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 334 over to acknowledge Cortez. Ignorant of this turn of affairs, and suspecting that his fleet had come to grief, Cortez, as time passed on and no news arrived of the colony, determined to set out himself upon a march to Honduras. It was characteristic of the man, not to be satisfied so long

as a portion of his territory—even though a small and distant one—remained unsubjected to his will.

While he was preparing for this long journey—for it was to be by land, and through untraversed forests—there arrived in Mexico some officers of the king, sent out to inquire into his conduct of affairs, and to assume charge of the government if such a measure should be necessary. In