After humble reverence and due commendations, etc. It may be that your Magnificence will be surprised by (this conjunction of) my rashness and your customary wisdom, in that I should so absurdly bestir myself to write to your Magnificence the present so-prolix letter: knowing (as I do) that your Magnificence is continually employed in high councils and affairs concerning the good government of this sublime Republic. And will hold me not only presumptuous, but also idly-meddlesome in setting myself to write things, neither suitable to your station, nor entertaining, and written in barbarous style, and outside of every canon of polite literature: but my confidence which I have in your virtues and in the truth of my writing, which are things (that) are not found written neither by the ancients nor by modern writers, as your Magnificence will in the sequel perceive, makes me bold. The chief cause which moved (me) to write to you, was at the request of the present bearer, who is named Benvenuto Benvenuti our Florentine (fellow-citizen), very much, as it is proven, your Magnificence�s servant, and my very good friend: who happening to be here in this city of Lisbon, begged that I should make communication to your Magnificence of the things seen by me in divers regions of the world, by virtue of four voyages which I have made in discovery of new lands: two by order of the king of Castile, King Don Ferrando VI., across the great gulf of the Ocean-sea, towards the west: and the other two by command of the puissant King Don Manuel King of Portugal, towards the south; telling me that your Magnificence would take pleasure thereof, and that herein he hoped to do you service: wherefore I set me to do it: because I am assured that your Magnificence holds me in the number of your servants, remembering that in the time of our youth I was your friend, and now (am your)
servant: and (remembering our) going to hear the rudiments of
grammar under the fair example and instruction of the venerable monk
friar of Saint Mark Fra Giorgio Antonio Vespucci: whose counsels and
teaching would to God that I had followed: for as saith Petrarch, I
should be another man than what I am. Howbeit soever I grieve not:
because I have ever taken delight in worthy matters: and although these
trifles of mine may not be suitable to your virtues, I will say to you
as said Pliny to M�cenas, you were sometime wont to take pleasure in my
prattlings: even though your Magnificence be continuously busied in
public affairs, you will take some hour of relaxation to consume a
little time in frivolous or amusing things: and as fennel is customarily
given atop of delicious viands to fit them for better digestion, so may
you, for a relief from your so heavy occupations, order this letter of
mine to be read: so that they may withdraw you somewhat from the
continual anxiety and assiduous reflection upon public affairs: and if I
shall be prolix, I crave pardon, my Magnificent Lord. Your Magnificence
shall know that the motive of my coming into his realm of Spain was to
traffic in merchandise: and that I pursued this intent about four years:
during which I saw and knew the inconstant shiftings of Fortune: and how
she kept changing those frail and transitory benefits: and how at one
time she holds man on the summit of the wheel, and at another time
drives him back from her, and despoils him of what may be called his
borrowed riches: so that, knowing the continuous toil which main
undergoes to win them, submitting himself to so many anxieties and
risks, I resolved to abandon trade, and to fix my aim upon something
more praiseworthy and stable: whence it was that I made preparation for
going to see part of the world and its wonders: and herefor the time and
place presented themselves most opportunely to me: which was that the
King Don Ferrando of Castile being about to despatch four ships to
discover new lands towards the west, I was chosen by his Highness to go
in that fleet to aid in making discovery: and we set out from the port
of Cadiz on the 10th day of May 1497, and took our route through the
great gulf of the Ocean-sea: in which voyage we were eighteen months (engaged):
and discovered much continental land and innumerable islands, and great
part of them inhabited: whereas there is no mention made by the ancient
writers of them: I believe, because they had no knowledge thereof: for,
if I remember well, I have read in some one (of those writers)
that he considered that this Ocean-sea was an unpeopled sea: and of this
opinion was Dante our poet in the xxvi. chapter of the Inferno, where he
feigns the death of Ulysses, in which voyage I beheld things of great
wondrousness, as your Magnificence shall understand. As I said above, we
left the port of Cadiz four consort ships: and began our voyage in
direct course to the Fortunates Isles which are called to-day la gran
Canaria, which are situated in the Ocean-sea at the extremity of the
inhabited west, (and) set in the third climate: over which the
