The decades of the newe worlde or west India conteynyng the nauigations and conquestes of the Spanyardes, with the particular description of the moste ryche and large landes and ilandes lately founde in the west ocean perteynyng to the inheritaunce of the kinges of Spayne. ... Wrytten in the Latine tounge by Peter Martyr of Angleria, and translated into Englysshe by Rycharde Eden.

¶ The eyghth booke of the fyrste Decade, to Cardinall Lodouike.

THe greate ryche, and plentifull Ocean sea, heretofore vnknowen,* 1.1 and nowe fownde by Christophorus Colonus the Admyrall, by thautori∣tie and furtherance of the Catholyke kynge, I haue presented vnto yowre honoure (ryght noble Prince) lyke a golden cheyne vnwoork manly wrought. But yowe shall nowe re∣ceaue a precious iewell to bee appendaunt therto. T••erfore e∣monge suche as were pylottes or gouernoures vnder the Ad∣myrall,* 1.2 and had dylygently marked the courses and differen∣ces of the wyndes, many had licences graunted them of the kynge to seeke further of theyr owne charges, vppon condici¦on to pay hym faithfully his portion,* 1.3 which is the fyrst part. But bycause emonge all other, one Petrus Alphonsus cauled Nig∣nus by his surname) sayled towarde the Southe with more prosperous fortune then any of the other,* 1.4 I thinke it best first to speake sumwhat of his vyage. He therfore, with only one

shippe, well furnyshed at his owne charges, after that he had his passeporte with commaundement in no case to caste anker paste fyftie leaques distante from any place where the Admy∣rall hadde touched, sayled fyrste to Paria where the Admyrall fownde bothe the men and women soo laden with cheynes,* 1.5 garlandes, and braselettes of pearles, as wee haue sayde be∣fore. Coastynge therfore alonge by the same shore accordinge to the kynges commaundement, (yet leauinge behynde hym the Regions of Cumana and Manacapana) he came to the Region which thinhabitantes thereof,* 1.6* 1.7 caule Curiana:* 1.8 where he fownd a hauen (as he saythe) muche lyke the porte of Gades or Cales. In to the which enteringe, he sawe a farre of certeyne how∣ses on the shore, and perceaued when he drewe nere, that it was a vylage of onely eyght howses. Proceadynge yet fur∣ther for the space of three myles, he espyed an other vylage well replenyshed with people, where there met hym fyftie na∣ked men on a coompany hauinge with them a certeyne ruler, who desyred Alphōsus to coome to theyr coastes. He browght with hym at this tyme, many haukes belles, pynnes, nedels, braselettes, cheynes, garlandes, and rynges with counterfet stones and glasses, and such other tryfelles,* 1.9 the which with∣in the momente of an houre, he hadde exchaunged for .xv. vnces of theyr pearles which they wore abowte theyr neckes and armes. Then they yet more ernestly desyred him to sayle to theyr coastes: Promysynge hym that he shulde there haue as many pearles as he wolde desyre.* 1.10 He condecended to their requeste: And the daye folowynge, came to the place where they appoynted hym: Lyinge there at anker, a great multy∣tude of people resorted to hym,* 1.11 instantely requyringe hym to coome alande. But when he consydered the innumerable mul¦tytude of people which was there assembled, and that he had only .xxxiii. men in his coompany, he durste not commyt hym selfe to theyr handes, but gaue them to vnderstand by signes and tokens that they shulde coome to the shyppe with theyr canoas. For theyr boates (which the men of the Iland caule Canoas) are made only of one hole peece of woodde as in the I¦landes: yet more rude, and not soo artificially as theyrs are. These they caule Gallitas: They swarmed therefore to the shyp as faste as they myght, brynginge with them great plentie of pearles (which they caule Tenoras) exchaunginge the same for

