Here, at last, was reason for hope that they had found one of the Asiatic missions of the Church.  Columbus at once landed a party, instructing them to go forty miles inland, if necessary, to find people.  But this party found neither path nor roadway, although the country was rich and fertile.  Another party brought back rich bunches of grapes, and other native fruits.  But neither party saw any friars of the order of Saint Mary.  And it is now supposed that the Spaniard saw a peaceful flock of white cranes.  The traveller Humboldt describes one occasion, in which the town of Angostura was put to alarm by the appearance of a flock of cranes known as soldados, or “soldiers,” which were, as people supposed, a band of Indians.

In his interviews with the natives at one point and another, upon the coast, Columbus was delighted with their simplicity, their hospitality, and their kindly dealing with each other.  On one occasion, when the Mass was celebrated, a large number of them were present, and joined in the service, as well as they could, with respect and devotion.  An old man as much as eighty years old, as the Spaniards thought, brought to the Admiral a basket full of fruit, as a present.  Then he said, by an interpreter: 

“We have heard how you have enveloped, by your power, all these countries, and how much afraid of you the people have been.  But I have to exhort you, and to tell you that there are two ways when men leave this body.  One is dark and dismal; it is for those who have injured the race of men.  The other is delightful and pleasant; it is for those who, while alive, have loved peace and the repose of mankind.  If, then, you remember that you are mortal, and what these retributions are, you will do no harm to any one.”

Columbus told him in reply that he had known of the two roads after death, and that he was well pleased to find that the natives of these lands knew of them; for he had not expected this.  He said that the king and queen of Spain had sent him with the express mission of bringing these tidings to them.  In particular, that he was charged with the duty of punishing the Caribs and all other men of impure life, and of rewarding and honoring all pure and innocent men.  This statement so delighted the old prophet that he was eager to accompany Columbus on a mission so noble, and it was only by the urgent entreaty of his wife and children that he stayed with them.  He found it hard to believe that Columbus was inferior in rank or command to any other sovereign.

The beauty of the island and the hospitality of the natives, however, were not enough to dispose the crews to continue this exploration further.  They were all convinced that they were on the coast of Asia.  Columbus did not mean that afterwards any one should accuse him of abandoning the discovery of that coast too soon.  Calling to their attention the distance they had sailed, he sent round a written declaration for the signature of every person on the ships.  Every man and boy put his name to it.  It expressed their certainty that they were on the cape which made the end of the eastern Indies, and that any one who chose could proceed thence westward to Spain by land.  This extraordinary declaration was attested officially by a notary, and still exists.