were missed they
had reached such a distance that only four could be taken by the boats
which went in pursuit, and these were secured when just leaving the
water: they had to swim considerably more than half a league. The next
morning the Admiral sent to desire that Guacamari would cause search to
be made for the women who had escaped in the night, and that he would
send them back to the ships. When the messengers arrived they found the
place forsaken and not a soul there; this made many openly declare their
suspicions, but others said they might have removed to another village,
as was their custom. That day we remained quiet, because the weather was
unfavorable for our departure. On the next morning the Admiral resolved
that as the wind was adverse, it would be well to go with the boats to
inspect a harbor on the coast at two leagues distance further up,[306-1]
to see if the formation of the land was favorable for a settlement; and
we went thither with all the ship's boats, leaving the ships in the
harbor. As we moved along the coast the people manifested a sense of
insecurity, and when we reached the spot to which we were bound all the
natives had fled. While we were walking about this place we found an
Indian stretched on the hill-side, close by the houses, with a gaping
wound in his shoulder caused by a dart, so that he had been disabled from
fleeing any further. The natives of this island fight with sharp darts,
which they shoot with straps in the same manner as boys in Spain shoot
their little darts, and with these they shoot with considerable skill to
a great distance; and certainly upon an unarmed people these weapons are
calculated to do serious injury. The man told us that Caonabo and his
people had wounded him and burnt the houses of Guacamari. Thus we are
still kept in uncertainty respecting the death of our people, on account
of the paucity of information on which to form an opinion, and the
conflicting and equivocal character of the evidence we have obtained. We
did not find the position of the land in this port favorable for healthy
habitation, and the Admiral resolved upon returning along the upper coast
by which we had come from Spain, because we had had tidings of gold in
that direction. But the weather was so adverse that it cost more labor to
sail thirty leagues in a backward direction than the whole voyage from
Spain; so that, what with the contrary wind and the length of the
passage, three months ha