g the
beautiful trees, the shrubs, fruits, and flowers, all so strange to
them.

The next morning canoes of all sizes, formed out of single trees, came
off, some holding one man, some forty or fifty, who managed them with
great dexterity.

They readily accepted toys and trinkets, which, supposing them to be
brought from heaven, possessed a supernatural virtue in their eyes. The
only things they had to give in return were parrots and balls of
cotton-yarn, besides cassava cakes, formed from the flour of a root
called yuca, which they cultivated in their fields. The Spaniards, who
were eagerly looking out for gold, were delighted to obtain some small
ornaments of that metal in exchange for beads and hawks' bells. As it
was a royal monopoly, Columbus forbade any traffic in it, as he did also
in cotton, reserving to the crown all trade in it.

Misled by the accounts he had read in Marco Polo's works, he was from
the first persuaded that he had arrived at the islands lying opposite
Cathay in the Chinese seas, and that the country to the south, which he
understood from the natives abounded in gold, must be the famous island
of Cipango.

San Salvador, where he first landed, still retains its name, though
called by the English from its shape Cat Island. It is one of the great
cluster of the Lucayos or Bahama Islands. Coasting round it in the
boats, the Admiral visited various spots, and had friendly intercourse
with the natives, to whom he gave glass beads and other trifles.

He landed at another place, where there were six Indian huts surrounded
by groves and gardens as beautiful as those of Castile.

At last the sailors, wearied with their exertions, returned to the
ships, carrying seven Indians, that they might, by acquiring the Spanish
language, serve as interpreters. Taking in a supply of wood and water,
the squadron sailed the same evening to the south, where the Admiral
expected to discover Cipango. As the Indians told him there were
upwards of a hundred islands in the neighbourhood, he was confirmed in
his belief that they must be those described by Marco Polo, abounding
with gold, silver, drugs, and spices.

Several other islands were visited, but the explorers looked in vain for
bracelets and anklets of gold. One day, just as the ships were about to
make sail, one of the San Salvador Indians on board the _Nina_, plunging
overboard, swam to a large canoe which had come near. A boat was sent
in chase, b