Under These Circumstances, He Was Forced
To Turn Back Three Leagues To A Place Where He Had Observed A Large River
Discharging Itself Into The Sea, Forming A Good Harbour, Though Open To
The North-West.
He landed at an Indian town on this river, and found a
delightful plain, some way up the river;
At which place the river could
easily be drawn out in trenches or canals, to supply his intended town
with water, and might even be applied for the erection of mills, and all
other conveniencies. He therefore determined to build a town on this spot,
and ordered all the men and horses to be landed. To this place, which was
the first colony established in the West Indies, he gave the name of
Isabella, in honour of the queen of Castile, for whom he had
extraordinary respect. Finding abundance of stone and lime, and every
thing he could wish, and the land around being exceedingly fertile, he
applied himself diligently to build a church, magazines, and a house for
himself, all of stone, the others being of timber covered with thatch,
every person being allowed to build according to his own fancy and ability;
but the plan was regularly marked out in streets and squares.
As the people had been long at sea, to which they were unaccustomed, and
were now fatigued with much labour, while they were confined to short
allowance and disliked the country bread, they began to fall sick in great
numbers, though the country itself is very healthy, and many of them died.
They were much afflicted to find themselves reduced to such straits at a
vast distance from their native country, without hope of relief, and
disappointed in the prospect of acquiring that immense abundance of gold
which had induced them to embark in the expedition. The admiral himself
had endured much toil during the voyage, as he had to take charge of the
whole fleet, and was still forced to undergo much fatigue on shore, in
order to dispose all things in good order, that this important affair
which had been confided to his management might succeed according to his
wish. He was at length taken ill and confined to bed; yet he used every
endeavour to advance the building of the town, and that no time might be
spent in vain. On purpose to husband his provisons, he dispatched twelve
of the ships back to Spain, keeping five of the largest, two of them ships
and three caravels. About the same time he sent out Ojedo with fifteen men
to explore the country, and in particular to search out Cipango, about
which he was so much mistaken. Ojedo travelled eight or ten leagues
through an uninhabited country, and having passed a mountain, came to a
beautiful plain full of Indian towns, where he was well received. In five
or six days he reached Cibao, which was only 15 or 20 leagues from
Isabella; yet he could not travel any faster, having many rivers, brooks,
and ravines, to pass by the way.
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