Yet Garay Visited This Place Next Year, As He Had Seen Some
Indications Of Gold And Silver, And Even Applied To The Emperor To Be
Appointed Governor Of The Coast He Had Discovered.
In February 1519[32],
Fernando Cortez sailed from Cuba for the country now called New Spain,
with eleven ships and 550 Spaniards.
He landed first in the island of
Cozumel, where he immediately destroyed all the idols, and planted
crosses and images of the Virgin on all the altars. From thence he went
to the Cabo de las Duennas, on the peninsula of Yucatan, and thence to
the river of Tabasco, where he attacked a city called Potoncion. This
place was surrounded with wood; the houses were built of stone and lime,
and roofed with tiles, and the people resisted the assailants manfully;
but St James appeared on horseback to the assistance of the Spaniards,
and they took the place. This, as the first town subdued by them on the
continent, they named Vittoria. From thence they went to a place named St
Juan de Vilhua, said to be 60 or 70 leagues from Mexico, where one
Tendilli was governor for King Mutecuma. Though the Spaniards and he
could not understand each other, yet Tendilli gave them good
entertainment. Cortes had twenty women along with his expedition, one of
whom, named Marine, was born in the country of the Indians, and was the
first native of New Spain who received baptism. She and Anguilar served
as interpreters between Cortes and the natives.
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