Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 2.djvu/181

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Fourth Letter
161

the sea, to which the name of Espiritu Santo was given, and the alguacil mayor stopped there for some days until many f the neighbouring provinces were pacified and brought to the service of Your Catholic Majesty. Some of these were: Tabasco, which is on the River Victoria, or Grijalba as it is commonly called, and that of Chimaclan, and Quechula, and Quizaltepeque, and others which being insignificant I do not name. And we apportioned the natives to the householders of the said town to serve them; and they actually do serve them, although some, 1 mean those of Chimaclan, Tabasco, and Quizaltepeque, have again rebelled. About a month since, I sent a captain with some people from this city to subdue them to the service of Your Majesty, and to punish their rebellion; I have had no news of them but I believe, Our Lord willing, they will succeed, as they took a good supply of artillery, ammunition, crossbowmen, and horsemen.

In the account, most Catholic Sire, which the said Juan de Ribera took with him, I also made it known to Your Cæsarian and Catholic Majesty that the ruler of the great province near Mechuacan, whose name is Casulci,[1] had offered himself and his people as subjects and vassals of Your Cæsarian Majesty and had sent certain presents by his messengers, which presents I sent with the Procurators who went from this New Spain to Your Highness. As the province and dominion of the said Lord Casulci, according to the information which certain Spaniards whom I sent there gave me, was large, and, from all indications, very rich, and since it is so near to this great city, after I had received reinforcements, I sent thither a captain with seventy cavalry and two hundred foot soldiers, well armed and provided with artillery, to explore that province and its secrets, with

  1. Catzolcin, King of Michoacan and ruler of Xalisco; he was afterwards burned alive with many of his nobles by Nuño de Guzman, who first robbed him of ten thousand marks of silver, a quantity of gold, and six thousand men for his army.