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It was then determined in a council of the officers to return to the island of Cuba, though Grijalva earnestly wished to have established a colony in some eligible situation of the coast which we had explored. But in this proposal he was opposed by the majority, on account of the lateness of the season, the scarcity of provisions, and the hardships we had already undergone.
What the cacique had given to Grijalva was computed to be worth 3000 pieces of eight; among which was a wooden helmet covered with thin plates of gold, and three or four masks, some of which were studded with a sort of stones resembling emeralds. The sight of all these things made the Spaniards eager to settle in a country which produced so much wealth.
Grijalva now returned with a full account of the important discoveries he had made, and with all the treasure he had acquired by trafficking with the natives.
Grijalva, beleaving that this woman would be a faithful messenger, sent her to persuade the natives to come out of the woods, being afraid if he sent Julian and Melchior that they might not return. The woman came back in two days, saying that she had done all she could to prevail on the natives, but altogether without effect.
Jago, where he lived prosperously for some years, and even amassed a considerable sum of money. But at last news came of an exploring expedition which had set out in 1518 under Grijalva, the nephew of Velasquez.
In 1528 the year he visited Spain to meet his accusers we find him dispatching Maldonado northward along the Pacific coast for three hundred miles; and five years later Grijalva and Jimenez were claiming for Spain the southern portion of Lower California.
Cortes, not yet resolved on submitting to the authority of Mendoça, fitted out two ships, under the command of Ferdinando de Grijalva and one Alvarado, on purpose to discover the route to the Moluccas by the way of the equinoctial line, because the islands of Cloves are under that parallel.
Velasquez, on seeing the gold which Cordova brought back, sent out a small fleet under his nephew, Juan de Grijalva, to visit and explore this new land. Grijalva found evidence that a great civilized nation dwelt inland, rich in gold and far superior in civilization to any Indians whom the Spaniards had yet met.
All this combined to increase the thirst for riches among the Spaniards of Cuba, and to urge them on like modern Argonauts to the conquest of this new golden fleece. Grijalva was not destined to reap the fruits of his perilous and at the same time intelligent voyage, which threw so new a light on Indian civilization.
The year that witnessed the return from the Spice Islands of the survivors of Saavedra's expedition, 1536, witnessed also the sailing of another fleet sent out from New Spain by Fernand Cortez to discover in the same waters. It consisted of two ships commanded by Grijalva and Alvarado.
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