Taking with him several of these natives to serve as guides, Columbus proceeded eight leagues still further to the westward, and anchored at a lovely point, to which he gave the name of _Aguja_, or the Needle. The country was highly populous, and was possessed of magnificent vegetation. The natives were friendly, and invited the admiral, in the name of their king, to come to land. Many of them wore collars of an inferior kind of gold, which they called _guanin_. But what chiefly attracted the attention of the Spaniards, was the sight of strings of pearls which they wore round their arms, and which they said were procured on the sea-coast to the north of _Paria_. In order to obtain specimens of these treasures, Columbus sent his boats on shore; his people being received with profound respect on the beach by the natives, headed by their _cacique_, and being regaled to the best of their ability. The Spaniards had no difficulty in obtaining the objects of their desire, the Indians gladly parting with their necklaces and bracelets in exchange for hawks’-bells or articles of brass. It is to the credit of Columbus, in that age of violence towards inferior races, that no act is recorded showing ingratitude for the favour with which he and his men were received on this the first occasion when Europeans mixed with inhabitants of the mainland of South America. Still imagining the coast of _Paria_ to be an island, the admiral left this lovely spot and again set sail, coasting to the westward in search for an outlet to the north. He found the water, however, growing shallower and fresher, so that he could not venture to proceed any further with his own ship. He therefore came to anchor, and sent forward a _caravel_ to ascertain whether there was an outlet to the ocean. On the following day he learned, on its return, that there was an inner gulf beyond, which contained the mouths of four great rivers, the waters of which sweetened the neighbouring sea. As it was impossible to proceed further westward, he had no alternative but to retrace his way and seek an exit by “the mouth of the Dragon.” Although he would gladly have remained to explore this opulent coast, he was compelled, as well by the condition of his health as by the scarcity of sea-stores in his ships, to hasten his departure for _Hispaniola_.