ero_. From time to time crocodiles are found which, when they
dive or scramble away, leave behind them an odour more delicate than
musk or castor. The natives who live along the banks of the Nile
relate the same fact concerning the female of the crocodile, whose
belly exhales the perfumes of Araby.

[Note 9: The pineapple.]

From this point the Admiral put his fleet about, and returned over
his course, for he could no longer battle against the contrary
currents.[10] Moreover, his ships were rotting from day to day, their
hulks being eaten into by the sharp points of worms engendered by the
sun from the waters of these regions situated near the equator. The
Venetians call these worms _bissa_, and quantities of them come into
life in both the ports of Alexandria, in Egypt. These worms, which are
a cubit long and sometimes more, and never thicker than your little
finger, undermine the solidity of ships which lie too long at anchor.
The Spanish sailors call this pest _broma_. It was therefore because
he feared the _bromas_ and was wearied out with struggling against the
currents that the Admiral allowed his ships to be carried by the ocean
towards the west. Two leagues distant from Veragua he sailed up the
river Hiebra, since it was navigable for the largest vessels. Though
it is less important, yet the Veragua gives its name to the country,
since the ruler of that region, which is watered by both rivers, has
his residence on the bank of the Veragua.

[Note 10: Columbus describes the storms which prevailed during
that entire month of December as the most formidable he had ever
experienced; on the thirteenth his vessels had the narrowest possible
escape from a waterspout.]

Let us now relate the good and ill fortune they there encountered.
Columbus established himself on the banks of the Hiebra, sending his
brother Bartholomew Columbus, Adelantado of Hispaniola, in command of
sixty-eight men in ships' boats to Veragua. The cacique of the country
came down the river with a fleet of canoes to meet the Adelantado.
This man was naked and unarmed, and was accompanied by a numerous
following. Hardly had a few words been exchanged when the followers of
the cacique, fearing that he might weary himself or forget his
royal dignity by standing while he talked, carried a stone from the
neighbouring bank, and after washing and polishing it with care,
respectfully tendered it to their chief to serve as a chair. When
seated, the caciq