Cibao. T h e reef on which the Santa Maria was
wrecked is off Cape Haitien, and the site of the village
of Guarico, where the fortress of L a Navidad
was built, is now occupied by a little fishing hamlet
called “ Petit A n s e .”
Leaving forty-three men here as a garrison,
Columbus set out for Spain to report his discovery
and bring out a larger expedition. On his way
along the coast he anchored near a picturesque
mountain which he called Monte Cristi, where he
encountered the deserter, Martin Pinzon, and the
Pinta. He entered the mouth of a river farther on,
and named it Rio del Oro, River of Gold, because he
found glittering particles of the precious dust in its
sands, and assumed that it came down from the
realm of fabulous wealth. He told of seeing some
unattractive mermaids here, which were probably
specimens of the manatee.
A t the eastern end of the island he found a deep
bay, where he landed. He was at first inhospitably
greeted by the natives with a thick flight of arrows,
which led him to call the bay the Golfo de las
Flechas, or Gulf of Arrows, but he soon made
friends with the cacique of the Samana tribe, whose
name the bay still retains, and spent several days
on shore. He heard of Madanino, the island of the
Amazons, and was eager to find it. Taking several
of the natives to show him the way, he sailed on,
but failing to discover the fascinating Amazons he
proceeded to Spain. He arrived at Palos, March 15,
1 4 9 3 ,having got separated from Pinzon and the Pinta
in a storm. A s the result of his reports, he was
treated with great distinction, and a new expedition
was fitted out with much liberality. There were
three carracks, fourteen caravels, and 1500 men.
Horses and cattle and other equipment for a colony
were taken along, and withal twelve missionaries to
attend to the saving of the souls of the heathen
whose virtues Columbus so highly extolled.
On this second voyage a more southerly course
was taken, and the longed-for land first sighted
was called Deseada, “ the Desired,” now Desirade.
Another small island was named Marigalante, for the
vessel which the Admiral commanded, and a cluster
encountered on “ A ll Saints’ Day ” was called Los
Santos, “ T h e Saints,” now the French islands “ Le s
Saintes.” A larger island to the south attracted
the navigator, and he called it Dominica, because
first seen on Sunday (November 3, 1493)» but finding
its coast difficult of access he turned back and
made his first landing on the alluring shores of a
still larger island to the north. He called this
Guadalupe, for Santa Maria de Guadalupe in Estra-
madura. Here he made his first acquaintance with
the fierce Caribs, some of whom he took along
with him, together with some women captives who
had been brought from Borinquen (Puerto Rico).
As he continued north he named Montserrat from
a mountain near Barcelona upon which there was a
famous monastery, and An tigua from Santa Maria
la Antigua, whose great sanctuary was in Valladolid.
The next that came in view gave such delight to the
explorer by its charming aspect that he called it St.
; Christopher, some say in honour of his own patron