Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/464

444 such disgrace. Putting back, they gave battle, and after a desperate struggle won the day, forcing the natives back, step by step, till they regained possession of their camp.

The result of it all was cessation from hostilities and a truce; but every effort to penetrate the interior ended in failure, and the Spaniards were compelled to remain in the neighborhood of their camp. Here disease and famine rapidly thinned their ranks, and before long nineteen gaunt and sickly figures were all that survived of Francisco's band. Still they remained at their post, their wants being occasionally relieved by passing vessels, but neither supplies nor reënforcements reached them from Tabasco, though a few men and a small store of provisions had previously been sent, probably from Honduras, of which province, in answer to his own petition and that of the settlers at Trujillo, Montejo had been appointed governor. But this relief was insufficient; nor was it an easy matter to enlist recruits, for throughout the New World the fame of Pizarro's conquest was on every tongue, while the poverty of Yucatan was almost as widely known. At length, being no longer able to endure their hardships, the commander set forth to ask aid from the adelantado, leaving his cousin and namesake in charge of the camp.

But help was long delayed, and matters in the mean time became worse. Some of the Spaniards threatened to desert, whereupon their captain, bringing them in the presence of their comrades, bade them depart at once. The men hung their heads and begged leave to remain. Finally the question of