Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 2.djvu/217

 de Olid will meet each other if they are not separated by the strait.

I would have undertaken many of these expeditions and discovered many of the secrets of this country had I not been hindered by the armadas which have  Expedition against the Zapotecas and Mixtecas arrived here. I assure Your Sacred Majesty that your service has been much injured, not only because countries have not been discovered, but because much great wealth in gold and pearls has not been procured for Your Royal Treasury. Hereafter, however, if others do not come, I shall strive to recover what has been lost, because nothing which depends upon my efforts shall be left undone; for I certify to Your Cæsarian and Sacred Majesty that, besides having spent all that I possessed, I owe money, which I have taken from the funds of Your Majesty for my expenses, amounting, as Your Majesty may see from my accounts, to sixty thousand pesos of gold, besides another twelve thousand which I borrowed from various persons for my household expenses.

I said in the foregoing chapter that some of the natives of neighbouring provinces who were near about, and who served the inhabitants of the town of Espiritu Santo, had revolted and killed certain Spaniards, and that, both for the purpose of reducing them to the royal service of Your Majesty, as well as for winning over others of their neighbours, as the people of the town are not strong enough to hold what has been won and conquered, I sent a captain with thirty horsemen and one hundred foot soldiers, some of them crossbowmen and musketeers, together with two field pieces and provisions and ammunition and powder. He left on the 8th of December, 1523. I have thus far had no news of them, but expect to obtain good results from this expedition for the service of God, our Lord, and Your Majesty, and hope that they will discover many secrets in that country, which is a