verance, fitted out another expedition of two ships. This
adventure was as disastrous as the other. The two captains quarreled,
and took occasion of a storm to separate, and did not again join
company. The southern extremity of the great peninsula of California
was, however, discovered by one of the ships. Here, at a point which
they called Santa Cruz, a large part of the ship's company were
massacred by the savages. The storm-battered ships eventually
returned, having accomplished nothing.

Cortez, still undismayed, prepared for another attempt. He now,
however, resolved to take command of the ships himself. His celebrity
induced adventurers from all quarters to seek to join the expedition.
Three ships were launched upon the bay of Tehuantepec. Many men
crowded on board, with their families, to colonize the new lands which
should be discovered. More than twice as many adventurers as the ships
could carry thronged the port, eager to embark in the enterprise. In
the month of May, 1537, the squadron set sail upon the calm surface
of the Pacific, the decks being crowded with four hundred Spaniards
and three hundred slaves. About an equal number were left behind, to
be sent for as soon as the first party should be landed at the port of
their destination.

Sailing in a northwesterly direction, favorable winds drove them
rapidly across the vast Gulf of California until they arrived at Santa
Cruz, on the southern extremity of that majestic peninsula. A landing
was immediately effected, and the ships were sent back to Mexico to
bring the remaining colonists. Cortez did not take his wife with him,
but she was left in their princely mansion on the southern slope of
the Cordilleras. But disasters seemed to accumulate whenever Cortez
was not personally present. The ships were delayed by head winds and
by storms. The colonists at Santa Cruz, in consequence of this delay,
nearly perished of famine. Twenty-three died of privation and hunger.
At length, in the midst of general murmurings and despair, one of the
ships returned. It brought, however, but little relief, as the ships
which were loaded with provisions for the supply of the colonists were
still missing.

The discontent in the starving colony became so loud, that Cortez
himself took fifty soldiers and embarked in search of the missing
ships. With great care he cruised along the Mexican shore, and at last
found one stranded on the coast of Jalisco, and the other partially
w