North Pole has an elevation of 27 and a half degrees beyond their
horizon note and they are
280 leagues distant from this city of Lisbon, by the wind between mezzo
di and libeccio: note where we remained eight days, taking in provision of water, and wood and
other necessary things: and from here, having said our prayers, we
weighed anchor, and gave the sails to the wind, beginning our course to
westward, taking one quarter by southwest: note
and so we sailed on till at the end of 37 days we reached a land which
we deemed to be a continent: which is distant westwardly from the isles
of Canary about a thousand leagues beyond the inhabited region note
within the torrid zone: for we found the North Pole at an elevation of
16 degrees above its horizon, note
and (it was) westward, according to the shewing of our
instruments, 75 degrees from the isles of Canary: whereat we anchored
with our ships a league and a half from land; and we put out our boats
freighted with men and arms: we made towards the land, and before we
reached it, had sight of a great number of people who were going along
the shore: by which we were much rejoiced: and we observed that they
were a naked race: they shewed themselves to stand in fear of us: I
believe (it was) because they saw us clothed and of other
appearance (than their own): they all withdrew to a hill, and for
whatsoever signals we made to them of peace and of friendliness, they
would not come to parley with us: so that, as the night was now coming
on, and as the ships were anchored in a dangerous place, being on a
rough and shelterless coast, we decided to remove from there the next
day, and to go in search of some harbour or bay, where we might place
our ships in safety: and we sailed with the maestrale wind, note
thus running along the coast with the land ever in sight, continually in
our course observing people along the shore: till after having navigated
for two days, we found a place sufficiently secure for the ships, and
anchored half a league from land, on which we saw a very great number of
people: and this same day we put to land with the boats, and sprang on
shore full 40 men in good trim: and still the land�s people appeared
shy of converse with us, and we were unable to encourage them so much as
to make them come to speak with us: and this day we laboured so greatly
in giving them of our wares, such as rattles and mirrors, beads, spalline,
and other trifles, that some of them took confidence and came to
discourse with us: and after having made good friends with them, the
night coming on, we took our leave of them and returned to the ships:
and the next day when the dawn appeared we saw that there were infinite
numbers of people upon the beach, and they had their women and children
with them: we went, ashore, and found that they were all laden with
their worldly goods note
which are suchlike as, in its (proper) place, shall be related:
and before we reached the land, many of them jumped into the sea and
came swimming to receive us at a bowshot�s length (from the shore),
for they are very great swimmers, with as much confidence as if they had
for a long time been acquainted with us: and we were pleased with this
their confidence. For so much as we learned of their manner of life and
customs, it was that they go entirely naked, as well the men as the
women�. They are of medium stature, very well proportioned: their
flesh is of a colour the verges into red like a lion�s mane: and I
believe that if they went clothed, they would be as white as we: they
have not any hair upon the body, except the hair of the head which is
long and black, and especially in the women, whom it renders handsome:
in aspect they are not very good-looking, because they have broad faces,
so that they would seem Tartar-like: they let no hair grow on their
eyebrows, nor on their eyelids, nor elsewhere, except the hair of the
head: for they hold hairiness to be a filthy thing: they are very light
footed in walking and in running, as well the men as the women: so that
a woman recks nothing of running a league or two, as many times we saw
them do: and herein they have a very great advantage over us Christians:
they swim (with an expertness) beyond all belief, and the women
better than the men: for we have many times found and seen them swimming
two leagues out at sea without anything to rest upon. Their arms are
bows and arrows very well made, save that (the arrows) are not (tipped)
with iron nor any other kind of hard metal: and instead of iron they put
animals� or fishes� teeth, or a spike of tough wood, with the point
hardened by fire: they are sure marksmen, for they hit whatever they aim
at: and in some places the women use these bows: they have other
weapons, such as fire-hardened spears, and also clubs with knobs,
beautifully carved. Warfare is used amongst them, which they carry on
against people not of their own language, very cruelly, without granting
life to any one, except (to reserve him) for greater suffering.
