NO. I HONDURAS — STRONG, KIDDER, AND PAUL 21 



It is of interest that before starting, Cortez obtained maps from 

 the Indians of the Vera Cruz region showing the entire area between 

 that point and Panama. It is apparent that he was travehng along 

 well-known aboriginal trade routes throughout most of his journey, 

 and he mentions that nearly all the towns he stopped in were full 

 of traders. The details of his Yucatan traverse do not particularly 

 concern us here until he arrived at Nito near the Gulf of Dulce. Here 

 he found the diseased, starving remnants of Gonzales' colony. Mak- 

 ing an expedition up the Gulf of Dulce, Cortez captured a well- 

 provisioned pueblo and obtained supplies for continuing his journey. 

 From Nito, Cortez proceeded by sea to the vicinity of Puerto Caballos, 

 where he established a settlement. He sent Sandoval overland to 

 Naco. After crossing the Motagua River and visiting several pueblos, 

 Sandoval's force arrived at Naco. The town had been recently de- 

 serted by its native inhabitants but contained abundant provisions and 

 even salt ; and here the Spaniards settled themselves, in the words of 

 Bernal Diaz, " as though we were going to stay there forever." In a 

 later section on the excavations at Naco, we will give more details 

 regarding native conditions in the vicinity of Naco at the time of 

 Sandoval's visit. 



Regarding the probable linguistic affiliations of the natives of Naco 

 and the adjacent pueblos, it is significant that Lehmann lists three 

 pueblos mentioned by Bernal Diaz " in the neighborhood of Naco " 

 as having Nahuatl names." 



Similarly, Cortez states : 



When I first arrived at this pueblo (San Andres), I heard from the Spaniards 

 who had come from Naco that the natives of that pueblo and of the neighboring 

 pueblos, were somewhat disturbed, and had left their houses for the hills and 

 forests, and that although some of them had been reasoned with they refused to 

 be pacified from fear of the treatment that they had received at the hands of 

 the followers of Gil Gonzalez and Cristobal de Olid. I wrote the Captain in 

 charge there and told him to do all that he could to capture some of the natives 

 by whatever means he could devise, and to send them to me so that I could 

 speak to them and reassure them. This he did, and he sent me certain natives 

 whom he had captured during an expedition which he had undertaken, and I 

 talked to them and gained their confidence, and let them talk with some of the 

 native Chiefs from Mexico, whom I had brought with me. These Chiefs told 

 them who I was, what I had done in their country, and what good treatment 

 they had received from me when once we were friends, and how they were 

 protected and governed in justice — they and their property, their wives and 

 children — and the punishment that those received who rebelled against the 

 service of your Majesty, and many other things v^rhich they told them. After this, 



" Lehmann, 1920, vol. 2, p. 1018. Also see Nahuatl distributions on linguistic 

 map. 



