boys before the horrible figure. The papas came towards us to Incense us with the perfuming resin with which they had incensed Tezcatlipoca, but we were so shocked at the sight of those two boys they had just killed, and so disgusted with their abominations, we would not suffer their incense. Our captain, by signs, questioned the Indian Francisco, whom we had brought with us from the Banderas stream, and who seemed to be intelligent, and Francisco answered that the people of Colua had ordered the sacrifices. As Francisco halted in his speech, he pronounced the word "Olua, Olua," and from this happening, and because our captain himself was present and was named Juan, and also because it was the day of St. John in June, we called this small island San Juan de Ulua.[1] This harbor, we say, has been much frequented. In the fifty years since our discovery of it great numbers of ships have refitted there; and now all merchandise from Castile for Mexico is there unladen.
While we were encamped on these sand dunes, natives from nearby towns brought us gold trinkets for barter, but the few things were so poor in quality that we scarce troubled ourselves about them. In the huts we had built we stayed seven days, although
- ↑ In the halting of the speech of this Indian is the origin of the name of the celebrated fort of San Juan de Ulua, on one of the reefs fronting Vera Cruz—a name enduring through most varied fortunes of three centuries.
