His health had broken down, and he visited the West Indies, where his wife died of yellow fever.
The pulp is much esteemed in the West Indies and is eaten as a salad, usually with the addition of pepper, salt and vinegar.
They surrendered Louisiana to Spain, which had suffered much in an attempt to help them, and their possessions in America were reduced to their islands in the West Indies and French Guiana.
In 1498 he accompanied his father in an expedition under Columbus to the West Indies, and in 1502 he went with Nicolas de Ovando, the governor, to Hayti, where in 1510 he was admitted to holy orders, being the first priest ordained in the American colonies.
He began his medical career as apprentice to John Paisley, a Glasgow surgeon, and after completing his apprenticeship he became surgeon to a merchant vessel trading between London and the West Indies.