When they go to war, they take their women with them, not that these may
fight, but because they carry behind them their worldly goods, for a
woman carries on her back for thirty or forty leagues a load which no
man could bear: as we have many times seen them do. They are not
accustomed to have any Captain, nor do they go in any ordered array, for
every one is lord of himself: and the cause of their wars is not for
lust of dominion, nor of extending their frontiers, no for inordinate
covetousness, but for some ancient enmity which in by-gone times arose
amongst them: and when asked why they made war, they knew not any other
reason to give than that they did so to avenge the death of their
ancestors, or of their parents: these people have neither King, nor
Lord, nor do they yield obedience to any one, for they live in their own
liberty: and how they be stirred up to go to war is (this) that
when the enemies have slain or captured any of them, his oldest kinsman
rises up and goes about the highways haranguing them to go with him and
avenge the death of such his kinsman: and so are they stirred up by
fellow-feeling: they have no judicial system, nor do they punish the
ill-doer: nor does the father, nor the mother chastise the children and
marvelously (seldom) or never did we see any dispute among them:
in their conversation they appear simple, and they are very cunning and
acute in that which concerns them: they speak little and in a low tone:
they use the same articulations as we, since they form their utterances
either with the palate, or with the teeth, or on the lips: note
except that they give different names to things. Many are the varieties
of tongues: for in every 100 leagues we found a change of language, so
that they are not understandable each to the other. The manner of their
living is very barbarous, for they do not eat at certain hours, and as
often-times as they will: and it is not much of a boon to them note
that the will may come more at midnight than by day, for they eat at all
hours: and they eat upon the ground without a table-cloth or any other
cover, for they have their meats either in earthen basins which they
make themselves, or in the halves of pumpkins: they sleep in certain
very large nettings made of cotton, suspended in the air: and although
this their (fashion of) sleeping may seem uncomfortable, I say
that it is sweet to sleep in those (nettings): and we slept
better in them than in the counterpanes. They are a people smooth and
clean of body, because of so continually washing themselves as they
do�. Amongst those people we did not learn that they had any law, nor
can they be called Moors nor Jews, and (they are) worse than
pagans: because we did not observe that they offered any sacrifice: nor
even had they a house of prayer: their manner of living I judge to be
Epicurean: their dwellings are in common: and their houses (are)
made in the style of huts, but strongly made, and constructed with very
large trees, and covered over with palm-leaves, secure against storms
and winds: and in some places (they are) of so great breadth and
length, that in one single house we found there were 600 souls: and we
saw a village of only thirteen houses where there were four thousand
souls: every eight or ten years they change their habitations: and when
asked why they did so: (they said it was) because of the soil
which, from its filthiness, was already unhealthy and corrupted, and
that it bred aches in their bodies, which seemed to us a good reason:
their riches consist of bird�s plumes of many colours, or of rosaries
which they make from fishbones, or of white or green stones which they
put in their cheeks and in their lips and ears, and of many other things
which we in no wise value: they use no trade, they neither buy nor sell.
In fine, they live and are contended with that which nature gives them.
The wealth that we enjoy in this our Europe and elsewhere, such as gold,
jewels, pearls, and other riches, they hold as nothing; and although
they have them in their own lands, they do not labour to obtain them,
nor do they value them. They are liberal in giving, for it is rarely
they deny you anything: and on the other hand, liberal in asking, when
they shew themselves your friends�. When they die, they use divers
manners of obsequies, and some they bury with water and victuals at
their heads: thinking that they shall have (whereof) to eat: they
have not nor do they use ceremonies of torches nor of lamentation. In
some other places, they use the most barbarous and inhuman burial, which
is that when a suffering or infirm (person) is as it were at the
last pass of death, his kinsmen carry him into a large forest, and
attach one of those nets, of theirs, in which they sleep, to two trees,
and then put him in it, and dance around him for a whole day: and when
the night comes on they place at his bolster, water with other victuals,
so that he may be able to subsist for four or six days: and then they
leave him alone and return to the village: and if the sick man helps
himself, and eats, and drinks, and survives, he returns to the village,
and his (friends) receive him with ceremony: but few are they who
escape: without receiving any further visit they die, and that is their
sepulture: and they have many other customs which for prolixity are not
related. They use in their sicknesses various forms of medicines, note
