"Friends," said some, "your proposal would be good if the place were such that by toiling one might hope to receive some profit; but this land, as you know, is already turned upside down, and it hath been disturbed a thousand times, and the caravels go by it every day, so that there is not a Moor, however simple he may be, that dareth to set foot on all this land; but rather reason teacheth that they must have been terrified and fled from here as far as they could. Wherefore it appeareth to us that it would be well to content ourselves with the booty we have, and that we should make our voyage straightway to our own kingdom and not waste time in a matter which we so plainly know to be impossible of profit for us." "Truth it is," said others, "that this land hath been roused even as you say, wherefore one of two things must needs be: Either the Moors are very far from here; or if they are here they will be so prepared as to be able to await any hostile attack that may be made upon them without fear, so that where we look for a capture they perchance may take us. And even if we pay heed to nothing else, consider what happened to the caravels of Lisbon, for they having obtained a cargo with which they could have very reasonably returned, sought to put all to the hazard of a venture, the result of which was as you have heard." The third opinion, which was that of the captains and of some of the picked men, was delayed a little, but they maintained nevertheless, that the landing was not to be given up. "You know," said they, "how in the isle of Tider[N160] were killed some Moors and others were taken, so that they cannot be counted at their former number, and the remainder are half conquered, for as you saw they fled before the points of our lances, as people who did not dare to try their strength against ours. But let us go and see if we can light upon any there, for if they are there it cannot be but that either of their flesh or their wool we shall take some quantity. And if perchance the island is now void of inhabitants, we can then give sure news of this to the Infant our lord; and from this it would appear that our expedition was not without great profit, since the Moors were not content to fly from us once, but with the fear of us had altogether abandoned their huts and the land where they were born and lived." Firmly stood by this opinion most of the chief men; yet the lower people nevertheless desired that no other matter should be undertaken, but that they should turn back to the kingdom. Howbeit they had to agree to the opinion of those who were worth more and understood better than they; and so they began presently to start on their expedition, and before night fell they arrived off the island, where they dropped their anchors, though not very close to it, and stayed there until they saw the sun had finished his daily toil.