They Discovered A Bay Into Which The River
Tonala Discharges Itself, Which They Visited On Their Return, And Called
It The River Of St Anthony.
At some distance farther on they saw the great
river of Guazacoallo, which they could not enter on account of bad
weather.
After this they had a view of the Snowy Islands[2] of New Spain,
which the soldiers named St Martin. Holding on their course, Alvaredo,
having the headmost ship, entered a river called Papaloava, but which
the Spaniards named Alvaredos river. Here the natives of a town, called
Tavotulpale brought fish, and the other ships waited till Alvaredo came
out. Beyond this they came to the mouth of another river, which they named
Rio de las Banderas, or Flag-river, because the Indians waved large white
cloths on long poles, like colours, as if inviting the Spaniards to land.
The country, on the coast of which the Spaniards now were, was a province
of the great empire of Mexico, over which Montezuma then reigned, a prince
of great wisdom and penetration, who had heard of the exploits of the
Spaniards, and the pains they took to become acquainted with the sea
coasts of his dominions. He was uneasy on this account, and was anxious to
learn who and what these people were, and wherefore they took so much
pains to examine the state of countries which did not belong to them. For
this purpose, he had given directions to the governors of these maritime
provinces, to take every opportunity of trading with these strangers, and
to send him an account of their motions from time to time, that he might
be able to come to some distinct notion respecting them and their
intentions.
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