There Are Two Smaller
Towns On This Island, Which We Did Not Visit, Being Unwilling To Lose Time.
Following The Course Of Cordova, We Arrived In Eight Days At
Champoton[1], Where We Cast Anchor A League From The Shore, On Account
Of The Water Being Very Shoal At Low Ebbs.
We disembarked with half of our
soldiers close to the town, and the natives remembering their former
success against
Us, attacked us immediately with much military parade.
From our former experience, we took care to be well prepared on this
occasion, and accordingly had our boats armed with falconets[2]. Half of
our men were wounded before we could reach the shore: But having formed on
the beach, and being reinforced by a second disembarkation, we soon
defeated them, on which they fled to the marshes; yet we lost three of our
men, our captain receiving three arrows, and having two of his teeth
knocked out. On entering the town after the defeat of the natives, we
found it entirely deserted, the inhabitants having likewise removed all
their effects. We took three prisoners, whom we endeavoured to reconcile
by kind usage, and sent them with a message to bring back their countrymen;
but they never returned, and we suspected our interpreters of dealing
treacherously so as to counteract our wishes. The field in which we fought
with these Indians was very stony, and swarmed prodigiously with locusts,
and these animals sprung up in such numbers during the action, striking us
in the face, that we hardly knew when to raise our shields in our defence,
or whether it was locusts or arrows which flew about us, they were so
mixed together.
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