"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 sta…"

"I swear to your Highnesses that there is not a better land under the sun."

"The natives are an inoffensive people, but so far from being intelligent that they are incapable of learning."

"I prayed to the most merciful Lord about my heart's great desire, and He gave me the spirit and the intelligence for the task: seafaring, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, skill in drafting spherical m…"

"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 islan…"