two mouths or channels, like the Dardanelles, are made by the two most westerly points of the island of Trinidada, and two other points of the continent, and lie almost north and south of each other.  In the midst of the Serpents Mouth, where the admiral now anchored, there was a rock which he called El Gallo, or the cock.  Through this channel the water ran continually and furiously to the northwards, as if it had been the mouth of some great river, which was the occasion of naming it Boca del Sierpe, because of the terror it put our people into; for, as they lay very securely at anchor, there came a stronger current of the water than usual, making a hideous noise and running furiously to the northwards; and being opposed by another current running out from the Gulf of Paria, they met with a hideous roaring noise, and caused the sea to swell up like a high mountain, or ridge of hills along the channel.  Soon afterwards, this mountainous wave came towards the ships, to the great terror of all the men, fearing they should be overset.  But it pleased GOD that it passed underneath, or rather lifted up the ships without doing any harm; yet it drew the anchor of one of them and carried it away, but by means of their sails they escaped the danger, not without mortal fear of being lost.  That furious current being past, and considering the danger of remaining there, the admiral stood for the Dragons Month, which is between the north-west point of Trinidada and the east point of Paria; but he went not through it at that time, but sailed along the south coast of Paria westwards, thinking it to have been an island, and expecting to find a way out northwards into the Caribbean sea towards Hispaniola; and though there were many ports along that coast of Paria, he would put into none, all that inland sea being a harbour locked in by the continent.

Being at an anchor on Sunday the 5th of August, and it being his custom never to weigh on a Sunday, he sent the boats on shore, where they found abundance of fruit, of the same kinds which they had seen on the other islands; there were great numbers of trees, and marks of people who had fled for fear of the Christians.  Being unwilling to lose time, he sailed fifteen leagues farther along that coast without going into any harbour, lest he should not have sufficient wind to bring him out again.  While at anchor, there came out a canoe to the caravel called El Borreo having three men; and the pilot, knowing how much the admiral wished to receive some information from these people, pretended to talk with the Indians and let himself down into the canoe, by which means some Spaniards in the boat took these men and sent them to the admiral, who made much of them and sent them on shore with many gifts, at a place where there were a great number of Indians.  These, hearing the good account which the three Indians gave them of their treatment, came off in their canoes to barter for such things as they had, which were much the same as had been already seen in the islands before discovered, only that they had no targets or poisoned arrows, which are only used by the Canibals or Caribs.  Their drink was a sort of liquor as white as milk, and another somewhat blackish, tasting like green wine, made from unripe grapes, but they could not learn what fruit it was made from[14].