descendants of the Jews whom
Titus and Vespasian had driven from Jerusalem, who had been shipwrecked
off this coast. Peru, indeed, was not then known, and in so far the
countries we had discovered were justly considered of the greatest
importance. Diego Velasquez closely questioned the two Indians as to
whether there were any gold mines in their country. They answered in the
affirmative; and when they were shown some of the gold-dust found in the
island of Cuba, they said there was abundance of it in their country. In
this they told an untruth, as it is very well known there are neither
goldmines on the Punta de Cotoche nor even in whole Yucatan. They were
likewise shown the beds in which the seeds of that plant are sown from
whose root the cassave bread is made, and in Cuba called yuca: they
assured us that the same plant grew in their country, and was called by
them tale. As the cassave-root at Cuba is called yuca, and the ground in
which it is planted by the Indians tale, so from these two words arose
the name of the country, Yucatan; for the Spaniards who were standing
around the governor at the time he was speaking to the two Indians said,
"You see, sir, they call their country Yucatan." And from this
circumstance the country retained the name of Yucatan, although the
natives call it otherwise.

In this beautiful voyage of discovery we had spent our all, and returned
to Cuba covered with wounds, and as poor as beggars; yet we had reason
to congratulate ourselves that it had not been equally disastrous to us
all as to many of our companions who had lost their lives. Our captain,
as I have already mentioned, died soon after his return; and all of us
suffered for a considerable time after from our wounds. Our whole loss
amounted to seventy men, which was all we had gained by this voyage of
discovery.

Concerning all this the governor Diego Velasquez wrote to those
gentlemen in Spain who at that time managed the affairs of India, and
boasted of the discoveries _he_ had made, and of the vast expense it had
put _him_ to. This actually obtained credit, and the bishop of Burgos,
Don Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, who also bore the title of archbishop of
Rosano, and was president of Indian affairs, wrote in that strain to his
majesty, in Flanders, vastly extolling the merit of Diego Velasquez, at
the same time not as much as even mentioning the names of any of us who
had really discovered the country.

I will, however, break