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Show 8 :HOOKVIH. ~ ~p CT · TV. Vi ory of theS p~ n in1·ds in .Tabafco. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. s to the iiland of Cozumel, where they recovered Jcrom de Aguilar, ~0s~anilh dean, who, in going from Darien to the iiland of Hifpaniola a few years before, had been fhipwrecked ~n the coafl: o~ Yucatan, and was made a fiave to the Indians. Heanng of the arnval of the Spaniards at Cozumel, he obtained ~ib~rty from his mall:er, and joined the fleet. From long commerce wtth the Yucatanefe, he had learned the Maja b.nguage which is fpoken there, on which account he obtained the office of interpreter to Cortes. I• rom Cozumel they proceeded along the coaft of the peninfula of Yucatan to the river Chiapa, in the province of Tabafco, by which they advanced into the country, in barges and the finallefi: veifels, until they reached a grove of palm-trees, where they landed under puetence of wanting water and provifions, direCted their courfe to a large village, which was not quite two miles ditlance, combating all the way with a croud of Indians, who annoyed their progrefs with arrows, darts, and other offcnfive weapons, and forcing through the p<llifudoes which they had placed for their defence. The Spaniards having made thcmfelves ma!l:ers of the village, made frequent excurfions among the neighbouring places, in which they had many dangerous fkirmifi1es, until at la!l: there happened a deciiivc engagement on the 2 sth day of March. The battle was fought on the plains of Ceutla, a villag~ but a little difl:ance from the other. The army of the enemy was much fupcrior in number; but in fpitc of their multitude they were entirely defeated, on a count of the fuperior difcipline of the Spaniards, the advantage of their arms, and the terror ll:ruck into the Indians by the fize and fire of th ·ir hor[cs. Eight hundred of the enemy remained dead upon the field. Of the Spaniards, one was killed, and more than fixty wounded. This vi ctory was the beginning of the fuccefs of the Spaniards, in memory of whid1 they founded n fmall city there, which they named Madouua ddla Vifforia (d), and was afterwards for a l~ng ti1~~ ~he capital of that proviuce. They cndeavourc I to jufiify thcu· ho£l:1ht1es by the repeated protefl:ations which they madt to the (tl) T he city of Vi ..< t~ ria was depopulntrd ~ntircly nhot t the middle of the !aft century , on account of th~ frequent mvnfions of the Engla01. Another frnall city wus nftc rwards founded Ill "~rearer d•llance from the cot n, which they ~ailed Y il/abtr"' '.fi' ; but the c:1pital of this )l ovmce, where tho go\'c rnor I'Cflllcs, i~ 'Fimwlnlpall. natives H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. natives before th ·y came to any er1gagement, that they were not come into their country to do them any injury as enemies, but foldy as navigators neccfli t:lted to procure, by the exchlmge of their merchandizes, the provifions which they required to continue their voyage; to which protc:ll:s, the Indians anfwered with a {howcr of arrows and darts. Cortes took folemn polfeffion of that country in the name of his Covereign, with a fi:rangc ce rem~my, though agreeable to the cavalier cuftoms and ideas of tlut century. He put on his fhie ld, unfheathcd hi fword, and gave three ll:~tb s with it to a large tree which wa in the principal village, declaring, that if any perfon durfi: oppoic his poifef- 1ion, he would defend it with that fword. To confirm more formally the dominion of his king, he aficmbled the lords of that province, and perfuadcd them to render him obedience, and to acknowledge him as their lawful fovereign; and to imprefs them with an elevated ide<t of the power of his king, he made before them a clifcharge of the artillery, and by artifices impoied upon them the belief, that the neighing of the bodes was a mark of their indignation at the enemies of the Spaniards. They all appeared to acquieice in the propofals of the conqueror, and liO:ened with wonder and plcafure to hear the firfi: truths of the Chrifi:ian religion, which Bartolomeo de qlmcdo, a learned divine, and chaplain to the expedition, declared to them by the interpreter Aguilar. They prefented afterwards to Cortes, in token of their fubmiffion, Come little articles of gold, fcveral garments of oarfc linen, as they made ufc of no others in that province, and twenty female !laves, which were divided among the officers of his troops. 9 'BOOK VIII. ~ Among thefe was a young girl f noble birth, beauty, quick genius, and great fpirit, a native of Painalla, a village of the M c ~ica n province of Coatzacualco ( 11). llcr father had bet:n a feudatory of the crown Sl!cT. v~ Account n the fnm ous l ndinn Don• na Mn~. (r) Inn m:1tnlf.:ript llillory, wh i.:h wa; in the library of the college of St. Peter nad St. Paul of the j cfLlits of l\I ex ico, it ia fait!, thnt 1>. Murina wn~ l>om in lluilor la, n village of oatzncual o. Oomara, who is copied by Herrera nnd TMq tlemadn, fnp, !he w2s 11 nari \C ot x .. tixco, nud taken from th ence hy fomc merchants of Xic>l ll anco, and carried to th eir .:ou,_ trr ; but th is i1 moll probably fa lft· ; n~ Xalixco is more than ni ne hundred miles di!l ant fror1\ Xtcallnnco, HI it ia not known that there was any commc:rcc uctwcen thelc two provin cs fo remote from rnch other. Bern al Diaz, who lived a long timll i11 'ont7. ~ unh:o, :Uid knew the mother ~tnd brother of Marinn, confi rms the truth of our n ·cotl nr, and nYcrs ro have heurd it VoL. II. C from |