to count them,
and all of them so wild that they cannot be employed for
serviceable uses. But what shall I say of the birds, which
are so numerous and of so many species and varieties of
plumage that it is astounding to behold them? The country is
pleasant and fruitful, full of woods and forests which are
always green, as they never lose their foliage. The fruits
are numberless and totally different from ours. The land
lies within the torrid zone, under the parallel which
describes the Tropic of Cancer, where the pole is elevated
twenty-three degrees above the horizon.

"A great many people came to see us and were astonished at
our features and the whiteness of our skins. They asked us
where we came from, and we gave them to understand that we
came from heaven, with the view of visiting the world, and
they believed us. In this country we established a baptismal
font, and great numbers were baptized. They called us, in
their language, _Carabi_, which means men of great wisdom.
The natives call this province _Lariab_. We left the port
and sailed along the coast, in sight of land, until we had
run, calculating our advances and retrogressions, eight
hundred and seventy leagues towards the northwest, making
many stops by the way and having intercourse with many
people. In some places we found traces of gold, but in small
quantities, it being sufficient for us to have discovered
the country and to know that there was gold in it.

"We had now been thirteen months on the voyage, and the
ships and rigging were much worn, the men very weary. So by
common consent we agreed to careen our ships on the beach in
order to calk and pitch them anew, as they leaked badly, and
then to return to Spain. When we took this resolution we
were near one of the best harbors in the world, entering
which we found a vast number of people, who received us most
kindly. We made a breastwork on shore with our boats and
casks, and placed our artillery so it would play over them;
then, having unloaded and lightened our ships, we hauled
them to land and repaired them wherever they needed it. The
natives were of great assistance to us, continually
providing food, so that in this port we consumed very little
of our own. This served us a very good turn, for our