The Spaniards arrived outside the port of La Navidad so late that they did not dare to enter it that night.  “The Admiral commanded two Lombards to be fired, to see if the christians replied, who had been left with the said Guacanagari, (this was the friendly cacique Guacanagari of the first voyage), for they too had Lombards,” “They never replied, nor did fires nor signs of houses appear in that place, at which the people were much discouraged, and they had the suspicion that was natural in such a case.”

“Being thus all very sad, when four or five hours of the night had passed, there came the same canoe which they had seen the evening before.  The Indians in it asked for the Admiral and the captain of one of the caravels of the first voyage.  They were taken to the Admiral’s ship, but would not come on board until they had spoken with him and seen him.”  They asked for a light, and as soon as they knew him, they entered the ship.  They came from Guacanagari, and one of them was his cousin.

They brought with them golden masks, one for the Admiral and another for one of the captains who had been with him on the first voyage, probably Vicente Yanez Pinzon.  Such masks were much valued among the Indians, and are thought to have been meant to put upon idols, so that they were given to the Spaniards as tokens of great respect.  The Indian party remained on board for three hours, conversing with the Admiral and apparently very glad to see him again.  When they were asked about the colonists of La Navidad, they said that they were all well, but that some of them had died from sickness, and that others had been killed in quarrels among themselves.  Their own cacique, Guacanagari, had been attacked by two other chiefs, Caonabo and Mayreni.  They had burned his village, and he had been wounded in the leg, so that he could not come to meet the Spaniards that night.  As the Indians went away, however, they promised that they would bring him to visit them the next day.  So the explorers remained “consoled for that night.”

Next day, however, events were less reassuring.  None of last night’s party came back and nothing was seen of the cacique.  The Spaniards, however, thought that the Indians might have been accidentally overturned in their canoe, as it was a small one, and as wine had been given them several times during their visit.

While he was still waiting for them, the Admiral sent some of his men to the place where La Navidad had stood.  They found that the strong fort with a palisade was burned down and demolished.  They also found some cloaks and other clothes which had been carried off by the Indians, who seemed uneasy, and at first would not come near the party.

“This did not appear well” to the Spaniards, as the Admiral had told them how many canoes had come out to visit him in that very place on the other voyage.  They tried to make friends, however, threw out to them some bells, beads and other presents, and finally a relation of the cacique and three others ventured to the boat, and were taken on board ship.