rushed back to the shore
and the ship, as fast as he could, to report what he had seen to the
Admiral.

Here, at last, was reason for hope that they had found one of the
Asiatic missions of the Church. Columbus at once landed a party,
instructing them to go forty miles inland, if necessary, to find people.
But this party found neither path nor roadway, although the country was
rich and fertile. Another party brought back rich bunches of grapes, and
other native fruits. But neither party saw any friars of the order of
Saint Mary. And it is now supposed that the Spaniard saw a peaceful
flock of white cranes. The traveller Humboldt describes one occasion,
in which the town of Angostura was put to alarm by the appearance of a
flock of cranes known as soldados, or "soldiers," which were, as people
supposed, a band of Indians.

In his interviews with the natives at one point and another, upon the
coast, Columbus was delighted with their simplicity, their hospitality,
and their kindly dealing with each other. On one occasion, when the Mass
was celebrated, a large number of them were present, and joined in the
service, as well as they could, with respect and devotion. An old man
as much as eighty years old, as the Spaniards thought, brought to
the Admiral a basket full of fruit, as a present. Then he said, by an
interpreter:

"We have heard how you have enveloped, by your power, all these
countries, and how much afraid of you the people have been. But I have
to exhort you, and to tell you that there are two ways when men leave
this body. One is dark and dismal; it is for those who have injured the
race of men. The other is delightful and pleasant; it is for those who,
while alive, have loved peace and the repose of mankind. If, then, you
remember that you are mortal, and what these retributions are, you will
do no harm to any one."

Columbus told him in reply that he had known of the two roads after
death, and that he was well pleased to find that the natives of these
lands knew of them; for he had not expected this. He said that the king
and queen of Spain had sent him with the express mission of bringing
these tidings to them. In particular, that he was charged with the
duty of punishing the Caribs and all other men of impure life, and of
rewarding and honoring all pure and innocent men. This statement so
delighted the old prophet that he was eager to accompany Columbus on a
mission so noble, and it was only by the urgen