In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

BECAUSE, O most Christian, and very high, very excellent, and puissant Princes, King and Queen of the Spains and of the islands of the Sea, our Lords, in this present year of 1492, after your Highnesses had given an end to the war with the Moors who reigned in Europe, and had finished it in the very great city of Granada, where in this present year, on the second day of the month of January, by force of arms, I saw the royal banners of your Highnesses placed on the towers of Alfambra, which is the fortress of that city, and I saw the Moorish King come forth from the gates of the city and kiss the royal hands of your Highnesses, and of the Prince my Lord, and presently in that same month, acting on the information that I had given to your Highnesses touching the lands of India, and respecting a Prince who is called Gran Can, which means in our language King of Kings, how he and his ancestors had sent to Rome many times to ask for learned men of our holy faith to teach him, and how the Holy Father had never complied, insomuch that many people believing in idolatries were lost by receiving doctrine of perdition: your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians and Princes who love the holy Christian faith, and the propagation of it, and who are enemies to the sect of Mahoma [Muhammad] and to all idolatries and heresies, resolved to send me, Cristóbal Colon [Christopher Columbus], to the said parts of India to see the said princes, and the cities and lands, and their disposition, with a view that they might be converted to our holy faith; and ordered that I should not go by land to the eastward, as had been customary, but that I should go by way of the west, whither up to this day, we do not know for certain that any one has gone.

I left the city of Granada on the 12th day of May, in the same year of 1492, being Saturday, and came to the town of Palos, which is a seaport; where I equipped three vessels well suited for such service; and departed from that port, well supplied with provisions and with many sailors, on the 3d day of August of the same year, being Friday, half an hour before sunrise, taking the route to the islands of Canaria, belonging to your Highnesses, which are in the said Ocean Sea, that I might thence take my departure for navigating until I should arrive at the Indies, and give the letters of your Highnesses to those princes, so as to comply with my orders. As part of my duty I thought it well to write an account of all the voyage very punctually, noting from day to day all that I should do and see, and that should happen, as will be seen further on. Also, Lords Princes, I resolved to describe each night what passed in the day, and to note each day how I navigated at night. I propose to construct a new chart for navigating, on which I shall delineate all the sea and lands of the Ocean in their proper positions under their bearings; and further, I propose to prepare a book, and to put down all as it were in a picture, by latitude from the equator, and western longitude. Above all, I shall have accomplished much, for I shall forget sleep, and shall work at the business of navigation, that so the service may be performed; all which will entail great labor.

Friday, 3rd of August

We departed on Friday, the 3d of August, in the year 1492, from the bar of Saltes, at 8 o’clock, and proceeded with a strong sea breeze until sunset, towards the south, for 60 miles, equal to 15 leagues; afterwards S.W. and W.S.W., which was the course for the Canaries.

Tuesday, 7th of August

The rudder of the Pinta was shipped and secured, and they proceeded on a course for the island of Lanzarote, one of the Canaries. They made, during the day and night, 25 leagues.

Wednesday, 8th of August

Opinions respecting their position varied among the pilots of the three caravels; but that of the Admiral proved to be nearer the truth. He wished to go to Gran Canaria, to leave the caravel Pinta, because she was disabled by the faulty hanging of her rudder, and was making water. He intended to obtain another there if one could be found. They could not reach the place that day.

Thursday, 9th of August

The Admiral was not able to reach Gomera until the night of Sunday, while Martin Alonso remained on that coast of Gran Canaria by order of the Admiral, because his vessel could not be navigated. Afterwards the Admiral took her to Canaria, and they repaired the Pinta very thoroughly through the pains and labor of the Admiral, of Martin Alonso, and of the rest. Finally they came to Gomera. They saw a great fire issue from the mountain of the island of Tenerife, which is of great height. They rigged the Pinta with square sails, for she was lateen rigged; and the Admiral reached Gomera on Sunday, the 2nd of September, with the Pinta repaired.

