beautiful islands, green, level, and fertile; and supposed them to be
the archipelago described by Marco Polo. He was enchanted by the lovely
scenery, the singing of the birds, and the brilliantly colored fish,
though disappointed in his hopes of finding gold or spice; but the
natives continued to point to the south as the region of wealth, and
spoke of an Island called Cuba.

He set sail in search of it, and was struck with its magnitude, the
grandeur of its mountains, its fertile valleys, sweeping plains, stately
forests, and noble rivers. He explored the coast to the east end of
Cuba, supposing it the extreme point of Asia, and then descried the
mountains of Hayti to the south-east. In coasting along this island,
which he named Hispaniola, his ship was carried by a current on a
sandbank and lost. The admiral and crew took refuge in one of the
caravels. The natives, especially the cacique Guacanagari, offered him
every assistance. The Spanish mariners regarded with a wistful eye the
easy and idle existence of these Indians, who seemed to live in a golden
world without toil, and they entreated permission to remain.

This suggested to Columbus the idea of forming the germ of a future
colony. The cacique was overjoyed, and the natives helped to build a
fort, thus assisting to place on their necks the yoke of slavery. The
fortress and harbour were named La Navidad.

Columbus chose thirty-nine of those who volunteered to remain, charged
them to be circumspect and friendly with the natives, and set sail for
Spain. He encountered violent tempests, his small and crazy vessels were
little fitted for the wild storms of the Atlantic; the oldest mariners
had never known so tempestuous a winter, and their preservation seemed
miraculous. They were forced to run into Tagus for shelter. The King of