Indians were desired to come on board, but they refused till they saw and knew Columbus.  They then gave him two well wrought vizor masks and some gold, which, they had brought as a present from Guacanagari, the cacique.  Being asked concerning the Christians, they said some had died of sickness, and that others had gone up the country, along with their wives.  The admiral much feared that they were all dead, yet thought it prudent to conceal his fears, and sent back the Indians with some brass baubles, on which they place great value, and with other toys as a present for the cacique.

Next day the whole fleet entered the port of the Nativity, where they found the fort burnt, on which it was concluded that all the Christians were dead, and the more especially as none of the Indians appeared.  Some things which had belonged to the Spaniards were found scattered about the place, which gave a melancholy indication of what had actually happened.  Columbus caused a well which had been dug in the fort to be cleared out, but nothing was found there.  All the Indians had fled from their houses, in which some of the clothes were found which had belonged to the Spaniards.  They discovered seven or eight men buried near the fort, whom they knew to have been Christians by their clothes.  While employed in this distressing search, a brother of Guacanagari and some other Indians made their appearance, who spoke a little Spanish, and who were able to name all the men who were left in the fort:  From these men, by the help of one of the Indians who had been in Spain, called James Columbus, they received an account of the disaster which had befallen the Christians of the Nativity.  They declared, “That, as soon as the admiral departed, the Spaniards disagreed among themselves, refusing obedience to their commander, and went about the country in a disorderly manner, seizing women and gold from the natives.  That Peter Gutierrez, and Roderick de Escovedo, killed one of the Spaniards, named Jacome; after which they went off with their women and goods to the district of a cacique named Caunabo, the lord of the mines, who killed them all.  That soon afterwards Caunabo came with a great number of men to the fort, in which there were then only James de Arana, and five others.  That Caunabo set the fort on fire during the night; and those few who were in it, in endeavouring to escape to the sea were drowned.  That all the rest of the Spaniards had dispersed into different parts of the island.  That Guacanagari went out to fight against Caunabo in defence of the Christians, and was severely wounded, being still ill of his wounds.”  All this agreed with the intelligence brought to the admiral by some of the Spaniards, who had been sent in search of information, and who had seen Guacanagari at his place of residence, finding him ill of his wounds, which he urged in excuse for not waiting on the admiral.