Sunday, 9th of September

This day the Admiral made 19 leagues, and he arranged to reckon less than the number run, because if the voyage was of long duration, the people would not be so terrified and disheartened. In the night he made 120 miles, at the rate of 12 miles an hour, which are 30 leagues. The sailors steered badly, letting the ship fall off to N.E., and even more, respecting which the Admiral complained many times.

Monday, 10th of September

In this day and night he made 60 leagues, at the rate of 10 miles an hour, which are 21/2 leagues; but he only counted 48 leagues, that the people might not be alarmed if the voyage should be long.

Wednesday, 12th of September

That day, steering their course, they made 33 leagues during the day and night, counting less.

Friday, 14th of September

That day they navigated, on their westerly course, day and night, 20 leagues, counting a little less. Here those of the caravel Niña reported that they had seen a tern and a boatswain bird, and these birds never go more than 25 leagues from the land.

Sunday, 16th of September

That day and night they steered their course west, making 39 leagues, but the Admiral only counted 36. There were some clouds and small rain. The Admiral says that on that day, and ever afterwards, they met with very temperate breezes, so that there was great pleasure in enjoying the mornings, nothing being wanted but the song of nightingales. He says that the weather was like April in Andalusia. Here they began to see many tufts of grass which were very green, and appeared to have been quite recently torn from the land. From this they judged that they were near some island, but[97] not the main land, according to the Admiral, “because,” as he says, “I make the main land to be more distant.”

Monday, 17th of September

They proceeded on their west course, and made over 50 leagues in the day and night, but the Admiral only counted 47. They were aided by the current. They saw much very fine grass and herbs from rocks, which came from the west. They, therefore, considered that they were near land. The pilots observed the north point, and found that the needles turned a full point to the west of north. So the mariners were alarmed and dejected, and did not give their reason. But the Admiral knew, and ordered that the north should be again observed at dawn. They then found that the needles were true. The cause was that the star makes the movement, and not the needles. At dawn, on that Monday, they saw much more weed appearing, like herbs from rivers, in which they found a live crab, which the Admiral kept. He says that these crabs are certain signs of land. The sea-water was found to be less salt than it had been since leaving the Canaries. The breezes were always soft. Every one was pleased, and the best sailors went ahead to sight the first land. They saw many tunny-fish, and the crew of the Niña killed one. The Admiral here says that these signs of land came from the west, “in which direction I trust in that high God in whose hands are all victories that very soon we shall sight land.” In that morning he says that a white bird was seen which has not the habit of sleeping on the sea, called rabo de junco (boatswain-bird).

Wednesday, 19th of September

The Admiral continued on his course, and during the day and night he made but 25 leagues because it was calm. He counted 22. This day, at 10 o’clock, a booby came to the ship, and in the afternoon another arrived, these birds not generally going more than 20 leagues from the land. There was also some drizzling rain without wind, which is a sure sign of land. The Admiral did not wish to cause delay by beating to windward to ascertain whether land was near, but he considered it certain that there were islands both to the north and south of his position, (as indeed there were, and he was passing through the middle of them). For his desire was to press onwards to the Indies, the weather being fine. For on his return, God willing, he could see all. These are his own words. Here the pilots found their positions. He of the Niña made the Canaries 440 leagues distant, the Pinta 420. The pilot of the Admiral’s ship made the distance exactly 400 leagues.

Friday, 21st September

Most of the day it was calm, and later there was a little wind. During the day and night they did not make good more than 13 leagues. At dawn they saw so much weed that the sea appeared to be covered with it, and it came from the west. A booby was seen. The sea was very smooth, like a river, and the air the best in the world. They saw a whale, which is a sign that they were near land, because they always keep near the shore.

Saturday, 22nd of September

They shaped a course W.N.W. more or less, her head turning from one to the other point, and made 30 leagues. Scarcely any weed was seen. They saw some sandpipers and another bird. Here the Admiral says: “This contrary wind was very necessary for me, because my people were much excited at the thought that in these seas no wind ever blew in the direction of Spain.” Part of the day there was no weed, and later it was very thick.

