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

"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…"

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

"Gold is most excellent; gold constitutes treasure; and he who has it may do what he will in the world."

"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 …"