owre marchaundies. He fownde this people to bee of gentyl nature, simple and innocente, beinge conuersant with them in theyr houses, for the space of .xx. dayes. Theyr houses are made of woodde, coouered with the leaues of date trees. Theyr meate for the moste parte, is the shelfysshes in the whi¦che pearles are engendred,* 1.12 wherof theyr sea coastes are ful. They haue also greate plentie of wylde beastes, as hartes, wylde bores, and coonys lyke vnto hares, both in colour and byggenes.* 1.13 Stocke doues also, and turtle doues. Lykewyse geese and duckes which they nooryshe in theyr houses as wee doo. Peacockes flye abowte in maner in euerye woodde and groue: but they are not distinct with sundry coloures as ours are: for the cockes are lyke vnto the hennes. These people of Curiana, are craftie hunters and exceding cunning archers,* 1.14 soo that they wyll not lyghtly mysse any beast or byrde that they shoote at. Owre men consumed certeyne dayes here very ple∣sauntely. Durynge which tyme, who soo euer brought them a peacocke,* 1.15 had for the same, foure pynnes. He that brought a pheasaunt, had twoo: And for a stocke doue or turtle doue, one: And for a goose, a smaul lookyng glasse or a lyttle stone of glasse. Thus they bought and soulde with proferynge and byddynge, denyinge and refusinge as it had byn in a greate market. When pynnes were profered them,* 1.16 they asked what they shulde doo with them, beinge naked. But owre men sa∣tisfied them with a craftie answere, declaring by tokens that they were very necessary to picke theyr teeth and to pul thor∣nes owte of theyr flesshe. But aboue al thynges haukes bel∣les were most esteemed amonge them,* 1.17 for theyr sounde & faire coloure: And wolde therfore gyue much for one of thē. Owre men lodginge in theyr houses, harde in the nyght season hor∣ryble noyses and rorynges of wylde beastes in the wooddes which are full of exceadinge greate and hygh trees of sundry kyndes.* 1.18 But the beastes of these wooddes, are not noysome to men. For the people of the countrey goo dayly a hunting, naked, with theyr bowes and arrowes: Yet hath it not byn harde of, that any man hath byn slayne of any wylde beaste. As many hartes or wylde bores as owre men woolde desyre them to brynge,* 1.19 they woolde kyll in the wooddes with their bowes and arrowes, and not fayle to brynge theim. They lacke kyne, goates, & sheepe. Theyr breade is made of rootes,

as is theyrs of the Ilandes. This nation, hath blacke heare, grosse and sumwhat curlde, yet longe also. They keepe theyr teeth very whyte:* 1.20 And for that purpose vse to cary a certeine herbe betwene theyr lyppes for the most parte of the day, and to wasshe theyr mouthes when they cast it away. The women doo all theyr busynes at home in theyr howses, and haue al∣so the cure of tyllage of the grounde. But the men apply them selues to the warres and huntynge, to playe,* 1.21 singynge and daunsing. They haue sundry kyndes of water pottes, iugges, and drinckinge cuppes made of earthe in other places abowt theym and brought thether for exch••unge of other thynges: For they vse fayres and markettes for the same purpose: and are gretly desyrous of such thynges, as are not brough•• forth or made in theyr countrey, as nature hath gyuen a dispositi∣on to al men to desyre and bee delyted with newe and strange thynges. Many of them, had hangynge at theyr pearles,* 1.22 the Images of certeine beastes and birdes very artificiously made of golde, but not pure. These also are brought them from o∣ther places for exchange of other thynges. The golde wher∣of they are made,* 1.23 is natiue, and of much lyke finenes to that wherof the florenes are coyned. The men of this countrey, in close theyr priuie members in a gourde, cutte after the fashion of a coddepiece: or els, coouer the same with the shelle of a tor¦toyse,* 1.24 tyed abowte theyr loynes with laces of gossampine cot¦ton. In other places of that tract, they thrust the synew with in the sheethe therof, and bynde the skinne fast with a stringe. The greate wylde beastes wherof wee spake before, and many other thynges whiche are not founde in any of the Ilandes, testifie that this regiō is part of the cōtinēt or firme land.* 1.25 But the chiefest cōiecture wherby they argue the same, is, that by the coastes of that lande, from Paria towarde the weste, they sayled aboute three thousande myles, fyndynge no signe or token of any ende. These people of Curiana (whiche sum caule Curtana) beinge demaunded where they hadde suche plentie of golde, signified that it was brought them from a Region cau¦led Canchieta or Cauchieta,* 1.26 being distant from them syxe soonnes, that is, syxe dayes iourney westwarde: And that theyr Ima∣ges of goulde, were m••de in the same Region. Where vppon owre men directed theyr vyage thyther immediatly: and arry∣ued there at the calendes of Nouember, in ••he yeare of Christ

