ght it best to take as many men as he could into
the mountain region. He left the new city under the care of his brother,
Diego, and with all the force of healthy men which he could muster,
making a little army of nearly five hundred men, he marched away
from the sickly seaboard into the interior. The simple natives were
astonished by the display of cavalry and other men in armor. After a few
days of a delightful march, in the beauty of spring in that country, he
entered upon the long sought Cibao. He relinquished his first idea of
founding another city here, but did build a fortress called St. Thomas,
in joking reference to Cedo and others, who had asserted that these
regions produced no gold. While building this fortress, as it was
proudly called, he sent a young cavalier named Luxan for further
exploration.

Luxan returned with stories even greater than they had heard of before,
but with no gold, "because he had no orders to do so." He had found
ripe grapes. And at last they had found a region called Cipangi, cipan
signifying stone. This name recalled the memory of Cipango, or Japan.
With tidings as encouraging as this, Columbus returned to his city. He
appointed his brother and Pedro Margarita governors of the city, and
left with three ships for the further exploration of Cuba, which he had
left only partly examined in his first voyage. He believed that it was
the mainland of Asia. And as has been said, such was his belief till he
died, and that of his countrymen. Cuba was not known to be an island for
many years afterwards. He was now again in the career which pleased him,
and for which he was fitted. He was always ill at ease in administering
a colony, or ruling the men who were engaged in it. He was happy and
contented when he was discovering. He had been eager to follow the
southern coast of Cuba, as he had followed the north in his first
voyage. And now he had his opportunity. Having commissioned his
brother Diego and Margarita and appointed also a council of four other
gentlemen, he sailed to explore new coasts, on the twenty-fourth of
April.

He was soon tempted from his western course that he might examine
Jamaica, of which he saw the distant lines on the south. "This island,"
says the account of the time, "is larger than Sicily. It has only one
mountain, which rises from the coast on every side, little by little,
until you come to the middle of the island and the ascent is so gradual
that, whether you ris