, who were
mariners, had climbed up the trees to look at the star (the Pole-star)
and that they never could see it."

One of the accounts of this voyage(*) relates that the captive women,
who had taken refuge with the Spaniards, were persuaded by them to
entice some of the Caribs to the beach. "But these men, when they had
seen our people, all struck by terror, or the consciousness of their
evil deeds, looking at each other, suddenly drew together, and very
lightly, like a flight of birds, fled away to the valleys of the woods.
Our men then, not having succeeded in taking any cannibals, retired to
the ships and broke the Indians' canoes."

(*) That of Peter Martyr.

They left Guadeloupe on Sunday, the tenth of November. They passed
several islands, but stopped at none of them, as they were in haste to
arrive at the settlement of La Navidad in Hispaniola, made on the first
voyage. They did, however, make some stay at an island which seemed well
populated. This was that of San Martin. The Admiral sent a boat ashore
to ask what people lived on the island, and to ask his way, although,
as he afterwards found, his own calculations were so correct that he
did not need any help. The boat's crew took some captives, and as it
was going back to the ships, a canoe came up in which were four men, two
women and a boy. They were so astonished at seeing the fleet, that they
remained, wondering what it could be, "two Lombard-shot from the ship,"
and did not see the boat till it was close to them. They now tried
to get off, but were so pressed by the boat that they could not. "The
Caribs, as soon as they saw that flight did not profit them, with much
boldness laid hands on their bows, the women as well as the men. And I
say with much boldness, because they were no more than four men and two
women, and ours more than twenty-five, of whom they wounded two. To one
they gave two arrow-shots in the breast, and to the other one in the
ribs. And if we had not had shields and tablachutas, and had not come up
quickly with the boat and overturned their canoe, they would have
shot the most of our men with their arrows. And after their canoe was
overturned, they remained in the water swimming, and at times getting
foothold, for there were some shallow places there. And our men had much
ado to take them, for they still kept on shooting as they could. And
with all this, not one of them could be taken, except one badly wounded
with a lance-thr