Monday, 24th of September

The Admiral went on his west course all day and night, making 14 leagues. He counted 12. A booby came to the ship, and many sandpipers.

Wednesday, 26th of September

The Admiral continued on the west course until afternoon. Then he altered course to S.W., until he made out that what had been said to be land was only clouds. Day and night they made 31 leagues, counting 24 for the people. The sea was like a river, the air pleasant and very mild.

Sunday, 30th of September

The western course was steered, and during the day and night, owing to calms, only 14 leagues were made, 11 being counted. Four boatswain-birds came to the ship, which is a great sign of land, for so many birds of this kind together is a sign that they are not straying or lost. They also twice saw four boobies. There was much weed. Note that the stars which are called Las Guardias (the Pointers), when night comes on, are near the western point, and when dawn breaks they are near the N.E. point; so that, during the whole night, they do not appear to move more than three lines or 9 hours, and this on each night. The Admiral says this, and also that at nightfall the needles vary a point westerly, while at dawn they agree exactly with the star. From this it would appear that the north star has a movement like the other stars, while the needles always point correctly.

Monday, 1st of October

Course west, and 25 leagues made good, counted for the crew as 20 leagues. There was a heavy shower of rain. At dawn the Admiral’s pilot made the distance from Hierro 578 leagues to the west. The reduced reckoning which the Admiral showed to the crew made it 584 leagues; but the truth which the Admiral observed and kept secret was 707.

Tuesday, 2nd of October

Course west, and during the day and night 39 leagues were made good, counted for the crew as 30. The sea always smooth. Many thanks be given to God, says the Admiral, that the weed is coming from east to west, contrary to its usual course. Many fish were seen, and one was killed. A white bird was also seen that appeared to be a gull.

Friday, 5th of October

The Admiral steered his course, going 11 miles an hour, and during the day and night they made good 57 leagues, as the wind increased somewhat during the night: 45 were counted. The sea was smooth and quiet. “To God,” he says, “be many thanks given, the air being pleasant and temperate, with no weed, many sandpipers, and flying-fish coming on the deck in numbers.”

Saturday, 6th of October

The Admiral continued his west course, and during day and night they made good 40 leagues, 33 being counted. This night Martin Alonso said that it would be well to steer south of west, and it appeared to the Admiral that Martin Alonso did not say this with respect to the island of Cipango [Japan]. He saw that if an error was made the land would not be reached so quickly, and that consequently it would be better to go at once to the continent and afterwards to the islands.

Sunday, 7th of October

The west course was continued; for two hours they went at the rate of 12 miles an hour, and afterwards 8 miles an hour. They made good 23 leagues, counting 18 for the people. This day, at sunrise, the caravel Niña, which went ahead, being the best sailer, and pushed forward as much as possible to sight the land first, so as to enjoy the reward which the Sovereigns had promised to whoever should see it first, hoisted a flag at the mast-head and fired a gun, as a signal that she had sighted land, for such was the Admiral’s order. He had also ordered that, at sunrise and sunset, all the ships should join him; because those two times are most proper for seeing the greatest distance, the haze clearing away. No land was seen during the afternoon, as reported by the caravel Niña, and they passed a great number of birds flying from N. to S.W. This gave rise to the belief that the birds were either going to sleep on land, or were flying from the winter which might be supposed to be near in the land whence they were coming. The Admiral was aware that most of the islands held by the Portuguese were discovered by the flight of birds. For this reason he resolved to give up the west course, and to shape a course W.S.W. for the two following days. He began the new course one hour before sunset. They made good, during the night, about 5 leagues, and 23 in the day, altogether 28 leagues.

