326
LIFE
AND
VOYAGES
OF
[BOOK
XV.
For several days the squadron remained at this place, during which time the ships were examined and repaired, and the crews enjoyed repose and the recreation of the land. The Adelantado, with a band of armed men, made excursions on shore to collect information. There was no pure gold to be met with here, all their ornaments were of guanin ; but the natives assured the Adelantado, that, in proceeding along the coast, the ships would soon arrive at a country where gold was in great abun dance. In examining one of the villages, the Adelantado found, in a large house, several sepulchres. One contained a human body embalmed : in another, there were two bodies wrapped in cotton, and so preserved as to be free from any disagreeable odor. They were adorned with the ornaments most precious to them when living ; and the sepulchres were decorated with rude carvings and paintings representing various animals, and, sometimes, what appeared to be intended for portraits of the deceased.* Through out most of the savage tribes, there appears to have been great observes : "The inhabitants deal more in sorcery and witchcraft than any other people, although forbidden by their archbishop, who excommunicates and ana thematizes them for the sin.
Of this, however, they make little account, and
if any vessel belonging to a pirate should injure one of theirs, they do not fail to lay him under a spell, so that he cannot proceed on his cruise until he has made satisfaction for the damage ; and even although he should have a fair and leading wind, they have the power of causing it to change, and thereby obliging him, in spite of himself, to return to the island.
They can in like
manner, cause the sea to become calm, and at their will can raise tempests, occasion shipwrecks, and produce many other extraordinary effects that need not be particularized.—Marco Polo, Book iii. cap. 35, Eng. translation by W . Marsden. * Las Casas, lib. ii. cap. 21. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 91.