can,[1] how we had destroyed and desolated it, and, considering the strength and grandeur of the said city, it seemed to the lord of that province that, inasmuch as it could not defend itself, there was nothing which could resist us. So, from fear or whatever cause he chose, he sent certain messengers, who, through the interpreters of his language, told me on his part, that their lord had learned that we were vassals of a great ruler, and that, with my approval, he and his people desired to become vassals and have friendship with us. I answered that it was true that we were all of us the vassals of that great ruler, who was Your Majesty, and that we would make war upon those who refused likewise to be so, and that their lord and they had done very well. As I had received news some short time since of the South Sea, I also inquired of them whether it could be reached through their country; and as they answered me affirmatively, I prayed them to take with them two Spaniards, whom I would give them, so that I might inform Your Majesty about that sea and their province. They replied that they were glad to do so with much good will, but that, to reach the sea, they would have to pass through the country of a great lord, with whom they were at war, and for this reason they could not now reach the sea. The messengers from Mechuacan remained here with me three or four days, and I made the horsemen skirmish for them, in order that they might describe it, and, having given them certain jewels, they and the two Spaniards set out for the said province of Mechuacan.
As I said in the foregoing chapter, Most Powerful Lord,
- ↑ Michoacan was an independent kingdom, peopled by a different race from the Mexicans, and speaking a different language, though it shared to some degree the manners, customs, and civilisation of Anahuac: the chief city was Pazuaro on the lake of the same name. There was an almost permanent state of hostilities between the Tarasque (tribal name of the natives of Michoacan) and Aztec nations.