Thursday, 11th of October

The course was W.S.W., and there was more sea than there had been during the whole of the voyage. They saw sandpipers, and a green reed near the ship. Those of the caravel Pinta saw a cane and a pole, and they took up another small pole which appeared to have been worked with iron; also another bit of cane, a land-plant, and a small board. The crew of the caravel Niña also saw signs of land, and a small branch covered with berries. Every one breathed afresh and rejoiced at these signs. The run until sunset was 27 leagues. After sunset the Admiral returned to his original west course, and they went along at the rate of 12 miles an hour. Up to two hours after midnight they had gone 90 miles, equal to 221/2 leagues. As the caravel Pinta was a better sailer, and went ahead of the Admiral, she found the land, and made the signals ordered by the Admiral. The land was first seen by a sailor named Rodrigo de Triana. But the Admiral, at ten o’clock, being on the castle of the poop, saw a light, though it was so uncertain that he could not affirm it was land. He called Pero Gutierrez, a gentleman of the King’s bed-chamber, and said that there seemed to be a light, and that he should look at it. He did so, and saw it. The Admiral said the same to Rodrigo Sanchez of Segovia, whom the King and Queen had sent with the fleet as inspector, but he could see nothing, because he was not in a place whence anything could be seen. After the Admiral had spoken he saw the light once or twice, and it was like a wax candle rising and falling. It seemed to few to be an indication of land; but the Admiral made certain that land was close. When they said the Salve, which all the sailors were accustomed to sing in their way, the Admiral asked and admonished the men to keep a good look-out on the forecastle, and to watch well for land; and to him who should first cry out that he saw land, he would give a silk doublet, besides the other rewards promised by the Sovereigns, which were 10,000 maravedis to him who should first see it. At two hours after midnight the land was sighted at a distance of two leagues. They shortened sail, and lay by under the mainsail without the bonnets.

[Friday, 12th of October]

The vessels were hove to, waiting for daylight; and on Friday they arrived at a small island of the Lucayos, called in the language of the Indians, Guanahani. Presently they saw naked people. The Admiral went on shore in the armed boat, and Martin Alonso Pinzon, and Vicente Yañez, his brother, who was captain of the Niña. The Admiral took the royal standard, and the captains went with two banners of the green cross, which the Admiral took in all the ships as a sign, with an F and a Y and a crown over each letter, one on one side of the cross and the other on the other. Having landed, they saw trees very green, and much water, and fruits of diverse kinds. The Admiral called to the two captains, and to the others who leaped on shore, and to Rodrigo Escovedo, secretary of the whole fleet, and to Rodrigo Sanchez of Segovia, and said that they should bear faithful testimony that he, in presence of all, had taken, as he now took, possession of the said island for the King and for the Queen his Lords, making the declarations that are required, as is now largely set forth in the testimonies which were then made in writing.

Presently many inhabitants of the island assembled. What follows is in the actual words of the Admiral in his book of the first navigation and discovery of the Indies. “I,” he says, “that we might form great friendship, for I knew that they were a people who could be more easily freed and converted to our holy faith by love than by force, gave to some of them red caps, and glass beads to put round their necks, and many other things of little value, which gave them great pleasure, and made them so much our friends that it was a marvel to see. They afterwards came to the ship’s boats where we were, swimming and bringing us parrots, cotton threads in skeins, darts, and many other things; and we exchanged them for other things that we gave them, such as glass beads and small bells. In fine, they took all, and gave what they had with good will. It appeared to me to be a race of people very poor in everything. They go as naked as when their mothers bore them, and so do the women, although I did not see more than one young girl. All I saw were youths, none more than thirty years of age. They are very well made, with very handsome bodies, and very good countenances. Their hair is short and coarse, almost like the hairs of a horse’s tail. They wear the hairs brought down to the eyebrows, except a few locks behind, which they wear long and never cut. They paint themselves black, and they are the color of the Canarians, neither black nor white. Some paint themselves white, others red, and others of what color they find. Some paint their faces, others the whole body, some only round the eyes, others only on the nose. They neither carry nor know anything of arms, for I showed them swords, and they took them by the blade and cut themselves through ignorance. They have no iron, their darts being wands without iron, some of them having a fish’s tooth at the end, and others being pointed in various ways. They are all of fair stature and size, with good faces, and well made. I saw some with marks of wounds on their bodies, and I made signs to ask what it was, and they gave me to understand that people from other adjacent islands came with the intention of seizing them, and that they defended themselves. I believed, and still believe, that they come here from the mainland to take them prisoners. They should be good servants and intelligent, for I observed that they quickly took in what was said to them, and I believe that they would easily be made Christians, as it appeared to me that they had no religion. I, our Lord being pleased, will take hence, at the time of my departure, six natives for your Highnesses, that they may learn to speak. I saw no beast of any kind except parrots, on this island.” The above is in the words of the Admiral…

