very soon came up
with Escobar, who related all he had seen, and explained what had
prevented him from waiting for us. In this way we arrived in the waters
off Potonchan, and Cortes ordered Alaminos to run into the inlet where
Cordoba and Grijalva had met with such disastrous treatment. Alaminos,
however, declared that it was a dangerous station for the vessels, as
the waters were very shallow off the coast, and we should be forced to
anchor six miles from the land. Cortes's intention was to punish the
inhabitants severely, and many of us who had been present at those
engagements begged of him to run in that we might revenge ourselves upon
them. But Alaminos and the other pilots said we should lose more than
three days by running in, and, if the weather became unfavorable, we
might be detained there above eight: the wind, moreover, being now most
favorable to reach the Tabasco river, which was our chief object, and
where we might arrive in a couple of days. We accordingly put out to
sea, and reached the Tabasco after three days' sail.

CHAPTER XXXI.

_How we arrive in the river Grijalva, called in the Indian language
the Tabasco; the battle we fought there; and what further took
place._

On the 12th of March, 1519, we arrived with our whole squadron in the
mouth of the Tabasco. As we had experienced, under the expedition with
Grijalva, that no vessels of any considerable burden could enter the
mouth of the river, our larger ones anchored out at sea, while the
smaller ones only, followed by our boats, carrying the whole of our men,
sailed up the river, in order to disembark at the promontory where the
palm trees grew, about four miles from the town of Tabasco; the same
spot where Grijalva had landed.

We perceived numbers of Indians, all under arms, lurking between the
almond trees along the shore. This circumstance greatly astonished those
among us who were here before with Grijalva. Besides this, more than
12,000 men, all armed after their fashion, had assembled at the town
itself in order to attack us. This town was very powerful at that time,
many others being subject to it. These warlike preparations were
occasioned by the following circumstances: The inhabitants of Potonchan,
of Lazaro, and other neighbouring tribes, had accused the Tabascans of
cowardice, for having given Grijalva their gold trinkets mentioned
above: they reproached them the more because their population was more
extensiv