 Book 7, Chapter 2 of The History of the Conquest of Mexico. The History of the Conquest of Mexico, by William H. Prescott. Book 7, Chapter 2. Modern Mexico, Settlement of the Country, Condition of the Natives, Christian Missionaries, Cultivation of the Soil, Voyages and Expeditions. In less than four years from the destruction of Mexico, a new city had risen on its ruins, which if inferior to the ancient capital in extent, surpassed it in magnificence and strength. It occupied so exactly the same site as its predecessor that the Plaza Mayor, or Great Square, was the same spot which had been covered by the huge Teocali and the Palace of Montezuma, while the principal streets took their departure as before from this central point, and passing through the whole length of the city, terminated at the principal causeways. Great alteration, however, took place in the fashion of the architecture. The streets were widened, many of the canals were filled up, and the edifices were constructed on a plan better accommodated to European tastes, and the wants of a European population. On the site of the Temple of the Aztec War-God rose the stately cathedral dedicated to St. Francis, and, as if to complete the triumphs of the cross, the foundations were laid with the broken images of the Aztec gods. In a corner of the square, on the ground once covered by the House of Birds, stood a Franciscan convent, a magnificent pile erected a few years after the conquest by a lay brother, Pedro de Gante, a natural son, it is said, of Charles V. In an opposite quarter of the same square Cortes caused his own palace to be constructed. It was built of hewn stone, and seven thousand cedar beams are said to have been used for the interior. The government afterwards appropriated it to the residence of the Viceroy's, and the conqueror's descendants, the dukes of Monteleone, were allowed to erect a new mansion in another part of the plaza. On the spot which, by an ominous coincidence, had been covered by the palace of Montezuma. The general's next care was to provide a population for the capital. He invited the Spaniards, dither, by grants of lands and houses, while the Indians, with politic liberality, were permitted to live under their own chiefs as before, and to enjoy various immunities. With this encouragement the Spanish quarter of the city in the neighbourhood of the great square could boast in a few years two thousand families, while the Indian district of Clutelolco included no less than thirty thousand. The various trades and occupations were resumed. The canals were again covered with barges. Two vast markets in the respective quarters of the capital displayed all the different products and manufactures of the surrounding country, and the city swarmed with a busy industrious population, in which the white man and the Indian, the conqueror and the conquered, mingled together promiscuously in peaceful and picturesque confusion. Not twenty years had elapsed since the conquest, when a missionary who visited it had the confidence or the credulity to assert that Europe could not boast a single city so fair and opulent as Mexico. This stimulated the settlement of several colonies by liberal grants of land and municipal privileges. The great difficulty was to induce women to reside in the country, and without them he felt that the colonies, like a tree without roots, must soon perish. By a singular provision he required every settler, if a married man, to bring over his wife within eighteen months on pain of forfeiting his estate. If he were too poor to do this himself the government would assist him. Another law imposed the same penalty on all bachelors who did not provide themselves with wives within the same period. The general seems to have considered celibacy as too great a luxury for a young country. His own wife, Donia Catalina Juarez, was among those who came over from the islands to New Spain. According to Bernal Diaz her coming gave him no particular satisfaction. It is possible, since his marriage with her seems to have been entered into with reluctance, and her lowly condition and connections stood somewhat in the way of his future advancement. Yet they lived happily together for several years according to the testimony of Las Casas, and whatever he may have felt he had the generosity or the prudence not to betray his feelings to the world. On landing Donia Catalina was escorted by San Doval to the capital, where she was kindly received by her husband, and all the respect paid to her to which she was entitled by her elevated rank. But the climate of the table-land was not suited to her constitution, and she died in three months after her arrival. An event so auspicious to his worldly prospects did not fail, as we shall see hereafter, to provoke the tongue of scandal to the most malicious, but it is scarcely necessary to say unfounded inferences. In the distribution of the soil among the conquerors Cortes adopted the vicious system of repartimientos universally practised among his countrymen. In a letter to the emperor he states that the superior capacity of the Indians in New Spain had made him regarded as a grievous thing to condemn them to servitude as had been done in the islands. But on further trial he had found the Spaniards so much harassed and impoverished that they could not hope to maintain themselves in the land without enforcing the services of the natives, and for this reason he had at length waved his own scruples in compliance with their repeated remonstrances. This was the wretched pretext used on the like occasions by his countrymen to cover up this flagrant act of injustice. The crown however in its instructions to the general disavowed the act and annulled the repartimientos. It was all in vain. The necessities or rather the cupidity of the colonists easily evaded the royal ordinances. The colonial legislation of Spain shows in the repetition of enactments against slavery the perpetual struggle that subsisted between the crown and the colonists and the impotence of the former to enforce measures repugnant to the interests at all events to the avarice of the latter. The Clascarlands in gratitude for their signal services were exempted at the recommendation of Cortes from the doom of slavery. It should be added that the general in granting the repartimientos made many humane regulations for limiting the power of the master and for securing as many privileges to the native as were compatible with any degree of compulsory service. These limitations, it is true, were too often disregarded, and in the mining districts in particular the situation of the poor Indian was often deplorable. Yet the Indian population clustering together in their own villages and living under their own magistrates have continued to prove by their numbers, fallen as these have below their primitive amount. How far superior was their condition to that in most other parts of the vast colonial empire of Spain? Whatever disregard he may have shown to the political rights of the natives, Cortes manifested a commendable solicitude for their spiritual welfare. He requested the emperor to send out holy men to the country, not bishops and pampered prelates, who too often squandered the substance of the church