A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 03: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 03: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
This account agreed with that which was received by some Spaniards whom
the admiral had sent up into the country, and had gone to a town in the
interior where the cacique lay ill of his wounds. This he said had
prevented him from waiting upon the admiral and giving him an account of
the catastrophe of the Christians, which he narrated exactly in conformity
with the account given by his brother, and he requested that the admiral
would go to see him as he was unable to be moved. The admiral went
accordingly next day, and with great signs of sorrow the cacique related
all that had happened, and that he and his men had all been wounded in
endeavouring to defend the Christians, as appeared by their wounds, which
had not been inflicted by Christian weapons, but with _aragayas_ or wooden
swords and arrows pointed with fish bones. At the end of his discourse the
cacique presented to the admiral eight strings of small beads made of
white, green, and red stones, a string of gold beads, a royal crown of
gold, and three small calabashes full of gold dust, all of which might be
about four marks weight of gold, the mark being half a pound. In return
for all this the admiral gave him abundance of our baubles, which though
not worth three ryals or eighteen-pence, he yet valued exceedingly.
Although Guacanagari was very ill, he insisted upon going, with the
admiral to see the fleet, where he was courteously entertained, and was
much delighted to see the horses, of which he had received an account from
the Christians. And as some of those who had been killed had given him a
very erroneous account of our holy faith, the admiral used his best
endeavours to instruct him, and prevailed with him to wear an image of the
Virgin Mary suspended from his neck, which he had at first refused to
receive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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