They Then Pointed To The Eastwards, As If Asking
If We Came From Thence, Frequently Repeating The Word Castillano.
After
this, they invited us to their town, to which we accordingly went, and
came to some large and well-constructed temples, built of stone and lime,
having the figures of idols and serpents painted on the walls.
On entering
one of these temples, we could plainly perceive the traces of fresh spilt
blood on one of the altars. We saw likewise several strange idolatrous
figures and symbolical paintings, altogether impressing us with horror and
astonishment. All this while the natives behaved peaceably, but collected
in great numbers, apparently from curiosity, yet we stood upon our guard,
remembering how we had been treated at the former place. A body of the
natives made their appearance, in very ragged dresses, each of whom
carried a bundle of dry reeds, which they laid in a heap, and then retired.
Soon afterwards came two bodies of warriors, dressed and armed like those
at the former place, each headed by a chief or captain, who drew up at
some distance from us. Immediately after this, ten priests rushed out from
a neighbouring temple. These men wore loose robes of white cotton, having
their long hair clotted with blood, and all matted and twisted together.
They bore vessels in their hands containing fire and aromatics, with which
they fumigated us, and made us to understand by signs, that they would put
us to death if we did not quit their country before the fuel lying by us
was consumed, which they now kindled and retired. The warriors who were
drawn up opposite us, began to make a noise, beating their drums, sounding
their horns, and whistling with great violence. Seeing these threatening
preparations, we deemed it prudent to retreat to our boats, on board of
which our water-casks had been already embarked, and returning to our
ships we proceeded on our voyage.
We coasted along for six days, during which time we had a violent storm
from the north, by which we were in great danger of being driven on shore.
We suffered much also from want of water, owing to the insufficiency of
our casks, and were often obliged to go on shore to sink wells for our
daily supply. At the end of six days, we came opposite a town about a
league from the shore, to which we determined to go, and came to anchor
therefore as near as we could. The name of this town was Pontonchon, in
which we could see several buildings of stone and lime, and it appeared to
be surrounded with fields of maize. We landed, and having found a spring
of water, we immediately began to fill our casks. While busied in this
necessary employment, several large bodies of warriors approached us in
silence. These men had their bodies covered to their knees with defensive
armour of cotton; their faces were painted black, white, and red, and
their heads were ornamented with plumes of feathers.
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Words from 191811 to 192319
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