l the countries he should
discover.

By virtue of this appointment he fitted out three vessels, having on
board 240 men; including a strong body of cavalry, crossbow-men, and
musketeers. The chief command of this armament he gave to Alonso Alvarez
Pinedo, who, as I have above mentioned, was soon cut off, with the
greater part of his men, by the Indians, so that there was only one
vessel with sixty men that escaped to Vera Cruz, who, with their
captain, Comargo, entered our army.

Garay, being ignorant of the miserable termination of this expedition,
sent out two more vessels, under command of Diaz de Auz and Ramirez,
with many soldiers, horses, a quantity of provisions, and a considerable
store of arms of various kinds; but when these vessels arrived in the
river Panuco, and nowhere met with any traces of the other armament,
excepting a few pieces of burnt wood of the first vessels, lying on the
shore, they likewise put into Vera Cruz. Though I have mentioned all
this above, it was nevertheless necessary to recapitulate these
circumstances here, to render the whole more intelligible to the reader.

After Garay had thus spent so much money to no purpose, and heard of the
great good fortune which attended Cortes; of the large towns he had
discovered, and of the vast treasures in gold and jewels which he had
accumulated in New Spain, envy, as well as thirst for riches, also rose
up in his breast to torment him; and he was resolved to fit out as
extensive an armament as he possibly could, and to take the command of
it himself. He accordingly equipped a small fleet, consisting of eleven
vessels and two brigantines, on board of which there were 130 horse and
840 foot, most of the latter being armed with muskets and crossbows. As
he was a man of great wealth, he spared no expense in fitting out this
splendid armament. With this fleet Garay left Jamaica in the month of
June, of the year 1523, sailed in the direction of Cuba, and thence ran
into the harbour of Xagua, where he learnt that Cortes had already
subdued the whole province of Panuco; that he had founded a colony
there, and that the expedition had cost him above 60,000 pesos; that he
had petitioned his majesty to unite the government of this province with
that of New Spain, and to appoint him the viceroy. This of itself was
disheartening to Garay; but when he further heard of the heroic deeds of
Cortes and his companions, and how we with a mere handful of men had
gai