se,
and Duns Scotus, and held stoutly to the conclusion that he had discovered
the site of the earthly Paradise. It is said, that he exclaimed to his
men, that they were in the richest country in the world.

Columbus did not forget to claim, with all due formalities, the possession
of this approach to Paradise, for his employers, the Catholic Sovereigns.
Accordingly, when at Paria, he had landed and taken possession of the
coast in their names, erecting a great cross upon the shore, which, he
tells Ferdinand and Isabella, he was in the habit of doing at every
headland, the religious aspect of the conquest being one which always had
great influence with the admiral, as he believed it to have with the
Catholic monarchs. In communicating this discovery, he reminds them how
they bade him go on with the enterprise, if he should discover only stones
and rocks, and had told him that they counted the cost for nothing,
considering that the Faith would be increased, and their dominions
widened.

GRACEFUL REARING OF NATIVES; BEAUTY OF THE LAND.

It was, however, no poor discovery of mere "rocks and stones" which the
admiral had now made. It will be interesting to see his first impressions
of the men and the scenery of this continent which he had now,
unconsciously, for the first time, discovered. He says, "I found some
lands, the most beautiful in the world, and very populous." The lands in
the island of Trinidad he had previously compared to Valencia, in Spain,
during the month of March. It is also noticeable that he had observed that
the fields were cultivated. Of the people, he says, "They are all of good
stature, well made, and of very graceful bearing, with much and smooth
hair;" and he mentions that on their heads they wore the beautiful Arab
head-dress (called keffeh), made of worked and coloured handkerchiefs,
which appeared in the distance as if they were silken.

The description given by Columbus of the natives whom he encounters in his
voyages is almost always favourable. Indeed, the description of any man or
thing depends as much on the person describing, as on the thing or person
described. Those little differences in look or dress, which excite the
ready mockery of the untravelled rustic, appear very slight indeed to the
man who, like Columbus or Las Casas, has seen many lands, and travelled
over many minds. The rude Spanish common soldier perceived a far greater
difference between himself and the Indian, th