Rumours of the Spaniards had, perhaps,
preceded them, as they were repeatedly asked if they came from the
east; and wherever they landed, they were met with the most deadly
hostility. Cordova himself, in one of his skirmishes with the Indians,
received more than a dozen wounds, and one only of his party escaped
unhurt. At length, when he had coasted the peninsula as far as
Campeachy, he returned to Cuba, which he reached after an absence of
several months, having suffered all the extremities of ill, which
these pioneers of the ocean were sometimes called to endure, and which
none but the most courageous spirit could have survived. As it was,
half the original number, consisting of one hundred and ten men,
perished, including their brave commander, who died soon after his
return. The reports he had brought back of the country, and still
more, the specimens of curiously wrought gold, convinced Velasquez
of the importance of this discovery, and he prepared with all despatch
to avail himself of it.
He accordingly fitted out a little squadron of four vessels for
the newly discovered lands, and placed it under the command of his
nephew, Juan de Grijalva, a man on whose probity, prudence, and
attachment to himself he knew he could rely. The fleet left the port
of St. Jago de Cuba, May 1, 1518. It took the course pursued by
Cordova, but was driven somewhat to the south, the first land that
it made being the island of Cozumel.
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