emale marching up and
down between the enemy's ranks. She was, we were told, venerated as a
goddess by these people. She had divined to her countrymen that we
should be vanquished the moment she appeared among them on the field of
battle. This woman carried in her hands an idol, carved of stone; and an
earthen censer, in which she burnt incense; her body was daubed all over
with various colours, and raw cotton was sticking to the paint. Without
evincing the least fear she walked into the midst of our Indian allies
while they were hotly engaged with the enemy; but this cursed witch met
with very little respect from them, for they tore her limb from limb.

When we saw what terrific bodies of the enemy attacked us from all
sides, and the astonishing bravery with which they fought, we began to
consider ourselves in a very critical position, and we begged of father
Juan to commend us in prayer to the protection of the Almighty. We then
once more fell vigorously upon the enemy and put them to flight. Numbers
concealed themselves in the fissures of the rocks, others threw
themselves into the river and sought to escape by swimming, of which art
these Indians are likewise perfect masters. We now halted for a short
time while father Juan sang a salve, in which those who had a good voice
joined in chorus. This melody was indeed pleasing to the ear, and we
thanked the Almighty the more fervently for this victory, when we
considered our great loss in killed and wounded. We then marched to a
small township at no great distance from the town, near the river side.
Here the cherry-trees were hanging full of ripe fruit, for it was then
lent, which is the season when cherries come to perfection in this
country, and they were of a most delicious flavour; we spent the whole
day here in order to bury our dead in places where they would not easily
be discovered by the inhabitants. Several of our men were wounded, and
ten of the horses very severely so; we therefore resolved to pass the
night in this township.

The hour of midnight was already past, when ten distinguished Indians
arrived in our camp from the townships in the neighbourhood of Chiapa.
They had crossed the deep and broad river with five canoes in the utmost
silence, in order to elude the vigilance of the Chiapanec troops, and as
they came creeping along the bank in a very suspicious manner they were
seized by our outposts and brought in prisoners, which was the very
thing they d