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Santo Domingo, or Htfyaniola, Almeria, Cuba, and other places, being in all nine hun- 

 dred Foot, eight hundred Horfe, and feventecn Pieces of Ordnance^ he joyns him* 

 felf with the Auxiliary Forces of TlafcaUa, which were no lefs than a hundred thou- 

 fand Men, Arm'd with Bowes and Arrows : and with this Army marches again 

 ♦towards Mexico, and Befieges it both by Land and Water, vi^. with the help of 

 thirteen Briganttnes or Galliots, which he had built upon the Lake, and fix thoufand 

 Canoos, or little Boats, which his Friends and Confederates had procur'd him. By 

 which means, and by his Army on Land, in a fhort time he cut off all Provifion 

 from the City,and after a Siege of full three Months or more, and a mod flout and 

 obftinatc refiftaoce made by the People within, in which they are fa id to have loft 

 above a hundred thoufand Men, befide thofe which perifli'd by Famine , Sicknefs, 

 A&xicot&cn or otherwife, he took it by Storm upon Tuefday the thirteenth of Auvnft 1*21. Sackt 



bv the fys»f« . r e\ i l i • 1 ^ i r t. <S J f 



**i*. it hrit, and then burnt it to the Ground ; yet afterwards he caus'd it to be Rc-builc 



again, far more Beautiful than at firft it was . as in due place we mall further fee. 

 They fpeak not of above fifty Spaniards fiain during the whole Siege, fix Horfes 

 and not many Tlafcaltecans. , 



In this manner , and with fo little Charges to the Conqueror , there fell to the 

 Crown of Spain the richeft and goodlieft Kingdom (one of them) of the whole 

 World, Vi% the Kingdom of Mexico, which the Conquerors prefently nam'd Nev 

 Spain, and in reference to which name, the Catholic ktsjnghzth ever fince ftil'd him- 

 felf in the plural number Hijpaniartwi^x, or fyngofboth Spains. } and all by the Va- 

 ^ lo^Prudencejadmirable Refolution,and happy Conduct of Corte^ who was at firft 



rpdtoH* but a private Adventurer in the American Plantations and Difcoveries, though other* 

 Wife a Gentleman of a good Family in Spain, born at Medellin in the Country of 

 EJlramedura. The Emperor Charles the Fifth, who was alfo then King of Spain, for 

 his great Services, endow'd him defervedly with many great and rich Territories 

 in the Provinces of Tlafcalla, Mechoacan, and other parts thereabouts, made him 

 Marquefs of the Valley, vi%. of Guaxata, (which is his chief Title) a rich and flou- 

 rifliing Province of that Countrey, Captain General, or Commander in Chief, of 

 all the Military Forces of NeV-Spain, and General Difcovei er of all the Maritime 

 parts and Coafts of America towards the South-Sea, afligning him in propriety the 

 twelfth part of whatfoever fliould bedifcover'd,to him and his Heirs for ever, hue 

 deny'd him the Government of Mexico out of reafon of State, though 'tis faid', he 

 much defir'd it. 



Among the famous Havens which lie along the South Sea, and Northern Ocean 



The rand l ^ C C ^ 1C ^ is ^capulco beforc-mention'd, whither all Merchandize is fen t to be 



*% mAt *' tranfported to (hina, which is above two thoufand Leagues diftant from thence • in 

 which Voyage they generally fpend fourteen Months- four Sail, each of eight hun- 

 dred Tun,appointed for this Tradc^generally two of them fzt Sail to China in March, 

 and returning in Summer, have no fooner drop'd their Anchors, but the other two 

 fet out from Acapulco , from whence the way by Land to Mexico , is feventy two 

 Leagues over fteep Mountains, dangerous Rocks , and feveral Rivers 5 the chiefeft 

 whereof are, firft, Del Papagayo, or De las <Balfa4, which runs exceeding ftrong,which 

 the Indians crofs on bundles of Canes ty'd upon Qallabajhes : Next San Francifco, 

 which though the biggeft, yet hach many fliailow places to wade over. The Mi<- 

 ftichoes are no fmall Plagues to thofe that travel this way, for their Poyfonous Stings 

 arc the occafions of many Ulcerated Wounds, and oft-times Death it felf. 



In this way lies alio the Countrey del Valle , from which Ferdinand Cortefm re- 

 ceiv'd the Title of Earl. 



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