With these provisions the two boats, manned with eight sailors, left for the place where Sandoval was encamped with our troops. Cortes, in a letter to the latter officer, desired that he, with Luis Marin, should cross the last over the broad river, and was particularly cautioned not to allow more than a certain number of the men to be ferried across at a time on account of the rapidity of the stream. No horses were to be taken across by the canoes, and even the boats were not to take more than two at a time.
When these vessels arrived there immediately rose a dispute as to whom should be ferried across first, and Saavedra, with his brother Avalos, pretended to have a prior claim, because they happened to be related to Cortes, but Sandoval maintained that this honour was unquestionably due to the three reverend monks. Saavedra persisted, however, that as a relation of Cortes the precedence was due to him, and answered Sandoval in very unbecoming terms, whose blood now also began to boil, and the dispute rose to so high a pitch that Saavedra drew his dagger. Sandoval, who was standing up to his knees in the water to prevent the boats being overloaded, rushed upon his antagonist, and, seizing him by the hand in which he held the dagger, he dragged him headlong into the water. If the rest of us had not hastened up and parted them, Saavedra would most likely have ended his life in this affray, for the troops, almost to a man, were on Sandoval's side.
Four whole days were consumed before all our men had crossed over, during which time we had nothing to eat but the nuts we gathered from some low palm-trees, which we roasted on the fire and ate the kernels. One of our soldiers, named Tarifa, ventured across the river with his horse in a canoe, was upset, and both were most likely drowned, for no traces could be found of either. Two other horses met with a similar fate, one of which was the property of Solis Casquete, who behaved like a madman when he found his horse was lost, and wished our general, with the whole expedition, in the infernal regions.
The excessive hunger we endured during the time we were occupied in ferrying across, created altogether great discontent among the troops, and they murmured loudly against Cortes, and this dreadful march. When we arrived in the town we found our condition very little bettered, for there was neither any bread in the storehouses nor in the dwellings of the colonists; who, in the bargain, were even unacquainted with the surrounding neighbourhood, and only knew the way to two townships, which had long ago been deserted by the inhabitants. Cortes' first care was to adopt some means for obtaining provisions; he, therefore, instantly despatched Luis Marin, with the soldiers of Guacasualco into the country, in search of maise. How far we succeeded in this I will relate in the following chapter.
CHAPTER CLXXX.
How eighty of us on the second day after our arrival in Buena Vista, marched out under the command of Luis Marin to explore the country and to search for provisions.
The population of the town of Buena Vista consisted of forty Spaniards, four Spanish ladies and two mulattoes. The whole of these people were suffering from ill health, and had a yellow sickly appearance about them. They had no provisions, and suffered as much from hunger as we did ourselves, nor could any one tell where we were to go in search of maise for this purpose. Cortes, therefore, saw that there was not a moment to be lost, and he despatched Luis Marin, with the men of Guacasualco, into the country.
We were altogether eighty in number, and we all set out on foot, in order first to see whether horses would be able to traverse the country. An Indian, of Cuba, accompanied us as guide to some townships which lay thirty-two miles further up the country. When we reached these we found, to our inexpressible joy, that they contained great abundance of maise, beans, and other vegetables; besides that, the whole neighbourhood was literally sown with cocoa-nut trees. We first feasted sumptuously ourselves and then despatched a courier to our general, desiring him to send us all the Mexican troops to fetch away the maise, forwarding him in advance ten bushels of the latter as a supply for the moment, and begged of him to send our horses to us.
When Cortes learnt that we had arrived in so fertile a neighbourhood, and was told by some Indian merchants that the road to Naco, where Christobal de Oli was beheaded, led through the township where we were staying, he ordered Sandoval to follow us with the greater part of the remaining troops, and not to leave this township until he should receive further instructions.