humble himself before these religious men, and stand in their presence with his head uncovered. In the presence of men who came without any covering to their feet, their garments of the meanest kind, their appearance altogether poverty stricken, and their countenances emaciated, besides that they came on foot, and not on horseback; all this amazed the Indians, who ever after throughout the whole country paid the greatest veneration to these men.
Our reverend guests were quartered in a house which had been purposely prepared for their reception; and father Olmedo, at the desire of Cortes, acted as their host.
About four years afterwards twelve other monks of the Dominican order arrived in New Spain, with their provincial or prior, father Thomas Ortiz, a native of Biscay, and who had been prior in a cloister near Punta del Drago, but unfortunately he and his companions were unable to bear the hot climate; for they all fell ill, and most of them died; however, I will relate these circumstances more fully in the proper place. Subsequently several other very pious and excellent men of this same order arrived from Spain, who were particularly assiduous in their endeavours to convert the Indians of Guatimala to Christianity.
With all this, Cortes' mind was never at ease, and he constantly apprehended that the bishop of Burgos and the agents of Diego Velasquez would renew their complaints against him to his majesty, or injure him in some way or other; and as his father, with Diego de Ordas, sent him the most favorable account of their progress in settling the preliminaries of marriage between himself and Doña Juana de Zunniga, he considered it would be great policy on his part to send all the gold he could possibly collect to Spain, partly to convince the duke of Bejar of the riches he possessed, and of the magnitude of his conquests, but particularly to ingratiate himself further with his majesty to obtain additional honours and favours from him.