CHAP. II.]
CHRISTOPHER
COLUMBUS.
117
ers and blossoms; and numerous fountains and limpid streams kept up a universal verdure and freshness. Columbus was so much charmed with the beauty and amenity of this part of the coast, that he gave it the name of The Gardens. The natives came off in great numbers, in canoes, of superior construction to those hitherto seen, being very large and light, with a cabin in the centre for the accommodation of the owner and his family. They invited Columbus, in the name of their king, to come to land. Many of them had collars and burnished plates about their necks, of that inferior kind of gold called by the Indians Guanin. They said that it came from a high land, which they pointed out, at no great distance, to the west, but inti mated that it was dangerous to go there, either because the inha bitants were cannibals, or the place infested by venomous ani mals.* But what aroused the attention and awakened the cupidity of the Spaniards, was the sight of strings of pearls round the arms of some of the natives. These, they informed Co lumbus, were procured on the sea-coast, on the northern side of Paria, which he still supposed to be an island ; and they showed the mother-of-pearl shells whence they had been taken. Anxious for further information, and to procure specimens of these pearls to send to Spain, he dispatched the boats to shore. A multitude of the natives came to the beach to receive them, headed by the chief cacique and his son. They treated the Spaniards with pro found reverence, as beings descended from heaven, and conducted them to a spacious house, the residence of the cacique, where they were regaled with bread and various fruits of excellent flavor, and the different kinds of beverage already mentioned. While * Letter of Columbus to the Castilian Sovereigns, Navarrete Colec., tom. i. p. 252.