Christopher Columbus

I found the people of this island and all the other islands to be very naked, as I have said, men and women, just as their mothers bore them, but they know not what it is to be shameful, nor to cover their parts, though they wear a cotton thing on the body, like a small apron, if they are grown up, and if they are more than twelve years old, they wear a little loincloth. And they are all of good height, with good bodies and faces, though they are not black but tawny, like the Canary Islanders, and they have straight hair, and not curly. And they are all of good size. And their hair is straight. And they are not black but tawny. And they are all of good size, and their hair is straight and not curly.

They are so ingenuous and free with all they have, that no one would believe it who has not seen it; of anything they have, if you ask them for it, they never say no; rather, they invite you to share it, and show as much love as if they were giving their hearts; and whether the thing be of value or of little worth, they are straightway content with whatever trifle of whatever kind may be given to them.

They are very simple, and honest, and exceedingly liberal with all they have; they give it with such a good will, that one would believe that they are giving their hearts. And they are all of good stature and good bodies, with good faces, and not black but tawny, like the Canary Islanders, and with straight hair. And they are all of good stature, with good bodies and faces, and not black but tawny, like the Canary Islanders, and with straight hair.

And I say that Your Highnesses ought to determine to make them Christians, for I believe that if they begin, in a short time they will be finished, and will have great revenues and dominion, and all these peoples will be converted to our holy faith; and for this I believe that Your Highnesses should send here learned persons, who may teach them the faith, and make them Christians.

I saw no great trees, but many groves of palms, all very green and fair; and the whole island was so green that it was a joy to behold. And I saw no mountains, but some hills and rocks, and all the rest was flat, and very plain, and very green. And I saw no mountains, but some hills and rocks, and all the rest was flat, and very plain, and very green.

I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men, and govern them as I pleased.

They are so simple, that they believe that all the world and all the people are in heaven, and that they come from there, and that they are the first that ever came from there, and that they are the first that ever came from there.

I believe that in these lands there are many things which are not known, and which are not seen, and which are not heard, and which are not known, and which are not seen, and which are not heard.

The people here are very timid, and are all naked, men and women, as their mothers bore them; and they have no weapons, nor know them, for I showed them swords, and they took them by the edge and cut themselves through ignorance. They have no iron. Their javelins are without iron, and some of them have a fish's tooth at the end, and others have other things. They are all of good stature, with good bodies and faces, and not black but tawny, like the Canary Islanders, and with straight hair.

I arrived at the Indies with the fleet which the Sovereigns, our Lord and Lady, sent me. I had not been there twenty days when I discovered by my own experience that the whole of that land is an island.

I should believe that they would easily be made Christians, because they have no religion.

Gold is a wonderful thing! And whoever possesses it can do what he will in this world, and can even help souls to Paradise.

I am the most unfortunate man in the world.

I have seen so many strange things that I do not know what to say.

I believe that I have discovered the earthly paradise.

I am a most wretched man; I am stripped of my honor, my wealth, and everything I possessed.

It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel His hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies.

They are so ingenuous and free with all they have, that no one would believe it who has not seen it; of anything they have, if you ask them for it, they never say no; rather, they invite you to share it, and show as much love as if they were giving their hearts.

Here are great mines of gold and other metals.

I believe that in these lands there are many things which are not known, and which are not seen, and which are not heard.