On the eighth day of the month of February in the year fifteen hundred and seventeen, we left the Havana from the port of Axaruco, which is on the North coast, and in twelve days we doubled Cape San Antonio, which is also called in the Island of Cuba the land of the Guanahataveyes, who are Indians like savages. When we had passed this Cape we were in the open sea and trusting to luck we steered towards the setting sun, knowing nothing of the depth of water, nor of the currents, nor of the winds which usually prevail in that latitude, so we ran great risk of our lives, then a storm struck us which lasted two days and two nights, and ragard with such strength that we were nearly lost. When the weather moderated, we kept on our course, and twenty-one days after leaving port, we sighted land, at which we rejoiced greatly and gave thanks to God. This land had never been discovered before and no report of it had reached us. From the ships we could see a large town standing back about two leagues from the coast, and as we had never seen such a large town in the Island of Cuba nor in Hispaniola, we named it the Great Cairo.

We arranged that the two vessels which drew the least water should go in as near as possible to the Coast, to examine the land and see if there was an anchorage near the shore.