Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 2.djvu/303

 and certain other traders of Acalan had obtained permission from Acahuilguin, the lord of Acuculin, to settle in his country. Here he [Acahuilguin] had given them a small town in which they lived and whence they carried on their trade, although it was entirely ruined after the Spaniards had come there, for there was but that one road and nobody ventured to use it. He said he would guide me, but that we would be obliged to cross a large inlet of the sea and many difficult mountain chains, altogether a ten days' journey.

I rejoiced greatly at having found so good a guide, and treated him well, instructing the guides I had brought from Mazatlan and Taiza to tell him how well I had treated them, and that I was a great friend of Apaspolon, their lord. This increased his confidence in me, and I ventured to set him and all his companions free, trusting him to such an extent that I discharged the guides whom I had brought thus far, giving them some small presents for themselves and for their chiefs, and thanking them for their services; after which they left me well satisfied. I ordered four men from Acuculin and two chosen among the inhabitants of Tenciz to go ahead with a message from me to the lord of Acuculin, and encourage him to await me; and after them there followed other Indians to open the road. The scarcity of provisions and the want of rest, both for the men and horses, delayed me two days longer at that place, after which I departed, leading most of our horses until we reached a place where we passed the night. At daybreak we found that the man who was to have been our guide and all his companions had gone, and God knows how I regretted having dismissed the others. I marched ahead however, and slept in a forest, five leagues distant from there; and on the road we encountered such rough places that the only one of my horses which had held out was disabled by a fall and has not yet recovered.