After we had got all in readiness for our march to Mexico, we held a consultation as to the route we should take. The chiefs of Sempoalla preferred the road through the province of Tlascalla, as the inhabitants were friendly with them and deadly enemies of the Mexicans. They had likewise equipped forty of their best warriors to accompany us, who, indeed, proved of the greatest utility to us on this journey. They also gave us 200 porters to convey our cannon; for, at that time, we poor soldiers had no other baggage than our weapons, with which in hand we stood, walked, and slept: we had not even any other covering to our feet than light shoes, but we were always ready for battle. It was about the middle of the month of August, 1519, that we broke up our quarters at Sempoalla. During our march we observed the strictest order, while our sharp-shooters and a great number of our most active men were always in advance. On the first day we arrived in the township of Xalapa, and from there to Socochina, which is very strongly situated, the access to it being very dangerous, and surrounded by numerous trained vine trees.[20] Doña Marina and Aguilar told the inhabitants a good deal about our holy religion, and how we were subjects of the emperor Don Carlos the Fifth, who sent us out to bring them back from kidnapping and sacrificing human beings. As they were in friendship with the Sempoallans, and paid no tribute to Motecusuma, we found them very well inclined towards us, and we received hospitable treatment. We erected a cross in every township, and explained its signification to the inhabitants, and what great veneration was due to it. From Socochina we marched over a high mountain, through a pass, to Texutla: here, likewise, the inhabitants were friendly to us, because they refused to pay any further tribute to Motecusuma. It was from this township that we first arrived into a rugged and wild mountain district; the population ceased, and, in the very first night, we had excessive cold, with hail showers; add to which, our provisions were totally gone, and the wind so keen which blew across the snow mountains, that we shook again with the frost: indeed, no one can wonder at this, for we had come so suddenly from the hot climate of Cuba, the town of Vera Cruz, and the neighbouring coast, into a cold country. Whatever calamity might befall us, we had only our weapons for protection, and were, moreover, totally unaccustomed to the cold. From this place we arrived at another mountain pass, where we found some houses and huge temples for human sacrifices; near these, heaps of wood were piled up for the use of the idol-worship. Neither did we here again meet with any food, the weather continuing bitterly cold.