Excerpt from: The Log of Christopher Columbus * Sunday, 6 January 1493 (Part 2)

Taken from The Log of Christopher Columbus
Sunday, 6 January 1493 (Part 2)

An Indian, among those I had commended to Pinzon, told Pinzon that on the island of Babeque there was a great quantity of gold; since the Pinta was light and swift, he wished to withdraw and go by himself, leaving me. I wished, on the other had, to take my time and explore the coast of Juana (Cuba) and the Isla Espanola, since both of these were on a course to the east. After Pinzon went to Babeque the Indian told me that he found no gold. He then came to the coast of the Isla Espanola (which the Indians call Bohio) because other Indians told him that there was on this island a great amount of gold and many mines. Because of these circumstances he came within 45 miles of the Villa de la Navidad more than 20 days ago. Judging from this, it seems as though the news given by the Indians (on December 27^th) that they had seen the Pinta was true. It was on this account that King Guacanagari dispatched a canoe, and I sent a sailor with it, but the Pinta must have been gone by the time the canoe arrived.

The Pinta’s crew traded for a great deal of gold; for a piece of leather strap they were given good pieces of gold the size of two fingers, and at times as large as the hand. Pinzon took half and divided the other half among his people. So, Lords and Princes, I know that Our Lord miraculously ordered that the Santa Maria should remain here because it is the best place on the islands to make a settlement, and it is near the gold mines.

I learned that behind the island of Juana to the south there is another large island, on which there is a larger quantity of gold than on this one. There they find nuggets larger than beans; on this Isla Espanola the bits of gold taken from the mines are no larger than kernels of wheat. That island is called Yamaye.* I also learned that toward the east there is an island where the only inhabitants are women. I have heard this from many people. Further, I have learned that the Isla Espanola and Yamaye are distant from the mainland a 10 days’ journey in a canoe, which might mean 180 or 210 miles, and that the people there wear clothes.

*Since departing the fleet on 21 November, the Pinta had sailed to Babeque (Great Inagua Island) and thence to a location east of Monte Cristi on the island of Espanola.

*Jamaica. This is the first mention of the large island south of Cuba. It had the same Taino peoples and culture in 1492, and was first sighted by Columbus on May 4, 1494, during the second voyage.