Continuing his voyage eastwards, he sent the boats on shore for water, to a place where a great town appeared, when the Indians came out with bows and poisoned arrows, and with ropes in their hands, making signs to the Spaniards that they would bind them if they came on shore. But as soon as the boats came close to the beach they laid down their weapons, and offered to bring bread and water, and every thing they had, asking in their language for the admiral. Going from hence, they saw a strange fish in the sea as big as a whale, having a great shell on its neck like a tortoise, and bearing its head, as big as a hogshead, above the water, the tail was very long like a tunny fish, and it had two large fins on the sides. From the appearance of this fish and other signs, the admiral foresaw an approaching change of weather, and sought for some harbour to secure himself; and it pleased GOD that on the 15th of September, he discovered an island near the east part of Hispaniola named Adamanoi by the Indians, and the weather being very stormy, dropt anchor in the channel between it and Hispaniola, close to a small island which lies between both. That night he saw an eclipse of the moon, which he said varied five hours and twenty-three minutes from its time at Cadiz50, to the place where he then was. The bad weather, probably owing to the eclipse, lasted so long, that he was forced to remain at that anchorage till the 20th of the month, all the time under great anxiety for the other ships which were not able to get into the same place of security, but it pleased GOD to save them. Having rejoined the other caravels, they all sailed over to the eastern part of Hispaniola, and thence to a little island called Mona by the Indians, which lies between Hispaniola and St John de Boriquen.

The journal of the admiral breaks off at this island, and he does not inform us of his course from thence to Isabella; but only, that while going from Mona to St John, the great fatigues he had undergone, together with his own weakness and the want of proper food, brought on a violent malady, between a pestilential fever and a lethargy, which presently deprived him of his senses and memory; whereupon, all the people in the three caravels resolved to desist from the design he had then in hand of discovering all the islands in the Caribbean sea, and returned to Isabella, where they arrived on the 29th of September, five days afterwards51. This heavy sickness lasted during five months, but it pleased GOD to restore him afterwards to health. His illness was occasioned by the great sufferings he had gone through in this voyage, during which he had often not been able to sleep three hours in eight days, owing to the perilous nature of the navigation among innumerable islands and shoals; a degree of privation that seems almost impossible, were it not authenticated by himself and those who accompanied him.

On his return to Hispaniola, the admiral found there his brother Bartholomew Columbus whom he had sent, as formerly related, to treat with the king of England about the discovery of the Indies. On his return to Spain with the grant of all his demands, he learned at Paris from Charles king of France, that his brother the admiral had already made the discovery, and the king supplied him with an hundred crowns to enable him to prosecute his journey into Spain. He thereupon made all the haste he could to overtake the admiral in Spain; but on his arrival at Seville, he found that the admiral had gone out upon his second voyage with seventeen sail, as already related. Wherefore, to fulfil the orders which his brother had left for him at the beginning of 1494, he went to the court of their Catholic majesties at Valadolid, carrying my brother Don James Columbus and me along with him, as we had been appointed to serve as pages to Prince John. Immediately upon our arrival, their majesties sent for Don Bartholomew, and dispatched him with three ships to Hispaniola, where he served several years, as appears from the following memorandum which I found among his papers: "I served as captain from the 14th April 1494, till the 12th of March 1498, when the admiral set out for Spain, and then I began to act as governor till the 24th of August 1498, when the admiral returned from the discovery of Paria; after which, I again served as captain till the 11th of December 1500, when I returned to Spain." On his return from Cuba, the admiral appointed his brother governor of the Indies; though controversies afterwards arose on this subject, as their majesties alleged that they had not given authority to the admiral to make any such appointment. But to end this difference, their highnesses granted it a-new, under the title of adelantado, or lieutenant of the Indies, to my uncle Don Bartholomew.

Having now the assistance and advice of his brother, the admiral took some rest, and lived in quiet, although he met with sufficient troubles, both on account of his sickness, and because he found that almost all the Indians had revolted through the fault of Don Pedro Marguerite. He, though obliged to respect and honour the admiral, who had left him the command of 360 foot and 14 horse, with orders to travel all over the island, and to reduce it to the obedience of their Catholic Majesties and the Christians, particularly the province of Cibao, whence the chief profit was expected; yet acted in every thing contrary to his orders and instructions, insomuch, that when the admiral was gone, he went with all his men to the great plain called Vega Real, or the Royal Plain, ten leagues from Isabella, where he remained without ever endeavouring to traverse and reduce the island. Hence there ensued discords and factions at Isabella, as Don Pedro endeavoured to make the council which the admiral had instituted in that place, subservient to his own authority, sending them very insolent letters; and perceiving that he could not succeed in getting the whole power and authority into his hands, he was afraid to wait the return of the admiral who would have called him to a severe account for his conduct, and went therefore on board the first ships that returned to Spain, without giving any account of himself or any way disposing of the men who had been left under his command.

Upon this desertion of Don Pedro, every one went among the Indians as they thought fit, taking away their women and goods, and committing everywhere such outrages, that the Indians resolved to revenge themselves on all whom they should find straggling about the country. The cacique of the Magdalen, Guatiguana, had killed ten, and had privately caused a house to be fired in which there were eleven sick Spaniards. But he was severely punished by the admiral after his return; for though the cacique himself could not then be taken, yet some of his subjects were sent prisoners into Spain in four ships that sailed in February 1495 under Antonio de Torres. Six or seven other Indians who had injured the Christians in other parts of the island suffered for their conduct. The cacique had killed many, and would certainly have destroyed many more, if the admiral had not fortunately come in time to restore order among the Christians, and to curb the refractory spirit of the Indians. On his arrival from his late voyage to Cuba and Jamaica, he found that most of the Christians had committed a thousand insolencies, for which they were mortally hated by the Indians, who refused to submit to their authority. It was no difficult matter for them all to agree in casting off the Spanish yoke, as the whole island was subject to the authority of four principal caciques. These were Caunabo, Guacanagari, Behechico, and Gaurionex; each of whom commanded over seventy or eighty inferior lords or caciques. These paid no tribute to the superior caciques, but were obliged to till the ground when called upon, and to assist them in their wars; but of these four, Guacanagari, who was superior lord of that part of the island in which the town of Navidad had been built, continued always friendly to the Christians. As soon therefore as he heard of the admirals return to Isabella, he went to wait upon him, and represented that he had not been any way aiding or advising with the others, as might appear from the great civility the Christians had always received in his country, where 100 men had always been well used and furnished with every thing of which they stood in need. For which reason the other caciques had become his enemies, as Behechico had killed one of his women, and Caunabo had taken away another; wherefore he entreated the admiral to cause her to be restored, and to assist him in revenging his wrongs. The admiral was disposed to believe that Guacanagari spoke truth, as he always wept whenever the discourse turned upon the slaughter of the Christians at the Nativity; and the admiral was the more inclined to take part with this cacique, as he considered that the discord among the Indian chiefs, would make it the more easy for him to reduce the country to subjection, and to punish the other Indians for their revolt, and for having killed so many of the Christians.