[123] A greyhound bitch, really of great service to the hunters. Bernal Diaz, _Hist. Verdad._, 20, starts Escobar from Punta de las Mujeres. _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, Pt. iii. 112. Cogolludo, _Hist. Yucathan_, 29, while adopting on hearsay the more general supposition that a missing vessel is found here, follows Diaz in the account of the exploring vessel. Gomara, _Hist. Mex._, 25-6, and Herrera, dec. ii. lib. iv. cap. xi., evidently attributes the name Escondido to the finding of the missing vessel. [124] ‘Mille quingentorum passuum, ait Alaminus nauclerus, et domorum quinque ac viginti millium ... egregie lapidibus et calce fabrefectæ.’ _Peter Martyr_, _De Insvlis_, 14. ‘A poco mas de media legua que subian por el, (river) vieron vn gran pueblo con las casas de adoues y los tejados de paja, el qual estaua cercado de madera, con bien gruessa pared y almenas, y troneras para flechar.’ Halls and temples are also referred to: ‘Mas no tiene veinte y cinco mil casas.’ _Gomara_, _Hist. Mex._, 26-37. ‘Punta de los Palmares [where Grijalva also camped], que estava del pueblo de Tabasco otro media legua.’ _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Verdad._, 20. Montanus, _Nieuwe Weereld_, 77, follows Gomara and Martyr, in calling the pueblo Potonchan; so does Helps, _Span. Conq._, ii. 260-4, who frequently reveals the superficiality of his researches. Brasseur de Bourbourg calls it Centla. _Hist. Nat. Civ._, iv. 58. The stockade defences are described in detail in _Solis_, _Hist. Mex._, i. 93-4. [125] ‘Mandò poner en cada vn batel tres tiros.’ Ávila received one hundred soldiers, including ten cross-bowmen, and took a route leading across creeks and marshes to the rear of the pueblo. _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Verdad._, 20. ‘Señalo Cortés dos capitanes con cada cienticinquenta Españoles. Que fueron Alonso di Auila, y Pedro de Aluarado.’ A ford was found half a league above the camp. _Gomara_, _Hist. Mex._, 27; Peter Martyr, dec. iv. cap. vii., sends one hundred and fifty men by different routes. The testimony favors the supposition that Ávila forded the river. [126] Bernal Diaz, _Hist. Verdad._, 20, estimates that twelve thousand warriors defended the town. He himself received a wound in the thigh. Gomara, _Hist. Mex._, 29, leaves only four hundred in charge of the place. Peter Martyr, dec. iv. cap. vii., allows the horses to share in the battle, and places the warriors at four thousand. Las Casas, _Hist. Ind._, iv. 474, exaggerates, of course, the Spanish excesses, but without giving definite statements.