about so hopelessly that they hardly advanced a mile.  This underbrush was indeed as high as our grain when ripe.  Worn out and fatigued, they returned without having discovered a trail.  The next day the Admiral sent out a new troop of twenty-five men, urging them to use the greatest diligence to discover the inhabitants of that country.  They, however, having come upon the tracks of some large animals, amongst which they thought they recognised those of lions, were terrified and retraced their steps.[18] In the course of their march, they had found a forest overgrown with wild vines, which hung suspended from the loftiest trees, and also many other spice-producing trees.  They brought back to Spain heavy and juicy bunches of grapes.  As for the other fruits they collected, it was impossible to bring them to Spain, because there were no means of preserving them on board the ships; hence they rotted, and when they were spoiled they threw them into the sea.  The men said that they had seen flocks of cranes twice as large as ours in the forest.

[Note 17:  None of the natives of the islands wore white tunics, nor indeed any but the most scanty covering.  It has been surmised that the soldier who made this report may indistinctly and from a distance have descried a flock of tall white cranes, otherwise he was either the victim of an hallucination or an inventor of strange tales to astonish his fellows.  Humboldt (Histoire de la Geographie du nouveau Continent) quotes an instance of the colonists of Angostora once mistaking a flock of cranes for a band of soldiers.]

[Note 18:  There were no lions nor large beasts of prey in the island; it has been suggested that these tracks may have been footprints of an alligator.]

Pursuing his course, the Admiral sailed towards other mountains; he observed upon the shore two huts, in which only one man was found, who, when he was brought on board the ships, shook his head and hands, indicating by signs that the country about these mountains was very populous.  All along this coast the Admiral encountered numerous canoes which came to meet him, and on one side and the other friendly signals were exchanged.  The man Diego, who, from the beginning of the voyage understood the language of the islanders, did not understand that of this newcomer.  It was known, indeed, that the languages vary in the different provinces of Cuba.[19] The natives gave it to be understood that a powerful sovereign, who wore clothes, lived in the interior of the country.  The whole of the coast was inundated by waters, the beach being muddy and strewn with trees like in our swamps.  When they landed to replenish their supply of water, they found some shells with pearls in them.  Columbus nevertheless continued on his way, for he sought at that time, in obedience to the royal instructions, to explore the greatest possible extent of sea.  As they proceeded on their course, lighted fires were observed on all the hilltops of the coast country, as far as to another mountain eighty miles distant.  There was not a single lookout upon the rocks from which smoke did not rise.