so different from ours that we marvelled how any one escaped: for many
times I saw that with a man sick of fever, when it heightened upon him,
they bathed him from head to foot with a large quantity of cold water:
then they lit a great fire around him, making him turn and turn again
every two hours, until they tired him and left him to sleep, and many
were (thus) cured: with this they make use of dieting, for they
remain three days without eating, and also of blood-letting, but not
from the arm, only from the thighs and the loins and the calf of the
leg: also they provoke vomiting with their herbs which are put into the
mouth: and they use many other remedies which it would be long to
relate: they are much vitiated in the phlegm and in the blood because of
their food which consists chiefly of roots of herbs, and fruits and
fish: they have no seed of wheat nor other grain: and for their ordinary
use and feeding, they have a root of a tree, from which they make flour,
tolerably good, and they call it Iuca, and another which they call
Cazabi, and another Ignami: they eat little flesh except human flesh:
for your Magnificence must know that herein they are so inhuman that
they outdo every custom (even) of beasts; for they eat all their
enemies whom they kill or capture, as well females as males with so much
savagery, that (merely) to relate it appears a horrible thing:
how much more so to see it, as, infinite times and in many places, it
was my hap to see it: and they wondered to hear us say that we did not
eat our enemies: and this your Magnificence may take for certain, that
their other barbarous customs are such that expression is too weak for
the reality: and as in these four voyages I have seen so many things
diverse from our customs, I prepared to write a common-place-book which
I name LE QUATTRO GIORNATE:
in which I have set down the greater part of the things which I saw,
sufficiently in detail, so far as my feeble wit has allowed me: which I
have not yet published, because I have so ill a taste for my own things
that I do not relish those which I have written, notwithstanding that
many encourage me to publish it: therein everything will be seen in
detail: so that I shall not enlarge further in this chapter: as in the
course of the letter we shall come to many other things which are
particular: let this suffice for the general. At this beginning, we saw
nothing in the land of much profit, except some show of gold: I believe
the cause of it was that we did not know the language: but in so far as
concerns the situation and condition of the land, it could not be
better: we decided to leave that place, and to go further on,
continuously coasting the shore: upon which we made frequent descents,
and held converse with a great number of people: and at the end of some
days we went into a harbour where we underwent very great danger: and it
pleased the Holy Ghost to save us: and it was in this wise. We landed in
a harbour, where we found a village built like Venice upon the water:
there were about 44 large dwellings in the form of huts erected upon
very thick piles, and they had their doors or entrances in the style of
drawbridges: and from each house one could pass through all, by means of
the drawbridges which stretched from house to house: and when the people
thereof had seen us, they appeared to be afraid of us, and immediately
drew up all the bridges: and while we were looking at this strange
action, we saw coming across the sea about 22 canoes, which are a kind
of boats of theirs, constructed from a single tree: which came towards
our boats, as they had been surprised by our appearance and clothes, and
kept wide of us: and thus remaining, we made signals to them that they
should approach us, encouraging them will every token of friendliness:
and seeing that they did not come, we went to them, and they did not
stay for us, but made to the land, and, by signs, told us to wait, and
that they should soon return: and they went to a hill in the background,
and did not delay long: when they returned, they led with them 16 of
their girls, and entered with these into their canoes, and came to the
boats: and in each boat they put 4 of the girls. That we marvelled at
this behavior your Magnificence can imagine how much, and they placed
themselves with their canoes among our boats, coming to speak with us:
insomuch that we deemed it a mark of friendliness: and while thus
engaged, we beheld a great number of people advance swimming towards us
across the sea, who came from the houses: and as they were drawing near
to us without any apprehension: just then there appeared at the doors of
the houses certain old women, uttering very loud cries and tearing their
hair to exhibit grief: whereby they made us suspicious, and we each
betook ourselves to arms: and instantly the girls whom we had in the
boats, threw themselves into the sea, and the men of the canoes drew
away from us, and began with their bows to shoot arrows at us: and those
who were swimming each carried a lance held, as covertly as they could,
beneath the water: so that, recognizing the treachery, we engaged with
them, not merely to defend ourselves, but to attack them vigorously, and
we overturned with our boats many of their almadie or canoes, for so
they call them, we made a slaughter (of them), and they all flung
themselves into the water to swim, leaving their canoes abandoned, with
