Tuesday, 15 January 1493
There is a great deal of cotton here, very fine and long, as well as a lot of mastic, and gold and copper. There is also much aji,* which is their pepper and is worth more than our pepper; no one eats without it because it is very healthy. Fifty caravels can be loaded each year with it on this Isla Espanola. There is a lot of seaweed in this bay of the same kind that we found in the ocean when we came to make the discovery. Because of this, I believe there are islands lying in a straight line to the east from where I began to find them. I am certain that this seaweed grows in shallow water near the land; if this is so, then these Indies are very close to the Canary Islands. For this reason I believe that the Canaries are less than 1,200 miles from the Indies.
*Chili pepper; the word is still commonly used. Not to be confuse with aje (yuca or sweet potatoes) or ajo (garlic).
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