Conquistadores. His majesty likewise ordered that a royal court of
audience should be appointed at Mexico, as a supreme court of justice.

The departure of the comendador-mayor, however, was so long deferred,
that at last it was given up altogether; for it met with great
opposition at court, and the comendador was either not supplied with so
large a sum of money as he had asked for, or perhaps the duke of Bejar
had again espoused Cortes' cause, as on former occasions.

But to return to the treasurer Estrada. He grew excessively vain and
proud when he found himself so highly favoured by his majesty as to be
appointed sole governor of New Spain; and he had been assured that the
emperor knew he was a son of his catholic majesty king Ferdinand. The
first thing he did therefore was to despatch his cousin Diego de
Mazariegos as captain to Chiapa, to institute an inquiry into the
conduct of Don Juan Enriquez de Guzman, to whom Marcos de Aguilar had
intrusted the chief command in that province, but who plundered and
oppressed the inhabitants in the most shameful manner. In the same way
he began to make preparations to subject the townships of the Zapotecs
and of the Minxes, and to make success more sure they were to be
attacked from two different points at the same time. The troops which
were to operate on the north side he gave in command to a certain
Barrios, who had previously been captain in Italy. He was a man of great
courage, had but recently arrived from Spain, and must not be confounded
with Cortes' cousin Barrios, of Seville. The number of his troops, on
this expedition, amounted to above one hundred men, including several
musketeers and crossbow-men. But this expedition terminated very
unfortunately, for scarcely had he arrived in the Tiltepec townships,
when one night he was suddenly attacked by the natives, and Barrios
himself killed, with seven of his men. The greater part of the remaining
troops were wounded, and the whole of them would undoubtedly have been
cut to pieces if they had not made a precipitate retreat to Villa-Diego
and the neighbouring friendly districts.

This, I think, is a sufficient proof of the difference between the
veteran Conquistadores and the troops newly arrived from Spain, who have
not the slightest notion of a war with Indians or of their artifices;
and thus miserably did this expedition terminate.

The second body of troops were to fall into the Zapotec territory from
the side of