The Spanish occupied the colony of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz for nearly five months. Towards the end of their stay, another Spanish ship arrived on the coast and was welcomed by Cortes and his men. At this time, Cortes composed a letter to the Spanish king chronicling the events of his expedition, and explaining his desire to continue onto Tenochtitlan. This letter, along with the treasures taken from the people of Mexico, was sent back to Spain on the newly arrived ship. A short time later Cortes unearthed a plot by some of his men to steal a boat and sail back to Cuba, collect reinforcements, and intercept the fortune-laden vessel before it reached Spain. The perpetrators were tried and punished, and Cortes decided to destroy the remaining boats as a deterrent to further scheming among his men, and to psychologically unite the various factions into one army. In mid-August, 1519, Cortes and his men set out on their march to the Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan.