29 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
name of Spain. ‘The crown appointed the greedy and 
black-hearted Pedrarias Davila governor of Darien and 
in 1517 he succeeded in having Balboa beheaded on a 
flimsy charge. Colonization and exploration went for- 
ward rapidly. In 1519 the old city of Panama, now in 
ruins, was founded. ‘The rich region around the Nica- 
raguan lakes was discovered by Gil Gonzales Davila and 
the city of Granada was founded in 1524. The explora- 
tion from the southern base came in contact with 
that from the north in Salvador shortly after this 
event. 
Let us now direct our attention to the conquest of 
Mexico. Perhaps the Portuguese were the first to sight 
the mainland of Yucatan in 1493. There is little to 
prove this except one or two charts or maps made in the 
first decade of the sixteenth century 
that show the peninsula in its prop- 
er location. In 1511 or 1512 a ship 
from Darien was wrecked and some 
of the sailors were cast upon the 
coast of Yucatan. Most were killed 
and sacrificed but two survived. 
One of these survivors was Geron- Fig. 5. Spanish 
imo de Aguilar, who later was Ship in ‘the ‘Aubin 
rescued by Cortez and became his eis 
guide and interpreter. 
The first accredited voyage of discovery to Mexico 
was one under the command of Francisco Hernandez de 
Cordoba, which sailed from Cuba in February, 1517. He 
coasted the northern and eastern shores of Yucatan. 
When he attempted to obtain water he was worsted in a 
serious battle with the Maya Indians. His expedition 
finally returned to Cuba in a sad plight. The next year 
Juan de Grijalva set out to continue the exploration of 
the new land with the stone built cities. He landed at 
