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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Words from 188053 to 188616 of 219607