n the territory of Hayti,
into which port he went to escape another storm. He left Yaquimo, July
14. (Las Casas, III. 108; Ferdinand Columbus, _Historie_, p. 289.) He
then passed south of Jamaica, and was carried by the currents northwest
till he reached the Queen's Garden, a group of many small islands south
of Cuba and east of the Isle of Pines, so named by him in 1494 on his
exploration of the coast of Cuba.

[391-2] From the Queen's Garden he sailed south July 27 (the Porras
narrative of this voyage, Navarrete, II. 283; in English in Thacher,
_Columbus_, II. 640 _et seqq._), and after a passage of ninety leagues
sighted an island Saturday, July 30. (Porras in Thacher, II. 643.) This
was the island of Guanaja about twelve leagues north of Trujillo,
Honduras. (Las Casas, III. 109.) Here a landing was made and a canoe was
encountered which was covered with an awning and contained Indians well
clothed and a load of merchandise. Notwithstanding these indications of a
more advanced culture than had hitherto been found, the Admiral decided
not to explore the country of these Indians, which would have led him
into Yucatan and possibly Mexico, but to search for the strait which he
supposed separated Asia from the continental mass he had discovered on
his third voyage (Paria, South America). He struck the mainland near
Trujillo, naming the point Caxinas. At or near this place they landed
Sunday, August 14, to say mass. (Las Casas, III. 112; Ferdinand Columbus,
_Historie_, p. 295.) From this point he coasted very slowly, sailing in
sight of land by day and anchoring at night, distressed by storms and
headwinds, some days losing as much ground as could be gained in two,
till September 12, when he reached Cape Gracias a Dios. (Las Casas, III.
113; _Historie_, p. 297; Porras narrative in Thacher, _Columbus_, II.
644.) It will be seen from this collation of the sources that the
statements in our text are far from exact, that they are in fact a very
general and greatly exaggerated recollection of a most trying experience.
It will be remembered that Ferdinand was on this voyage, but his
narrative says nothing of any storm between July 14 when he left the
Queen's Gardens and the arrival at Guanaja, a passage which Porras says
took three days. This passage, however, Las Casas describes apparently on
the basis of this letter as having taken sixty days (_Historia_, III.
108). Next the text of the _Historie_ presents a difficulty, for it