The Spanish occupation of mainland America proceeded
from an already established base in the West Indies, where
Columbus had planted the first European colony in America.
Grijalva, sent out to explore by the governor of Cuba, gathered
gold on the coast of Mexico and heard of the rich Aztec civiliza-
tion in the interior. Thereupon Hernando Cortés, with some
five hundred men, thirty muskets, a few toy cannons, and sixteen
horses, set forth in 1519 from Cuba, a rebel against the island
governor, to conquer this land of rumored gold. He arrived on
the Vera Cruz coast with sixteen horses and a colt. Here,
Grijalva's report was confirmed by the lavish present sent to
the bold invader by Montezuma, the frightened ruler at the
Aztec capital situated on a lake on the high plateau 250 miles
inland.

This astonishing gift was emphatic evidence of the great
wealth of Mexico. The present included a gold necklace set
with emeralds and hung with pearls, a huge golden disk, as
large as a wagon wheel, representing the sun, and another of
silver to simulate the moon. There were gold and silver orna-
ments and toys, feather headdresses decorated with gems, pearl-
pointed tridents, amazing feather-work, garments of finely woven
cotton, and what were called "books" written in hieroglyphics.
The bare list of items comprised in the gift occupies several
pages of modern print. It was one of the decisive documents
in world history, for it caused a "gold rush" embracing two-
thirds of the hemisphere, and brought about revolutionary
changes in America, Europe, and Asia.

Montezuma had sent these lavish offerings to induce the
unwelcome visitor to depart, but they merely whetted his

-1-