The Hakluyt Society publishes the Fifth Letter of Herz= Cortes
to, the Emperor Charles V. Translated by Don Pascual de Gayangoa. This is an interesting and valuable document, which has never before appeared in an English form. It gives an account of an expedition to Honduras which Cortes made from Mexico in 1324, an adventure which, when the smallness of his force, the distance traversed, and the obstacles. overcome are considered, is worthy of ranking with his other exploits. There is not much new light on the conqueror's character ; but all that we read confirms the lootion that he was by far the best of the Spanish adventurers. He had not tho scruples of an "Aborigines' Protection Society," but, on the whole, he hated cruelty, and, granted the premiss that the world belonged to Spain, strove to be a just man.
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