Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 2.djvu/306

 me news of the Spaniards whom I sought, saying they had seen them, and that they were two days' journey from there in the same town, which I remembered and which is called Nito. This being a centre of much trade amongst the merchants was very well known everywhere, and I had heard about it already in the Province of Acalan, of which I have already spoken to Your Majesty. They also brought two women, natives of the said town Nito, who gave me further details; for they told me they were in the town when the Christians captured it, and that they themselves were among the prisoners taken when it was assaulted by night, and had served the Christians whom they called by their names.

I cannot express to Your Majesty the great joy which I and my people felt at the news these natives of Taniha gave us, for we saw ourselves at the end of our perilous journey. We had passed through innumerable troubles during the four days march from Acuculin, owing to the precipitous roads and rough mountainous passes we had to cross. During this time, the few horses we had left suffered falls, and my cousin, Juan de Avalon, rolled down a mountain with his horse and broke his arm ; and, had it not been for the steel plates of his armour which protected him from the stones, he would have been dashed to pieces; and we had trouble enough to get him up again. And there were many other misfortunes, too many to be recounted, which befell us, especially through famine; for, although we had brought from Mexico some swine, which were not as yet all consumed, neither I nor my men, when we arrived at Taniha, had tasted any bread for eight consecutive days; our only food was palmettos boiled with the meat and without