CHAP.
I.]
CHRISTOPHER
COLUMBUS.
77
port, but the people murmured, and observed, that when in quest of food, it was no time to stand on scruples as to holy days.* Anchoring off the island of Guadaloupe, the boat was sent on shore well armed. Before it could reach the land, a large num足 ber of females issued from the woods, armed with bows and arrows, and decorated with tufts of feathers, preparing to oppose any descent upon their shores. As the sea was somewhat rough, and a surf broke upon the beach, the boats remained at a distance, and two of the Indians from Hispaniola swam to shore. Having explained to these Amazons that the Spaniards only sought pro足 visions, in exchange for which they would give articles of great value, the women referred them to their husbands, who were at the northern end of the island. As the boats proceeded thither, numbers of the natives were seen on the beach, who manifested great ferocity, shouting, and yelling, and discharging flights of arrows, which, however, fell far short in the water. Seeing the boats approach the land, they hid themselves in the adjacent forest, and rushed forth with hideous cries as the Spaniards were landing. A discharge of firearms drove them to the woods and mountains, and the boats met with no further opposition. Entering the deserted habitations, the Spaniards began to plunder and destroy, contrary to the invariable injunctions of the admiral. Among other articles found in these houses, were honey and wax, which Herrera supposes had been brought from Terra Firma, as these roving people collected the productions of distant regions in the course of their expeditions. Fernando Columbus mentions likewise that there were hatchets of iron in their houses : these, however, must have been made of a species of hard and heavy stone, already mentioned, which resembled iron ; or they must * Hist. del Almirante, cap. 62.