ould not bring her into port. When two of our sailors, who
were from the Levant, were called upon to aid in pumping, they calmly
replied _facetelo vos_, or Do it yourselves, when we were almost exhausted
by fatigue, and the ship on the very point of going down. We compelled
them, however, to fall to, and by the blessing of GOD we got safe to the
harbour then called _Puerto de Carenas_, where the city of Havanna has
been since built. Our captain went immediately to his estate near _Spiritu
Santo_, where he died in ten days, and three soldiers died of their wounds
at the Havanna, and the rest dispersed to their different homes or
avocations.

Immediately after our arrival, an express was sent to Velasquez the
governor of Cuba, informing him that we had discovered a country having
houses of stone and lime, where the inhabitants were decently clothed,
cultivating maize, and possessing gold; and the fame of our discovery was
soon spread through the island, by the soldiers and mariners who had
returned from the expedition. On producing the figures and idols which we
had brought over, it was believed that they had been brought to that
country by a _Jewish_ colony, flying after the destruction of Jerusalem by
Titus and Vespasian[2]. The name of _Yucutan_, which that country we
discovered acquired at this time, was occasioned by the following mistake.
_Yuca_ in the language of the country is the name of the plant used in the
islands for bread, there named _cazabi_, and _tale_ in the same language
signifies the heap of earth on which it is planted. When the two prisoners
whom we brought from thence were shewn this plant in Cuba, they
immediately recognized it, saying _Yucu-tal_, which was supposed to
signify their country, and has ever since been applied by the Spaniards to
that part of America, but pronounced _Yucutan_. They alleged likewise that
their country produced gold, or at least they were so understood, but this
has since been found not to be the case. All that we soldiers got by this
discovery, was to come back poor and wounded, and thankful that we had
saved our lives, having lost seventy out of our small number during the
expedition. Diego Velasquez wrote an account to his patron, the bishop of
Burgos, of all the particulars of this discovery, and the expences he had
incurred, by which he obtained fame and credit from his majesty; but
nothing was said in favour of us poor soldiers, who had expended our
property, and ri