22 



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 Gonzalez 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 proper 

 location. In 1511 or 1512 a ship 

 from Darien was wrecked and some 

 of the sailors were cast upon the 

 coast of Yucatan. Most of them were 

 killed and sacrificed but two survived. 

 One of these survivors was Geronimo 

 de Aguilar, who later was rescued by 

 Cortez and became his 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 



Fig. 5. Spanish 

 Ship in the Aubin 

 Codex. 



