The natives had told him of an island called Samoete to the southward, which was said to contain a quantity of gold.

He sailed thither on the 19th, and called it Isabella; its modern name is Crooked Island.

He anchored here and found it to be but another step in the ascending scale of his delight; it was greener and more beautiful than any of the islands he had yet seen.

He spent some time looking for the gold, but could not find any; although he heard of the island of Cuba, which he took to be the veritable Cipango.

He weighed anchor on October 24th and sailed south-west, encountering some bad weather on the way; but on Sunday the 28th he came up with the north coast of Cuba and entered the mouth of a river which is the modern Nuevitas.