return; but they are, as I have described, incurably timid. It is
true that when they are reassured and thrown off this fear they are
guileless, and so liberal of all they have that no one would believe it
who had not seen it. They never refuse anything that they possess when
it is asked of them; on the contrary, they offer it themselves, and they
exhibit so much loving kindness that they would even give their hearts;
and, whether it be something of value or of little worth that is offered
to them, they are satisfied. I forbade that worthless things, such as
pieces of broken porringers and broken glass, and ends of straps, should
be given to them; although, when they succeeded in obtaining them, they
thought they possessed the finest jewel in the world. It was ascertained
that a sailor received for a leather strap a piece of gold weighing two
castellanos_[18] _and a half, and others received for other objects, of
far less value, much more. For new blancas_[19] _they would give all
they had, whether it was two or three castellanos in gold or one or two
arrobas[20] of spun cotton. They took even bits of the broken hoops of
the wine barrels, and gave, like fools, all that they possessed in
exchange, insomuch that I thought it was wrong and forbade it. I gave
away a thousand good and pretty articles which I had brought with me in
order to win their affection; and that they might be led to become
Christians, and be well inclined to love and serve their Highnesses and
the whole Spanish nation, and that they might aid us by giving us things
of which we stand in need, but which they possess in abundance. They are
not acquainted with any kind of worship, and are not idolaters; but
believe that all power and, indeed, all good things are in heaven; and
they are firmly convinced that I, with my vessels and crews, came from
heaven, and with this belief received me at every place at which I
touched, after they had overcome their apprehension. And this does not
spring from ignorance, for they are very intelligent, and navigate all
these seas, and relate everything to us, so that it is astonishing what
a good account they are able to give of everything; but they have never
seen men with clothes on, nor vessels like ours. On my reaching the
Indies, I took by force, in the first island that I discovered, some of
these natives, that they might learn our language and give me
information in regard to what existed in these parts; and it so hap