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Show 4 BOOK VIII. "--v--"" SECT. II. CharaClcn of the principal cun(tiiCrors of 1\lc.xico, H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. marks obferved by them in the Spaniards conforming with thofe Which their mythology afcribed to Q£etzalccatl, the furprifing largenefs of the ·veffels compared with their little ikiffs and canqe·s·r the loud noife and force of the artillery, refembling fo ftrongly that of the douds, aH together awed and infpired them to believe it was the god of air who had arrived upon their coofts, with all the apparat~JS of thunder, lightning, and divinity. Moved by this perfuafion, Montezuma ordered five pcrfons of his court to repair immediately to Chalchiuhcuecan, to make congratulations, in the name of him and the whole kingdom, to this .fuppofed power of the air, on his happy arrival in that land, and to offer him in homage a large prcfent ; but, before he difpatched them, he previoufiy fent orders to the governors of the coafts,. to place centinels on the high mountains of Nauhtlan, Quauhtla, MiCl:lan, and Tocht ... Ian, that they might obferve the motions of the armament, and fend fpeedy advice of every thing which happened to the com;t. The Mexican ambaffadors were unable, in fpite of their utmoft expedition, to overtake the Spaniards, who, when· they had finilh.ed their commerce on that coaft, continued their courfe along fhor.e, as far as the river of Panama, from whence they returned to Cuba with ten thoufimd fequins in gold, part acquired in exchange for toys, part obtained in a prefent. made to the commander by a lord of Onohualco~ The governor of Cuba was much. difpleafed that Grijalv:a did not plant a colony in that new coLtntry ,. which was ~~eprefented by all to be the moft rich and happy in the world. Upon this he immediatdy fitted out another hrger armament, for the command. ~f which feveral of the, principaj colonifts of that ifiand contended; but the governor, by tbe advice of his confidants, committed it to Ferdinand Cortes, a perfon of noble hirth,, and fufficiently rich to be able to fupport, with his own private capital,. and the afiiftance of his friends,. a confidcrablc {hare of the expences of the expedition. He was born in Medellin1 a fmall city of Efl:remadura, in the year 148 5. By , the father he was Cortes and Monroi,. and by his mothet: Pz'z.arro and Altaminmo, unitin.g in. himfeU the blood of thofc four line·1ges, which were the 1 \(J[t renowned and ancient .of that city. At the age of fourteen, he ~as fcnt y h1 p.'r nts to S:tlamancn, in order th 1t by learniu5 the Latm tongue, ,\n,l ll.c u vil law, at that famous u1a vewty, nt mi 1t UCCOlliQ |