Las Casas records that Columbus left 39 men, friends of Guacanagarí

He left in that Isla Española, which the Indians, so he says, called Bohío, 39 men with the fortress, and, so he says, great friends of that king Guacanagarí; and over them, as his lieutenants, Diego de Arana, a native of Córdoba, and Pedro Gutiérrez, steward of the King’s dais and servant of the chief steward, and Rodrigo de Escobedo, a native of Segovia, nephew of Fray Rodrigo Pérez, with all the powers that he held from the Sovereigns. He left them all the merchandise that the Sovereigns had ordered bought for the trading, which was a great deal, for them to barter and trade for gold, with everything the ship carried. He left them also biscuit bread for a year, and wine, and much artillery, and the ship’s boat, so that they, being seamen as most of them were, might go when they saw fit to discover the gold mine, so that when the Admiral came back he would find much gold, and a place where a town might be settled, because that one was not a harbor to his liking: …