It is this coincidence that causes attention to be directed to an endeavour to form some reasonable solution of the problem. It will be observed, upon an examination of the illustration of the tablet of the cross, that the name Quetzalcoatl is represented by the quetzal, the emblematic bird of the Quichés, and by peculiar marks surrounding the cross which are thought to be intended to denote a serpent (coatl) which, as at Uxmal, was probably the Totem of the tribe.[114] But the principal figure placed in the centre of the altar is the cross. This by its shape and position must have been intended to have had an especial significance. It is related by Gomara that, upon the occasion of the discovery of Yucatan by the expedition under the command of Francisco Hernandez in 1517, the Spaniards observed in the country near Cape Catoche, crosses of brass and wood placed over graves. The unexpected finding of these crosses in an hitherto unknown land attracted the attention of geographers in Spain and, to some extent, led to theories with regard to the possible arrival in Yucatan of the Spanish ecclesiastics who had, according to an ancient legend, fled from Spain when that country was conquered by the Saracens in the eighth century, and were believed to have reached an island in the western parts of the Atlantic ocean called Antilia. What Gomara wrote upon this subject is as follows:— “In that place there were found crosses of brass and wood over the dead, from whence some argue that many Spaniards had fled to this land when the destruction of Spain was done by the Moors in the time of the King Don Roderick: but I do not believe it; since there are not any in the islands that we have mentioned: in some one of which it is necessary, and also compulsory to touch at, before arriving there.” Gomara was undoubtedly correct in not believing that these crosses were placed over the graves of Spaniards who had arrived in Yucatan after the defeat and flight of King Roderick. It is not requisite to go back to events that occurred in Spain in the eighth century to account for the existence of crosses on the promontory of Cape Catoche. When Hernandez landed there in 1517, nearly a quarter of a century had elapsed since Columbus had founded his settlements in Cuba and Hispaniola, and during that interval many small expeditions had been organised by Spanish adventurers for the purpose of exploring the coasts in the direction of Honduras and Nicaragua. In pursuing these voyages of discovery their vessels must have frequently passed at no great distance from the eastern shores of Yucatan where, on their return from the south, they would have been baffled by contrary winds and currents. Under such conditions it is not improbable that one of the vessels may have been wrecked or abandoned off Cape Catoche, and that some of the crew perished and were buried by the survivors near the seacoast.