ed
up thanks to God for this good news, and instantly set out on our march
for the place where Luis Marin was encamped. We found him in the
township of Acalteca, and he was not a little rejoiced at the good news
we brought him.

We now, without any further delay, broke up our camp, and commenced our
march towards Mexico. We took our route over the township of Mariani,
where we came up with six men of the troops under Alvarado, who was on
his road in search of us. One of these men was Diego de Villanueva, an
excellent soldier, and one of the veteran Conquistadores, who had
assisted in the founding of the town of Guatimala: he was a native of
Villanueva de la Serena, in the territory of the grand master of the
military order of Alcantara. As we were old friends, we gave each other
a hearty embrace, and he then told us that Alvarado was marching hither,
in company of several cavaliers, in search of Cortes, to hasten his
return to Mexico. He likewise gave us full particulars of everything
that had taken place in this town during our absence, and how the
government of New Spain had been offered to Alvarado, who had not dared
to accept of it, from fear of the factor.

After two days' further march, we came up with Alvarado himself, who was
encamped, with his men, in a township, called Choluteca Malalaca. It
would, indeed, be a difficult task for me to describe the delight he
experienced when we told him of Cortes' departure for Mexico, which was
the more excessive, as he was now spared the further fatigues of a long
march, on which his troops had already suffered many hardships. In this
township we likewise met several of Pedro Arias' officers, one of whom
was named Garavito, and another Campannon, who said they were despatched
by Arias to discover new countries, and to settle about some boundaries
with Alvarado. The whole of our troops, and the two officers of Arias,
remained three days in Choluteca, from which place Alvarado despatched a
certain Gaspar Arias de Avila, who had settled in Guatimala, to the
governor Arias, as we understood, respecting the preliminaries of a
marriage, which is indeed most likely, as Gaspar Arias was a great
adherer to Alvarado.

On the fourth day we left Choluteca, and continued our march to the
province of Guatimala, but before we could reach the territory of
Cuzcatlan, through which our route immediately lay, the rainy season set
in, and we found the river Lempa so greatly swollen, that it