaiife he began to be fliort of Provi- 
fions already •, whereas had he been well ftored, he deter- 
mined not to have returned into Spain^ but Eaft about. 
Tho’ he was very much fpent, not becaufe he fuifered 
Pain, but becaufe he had not dept, or lain in Bed ever fince 
he went from Spain till the 1 9th of Ma)\ except eight 
Nights (as appears by his Journal) when he v/as very 
much indifpofed. And if he had much Care upon him 
at other times, it was doubled this Voyage, by reafon of 
the innumerable Quantity of Iflands among which he was 
failing, which were fo many, that on the 20th he difcovered 
feventy-one befides many more he faw Weft-fouth-weft at 
Sun-fetting. Which Iflands, or Sands, are not only fright- 
ful, by their Multitude appearing on all Sides ; but what 
is yet more terrible is, that every Night there rifes off them 
a great Fog, Eaft ward, fo difmal to behold that it looks as 
if fome great Showers of Hail would fall. The Thunder 
and Lightning is violent, yet when the Sun rifes it all va- 
niflies. Part of it turning to Rain and Vfind, which is fo 
ufual and natural in that Country, that it did not only hap- 
pen all thofe Nights the Admiral was there, but the fame 
was long after obferved in thofe Iflands by the Spaniards in 
their Return from the Difcovery of Veragua. And general- 
ly here, at Night, the Wind is North, coming off the Ifle 
of Cuba •, and afterwards, when the Sun is up, it comes 
about Eaft, and follows the Sun till it comes to the VWft. 
7. The Admiral, frill holding out his Courfe Weft ward 
among the Number of Iflands, upon the 2 2d cam^e to an 
Ifland fomewhat bigger than the reft, which he called 
St. Mary ■, and, landing at a Town there, not out Indian 
would ftay to talk to the Chriftians, nor did they find any 
thing in the Houfes but Fifh, which is all tlie Food thofe 
People live.oni, and feveral Dogs, like Maftiffs, who eat 
Fifti too. Txhus, without fpeaking to any body, or 
feeing any Thing remarkable, he failed away North-eaft 
among many Iflands, and abundance of thofe Vfeeds he 
faw on the Ocean when he difcovered the Indies., which 
fatigued him very much j for fometimes he was forced to 
ftand Weft, fometimes North, and fometimes South, 
according as the Channels would permit ; for, notwith- 
ftanding his Care in founding, and keeping Men upon the 
Round-top, to look out, yet the Ship often touched, and 
there was no avoiding it, there being no End of the Flats 
on’ all Hands. Sailing on in this manner he came again 
to Cuba to take in Water, whereof they had much need, 
and tho’ there was no Tovrn there, they put in becaufe the 
Place was wooded, yet one of the Seamen that went a- 
Ihore going up among the Trees with a Crofs-bow, to 
kill fome Bird or Beaft, difcovered thirty People armed 
with fuch Weapons as they ufe, that is, Spears and Staves, 
which they wear inftead of Swords, and call Macanas ; 
among them, he faid, he faw one clad in a white Coat 
or Veil down to his Knees, and two that carried him, 
with Vefts down to their Feet ; ail three of them as white as 
Spaniards-., but that he had no talk with them ; for be- 
ing afraid of fuch a Number he began to cry out, and the 
Indians ran away without looking back. 
The Admiral, the next Day, fent People afliore to 
know the Truth of it. They could not travel above half 
a League, becaufe of the Thicknefs of the Trees and the 
Buihes-, and becaufe that Coaft is marfhy for two Leagues 
up the Country, where there are Mountains ; fo that they 
only faw Footfteps of Fifhermen on the Shore, and 
abundance of Cranes like thofe in Spain., but bigger. 
Then failing about ten Leagues Weft ward, they faw 
Houfes on the Sliore, from wliich fome Canoes came 
v/ith Water, and fuch Things as thofe People eat, which 
they brought to the Chriftians, who paid well. And the 
Admiral caufed one of thefe Indians to be ftopped, telling 
him and the reft, by his Interpreter, that he would let 
him go home as foon as he had diredled him in his Voy- 
age, a.nd given fome Account of that Country. At which 
the Indian was , very much pleafed, and afllired the Admi- 
ral, that Cuba was an Ifland, and that the King, or Cazi- 
que, of the Weftern Part of it, never fpoke to his Sub- 
ieds but by Signs ; that all that Coaft was very low, and 
full of Iflands, which was found to be true. The next 
Day, being the i ith of June., to pafs from one Channel 
to another, the Admiral was forced to have the Ships 
I 
A G E S ^ Book L 
towed over a Flat where there was not a Foot of Water, 
and all the Breadth of it was npt above two Ships Length. 