In the name of Jesus and His Glorious Mother Mary, from whom all blessings come. On the 25th of September 1493, we departed from Cadiz with seventeen sails in perfect order in every way, that is to say, fifteen square-rigged caravels and two lateeners, and on the 2nd of October we reached the Grand Canary. The following night we sailed on, and on the 5th of the same month we reached Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, where if I told you what we did with a salute of guns and fireworks, it would take too long. This was done for the Lady of that place, with whom our Lord Admiral [Christopher Columbus] had fallen in love. In that place we took fresh supplies of what we needed.

On the 10th of October we sailed on our direct sea-journey route, but due to the unfavorable weather we remained near the Canary Islands for three days. On the 13th of October, Sunday, in the morning, we left the island of Ferro (El Hierro), the last of the Canary Islands, and our course was west-southwest. On the 26th of October, the vigil of Saints Simon and Jude, at around 4 in the afternoon, the perils of the sea turned in a way that you would not believe. We thought that our days were coming to an end. It lasted the whole night until the next day in such a way that the caravels could not find each other.

Our Lord Admiral called the first Santo Domingo because of the Sunday when it was discovered; the second Santa Maria Galanda for the love of his ship, which was called Maria Galanda (Maria the Gracious). The two islands were not too big. However, the Lord Admiral added them on the map. If I remember well, it took us twenty-two days from the island of Ferro (El Hierro) to the island of Santa Maria Galanda, but I believe that it would be easily doable in sixteen days with fair winds.

In the said island of Santa Maria Galanda we took water and wood. The island is not inhabited, although it is full of trees and flat. The same day we sailed from the island, and we came to a large island that is inhabited by Cannibals, who fled to the mountains as soon as they saw us. We landed on this island, and we stayed there for about six days. The reason was that eleven of our men, who formed a raiding party, went into the wilderness five or six miles, so that, when they turned to come back, they did not know how to find their way, although they were all sailors and looked for the sun, which they could not see well because of the thick and dense wood. For that reason, the Lord Admiral, seeing that those men neither were coming back nor could be found, sent two hundred men divided in four teams, with trumpets, horns, and lanterns, but for all this they could not find them. There was a time we were more doubtful that we would see the two hundred men than the first eleven, but as it pleased God, the men of the four teams came back very tired and very hungry. We thought that the eleven men had been eaten by the Cannibals, who used to do that.

However, in five or six days, those eleven men, as it pleased God, with little hope to find us anymore, lighted a fire above a cave, and seeing the fire we thought that it was them, and we sent them a boat, and in that way, they saved themselves. If there had not been an old woman who showed them the way using signs, they would have been lost, because on the following day we planned to make sail for our journey. On that island we took twelve very beautiful and very fat women from fifteen to sixteen years of age, along with two boys of the same age, who had the genital organ cut to the belly, and we thought that they had done it so that they did not mix with their wives or maybe to fatten them up and then eat them. Those boys had been taken by the Cannibals, and we sent them to Spain to the king to show them off. Our Admiral gave to that island the name of Santa Maria de Guadalupe (French Guadeloupe).

We sailed from this island of Santa Maria de Guadalupe, which is an island of Cannibals, on the 10th of November. On the 10th of the same month, we arrived to another island of Cannibals which was very beautiful and fertile, and we arrived in a beautiful port, and when the Cannibals saw us, they escaped to the mountains, as in the other island, and they emptied the houses, where we went and took what we wanted. And in these few days we found many islands where we did not go ashore, but sometimes we anchored, that is, at night; and when we did not anchor, we kept the ship hove-to, in order to not move and for fear of running into those islands, which our Admiral named the Eleven Thousand Virgins, for being very close together, and the previous one, Santa Cruz.

