76
LIFE
AND
VOYAGES
OF
[BOOK
IX.
There were thirty Indians also on board of the caravels, among whom were the once redoubtable cacique Caonabo, one of his brothers, and a nephew. The curate of Los Palacios observes that Columbus had promised the cacique and his brother to restore them to their country and their power, after he had taken them to visit the King and Queen of Castile.* It is probable that by kind treatment and by a display of the wonders of Spain and the grandeur and might of its sovereigns, he hoped to conquer their enmity to the Spaniards, and convert them into important instruments towards obtaining a secure and peaceable dominion over the island. Caonabo, however, was of that proud nature, of wild but vigorous growth, which can never be tamed. * He remained a moody and dejected captive. He had too much intel足 ligence not to perceive that his power was for ever blasted, but he retained his haughtiness, even in the midst of his despair. Being, as yet, but little experienced in the navigation of these seas, Columbus, instead of working up to the northward, so as to fall in with the tract of westerly winds, took an easterly course on leaving the island. The consequence was, that almost the whole of his voyage was a toilsome and tedious struggle against the trade-winds and calms which prevail between the tropics. On the 6th of April he found himself still in the vicinity of the Caribbee islands, with his crews fatigued and sickly, and his provi足 sions rapidly diminishing. He bore away to the southward, therefore, to touch at the most important of those islands, in search of supplies. On Saturday the 9th, he anchored at Marigalante, whence, on the following day, he made sail for Guadaloupe. It was contrary to the custom of Columbus to weigh anchor on Sunday when in * Cura de los Palacios, cap. 131.