Embarking from Santiago de Cuba the 8th of April, 1518, and leaving Cape San Antonio on Saturday,[18] the first of May, they fell to the south of their intended course, and on Monday sighted the island of Cozumel,[19] which they named Santa Cruz,[20] “because,” says Galvano, “they came to it the third of May.” After passing round the northern point on the sixth[21] in search of anchorage, the commander landed with a hundred men, and ascending a high tower took possession of the country; after which, mass was said. And Las Casas questions if it was quite right for Juan Diaz to hold this solemn service in a place where sacrifices were wont to be made to Satan; for even between the two great and formal exercises of the Spaniards, an old Indian priest with his attendants had entered and had blown incense before the idols, as if to rouse his gods to vindicate their might before these opposing worshippers. To the point was given the name San Felipe y Santiago, and to a town standing near, that of San Juan ante Portam Latinam. Then they entered the town, and found there houses of stone, and paved streets, in the eyes of Juan Diaz not unlike the towns of Spanish construction. Meanwhile, a small party penetrated one or two leagues into the interior, and observed other towns and cultivated lands. [Illustration] While crossing to the Yucatan coast the following day, they descried in the distance three towns, and, as they descended toward the south, a city “so large that Seville could not show to better advantage.” Next they came to a great opening in the shore, to which, after Alaminos had examined it in a boat, they gave the name of Bahía de la Ascension, from the day of discovery. Unable to find a pass in this direction round the supposed island of Yucatan, they turned back, passed Cozumel, and, rounding the peninsula, arrived at Campeche the 25th, rescuing on their way a woman from Jamaica. * * * * *