attempting to follow in the track of Cordova, was
driven in sight of it. The itinerary of this voyage was kept by the
chaplain-in-chief of the fleet, under the direction of Grijalva, and,
with a collection of original narratives and memoirs, was published for
the first time in 1838 at Paris. The itinerary opens thus:

"Saturday, the first of March of the year 1518, the commandant of the
said fleet sailed from the island of Cuba. On the fourth of March we
saw upon a promontory a white house.... All the coast was lined with
reefs and shoals. We directed ourselves upon the opposite shore, when
we distinguished the house more easily. It was in the form of a small
tower, and appeared to be eight palms in length and the height of a
man. The fleet came to anchor about six miles from the coast. Two
little barks called canoes approached us, each manned by three Indians,
which came to within a cannon shot of the vessel. We could not speak to
them nor learn anything from them, except that in the morning the
cacique, _i.e._, the chief of that place, would come on board our
vessel. The next morning we set sail to reconnoiter a cape which we saw
at a distance, and which the pilot told us was the island of Yucatan.
Between it and the point of _Cucuniel_, where we were, we found a gulf,
into which we entered, and came near the shore of Cuzamil, which we
coasted. Besides the tower which we had seen, we discovered fourteen
others of the same form. Before leaving the first, the two canoes of
Indians returned; the chief of the village was in one of them, and came
on board the vessel of the admiral, and spoke to us by means of an
interpreter (one of the two Indians carried off from Yucatan on the
previous voyage of Cordova), and prayed the commander to come to his
village, saying that it would be a great honour to him....

"We set sail, following the coast at the distance of a stone's throw,
for the sea is very deep upon the borders. The country appeared very
agreeable; we counted, on leaving this point, _fourteen towers_ of the
form indicated. At sunset we saw a large white tower, which appeared
very high. We approached, and saw near it a multitude of Indians, men
and women, who were looking at us, and remained until the fleet stopped
within musket shot of the tower. The Indians, who are very numerous in
this island, made a great noise with their drums.

"On Friday, the sixth of May, the commandant ordered one hundred men to
arm themsel