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r, and repeatedly called out aloud to
him, without receiving any answer, we returned to our boat, and brought
the water on board. The joy of our men was as great as if we had brought
them new life; and one of the soldiers, from excessive thirst, leaped
from the vessel into the boat, seized one of the small casks, and poured
such an abundance of water into his body, that he instantaneously
swelled out and expired.

Having brought the water on board our vessels, hauled in our boats, we
hoisted our sails and stood direct for the Havannah. The day and
following night the weather was most beautiful as we passed the Martyr
Islands and sand-banks of the same name. We had only four fathoms water,
where the sea was deepest; our principal ship consequently struck
against the rocks and became very leaky, so that all hands were engaged
at the pumps, without then being able to get the water under, while we
every moment feared the vessel would go down. I never shall forget the
answer which some sailors from the Levant, who were among the crew, made
when we cried out to them: "Come on, my boys, help us to pump out the
water, or we shall all be lost! you see how our wounds and hard labour
have debilitated us." "That's your own look out," said they; "we get no
pay, suffer both from hunger and thirst, and have, in the bargain, to
share your fatigues and wounds." Nothing now remained but to drive them
to the pumps by main force; and in this way we had alternately to work
the sails and the pumps, however distasteful to us, until the Lord Jesus
brought us into the port of Carena, where now the town of Havannah
stands, the latter being previously called Puerto de Carenas, and not
the Havannah.

As soon as we had set foot on shore we returned thanks to the Almighty
for our safe return, and got the water out of our principal ship, in
which a Portuguese diver, who happened to be on board another vessel,
greatly assisted us. We also immediately wrote to the governor, Diego
Velasquez, giving him an account of the countries we discovered with
large townships and houses built of stone, whose inhabitants were clad
in cotton, and wore maltates; likewise of the gold and the regular
maise-plantations of the country. Our captain journeyed overland to
Santispiritus, where he had his Indian commendary: he died, however, ten
days after his arrival there, from his wounds. The rest of our men
became dispersed through the island, and three more of our men died of
their wounds at the Havannah.

Our vessels were taken to Santiago de Cuba, where the governor resided.
Here the two Indians were brought on shore whom we had taken with us
from the Punta de Cotoche, as above related, called Melchorillo and
Julianillo. When, however, we brought forth the box with the crowns, the
golden ducks, the fish, and the idols, more noise was made about them
than they really merited, so that they became the common topics of
conversation throughout the islands of St. Domingo and Cuba; indeed the
fame thereof even reached Spain. There it was said that none of the
countries which had hitherto been discovered were as rich as this, and
in none had there been found houses built of stone. The earthen gods, it
was said, were the remains of the ancient heathen times; others again
went so far as to affirm that they were descendants of the Jews whom
Titus and Vespasian had driven from Jerusalem, who had been shipwrecked
off this coast. Peru, indeed, was not then known, and in so far the
countries we had discovered were justly considered of the greatest
importance. Diego Velasquez closely questioned the two Indians as to
whether there were any gold mines in their country. They answered in the
affirmative; and when they were shown some of the gold-dust found in the
island of Cuba, they said there was abundance of it in their country. In
this they told an untruth, as it is very well known there are neither
goldmines on the Punta de Cotoche nor even in whole Yucatan. They were
likewise shown the beds in which the seeds of that plant are sown from
whose root the cassave bread is made, and in Cuba called yuca: they
assured us that the same plant grew in their country, and was called by
them tale. As the cassave-root at Cuba is called yuca, and the ground in
which it is planted by the Indians tale, so from these two words arose
the name of the country, Yucatan; for the Spaniards who were standing
around the governor at the time he was speaking to the two Indians said,
"You see, sir, they call their country Yucatan." And from this
circumstance the country retained the name of Yucatan, although the
natives call it otherwise.

In this beautiful voyage of discovery we had spent our all, and returned
to Cuba covered with wounds, and as poor as beggars; yet we had reason
to congratulate ourselves that it had not been equally disastrous to us
all as to many of our companions who had lost their lives. Our captain,
as I have already mentioned, died soon after his return; and all of us
suffered for a considerable time after from our wounds. Our whole loss
amounted to seventy men, which was all we had gained by this voyage of
discovery.

Concerning all this the governor Diego Velasquez wrote to those
gentlemen in Spain who at that time managed the affairs of India, and
boasted of the discoveries _he_ had made, and of the vast expense it had
put _him_ to. This actually obtained credit, and the bishop of Burgos,
Don Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, who also bore the title of archbishop of
Rosano, and was president of Indian affairs, wrote in that strain to his
majesty, in Flanders, vastly extolling the merit of Diego Velasquez, at
the same time not as much as even mentioning the names of any of us who
had really discovered the country.

I will, however, break off here, and relate in the following chapter
what further fatigues I and three more of my companions in arms had to
undergo.

CHAPTER VII.

 _The fatigues I had to undergo, until my arrival in the town of
 Trinidad._

I have already above related that I with some other soldiers who had not
quite recovered from our wounds remained behind in the Havannah. As soon
as the latter began to heal a little we three made up our minds to go in
company with a certain Pedro d'Avila, an inhabitant of the Havannah, to
the town of Trinidad. This man was going to make a voyage in a canoe
along the south coast, and had taken a lading of cotton shirts, which he
intended to dispose of in Trinidad. As I have above stated, these canoes
are hollowed out of the trunks of trees, after the manner of our bakers'
troughs: in this country they are used for coasting; and we had to pay
Pedro d'Avila ten doubloons for the voyage.

As we were coasting along, sometimes rowing, sometimes sailing, we
arrived after the eleventh day in sight of an Indian village, subject to
the Spaniards, and called Cannareon; there arose at night-time such a
terrible gale of wind, that, although we rowed with all our strength, we
could not keep the sea any lon

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