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Rh defensive armor of quilted cotton, their faces painted black, white, and red, and with plumes of feathers in their hair. They were the fiercest Indians the Spaniards had yet encountered; they fought bravely, and though they for the first time heard the report of firearms and witnessed their destructive effects, they finally drove the Spaniards to their boats, with the loss of half their number in killed, and every one of them wounded but one. Then, indeed, were the Spaniards glad to set sail for Cuba, first making for the coast of Florida for water, for they were perishing of thirst. Brave Captain Cordova had received no less than twelve serious wounds from arrows, from the effects of which he died a few days after reaching Cuba. They found water on the coast of Florida, where they touched, but while engaged in refreshing themselves and in washing their wounds they were set upon by savages, and the only man who escaped from Champotan without a hurt was killed or carried into captivity. In pitiable state, with only two vessels, and these in a sinking condition, they at last reached Cuba with their dying captain, and the members of the expedition scattered to their various plantations, most of them having had enough of western exploration; but the fame of their discovery got noised about the island, and incited others to follow in the track they had taken.

[A. D. 1518.] The avarice of the Governor of Cuba being excited at the sight of gold, and by the assertions of two Indian captives that the land abounded in it, he fitted out four ships, and placed them in command of a discreet young man named Juan de Grijalva. Two hundred and forty volunteers were in readiness to accompany him, among whom were several of the last party of the unfortunate Cordova. Chief among these was the skillful pilot