<P> The indigenous people he encountered, the Lucayan, Taíno, or Arawak, were peaceful and friendly . Noting their gold ear ornaments, Columbus took some of the Arawaks prisoner and insisted that they guide him to the source of the gold . From the entry in his journal of 12 October 1492, in which he wrote of them: "Many of the men I have seen have scars on their bodies, and when I made signs to them to find out how this happened, they indicated that people from other nearby islands come to San Salvador to capture them; they defend themselves the best they can . I believe that people from the mainland come here to take them as slaves . They ought to make good and skilled servants, for they repeat very quickly whatever we say to them . I think they can very easily be made Christians, for they seem to have no religion . If it pleases our Lord, I will take six of them to Your Highnesses when I depart, in order that they may learn our language ." Columbus noted that their primitive weapons and military tactics made them susceptible to easy conquest, writing, "...these people are very simple in war - like matters...I could conquer the whole of them with 50 men, and govern them as I pleased ." </P> <P> Columbus also explored the northeast coast of Cuba, where he landed on 28 October . On 22 November, Martín Alonso Pinzón took the Pinta on an unauthorized expedition in search of an island called "Babeque" or "Baneque", which the natives had told him was rich in gold . Columbus, for his part, continued to the northern coast of Hispaniola, where he landed on 5 December . There, the Santa María ran aground on Christmas Day 1492 and had to be abandoned . The wreck was used as a target for cannon fire to impress the native peoples . Columbus was received by the native cacique Guacanagari, who gave him permission to leave some of his men behind . Columbus left 39 men, including Luis de Torres, the Converso interpreter, who spoke Hebrew and Arabic, and founded the settlement of La Navidad at the site of present - day Bord de Mer de Limonade, Haiti . Columbus took more natives prisoner and continued his exploration . He kept sailing along the northern coast of Hispaniola with a single ship, until he encountered Pinzón and the Pinta on 6 January . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> "The Letter of Columbus on the Discovery of America" Read by Availle for LibriVox Audio 00: 20: 05 (full text) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing this file? See media help . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> "The Letter of Columbus on the Discovery of America" Read by Availle for LibriVox Audio 00: 20: 05 (full text) </Td> </Tr>

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