Proceeding, the discoverers encountered a succession of gales which continued more than forty days, and having weathered them safely they were so delighted that in sailing round the point of their deliverance they thanked God, and called it Cape Gracias á Dios.[IV-9] All this time Columbus suffered severely. Indeed, he was now but little better than a wreck in body and mind. On the after part of the deck his bed was placed, and there he lay overwhelmed with pain and melancholy, lost in endless mazes of speculation. Now and then he would rouse himself to translate his visions, or to direct the management of the ship, for though half his senses should leave him, he was still a sailor from instinct; but had it not been for the faithful energy of the adelantado, the voyage might as well never have been undertaken. The mariners had now entered a smooth sea; with a favorable wind they passed rapidly down the Mosquito Coast, giving the name Limonares to a cluster of islands on which grew something like lemons or limes, and on the 16th of September anchored at the mouth of a large river. Boats were sent ashore for water, and in returning one was upset and the whole crew were drowned; from which melancholy occurrence the stream was named Rio del Desastre.[IV-10] Continuing, the 25th found the Spaniards off the Rio San Juan de Nicaragua, where, to escape a storm, they ran in behind an island, the native name of which was Quiriviri,[IV-11] but which from its verdant beauty Columbus called La Huerta, The Garden. There they rested several days, and found sweet speculation, easily inducing the savages to tell them such things as they should most delight to hear. Indeed, all along the coast had vague information been given, by signs ill interpreted, of a remarkable country called Ciguare, nine days' journey westward beyond the mountains. The people there were like the Spaniards, clothed, and armed with steel weapons, with horses and great ships. The women wore bands of coral and strings of pearls, and the commonest utensils were of gold. Ten days' journey from Ciguare must lie the river Ganges; and best of all, there was a passage thither by sea; all the Spaniards had to do was to keep right on; they could not miss the way. The Europeans gave full credit to these assertions. Thus from the beginning mankind have been directed, and oftentimes to the grandest discoveries, by mingled accident and ignorance, and wise men like Columbus have believed these supremely silly stories because it pleased them to do so. These savages may have had rumors of Mexico or Peru on which to build their brilliant fictions; their statements were fictions none the less. [Sidenote: SORCERIES, SAVAGE AND CIVILIZED.]