promptly took possession of these islands, and her navigators pushed on westward to find the mainland. They soon encountered land, but the land they encountered,
as it developed, was not India. It did prove to be of considerable extent, and was inhabitated by people who had developed a primitive civilization, had an organized
form of government with established courts and administrative
offices, and had
a ruler they called “Montezuma.” In brief, these Span-
ish navigators, on their way to India, had stumbled upon
Mexico and her ancient Aztec civilization. This appeared to be quite a find, and the Spanish author-
ities concluded to appropriate it en route. To this end, Diego Velazquez, Spanish governor of Cuba, sent Hernando Cortes, a_ brilliant and dashing young Spaniard, with some six or seven hundred trained soldiers, to take possession of this newly and accidentally discovered country. Velazquez, for some reason, sought to recall Cortes, but the order found Cortes already at sea, and with adventure beckoning, and with loyal soldiers
at his command, he concluded to ignore the order of recall. With his little army, he landed on the Mexican coast
