The sea and sky stretched wide and bright, the wind stilled and the waves calm. September's brilliant sunlight spilled over the Caribbean after the storm. The ocean glittered with rippling light, like the Feathered Serpent's long golden feathers, and like a magnificent mirror beneath the feet of the gods.
After the rain, the sky cleared, and seven Kingdom longships, laden with three or four hundred warriors, set out together. The whole fleet kept a steady, unhurried pace, rowing east along Cuba's emerald coast. The Red Soil Tribe in the east lay roughly two hundred li from the Mayari Tribe. Since they had to preserve the sailors' strength so they could fight at any moment if they met the enemy, they covered only sixty or seventy li a day. After three days of travel like this, when the morning light illuminated the sky, the magnificent red hills and earth along the coast entered everyone's eyes together.
The Taino's great Red Soil Tribe was only a dozen li ahead, but Priest Tomatl was in no hurry to arrive. He had the fleet stop nearby so the crew could recover their strength. At the same time, he sent two hunters from the Mayari Tribe ashore, along with the envoy who had earlier come asking for help, to make contact with the Red Soil Tribe. Meanwhile, a nimble dugout canoe was lowered from a longship, carrying three or four skilled Kingdom sailors to scout the condition of the coast ahead.
Half a day later, after everyone had eaten a simple lunch, the scouts from both sides returned one after another. The Kingdom sailors had investigated the seaside situation: the Ciguayos had over a hundred dugout canoes and had split into squads of several dozen men each, plundering the villages and tribes along the coast!