them according to their deserts.
As for the innocent, he would protect and honour them because of their
virtues. Therefore, neither he nor any one whose intentions were pure
need be afraid; rather, if he or any other honourable man had been
injured in his interests by his neighbours he had only to say so.

These words of the Admiral afforded such pleasure to the old man that
he announced that, although weakened by age, he would gladly go with
Columbus, and he would have done so if his wife and sons had not
prevented him. What occasioned him great surprise was to learn that
a man like Columbus recognised the authority of a sovereign; but his
astonishment still further increased when the interpreter explained
to him how powerful were the kings and how wealthy, and all about the
Spanish nation, the manner of fighting, and how great were the cities
and how strong the fortresses. In great dejection the man, together
with his wife and sons, threw themselves at the feet of Columbus,
with their eyes full of tears, repeatedly asking if the country which
produced such men and in such numbers was not indeed heaven.

It is proven that amongst them the land belongs to everybody, just as
does the sun or the water. They know no difference between _meum_ and
_tuum_, that source of all evils. It requires so little to satisfy
them, that in that vast region there is always more land to cultivate
than is needed. It is indeed a golden age, neither ditches, nor
hedges, nor walls to enclose their domains; they live in gardens open
to all, without laws and without judges; their conduct is naturally
equitable, and whoever injures his neighbour is considered a criminal
and an outlaw. They cultivate maize, yucca, and ages, as we have
already related is the practice in Hispaniola.

On his return from Cuba to Hispaniola, the Admiral again came in sight
of Jamaica, and this time he skirted its southern coast from west to
east. Upon reaching the eastern extremity of this island, he beheld in
the north and on his left high mountains, which he believed to be the
southern coast of Hispaniola which he had not before visited. On the
calends of September he reached the port he had named San Nicholas,
and there repaired his ships, intending to again ravage the cannibal
islands and burn the canoes of the natives. He was determined that
these rapacious wolves should no longer injure the sheep, their
neighbours; but his project could not be realised because