TRAVELS IN THE C 4 L I.F 0 RN I A S. 
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large ladies. But in 1528 his fame falls into the hands of 
Spaniards who treat it with the same respect as they already 
have that of Columbus ; that is, begin to dig its grave. 
To avoid the vexations which the Viceroy of Mexico, and 
a few other envious men, are throwing around him to cripple 
his efforts, he sails to Spain and presents himself to his King. 
He is received at court with marked kindness, is made Mar¬ 
quis del Valle de Guaxaca, Captain General of New Spain 
and the provinces and coasts of the South Sea, discoverer 
and peopler of those coasts and of the island of pearls, gold 
and Amazons, with a grant of the twelfth part, for himself and 
heirs, of all the territory that he shall discover and conquer. 
These powers, privileges and honors fire anew the volcanic 
spirit of this five feet seven inch slender student of Salaman¬ 
ca. In 1530, therefore, after having agreed with his sove¬ 
reign to prosecute his discoveries in the South Seas at his 
own expense, he returns to Mexico; and finding the Audien- 
cia, the Council of Government, still inimical to him, deter¬ 
mines at once to undertake the manifold duties of his office. 
Accordingly in May, 1532, he appoints Diego Hortado 
Mendoza, a relative of his, commander of two ships which he 
has built at Acapulco, and sends him on a cruise into the 
Pacific. The crew of one of these vessels mutinies and 
brings her back to Xalisco. The other, under the personal 
command of Mendoza, is never heard of after she leaves 
port. Misfortune never weakens Cortez’ resolution. On 
advice of his kinsman’s loss and the ill fate of his expedition, 
he proceeds to Tehuantepec, and superintends the building 
of two other ships. These sail in 1534 for the fabled island 
of Amazons, under command of Hernando Grijalva and a 
cousin of Cortez, Diego Becera Mendoza. Grijalva pro¬ 
ceeds three hundred leagues to a desert island which he calls 
San Tomas, and returns. Ximenes, the pilot of the other, kills 
the commander, and having assumed the command, sails up 
the Gulf-coast of California as far as the bay of Santa Cruz. 
Here himself and twenty of his crew are destroyed by 
