He Also Said That It Was Obtained From Two Rivers In The Province Of Guztepeque, Where The Natives Were Not Subjects To His Empire; But, If Cortes Chose To Send Some Troops To That Place, He Would Order His Officers To Accompany Them.

Cortes accordingly sent the pilot Umbria and two soldiers to examine the mines of Zacatula; and sent his relation Pizarro, to the territories of Chinantla and Zapoteca. Pizarro was then a young man, and at that time his name and that of Peru, now so famous, were both equally unknown.

Pizarro, who was one of our captains, took with him four soldiers who were used to mining, and four Mexican nobles; and Montezuma presented Cortes with a map of the whole northern, or rather eastern coast of the Mexican empire, admirably represented in painting, extending at least an hundred and forty leagues, all the way to Tabasco. Among the rivers said to produce gold, was that of Huatzocoalco, which Cortes wished to have examined, and Diego de Ordas offering himself for this purpose, was reluctantly accepted by Cortes, as he was a person on whom he depended for sound judgment and wholesome advice on occasions of importance. Before his departure, Montezuma told Ordas, that the power of the crown of Mexico did not extend over the country to which he was going, but that he was welcome to the assistance of the frontier garrisons. Umbria returned first from his mission, bringing with him gold to the value of three hundred crowns and reported that the mines might be made very productive, if they were as expertly managed as those of Hispaniola and Cuba.

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