Having been well dispatched by their majesties, the admiral set out from Granada for Seville in the year 1501; and so earnestly solicited the fitting out of his squadron, that in a short time he rigged and provisioned four vessels, the largest of 70 tons and the smallest 50, with a complement of 140 men and boys, of whom I was one.

We set sail from Cadiz on Monday the 9th of May 1502, and departed from St Catharines on the 11th of the same month for Arzilla, intending to relieve the Portuguese in that garrison who were reported to be in great distress; but when we came there the Moors had raised the siege. The admiral sent on shore his brother D. Bartholomew and me, along with the other captains of our ships to visit the governor, who had been wounded by the Moors in an assault. He returned thanks to the admiral for the visit and his offers of assistance, sending several gentlemen on board for this purpose, among whom were some relations of Donna Philippa Moniz, the admirals former Portuguese wife. We sailed from Arzilla on the same day, and arriving at Gran Canaria on the 20th of May, casting anchor among the little islands, and on the 24th went over to Maspalomas in the same island to take in wood and water for our voyage, and set out next night for the Indies. It pleased God to give us a fair wind, insomuch that on Wednesday the 15th of June, without handing our sails the whole way, we arrived at the island of Matinino. There, according to the custom of those who sail from Spain for the Indies, the admiral took in a fresh supply of wood and water, and ordered the men to wash their linens, staying till the 18th, when we stood to the westwards and came to Dominica ten leagues distant from Matinino82. So continuing our course among the Caribbee islands we came to Santa Cruz, and on the 24th of June we ran along the south side of the island of St John83; and thence proceeded for St Domingo, where the admiral proposed to have exchanged one of his ships for another. The vessel he wished to part with was a bad sailer, and besides could not carry sail without running its lee gunwale almost under water, and was a great hindrance to the voyage. His original design was to have gone directly to the coast of Paria, and to keep along the shore to the westwards till he should discover the straits, which he concluded must be somewhere about Veragua or Nombre de Dios. But on account of the fault of that ship he was forced to repair to St Domingo in hope of exchanging her for a better.

That the commandary Lores84, who had been sent out by their majesties to call Bovadilla to account for his mal-administration, might not be surprised at our unexpected arrival, the admiral sent on the 29th of June, being then near the port, Peter de Terreros, captain of one of the ships, with a message to him signifying the necessity there was for exchanging one of the ships. For which reason, and because he apprehended the approach of a great storm, he requested permission to secure his squadron in the harbour; and he advised him not to allow the fleet then preparing to sail for Spain to quit the port for eight days to come, as it would otherwise be in great danger. But the governor would not permit the admiral to come into the harbour; neither did he delay the sailing of the fleet which was bound for Spain. That fleet consisted of 18 sail, and was to carry Bovadilla who had imprisoned the admiral and his brothers, and Francis Roldan with all those who had been in rebellion and done so much harm; all of whom it pleased God so to infatuate that they would not listen to the admirals good advice. I am satisfied that the hand of God was in this; for had they arrived in Spain they would never have been punished as their crimes deserved, as they enjoyed the protection of the bishop Fonseca. This impunity was prevented by their setting out from St Domingo for Spain, as no sooner were they come to the east point of Hispaniola than there arose a terrible storm; the admiral of the fleet went to the bottom, and in her perished Bovadilla with most of the rebels, and so great was the havock among the rest, that only three or four vessels escaped of the whole eighteen.

This event happened on Thursday the 30th of June; when the admiral, who had foreseen the storm and had been refused admittance into the port, drew up as close to the land as he could to shelter himself from its effects. The people on board his vessels were exceedingly dissatisfied at being denied that shelter which would have been given to strangers, much more to them who were of the same nation, and they feared they might be so served if any misfortune should afterwards befal them in the prosecution of their voyage. The admiral was greatly concerned on the same account, and was yet more vexed to experience such base ingratitude in a country which he had given to the honour and benefit of Spain, where he was thus refused shelter for his life. Yet by his prudence and judgment he secured his ships for that day. But next night the tempest increasing, and the night being extremely dark, three of the ships broke from their anchors and drifted from him. All were in imminent danger, and the people on board of each concluded that all the others were certainly lost. Those in the Santo suffered greatly by endeavouring to save their boat, which had been ashore with their captain Terreros, and now dragged astern where it overset, and they were obliged to cast it loose to save themselves. The caravel Bermuda was in infinite danger; for running out to sea it was almost covered and overwhelmed by the waves, by which it appeared what good reason the admiral had to endeavour to exchange that vessel, which all men concluded was saved, under God, by the wisdom and resolution of the admirals brother, than whom there was not at that time a more expert sailor. After all had suffered extremely, except the admiral who rode out the gale, it pleased God that they all met again on Sunday the 3d of July in the port of Azna on the south side of Hispaniola, where every one gave an account of his misfortunes. It appeared that Bartholomew Columbus had weathered this great storm by standing out to sea like an able sailor; while the admiral had avoided all danger by hugging close to the land like a wise astronomer, who knew whence the peril was to come.

His enemies might well blame him, by saying that he had raised this storm by magic art to be revenged on Bovadilla and the rest of his enemies who perished with him, since none of his own four ships were lost; whereas of the eighteen which had set out at the same time with Bovadilla, the Ajuga, or Needle, only held on its course for Spain, where it arrived in safety though the worst of the whole fleet, the other three that escaped having returned to St Domingo in a shattered and distressed condition. In the Ajuga there were 4000 pesos of gold belonging to the admiral, each peso being worth eight shillings.

The admiral gave his men a breathing time in the port of Azua, to recover from the fatigues which they had encountered in the storm; and as it is one of the usual diversions of seamen to fish when they have nothing else to do, I shall make mention of two sorts of fish in particular which I remember to have seen taken at that place, one of which was pleasant, and the other wonderful. The first was a fish called Saavina, as big as half an ordinary bull, which lay asleep on the surface of the water, and was struck by a harpoon from the boat of the ship Biscaina; being held fast by a rope so that it could not break loose, it drew the boat after it with the swiftness of an arrow in various directions, so that those who were in the ship, seeing the boat scud about at a strange rate without knowing the cause, could not imagine how it could do so without the help of oars. At length it sunk, and being drawn to the ships side was hoisted on deck by the tackle. The other fish is called Manati by the Indians, and there is nothing of the kind seen in Europe. It is about as large as an ordinary calf, nothing differing from it in the colour and taste of the flesh, except that it is perhaps better and fatter. Those who affirm that there are all sorts of creatures to be found in the sea, will have it that these fishes are real calves, since they have nothing within them resembling a fish, and feed only on the grass which they find along the banks85.