ircumstances Don
Fernando Cortes neither returned himself through the land of the Itzas,
nor did he send after his horse, nor did he send the Missionary Fathers
to the Itzas, as he had offered to do.... So that that wretched little
ruler, Lord of the Itzas or Canek, and all his subjects, remained as
barbarous and idolatrous as they were before, and even daily grew more
so, as well as becoming more horrible, cruel, atrocious, and
formidable. And in this state we must leave them until the time comes
for us once more to speak of them...."

Though this account of the entrada made by Cortes into the country of
the Itzas seems full enough, it differs, nevertheless, from some of the
others.

Comparison of Villagutierre with Other Authorities. In the first place
Villagutierre tells us that the motive which led Cortes into sending an
expedition to Honduras was that "it was a very good land," and when,
because of Olid's treachery, it became necessary for him to go thither
himself, Villagutierre says he took four hundred Spaniards and thirty
horses. Bernal Diaz (vol. iv, p. 283 ff.) differs widely from this
account in several respects. He says that Cortes hoped to find a
passage to the Spice Islands, and that it was for that purpose that he
sent out Olid, on whom he believed he could rely. Olid, though brave
enough, was not a wise or faithful man. He fell a victim to the
machinations of Diego Velazquez, Governor of Cuba, who was a mortal
enemy of Cortes.

According to Cogolludo (lib. i, cap. 13) it was very much against the
advice of his associates in Mexico that Cortes went in person to
Honduras. He tells us that the vanguard of the Spaniards, after
capturing ten Indian men and two Indian women, who were treated kindly,
sent one of their canoes to the island of Tayasal with six Indians and
two Spaniards, who were to give Canek some small Castilian presents. As
a result of this, when the main body of the army, under Cortes himself,
reached the shore of the lake, Canek and several of his chiefs were
waiting for them. The rest of the account of Cogolludo is the same as
that of Villagutierre.

In his Fifth Letter, Cortes furnishes some interesting details with
which we will complete our account of the first entrada into the Itza
territory. He tells us (The Letters of Cortes to Charles V, MacNutt's
translation, vol. ii, p. 259) that Apospolon. Lord of Izancanac, first
pretended to be dead, being in fear of Cortes, but that late