He began in the kindly tone of giving advice, and desired Cortes to consider our wounds, how disabled and knocked up we were by the excessive hardships we had to undergo day and night, by constant battling, patrolling the country, standing at the outposts, and reconnoitring about. They had calculated, he said, that we had already lost fifty-five of our men since our departure from Cuba. Neither did we know how matters stood with our garrison at Vera Cruz. Though the Almighty had everywhere granted us victory, it was merely out of the abundance of his mercy towards us. It was not right to calculate too long upon his mercy and forbearance, for that would be tempting him. The pitcher goes to the well until it is broken, and one morning or other we should undoubtedly be sacrificed to the idols. God in his mercy might certainly avert this; but then also it was necessary we should return to Vera Cruz and there remain quiet, where we should be surrounded by our friends and allies, the tribes of the Totonaque mountains, until we had fitted out a vessel and sent to Diego Velasquez and to the islands for a fresh supply of men and other necessaries. What a good thing if our vessels had been preserved, or at least a couple, in case of accident. But, alas! he had followed the advice of men who did not consider the instability of fortune, and who had totally destroyed the last means of escape. "May God forbid," said they, "that you and those whose advice it was, may not yet have to rue it. The measure of our miseries is already full; our condition begins to be insupportable, and the life we lead is worse than that of beasts of burden. When these have gone their day's journey, their load is taken off, food is given them, and they are allowed to take rest; we, on the contrary, are always under arms, nor do we ever take our clothes off. He might compare the histories of the Romans, of Alexander the Great, and of the most celebrated generals," continued they, "and he would find that none of them ever destroyed a fleet, when similarly situated as we were, a mere handful of men amidst numerous and warlike tribes. He would have to answer for his own death and the destruction of us all. He should at least attempt to save ours and his own life, and march back to Vera Cruz, while we were still at peace with the country. They would gladly have mentioned all this earlier to him; but the vast numbers of the enemy by which we had been daily surrounded had given them no opportunity; this, however, was now at last presented them by the quiet demeanour of the foe. For the rest, the enemy would certainly return, the three days which Xicotencatl had allowed to pass by was merely in expectation of a fresh supply of men. We could not think of coming to another trial of strength as we had done up to this moment."