gal, who offered to the Admiral what
there was on the island of which he might be in need. The Admiral thanked
him and ordered that he should be given some supplies from Castile, which
he enjoyed very much.

Here he relates how the lepers came there to be cured because of the
great abundance of turtles on that island, which commonly are as large as
shields. By eating the flesh and constantly bathing in the blood of these
turtles, the lepers become cured.[324-3] The turtles in infinite number
come there three months in the year, June, July, and August, from the
mainland, which is Ethiopia,[324-4] to lay eggs in the sand and with the
claws and legs they scratch places in the sand and spawn more than five
hundred eggs, as large as those of a hen except that they have not a hard
shell but a tender membrane which covers the yolk, like the membrane
which covers the yolk of the hen's egg after taking off the hard shell.
They cover the eggs in the sand as a person would do, and there the sun
hatches them, and the little live turtles come out and then run in search
of the sea as if they had come out of it alive. They take the turtles
there in this manner: At night with lights which are torches of dry wood,
they go searching for the track of the turtle which is easily traced, and
find the turtle tired and sleeping. They come up quickly and turn it over
with the belly up and leave it, sure that it cannot turn itself back, and
go in search of another. And the Indians do the same in the sea; if they
come upon one asleep and turn it over it remains safe for them to take it
whenever they wish. The Indians, however, have another greater device for
taking them on the sea, which will be explained God willing when we give
a description of Cuba.[325-1]

The healthy persons on that island of Buenavista who lead a laborious
life were six or seven residents who have no water except brackish water
from wells and whose employment is to kill the big goats and salt the
skins and send them to Portugal in the caravels which come there for
them, of which in one year they kill so many and send so many skins that
they are worth 2000 ducats to the notary public, to whom the island
belonged. Such a great multitude of goats, male and female, have been
grown there, from only eight original head. Those who live there neither
eat bread nor drink wine during four or five months, nor anything else
except goat flesh or fish or turtles. All this they told to th