ship. Then he sent Diego de Arana, the brother of Beatriz and a trusty
friend, ashore in a boat to beg the help of the King; and Guacanagari
immediately sent his people with large canoes to unload the wrecked ship,
which was done with great efficiency and despatch, and the whole of her
cargo and fittings stored on shore under a guard. And so farewell to the
Santa Maria, whose bones were thenceforward to bleach upon the shores of
Hayti, or incongruously adorn the dwellings of the natives. She may have
been "a bad sailer and unfit for discovery"; but no seaman looks without
emotion upon the wreck of a ship whose stem has cut the waters of home,
which has carried him safely over thousands of uncharted miles, and which
has for so long been his shelter and sanctuary.


At sunrise the kind-hearted cacique came down to the Nina, where Columbus
had taken up his quarters, and with tears in his eyes begged the Admiral
not to grieve at his losses, for that he, the cacique, would give him
everything that he possessed; that he had already given two large houses
to the Spaniards from the Santa Maria who had been obliged to encamp on
shore, and that he would provide more accommodation and help if
necessary. In fact, the day which had been ushered in so disastrously
turned into a very happy one; and before it was over Columbus had decided
that, as he could not take the whole of his company home on the Nina, he
would establish a settlement on shore so that the men who were left
behind could collect gold and store it until more ships could be sent
from Spain. The natives came buzzing round anxious to barter whatever
they had for hawks' bells, which apparently were the most popular of the
toys that had been brought for bartering; "they shouted and showed the
pieces of gold, saying chuq, chuq, for hawks' bells, as they are in a
likely state to become crazy for them." The cacique was delighted to see
that the Admiral was pleased with the gold that was brought to him, and