howed me many little attentions; for instance, they
would often order their servants to go in quest of fodder for my horse;
besides which, they were innocent of the guilt imputed to them, and it
was the opinion of all who accompanied this expedition that they were
put to death unjustly.

But I will leave this miserable subject, and return to our march, on
which we henceforth observed the utmost vigilance, for we greatly feared
the Mexicans might rise up in arms against us, after they had thus
beheld their monarch ignominiously hung by the neck from a tree. But
hunger, fatigue, and sickness weighed heavier upon their minds than the
misfortune of Quauhtemoctzin.

On our further march we came up to a river, which we crossed by means of
canoes, and soon after we arrived in a township which was entirely
deserted by its inhabitants. However, in searching for provisions in
some houses lying in the neighbourhood, we discovered eight Indian
papas, who, after a little persuasion, followed us to the township,
where they were brought into the presence of Cortes, who, by means of
Dona Marina, spoke very kindly to them, telling them to banish all fear
from their minds, and to go and call their countrymen. The papas said
they were very willing to fulfil his commands, but they must beg of him
not to allow any one to touch the idols which stood in a building
adjoining Cortes' quarters. Our general promised them faithfully that no
harm should be done the idols, but observed, that they were mere lumps
of clay and wood, wicked things, which were unworthy of the veneration
they paid them, and that the whole of their idolatrous worship was the
work of Satan. The Franciscan monks also put several questions to the
papas respecting their idol worship, to which they returned very
intelligent answers, promising for the future to abolish it altogether.

Thirty loads of maise and some fowls were now soon brought us, and
Cortes inquired of the papas how many suns (that is to say days'
journey) it was from this place to the people with the beards and
horses. They replied, that it was seven suns to the township of Nito,
where the men with the horses had settled, and they would themselves
show us the way to the next township, but that on our road thither we
should have to pass one night in an uninhabited village.

Near to the building in which the idols were placed there stood a ceiba
tree of an immense size, in the bark of which Cortes ordered a la