Men
Columbus recounts, “Saturday, 13 October. "At daybreak great multitudes of men came to the shore, all young and of fine shapes, very handsome. . . . They came loaded with balls of cotton, parrots, javelins, and other things too numerous to mention; these they exchanged for whatever we chose to give them. I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any gold.” The men whom Columbus encounters at Lucayos are extremely welcoming. Although Columbus is an alien to them, they receive him and offer him gifts. Additionally, they guide him to the king with vast gold. The men’s actions indicate that they trust Columbus; otherwise, they would not cooperate with him.
Islands
Columbus explains, “I shall set sail for another very large island which I believe to be Cipango, according to the indications I receive from the Indians on board...This other island they name Bosio, and inform me that it is very large; the others which lie in our course, I shall examine on the passage, and according as I find gold or spices in abundance, I shall determine what to do." Islands are ubiquitous throughout Columbus' expedition. The Islands are endowed with valuable resources that Columbus intends to exploit. Evidently, the valuables have not yet been fully excavated from the Island based on Columbus' prediction about the likelihood of finding vast valuable metals. Moreover, water transport by way of ship is dominant in the islands due to the omnipresence of ships.
Natives
Columbus expounds, "Those who went for water informed me that they had entered their (natives) houses and found them very clean and neat, with beds and coverings of cotton nets. Their houses are all built in the shape of tents, with very high chimneys. None of the villages which I saw contained more than twelve or fifteen of them. Here it was remarked that the married women wore cotton breeches, but the younger females were without them, except a few who were as old as eighteen years." The natives have an organized culture that governs their lives. Their neatness and well-designed dressing code depicts the imagery of a community with a solid culture. Moreover, they have a well-defined architecture that defines their housing structures. Accordingly, they are not absolutely uncivilized.
