es against some other Indians called Lacandones,[3.5]
who were their enemies. These had been making a cruel war upon them,
killing many men and leveling and burning their villages, which they
had formerly had on the plains, as the Spaniards would see for
themselves...."

"Don Fernando Cortes assured them by means of the Indian, Dona Marina
(whom he had had with him ever since he entered Tabasco), that no harm
should be done them, nor would he permit any of his men to misuse
anything which was theirs. Thereupon the Indians recovered their
upright position, and then Don Fernando Cortes asked, with great
curiosity, why so many turkeys and fowls and all sorts of food had been
prepared for his coming."

The Indians Explain why their Town was Deserted. "The Indians replied
promptly that it was because they had been expecting their mortal
enemies, the Lacandones, who were coming to attack them. If the
Lacandones won in battle, they knew that all their property and fowls
would be taken away. If the outcome was of that sort, they did not want
their enemies to enjoy and avail themselves of their goods, so they had
intended to eat them themselves. For if they should conquer the
Lacandones in battle, they would go to their villages and take away all
that they had, so that they would feel no lack of what they had already
eaten in their own houses."

Cortes Takes Leave of them in a Friendly Spirit. "Don Fernando Cortes
said to them that he was much grieved by their wars and quarrels, and
that, because he was forced to continue his journey, he could not stop,
nor could he aid them and defend them against those enemies of theirs.
But, he added, had the situation been otherwise, he would have done so,
and they would see, what they could not well imagine, how he would
leave the Lacandones well punished and these Indians in peace and
security in their houses."

"With these affectionate speeches, and seeing that no harm was done to
them, those Indians were greatly contented. They gave thanks, after
their fashion, to Cortes and his men, and at the same time, they gave
him guides so that he might proceed with his army, which he did. Other
large pueblos were encountered which, like this one from which they
started out, they called the Mazotecas. This is the same as Villages of
Deer, and the name was given because of the large numbers there are in
that level country whence they set out."

The Deer Hunt. "The deer ran away so little