with a present of poor gold of little value (for it is not found
in that country) and some mantles. And there the Indians informed
Cortes of where the two villages of the Bearded Men (as they call the
Spaniards) were. They said that one of them was called Pueblo de Nito
(Ferns) and was on the coast to the north, while the other was called
Pueblo de Naco and was inland.

"This news brought great joy to Cortes and his men on account of the
great desire they all had to find the Spaniards in search of whom they
had undertaken this perilous journey.

"Those of the army who were marching along the shore of the Lake went
with great care, being suspicious lest the affability of Canek was but
a piece of premeditated craftiness to enable him to perpetrate some
treachery."

Cortes Takes Leave of Canek, Leaving Morzillo. "But things did not take
such a course as they had feared. Indeed, Don Fernando Cortes was ahead
of time (at the meeting place) with all his crossbowmen, and when he
joined with the main body of his army he rid the rest of all the
anxiety they had suffered during his absence.

"He took leave of Canek and the Itza Indians who had accompanied him to
the mainland. He left in their charge his horse Morzillo, which had
been injured in the ankle, charging them to take good care of him, and
to cure him. Cortes said that he would send after the horse from the
place where he should meet those Spaniards for whom he was seeking.
Such horses were, he said, esteemed highly, for it was a good horse."

Idols not Burnt. "There was no burning of the idols, nor anything else
of the sort, in that city of Tayasal (as they call it) or Chief City of
Canek. Some say, however, that the idols were burnt in the presence of
Cortes, but in truth, from the time when he left his horse among the
Itza Infidels, they had a worse and more abominable idol than they had
had before, as we shall see later...."[3.6]

Cortes Arrives in Honduras. "With ... innumerable other excessive
trials, at the end of many days, they arrived at Honduras and met the
Spaniards in search of whom they had come, in the villages of Naco and
Nito, which Gil Gonzalez de Avila and Christoval de Olid had settled
with Spaniards. The town of Nito was founded by Avila and was called
San Gil de Buena Vista. All that happened is to be found and read in
the Histories of the Indies and it does not concern this History.

"Only this concerns us: on account of a variety of c