Being anchored one of those days, we saw coming from a cape a canoe, or a boat, as they call it in their language, beating the oars that it seemed a well-manned brigantine, on which there were three or four Cannibal men and two Cannibal women, and two Indian slaves, as the Cannibals call the others who are their neighbors in those other islands, who had recently had the genital organ cut to the belly, so that they were still recovering, and having the boat of the captain ashore, when we saw that canoe coming, we quickly jumped on the boat and chased that canoe. And while approaching the canoe, the Cannibals began shooting arrows with their bows with such a strength that, had it not been for the shields, half of us would have been wounded.  I warn you that one sailor who had a shield in his hand took an arrow that passed through the shield and penetrated his chest three inches deep so that he died in a few days. We took that canoe with all the men, and one Cannibal was wounded by a spear, in such a way that we thought he was dead. Having left him for dead at sea, we saw him starting to swim right away. Hence, we caught him and with the grapple and hauled him aboard where we cut off his head with an axe. We later sent the other Cannibals along with those slaves to Spain.

Since I was in the boat, I took a beautiful Cannibal woman whom our Lord Admiral gave me; having her in my cabin, since she was naked as is their custom, made me want to take my pleasure with her. Wanting to fulfill my desire, since she did not want to, she cut me with her nails in such a manner that I wished I had not started, but at that point, to tell you how it ended, I took a rope and gave her a lashing, for which she screamed in a way that was unheard of and you would not have believed. Finally, we agreed in such a way that she seemed to have been educated in a school of harlots. The Admiral named the cape of that island the Cape of the Arrow, because of the man who had died from an arrow.

On the 10th of November we sailed from that island with very bad weather. On the 18th we reached a very beautiful and large Indian island, called in their language Boriquen, which the Admiral called Saint John the Baptiste. While sailing for these five days both on the right and on the left we saw many islands, all of which the Admiral made us add separately on the map, and, for your information, we took fresh provisions in that island, and on the 21st we sailed, and on the 25th in the name of God we reached the island of Hispaniola also discovered by the said Admiral, where we anchored in an excellent port called Monte Cristo. In these few days we again had very bad weather, and we saw about ten islands. We estimated this course to be 300 miles from the island of Santo Domingo to Monte Cristo. In our sailing, we often could not follow a straight course, as we did not find deep waters.

On the 27th of November we sailed to Monte Santo, where the Admiral had left thirty-eight men on his previous trip, and on that same night we reached that place. On the 28th, we went ashore, where we found all of those men dead lying on the ground there without eyes. We thought that they had eaten them because as soon as they beheaded anyone, they gouged their eyes out and ate them. It could have been fifteen or twenty days since they were dead. We met the lord of that place called Goachanari, who with tears running over his breast, and so all his retinue, said that the lord of the mountains called Goacana had come with three thousand men, who killed them together with his own (Goachanari’s) men and stole from them for spite. We did not find anything of all that the Lord Admiral had left. Hearing that, we believed what they told us. We stayed ten days in this place, and on the 5th of December we left that aforesaid place, because it was unhealthy due to the swamps that are there, and we went to another place, still in the island, in an excellent port where we landed. We built two hundred houses there, which are small like our hunting cabins and are covered in thatch.

Having built the aforementioned houses for our residence, the inhabitants of the island, as far from us as one or two leagues, came to see us as if we had been their brothers, saying that we were men of God come from Heaven, and they stayed full of admiration to contemplate us and they brought us some of their things to eat, and we presented them with some of our things so that they behaved like brothers. And here the goal and the end of our journey finished although I will talk later about another voyage that I did after with the Lord Admiral when he decided to look for the mainland. But now I shall talk about something else, first about the search for gold in the island of Hispaniola.