The Princes And Feudatories Being All Assembled, Montezuma Reminded Them Of The Ancient Prophecies, By Which It Was Foretold To Their Ancestors, That A People Was To Come From The Region Of The Rising Sun, To Whom The Empire Of The Country Was To Be Transferred.

He added, that he believed the Spaniards to be the people spoken of in that prophecy; and had sacrificed to his gods in vain to give him a distinct revelation on the subject, but they referred him to the former responses, and commanded him to ask no more.

From all this he concluded that they willed him to yield obedience to the king of Castile, who was the sovereign of these strangers. "I now," said he in conclusion, "beseech you to agree to this submission, which is required of me by the Spaniards. During the eighteen years which I have reigned, I have ever been a kind monarch to you, and you have always been faithful subjects. Since our gods will have it so, let no one refuse this instance of obedience which I now ask." The princes, with many sighs and tears, promised to do every thing he might desire. Montezuma, who was still more affected than they, sent a message to inform Cortes, that he and his princes would tender their allegiance to our emperor next day. This was accordingly done at the time appointed, in presence of all our officers and many of our soldiers, none of whom could refrain from tears, at beholding the distress and agitation of the great and generous Montezuma on this humiliating occasion.

Some time afterwards, when Cortes and his captains were conversing with Montezuma on various topics, the general made inquiry relative to the gold mines of the empire, when Montezuma informed him that the richest of these were in the province of Zacatula or Zacatollan, and said that the gold was procured by washing the earth, the small grains of metal sinking to the bottom during the operation. 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. Two principal persons of the district accompanied him to Mexico, who brought a present of gold to the value of about a hundred crowns, and offered to submit themselves and country to the sovereignty of our emperor. Umbria and his companions described the country which they had visited as extremely rich and populous, and he and his companions appeared to have done something handsome for themselves on the expedition, which Cortes winked at in order to make up for some former differences.

Ordas, on his return, said that he had passed through very populous districts, in all of which he was well received. That he found several bodies of Mexican troops on the frontiers, of whose outrages the natives of the country made heavy complaints, on which account he had severely reprehended the commanders of the troops, threatening them with a similar punishment with what had been inflicted on the lord of Nauhtlan. He had sounded the river of Huatzcoalco, where he found three fathoms water on the bar at low tide in the shallowest part, and still deeper within, where there was a place very proper for a naval establishment. The caciques and natives treated him with much hospitality, and offered themselves as vassals to our emperor, but complained loudly against the exactions of Montezuma and his officers, and pointed out a place where they had lately slain many of the Mexican troops, which they had named _Cuilonemequi,_ or the Place of Slaughter of the Mexicans, on whom they bestowed the most opprobrious epithets. He represented the soil of the country as well fitted for tillage and the rearing of cattle, and the port as well situated for trade with Cuba, Hispaniola, and Jamaica; but as inconvenient, from its distance from Mexico, and unhealthy owing to the morasses in its vicinity. Pizarro returned from Tustepeque or Tzapotecapan, with gold in grains to the value of a thousand crowns. He reported, that in going into the mountains inhabited by the Chinantlans, they flew to arms and would not permit the Mexicans to enter into their country, threatening to put them all to death; but admitted him and his Spaniards with great attention. He brought several of the chiefs of that country along with him to Mexico, who wished to shake off the Mexican yoke, and to become subjects to our emperor.

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