sailors state that three engagements took place, in which eight soldiers were killed, many wounded, and thirty horses killed. It is in this manner that the Spaniards, who cannot bear to work together, kill one another as soon as they meet.

It seems, according to the sailors' story, that Gil Gonzales had plundered Francisco Fernandez of two hundred thousand gold pesos, though the gold was not pure. According to Pedro Arias, the governor, who has sent us a heavy batch of despatches from the continent, Gil Gonzales only took from his lieutenant one hundred and thirty thousand pesos, though in other respects he complains bitterly of his attack. This sum had been collected from the neighbouring caciques, whether by force or in exchange for Spanish merchandise we need not here discuss; it is also of little consequence, as there are more important interests to consider.

Such were the dissensions among the Spaniards when Egidius Gonzales encountered Cristobal Olid, sent by Cortes, who had also founded a colony which he called Santa Cruz not far from that spot. Olid captured Gonzales. He gave this name to this new colony because, after many shipwrecks which he has lengthily described, he had escaped violent storms and had landed on the same day the Roman Church celebrates the victory won by the Emperor Herodius' against the Persians.

Hear now what a strange trick fortune played. The fourth captain, Francisco de las Casas, arrived on the scene, sent by Cortes against Olid. The latter went to meet his former companion in the army of Cortes. A naval battle followed; Francisco fired upon and sunk one of Olid's ships with all its crew, but he was obliged to put out to sea, while Olid returned to land. Now this gulf is exposed to violent northers and swept by frequent

Meaning presumably the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, since it was he who was victorious over the Persians in 622-25 A.D.

storms; moreover it extends amongst lofty mountains. It happened that several days later, Las Casas, after being tossed by winds and having lost most of his men, horses, and ships, fell into the hands of his bitter enemy Olid, who took him prisoner. Olid thus found himself in possession of two prisoners, both more important leaders than himself. He imprisoned his involuntary guests, considering them as a part of his plunder; but it was plunder destined to ruin him.

Las Casas and Gil Gonzales plotted to kill Olid. They corrupted his servants, inducing them to promise not to come to the aid of the traitor whom they wished to attack, and who had involved so many innocent men in the crime of high treason. One night when they were sitting together on the pretext of supping, they seized the knives from the table and threw themselves upon their detested host. After serving the repast of their master, the servants were busy eating. Olid was repeatedly stabbed but not killed. He succeeded in escaping and took refuge in one of the native huts with which he was acquainted. It was announced by the public crier that whoever gave shelter to the traitor Olid, or failed to denounce his hiding-place, if he knew it, would be punished with death; while a reward would be paid to whomever gave him up. He was eventually betrayed by his own men. An accusation of treason was drawn up against him and published by the herald; after which he was strangled. Such was the end of Olid, and such is, unless I am mistaken, the fate which will shortly overtake his companions.

Let Your Holiness now give ear to the account of another crime, or rather an eccentric vagary of fortune. Francisco de las Casas, one of the two generals commanding the fleet, after strangling Olid, is said to have forcibly brought his companion, Gil Gonzales, to the town of Temistitan, the latter confiding in him, but not having as powerful a force at his disposition. We therefore have

generals who, by their folly, have garnered sufficiently bitter fruits along the gulf of Figueras; and by their cupidity and ambition have ruined not only themselves, but many provinces living in peaceful submission to the Emperor. It is said that Gil Gonzales was seen in the hands of Francisco de las Casas in Temistitan; it is likewise true that the contrary is asserted. Such are the contradictory reports circulated concerning Gil Gonzales.

