The Admiral wished to communicate with them, but they refused, although he showed them basins and other things which he thought would attract them.  Failing in this effort, he directed some of the boys of the crew to dance and play a tambourine on the poop of the ship.  But this conciliatory measure had as little success as the other.  The natives strung their bows, took up their shields and began to shoot the dancers.  Columbus stopped the entertainment, therefore, and ordered some balls shot at them, upon which they left him.  With the other vessel they opened more friendly communication, but when the pilot went to Columbus and asked leave to land with them, they went off, nor were any of them or theirs seen again.

On his arrival at Punta de Icacocos, at the southern point of Trinidad, he observes the very strong currents which are always noticed by voyagers, running with as much fury as the Guadalquiver in time of flood.  In the night a terrible wave came from the south, “a hill as high as a ship,” so that even in writing of it he feels fear.  But no misfortune came from it.

Sailing the next day, he found the water comparatively fresh.  He is, in fact, in the current produced by the great river Orinoco, which affects, in a remarkable way, all the tide-flow of those seas.  Sailing north, he passes different points of the Island of Trinidad, and makes out the Punta de la Pena and the mainland.  He still observes the freshness of the water and the severity of the currents.

As he sails farther westward, he observes fleets, and he sends his people ashore.  They find no inhabitants at first, but eventually meet people who tell him the enemy of this country is Paria.  Of these he took on board four.  The king sent him an invitation to land, and numbers of the people came in canoes, many of whom wore gold and pearls.  These pearls came to them from the north.  Columbus did not venture to land here because the provisions of his vessels were already failing him.

He describes the people, as of much the same color as those who have been observed before, and were ready for intercourse, and of good appearance.  Two prominent persons came to meet them, whom he thought to be father and son.  The house to which the Spaniards were led was large, with many seats.  An entertainment was brought forward, in which there were many sorts of fruits, and wine of many kinds.  It was not made from grapes, however, and he supposed it must be made of different sorts of fruits.

A part of the entertainment was of maize, “which is a sort of corn which grows here, with a spike like a spindle.”  The Indians and their guests parted with regret that they could not understand each other’s conversation.  All this passed in the house of the elder Indian.  The younger then took them to his house, where a similar collation was served, and they then returned to the ship, Columbus being in haste to press on, both on account of his want of supplies and the failure of his own health.  He says he was still suffering from diseases which he had contracted on the last voyage, and with blindness.  “That then his eyes did not give him as much pain, nor were they bloodshot as much as they are now.”