On Friday, the nineteenth of October, he descried an island, “toward which,” he remarks, “we directed our course, and before noon all three of the vessels arrived at the northern extremity, where a rocky islet and reef extend toward the north, with another between them and the main island. The Indians on board the ships called this island Saomete. I named it Isabela [in honor of the queen]. It lies westerly from the island of Fernandina, and the coast extends from the islet twelve leagues west to a cape I called Cabo Hermoso, for it was a beautiful, round headland, with a bold shore free from shoals. Part of the shore is rocky, but the remainder of it, like most of the coast here, a sandy beach.... This island is the most beautiful that I have yet seen, the trees in great numbers, flourishing and tall; the land is higher than the other islands, and exhibits an eminence, which, though it cannot be called a mountain, yet it adds a charm to the appearance of the island, and indicates the existence of streams of water in the interior. From this part toward the northeast is an extensive bay, with many large and dense groves.... I am not solicitous to examine particularly every thing here, which, indeed, could not be done in fifty years, for it is my desire to make all possible discoveries, and return to your highnesses, if it please our Lord, in April. However, should I meet with gold or spices in great quantity, I shall remain till I collect as much as possible, and for this purpose I am only proceeding in search of them.” ... Under the date of Sunday, the twenty-first of October, while at anchor off the island of Isabela, Columbus writes: “I shall depart immediately, if the weather serve, and sail round the island till I succeed in meeting with the king, in order to see if I can acquire any of the gold which, I hear, he possesses. Afterward I shall set sail for another very large island, which I believe to be Cipango, according to the signs I receive from the Indians on board. They call the island Colba [Cuba], and say there are many large ships and sailors there. Another island they call Bosio, and inform me that it is very large. The others that are on the course I shall examine on the way, and accordingly as I find gold or spices in abundance, I shall determine what to do. Nevertheless, I am determined to proceed to the continent, and visit the city of Guisay [the city of heaven, the residence of the Grand Khan], where I shall deliver the letters of your highnesses to the Grand Khan, and demand an answer, with which I shall return....