Note 520 — Chapter VI · THE FINDING OF STRANGE COASTS.
Reading edition
Footnote 520: The first recorded mention of tobacco is in Columbus's diary for November 20, 1492:—"Hallaron los dos cristianos por el camino mucha gente que atravesaba á sus pueblos, mugeres y hombres con un tizon en la mano, yerbas para tomar sus sahumerios que acostumbraban," i. e. "the two Christians met on the road a great many people going to their villages, men and women with brands in their hands, made of herbs for taking their customary smoke." Navarrete, tom. i. p. 51.[Back to Main Text]