CHAP. V I . ]
CHRISTOPHER
COLUMBUS.
337
C H A P T E R VI.
FOUNDING
OF THE
CITY
OF I S A B E L L A . — M A L A D I E S OF
THE
SPANIARDS. [1493.]
T H E misfortunes of the Spaniards both by sea and land, in the vicinity of this harbor, threw a gloom round the neighbor hood.
The ruins of the fortress, and the graves of their mur
dered countrymen, were continually before their eyes, and the forests no longer looked beautiful while there was an idea that treachery might be lurking in their shades.
The silence and
dreariness, also, caused by the desertion of the natives, gave a sinister appearance to the place.
It began to be considered by
the credulous mariners, as under some baneful influence or ma lignant star.
These were sufficient objections to discourage the
founding of a settlement, but there were others of a more solid nature.
The land in the vicinity was low, moist, and unhealthy,
and there was no stone for building;
Columbus determined,
therefore, to abandon the place altogether, and found his pro jected colony in some more favorable situation.
No time was to
be lost; the animals on board the ships were suffering from long confinement; and the multitude of persons, unaccustomed to the sea, and pent up in the fleet, languished for the refreshment of the land.
VOL.
I.
The lighter caravels, therefore, scoured the coast in
Y