and fathers had not been left unavenged. They exhibited a pile of
bones to the Spaniards who, shocked by this crime but forced to
conceal their real sentiments, remained silent, not daring to reprove
the Caribs, Similar stories which I suppress rather than offend
the ears of Your Holiness by such abominable narratives, are daily
repeated.

But we have strayed, O Most Holy Father, rather far from the regions
of Veragua and Uraba, which are the chief themes of our discourse.
Shall we not first treat of the immensity and the depth of the rivers
of Uraba, and of the products of the countries washed by their waters?
Shall I say nothing about the extent of the continent from east to
west, or of its breadth from north to south, nor of anything that
is reported concerning those regions as yet unknown? Let us return,
therefore, Most Holy Father, to Uraba, and begin by stating the new
names which have been given to those provinces, since they have come
under the authority of Christians.



BOOK IX


The Spaniards decided to name Veragua, _Castilla del Oro_, and Uraba,
_Nueva Andalusia_. As Hispaniola had been chosen to be the capital of
all the colonies of the islands, so likewise were the vast regions of
Paria divided into two parts, Uraba and Veragua, where two colonies
were established to serve as refuges and places of rest and
reprovisionment for all those who traversed those countries.