se islands as extremely ferocious, and eaters of
human flesh. These possess many canoes, in which they visit all the
Indian islands, and rob and plunder whatever they can. They are no worse
formed than the rest, except that they are in the habit of wearing their
hair long, like women, and use bows and arrows made of reeds, with a
small stick at the end, for want of iron, which they do not possess.
They are ferocious amongst these exceedingly timid people; but I think
no more of them than of the rest. These are they which have intercourse
with the women of Matenino,[23] the first island one comes to on the way
from Spain to the Indies, and in which there are no men. These women
employ themselves in no labor suitable to their sex, but use bows and
arrows made of reeds like those above described, and arm and cover
themselves with plates of copper, of which metal they have a great
quantity._

[Illustration: THE RETURN OF COLUMBUS IN CHAINS TO SPAIN.

Marble statuary by Senor V. Vallmitjana, formerly in the Ministry of the
Colonies, Madrid; now in Havana, Cuba. (See page 31.)]

_They assure me that there is another island larger than Espanola in
which the inhabitants have no hair. It is extremely rich in gold; and I
bring with me Indians taken from these different islands, who will
testify to all these things. Finally, and speaking only of what has
taken place in this voyage, which has been so hasty, their Highnesses
may see that I shall give them all the gold they require, if they will
give me but a very little assistance; spices also, and cotton, as much
as their Highnesses shall command to be shipped; and mastic--hitherto
found only in Greece, in the Island of Chios, and which the Signoria[24]
sells at its own price--as much as their Highnesses shall command to be
shipped; lign aloes, as much as their Highnesses shall command to be
shipped; slaves, as many of these idolaters as their Highnesses shall
command to be shipped. I think I have also found rhubarb and cinnamon,
and I shall find a thousand other valuable things by means of the men
that I have left behind me, for I tarried at no point so long as the
wind allowed me to proceed, except in the town of Navidad, where I took
the necessary precautions for the security and settlement of the men I
had left there. Much more I would have done if my vessels had been in as
good a condition as by rights they ought to have been. This is much, and
praised be the eternal God, ou