fury of such hot assault.

We stayed here six weeks, and the sickness with mortality before spoken
of still continued among us, though not with the same fury as at the
first; and such as were touched with the said sickness, escaping death,
very few or almost none could recover their strength. Yea, many of
them were much decayed in their memory, insomuch that it was grown an
ordinary judgment, when one was heard to speak foolishly, to say he had
been sick of the _calentura_, which is the Spanish name of their burning
ague; for, as I told you before, it is a very burning and pestilent
ague. The original cause thereof is imputed to the evening or first
night air, which they term _la serena_; wherein they say and hold very
firm opinion that whoso is then abroad in the open air shall certainly
be infected to the death, not being of the Indian or natural race of
those country people. By holding their watch our men were thus subjected
to the infectious air, which at Santiago was most dangerous and deadly
of all other places.

With the inconvenience of continual mortality we were forced to give
over our intended enterprise to go with Nombre de Dios, and so overland
to Panama, where we should have strucken the stroke for the treasure,
and full recompense of our tedious travails. And thus at Carthagena
we took our first resolution to return homewards, the form of which
resolution I thought good here to put down under the principal captains'
hands as followeth:--

A Resolution of the Land-Captains, what course they think most expedient
to be taken. Given at Carthagena, the 27th of February, 1585.

WHEREAS it hath pleased the General to demand the opinions of his