On the contrary, they imagined it a rumor that had arisen among the natives themselves, or some jest that they were trying to practice.

At last the enemy had reached the house of the master-of-camp, Martin de Goyti--his house being the first in the city in the direction taken by the enemy--before the Spaniards and soldiers within the city caught sight of them, and even before they would put any confidence in the noise and rumor.

The enemy immediately fired the house of the said master-of-camp, killing him and all the inmates, so that no one escaped except the wife, and her they left grievously wounded and stark naked, believing her to be dead, although she was afterward cured of her wounds.

During this time of this their first act of cruelty, the citizens were assured of the truth; and although none of them had ever imagined so unlooked-for an event, finally they sounded the call to arms and began to try to save their lives.

Some soldiers made an immediate sally to the shore, in the lack of order usual in events of this nature.