The admiral treated these people with much kindness, and won their confidence at once by presenting them with some of the glittering toys which never failed to dazzle a barbarian eye.
AN INDIAN PILOT.
One old Indian, whom Columbus selected as apparently the most intelligent of the band, consented to accompany him as pilot, and indicated, by signs, his knowledge of a land, not far distant, where there were ships, and arms, and merchandize, and, in fact, all the marks of civilization which were displayed to him by the Spaniards themselves, and with which he professed to be perfectly familiar.

Whether he intended to mislead Columbus, or whether, like most of his race, he was merely proud of being impassive, and of being able to repress all indication of astonishment at startling novelties, it is certain that his demeanour and his signs were interpreted by the admiral to indicate an acquaintance with a country, rich and civilized, lying towards the east; which country could, of course, be no other than the long sought-for kingdom of the Grand Khan.
Had Columbus, in pursuance of his first intention, steered to the west, a few hours would have brought him to the coast of Yucatan; and the riches of Mexico would have rewarded his discovery.

But this savage, like his evil destiny, crossed his path at the critical moment, and turned him from the road to fortune.
CAPE GUACIAS A DIOS.
Steering along the coast of Honduras, on the 12th of September, he reached Cape Gracias a Dios, to which he gave this name in pious thankfulness for the southerly turn taken by the land at that point, so that the east winds, which had hitherto obstructed him, were now favourable to his course along the coast.

A month later he entered several bays on the Isthmus of Panama, where he was able to procure provisions and to refit his vessels, but failed to obtain any intelligence either of the kingdom of the Khan, or of the strait which he fancied would lead him there.

The natives whom he encountered were generally disposed to be friendly; but, in one instance, when the depth of water in a creek obliged him to moor his vessels close to the shore, an attack of the Indians was only repulsed by the use of artillery, the thunder and lightning of which seemed always to possess, in the eyes of the savages, a supernatural and therefore awful character.