The Journal of Christopher Columbus

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1st: At sunrise, the admiral sent the boats to land, to the houses which were there, and they found that all the people had fled, and after some time a man appeared, and the admiral ordered that he should be allowed to become reassured, and the boats returned to the ships. After eating, he proceeded to send ashore one of the Indians whom he carried with him and who, from a distance, called out to them, saying that they should not be afraid, because these were good people and did harm to no one, and were not from the Grand Khan, but in many islands to which they had been, had given of what they possessed. And the Indian threw himself into the water and swam ashore, and two of those who were there took him by the arms and brought him to a house, where they questioned him. And when they were certain that no harm would be done to them, they were reassured, and presently there came to the ships more than sixteen boats or canoes, with spun cotton and their other trifles, of which the admiral commanded that nothing should be taken, in order that they might know that the admiral sought nothing except gold, which they call "nucay. " So all day they were going and coming from the land to the ships, and they went to and fro from the Christians to the shore with great confidence. The admiral did not see any gold among them. But the admiral says that he saw on one of them a piece of worked silver, hanging from the nose, which he took to be an indication that there was silver in that land. They said by signs that within three days many merchants would come from the interior to buy the things which the Christians brought there, and that they would give news of the king of that land, who, as far as he could understand from the signs which they made, was four days' journey from there, because they had sent many men through the whole land to tell of the admiral. "These people," says the admiral, "are of the same character and have the same customs as the others who have been found, having no creed that I know, since up to this moment I have not seen those whom I carry with me offer any prayer, but they say the Salve and the Ave Maria with their hands raised to heaven, as they are shown, and they make the sign of the cross. There is, moreover, one language for them all, and they are all friends, and I believe that all these islands are so and that they are at war with the Grand Khan, whom they call 'cavila,' and his province 'Basan'; and they all go naked like the others. " This the admiral says. He says that the river is very deep and at its mouth they could bring the ships alongside the land. The fresh water does not come within a league of the mouth and it is very fresh, and, "It is certain," says the admiral, "that this is the mainland, and that I am," he says, "before Zayto and Quisay, a hundred leagues, a little more or less, distant from one and the other, and this appears clearly from the sea, which is of a different character from what it has been to the present, and yesterday, going to the north-west, I found that it was becoming cold."

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd: The admiral decided to send two men, Spaniards: one was called Rodrigo de Jerez, who lived in Ayamonte, and the other was a certain Luis de Torres, who had lived with the adelantado of Murcia and who had been a Jew, and who, as he says, understood Hebrew and Chaldee and even some Arabic. With these, he sent two Indians: one from among those whom he brought with him from Guanahani, and the other from those houses which were situated on the river. He gave them strings of beads with which to buy food, if they were in need of it, and appointed six days as the time within which they must return. He gave them specimens of spices to see if they found any, and instructed them how they were to ask for the king of that land, and what they were to say on behalf of the Sovereigns of Castile, how they had sent the admiral to present letters on their behalf and a gift. They were also to learn of his estate, establish friendship with him, and favour him in whatever he might need from them, etc.; and they should gain knowledge of certain provinces and harbours and rivers, of which the admiral had information, and learn how far they were from this place, etc. Here the admiral took the altitude on this night with a quadrant, and found that he was forty-two degrees from the equinoctial line, and he says that according to his estimate, he found that he had gone from the island of Hierro one thousand one hundred and forty-two leagues, and he still affirms that this is the mainland.