governor and because he is a
father, and known to be a learned man, and that all his royal city
might see how grand a reception was accorded to him. Twenty-five
days afterward, when everything was ready to receive him, I sent six
hundred of the principal men, nobles and gentry, to convey him to the
emperor's presence, sending a beautifully decorated litter, on which
the father was carried on their shoulders. Everyone was amazed to see
such a reception, the like of which had never before been accorded to
any other ambassador, although many had come to my lord the emperor,
some to offer obedience, others to negotiate peace treaties. It was
because the emperor knew that the Spaniards are a warlike nation,
valiant and honored above all other people, that he gave them such
a reception; and so it was known over all the court.

My lord the emperor was inside the fortress, and when father Fray Juan
Cobos reached the palace he was bidden to enter the audience-chamber
where the emperor was waiting for him, and where he received him with
the greatest honor and show of affection ever shown to any man, seating
him next to himself. Father Fray Juan Cobos presented him with the
letter, which upon being read, showed how doubts had arisen regarding
the embassy sent by the emperor the year before. My lord the emperor
called me, and asked me why I had not fulfilled his orders--to which
I replied that I had gone to do so, but that, while at the seaport,
I had been taken sick; and in order not to miss sending his embassy,
I had entrusted it to one of my vassals, a Christian. Then my lord
the emperor ordered me to go with father Fray Juan Cobos to visit your
Excellency in his name, and to deliver my letters and try to establish
lasting relations of friendship and amity; and finally sent me away,
after having given me full instructions as to what I was to say and
do. To father Fray Juan Cobos my lord the emperor gave a sword of great
worth and value, as a token of friendship, for your Excellency; and a
letter, wherein it was written that we were to be friends and brothers.

Father Fray Juan Cobos and I departed for the port, but on arriving
there he would not embark on my vessel. So we set sail, he on his
vessel and I on mine. Upon leaving I told father Fray Juan Cobos that
it would be better to wait for the tide, and until the moon came out;
but he answered: "Your people do not know or understand the sea." I
am a pilot, and, seeing that th