in 1512 Valdivia and twenty of his men were thrown upon the Maya shore, where, being seized by the natives, several of them were offered in sacrifice, and their roasted limbs devoured by the natives.[1] Mention has also been made of Córdoba's disastrous expedition in 1517, when, landing at Catoche, and afterward near the mouth of the river Champoton, he was defeated with heavy loss and glad to escape to Cuka, where a few days after his arrival he died of his wounds.[2] More fortunate was Grijalva, who, disembarking in the following year on the island of Cozumel, was astonished to find there a town with paved streets and structures of stone, but passing thence to the mainland, failed to establish any permanent settlement.
It will be remembered that on his way to Mexico Cortés also touched at Cozumel, and skirting the coast of the peninsula, landed at the Rio de Tabasco, where he gave battle to the assembled warriors.[3]
Among those who accompanied the expeditions of Grijalva and Cortés was Francisco de Montejo. whom Bernal Diaz describes[4] as of medium stature and pleasing aspect, lavish of expense, fond of pleasure, and fitted rather for a business life than for that of a soldier. Soon after the conquest Montejo set out for Spain as the envoy of Cortés, and under a capitulacion with the emperor, dated November 17, 1526, was appointed governor and captain-general of Yucatan and Cozumel, with a salary of two hundred and fifty thousand maravedís a year.
By the terms of this agreement he was required to
- ↑ Hist. Cent. Am., i. 350, this series.
- ↑ 6 Hist. Mex., i. 8-11, this series. For the origin of the name Yucatan see Id.
- ↑ 7 Id., i. 78 et seq. During his expedition to Honduras in 1525, Cortés, while at Trujillo, despatched a vessel to Mexico, with instructions to call at Cozumel and take on board a party of Spaniards left there by Valenzuela. Hist. Cent. Am., i. 571-2, this series. It was the intention of the Spaniards to establish at this island a calling-place for vessels en route between Mexico and Honduras.
- ↑ 8Hist. Verdad., 245,
