grateful,--surely, surely! But he was not ready yet to set
sail for Spain. He meant to discover more, discover further,
come if by any means he could to the actual wealth of great,
main India; come perhaps to Zaiton, where are more merchants
than in all the rest of the world, and a hundred
master ships laden with pepper enter every year; or to
Quinsai of the marble bridges. No, he was not ready to
turn prow to Spain, and he was not likely to bleed himself
of men, now or for many days to come. All these who
would lie in hammocks ashore must wait awhile, and even
when they made their colony, that is not the way that colonies
live and grow.

Beltran said, "Some of you would like to do a little
good, and some are for a sow's life!"

It was Christmas Eve, and we had our vespers, and we
thought of the day at home in Castile and in Italy. Dusk
drew down. Behind us was the deep, secure water of
St. Thomas, his harbor. The Admiral had us sound and
the lead showed no great depth, whereupon we stood a little
out to avoid shoal or bar.

For some nights the Admiral had been wakeful, suffering,
as Juan Lepe knew, with that gout which at times troubled
him like a very demon. But this night he slept. Juan de la
Cosa set the watch. The helmsman was Sancho Ruiz than
whom none was better, save only that he would take a risk
when he pleased. All others slept. The day had been long,
so warm, still and idle, with the wooded shore stealing so