To this banquet all the officers and soldiers were invited; but when the guests arrived there was scarcely sufficient room at the table for one third of them, which occasioned a good deal of ill-will, and it would have been better if Cortes had never given the banquet at all; for many curious things happened on this occasion, and Noah's tree gave rise to many foolish pranks. There were some folks who, when they had eaten and drank too much, instead of leaving the table, sicked all over it; others declared that they possessed gold enough to buy themselves horses with saddles of gold; and the crossbow-men swore they would for the future not shoot another arrow unless its point was made of pure gold; some kept stumbling about, and many rolled headlong down the steps.
After the banquet we had a ball, in which the ladies joined who had accompanied our army; and nothing could be more ridiculous than to see the leaps which their gallants took who were accoutred in full armour. The ladies who danced were only few in number, and I will not mention their names, nor should I like to repeat the satires which appeared