g so great an extent of land that I could not
imagine it to be an island, but the continent of Cathay. I did not,
however, discover upon the coast any large cities, all we saw being a few
villages and farms, with the inhabitants of which we could not obtain any
communication, they flying at our approach. I continued my course, still
expecting to meet with some town or city, but after having gone a great
distance and not meeting with any, and finding myself proceeding toward
the north, which I was desirous, to avoid on account of the cold, and,
moreover, meeting with a contrary wind, I determined to return to the
south, and therefore put about and sailed back to a harbor which I had
before observed." That the actual landing was at or near the present port
of Nuevitas seems to be generally accepted.

Columbus appears to have been greatly impressed by the beauty of the
island. In his _Life of Columbus_, Washington Irving says: "From his
continual remarks on the beauty of scenery, and from his evident delight in
rural sounds and objects, he appears to have been extremely open to those
happy influences, exercised over some spirits, by the graces and wonders
of nature. He gives utterance to these feelings with characteristic
enthusiasm, and at the same time with the artlessness and simplicity of
diction of a child. When speaking of some lovely scene among the groves, or
along the flowery shores of these favored islands, he says, "One could
live there forever." Cuba broke upon him like an elysium. "It is the most
beautiful island," he says, "that ever eyes beheld, full of excellent ports
and profound rivers." A little discount must be made on such a statement.
Granting all that is to be said of Cuba's scenic charms, some allowance is
to be made for two influences. One is Don Cristobal's exuberance, and the
other is the fact that when one has been knocking about, as he had been,
for nearly three months on the open sea and among low-lying and sandy
islands and keys, any land, verdure clad and hilly, is a picture of
Paradise. Many people need only two or three days at sea to reach a similar
conclusion. In his letter to Luis de Santangel, Columbus says: "All these
countries are of surpassing excellence, and in particular Juana (Cuba,),
which contains abundance of fine harbors, excelling any in Christendom, as
also many large and beautiful rivers. The land is high, and exhibits chains
of tall mountains which seem to reach to the skie