Page:The Mastering of Mexico.djvu/56

30 we suffered much discomfort from mosquitos. Our captain, Grijalva, who had proved himself a large minded man and brave soldier, was well minded to found a colony even with our few men. But because we were now convinced that these lands before us were the mainland and contained large towns, and because our cassava bread had become mouldy and unfit to eat, and because our numbers were too few to permit us to form a settlement—thirteen of our men had died of wounds and four were still ill—we agreed to forward to Diego Velasquez account of our condition and ask him to send succor. To go on this mission to Cuba, Pedro de Alvarado was chosen, and he soon sailed in the good ship San Sebastian, taking with him all the gold and cotton cloth we had bartered for, and also our sick men. The officers of the other ships, each giving his own account, also sent the governor letters of what we had seen.

From the moment our fleet had quitted Cuba, Diego Velasquez had been downcast and anxious lest some misfortune befall us. When, however, Alvarado came into port with the gold and cloth and sick men, and when Velasquez saw the gold worked into various trinkets, and heard the whole story of what we had found, his joy was great. Nor were the officers who received the king's fifth less astonished at the riches of the lands we had discovered.