With their aid he succeeded in seizing the Mexican king, who was forced to yield a huge tribute.

After many struggles Cortes found himself master of the capital, and of all the resources of the Mexican Empire (1521).

These he hastened to place at the feet of the Emperor Charles V., who appointed him Governor and Captain-General of Mexico.
It is characteristic throughout the history of the New World, that none of the soldiers of fortune who found it such an easy prey ever thought of setting up an empire for himself.

This is a testimony to the influence national feeling had upon the minds even of the most lawless, and the result was that Europe and European ideas were brought over into America, or rather the New World became tributary to Europe.
As soon as Cortes had established himself he fitted out expeditions to explore the country, and himself reached Honduras after a remarkable journey for over 1000 miles, in which he was only guided by a map on cotton cloth, on which the Cacique of Tabasco had painted all the towns, rivers, and mountains of the country as far as Nicaragua.

He also despatched a small fleet under Alvarro de Saavedra to support a Spanish expedition which had been sent to the Moluccas under Sebastian del Cano, and which arrived at Tidor in 1527, to the astonishment of Spanish and Portuguese alike when they heard he had started from New Castile.