which he dealt was procured. In this letter Ferrer assured Columbus that, according to his experience, the rarest objects of commerce, such as gold, precious stones, drugs, and spices were chiefly to be found in the regions about the equinoctial line, where the inhabitants were black or darkly colored; and that until the Admiral should arrive among people of such complexions, he did not think he would find those articles in great abundance.*

Columbus expected to find such people more to the south. He recollected that the natives of Hispaniola had spoken of black men who had once come to their island from the south and southeast, the heads of whose javelins were of a sort of metal which they called guanin. They had given the Admiral specimens of this metal, which on being assayed in Spain proved to be a mixture of eighteen parts gold, six silver, and eight copper, a proof of valuable mines in the country whence they came. Charlevoix conjectures that these black people may have come from the Canaries or the western coast of Africa, and been driven by tempest to the shores of Hispaniola.† It is probable however that Columbus had been misinformed as to their color, or had

* Navarrete, Colec., tom. ii., doc. 68.

† Charlevoix, Hist. St. Domingo, lib. iii., p. 162.

misunderstood his informants.

It is difficult

to believe that the natives of Africa or the Canaries could have performed a voyage of such magnitude in the frail and scantily provided barks they were accustomed to use.

It was to ascertain the truth of all these suppositions, and, if correct, to arrive at the favored and opulent countries about the equator, inhabited by people of similar complexion with those of the Africans under the line, that Columbus in his present voyage to the New World took a course much farther to the south than that which he had hitherto pursued.

Having heard that a French squadron was cruising off Cape St. Vincent, he stood to the southwest after leaving St. Lucar, touching at the islands of Porto Santo and Madeira, where he remained a few days taking in wood and water and other supplies, and then continued his course to the Canary Islands. On the 19th of June he arrived at Gomera, where there lay at anchor a French cruiser with two Spanish prizes. On seeing the squadron of Columbus standing into the harbor the captain of the privateer put to sea in all haste followed by his prizes, one of which, in the hurry of the moment, left part of her crew on shore, making sail with only four of her arma

ment and six Spanish prisoners. The Admiral at first mistook them for merchant ships alarmed by his warlike appearance; when informed of the truth, however, he sent three of his vessels in pursuit, but they were too distant to be overtaken. The six Spaniards, however, on board of one of the prizes, seeing assistance at hand, rose on their captors, and the Admiral's vessels coming up, the prize was retaken and brought back in triumph to the port. The Admiral relinquished the ship to the captain and gave up the prisoners to the governor of the island, to be exchanged for six Spaniards carried off by the cruiser.*

Leaving Gomera on the 21st of June Columbus divided his squadron off the island of Ferro; three of his ships he despatched direct for Hispaniola to carry supplies to the colony. One of these ships was commanded by Alonzo Sanchez de Caravajal, native of Baeza, a man of much worth and integrity. The second by Pedro de Arana of Cordova, brother of Doña Beatrix Henriquez, the mother of the Admiral's second son Fernando; he was cousin also of the unfortunate officer who commanded the fortress of La Navidad at the time of the massacre. The third was commanded by Juan Antonio Columbus (or Colombo), a *Hist. del Almirante, cap. 65.

Genoese, related to the Admiral, and a man of much judgment and capacity. These captains were alternately to have command and bear the signal light a week at a time. The Admiral carefully pointed out their course. When they came in sight of Hispaniola they were to steer for the south side, for the new port and town, which he supposed to be by this time established in the mouth of the Ozema, according to royal orders sent out by Coronel. With the three remaining vessels the Admiral prosecuted his voyage towards the Cape Verde Islands. The ship in which he sailed was decked; the other two were merchant caravels.* As he advanced within the tropics the change of climate and the close and sultry weather brought on a severe attack of the gout, followed by a violent fever. Notwithstanding his painful illness he enjoyed the full possession of his faculties and continued to keep his reckoning and make his observations with his usual vigilance and minuteness.

On the 27th of June he arrived among the Cape Verde Islands, which, instead of the freshness and verdure which their name would betoken, presented an aspect of the most cheerless sterility. He remained among these islands * P. Martyr, decad. i., lib. vi.

but a very few days, being disappointed in his expectations of obtaining goats' flesh for ships' provisions and cattle for stock for the island of Hispaniola. To procure them would require some delay; in the meantime the health of himself and of his people suffered under the influence of the weather. The atmosphere was loaded with clouds and vapors; neither sun nor star were to be seen; a sultry, depressing temperature prevailed; and the livid looks of the inhabitants bore witness to the insalu- . brity of the climate.*

Leaving the island of Buena Vista on the 5th of July Columbus stood to the southwest, intending to continue on until he found himself under the equinoctial line. The currents, however, which ran to the north and northwest among these islands impeded his progress and kept him for two days in sight of the Island del Fuego. The volcanic summit of this island, which, seen at a distance, resembled a church with a lofty steeple, and which was said at times to emit smoke and flames, was the last point discerned of the Old World.

Continuing to the southwest about one hundred and twenty leagues he found himself, on the 13th of July, according to his observations, in the fifth degree of north latitude. He had * Hist. del Almirante, cap. 65.