[100] ‘Tomo [Cortés] fiada de Diego Sanz tendero, vna tieda de bohoneria en sieteciẽtos pesos de oro.’ _Gomara_, _Hist. Mex._, 12, 14-15. This was at Santiago. This author, who, together with Diaz, forms the main authority for the above list, mentions only eleven vessels, but does not include Alvarado’s. He places the Spanish force at 550 men, but, by adding to this the sixty and odd men absent with Alvarado from the review, the number would agree with Bernal Diaz’ figures. Thirteen vessels, two having joined at Habana as transports; 530 infantry; twenty-four horses; 5000 loads of maize and cassava; 2000 tocinos. _De Rebus Gestis Ferdinandi Cortesii_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. Doc._, i. 356. Twelve vessels and 500 men. _Carta del Ayunt. de V. Cruz_, in _Col. Doc. Inéd._, i. 419-20. Fifteen vessels and 500 men, without any Indians or negroes, says Cortés, in his _Memorial_, 1542, not venturing to admit that he had disobeyed the royal order and his instructions in taking Cuban Indians. _Cortés_, _Escritos Sueltos_, 310; _Col. Doc. Inéd._, iv. 220. Seven navios, three bergantines. _Oviedo_, i. 539. Nine vessels, 550 Spaniards, two to three hundred Indians. _Las Casas_, _Hist. Ind._, iv. 446, 457. Eleven vessels of thirty to one hundred tons, 663 Spaniards, including thirty men with firearms. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, iv. 54; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yucathan_, 19; _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Ecles._, pt. ii. 100-11; _Fancourt’s Hist. Yuc._, 26-7; _Zamacois_, _Hist. Méj._, ii. 296. Thirteen vessels, 560 persons, thirteen horses. _Tapia_, _Relacion_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. Doc._, ii. 558; Prescott, _Mex._, i. 262, follows both Bernal Diaz and Gomara, but without seeking to account for their differences, and thus allows himself to exceed every other authentic estimate for the number of the men. [101] _Torquemada_, i. 364; Gomara, _Hist. Mex._, 14, gives the same names, except that Francisco de Salcedo stands in the place of Alvarado. Solis, _Hist. Mex._, i. 66, mentions eleven, including Salcedo and Nortes; Las Casas, _Hist. Ind._, iv. 453, names eight, as appointed by Velazquez. Zamacois, _Hist. Méj._, ii. 287, leaves out Ávila, which is certainly a mistake, based on Bernal Diaz, who includes Ginés Nortes, the captain merely of a transport. Salcedo joined later, at Villa Rica. [102] Such is in substance the speech prepared by Gomara, _Hist. Mex._, 15-16, well suited for the enterprise, yet not exactly in accord with the pretended mission of peaceful trade and exploration. Torquemada, i. 364-5, gives it nearly in the same form, while Solis, _Hist. Mex._, i. 71-3, elaborates to suit himself.