considerable loss on their side, they went swimming away to the shore:
there died of them about 15 or 20, and many were left wounded: and of
ours 5 were wounded, and all, by the grace of God, escaped (death):
we captured two of the girls and two men: and we proceeded to their
houses, and entered therein, and in them all we found nothing else than
two old women and a sick man: we took away from them many things, but of
small value: and we would not burn their houses, because it seemed to us
(as though that would be) a burden upon our conscience: and we
returned to our boats with five prisoners: and betook ourselves to the
ships, and put a pair of irons on the feet of each of the captives,
except the little girls: and when the night came on, the two girls and
one of the men fled away in the most subtle manner possible: and next
day we decided to quit that harbour and go further onwards: we proceeded
continuously skirting the coast, (until) we had sight of another
tribe distant perhaps some 80 leagues from the former tribe: and we
found them very different in speech and customs: we resolved to cast
anchor, and went ashore with the boats, and we saw on the beach a great
number of people amounting probably to 4000 souls: and when we had
reached the shore, they did not stay for us, but betook themselves to
flight through the forests, abandoning their things: we jumped on land,
and took a pathway that led to the forest: and at the distance of a
bow-shot we found their tents, where they had made very large fires, and
two (of them) were cooking their victuals, and roasting several
animals, and fish of many kinds: where we saw that they were roasting a
certain animal which seemed to be a serpent, save that it had not wings,
and was in its appearance so loathsome that we marvelled much at its
savageness: Thus went we on through their houses, or rather tents, and
found many of those serpents alive, and they were tied by the feet and
had a cord around their snouts, so that they could not open their
mouths, as is done (in Europe) with mastiff-dogs so that they may
not bite: they were of such savage aspect that none of us dared to take
one away, thinking that they were poisonous: they are of the bigness of
a kid, and in length an ell and a half: note
their feet are long and thick, and armed with big claws: they have a
hard skin, and are of various colours: they have the muzzle and face of
a serpent: and from their snouts there rises a crest like a saw which
extends along the middle of the back as far as the tip of the tail: in
fine we deemed them to be serpents and venomous, and (nevertheless,
those people) ate them: we found that they made bread out of little
fishes which they took from the sea, first boiling them, (then)
pounding them, and making thereof a paste, or bread, and they baked them
on the embers: thus did they eat them: we tried it, and found that it
was good: they had so many other kinds of eatables, and especially of
fruits and roots, that it would be a large matter to describe them in
detail: and seeing that the people did not return, we decided not to
touch nor take away anything of theirs, so as better to reassure them:
and we left in the tents for them many of our things, placed where they
should see them, and returned by night to our ships: and the next day,
when it was light, we saw on the beach an infinite number of people: and
we landed: and although they appeared timorous towards us, they took
courage nevertheless to hold converse with us, giving us whatever we
asked of them: and shewing themselves very friendly towards us, they
told us that those were their dwellings, and that they had come hither
for the purpose of fishing: and they begged that we would visit their
dwellings and villages, because they desired to receive us as friends:
and they engaged in such friendship because of the two captured men whom
we had with us, as these were their enemies: insomuch that, in view of
such importunity on their part, holding a council, we determined that 28
of us Christians in good array should go with them, and in the firm
resolve to die if it should be necessary: and after we had been here
some three days, we went with them inland: and at three leagues from the
coast we came to a village of many people and few houses, for there were
no more than nine (of these): where we were received with such
and so many barbarous ceremonies that the pen suffices not to write them
down: for there were dances, and songs, and lamentations mingled with
rejoicing, and great quantities of food: and here we remained the
night:� and after having been here that night and half the next day,
so great was the number of people who came wondering to behold us that
they were beyond counting: and the most aged begged us to go with them
to other villages which were further inland, making display of doing us
the greatest honour: wherefore we decided to go: and it would be
impossible to tell you how much honour they did us: and we went to
several villages, so that we were nine days journeying, so that our
Christians who had remained with the ships were already apprehensive
concerning us: and when we were about 18 leagues in the interior of the
land, we resolved to return to the ships: and on our way back, such was
the number of people, as well men as women, that came with us as far as
the sea, that it was a wondrous thing: and if any of us became weary of
