in these islands, by which, in a few years, they were amply stocked.  The natives cleared the woods between Truxillo and the sea in two days, and built fifteen houses for the colonists, one of which for Cortes, was sufficiently commodious.  Cortes became feared and renowned over all the districts, as far as Olancho, where rich mines have been since discovered; the natives giving him the name of Captain Hue-hue de Marina, or the old captain of Donna Marina.  He reduced the whole country to submission, excepting two or three districts in the mountains, against which he sent a party of soldiers under Captain Saavedra, who brought most of them under subjection, one tribe only named the Acaltecans holding out.

As a great many of the people along with Cortes became sick through the unhealthiness of the climate, he sent them by a vessel to Hispaniola or Cuba for the recovery of their healths.  By this opportunity, he sent letters to the royal audience of St Domingo and the reverend brothers of the order of St Jerome, giving an account of all the events that had recently happened, and in particular of his having left the government of Mexico in the hands of deputies, while he proceded to reduce de Oli who had rebelled.  He apprised them of his future intentions, and requested a reinforcement of soldiers, to enable him to reduce the country where he now was to subjection; and that they might attach the greater credit to his report of its value, he sent a valuable present of gold, taken in reality from his own side-board, but which he endeavoured to make them believe was the produce of this new settlement.  He entrusted the management of this business to a relation of his own, named Avalos, whom he directed to take up in his way twenty-five soldiers who, he was informed, had been left in the island of Cozumel to kidnap Indians to be sent for slaves to the West Indian islands.  This vessel was wrecked about seventy leagues from the Havanna, on which occasion Avalos and many of the passengers perished.  Those who escaped, among whom was the licentiate Pedro Lopez, brought the first intelligence to the islands of the existence of Cortes and his army; as it had been universally believed in Cuba and Hispaniola that we had all perished.  As soon as it was known where Cortes was, two old ships were sent over to Truxillo with horses and colts, and one pipe of wine; all the rest of their cargoes consisting of shirts, caps, and useless trumpery of various kinds.  Some of the Indian inhabitants of the Guanajas islands, which are about eight leagues from Truxillo, came at this time to Cortes, complaining that the Spaniards had been accustomed to carry away the natives and their macegualos or slaves, and that a vessel was now there which was supposed to have come for that purpose.  Cortes immediately sent over one of his vessels to the islands; but the ship against which the natives complained made sail immediately on seeing her, and escaped.  It was afterwards known, that this vessel was commanded by the bachelor Moreno, who had been sent on business by the royal audience of St Domingo to Nombre de Dios.