Thus, From Country To Country, He Came At Length Within Sight Of Mexico;
And Mutecuma, Being Afraid, Received Him Kindly, Giving Him And All His
People Lodgings In The Capital, And All Things Necessary.
After a time,
fearing to be slain, Cortes made Mutecuma prisoner, and brought him to
his own quarters, keeping him under a secure guard.
Cortes inquired at
Mutecuma the extent of his dominions, where the mines of gold and silver
were, and the number of kings who dwelt in the land. And joining eight
intelligent Spaniards with an equal number of Indians, he sent them, in
four companies, to travel into four separate countries, Zucolla,
Malinaltepec, Tenich, and Tututepec. The messengers to Zucolla had 80
leagues to travel, and those who went to Malinaltepec 70; both of which
provinces were under subjection to Mutecuma: they found both of these
countries fertile and well peopled, and they brought back samples of gold,
which the natives found in the rivers. The country of Tenich was at war
with Mutecuma, and would not admit the Mexicans into their country; but
they sent ambassadors to Cortes with presents, offering him their amity,
at which Mutecuma was much displeased. Those who went to Tututepec, near
the South Sea, brought back samples of gold, and praised the pleasantness
of the country; reporting that there were many good harbours on the coast,
and they presented to Cortes a beautiful cloth of cotton, on which the
coast, with all its harbours and creeks, was distinctly represented.
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