StfWOSED WitllE HACES. 
189 
offers. The ground was covered with wounded hirda 
struggling in death. At our arrival a profound calm pre- 
vailed in this secluded spot ; now, everything seemed to 
Bay ; Man has passed this way. , . , , 
The sky was veiled with reddish vapours, which however 
dispersed in the direction ot south-west ; we hoped, but in 
Vain, to discern the heights ot the island oi Pinos. Those 
spots have a charm in which most parts of the New World are 
"’anting. They are associated with recollections oi the 
greatest names of the Spanish monarchy — those of Christo- 
pher Columbus and of Heruan Cortez. It was on the 
southern coast of the island of Cuba, between the bay of 
^agua and the island of Pinos, that the great Spanish -^dmi- 
ral, in his second voyage, saw, with astonishment, ‘ that 
hiysterious king who spoke to his subjects only by s'Kjfs, and 
that nroup of men who wore long wliito tunics, like the 
the monks of La Merced, wliilst the rest of the people were 
naked.” “ Columbus in his foimth voyage found in the 
•Tardinillos, great boats filled with Mexican Indians, and 
laden with the rich productions and merchandise of 
Yucatan.” ISIisledby his ardent imagination, he thought 
lie had Jieard from those navigators, “ that they came from 
a country where the men were mounted on horses," and 
’’ Compare the Lettera rarissima di Christoforo Colombo, di 7 di Julio, 
'j03; with the letter of Herrera, dated Dec. 1. Nothing can be more 
touching and pathetic than the expression of melancholy which ^f''ai^ in 
'lie letter of Columbus, written at Jamaica, and addressed to King rer- 
dinand and Queen Isabella. I recommend to the notice of those who 
'' ish to understand the character of that extraordinary man, the recital ot 
hie nocturnal vision, in which he imagined that he heard a celestial voice, 
in the midst of a tempest, encouraging him by tliese wools : Iddio 
'iiaravigliosaniente fece sonar tuo noiiie nella terra. I.e Indie que sono 
pa te del mondo cosi ricca, te le ha dale per tue; tu le hai rcpiirtite dove 
h e placiiito, e ti dette poteiizia per tarlo. Delli ligamenti del mare 
Oceaiio die erano serrati con eateiie cosi forte, ti dono le cliiave, «c. 
[Cod marvellously makes thy name resound throughout the world. Ihe 
Indies, which arc so rich a portion of the world, he gives to 
fhyself : thou inayest distribute them in the way thou pleasest, and Uod 
gives thee power to do so. Of the shores of the Atlantic, which were 
‘dosed by such strong chains, he gives thee the key.] This fragment has 
•leen handed down to us only in an ancient Italian traihtionj tor the 
f^panish original mentioned in the Biblioteca Nautica of Don Antonio 
Irfon has not hitherto been fuaud, I may add a few more hnea* cjiarac- 