the march, they carried us in their nets very refreshingly: and in
crossing the rivers, which are many and very large, they passed us over
by skilful means so securely that we ran no danger whatever, and many of
them came laden with the things which they had given us, which consisted
in their sleeping-nets, and very rich feathers, many bows and arrows,
innumerable popinjays of divers colours: and others brought with them
loads of their household goods, and of animals: but a greater marvel
will I tell you, that, when we had to cross a river, he deemed himself
lucky who was able to carry us on his back: and when we reached the sea,
our boats having arrived, we entered into them: and so great was the
struggle which they made to get into our boats, and to come to see our
ships, that we marvelled (thereat): and in our boats we took as
many of them as we could, and made our way to the ships, and so many (others)
came swimming that we found ourselves embarrassed in seeing so many
people in the ships, for there were over a thousand persons all naked
and unarmed: they were amazed by our (nautical) gear and
contrivances, and the size of the ships: and with them there occurred to
us a very laughable affair, which was that we decided to fire off some
of our great guns, and when the explosion took place, most of them
through fear cast themselves (into the sea) to swim, not
otherwise than frogs on the margins of a pond, when they see something
that frightens them, will jump into the water, just so did those people:
and those who remained in the ships were so terrified that we regretted
our action: however we reassured them by telling them that with those
arms we slew our enemies: and when they had amused themselves in the
ships the whole day, we told them to go away because we desired to
depart that night, and so separating from us with much friendship and
love, they went away to land. Amongst that people and in their land, I
knew and beheld so many of their customs and ways of living, that I do
not care to enlarge upon them: for Your Magnificence must know that in
each of my voyages I have noted the most wonderful things, and I have
indited it all in a volume after the manner of a geography: and I
entitle it LE QUATTRO GIORNATE:
in which work the things are comprised in detail, and as yet there is no
copy of it given out, as it is necessary for me to revise it. This land
is very populous, and full of inhabitants, and of numberless rivers, (and)
animals: few (of which) resemble ours, excepting lions, panthers,
stags, pigs, goats, and deer: and even these have some dissimilarities
of form: they have no horses nor mules, nor, saving your reverence,
asses nor dogs, nor any kind of sheep or oxen: but so numerous are the
other animals which they have, and all are savage, and of none do they
make use for their service, that they could not be counted. What shall
we say of others (such as) birds? which are so numerous, and of
so many kinds, and of such various-coloured plumages, that it is a
marvel to behold them. The soil is very pleasant and fruitful, full of
immense woods and forests: and it is always green, for the foliage never
drops off. The fruits are so many that they are numberless and entirely
different from ours. This land is within the torrid zone, close to or
just under the parallel described by the Tropic of Cancer: where the
pole of the horizon has an elevation of 23 degrees, at the extremity of
the second climate. note
Many tribes came to see us, and wondered at our faces and our whiteness:
and they asked us whence we came: and we gave them to understand that we
had come from heaven, and that we were going to see the world, and they
believed it. In this land we placed baptismal fonts, and an infinite (number
of) people were baptised, and they called us in their language
Carabi, which means men of great wisdom. We took our departure from that
port: and the province is called Lariab: and we navigated along the
coast, always in sight of land, until we had run 870 leagues of it,
still going in the direction of the maestrale (north-west) making
in our course many halts, and holding intercourse with many peoples: and
in several places we obtained gold by barter but not much in quantity,
for we had done enough in discovering the land and learning that they
had gold. We had now been thirteen months on the voyage: and the vessels
and the tackling were already much damaged, and the men worn out by
fatigue: we decided by general council to haul our ships on land and
examine them for the purpose of stanching leaks, as they made much
water, and of caulking and tarring them afresh, and (then)
returning towards Spain: and when we came to this determination, we were
close to a harbour the best in the world: into which we entered with our
vessels: where we found an immense number of people: who received us
with much friendliness: and on the shore we made a bastion note
with our boats and with barrels and casks, and our artillery, which
commanded every point: and our ships having been unloaded and lightened,
we drew them upon land, and repaired them in everything that was
needful: and the land�s people gave us very great assistance: and
continually furnished us with their victuals: so that in this port we
tasted little of our own, which suited our game well: for the stock of
provisions which we had for our return-passage was little and of sorry
