abundance of both fresh- and salt-water fish, of great
variety and good flavour. Many native fishing boats were found in
this harbour, and also a quantity of nets ingeniously made from stout
grasses worn by friction and interwoven with spun cotton cords. The
natives of Caramaira, Cariai, and Saturma are all skilful fishermen,
and it is by selling their fish to the inland tribes that they procure
the products they need and desire.

When the barbarians withdrew from the coast, the Spaniards entered
their boios, that is to say their houses. The natives frequently
attacked our men with fury, seeking to kill them all with flights
of poisoned arrows. When they realised that their houses were to be
invaded and robbed, and particularly when they witnessed their women
and the majority of their children carried into captivity, their fury
increased. The furniture found in these houses was discovered to be
made of large reeds gathered along the shore, or of various grasses
resembling cords. Woven mats of various colours, and cotton hangings,
upon which lions, eagles, tigers, and other figures were executed with
great care and taste, were found. The doors of the houses and of the
rooms inside were hung with snail-shells strung upon fine cord, which
the wind easily shook, producing a noise of rattling shells which
delighted them.

From various sources astonishing tales of the natives have been told
me. Amongst others, Gonzales Fernando Oviedo,[5] who is a royal
official with the title of inspector, boasts that he has travelled
extensively in the interior of the country. He found a piece of
sapphire larger than a goose's egg, and upon the hills he explored
with about twenty men, he claims that he has seen a large quantity of
emerald matrix, chalcedon, jasper, and great lumps of mountain amber.

[Note 5: _Sommario dell'Indie Occidenti_, cap. lxxxii., in
Ramusio.]

Attached to the tapestries woven with gold which the Caribs left
behind them in their houses when they fled, were precious stones:
Oviedo and his companions affirm that they saw them. The country also
has forests of scarlet wood and rich gold deposits. Everywhere along
the coast and on the banks of the rivers exist marcasites[6] which
indicate the presence of gold. Oviedo further states that in a region
called Zenu, lying ninety miles east of Darien, a kind of business is
carried on for which there are found in the native houses huge jars
and baskets, cleverly made of r