have compared them with others, which were written by that honourable gentleman, the Doctor Chanca, and other noble gentlemen who came with the Admiral in the voyages already described.” Bernaldez also tells us that Columbus at first supposed the land, which he called Juana, but which the natives called Cuba, to be an island, and that it was not until he had made a voyage along the coast that he inferred confidently that it was the mainland. To the questions of the Admiral on this subject, the Indians were able to give no satisfactory answer; “for,” says Bernaldez, “they are a stupid race, who think that all the world is an island, and do not know what a continent is.” The westward sail was continued, with some interruptions, from the 1st of May till the 12th of June, without any occurrence sufficiently remarkable to require extended notice. One statement of exceptional interest, however, is made by the writer already so frequently quoted. Bernaldez says that “at this point it occurred to the Admiral that, if he should be prospered, he might succeed in returning to Spain by the East, going to the Ganges, thence to the Arabian Gulf, by land, from Ethiopia to Jerusalem and to Joppa, whence he might embark on the Mediterranean, and arrive at Cadiz.” Although, in the opinion of the narrator, this passage would be possible, he says it would be very perilous; “for from Ethiopia to Jerusalem, the inhabitants are all Moors.” He rightly inferred that so near the close of the Moorish wars, the Spaniards would do well not to intrust themselves to the vicissitudes of a journey through Arabia. On the 12th of June the mutinous spirit of the crew was so general that the Admiral decided to turn back. It is easy to understand that he did so with great reluctance. He had determined to reach the continent, and if possible go to Cathay, the home of that luxury and wealth which had so excited the readers of John de Mandeville. Would he now return and confess to failure? In order to answer this question, he resorted to a device that must ever remain as a conspicuous stigma, not only upon his character, but also upon his good sense. He resolved to establish a geographical fact by a certificate under oath. He drew up the eighty men of his crew, and required them to swear before a notary that it was possible to go from Cuba to Spain by land. Accordingly, it was solemnly sworn that Cuba was a part of the mainland,--that is to say, Cathay; and it was further ordered that if any sceptic should deny this important fact, he should be fined ten thousand maravedis. If any lack of faith in this great geographical fact should disclose itself on the part of any common sailor, the culprit, as he would, of course, not have the money, was to have a hundred lashes, and then be incapacitated for further lying by having his tongue pulled out.