The expedition sent by Cortes to the north-western coast of Mexico was commanded by his kinsman, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. It sailed from Tehuantepec in July, 1532, and consisted of two vessels; one commanded by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza in person, and the other by Juan de Mazuela. Mendoza proceeded slowly along the shore of the continent as far as the 27° of latitude, where, his crew being mutinous, he sent back one of his vessels with the greater part of his men, and continued the voyage with the remaining vessel. Vague reports were afterwards received that Mendoza's vessel was thrown ashore somewhere to the northward, and that all on board had perished. The vessel which was sent back, was stranded near the mouth of the River Vanderas, and after the murder of the greater part of the crew, she was plundered by Nuno de Guzman, Governor of Xalisco. About the middle of the next year, Cortes received the news of the return of the vessel which Mendoza had sent back, and he immediately despatched two ships under the command of Hernando Grijalva and Diego Becerra, in search of the other. These ships sailed on the 30th of September, 1533, but were soon separated. Grijalva discovered the islands of St. Thomas, as he called them--a group of islands about fifty leagues from the coast. He remained there till the following spring, and then returned home. Becerra proceeded north-westward; but his crew mutinied, and he was murdered by Fortuno Ximenes. The mutineers, under Ximenes, then steered directly west from the main land, and soon reached a coast not known to them before. They landed, and soon after Ximenes and nineteen men were killed by the natives. The rest of the men carried the vessel over to Xalisco, where she was seized by Nuno de Guzman. Soon after these unlucky expeditions, Nuno de Guzman sent out several exploring parties in a northerly direction, one of which traced the western shore as far as the mouth of the Colorado, and brought back accounts of a rich and populous country and splendid cities in the interior. When Cortes became acquainted with the seizure of his vessels, a dispute arose between him and Nuno de Guzman, which almost led to a battle between their forces. But no action occurred, and Cortes, having heard of the newly discovered country, which was said to abound in the finest pearls, embarked at Chiametla, with a portion of his men, and set sail for the new land of promise. On the 3d of May, 1535, the day of the Invention of the Holy Cross, according to the Roman Catholic Calendar, Cortes arrived in the bay where Ximenes and his fellow-mutineers had met their fate in the previous year. In honor of the day, the place was called Santa Cruz, and possession of it was taken in the name of the Spanish sovereign.