“Do you know the place?” asked Dr. Winstock.
“Never heard of it.”
“Yet it has some connection with the history of the New World. It is mentioned in Prescott’s ‘Conquest of Mexico.’”
“I have read that, but I do not remember this name.”
“It is the birthplace of Hernando Cortes; and in Trujillo, a town forty miles north of us, was born another adventurer whose name figures on the glowing page of Prescott,” added the doctor.
“That was Pizarro,” said Sheridan. “I remember he was born at—what did you call the place, doctor?”
“Trujillo.”
“But in Prescott it is spelled with an x where you put an h.”
“It is the same thing in Spanish, whether you spell it with an x or j. It is a strong aspirate, like h, but is pronounced with a rougher breathing sound. Loja and Loxa are the same word,” explained the doctor. “So you will find Cordova spelled with a b instead of a v; but the letters have the same power in Spanish.”
“What river is this on the right?” inquired Murray.