paddled across the channel to the island, where he met them. He had been so long in captivity that he could not be distinguished from the Indians who had come with him, and at first could only utter a few Spanish words, such as Dios (God) and Santa Maria. He had only a few rags about his waist, an oar in his hand, and the remains of an old book of prayers tied up in a bundle on his shoulder. When he came into the presence of the company he squatted on his hams, like the Indians, and every one was looking in vain for the Spaniard, when in answer to an inquiry he said, "Here he is," and was received with gladness, clothed and fed. He was subsequently of the utmost service to the Spaniards, being for a while their only means of communication with the natives. Cortez was not mistaken in the value he set upon such an acquisition, nor in having delayed the fleet in order to secure him.
As the fleet arrived off Champotan, a boat was sent ashore, and there they were welcomed by the greyhound that had been accidentally left there the year before by Grijalva. On the 13th of March they arrived off the mouth of the river Tabasco, or Grijalva, one of the largest that flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Knowing that the larger vessels could not approach near land, Cortez sent a large body of troops in boats to land about half a league from the town of Tabasco. The Tabascans, who had before received Grijalva so hospitably, had been reproached by their neighbors, the Champotanese (and perhaps incited by messengers from Montezuma), with cowardice in not attacking these strangers on their first visit. At all events, Cortez found his advance obstructed by above twelve thousand armed Indians in canoes. They threatened the Spaniards with death if they persisted in their intention of visiting their town, which they had fortified with palisades. Cortez then, displaying the policy for which he was always
