This document is the from the journal of Christopher Columbus in his voyage of 1492.
IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST...
...ordered me to proceed with a sufficient armament to the said regions of India, and for that purpose granted me great favors, and ennobled me that thenceforth I might call myself Don, and be High Admiral of the Sea, and perpetual Viceroy and Governor in all the islands and continents which I might discover and acquire. I hereby set forth my discoveries on ink and quill so that Your Highnesses will know of my journeys.
Thursday, 11 October, 1492
At two o'clock in the morning the land was discovered, when we found ourselves near a small island, of which we were never told of the name so we christened it Isabela after her most Catholic Majesty [1]. I, the Admiral, bore the royal standard, and the two captains each a banner of the Green Cross. We saw few trees almost no fruits [2]. I called upon the two Captains to bear witness that I, before all others took possession of that island for the King and Queen his sovereigns, making the requisite declarations...
...The peoples of the island are of concern, as I saw that they were very hostile to us. At first sight they take to their feet and flee shouting, "ALSCO" [3]. I perceived that they could not be easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means. They all go completely naked and are covered in numerous tattoos, even the women, though I saw but one girl. All whom I saw were young, not above thirty years of age, not well made. They have an ugly look about them and their faces are almost always filled with scowls. Weapons they all have, and not are nor shy of using them, for a shipmate managed to catch one only to have his face scarred for the experience. For the native slashed him with a bronze blade, very worn and tarnished. We saw a few such blades, which were obviously highly cherished. It served this native little good, however, for the Castilian then showed them his sword which he struck home true...
... It seems to me, that the people are highly violent, untrustworthy, and dishonorable...
...I saw no beasts in the island, nor any sort of animals except parrots and a monkey. We tried to obtain both of these, but it proved impossible. With the Grace of God we shall bring home one of these animals next time.
Saturday, 13 October
The natives have not improved any with the passing of the days. We are attempting to re-supply our ship as best we can, but it is hard. Danger lurks everywhere among these dirty savages. They show no interest in trading with us, and throw stones and spears if we approach too closely. We grow weary of this.
Sunday, 14 October
We were raided in the middle of the night. They came to the ship in canoes, made of a single trunk of a tree, wrought in a wonderful manner considering the country; some of them large enough to contain forty or forty-five men, others of different sizes down to those fitted to hold but a single person. They rowed with an oar like a baker's peel, and wonderfully swift [4]. They came loaded with knives, javelins, and other things too numerous to mention; our sword and shot fell them back and the retreated to their canoes, of which we sunk one. I was very attentive and had the corpses searched for anything of value. I then strove to learn from the captives if they had any gold. Seeing some of them with little bits of this metal hanging at their noses, I gathered from them by signs that by going southward or steering round the island in that direction, there would be found a king who possessed large vessels of gold, and in great quantities. I endeavored to procure them to lead the way thither, and we set off the very night [5].
Monday, 15 October
About sunset we anchored near the cape which terminates the island towards the west to inquire for gold, for the natives we had taken from Isabela told me that the people here wore golden bracelets upon their arms and legs. I believed pretty confidently that they had invented this story in order to find means to escape from us, still I determined to pass none of these islands without taking possession, because being once taken, it would answer for all times. We anchored and remained till Tuesday, when at daybreak I went ashore with the boats armed as heavily as possible. The people we found naked like those of San Salvador, and of the same disposition, inclined only to flight or to battle. Is no one friendly in these Islands?
Saturday, 20 October
At a place where a small stream enters the sea, we found a town of perhaps fifty houses. This town was greater than those we had seen before, and the houses were made of stone, not wood, wherefore we thought we might have come to a greater town of this province. We went ashore, and found that each house was round like a baker's oven, large in size, perhaps twenty paces across, but low so that a tall man must stoop, and very dark inside. The stone work was very fine though no mortar was used. Each house had three rooms, one very large and two small. We had no doubt that the people had fled in terror at our approach, as each house was completely furnished, but soon we thought otherwise. For the furnishings were very old and rotten, and the dust lay thick all around, and creeping plants were growing up through the walls, and rats and monkeys were living in the roofs. It seemed to us that this house had not been used for a long time. Strange how some of these islands seem to have houses but no people. This island even exceeds the others in beauty and fertility. Groves of lofty and flourishing trees are abundant, as also large lakes, surrounded and overhung by the foliage, in a most enchanting manner. Everything looked as green as in April in Andalusia. The melody of the birds was so exquisite that one was never willing to part from the spot, and the flocks of parrots obscured the heavens.
