ngs which have been presented to my observation. If I am
somewhat tedious, let my letter be read in your more idle hours, as fruit
is eaten after the cloth is removed from the table. Your excellency will
please to note that, commissioned by his highness the King of Spain, I
set out with two small ships, on May 18, 1499, on a voyage of discovery
to the southwest, by way of the great ocean, and steered my course along
the coast of Africa, until I reached the Fortunate Islands, which are
now called the Canaries. After having provided ourselves with all things
necessary, first offering our prayers to God, we set sail from an island
which is called Gomera, and, turning our prows southwardly, sailed
twenty-four days with a fresh wind, without seeing any land.

At the end of these twenty-four days we came within sight of land, and
found that we had sailed about thirteen hundred leagues, and were at that
distance from the city of Cadiz, in a southwesterly direction. When we
saw the land we gave thanks to God, and then launched our boats, and,
with sixteen men, went to the shore, which we found thickly covered with
trees, astonishing both on account of their size and their verdure, for
they never lose their foliage. The sweet odor which they exhaled--for
they are all aromatic--highly delighted us, and we were rejoiced in
regaling our nostrils.

We rowed along the shore in the boats, to see if we could find any
suitable place for landing, but, after toiling from morning till night,
we found no way or passage which we could enter and disembark. We were
prevented from doing so by the lowness of the land, and by its being so
densely covered with trees. We concluded, therefore, to return to the
ships, and make an attempt to land in some other spot.

We observed one remarkable circumstance in these seas.

It was that at fifteen leagues from the land we found the water fresh
like that of a river, and we filled all our empty casks with it. Having
returned to our ships, we raised anchor and set sail, turning our prows
southwardly, as it was my intention to see whether I could sail around a
point of land which Ptolemy calls the Cape of Cattegara, which is near
the Great Bay. In my opinion it was not far from it, according to the
degrees of latitude and longitude, which will be stated hereafter.
Sailing in a southerly direction along the coast, we saw two large rivers
issuing from the land, one running from west to east, and being four