ly perceived that the earth is hollow underneath,
for one may hear the steps of a horseman a distance of three miles and
a man on foot a distance of one mile. It is said there is a district
of _savana_ in the most westerly province of Guaccaiarima, inhabited
by people who only live in caverns and eat nothing but the products
of the forest. They have never been civilised nor had any intercourse
with any other races of men. They live, so it is said, as people did
in the golden age, without fixed homes or crops or culture; neither do
they have a definite language. They are seen from time to time, but it
has never been possible to capture one, for if, whenever they come,
they see anybody other than natives approaching them, they escape with
the celerity of a deer. They are said to be quicker than French dogs.

Give ear, Most Holy Father, to a very amusing exploit of one of these
savages. The Spaniards own cultivated fields along the edge of the
woods and thick forests, which some of them went to visit, as though
on a pleasure trip, in the month of September, 1514. All at once one
of these dumb men suddenly emerged from the woods and smilingly picked
up from the very midst of the Christians a young boy, son of the owner
of the field, whose wife was a native. The savage fled, making signs
that the people should follow him, so several Spaniards and a number
of naked natives ran after the robber, without, however, being able to
catch him. As soon as the facetious savage perceived the Spaniards
had given up the pursuit, he left the child at a crossroads where the
swineherds pass driving herds to pasture. One of these swineherds
recognised the child and taking it in his arms brought it back to the
father, who had been in despair, thinking this savage belonged to the
Carib race, and mourning the child as dead.

Pitch, of a quality much harder and more bitter than that obtained
from trees, is found on the reefs of Hispaniola. It consequently
serves better to protect ships against the gnawings of the worms
called bromas, of which I have elsewhere spoken at length. There are
likewise two pitch-producing trees; one is the pine, and the other
is called _copeo_. I shall say nothing about pines, for they grow
everywhere; but let us speak a little about the copeo tree, and give
a few details about the pitch and the fruit it produces. The pitch is
obtained in the same manner as from pine-trees, though it is described
as being gathered dro