Bearing up clofe to Cuba., they faw Tortoifes of a vail 
Bignefs, and in fuch Numbers, that they covered the Sea. 
At Break - of the Day they faw fuch a Cloud of Sea- 
Crows, that they darkened the Sun, coming from the 
Seaward to the Ifland where they all lighted. Befides 
them, abundance of Pigeons and Birds of other forts 
were feen. And the next Day there came fuch Swarms 
of Butterflies that they darkned the Air, and lafted till 
Night, when a great Rain carried them away. 
On the 13th the Admiral perceived that the Coaft 
of Cuba ran far Weft, and that it was a Matter of the 
greateft Difficulty to fail that way, by reafon of Iflands ' 
and Sands that were on all Sides, and that he already 
began to want Provifions, for which Reafon he could not 
continue his Voyage as he had intended, He refolving to 
return to the Town he had begun to build at Hifpaniola, 
and to furnifli himfelf with Wood and Water, anchored in 
the Ifland of Eva.ngelifia, v/hich is thirty Leagues in Com- 
pafs , and feven hundred from Dominica. Flaving di- 
rected his Courfe South, hoping to get out better that 
way, and failing through that Channel which looked 
cleareft, after a few Leagues found it ffiut up, which did 
not a little trouble and terrify them, feeing themfelves, as 
it v/ere, hemmed in on all Sides, and deftitute of Provi- 
fions : But the Admiral, who was wife and couragious, faid 
with a chearful Countenance, that he thanked God for 
forcing him back the fame way* he came ; forafmuch as 
if they had continued their Voyage that way they expebled 
to go, it might have, perhaps, happened they might have 
run themfelves into fome place, whence it would have been 
hard getting out, and at a time when they had neither Ships 
nor Provifions to go back, which at prefent they could 
eafily do. Thus with great Satisfaction of all the Men 
he returned to the Ifland of Evangelijia, where he had wa- 
tered ; and the 2 5th of June failed thence North-weft to- 
wards fome fmall Iflands that appeared five Leagues off. 
On the 20th, as he was writing his Journal of the 
Voyage, his Ship run a-ground fo faft, that neither An- 
chors nor other Inventions were able to get it off. It was 
by Boats drawn off a-head, tho’ with fome Damage becaufe 
of beating on the Sand. However, with God’s Affiftance, 
they got off at laft, and he failed on as the Wind and 
fhoal Water would permit, always through a very white 
Sea, and two Fathom deep. Befides which, every Day 
about Sun-fetting he was troubled with mighty Showers 
which rife in the Mountains from the Moraffes near the 
Sea, which was a great Fatigue to him till he came clofe 
to Cuba., toward the Eaft, the way he came at firft; 
whence, as he had found before, came off a moft fra- 
grant Scent of Flowers. On the 7th of July he landed 
to hear Mafs, and there reforted to him an old Cazique, 
Lord of the Province, who was very attentive at Prayer. 
When it was ended, he expreffed by Signs, it v/as very 
well done to give Thanks to God, becaufe the Soul which 
was good would go to Heaven, and the Body remain on 
Earth, but that the wicked Souls muft go to Hell. And, 
among other things, faid he had been in the Ifland Hifpa- 
niola, where he knew fome of the chief Men : That he 
had been at Jamaica, and a great way towards the Weft_ 
of Cuba j and that the Cazique of that Place was clad like 
a Prieft. 
The Admiral failing thence on the 1 6th, drew near to 
Cape Cruz in Cuba, where he was furprized by fuch a 
violent Storm as bore his Ship’s Side under Water ; But it 
pleafed God they immediately ftruck all their Sails and 
dropped their Anchors, but yet they took in fo much Wa- 
ter at the Deck, that the Men were not able to pump it 
out, efpecially in the Condition they were, being much 
fpent for want of Provifions, for they eat nothing but a 
Pound of rotten Biflcet in a Day, and about half a Pint 
of Wine, unlefs they happened to catch fome Fiffi, which 
yet they could not keep from one Day to the next, be- 
caufe the V/eather was always more inclinable to corrupt 
than in other Countries. And this Want being common 
to all, the Admiral, in his Journal, fpedts thus concern- 
ing it : ‘H am at the fame Allowance, God grant it may 
“ be to his Honour, and your Highneffes Service ; for I 
“ ffiall 
c 
