displayed the banners of Castile, taking possession of the country in the
name of their Catholic Majesties; from which circumstances he named this
the River of Possession. [129]

At this place they found upwards of a hundred Indians assembled, laden
with bread and maize, fish and fowl, vegetables, and fruits of various
kinds. These they laid down as presents before the Adelantado and his
party, and drew back to a distance without speaking a word. The Adelantado
distributed among them various trinkets, with which they were well
pleased, and appeared the next day in the same place, in greater numbers,
with still more abundant supplies of provisions.

The natives of this neighborhood, and for a considerable distance
eastward, had higher foreheads than those of the islands. They were of
different languages, and varied from each other in their decorations. Some
were entirely naked; and their bodies were marked by means of fire with
the figures of various animals. Some wore coverings about the loins;
others short cotton jerkins without sleeves: some wore tresses of hair in
front. The chieftains had caps of white or colored cotton. When arrayed
for any festival, they painted their faces black, or with stripes of
various colors, or with circles round the eyes. The old Indian guide
assured the admiral that many of them were cannibals. In one part of the
coast the natives had their ears bored, and hideously distended; which
caused the Spaniards to call that region _la Costa de la Oreja_, or
"the Coast of the Ear." [130]

From the River of Possession, Columbus proceeded along what is at present
called the coast of Honduras, beating against contrary winds, and
struggling with currents which swept from the east like the constant
stream of a river. He often lost in one tack what he had laboriously