Roger shook the stout fellow's hand, heartily.
"He is a brave fellow," he said to Cuitcatl, who had accompanied them, "and fought manfully and well.

Had he not guarded my back during the fight, I should not be here to tell the tale, now." "We have made the bow according to our instructions," the head of the artisans said respectfully to the king; "but it does not seem to us possible that anyone can use it.

Three of us have tried together to string it, but in vain." "It is a good bow," Roger said, examining it.
"Do they shoot with weapons like that, over there ?" Cacama asked, nodding in the direction of Mexico.
"No," Roger said, "for the most part they use crossbows, and their bows are much smaller than this.

The English are the only people who use bows like this.

They are our national weapons, and outside our island there are few, indeed, who can even bend them.