Our agents sailed from Vera Cruz on the 20th December 1522, and no particular occurrence happened on the voyage to the Terceras or Acores, except that one of the tigers broke loose and wounded some of the sailors, who were likewise obliged to kill the other on account of its ferocity.  At the island of Tercera, Captain Quinones lost his life in a duel, occasioned by a quarrel about a lady, by which means our business was left in the hands of Alonzo de Avila.  In continuing his voyage to Europe, he was taken by a French privateer, commanded by one Jean Florin, who took another ship from Hispaniola with a valuable cargo of sugar and hides, and 20,000 crowns in gold, and many pearls; so that with this and our treasure he returned very rich to France, where he made magnificent presents to the king and admiral of France, astonishing every body at the magnificence of the presents which we had transmitted for our emperor.  The king of France observed on this occasion, that the wealth which we supplied from New Spain was alone sufficient to enable our sovereign to wage war against him, although Peru was not then discovered.  It was also reported that the king of France sent a message to our emperor, saying, That as he and the king of Portugal had divided the world between them, he desired to see the will of our father Adam, to know if he had made them exclusively his heirs.  In his next expedition, Florin was made prisoner by a strong squadron belonging to Biscay, and was hanged in the island of Teneriffe.

Avila was made a close prisoner in France, but by gaining the friendship of the officer to whose custody he had been confided, he was enabled to correspond with his friends in Spain, to whom he transmitted all the documents with which he had been entrusted, which were all laid before the emperor Don Carlos by Martin Cortes, our generals father, and Diego de Ordas, by means of the licentiate Nunez, relator of the royal council, who was cousin to Cortes.  The emperor was pleased, on due consideration of these documents, to order that all favour should be shewn to our general, and that the proceedings respecting the government of New Spain should be suspended until his majesty returned into Spain.

We were much disappointed on receiving intelligence of the loss of our treasure, and the detention of our agent in France; yet Cortes honourably reserved the district of Guatitlan for Avila, notwithstanding his captivity, and gave it three years afterwards to a brother of Alonzo de Avila, who was then promoted to be contador of Yucutan.

[1] The province here named Panuco, is situated on the coast of the gulf
    of Mexico, at the mouth of a considerable river which drains the
    superfluous waters of the Mexican vale, named at first Rio del Desague,
    then Rio de Tula, and Rio Tampico at its mouth, in about lat. 22 deg. 15’
    N. The Modern town of Panuco is about 200 miles almost due north from
    Mexico.—­E.