recious stones as by showing their own good-will would
secure his favor and protection.

Mustering his forces for the new expedition, Cortes found that he had no
sailors, 553 soldiers, besides 200 Indians of the island; ten heavy
guns, four lighter ones, called falconets. He had also sixteen horses,
knowing the effect of even a small body of cavalry in dealing with
savages. On February 18, 1519, Cortes sailed with eleven vessels for the
coast of Yucatan.

Landing at Tabasco, where Grijalva had found the natives friendly,
Cortes found that the Yucatans had resolved to oppose him, and were
presently assembled in great numbers. The result of the fighting,
however, was naturally a foregone conclusion, partly on account of "the
astonishment and terror excited by the destructive effect" of the
European firearms, and the "monstrous apparition" of men on horseback.
Such quadrupeds they had never seen before, and they concluded that the
rider with his horse formed one unaccountable animal. Gomara and other
chroniclers tell how St. James, the tutelar saint of Spain, appeared in
the ranks on a gray horse, and led the Christians to victory over the
heathen.

An especially fortunate thing for Cortes was that among the female
slaves presented after this battle, there was one of remarkable
intelligence, who understood both the Aztec and the Mayan languages, and
soon learned the Spanish. She proved invaluable to Cortes as an
interpreter, and afterward had a share in all his campaigns. She is
generally called Marina.

If the Spanish accounts are true, stating that the native army consisted
of five squadrons of 8,000 men each, then this victory is one of the
most remarkable on record, as a proof of the value of gunpowder as
compared with primitive bows and arrows. To the simple Americans the
terrible invaders seemed actually to wield the thunder and the
lightning. Next day Cortes made an arrangement with the chiefs; and
after confidence was restored, asked where they got their gold from.
They pointed to the high grounds on the west, and said _Culhua_, meaning
Mexico.

The Palm Sunday being at hand, the conversion of the "heathen" was duly
celebrated by pompous and solemn ceremonial. The army marched in
procession with the priests at their head, accompanied by crowds of
Indians of both sexes, till they reached the principal temple. A new
altar being built, the image of the presiding deity was taken from its
place and thrown do