CHAP. V I . ]
CHRISTOPHER
COLUMBUS.
197
with which she had been treated, and the magnificent presents which had been bestowed upon her. The Indians now conducted the Spaniards to their houses, and set before them cassava bread, fish, roots, and fruits of various kinds.
They brought also great numbers of domesticated parrots,
and indeed offered freely whatever they possessed.
The great
river flowing through this valley was bordered with noble forests, among which were palms, bananas, and many trees covered with fruit and flowers. The air was mild as in April; the birds sang all day long, and some were even heard in the night.
The
Spaniards had not learned as yet to account for the difference of seasons in this opposite part of the globe; they were astonished to hear the voice of this supposed nightingale singing in the midst of December, and considered it a proof that there was no winter in this happy climate.
They returned to the ships enraptured
with the beauty of the country; surpassing, as they said, even the luxuriant plains of Cordova.
All that they complained of
was, that they saw no signs of riches among the natives.
And
here it is impossible to refrain from dwelling on the picture given by the first discoverers, of the state of manners in this eventful island before the arrival of the white men.
According to their
accounts, the people of Hayti existed in that state of primitive and savage simplicity, which some philosophers have fondly pictured as the most enviable on earth; surrounded by natural blessings, without even a knowledge of artificial wants.
The fertile earth
produced the chief part of their food almost without culture; their rivers and sea-coast abounded with fish, and they caught the utia, the guana, and a variety of birds.
This, to beings of their frugal
and temperate habits, was great abundance, and what nature fur nished thus spontaneously, they willingly shared with all the world.