Chapter TV.

COASTING OFF THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF CUBA.

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[1494.]

NIMATED by one of the pleasing illusions of his ardent imagination, Columbus pursued his voyage, with a prosperous breeze, along the supposed continent of Asia. He was now opposite that part of the southern side of Cuba where, for nearly thirty-five leagues, the navigation is unembarrassed by banks and islands. To his left was the broad and open sea, the dark-blue color of which gave token of ample depth; to his right extended the richly wooded province of Ornofay, gradually sweeping up into a range of interior mountains; the verdant coast watered by innumerable streams and studded with Indian villages. The appearance of the ships spread wonder and joy along the sea-coast. The natives hailed

with acclamations the arrival of these wonderful beings, whose fame had circulated more or less throughout the island, and who brought with them the blessings of Heaven. They came off swimming, or in their canoes, to offer the fruits and productions of the land, and regarded the white men almost with adoration. After the usual evening shower, when the breeze blew from the shore and brought off the sweetness of the land, it bore with it also the distant songs of the natives and the sound of their rude music, as they were probably celebrating with their national chants and dances, the arrival of the white men. So delightful were these spicy odors and cheerful sounds to Columbus, who was at present open to all pleasurable influences, that he declared the night passed away as a single hour.*

It was impossible to resist noticing the striking contrasts which are sometimes presented by the lapse of time. The coast here described, so populous and animated, rejoicing in the visit of the discoverers, is the same that extends westward of the city of Trinidad, along the gulf of Xagua. All is now silent and deserted; civilization, which has covered some parts of Cuba with glittering cities, has *Cura de los Palacios.

rendered this a solitude. The whole race of Indians has long since passed away, pining and perishing beneath the domination of the strangers whom they welcomed so joyfully to their shores. Before me lies the account of a night recently passed on this very coast by a celebrated traveller; but with what different feelings from those of Columbus !

"I passed," says he, "a great part of the night upon the deck. What deserted coasts! not a light to announce the cabin of a fisherman. From Batabano to Trinidad, a distance of fifty leagues, there does not exist a village. Yet in the time of Columbus this land was inhabited even along the margin of the sea. When pits are digged in the soil, or the torrents plough open the surface of the earth, there are often found hatchets of stone and vessels of copper, relics of the ancient inhabitants of the island."*

For the greater part of two days the ships swept along this open part of the coast, traversing the wide gulf of Xagua. At length they came to where the sea became suddenly as white as milk, and perfectly turbid, as though flour had been mingled with it. This is caused by fine sand or calcareous particles, raised from the bottom at certain depths by the agitation of the waves and currents. It spread great alarm through the ships, which was heightened

*Humboldt, Essai Pol. sur Cuba, tom. ii., p. 25.

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by their soon finding themselves surrounded by banks and keys, and in shallow water. farther they proceeded the more perilous became their situation. They were in a narrow channel, where they had no room to turn and to beat out, where there was no hold for their anchors, and where they were violently tossed about by the winds and in danger of being stranded. At length they came to a small island, where they found tolerable anchorage. Here they remained for the night in great anxiety; many were for abandoning all further prosecution of the enterprise, thinking that they might esteem themselves fortunate should they be able to return whence they came. Columbus however could not consent to relinquish his voyage, now that he thought himself in the route for a brilliant discovery. The next morning he despatched the smallest caravel to explore this new labyrinth of islands, and to penetrate to the mainland in quest of fresh water, of which the ships were in great need. The caravel returned with a report that the canals and keys of this group were as numerous and intricate as those of the Gardens of the Queen; that the mainland was bordered by deep marshes and a muddy coast, where the mangrove trees grow within the water, and so close together that they formed as it

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were an impenetrable wall; that within, the land appeared fertile and mountainous; and columns of smoke, rising from various parts, gave signs of numerous inhabitants.* Under the guidance of this caravel Columbus now ventured to penetrate this little archipelago; working his way with great caution, toil, and peril, among the narrow channels which separated the sand-banks and islands, and frequently getting aground. At length he reached a low point of Cuba, to which he gave the name of Point Serafin, within which the coast swept off to the east, forming so deep a bay that he could not see the land at the bottom. To the north however there were mountains afar off, and the intermediate space was clear and open, the islands in sight lying to the south and west a description which agrees with that of the great bay of Batabano. Columbus now steered for these mountains, with a fair wind and three fathoms of water, and on the following day anchored on the coast near a beautiful grove of palm-trees.

Here a party was sent on shore for wood and water, and they found two living springs in the midst of the grove. While they were employed in cutting wood and filling their water-casks, an archer strayed into the forest * Cura de los Palacios, cap. 128.

་ཅན་ངག་དམ་ ཐང་ལ་གལས་