I had finished the book containing two Decades when we received from the Council of Hispaniola news of the arrival of two fleets of ships, the first numbering four and the second seven vessels. From New Spain nothing but that one vessel which escaped has arrived. Finally we have read in council a considerable number of despatches from Pedro Arias, governor of Castilla del Oro. He deals lengthily with his deeds and adventures, the difficulties attending the enterprises undertaken by himself and his companions, the approaching departure of the treasurer of those dominions, who will bring a sum of gold, the amount of which he does not state, the road he has begun, which will establish easy communication between the two oceans, and render information concerning the islands under the equator accessible. Hardly more than sixteen leagues separate the port called Nombre de Dios from the gulf of Panama, admirable for the excellence of its port, and which is distant six degrees and a half from the equinoctial line, where during the entire year the days and nights are of equal length. In my preceding Decades I have spoken sufficiently of the beginnings of all these enterprises.

In another chapter, Pedro Arias complains of the violence used by Gil Gonzales toward his lieutenant, Francisco Fernandez, whose modesty and disinterestedness, he commends an opinion far from being shared by other people. We shall some day hear the accusations of the opposite party, and then know how to decide. Pedro Arias

gives lengthy details and explanations about a number of other particular facts, which I cannot and will not repeat; they would afford no interest to Your Holiness; he most humbly beseeches the Emperor to let him return to his wife and children, [in Spain] for he is overcome by age and infirmities.

His request has been granted; he has been recalled, and in his place a noble knight of Cordova, called Pedro Rios, has been appointed. The latter is here at the present time, preparing to start.

When I recounted in the preceding chapters the history of Francisco Garay's misfortunes, Olid's arrival at Cuba where he prepared his expedition to Figueras, the preparations of Egidius Gonzales to start for the same place, and finally the plans of Pedro Arias, I said at the same time that our council had been unable to adopt other preventive measures than the granting of full powers to the council of Hispaniola and ordering that the neighbours should exercise their best efforts to prevent the rivalry of these captains from provoking a general and much dreaded catastrophe. Upon receipt of our instructions and those of the Emperor, the council of Hispaniola appointed as commissioner one of their own number; they chose an honest man holding the post of revenue collector in the colony, the bachelor Moreno.

His departure was delayed until everything was over. The greatest confusion prevailed when he arrived, and his report does not differ save in a few details from what we have related. These civil discords have at least taught us several curious things. Thus it is that in his conversations with Moreno, Francisco Fernandez told him that in the neighbourhood of that lake he had found a waterfall of fresh water which flowed into the gulf. We know that the Nile flows in the same manner from the lofty mountains of Ethiopia, and after irrigating Egypt, empties into the Mediterranean. If the fact be true-though it is not yet

proven-it will be useless to search for the large, navigable river carrying off the water of the lake, which Egidius Gonzales has for such a long time wished to discover.

Upon his return, Moreno reported that in the countries he had visited he heard nothing said about the defeat and pretended massacre of Cortes and his companions. That region, however, is more than five hundred leagues from the province of Temistitan. But while he was anchored at Havana, the port of Cuba, Diego Ordaz, one of the lieutenants of Cortes and by no means the most insignificant, came to see him. He reported that he had just been enquiring if anything had been heard of Cortes, for at Temistitan, the capital, nobody knew whether he was alive or dead. Nor do we yet know.

To correct such great misfortunes, a nobleman, the jurisconsult, Luis Ponce de Leon has been chosen as delegate; he was for a long time a magistrate in the province of Carpentana, whose capital is Toledo, where we all reside at the present time with the Emperor. Ponce was chosen because of his great integrity and the prudence he had shown in the exercise of his functions. He is a modest man, and remarkably intelligent, so we hope that, thanks to his foresight, the storm-tossed imperial vessel, may come tranquilly into port under happy auspices.

His instructions direct that, should he find Cortes still alive, he must overwhelm him with flattery and inspire him with truly loyal sentiments. For Cortes has never openly defected, and the Emperor's name is always pronounced with respect in his speeches and letters. But, as I have already said, vague suspicions are entertained concerning his real intentions and conduct, in consequence of conjectures and accusations launched against him. He is a proud-hearted man, always ambitious of new dignities. He has already for a long time enjoyed the titles of governor and adelantado of the

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