So
they all follow that cur of a helmsman and crowd on to the _Nina_.
Did ever a Christmas morning dawn more dismally?
The island of Haiti had several kings or caciques. The one who lived
near the Admiral's landing place had been extremely friendly to his
strange visitors, and when in the morning he saw their sad plight, he
sent all the people of the town out in large canoes to unload the ship.
He himself came down to the shore and took every precaution that the
goods should be brought safely to land and cared for. The next day,
Wednesday, December 26, the diary recorded:--
"At sunrise the king visited the Admiral on board the _Nina_ and
entreated him not to indulge in grief, for he would give him all he had;
that he had already assigned the wrecked Spaniards on shore two large
houses, and if necessary would grant others and as many canoes as could
be used in bringing the goods and crews to land--which in fact he had
been doing all the day before without the slightest trifle being
purloined."
Nor did his aid end here; when Columbus decided to build a fort and
storehouse out of the _Santa Maria's_ timbers, the natives helped
in that too.
In the fort it was decided to leave about forty men "with a provision of
bread and wine for more than a year, seed for planting, the long boat of
the ship, a calker, a carpenter, a gunner, and many other persons who
have earnestly desired to serve your Highnesses and oblige me by
remaining here and searching for the gold mine.
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