kind: where (i.e., there) we remained 37 days: and went many
times to their villages: where they paid us the greatest honour: and (now)
desiring to depart upon our voyage, they made complaint to us how at
certain times of the year there came from over the sea to this their
land, a race of people very cruel, and enemies of theirs: and (who)
by means of treachery or of violence slew many of them, and ate them:
and some they made captives, and carried them away to their houses, or
country: and how they could scarcely contrive to defend themselves from
them, making signs to us that (those) were an island-people and
lived out in the sea about a hundred leagues away: and so piteously did
they tell us this that we believed them: and we promised to avenge them
of so much wrong: and they remained overjoyed herewith: and many of them
offered to come along with us, but we did not wish to take them for many
reasons, save that we took seven of them, on condition that they should
come (i.e., return home) afterwards in (their own) canoes
because we did not desire to be obliged to take them back to their
country: and they were contented: and so we departed from those people,
leaving them very friendly towards us: and having repaired our ships,
and sailing for seven days out to sea between northeast and east: and at
the end of the seven days we came upon the islands, which were many,
some (of them) inhabited, and others deserted: and we anchored at
one of them: where we saw a numerous people who called it Iti: and
having manned our boats with strong crews, and (taken ammunition for)
three cannon-shots in each, we made for land: where we found (assembled)
about 400 men, and many women, and all naked like the former (peoples).
They were of good bodily presence, and seemed right warlike men: for
they were armed with their weapons, which are bows, arrows, and lances:
and most of them had square wooden targets: and bore them in such wise
that they did not impede the drawing of the bow: and when we had come
with our boats to about a bowshot of the land, they all sprang into the
water to shoot their arrows at us and to prevent us from leaping upon
shore: and they all had their bodies painted of various colours, and (were)
plumed with feathers: and the interpreters who were with us told us that
when (those) displayed themselves so painted and plumed, it was
to betoken that they wanted to fight: and so much did they persist in
preventing us from landing, that we were compelled to play with our
artillery: and when they heard the explosion, and saw one of them fall
dead, they all drew back to the land: wherefore, forming our council, we
resolved that 42 of our men should spring on shore, and, if they waited
for us, fight them: thus having leaped to land with our weapons, they
advanced towards us, and we fought for about an hour, for we had but
little advantage of them, except that our arbalasters and gunners killed
some of them, and they wounded certain of our men: and this was because
they did not stand to receive us within reach of lance-thrust or
sword-blow: and so much vigour did we put forth at last, that we came to
sword-play, and when they tasted our weapons, they betook themselves to
flight through the mountains and the forests, and left us conquerors of
the field with many of them dead and a good number wounded: and for that
day we� took no other pains to pursue them, because we were very
weary, and we returned to our ships, with so much gladness on the part
of the seven men who had come with us that they could not contain
themselves (for joy): and when the next day arrived, we beheld
coming across the land a great number of people, with signals of battle,
continually sounding horns, and various other instruments which they use
in their wars: and all (of them) painted and feathered, so that
it was a very strange sight to behold them: wherefore all the ships held
council, and it was resolved that since this people desired hostility
with us, we should proceed to encounter them and try by every means to
make them friends: in case they would not have our friendship, that we
should treat them as foes, and so many of them as we might be able to
capture should all be our slaves: and having armed ourselves as best we
could, we advanced towards the shore, and they sought not to hinder us
from landing, I believe from fear of the cannons: and we jumped on land,
57 men in four squadrons, each one (consisting of) a captain and
his company: and we came to blows with them: and after a long battle (in
which) many of them (were) slain, we put them to flight, and
pursued them to a village, having made about 250 of them captives, and
we burnt the village, and returned to our ships with victory and 250
prisoners, leaving many of them dead and wounded, and of ours there were
no more than one killed and 22 wounded, who all escaped (i.e.,
recovered), God be thanked. We arranged our departure, and seven
men, of whom five were wounded, took an island-canoe, and with seven
prisoners that we gave them, four women and three men, returned to their
(own) country full of gladness, wondering at our strength: and we
thereon made sail for Spain with 222 captive slaves: and reached the
port of Calis (Cadiz) on the 15th day of October, 1498, where we
were well received and sold our slaves. Such is what befell me, most
noteworthy, in this my first voyage.