CHAPTER II
How the Governor of Cuba ordered another fleet sent out, and what happened.
In the following year of our Lord, 1518, after he had heard the good account we gave of the country we discovered, Diego Velasquez, governor of Cuba, determined to send another expedition there. He chose four vessels, of which were the two we soldiers had purchased at our own cost and sailed in with Cordova.
While he was busily engaged in fitting out this squadron, I, Bernal Diaz of Castile, worn out and miserably poor, arrived at Santiago de Cuba, where he lived; and I called upon him, for we were kinsmen. He was highly pleased to see me and asked if my wounds were healed so that I could make another trip to Yucatan. I, laughing, asked him who had given the country that name. He answered, "The Indians you brought back call it that." "Call it rather," I returned, "the land where they killed one half of our men and wounded the other half." "I know you underwent many hardships," he answered; "hardships come to those who set out to discover new lands and win honor, and his maj-
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