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Aguilar's rule a number of expeditions had been sent out to open new districts, and to assure the subjugation of others. One force of nearly three hundred men prepared to disclose the mysteries of the region to the north, between Michoacan and the gulf soon to be famed for its mineral wealth. This project, intended as the precursor to an entry to the Rio de las Palmas region, was carried out only m part, owing to changes m the plans of Cortés, but others were developed, involving the occupation of Tabasco and Chiapas, and the continuation of the campaign against the Zapotecs and Mijes, connected with the late Coatlan revolt. In order to render this campaign more effective, two expeditions were sent to operate on the south and north sides respectively. The southern consisting of somewhat over one hundred men, with a

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