many were killed by our cannon. Wherever the cavalry made
its appearance the enemy had most work to do. The fighting lasted about
an hour; and our enemies maintained their ground so well, that they did
not quit the field of battle until our horse broke in among them. There
were two caziques among the five prisoners we made.

As we were quite fatigued and hungry we returned to our quarters, buried
the two soldiers, one of whom had been shot in the neck and the other in
the ear, posted strong watches, then ate our supper and retired to rest.

Francisco Lopez de Gomara, in his account of this battle, says, that
previous to the arrival of Cortes with the cavalry, the holy apostle St.
Jacob or St. Peter in person had galloped up on a gray-coloured horse
to our assistance. I can only say, that for the exertion of our arms
and this victory, we stand indebted to our Lord Jesus Christ; and that
in this battle every individual man among us was set upon by such
numbers of the enemy, that if each of them had merely thrown a handful
of earth upon us we should have been buried beneath it. Certain it is,
therefore, that God showed his mercy to us here, and it may, indeed,
have been one of the two glorious apostles St. Jacob or St. Peter who
thus came to our assistance. Perhaps on account of my sins I was not
considered worthy of the good fortune to behold them; for I could only
see Francisco de Morla on his brown horse galloping up with Cortes, and
even at this very moment, while I am writing this, I can fancy I see all
passing before my eyes just as I have related it; although I, an
unworthy sinner, was not considered worthy of beholding one of the
glorious apostles face to face: yet again I never heard any of the four
hundred soldiers, nor ever Cortes himself, nor any of the many
cavaliers, mention this wonder, or confirm its truth. We should
certainly have built a church, and have called the town _Santiago_, or
_San Pedro de la Vitoria_, and not _Santa Maria de la Vitoria_. If,
therefore, what Gomara relates is true, then we must indeed have been
bad Christians not to have paid greater respect to the assistance which
God sent us in the person of his holy apostles, and for having omitted
to thank him daily for it in his own church. Nevertheless, I should feel
delighted if this historian has spoken the truth, although I must
confess that I never heard this wonder mentioned before reading his
book, nor have I ever heard any of the co