h as I endeavor to give a complete
account of it to your Majesties, my tongue cannot express the whole truth
or my tongue describe it; and I have been so overwhelmed at the sight of
so much beauty that I have not known how to relate it."

One more island he was yet to see in this marvellous series of
discoveries,--the one called by the natives Bohio or Babeque, now known as
Hayti, one of the most beautiful islands in the world in the splendor of
its tropical vegetation. Columbus and his men could describe it only by
comparison with the most beautiful provinces of the country from which
they came, and in consequence he named the island Hispaniola, or "Little
Spain."

Here he found the people as innocent and simple in their habits as those
of San Salvador, living in huts built of the palm-branches, wearing no
clothing, for the air was always warm and balmy, and passing life in a
holiday of indolence and enjoyment. To the Spaniards their life seemed
like a pleasant dream, their country a veritable Lotus land, where it was
"always afternoon." They had no wants nor cares, and spent life in easy
idleness and innocent sports. They had their fields, but the food plants
grew bountifully with little labor. The rivers and sea yielded abundance
of fish, and luscious tropical fruits grew profusely in their forests.
Thus favored by nature, they spent much of the day in repose, while in the
evenings they danced gayly in their fragrant groves with songs or the rude
music of their drums. After the coming of the Spaniards the clear tinkle
of the hawk's bells as they danced gave them the deepest delight, and for
those musical toys they were ready to barter everything they possessed.

In Hispaniola gold seemed more plentiful than the Spaniards had yet seen,
but they were still lured on to distant places, with the illusive hope
that this precious metal might there be found in quantities. Yet Columbus
felt forced to cease, for a time, the quest of the precious metal, and
sail for home with the story of the new world he had found. One of his
vessels had deserted him; another had been wrecked: if he should lose the
third he would be left without means of return and his great discovery
might remain unknown.

Moved by this fear, on the 4th of January, 1493, he spread the sails of
the one caravel left to him, and turned its prow towards Europe, to carry
thither the news of the greatest maritime discovery the world had ever
known. Thus ended in