At dawn, the Frenchman recognized the country, and the place where they
were, and where stood the fort; upon which the Adelantado ordered them
to march, enjoining upon all, at the peril of their lives, to follow
him; and coming to a small hill, the Frenchman said that behind that
stood the fort, about three bow-shots distant, but lower down, near the
river. The General put the Frenchman into the custody of Castaneda. He
went up a little higher, and saw the river and one of the houses, but he
was not able to discover the fort, although it was adjoining them; and
he returned to Castaneda, with whom now stood the Master of the Camp and
Ochoa, and said to them that he wished to go lower down, near to the
houses which stood behind the hill, to see the fortress and the
garrison, for, as the sun was now up, they could not attack the fort
without a reconnaissance. This the Master of the Camp would not permit
him to do, saying this duty appertained to him; and he went alone with
Ochoa near to the houses, from whence they discovered the fort; and,
returning with their information, they came to two paths, and leaving
the one by which they came, they took the other.
The Master of the Camp discovered his error, coming to a fallen tree,
and turned his face to inform Ochoa, who was following him; and as they
turned to seek the right path, he stopped in advance, and the sentinel
discovered them, who imagined them to be French; but examining them he
perceived they were unknown to him. He hailed, "Who goes there?" Ochoa
answered, "Frenchmen." The sentinel was confirmed in his supposition
that they were his own people, and approached them; Ochoa did the same;
but seeing they were not French, the sentinel retreated. Ochoa closed
with him, and with his drawn sword gave him a cut over the head, but did
not hurt him much, as the sentinel fended off the blow with his sword;
and the Master of the Camp, coming up at that moment, gave him a thrust,
from which he fell backward, making a loud outcry. The Master of the
Camp, putting his sword to his breast, threatened him with instant death
unless he kept silence. They tied him thereupon, and took him to the
General, who, hearing the noise, thought the Master of the Camp was
being killed, and meeting with the Sergeant-major, Francisco de Recalde,
Diego de Maya, and Andres Lopez Patino, with their standards and
soldiers, without being able to restrain himself, he cried out,
"Santiago! Upon them! Help of God, victory! The French are destroyed.
The Master of the Camp is in their fort, and has taken it." Upon which,
all rushed forward in the path without order, the General remaining
behind, repeating what he had said many times; himself believing it to
be certain that the Master of the Camp had taken with him a considerable
force, and had captured the fort.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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