Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/59

Rh go!d, that Cortés was induced to reserve for himself quite a large tract, while a number of conquerors sought minor encomiendas, and took up their residence in Antequera, a town founded not long after, close to Oajaca.

To Oajaca, as part of the Zapotec possessions, belonged the coast city of Tehuantepec, for a period the seat of its kings, and at this time the capital of a branch kingdom, recently bestowed upon Cociyopu, the son of the valiant Cociyoeza and the Aztec princess Pelaxilla. Singular omens attended his birth, wherein soothsayers could see naught but disaster. On the coming of the Spaniards, these omens were connected with the ancient prophecies of conquest by a white race, and when the fall of Mexico brought confirmation of the wide-spread fear, Cociyopu besought the oracles for guidance, and was directed to