After The Departure Of Grijalva From Cuba, Velasquez Became Very Anxious
About His Ships, Which Were Navigating Upon An Unknown Coast, And Sent
Therefore Christopher De Olido, A Commander Of Good Character, In A Ship
With Seventy Soldiers, To Endeavour To Procure Intelligence.
While Olido
was at anchor on the coast of Yucutan, there arose so violent a storm that
he was forced to cut his cables, and run back to St Jago.
Much about this
time Alvaredo arrived with the gold, cotton cloth, and other things from
Grijalva, and a relation of all that had been done during the expedition.
This was very satisfactory to Velasquez, who conceived great hopes of
brilliant consequences from the discoveries, and the news spread about the
island of Cuba, to the great astonishment and admiration of all men.
Velasquez was a severe master to those who served him, over credulous, and
easily provoked by misrepresentations. And Alvaredo having been of opinion
for settling a colony in New Spain, represented the affair to him in any
way he thought proper, and gave him very bad impressions of the man who
had served him so very successfully and faithfully, with such strict
regard to the orders he had given. Leaving this for the present, we
proceed to give an account of the farther operations of Grijalva in
obtaining a clear account of this part of the continent he was sent to
discover.
Soon after Alvaredo set out for Cuba, by the advice of his captains and
pilots, Grijalva continued his exploration of the coast, which he sailed
along in sight of the mountains of Tuspa, so named from a town in that
neighbourhood. Proceeding onwards to the province of Panuco, they saw
several towns on the shore, and a river which they named Decancas. While
they lay here at anchor rather off their guard, ten canoes full of armed
men came towards the ship commanded by Alonzo de Avila, and poured in a
flight of arrows, by which five men were wounded, and then attempted to
cut the cables, that they might carry off the ship, and even succeeded so
far as to cut one of the cables. The men on board de Avilas ship behaved
themselves well, and overset two of the canoes, yet required the aid of
fire-arms from the other ships before they could drive away the Indians.
At last, many of the Indians being wounded, they desisted from their rash
enterprise, and made for the land. From this place the Spaniards sailed
along the coast till they came to a large point of land which they found
very difficult to double, and the pilot Alaminos represented that it was
very inconvenient to proceed any farther in that direction. The captains
and pilots now consulted as to what was best to be done, some of whom were
for returning along the coast in search of a proper place in which to
settle a colony. Montejo and Avila differed from this opinion,
representing that winter was approaching, that provisions were growing
scarce, and one of the ships very leaky; for all which reasons it was
advisable to return to Cuba; the more especially because the natives of
this coast were numerous and warlike, and the Spaniards were so much
fatigued by having been so long at sea, that they were not able to
maintain their ground.
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Page 356 of 415
Words from 188053 to 188616
of 219607