hat of San
Miguel, to see if a port could be found to shelter his vessel from the
bad weather. There was much wind and a high sea, and he was sailing until
night without being able to see either one land or the other, owing to
the thick weather caused by wind and sea. The Admiral says he was in much
anxiety, because he only had three sailors who knew their business, the
rest knowing nothing of seamanship.[247-1] He was lying-to all that
night, in great danger and trouble. Our Lord showed him mercy in that the
waves came in one direction, for if there had been a cross sea they would
have suffered much more. After sunrise the island of San Miguel was not
in sight, so the Admiral determined to return to Santa Maria, to see if
he could recover his people and boat, and the anchors and cables he had
left there.

The Admiral says that he was astonished at the bad weather he encountered
in the region of these islands. In the Indies he had navigated throughout
the winter without the necessity for anchoring, and always had fine
weather, never having seen the sea for a single hour in such a state that
it could not be navigated easily. But among these islands he had suffered
from such terrible storms. The same had happened in going out as far as
the Canary Islands, but as soon as they were passed there was always fine
weather, both in sea and air. In concluding these remarks, he observes
that the sacred theologians and wise men[248-1] said well when they
placed the terrestrial paradise in the Far East, because it is a most
temperate region. Hence these lands that he had now discovered must, he
says, be in the extreme East.

_Friday, 22nd of February_

Yesterday the Admiral anchored off Santa Maria, in the place or port
where he had first anchored. Presently a man came down to some rocks at
the edge of the beach, signalling that they were not to go away. Soon
afterwards the boat came with five sailors, two priests, and a scrivener.
They asked for safety, and when it was granted by the Admiral, they came
on board, and as it was night they slept on board, the Admiral showing
them all the civility he could. In the morning they asked to be shown the
authority of the Sovereigns of Castile, by which the voyage had been
made. The Admiral felt that they did this to give some color of right to
what they had done, and to show that they had right on their side. As
they were unable to secure the person of the Admiral, whom they intended
to