t seems to be 15 or 20 leagues long. A river flows through it, and
it is all inhabited and cultivated, and as green as Castile in May or
June; but the night contains 14 hours, the land being so far north. This
port is very good for all the winds that can blow, being enclosed and
deep, and the shores peopled by a good and gentle race without arms or
evil designs. Any ship may lie within it without fear that other ships
will enter at night to attack her, because, although the entrance is over
two leagues wide, it is protected by reefs of rocks which are barely
awash; and there is only a very narrow channel through the reef, which
looks as if it had been artificially made, leaving an open door by which
ships may enter. In the entrance there are 7 fathoms of depth up to the
shore of a small flat island, which has a beach fringed with trees. The
entrance is on the west side, and a ship can come without fear until she
is close to the rock. On the N.W. side there are three islands, and a
great river a league from the cape on one side of the port. It is the
best harbor in the world, and the Admiral gave it the name of Puerto de
la Mar de Santo Tomas, because to-day it was that Saint's day. The
Admiral called it a sea, owing to its size.

_Saturday, 22nd of December_

At dawn the Admiral made sail to shape a course in search of the
islands which the Indians had told him contained much gold, some of
them having more gold than earth. But the weather was not favorable,
so he anchored again, and sent away the boat to fish with a net. The
lord of that land,[193-1] who had a place near there, sent a large
canoe full of people, including one of his principal attendants, to
invite the Admiral to come with the ships to his land, where he would
give him all he wanted. The chief sent, by this servant, a girdle
which, instead of a purse,[194-1] had attached to it a mask with two
large ears made of beaten gold, the tongue, and the nose. These people
are very open-hearted, and whatever they are asked for they give most
willingly; while, when they themselves ask for anything, they do so as
if receiving a great favor. So says the Admiral. They brought the
canoe alongside the boat, and gave the girdle to a boy; then they came
on board with their mission. It took a good part of the day before
they could be understood. Not even the Indians who were on board
understood them well, because they have some differences of words for
the names of thing