We arrived in Mexico City on a Sunday, one day before the eve of St. James' day. There the Viceroy' and the Marqués del Valle treated us very well and welcomed us very graciously. They gave us clothing and offered us everything they had. On St. James' day there were festivities with tournaments and bullfights.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

What Happened When I Wanted to Leave

After we rested in Mexico City for two months, I wanted to return to these kingdoms. As the ship was about to set sail in October, a storm came and grounded the ship, and it was lost. Seeing this, I decided to wait until winter was over, since it is a season of rough weather for sailing. During Lent, when winter had passed, Andrés Dorantes and I left Mexico City for Veracruz to board our ship. We waited there until Palm Sunday, when we boarded. We remained on board more than two weeks waiting for the wind. The ship we were on was taking on a great deal of water. I left it and went to others that were about to sail, but Dorantes remained aboard that ship. On the tenth of April three ships sailed out of the port, and we traveled together for 150 leagues. On the way, two ships were taking on a lot of water. One night we got lost from this convoy because their pilots and sailing masters, as it later seemed, did not dare continue onward with their ships and returned to the port from which they had sailed. We did not notice this or have any more news of them and continued our voyage.

On the fourth of May we arrived in the port of Havana, which is on the island of Cuba, where we waited for the two other ships until the second of June, thinking they would come. Then we left there, greatly fearing