th the assistance of his Indian friends,
succeeded in calming the fears of the natives, who came off in sixteen
canoes, bringing cotton-yarn and other simple articles of traffic. He
forbade, however, all trading for anything but gold, that the natives
might be tempted to produce the real riches of their country.

Again misled by his guides, he was induced to believe that a powerful
chief lived in the interior of the country, and two of his officers were
therefore dispatched, carrying presents and specimens of spices and
drugs, to ascertain whether such productions were to be found there.
They were directed also to obtain all the information they could
respecting it.

While his envoys were absent he had his ships careened and repaired.
During this time reports were brought him of the existence of
cinnamon-trees, nutmegs, and rhubarb; and his native friends, when he
showed them gold and pearls, declared that there were people in an
island called Bohio who wore such things round their necks, arms, and
ankles.

The return of the envoys was eagerly looked forward to, but their report
when they appeared quickly disabused the Admiral's mind. After
travelling about twelve leagues they arrived at a village of about fifty
houses, containing a thousand inhabitants, who had received them with
every mark of respect, looking upon them as beings of a superior order.
The villagers, however, were as little advanced in civilisation as those
on the coast, nor was gold, cinnamon, nor pepper to be found among them,
although they said such things existed far off to the south-west.

On their return with some of the inhabitants, the Spaniards were
surprised to see them roll up the dried leaves of a plant which they
called "tobacco," and smoke it with a satisfaction which the voyagers
could not comprehend, as it appeared to them an unsavoury nauseous
indulgence, little dreaming what determined smokers their descendants
would become. The envoys described the country as fertile in the
extreme, the fields produced pepper, sweet potatoes, maize, pulse, and
yuca, while the trees were laden with tempting fruits of delicious
flavour. There was also a vast quantity of cotton,--some just growing,
some in full growth,--while the houses were stored with it partly
wrought into yarn and nets.

Columbus was, by the misapprehension of terms, led into many errors.
Bohio, meaning simply "a house," and therefore signifying a populous
island, was freque