the east and S.E., the Admiral did not
get under way this morning. He ordered the caravel to be filled up with
wood and water and with all other necessaries for the voyage. He wished
to explore all the coast of Espanola in this direction. But those he
appointed to the caravels as captains were brothers, namely, Martin
Alonso Pinzon and Vicente Anes. They also had followers who were filled
with pride and avarice, considering that all now belonged to them, and
unmindful of the honor the Admiral had done them. They had not and did
not obey his orders, but did and said many unworthy things against him;
while Martin Alonso had deserted him from the 21st of November until the
6th of January without cause or reason, but from disaffection. All these
things had been endured in silence by the Admiral in order to secure a
good end to the voyage. He determined to return as quickly as possible,
to get rid of such an evil company, with whom he thought it necessary to
dissimulate, although they were a mutinous set, and though he also had
with him many good men; for it was not a fitting time for dealing out
punishment.

The Admiral got into the boat and went up the river[216-1] which is near,
toward the S.S.W. of Monte Cristi, a good league. This is where the
sailors went to get fresh water for the ships. He found that the sand at
the mouth of the river, which is very large and deep, was full of very
fine gold, and in astonishing quantity. The Admiral thought that it was
pulverized in the drift down the river, but in a short time he found
many grains as large as lentils, while there was a great deal of the fine
powder.

As the fresh water mixed with the salt when it entered the sea, he
ordered the boat to go up for the distance of a stone's-throw. They
filled the casks from the boat, and when they went back to the caravel
they found small bits of gold sticking to the hoops of the casks and of
the barrel. The Admiral gave the name of Rio del Oro to the river.[217-1]
Inside the bar it is very deep, though the mouth is shallow and very
wide. The distance to the Villa de la Navidad is 17 leagues,[217-2] and
there are several large rivers on the intervening coast, especially three
which probably contain much more gold than this one, because they are
larger. This river is nearly the size of the Guadalquivir at Cordova, and
from it to the gold mines the distance is not more than 20
leagues.[217-3] The Admiral further says that he did not car