and ships would burn, but as our Lord at sight of the
afflictions which He gives is accustomed by interfering to the contrary
to alleviate them, He succored him by His mercy at the end of seven or
eight days, giving him very good weather to get away from that fire; with
which good weather he navigated towards the west 17 days, always
intending to return to the south, and place himself, as above said, in
such a region, that this Espanola should be to the north or
_septentrion_, where he thought he must find land before or beyond the
said place: and thus he intended to repair the ships which were already
opening from the past heat, and the supplies, of which he had a large
quantity, because of the necessity of taking them to this island and the
great difficulty in getting them from Castile, and which were becoming
worthless and damaged.

Sunday, July 22, in the afternoon, as they were going with good weather,
they saw innumerable birds pass from the west-south-west to the
north-east: he says that they were a great sign of land. They saw the
same the Monday following and the days after, on one of which days a
pelican came to the ship of the Admiral, and many others appeared another
day, and there were other birds which are called "frigate
pelicans."[330-1]

On the seventeenth day of the good weather which they were experiencing,
the Admiral was hoping to see land, because of the said signs of the
birds, and as he did not see it Monday, or the next day, Tuesday, July
31, as they lacked water, he decided to change his route, and this was to
the west, and to go to the right, and make for the island of Dominica, or
some of the islands of the Canibales, which to-day are called the
Caribes, and thus he ordered the course to the north, quarter north-east,
and went that way until midday. "But as His Divine Majesty," he says,
"has always used mercy with me, a sailor from Guelva,[330-2] my servant,
who was called Alonso Perez, by chance and conjecture ascended to the
round top and saw land to the west, and he was 15 leagues from it, and
that part which appeared were three rocks or mountains." These are his
words. He named this land "The Island of the Trinity,"[331-1] because he
had determined that the first land he discovered should be named thus.
"And it pleased our Lord," he says, "by His Exalted Majesty, that the
first lands seen were three rocks all united at the base, I say three
mountains, all at one time and in one glance."