ABSTRACT
By the end of October, Columbus learns of a large island called Cibao (Cuba) that reportedly contains much gold for the taking. He also hears about a great cacique (chief) who lives on the island and holds much power and gold. Late in November, Martín Pinzón suddenly abandons the fleet, sailing west in search of gold that the Indios on the Pinta claim exist, in large quantities, to the east. Frustrated, Columbus continued his desperate search to find a more advanced civilization and gold. The great length of the northern coast of Cuba has Columbus thinking he had found the eastern most peninsula of Asia as traditionally shown on maps.
