pushed on a little farther, the exhausted men again bailing steadily,
till they entered a greener spot, now called Don Christopher's Cove. Not
a minute too soon did they reach it. Once the ships were grounded on the
sandy beach, the tide soon filled the hulls with water. The weary men
had to turn to and build cabins on the forecastles; and here at last
they managed to keep dry, and to lie down and rest.

Their first thought was how to get food. The resourceful Diego Mendez
offered to tramp over the island and trade whatever personal articles
the sailors had left for foodstuffs. In this he was successful; he
secured more than food; he exchanged the clothing on his own back for a
large canoe and six rowers, and returned by sea. The next aid Mendez
rendered the shipwrecked men showed even finer heroism than his lashing
the canoes together to rescue Bartholomew. He offered to go in an open
rowboat all the way from Jamaica to Haiti and ask Ovando to send a
rescue vessel!

Look at a map of the West Indies and see what this offer meant! Two
hundred miles to the western point of Haiti, two hundred more to the
governor at San Domingo, and this, too, across a sea frequented by
perilous hurricanes. It was a magnificent piece of volunteer work! Not
one chance in a hundred did Diego Mendez have of reaching his
destination, and he knew it; yet he offered to take the risk. One of his
shipmates caught some of his valorous spirit and offered to accompany
him; and the six native rowers, of course, had no choice but to go.

Mendez was as practical and ingenious as he was brave. He fastened
weatherboards along the rim of the canoe to prevent shipping water; he
fitted it with a mast and sail, and coated it with tar; and while he was
doing it the Admiral wrote a brief, businesslike letter to Ovando,