h, as far as the eye could reach, there was not a
tree to be seen, and the heat was more excessive than we had ever
experienced before. This plain abounded with wild deer, which were so
little shy that we could easily catch them with our horses, and in a
very short time we killed upwards of twenty. On questioning our guides
how it came that these animals were neither afraid of our horses nor
anything else, and so easily to be caught, they answered that the
Mazotecs revered them as beings of a superior nature, because they
appeared such to them from their external form, and their idols had
strictly commanded the people not to kill or in any way to scare them.

One of Cortes' relatives, named Palacios Rubios, lost his horse in
chasing these deer, for he galloped up and down the plain until the fat
melted in its body, and the poor animal dropped down dead all of a
sudden.[47]

It was not long before we came to the townships which had been
destroyed, and certainly they presented a most miserable picture to the
eye. On our further march, our scouts came up with two Indians who
belonged to a town which lay in advance of us. These men were returning
from the chase, and had killed a large lion and a number of iquanas,[48]
which resemble small serpents, and are excellent food. Our scouts then
inquired of these Indians whether there was any township in the
neighbourhood, to which they answered in the affirmative, and offered
their services to conduct them thither. This place lay on an island in
the fresh water, and could only be approached by means of canoes on the
side we were advancing, which compelled us to march to the distance of
two miles along the water until we came to a spot where the latter was
sufficiently shallow for us to wade through, though even then it reached
almost up to our arms. Only a few of the inhabitants had remained in the
town, the rest having fled immediately on our approach, with all their
property which they concealed among the reeds in the neighbourhood of
their cultivated fields; but several of our men quartered themselves for
the night among the maise plantations, feasted plentifully off the
fruit, and took care to provision themselves for the next day's march.

Adjoining this township lay a fresh water lake of considerable extent,
which abounded with large fish covered with sharp prickles, and very
much resembled the disgusting-looking and insipid-flavoured fish called
the shad. By means of a fe