ed his food among them;
whenever he stopped to repose in the mangrove trees, he took out his
treasured picture of the Virgin, which he had carefully preserved
through all his troubles, and placing it before him, commended himself
to the Holy Mother; and by persuading his companions to join him, he
renewed their patience and courage. It was on one of these occasions
that he made a vow to erect a chapel and leave his relic in the first
Indian town to which he came. At length, after incredible sufferings,
they reached a village; the natives gathered round the poor wanderers,
and gazed at them with wonder; they treated them with humanity, and
after restoring them to health and strength, aided and accompanied them
till they reached the point of land nearest Jamaica. At that spot they
procured canoes, arrived at a settlement of their countrymen, and thence
returned to St. Domingo.

Ojeda was too pious a Catholic to forget the vow he had made in his
distress, though it must have sorely grieved him to part with the relic
to which he attributed his safety in so many perils. At the village,
however, where he had been so kindly succoured, he faithfully performed
it.

"He built a little hermitage or oratory in the village, and
furnished it with an altar, above which he placed the picture.
He then summoned the benevolent cacique, and explained to him,
as well as his limited knowledge of the language, or the aid of
interpreters would permit, the main points of the Catholic
faith, and especially the history of the Virgin, whom he
represented as the mother of the Deity that reigned in the
skies, and the great advocate for mortal man.

"The worthy cacique listened to him with mute attention, and
though he might not clearly comprehend the doctrine, yet he
conceived a profound veneration for the picture. The sentiment
was shared by his subjects. They kept the little oratory always
swept clean, and decorated it with cotton hangings, laboured by
their own hands, and with various votive offerings. They
composed couplets or areytos in honour of the Virgin, which
they sang to the accompaniment of rude musical instruments,
dancing to the sound under the groves which surrounded the
hermitage.

"A further anecdote concerning this relique may not be
unacceptable. The venerable Las Casas, who records these facts,
informs us that he arrived