Wednesday, November 17, 1526
Our fears were unfounded. The local natives have proven to be friendly and welcoming, although wary at first. It would seem they have never seen a ship like ours. Their canoes are much smaller and certainly wouldn’t be suitable for crossing an ocean. The colour of our skin is also of much amusement to them. The native men have strong looking bodies wrapped in a very dark brown skin. They have black hair, often a black beard, white teeth, and a few have markings upon their faces. The older men appear to have more markings. Most of the men have none at all. The women mostly appear to wear their hair long, though a few of the older woman have it cut short.
The natives go about in an array of clothing or with none at all. The clothing they do wear is often basic, made out of a broad leafed grass that we have seen much of. They all wear pieces of shell or stone hanging from the ears and in chains around their necks. Some of the men wear two or three long white feathers in their hair when they are clothed. The women often wear a comb in their hair. The combs are made from bone or wood. There seems to be much respect for the older men from the younger.
We are struggling with finding a common language for communication. I tried Spanish, a few words of French, some English too. But the natives don’t appear to have had any contact with Europeans before, as I expected. We have, therefore, fallen back on signals. A lot of pointing and the slow pronunciation of words, that we might come to understand each other.
We have given them some of the sweet potato plants that we brought with us and these have been quickly planted, along with a few other specimens we had on board. The women were delighted with this gift. In return, we were rewarded with some very good fish and we have been shown where we can take water from the stream.
I think we will be able to get the ship onto the beach here and make repairs in a safe haven. At least for now, we have a good neighbourly relationship with the land’s people. I hope to be able to observe them more and to learn more about their ways.
Thursday, December 2, 1526
Communication with the natives is getting much stronger. The people call themselves Waitaha. Their leader, a stout man who has spent much time with me, patiently showing me around his small valley and beach, goes by the name ‘Tane.’ It has been made clear by his actions that we are welcome here. Not only have they invited us to eat with them by the fire, but Tane also had his strongest men help us to bring the ship up onto the beach. This was achieved through the cutting of some round logs and using some ropes and levers accompanied by the brute force of a huge group of men to move the ship on the highest tide.
We are now in a position to properly set to repairs. The carpenters and shipwrights have assembled a team of ready and able men for this job. The other men and I will go about exploring the surrounding forests and beaches with our new friends. We will go hunting and fishing and build up a good stock for our onward journey. Some of the men have agreed to bring the natives to our Christian faith. The people will be better and happier with our God than without him. I have been told to expect to be here for two months.