a thousande and fyue hundreth. The people of the countrey resorted to them withoute feare, bryngynge with them of the golde which we sayde to bee natyue in that Region. This peo¦ple had also collers of pearles abowte theyr neckes, whiche were brought them frome Curiana for exchange of theyr mar∣chandies. None of them wolde exchaunge any of those thin∣ges which they had owte of other countreys: as nother the Curians golde, nor the Canchietans pearles. Yet amonge the Canchietans, they fownde but little gold redy gathered. They toke with thē frō thense, certen very fayre marmasets or mun¦keys, & many popingayes of sundry coloures. In the monethe of Nouember,* 1.27 the ayer was there most temperate, & nothyng coulde. The gardens of the north pole, were owte of syght to bothe these people, they are soo nere to the Equinoctiall.* 1.28 Of the degrees of the pole, they can gyue none other accoumpte. These people,* 1.29 are wel disposed men, of honest condicions, and nothinge suspicious. For all most all the nyght longe, they re∣sorted to the shippe with theyr boates, and went aboorde ship withowte feare, as dyd the Curians. They caule pearles, Co∣rixas. They are sumwhat ielyous. For, when any straungers coome emonge them, they euer place theyr women behynd thē. In this Region of Canchieta, the gossampine trees growe of them selues commonly in many places,* 1.30 as doo with vs elmes, wyllowes, and salowes. And therfore they vse to make bree∣ches of cotton,* 1.31 wherwith they coouer theyr pryuie partes in many other Regions there aboute. When they had yet sayled on forwarde by the same coastes, there came foorth ageynste them abowte twoo thousande men, armed after theyr maner, forbydding them to coome aland. These people were soo rude and saluage, that owre men coulde by no meanes allure them to familiaritie. Owre men therfore, contented only with their pearles, returned backe the same way they came: where they remayned with the Curians continually for the space of twen¦tie dayes,* 1.32 and fylled theyr bellyes wel with good meate. And here it seemeth to me, not farre from my purpose, to declare what chaunced vnto theim in theyr returne, when they came nowe within the syght of the coaste of Paria.* 1.33 They happened therefore in the way, at Os Draconis and the goulfes of Paria, (wherof wee spake before) to meete with a nauie of .xviii. Ca¦noas of Canibales which went a rouyng to hunt for mē. Who

soone as they had espyed owr men, assailed theyr shippe fierce¦ly and without feare enclosed the same, disturbing owre men on euery syde with theyr arrowes. But owre men so feared them with theyr gunnes, that they fledde immediatly, whom owre menne folowinge with the shippe boate, tooke one of theyr Canoas, and in it, only one Canibal (for the other had escaped) and with hym, an other man bownde: Who, with teares runninge downe his cheekes, and with giesture of his handes, eyes, and heade, signified that syxe of his coompa∣nyons had byn cruelly cutte in pieces and eaten of that mys∣cheuous nation: and that he shulde haue byn lykewyse hande¦led the day folowynge. Wherfore they gaue hym poure ouer the Canyball, to doo with hym what he wolde.* 1.34 Then with the Canibales owne clubbe, he layde on hym al that he might dryue with hande and foote, grinninge and fretinge as it had byn a wylde bore: Thinkynge that he had not yet sufficiently reuenged the death of his companyons, when he had beaten owte his braynes and guttes. When he was demaunded af∣ter what sorte the Canibales were woont to inuade other con¦treys,* 1.35 he answered that they euer vsed to carye with them in theyr Canoas, a greate multitude of clubbes: The whiche, where soo euer they lande, they pitche in the grownde, and encampe them selues within the coompasse of the same, to lye the more safely in the nyght season. In Curiana, they fownde the head of a capitaine of the Canibales, nailed ouer the doore of a certeyne gouernoure, for a token of victorie, as it hadde byn the standerde or helmette taken from the enemye in bat∣tayle. In these coastes of Paria, is a Region cauled Haraia,* 1.36 in the whiche, greate plentie of salte is gathered after a strange sorte. For the sea beinge there tossed with the poure of the wyndes, dryueth the salte waters into a large playne by the sea syde:* 1.37 where: afterward when the sea waxeth c••ulme, and the soonne begynnethe to shyne, the water is congeled into moste pure and whyte salte, wherewith innumerable shyppes might bee laden, if men doo resorte thether for the same bee∣fore there faule any rayne. For the rayne meltethe it, and cau¦seth it to synke into the sande, and soo by the pores of the earthe, to returne to the place from whense it was dryuen. Other say, that the playne is not fylled from the sea, but of certeine springes whose water is more sharpe and salt thē the* 1.38

