several opinions concerning an associate for him were expressed.  Some people said it was risky to trust such an important affair to one man; not that they mistrusted Quevedo, but human life is uncertain, particularly if one considers that people accustomed to a climate near the equator would be exposed on returning northwards to frequent changes of climate and food.  It was necessary, therefore, to provide an associate for Quevedo, so that, if one died the other might survive and if both escaped death, the King would place more confidence in their dual report.  Much time was spent in debating this point, and finally they decided to choose Roderigo Colmenares, whose name I have frequently mentioned.  He was a man of large experience; in his youth he had travelled by land and sea over all Europe, and he had taken part in the Italian wars against the French.  What decided the colonists to choose Colmenares was the fact that, if he left, they could count on his return, because he had purchased properties in Darien and had spent large sums in planting.  He hoped to sell his crops as they stood, and to obtain the gold of his companions in exchange.  He therefore left the care of his estates to a citizen of Madrid, a certain Alonzo Nunez, who was his comrade.  This man was a judge, and had almost been chosen by the colonists as an envoy in place of his friend Colmenares; and indeed he would have been elected but that one of his companions explained that he had a wife at Madrid.  It was feared, therefore, that the tears of his wife might prevent him from ever returning, so Colmenares, being free, was chosen as the associate of Quevedo.  There being no larger ship at their disposal, both men sailed on a brigantine, the fourth day of the calends of November in the year of grace 1512.

During their voyage they were buffeted by many tempests, and were finally dashed upon the western coast of that large island which for a long time was thought to be a continent, and which in my First Decade I explained was called Cuba.  They were reduced to the most extreme want, for three months had elapsed since they left Darien.  They were, therefore, forced to land to seek some assistance from the islanders, and by chance they approached on that side of the island where Valdivia had also been driven ashore by tempests.  Ah! unhappy creatures! you colonists of Darien, who await the return of Valdivia to assuage your sufferings.  Hardly had he landed before he and his companions were massacred by the Cubans, the caravel broken to pieces and left upon the shore.  Upon beholding some planks of that caravel half buried in the sand, the envoys bewailed the death of Valdivia and his companions.  They found no bodies, for these had either been thrown into the sea, or had served as food for the cannibals, for these latter frequently made raids in Cuba in order to procure human flesh.  Two islanders who had been captured, related the death of Valdivia, which had been brought about by the love of gold.  These islanders confessed that, having learned from the talk of one of Valdivia’s companions that he had gold, they had plotted to assassinate him because they too loved gold necklaces.