Sunday, 28 October
We have been encountering more and more wreckage as we progress from Island to Island, but nothing could have prepared us for what we discovered today on the island called Cuba. We have become used to seeing many houses built in the round, like tents of stone, but compared to what we saw today they are but the playthings of children. The steamy hot jungles of this island cover the bones of a kingdom. It is like nothing any of us have ever heard of, or even imagined. Like something in Italy that had survived from the times of the Romans, only to be reclaimed by the forest. It was a city but it was dead. That is the only word for it. No people were in it, trees grew in the streets and vines were growing on buildings. Only the screech of parrots and monkeys sounded there now. No people. Just wrecks and buildings. We asked the natives and they shouted, "Timorlong." Which I take to mean that this cities were sacked by Tamerlane! Such was the fear aroused by the memory of this fearsome infidel, that the natives refused to even come near the cities, and had to be left under guard... [5]
...We explored as best we could. The structures were all in stone, and huge. The most common sort of building was a round stone house, like the ones in the smaller towns we had seen, but built up to four or five stories, and with many rooms inside. Within some we found tables and chairs, but all very rotten, and no jewels or gold. Some of the houses had been burnt by fire inside, which made us think this city had been sacked with great violence...
...Also we saw four great stone buildings, pyramids, not less than a hundred feet in height, which seem to be temples of some pagan sort, for their every stone was carved with beasts and devils of the most fantastic kind...
...Again we saw a number of monkeys in these cities. Here they seem quite tame, and with a little patience will take food from the hand, though we did not pause to capture any, so intent were we upon searching the ruins...
...A stream runs through the city, and we followed it for half a day's march, where we found a small village of the natives, surrounded by some little fields where they grow a sort of gourd. There we caught one woman who was wearing a gold bracelet and anklet. When we inquired as to where she had obtained it, she got across the message that it was passed down from her mother's mother's mother. She said it was an item from the "Beforetime". I have, of course, enclosed the jewelry for your Majesties. As you can see it is of exceptional quality and design.
January 2, 1493
Having mapped and explored these lands to the best of our abilities, we have replenished our supplies and now all three of your ships under my command are set to return for home [7]. On our last night here the water is as smooth as a pond. It was to view these parts that I set out in the morning, for I wished to give a complete relation to your Highnesses, as also to find where a fort might be built. I discovered a tongue of land which appeared like an island though it was not, but might be cut through and made so in two days; it contained six stone houses. I see the necessity of fortifying the place, as the people here are of a craven yet vicious disposition, fleeing all friendly greetings but turning to attack when their numbers are greater. This your Highnesses will see by those seven which I have ordered to be taken and carried to Spain in order to learn our language and return, unless your Highnesses should choose to have them all transported to Castile, or held captive in the island. After examining them I think you will agree with me, that this is a lush and beautiful country, full of prosperity and good fortune and that it would be a perfect place, if only it wasn't for the people here.
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[1] In OTL one of the Lucayos, called in the Indian language Guanahani.
[2] OTL "many trees, very green many streams of water, and diverse sorts of fruits". The fall of the Arawaks hit this island very hard and they deforested it pretty badly. It's not a very promising island.
[3] A slight corruption of the Arawak word, ALCO (AL-koh). It's literally meaning is wild dog, but it's come to mean, "En-slaver."
[4] The natives have lost most of the Arawak navigational package, and can no longer engage in blue-water sailing. However, a few tribes still have the ability to make large canoes, and a few modest coastal towns have grown up -- far from the Arawak city sites, of course.
[5] They've retrograded, but they still know some basic knowledge from myths and legends of the times of their grandfather's grandfathers. And that's good enough when you have a sword at your throat and a big scary guy demanding you tell him where to get the shiny metal.
[6] Actually, what the natives said was, "tloggotl" which is the Shapeless Death.
[7] In OTL Santa Maria grounded on a reef, but that was more or less pure chance, and I'm assuming it doesn't happen here. Also, in OTL, while sailing north of Cuba on November 22, Martín Alonso Pinzón, captain of the Pinta, left the other two ships without permission and sailed on his own in search of an island called "Babeque," where he had been told by his native guides that there was much gold. Here, there aren't really any friendly natives so they don't get as many instructions.
The prospect of these lands in European eyes is slightly different. The Natives aren't viewed as quite so easy prey, and Columbus comes away thinking them mean, and bad servants. But on the plus side, gold is more evident in this Caribbean, even if it's mainly from the Beforetime. Also, all three of Columbus's ships come back in good order. That makes the trip look less perilous than OTL when one got grounded, and the other got lost for a while. All in all, it about evens out in the eyes of Europeans in terms of cost-benefits analysis.
Unfortunately, it's probably one of those things that are interesting about their civilization but will have little affect on the Spanish conquest and won't survive their destruction. 
