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a
de las Mujeres_, (the promontory of women.) Aguilar observed that this
was the spot where he was once a slave among the Indians; here his
master had found him sunk beneath the weight of the heavy burden which
he had forced him to carry: neither was the township far off where
Alonso Guerrero had settled himself. Every inhabitant possessed gold,
but in small quantities; he would show us the way, if we were desirous
of going there. To which Cortes said, laughingly, he had not gone out
for the sake of such trifles, but to serve God and his king. In the
meantime he despatched Escobar, one of our commanders, with a
fast-sailing vessel of small tonnage, to the Terminos bay, there to
examine the country and search for a secure spot to found a colony; also
to inform us whether game really was so abundant there as had been
represented. All this was done according to the advice of our chief
pilot, to save the trouble of running in there with the whole fleet on
our passing by. Escobar, when he had explored the harbour, was merely to
leave some sign on both sides of the entrance, either by felling trees
or by leaving something in writing, from which we should know that he
had entered safely, or that, having fully explored the harbour, he was
tacking about until we fell in with him again.

With these instructions Escobar set sail, and ran into Terminos bay,
where he executed the commands he had received: he likewise found the
greyhound which had run away from us when we landed there with Grijalva.
It was quite glossy and fat, and immediately knew the ship again as it
entered the bay, wagging its tail, and jumping up against our men as it
followed them on board. Escobar now quitted the bay, and intended
laying-to until the rest of our vessels should come up, but was driven a
considerable way out to sea by a strong south wind. We must now return
to our squadron, which we left at the punta de las Mujeres. Having left
this spot next morning with a stiffish breeze blowing from the land, we
arrived at the entrance of Terminos bay, without, however, seeing
anything of Escobar. Cortes ordered a boat to be lowered, armed with ten
crossbow-men, to run into the bay, or search whether Escobar had left
any sign or written paper as desired. Some trees were found cut down,
and near them a small paper, on which was written, that both the bay and
country round about were charming, that the spot abounded with game, and
that they had found the dog. Our principal pilot here remarked to Cortes
that it would be most advisable for us to continue our course, for the
south wind had no doubt obliged Escobar to hold out to sea, though he
could not be far off, as he must have sailed in a slanting direction.
Cortes, however, still apprehended some accident must have befallen him:
nevertheless, he ordered the sails to be set, and we very soon came up
with Escobar, who related all he had seen, and explained what had
prevented him from waiting for us. In this way we arrived in the waters
off Potonchan, and Cortes ordered Alaminos to run into the inlet where
Cordoba and Grijalva had met with such disastrous treatment. Alaminos,
however, declared that it was a dangerous station for the vessels, as
the waters were very shallow off the coast, and we should be forced to
anchor six miles from the land. Cortes's intention was to punish the
inhabitants severely, and many of us who had been present at those
engagements begged of him to run in that we might revenge ourselves upon
them. But Alaminos and the other pilots said we should lose more than
three days by running in, and, if the weather became unfavorable, we
might be detained there above eight: the wind, moreover, being now most
favorable to reach the Tabasco river, which was our chief object, and
where we might arrive in a couple of days. We accordingly put out to
sea, and reached the Tabasco after three days' sail.

CHAPTER XXXI.

 _How we arrive in the river Grijalva, called in the Indian language
 the Tabasco; the battle we fought there; and what further took
 place._

On the 12th of March, 1519, we arrived with our whole squadron in the
mouth of the Tabasco. As we had experienced, under the expedition with
Grijalva, that no vessels of any considerable burden could enter the
mouth of the river, our larger ones anchored out at sea, while the
smaller ones only, followed by our boats, carrying the whole of our men,
sailed up the river, in order to disembark at the promontory where the
palm trees grew, about four miles from the town of Tabasco; the same
spot where Grijalva had landed.

We perceived numbers of Indians, all under arms, lurking between the
almond trees along the shore. This circumstance greatly astonished those
among us who were here before with Grijalva. Besides this, more than
12,000 men, all armed after their fashion, had assembled at the town
itself in order to attack us. This town was very powerful at that time,
many others being subject to it. These warlike preparations were
occasioned by the following circumstances: The inhabitants of Potonchan,
of Lazaro, and other neighbouring tribes, had accused the Tabascans of
cowardice, for having given Grijalva their gold trinkets mentioned
above: they reproached them the more because their population was more
extensive, and their warriors much more numerous than those of the
tribes just mentioned, who had courageously attacked and killed
fifty-six of our men. It was owing to these reproaches that they now
likewise took up arms against us. Cortes observing these preparations,
desired our interpreter Aguilar, who perfectly understood the language
of Tabasco, to ask some Indians who were passing by in a large canoe,
what the meaning was of all this noise? we had not come to do them any
harm; on the contrary, we were disposed to treat them as our brethren,
and share our victuals with them: they should be careful how they went
to war with us, for they would certainly have to repent it. This and
many other things were told them by Aguilar, to incline them to peace,
but the more he said the more insolent they became, threatening to
destroy us all should we dare to set foot on their territory or in their
town, which they had fortified by means of heavy trees felled for the
purpose, and a strong stone wall. Aguilar, however, made another attempt
to bring about peace, and obtain us permission to take in fresh water,
barter for provisions, and incline them to listen to the disclosures we
came to make in the name of our God. They, however, persisted we should
not pass beyond the palm trees; if we did, they would kill us all.

When Cortes found that all attempts to make peace were fruitless, he
ordered the small vessels and boats to prepare for battle. Three pieces
of cannon were put on board of each of the former, the crossbow-men and
musketeers being equally distributed among them. We remembered, during
the expedition under Grijalva, that a narrow road ran from the palm
trees along some quagmires and wells to th

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