Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/361

 

has been related how Cortés, lured by ever present rumors of gold and pearls, had sent forth expeditions which skirted the southern sea from rich Tututepec to distant Jalisco, and then retired to Colima and Tzintzuntzan to form nuclei for proposed colonies, and starting-points for more effective invasions, In Michoacan the exploitation of mines proved a means to attract and maintain settlers chiefly of a reckless class, whose conduct was not calculated to create admiration. The native king, indeed, had cause for bitter complaints, and after the overthrow of Salazar, in 1526, he came to Mexico for redress, there to observe for himself the beneficial influence of friars, particularly in restraining the colonists in excesses against natives. Of a timid nature, Tangaxoan thought it politic not only to accept baptism, with the

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