de Aguilar,[1] who told us all about how he came to be lost, and the length of time he had been in captivity, which is as we have already related to Your Royal Highnesses.
Of a truth, this adverse weather coming upon us so unexpectedly seemed a great mystery and miracle of God, and led us to believe that no enterprise undertaken in Your Majesties' service, be it what it may, could end in anything but good.
We learned from Jeronimo de Aguilar, that the other Spaniards, who were lost with him in the shipwrecked caravel, were scattered over all the land, which he told us was very extensive, and that it would be quite impossible to gather them without staying and losing much time over it. So, as the Captain Fernando Cortes saw that the provisions of the armada were giving out, and that the people would be exposed to suffer great want from hunger if they delayed longer, and that this would not contribute to the object of their voyage, he determined, with the approval of the others to depart. They immediately set sail, therefore, leaving that Island of Cozumel, which is now called Santa Cruz, entirely pacified, so that had it been their intention to colonise, the Indians
- ↑ He was a native of Encija, and had taken holy orders. Seeing the dreadful fate of their companions, Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero managed to escape from the cages, in which they were being fattened for the sacrificial feasts, and to lose themselves in the forests. Here they were finally captured by the cacique of another tribe, who was less bloodthirsty, and held them as slaves instead of killing them. Aguilar's virtues and abilities soon attracted attention, and won the respect of his captor, and he rose to a position of influence in the country.
When the news came of the arrival of the ships with more white men, and Cortes's letter was delivered to Aguilar, he procured permission to go to his countrymen; but his companion Guerrero, who had married, and had a family, refused to go, for he was ashamed to show himself naked and tattooed, and with his nose and lips pierced in Indian fashion. Jeronimo de Aguilar was not distinguishable from the Indians, as he was burned nearly black, and wore the same ornaments. He remained with Cortes as his interpreter, rendering invaluable services throughout the conquest.
