Our general's plan was to fall upon Oli during the night, when he least dreamt of our approach, and to take him prisoner, with all his troops. Sandoval took three Indian guides with him from Oculizti, and set out on his journey. When he had arrived on the north coast, and was marching along the beach, he espied a canoe making for the land with sails and paddles. He therefore hid himself behind a rising ground until the vessel should have run ashore. This canoe belonged to some Indian merchants, was laden with salt and maise, and was destined for the large river which flows into the Golfo Dulce.
In the night time Sandoval sallied forth from his hiding place, captured all the crew, then stepped into the canoe with two of his companions and the three guides, and desired the Indian merchants to row him along the coast, while the four other Spaniards followed by land. Sandoval was sure the great river could not be far distant, and in this he was not deceived, for he entered it soon after, and he had the good fortune to come up with four Spaniards of the new town founded by Gil Gonsalez de Avila. These men had just arrived in a canoe from an excursion in search of provisions, of which there was an uncommon scarcity in the colony. The whole of the inhabitants were suffering from ill health, and durst not venture into the neighbourhood of the town to search for provisions, as they were at enmity with the Indians, who had already killed ten of their number since Avila's departure for Mexico.
When Sandoval was approaching in the canoe, he found these Spaniards busily occupied in gathering cocoa nuts. Two of them, who had climbed up the tree, were the first to observe the strange vessel, and they immediately called out to their companions below. The whole of them were so astonished and alarmed, that they scarcely knew whether they should run away or stop where they were; but on Sandoval coming up, and addressing them in a friendly manner, they took courage, and related to him the whole history of the foundation of their colony, the misfortune which befel the fleet of Las Casas, his and Avila's capture by Oli, the execution of the latter at Naco, and the subsequent departure of the two first-mentioned officers for Mexico: then gave him a full description of the miserable condition of the colony mentioned, the number of the inhabitants, and their great suffering from want of food; and stated, that a few days previously they had hung the commandant of the town, Armenta, because he had refused to grant them permission to return to Cuba.
Sandoval considered it best to take these men along with him to Cortes, in order that our approach might not be made known to the colony. One of Sandoval's soldiers, named Alonso Ortiz, a native of the town San Pedro, begged that he might be allowed to start an hour before the rest, to gain a handsome reward, by being the first to announce this joyful news to our troops. This favour Sandoval readily granted him, and certainly no news could have been more welcome to us all; for we now fully believed that all our fatigues and perils were at an end, and we never thought for a moment that we should have to suffer even greater hardships than we had hitherto. Alonso de Ortiz was well rewarded for the haste he had made, for Cortes presented him with a fine gray horse, which we generally termed the Moor's head; besides this, every one of us gave him some other little presents. Shortly after, Sandoval himself arrived, with the other Spaniards, who told Cortes what I have above mentioned. They also informed him that two miles further on there was a harbour, in which a vessel was being fitted out, to convey the colonists to Cuba. The commandant Armenta, they added, had obstinately refused to allow them to depart; for which reason, and because he had scourged a Spanish priest, who had caused an insurrection in the town, the inhabitants rebelled against him, hung him, and appointed a certain Antonio Nieto commandant in his stead. In the meantime, at the town of San Gil de Buena Vista, there was nothing but lamentation and grief, when the Spaniards, who had been sent out in quest of provisions, did not return in the evening, and every one thought they must either have been massacred by the Indians or devoured by the wild beasts. One of the Spaniards who had returned with Sandoval was a married man, and his wife broke out into loud lamentations at his supposed death. The whole of the inhabitants went to the church, and a funeral sermon was preached by the priest Velasquez, and prayers were offered up for the souls of the dead.
Cortes now marched, with the whole of his troops, in the direction of the sea coast, the distance to which was full twenty-four miles, but our further progress was retarded for a considerable time by a deep arm of the sea, where we were obliged to wait until low water before we could pass over, partly swimming and partly wading across, which detained us until noon. In this way we at length arrived at the broad river of the Golfo Dulce, which Cortes and six soldiers were the first to cross, in order to reach the new town. Two canoes, one which Sandoval had captured on the coast, and the other belonging to the colonists, were fastened together, in which our general, with six men, and a few of his servants, embarked, and was ferried across the water. Upon this a few of the horses were swum across, the grooms holding the animals by the bridles, which were kept as short as possible, for fear of the former upsetting the canoes.
Cortes left strict commands that no one was to pass the river until further orders, which he would send in writing. The passage across this rapid stream was indeed excessively dangerous, and Cortes himself regretted that he had thus risked his life unnecessarily.
CHAPTER CLXXIX.
How Cortes entered the town founded by Gil Gonsalez de Avila; the great joy of the inhabitants at his arrival, and what he further did there.
The town of Buena Vista, which Avila had founded in this neighbourhood, lay about eight miles from the broad river of the Golfo Dulce, near to the sea shore, whither Cortes immediately repaired with his small body of men, after crossing the river. When he entered the town, the arrival of strangers on horseback and others on foot, in the first moments, spread a great consternation among the inhabitants, but as soon as they learnt that it was the man whose fame was spread through the whole of these provinces and New Spain, they were almost overcome with joy. All the inhabitants instantly assembled to wait upon him and to congratulate him upon his safe arrival. Our general received them in the kindest manner possible, and then ordered the commandant Nieto to load the two boats belonging to the town, and all the canoes he could get with cassave bread, and despatch them to Sandoval. The commandant immediately set about to fulfil these commands, but was unable to collect more than fifty pounds of this bread, as the colonists had had no other food than the fruits which they gathered from the trees, some vegetables, and what fish they could catch. Even this small quantity of cassave bread had been set apart for their voyage to Cuba.