By his command, the caciques were seized, each in his
own city, and brought in chains to Mexico, where Cortes placed them in
strict confinement with their leader.
He had now triumphed over all his enemies. He had set his foot
on the necks of princes; and the great chief of the Aztec empire was
but a convenient tool in his hands for accomplishing his purposes. His
first use of this power was to ascertain the actual resources of the
monarchy. He sent several parties of Spaniards, guided by the natives,
to explore the regions where gold was obtained. It was gleaned
mostly from the beds of rivers, several hundred miles from the
capital.
His next object was to learn if there existed any good natural
harbour for shipping on the Atlantic coast, as the road of Vera Cruz
left no protection against the tempests that at certain seasons
swept over these seas. Montezuma showed him a chart on which the
shores of the Mexican Gulf were laid down with tolerable accuracy.
Cortes, after carefully inspecting it, sent a commission, consisting
of ten Spaniards, several of them pilots, and some Aztecs, who
descended to Vera Cruz, and made a careful survey of the coast for
nearly sixty leagues south of that settlement, as far as the great
river Coatzacualco, which seemed to offer the best, indeed the only,
accommodations for a safe and suitable harbour. A spot was selected as
the site of a fortified post, and the general sent a detachment of a
hundred and fifty men, under Velasquez de Leon, to plant a colony
there.
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