3 
once. He wrote enthusiastically about the great prospects in store for the first 
person who made the voyage. 
His chart, of course, was far from accurate. He pictured the Atlantic as 
much narrower than it actually is. He accurately depicted the Azores and the 
Canaries. Beyond these he was working on conjecture alone. Between than and 
the "Spice Islands," he depicted two legendary islands called St. Brandan and 
Antilia, which do not exist. But his Japan "Cipango" was in approximately the 
position of Cuba, while his "Spice Islands" ranged far to the south. How much 
reliance Columbus placed on the map is unknown. He probably used it, however, 
in his arguments for the financial backing of the Spanish Court. 
Another discovery concerns the rapid disappearance of the Lucayan Indians 
seen by the Spaniards in the Bahamas. This record comes from the Naval Tracts of 
Sir William Monson, prepared at about the time of Queen Elizabeth, in which it is 
stated that a certain Vasquez de Ayllon, a resident of Puerto Plata on the island 
of Hispaniola, in 1520 had sent two caravels which returned empty. There were no 
natives left. 
It is possible that the islanders had fled in their large dugouts, capable 
of carrying as many as persons, to escape the Spanish slave raids. They may 
have gone as far as the Florida Keys. They may have found refuge in Cuba or in 
the little-known interior of the large Andros Island. It also is possible that 
all may have perished. 
In addition to the West Indian material the new Smithsonian exhibit includes 
a display of the head-shrinking techniques of the Jivaro Indians of the Ecuadorian 
jungles, a hunting camp of the Yahgans of Tierra del Fuego who are the southern- 
most people on earth, and 17 other features. 
X X X X X 