water of the sea. Thinhabitantes doo greatlye esteeme this bay of salte. Which they vse, not only for theyr owne commo¦ditie, but also woorkinge the same into a square forme lyke vnto brickes, they sell it to strangers for exchaunge of other thynges whiche they lacke. In this Region, they stretche and drye the deade bodies of theyr kinges and noble men,* 1.39 lay¦inge the same vpon a certeyne frame of woodde much lyke vn¦to a hurdle or grediren, with a gentell fyre vnder the same, thus by lyttle and lyttle consuminge the flesshe and keepinge the skynne hole with the bones inclosed therein. These dryed carcases, they haue in greate reuerence, and honour them for theyr householde and famylier goddes. They say that in this place they sawe a man, and in an other place a woman, thus dryed and reserued. When they departed from Curiana, the .viii day of the Ides of February to returne to Spayne, they had three score and .xvi. poundes weight (after .viii. vnces to the pownde) of perles, which they bought for exchange of owre thynges, amountinge to the value of fyue shyllinges.* 1.40 Depar∣tinge therfore, they consumed three score dayes in theyr iour¦ney (althowgh it were shorter then frome Hispaniola) by reason of the contynuall course of the sea into the weste,* 1.41 whiche dyd not only greately stey the shippe, but also sumtymes dryue it backe. But at the length they came home soo laden with per∣les, that they were with euery maryner, in maner as common as chaffe. But the master of the shyppe, Petrus Alphonsus,* 1.42 beinge accused of his coompanyons that he had stowlen a great mul∣titude of precious perles, and defrauded the kynge of his por¦tion which was the fyueth parte, was taken of Fernando de Ve¦ga, a man of greate lerninge and experience and gouernour o•• Gallecia, where they arryued, and was there kepte in pryson a longe tyme. But he styll denyethe that euer he deteyned anye parte of the perles. Many of these perles were as bygge as hasell nuttes,* 1.43 and oriente, (as we caule it) that is, lyke vnto them of the Easte partes. Yet not of soo greate price, by rea∣son that the holes therof are not soo perfecte. When I my selfe was presente with the ryght honorable duke of Methyna, and was bidden to dyner with hym, in the citie of Ciuile, they browght to hym aboue a hundre••h and twentie vnces of per∣les to be soul••e: which surely did greatly delyte me with their fayrenes and brightnes. Sum saye, that Alphonsus hadde not

these perles in Curiana being distante from Os Draconis more thē a hundreth and twentie leaques,* 1.44* 1.45 but that he had them in the Regions of Cumana and Manacapana,* 1.46* 1.47 nere vnto Os Draconis and the Ilande of Margarita.* 1.48 For they deny that there is any per∣les fownde in Curiana. But sithe the matter is yet in controuer¦sie, we wyll passe to other matters. Thus muche yowe haue whereby yowe maye coniecture what commoditie in tyme to coome may bee looked for from these newe landes of the west Ocean, wheras at the fyrste discoueringe, they shewe such to∣kens of greate ryches. Thus fare ye well.

Notes

• * 1.1

  The Ocean sea heretofore vnknowen.
• * 1.2

  Shipmasters vnder the Ad¦miral.
• * 1.3

  The fifte por∣tion dewe to the kynge.
• * 1.4

  The na••igati¦on of Petrus A••phonsus.
• * 1.5

  Paria.
• * 1.6

  Cumana.
• * 1.7

  Manacapana▪
• * 1.8

  Curiana.
• * 1.9

  Perles for try¦fels.
• * 1.10

  Great plentie of pearles.
• * 1.11

  humayne people.
• * 1.12

  Shel fy••hes in which per∣les are engen∣d••••d
• * 1.13

  Beastes and foules.
• * 1.14

  hunters and archers.
• * 1.15

  Theyr maner of bargening
• * 1.16

  The vse of pynnes.
• * 1.17

  haukes bels in great esti∣mation.
• * 1.18

  Roringe of Wyld beastes
• * 1.19

  hartes and wyl•• bores.
• * 1.20

  Blacke and curlde heare. White teethe.
• * 1.21

  Earthen Ues∣sels.
• * 1.22

  Conninge a••¦t••ficers.
• * 1.23

  Base golde.
• * 1.24

  A strange m••¦ner of coue∣ringe theyr pr••¦uities.
• * 1.25

  Tokēs of the continent or firme lande.
• * 1.26

  The g••••den Regiō of Cau¦chieta.
• * 1.27

  Temperate ayer ••n No∣uember.
• * 1.28

  The Equinoc¦tial lyne.
• * 1.29

  humane peo∣ple.
• * 1.30

  Gossampine trees.
• * 1.31

  Chorlyshe people
• * 1.32

  Alphōsus re∣turneth to Paria.
• * 1.33

  Can••bales in the goulfes of Paria.
• * 1.34

  Death for death.
• * 1.35

  howe the ca∣nibales forti∣fie their cāpe
• * 1.36

  Haraia.
• * 1.37

  Salte engen∣dred of the water of the sea.
• * 1.38

  Sprynges of of salt water.
• * 1.39

  The bodies of princes dry¦ed & reserued
• * 1.40

  Threescore & xvi. poundes weight of per¦les for .v. shil∣lynges.
• * 1.41

  The course of the sea to∣ward the weste.
• * 1.42

  perles as cō∣mō as chaffe ••etrus Alphō¦sus in prison.
• * 1.43

  Orient perles as bygge as hasel nuttes.
• * 1.44

  Curiana
• * 1.45

  Os Draconis.
• * 1.46

  Cumana.
• * 1.47

  Manacapana.
• * 1.48

  The Iland of Margarita.