. The storied West Indies . earch of logwood and FIRST FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS 81 mahogany. After half a day spent on the deck of thegoleta. we sighted the foaming breakers on the reefsoff Isabella, and at last penetrated the narrow chan-nel between the coral ledges and gained the month ofthe Bajabonito. the dreariest river I had ever a mile from theriver month we ar-rived opposite a smalldwelling house, whichthe generous owner,whom I had met atPuerto Plata, hadplaced at my the morning,when the sun shoneupon the forest-cov-ered hillside, and themocking birds salutedme with
. The storied West Indies . earch of logwood and FIRST FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS 81 mahogany. After half a day spent on the deck of thegoleta. we sighted the foaming breakers on the reefsoff Isabella, and at last penetrated the narrow chan-nel between the coral ledges and gained the month ofthe Bajabonito. the dreariest river I had ever a mile from theriver month we ar-rived opposite a smalldwelling house, whichthe generous owner,whom I had met atPuerto Plata, hadplaced at my the morning,when the sun shoneupon the forest-cov-ered hillside, and themocking birds salutedme with floods of mel-ody, I quite forgot thefleas and mosquitoesthat had assailed meduring the night, thecentipedes and scor-pions, of which I hadbeen warned. andthrilled with thethought that the event so long anticipated was nearat hand: when I should gaze upon the ruins of thefirst city erected in America! Abandoned more thanfour centuries ago, Isabella had lain neglected, de-serted, all this time, slowly going to ruin, and even. Armor of Columbus. 82 THE STORIED WEST INDIES its site forgotten by civilized man, until I sought itout and brought it to the notice of my the explorer can understand the satisfactionwith which I neared the site of that deserted air was cool and sweet with the scents of a thou-sand flowers, the trees were filled with chatteringparrots, cooing wood doves, and glancing, gemlikehumming birds. Thus welcomed, and thus attuned with naturesharmonies, I approached the site of ancient found it covered with a rank growth of cactus,logwood, and tropical plants, woven together so closelyby long, ropelike lianes, and beset with tangled creep-ers, that we could hardly penetrate this vegetal bar-rier, and my guide had to hew a path with his cutlassor machete. In short, of the city of Isabella, which at onetime contained numerous houses built of masonry,no vestige remained except shapeless heaps, or mon-tones, of rocks, stones, and tiles
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