just east of Trinidad and Tobago; from about 50
miles north of Grenada to 50 miles south of the Orinoco River.]

FIRST VIEW OF AMERICAN CONTINENT

The first thing noticeable as he neared these shores, was that the trees
grew well on the margin of the sea. There were houses and people,--and
very beautiful lands, which reminded him, from their beauty and their
verdure, of the gardens of Valencia as seen in the month of March. It was
also to be observed that these lands were well cultivated.

On the following morning he continued in a westerly direction in search of
a port, where he might take in water, and refit his ships, the timber of
which had shrunk, from extreme heat, so that they sadly needed caulking.
He did not find a port, but came to deep soundings somewhere near Point
Alcatraz, where he brought to, and took in fresh water. This was on a
Wednesday, the first of August. From the point where he now was, the low
lands of the Orinoco must have been visible, and Columbus must have beheld
the continent of America for the first time.[18] He supposed it to be an
island of about twenty leagues in extent, and he gave it the somewhat
insignificant name of Zeta.

[Footnote 18: The northern part of the continent had been discovered by
Sebastian Cabot, on the 24th of June, 1497.]

The same signs of felicity which greeted his eyes on his first sight of
land, continued to manifest themselves. Farms and populous places[19] were
visible above the water as he coasted onwards; with the trees flourishing
close to the sea--a sure sign of the general mildness of the weather,
wherever it occurs.

[Footnote 19: "Vido muchas labranzas por luengo de Costa y muchas
Poblaciones."--LAS CASAS, Hist. de las Indias, MS., lib. i cap. 132.]

The next day he proceeded westwards along the southern part of Trinidad,
until he arrived It the westernmost point, which he called "La punta de
Arenal;" and now he beheld the gulf of Paria, which he called "La Balena"
(the gulf of the whale). It was just after the rainy season, and the great
rivers which flow into that gulf were causing its waters to rush with
impetuosity out of the two openings [20] which lead into the open sea. The
contest between the fresh water and the salt water produced a ridge of
waters, on the top of which the admiral was borne into the gulf at such
risk, that, writing afterwards of this event to the Spanish court, he
says, "Even to-day I shudder lest the waters s