of April, with the Niña or Santa Clara, the San Juan, and the Cordera.

CHAPTER XXII.

Cruise of Columbus along the Southern Coast of Cuba. [1494.]

THE plan of the present expedition of Columbus was, to revisit Cuba at the point where he had abandoned it on his first voyage, and thence to explore it on the southern side As has already been observed, he supposed it to be a continent, and the extreme end of Asia; and if so, by following its shores in the proposed direction, he trusted to arrive at Mangi, and Cathay, and other rich and commercial, though semi-barbarous countries, forming part of the territories of the Grand Khan, as described by Mandeville and Marco Polo.

Having arrived, on the 29th of April, at the eastern end of Cuba, to which in his preceding voyage he had given the name of Alpha and Omega, but which is now known as Cape Maysi, he sailed along the southern coast, touching once or twice in the harbours. The natives crowded to the shores, gazing with astonishment at the ships as they glided gently along at no great distance. They held up fruits and other provisions, to tempt the Spaniards to land, while others came off in canoes, offering various refreshments, not in barter, but as free gifts. On inquiring of them for gold, they uniformly pointed to the south, intimating that a great island lay in that direction, where it was to be found in abun

dance. On the 3d of May, therefore, Columbus turned his prow directly south, and abandoning the coast of Cuba for a time, steered in quest of this reported island. He had not sailed many leagues before the blue summits of Jamaica began to rise above the horizon. It was two days and a night, however, before he reached it, filled with admiration as he gradually drew near, at its vast extent, the beauty of its mountains, the majesty of its forests, and the great number of villages which animated the whole face of the country.

He coasted the island from about the centre to a port at the western end, which he called the gulf of Buentiempo. He found the natives more ingenious as well as more warlike than those of Cuba and Hayti. "Their canoes were constructed with more art, and ornamented at the bow and stern with carving and painting. Many were of great size, though formed of the hollow trunks of single trees, often a species of the mahogany. Columbus measured one which proved to be ninety-six feet long and eight broad; it was hollowed out of one of those magnificent trees which rise like verdant towers amidst the rich forests of the tropics. Every cacique possessed a large canoe of the kind, which he seemed to regard as his galley of state. The Spaniards at first were treated with hostility, and were compelled to skirmish with the natives, but a friendly intercourse succeeded.

Being disappointed in the hope of finding gold in the island, Columbus steered again for Cuba, and on the 18th of May arrived at a great cape, to which he gave the name of Cabo de la Cruz, which it still retains. Coasting to the west he soon got entangled in a complete la byrinth of small islands and keys; some of them were low, naked, and sandy, others covered with verdure, and

others tufted with lofty and beautiful forests. To this archipelago, which extended as far as the eye could reach, and, in a manner, enamelled the face of the ocean with variegated verdure, he gave the name of the Queen's Garden. He persuaded himself that these were the islands mentioned by Sir John Mandeville, and Marco Polo, as fringing the coast of Asia; if so, he must soon arrive at the dominions of the Grand Khan.

There was much in the character of the scenery to favour the idea. As the ships glided along the smooth and glassy channels which separated the islands, the magnificence of their vegetation, the soft odours wafted from flowers, and blossoms, and aromatic shrubs, the splendid plumage of scarlet cranes, flamingoes, and other tropical birds, and the gawdy clouds of butterflies, all resembled what is described of oriental climes.

Emerging from the labyrinth of the Queen's Garden, Columbus pursued his voyage with a prosperous breeze along that part of the southern side of Cuba, where, for nearly thirty-five leagues the navigation is free from banks and islands: to his left, was the broad and open sea, whose dark blue colour gave token of ample depth; to his right extended a richly wooded country, called Ornofay, with noble mountains, frequent streams, and numerous villages. The appearance of the ships spread wonder and joy along the coast. The natives came off swimming, or in canoes, to offer fruits and other presents. 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 these wonderful strangers on their coasts.

Animated by the delusions of his fancy, Columbus continued to follow up this supposed continent of Asia; plunging into another wilderness of keys and islets towards the western end of Cuba, and exploring that perplexed and lovely coast, whose intricate channels are seldom visited, even at the present day, except by the lurking bark of the smuggler and the pirate.

It is almost incredible, the difficulties, and toils and perils, which he braved in this navigation, where his vessels had to be warped through narrow and shallow passages, and frequently ran aground. He was encouraged to proceed by information which he had received, or fancied he had received from the natives, of a country farther on called Mangon, where the people wore clothing, and which he supposed must be Mangi, the rich Asiatic province described by Marco Polo. He also understood from them, that among the mountains to the west, there was a powerful king, who reigned in great state over many populous provinces; that he wore a white garment which swept the ground, that he was called a saint, and never spoke, but communicated his orders to his subjects by signs. In all this we see the busy imagination of Columbus interpreting the imperfectly understood communications of the indians, into unison with his pre-conceived ideas. This fancied king with a saintly title was probably conjured up in his mind by, some descriptions which he thought accorded with what he had read of that mysterious potentate Prester John, who had long figured, sometimes as a monarch, sometimes as a priest, in the narrations of all eastern travellers.

Columbus now hoped, by continuing on, to arrive ultimately, at the Aura Chersonesus of the ancients;

doubling which he might make his way to the Red Sea, thence to Joppa, and so by the Mediterranean to Spain; or might circumnavigate Africa, pass triumphantly by the Portuguese as they were groping along the coast of Guinea, and after having thus circumnavigated the globe, furl his adventurous sails at the Pillars of Hercules, the ne plus ultra of the ancient world. But, though his fellow-voyagers shared his opinion that they were coasting the continent of Asia, they were far from sharing his enthusiasm, and shrunk from the increasing perils of the voyage. The ships were strained and crazed by frequently running aground. The cables and rigging were much worn, the provisions nearly exhausted, and the crews worn out and disheartened by incessant labour. The admiral, therefore, was finally persuaded to abandón all further prosecution of the voyage; but, before he turned back, he obliged the whole of the officers and seamen to sign a deposition, declaring their perfect conviction that Cuba was a continent, the beginning and the end of India. This singular instrument was signed near that deep bay called by some the bay of Philipina, by others, of Cortes. At this very time, a ship boy from the mast head might have overlooked the groupe of islands to the south, and have beheld the open sea beyond. Two or three days farther sailing, would have carried Columbus round the extremity of Cuba, would have dispelled his illusion, and probably have given an entirely different course to his subsequent discoveries.

Returning now towards the east, the crews suffered excessively from fatigue, and a scarcity of provisions. At length, on the 7th of July, they anchored at the mouth of a fine river, in a genial and abundant country, which they had previously visited, as they had come down