A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 04: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 04: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
He halted two days after his double victory, receiving the
submission of all the neighbouring chiefs, after which he returned with
his troops to Segura de la Frontera. De Oli was received with applause by
Cortes and all of us; and when we laughed at him for the hesitation of his
men, he joined with us heartily, saying he would take the poor soldiers of
Cortes on the next expedition, and not the rich planters who came with
Narvaez, who thought more of their houses and estates than of military
glory, and were more ready to command than to obey.
Cortes now got information from Villa Rica of the arrival of a ship
commanded by one Comargo, having upwards of seventy soldiers on board, all
very sickly. This vessel had belonged to an expedition sent from Jamaica
by Garray to establish a colony at Panuco; the other captain, Pineda, and
all his soldiers, having been put to death by the natives, and their ship
burnt. On finding, therefore, the ill success of that adventure, and that
his men were afflicted with diseases of the liver from the unhealthy
nature of the country, Camargo had come to Villa Rica for assistance. He
is said to have been perfectly acquainted with the state of affairs in New
Spain; and, on his arrival at Villa Rica, he immediately disembarked his
soldiers, and went to Segura de la Frontera by slow marches, where he and
his men were received with the utmost kindness by Cortes, and every
possible care was bestowed for his and their recovery; but he and several
of his soldiers soon died. By reason of their swollen bodies and
discoloured countenances, we used to call these men _the green paunches_.
That I may not interrupt the thread of my narrative, I shall mention in
this place, that all the rest of this armament which was destined for
Panuco, arrived at our port of Villa Rica at different and irregular
periods, Garray continually sending us reinforcements, which he meant for
Panuco, as he believed his intended colony at that place was going on
successfully. The first of these reinforcements after Camargo consisted of
fifty soldiers with seven horses, under the command of Michael Diaz de Auz.
These men were all plump and jolly, and we gave them the nickname of the
_Sir-loins_. Shortly after him another vessel brought forty soldiers with
ten horses, and a good supply of crossbows and other arms. These were
commanded by an officer named Ramirez, and as all his soldiers wore very
thick and clumsy cotton armour, quite impenetrable by arrows, we called
them the _Pack-horses_.
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