om that time until three made good 44 miles. Then
land was sighted, consisting of 7 or 8 islands, the group running north
and south, distant from us 5 leagues."

_Friday, 26th of October_

"The ship was on the south side of the islands, which were all low,
distant 5 or 6 leagues. I anchored there. The Indians[129-1] on board
said that thence to Cuba was a voyage in their canoes of a day and a
half; these being small dug-outs without a sail. Such are their canoes. I
departed thence for Cuba, for by the signs the Indians made of its
greatness, and of its gold and pearls, I thought that it must be
Cipango."

_Saturday, 27th of October_

"I weighed from these islands at sunrise, and gave them the name of Las
Islas de Arena, owing to the little depth the sea had for a distance of 6
leagues to the southward of them. We went 8 miles an hour on a S.S.W.
course until one o'clock having made 40 miles. Until night we had run 28
miles on the same course, and before dark the land was sighted. At night
there was much rain. The vessels, on Saturday until sunset, made 17
leagues on a S.S.W. course."

_Sunday, 28th of October_

"I went thence in search of the island of Cuba on a S.S.W. course, making
for the nearest point of it, and entered a very beautiful river without
danger of sunken rocks or other impediments. All the coast was clear of
dangers up to the shore. The mouth of the river was 12 _brazas_ across,
and it is wide enough for a vessel to beat in.[130-1] I anchored about a
lombard-shot inside." The Admiral says that "he never beheld such a
beautiful place, with trees bordering the river, handsome, green, and
different from ours, having fruits and flowers each one according to its
nature. There are many birds, which sing very sweetly. There are a great
number of palm trees of a different kind from those in Guinea and from
ours, of a middling height, the trunks without that covering, and the
leaves very large, with which they thatch their houses. The country is
very level." The Admiral jumped into his boat and went on shore. He came
to two houses, which he believed to belong to fishermen who had fled from
fear. In one of them he found a kind of dog that never barks, and in both
there were nets of palm-fibre and cordage, as well as horn fish-hooks,
bone harpoons, and other apparatus "for fishing, and several hearths. He
believed that many people lived together in one house. He gave orders
that nothing in the houses