upon the shores of an excellent and capacious harbour, about ten leagues east of Monte Christo, and disembarking his troops, labourers, and artificers, commenced erecting a city on a well-devised plan, with streets, squares, church, public storehouse, and residence for the admiral built of stone. To this, the first permanent city in the Western world, Columbus gave the name of Isabella, in honour of that enlightened sovereign, without whose aid these islands would probably not have been discovered till many years afterwards.
Sufferings of the colonists,
and disappointment of Columbus.
But the new colony had a severe ordeal to pass
through before it was successfully established. Maladies
of various kinds broke out among the settlers.
Many who had suffered severely from the sea voyage,
and from the salt provisions to which they had been
reduced, soon fell a prey to the exhalations of the
hot climate, and to the humid vapours from the
rivers and undrained land; while others, accustomed
to highly-cultivated countries with the comforts of
a superior home, suffered severely from the stagnant
air of the dense forests around them. Most, too,
of the settlers were grievously disappointed, that they
had not yet discovered the golden regions of Cathay
and Zipango, nor even a region of Indian luxury, or
wide fields for chivalrous enterprises. Gold, they
soon found, could only be obtained in small quantities,
chiefly through the medium of barter with the
natives: even Columbus was disappointed. When
the ships had discharged their cargoes, and it was
necessary to send the greater part of them back
to Spain, there was neither "gold nor precious
merchandise" ready for shipment, which he expected
