ould write. And so that this opportunity should not pass without a
letter from me, I have hastened my pen beyond my usual custom, and
have written very concisely and briefly--although I could write at
greater length, and give account of many things which I leave for a
better occasion. That will be when it is the Lord's pleasure for us
to see each other. Moreover, I have no pleasant news to write, since
that which I could write would all be to the effect that we have not
gained this enchanted hill; and that, at the times when we have tempted
fortune, we have retired with loss of some men and many wounded.

Continuing, then, in the same style as the last letter, I declare
that since the first assault, in which we were driven back with the
loss of Captain Don Pedro Mena Pando, Adjutant Oliva, and Alferez
Trigita, we have made two other assaults. One was on the twenty-fourth
of March, the eve of our Lady of the Assumption. The second was on
the twenty-eighth of the same month. In the first, we trusted to the
mines that had been made, by means of which we expected to make a safe
entrance. We would have made it had our fear of receiving harm from
them matched the little fear of the enemy--who, as barbarians, did not
prepare for flight, although they knew our designs. Of the five mines,
four blew up; and as was seen, and as we afterward learned here from
some captives, there was a great loss to the enemy. As soon as they
saw the fire, they took to flight; but our men, being at a distance,
could not come up to seize the posts that the enemy abandoned,
until very late. That gave the Moros time to take precautions, so
that when we had come up, it was impossible to gain a single thing
which the mines had given us. On that occasion both sides fought
very valiantly. The wounded on our side were not many, and our dead
even fewer; among the latter was Captain Pimienta. We were forced to
return to our posts without having gained more than the damage wrought
by the mines. The loss of those people was considerable, while not
few of them perished because of the severity of our fire. But with
the opportunity of the fifth mine which remained (which could not
have its effect, because the fire-channel of the others choked it),
the third attack was made inside of two days, by first setting fire
to that mine, and by arranging the men better than on the day of
the previous assault. They were set in array by the governor, who in
person came up to