The Rose Demon

sands before kneeling down. A prayer of thanksgiving was offered and ‘this land and all the territories appertaining to it’ were claimed in the name of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

    A group of olive-skinnd figures slipped out of the trees and came down the beach. Matthias had heard all sorts of stories about the subjects of the Great Khan: how they were small, yellow, wizened and slant-eyed or had the faces of dogs. They, however, were olive-skinned, with jet-black hair which fell down as far as the nape of the neck, of good stature and very comely. They were naked as the day they were born and reminded Matthias of children as they moved shyly towards the Captain General. Some of the women wore beach clouts, with ivory ornaments round their necks and wrists. Dark-eyed, their high-cheekboned faces slightly turned away, as if they did not wish to look fully at these strange creatures. They jabbered quietly amongst themselves. A beautiful young woman, her hair half-covering her face, pinched her nose and giggled. Matthias smiled. With the wind behind them, the smell of Columbus and his party, not to mention that from the ships, must be highly offensive to these people. They bore gifts, fruit and food he’d never seen, and calabashes full of water. Their leader, a stocky young man, plucked up courage and walked towards Columbus. He touched the Captain General’s face and clothes and looked in wonderment at the banners flapping above him.

    Columbus whispered instructions to de Torres, who shrugged and began to talk to the natives in English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Hebrew and Aramaic. The leader just looked at him, owl-eyed. Eventually, he did reply, his voice low and guttural. He pointed up to the skies, then at de Torres, who laughed and shook his head.

    ‘I can’t understand them fully, sir,’ he informed Columbus, ‘but he thinks we come from Heaven.’

    The man began to talk again. Matthias, who had edged forward to study these people more closely, saw the look of welcome on the man’s face being replaced by that of fear. The leader repeated the word ‘Caniba’, and pointed out in a southerly direction. The word was taken up by his companions. De Torres caught their drift. He shook his head.

    ‘Not Caniba! Not Caniba!’ he replied.

    Again the man spoke, this time using sign language. Despite the heat Matthias felt a chill go down his back. This young subject of the Great Khan left little to the imagination and Matthias almost knew how de Torres was going to translate it for Columbus.

    ‘He wants assurances that we are not the Caniba,’ he declared. ‘They are the great enemies of these people.’ He paused as the young Indian intervened and made waving movements with his hand. ‘He says they come here in great canoes,’ de Torres said slowly. ‘They take them prisoner, cut their throats, drink their blood and eat their flesh.’

    ‘They are not armed,’ Martin Pinzon spoke up. ‘Have you noticed that, sir? They carry no arms.’

    Pinzon was correct. Matthias could see no bow or arrow, no sword, daggers, clubs or axes. De Torres drew his sword and held it up so it caught the sunlight. The natives gasped and stared, amazed. He handed the sword to the leader. However, instead of grasping the hilt, the man touched the blade and cut his finger. He stared down in astonishment at the blood welling from the small cut.

    ‘They know nothing of weapons,’ Escobedo whispered. ‘But Marco Polo, in his journals, says the subjects of the Great Khan are well armed.’

    De Torres now sheathed his sword and, when he used a crossbow to bring down a seabird, the natives fell to the sand. Matthias began to wonder. Had they reached Cathay? The great island of Cipango? Or were they somewhere else? Who were these people who acted so innocently? Had they reached a paradise? But, if so, who were the Caniba? Was this a place where both the angels and demons lived? Matthias remembered that mysterious voice: he also wondered who, amongst these people with their childlike faces and innocent ways, had brought Columbus in by showing that mysterious light the evening before? The Captain General, however, had now noticed the small studs of gold in the natives’ noses and ears. He pointed at these and excitedly asked de Torres where they were from? The native leader, surprised by Columbus’ excitement, shrugged, took the gold from his nose and ears and handed it over. He pointed further south,