CHAPTER I

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VOYAGE OF HERNANDEZ DE CÓRDOBA TO YUCATAN. 1516-1517.

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A Glance at the State of European Discovery and Government in America at the Opening of this Volume—Diego Velazquez in Cuba—Character of the Man—A Band of Adventurers Arrives from Darien—The Governor Counsels them to Embark in Slave-catching—Under Hernandez de Córdoba they Sail Westward and Discover Yucatan—And are Filled with Astonishment at the Large Towns and Stone Towers they See there—They Fight the Natives at Cape Catoche—Skirt the Peninsula to Champoton—Sanguinary Battle—Return to Cuba—Death of Córdoba 1

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