Hispaniola." Not only did he see the precious metal, but he heard that
"ten days inland" lived tribes who possessed quantities of gold and
silver. And then the natives spoke of something far more wonderful, had
Columbus but known it, than gold; for they said, also, that ten days'
tramp westward lay a vast sea. This, Columbus concluded, must be the
immense river Ganges; and his tired brain began figuring how, by a
little "tramping west," and a little river boating, and then some more
tramping, a Spaniard could get from Darien back to Spain, provided the
Moslems did not murder him on the way!

But he was not seeking for gold on this trip. He did not march ten days
inland. He turned a deaf ear to it and to all his importuning crew and
went searching for his "strait"; by which steadfastness of purpose he
just missed discovering the Pacific Ocean. It has been said that Fate
was always a little niggardly with Columbus, and never was it truer than
at this moment when she at last deafened his ear to the tale of gold and
sent him south.

All November and December he continued coasting along South America. But
his greedy crew could never forget the sight of those Veragua natives
actually smelting gold. The men became sulky and clamored to go back;
and furthermore, the ships were too worm-eaten and too covered with
barnacles to proceed. On December 5, in order to take the gold-seekers
back to Darien, he reluctantly gave over his search for the passage to
the Indian Ocean. But the minute he turned north new gales began to
blow. These continued so furiously that in a whole month they progressed
barely a hundred miles. All this time they were nearly starved; about
the only provisions left were their rotten biscuits and these were, as
Fernando tells us, so disgusting to look upon that "many waited till
night to eat their sop."