he remainder of
the night.

In the morning the Spaniards, on lifting the hatch, found to their
horror that their captives were all dead. Some had hanged themselves
with the ends of ropes, their knees touching the floor, while others lay
strangled, having drawn the ropes tight with their feet. Columbus,
fearing that the prisoners who had escaped would stimulate their
countrymen to some act of vengeance, was anxious to communicate with his
brother. It still seemed impossible for the boat to reach the shore,
when Pedro Ledesma, a pilot of Seville, volunteered to swim to the beach
if the boat would carry him outside the breakers and wait his return.

Stripping himself, he plunged into the sea, and buffeting the surges,
reached the shore. He here found the intended settlers verging on
despair, and also heard the fate of Diego Tristan.

With a message from the Adelantado, the brave pilot made his way back to
the boat. Columbus, on receiving the alarming intelligence brought by
the pilot, was thrown into a state of the greatest anxiety. Rather than
allow the settlement to be broken up, he would have joined the
Adelantado with all his people; but how, then, could he send tidings of
his important discovery to the sovereigns? After much trouble of mind
he resolved to embark the people and abandon the settlement.

Bad weather and a heavy sea rendered this for a long time impossible.
At length the wind going down, the sea became calm, and he was able to
send the boat on shore. Every exertion was at once made to bring off
the people. The zealous Diego Mendez had been actively employed in
making sacks to hold the biscuit. He also constructed a raft, which
greatly facilitated the conveyance of the stores, arms, and ammunition.

The caravel was also dismantled. Her provisions and stores were got
off, so that nothing remained but her hull. The joy of the Spaniards
when they found themselves safe on board was unbounded, and the Admiral,
as a reward for his services, gave the command of the caravel, vacant by
the death of the unfortunate Diego Tristan, to the zealous Diego Mendez.

By the end of April, with a favourable wind, Columbus left the
disastrous shores of Veragua; but his ships, honeycombed by the teredo,
could with difficulty be kept afloat. To the surprise of his pilots,
instead of standing northwards towards Hispaniola, he steered due east,
knowing that the the current, which has a strong set into the Caribbe