When the day dawned, Columbus landed, threw himself upon his knees, kissed the earth, and returned thanks to God.  Rising, he drew his sword, displayed the royal standard, and took possession in the names of the Castillian sovereigns, naming the island San Salvador.  It is one of the Bahama Islands, and still retains that name, though also called Cat Island.

The natives thought that the ships had descended from above on their ample wings, and that these marvellous beings were inhabitants of the skies.  They appeared to be simple and artless people, and of gentle and friendly dispositions.  As Columbus supposed that the island was at the extremity of India, he called them Indians.  He understood them to say that a king of great wealth resided in the south.  This, he concluded, could be no other than Cipango, or Japan.  He now beheld a number of beautiful islands, green, level, and fertile; and supposed them to be the archipelago described by Marco Polo.  He was enchanted by the lovely scenery, the singing of the birds, and the brilliantly colored fish, though disappointed in his hopes of finding gold or spice; but the natives continued to point to the south as the region of wealth, and spoke of an Island called Cuba.

He set sail in search of it, and was struck with its magnitude, the grandeur of its mountains, its fertile valleys, sweeping plains, stately forests, and noble rivers.  He explored the coast to the east end of Cuba, supposing it the extreme point of Asia, and then descried the mountains of Hayti to the south-east.  In coasting along this island, which he named Hispaniola, his ship was carried by a current on a sandbank and lost.  The admiral and crew took refuge in one of the caravels.  The natives, especially the cacique Guacanagari, offered him every assistance.  The Spanish mariners regarded with a wistful eye the easy and idle existence of these Indians, who seemed to live in a golden world without toil, and they entreated permission to remain.

This suggested to Columbus the idea of forming the germ of a future colony.  The cacique was overjoyed, and the natives helped to build a fort, thus assisting to place on their necks the yoke of slavery.  The fortress and harbour were named La Navidad.

Columbus chose thirty-nine of those who volunteered to remain, charged them to be circumspect and friendly with the natives, and set sail for Spain.  He encountered violent tempests, his small and crazy vessels were little fitted for the wild storms of the Atlantic; the oldest mariners had never known so tempestuous a winter, and their preservation seemed miraculous.  They were forced to run into Tagus for shelter.  The King of Portugal treated Columbus with the most honourable attentions.  When the weather had moderated he put to sea again, and arrived safely at Palos on March 15, having taken not quite seven months and a half to accomplish this most momentous of all maritime enterprises.