Gold grains in the sand lead Columbus to name Rio del Oro

… all of which the Admiral had suffered and kept silent about in order to bring his voyage to a good end; so that, to get out of such bad company, with whom he says it was fitting to dissemble, although they were an unruly lot, and although he had with him, so he says, many good men, yet it was no time to deal in punishment, he resolved to turn back and stop no longer, with the greatest haste possible to him. He got into the boat and went to the river, which is close by there, a long league toward the south-southwest of Monte-Cristi, where the sailors went to take water for the ship, and he found that the sand at the mouth of the river, which is very large and deep, was, so he says, all full of gold, and to such a degree that it was a marvel, although it was very fine. The Admiral believed that, coming down that river, it was ground fine along the way, although he says that in a small space he found many grains as large as lentils; but of the very fine stuff, so he says, there was a great quantity. …