A Book of American Explorers. Thomas Wentworth Higginson

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СКАЧАТЬ of water, we proceeded onwards till we reached the cape; and there finding good anchorage, and protection from the east wind, I ordered the anchors to be dropped, the water-cask to be repaired, a supply of water and wood to be taken in, and the people to rest themselves from the fatigues which they had endured for so long a time. I gave to this point the name of Sandy Point (Punta del Arenal).

      All the ground in the neighborhood was filled with footmarks of animals, like the impression of the foot of a goat; but, although it would have appeared from this circumstance that they were very numerous, only one was seen, and that was dead. On the following day a large canoe came from the eastward, containing twenty-four men, all in the prime of life, and well provided with arms, such as bows, arrows, and wooden shields. They were all, as I have said, young, well-proportioned, and not dark black, but whiter than any other Indians that I had seen—of very graceful gesture and handsome forms, wearing their hair long and straight, and cut in the Spanish style. Their heads were bound round with cotton scarfs elaborately worked in colors, which resembled the Moorish head-dresses. Some of these scarfs were worn round the body, and used as a covering in lieu of trousers. The natives spoke to us from the canoe while it was yet at a considerable distance; but none of us could understand them. I made signs to them, however, to come nearer to us; and more than two hours were spent in this manner: but if, by any chance, they moved a little nearer, they soon pushed off again.

      I caused basins and other shining objects to be shown to them to tempt them to come near; and, after a long time, they came somewhat nearer than they had hitherto done; upon which, as I was very anxious to speak with them, and had nothing else to show them to induce them to approach, I ordered a drum to be played upon the quarter-deck, and some of our young men to dance, believing the Indians would come to see the amusement. No sooner, however, did they perceive the beating of the drum, and the dancing, than they all left their oars, and strung their bows, and, each man laying hold of his shield, they commenced discharging their arrows at us; upon this the music and dancing soon ceased, and I ordered a charge51 to be made from some of our cross-bows: they then left us, and went rapidly to the other caravel,52 and placed themselves under its poop. The pilot of that vessel received them courteously, and gave to the man who appeared to be their chief a coat and hat; and it was then arranged between them that he should go to speak with him on shore. Upon this the Indians immediately went thither, and waited for him; but, as he would not go without my permission, he came to my ship in the boat, whereupon the Indians got into their canoe again, and went away, and I never saw any more of them, or of any of the other inhabitants of the island.

      When I reached the Point of Arenal, I found that the Island of Trinidad formed with the land of Gracia,53 a strait of two leagues width from east to west; and, as we had to pass through it to go to the north, we found some strong currents which crossed the strait, and which made a great roaring, so that I concluded there must be a reef of sand or rocks, which would preclude our entrance: and behind this current was another and another, all making a roaring noise like the sound of breakers against the rocks. I anchored there, under the said Point of Arenal, outside of the strait, and found the water rush from east to west with as much impetuosity as that of the Guadalquiver at its conflict with the sea; and this continued constantly day and night, so that it appeared to be impossible to move backwards for the current, or forwards for the shoals.

IV.—Columbus at the Mouth of the Orinoco.

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      [ ‡ See Frontispiece for illustration.]

      In the dead of night, while I was on deck, I heard an awful roaring that came from the south towards the ship. I stopped to observe what it might be, and I saw the sea rolling from west to east, like a mountain as high as the ship, and approaching by little and little. On the top of this rolling sea came a mighty wave, roaring with a frightful noise; and with all this terrific uproar were other conflicting currents, producing, as I have already said, a sound as of breakers upon the rocks. To this day I have a vivid recollection of the dread I then felt, lest the ship might founder under the force of that tremendous sea; but it passed by, and reached the mouth of the before-mentioned passage, where the uproar lasted for a considerable time. On the following day I sent out boats to take soundings, and found that in the strait, at the deepest part of the embouchure,54 there were six or seven fathoms of water, and that there were constant contrary currents—one running inwards, and the other outwards. It pleased the Lord, however, to give us a favorable wind; and I passed through the middle of the strait, after which I recovered my tranquillity. The men happened at this time to draw up some water from the sea, which, strange to say, proved to be fresh. I then sailed northwards till I came to a very high mountain, at about twenty-six leagues from the Punta del Arenal: here two lofty headlands appeared—one towards the east,55 and forming part of the Island of Trinidad; and the other on the west,56 being part of the land which I have already called Gracia. We found here a channel57 still narrower than that of Arenal, with similar currents, and a tremendous roaring of water: the water here also was fresh.

      FLEET OF COLUMBUS.

      Hitherto I had held no communication with any of the people of this country, although I very earnestly desired it. I therefore sailed along the coast westwards; and, the farther I advanced, the fresher and more wholesome I found the water; and, when I had proceeded a considerable distance, I reached a spot where the land appeared to be cultivated. … I then anchored at the mouth of a river; and we were soon visited by a great number of the inhabitants, who informed us that the country was called Paria, and that farther westward it was more fully peopled. I took four of these natives, and proceeded on my westward voyage; and, when I had gone eight leagues farther, I found on the other side of a point, which I called the Needle,58 one of the most lovely countries in the world, and very thickly peopled. It was three o’clock in the morning when I reached it; and, seeing its verdure and beauty, I resolved to anchor there, and communicate with the inhabitants. Some of the natives came out to the ship in canoes, to beg me, in the name of their king, to go on shore. And, when they saw that I paid no attention to them, they came to the ship in their canoes in countless number; many of them wearing pieces of gold on their breasts, and some with bracelets of pearl on their arms.

V.—Columbus thinks Himself near the Earthly Paradise.

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      [From the same narrative. It was generally believed, in the time of Columbus, that the Garden of Eden, or earthly paradise, still existed somewhere on the globe. Irving’s Columbus (appendix) gives an account of these views.]

      I have always read, that the world comprising the land and water was spherical, as is testified by the investigations of Ptolemy and others, who have proved it by the eclipses of the moon, and other observations made from east to west, as well as by the elevation of the pole from north to south. But I have now seen so much irregularity, as I have already described, that I have come to another conclusion respecting the earth; namely, that it is not round, as they describe, but of the form of a pear, which is very round except where the stalk grows, at which part it is most prominent. … Ptolemy, and the others who have written upon the globe, had no information respecting this part of the world, which was then unexplored: they only established their arguments with respect to their own hemisphere, which, as I have already said, is half of a perfect sphere. And, now that your Highnesses have commissioned me to make this voyage of discovery, the truths which I have stated are evidently proved. … I do not find, nor have ever found, any account by the Romans or Greeks, which fixes in a positive manner the site of the terrestrial paradise; neither have I seen it given in any mappe-monde,59 laid down from authentic sources. Some placed it in Ethiopia, at the sources of the Nile; but others, traversing all СКАЧАТЬ