in riotous living. But godly persons, members of religious fraternities, whose lives might be a fitting commentary on their teaching. Thus only, he adds, and the remark is worthy of note, can they exercise any influence over the natives, who have been accustomed to see the least departure from morals in their own priesthood, punished with the utmost rigor of the law. In obedience to these suggestions, twelve Franciscan friars embarked for New Spain, which they reached early in 1524. They were men of unblemished purity of life, nourished with the learning of the cloister, and like many others whom the Romish church has sent forth on such apostolic missions, counted all personal sacrifices as little in the cause to which they were devoted. The conquerors settled in such parts of the country as best suited their inclinations. Many occupied the southeastern slopes of the Cordilleras, towards the rich valley of Oaxaca. Many more spread themselves over the broad surface of the table-land, which, from its elevated position, reminded them of the plateau of their own castles. Here too they were in the range of those inexhaustible mines, which have since poured their silver deluge over Europe. The mineral resources of the land were not indeed fully explored or comprehended till at a much later period, but some few, as the mines of Zacatecas, Guanashuato and Tascó, the last of which was also known in Montezuma's time, had begun to be wrought within a generation after the conquest. But the best wealth of the first settlers was in the vegetable products of the soil, whether indigenous or introduced from abroad by the wise economy of Cortes. He had earnestly recommended the crown to require all vessels coming to the country to bring over a certain quantity of seeds and plants. He made it a condition of the grants of land on the plateau that the proprietor of every estate should plant a specified number of vines in it. He further stipulated that no one should get a clear title to his estate until he had occupied it eight years. He knew that permanent residents could alone create that interest in the soil which would lead to its efficient culture, and that the opposite system had caused the impoverishment of the best plantations in the islands. While thus occupied with the internal economy of the country, Cortes was still bent on his great schemes of discovery and conquest. In the preceding chapter we have seen him fitting out a little fleet at Zacatula to explore the shores of the Pacific. It was burnt in the dockyard when nearly completed. This was a serious calamity as most of the materials were to be transported across the country from Villa Rica. Cortes, however, with his usual promptness, took measures to repair the loss. He writes to the Emperor that another squadron will soon be got ready at the same port. A principal object of this squadron was the discovery of a strait which should connect the Atlantic with the Pacific. Another squadron consisting of five vessels was fitted out in the Gulf of Mexico to take the direction of Florida with the same view of detecting a strait. For Cortes trusted we at this day may smile at the illusion that one might be found in that direction which should conduct the navigator to those waters which had been traversed by the keels of Magellan. The discovery of a strait was the great object to which nautical enterprise in that day was directed, as it had been ever since the time of Columbus. It was in the sixteenth century what the discovery of the Northwest Passage has been in our own age, the great Ignis Fatouas of navigators. The vast extent of the American continent had been ascertained by the voyages of Cabal in the north and of Magellan very recently in the south. The proximity in certain quarters of the two great oceans that washed its eastern and western shores had been settled by the discoveries both of Balboa and of Cortes. European scholars could not believe that nature had worked on a plan so repugnant to the interests of humanity as to interpose, through the whole length of the great continent, such a barrier to communication between the adjacent waters. It's partly with the same view that the general caused a considerable armament to be equipped and placed under the command of Cristóval de Olid, the brave officer who, as the reader will remember, had charge of one of the great divisions of the besieging army. He was to steer for Honduras and plant a colony on its northern coast. A detachment of Olid's squadron was afterwards to cruise along its southern shore towards Darion in search of the mysterious strait. The country was reported to be full of gold, so full that the fishermen used gold weights for their nets. The life of the Spanish discoverers was one long daydream. Illusion after illusion chased one another like the bubbles which the child throws off from his pipe, as bright, as beautiful, and as empty. They lived in a world of enchantment. Together with these maritime expeditions, Cortés fitted out a powerful expedition by land. It was entrusted to Alvarado, who, with a large force of Spaniards and Indians, was to descend the southern slant of the Cordilleras and penetrate into the countries that lay beyond the rich valley of Oaxaca. The campaigns of this bold and rapacious chief terminated in the important conquest of Guatemala. In the prosecution of his great enterprises, Cortés, within three short years after the conquest, had reduced under the dominion of Castile an extent of country more than 400 leagues in length, as he affirms, on the Atlantic coast, and more than 500 on the Pacific. And, with the exception of a few interior provinces of no great importance, had brought them to a condition of entire tranquility. In accomplishing this, he had freely expanded the revenues of the crown, drawn from tributes similar to those which had been anciently paid by the natives to their own sovereigns, and he had, moreover, incurred a large debt on his own account, for which he demanded remunerations from government. The celebrity of his name and the dazzling reports of the conquered countries drew crowds of adventurers to New Spain, who furnished the general with recruits for his various enterprises. Who would form a just estimate of this remarkable man, must not confine himself to the history of the conquest. His military career, indeed, places him on a level with the greatest captains of his age. But the period subsequent to the conquest affords different, and in some respects nobler, points of view for the study of his character, for we then see him devising a system of government for the mockly and antagonist races, so to speak, now first brought under a common dominion, repairing the mischiefs of war, and employing his efforts to detect the latent resources of the country, and to stimulate it to its highest power of production. The narration may seem tame after the recital of exploits as bold and adventurous as those of a paladin of romance, but it is only by the perusal of this narrative that we can form an adequate conception of the acute and comprehensive genius of Cortes. For further information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org History of the Conquest of Mexico by William H. Prescott Book 7, Chapter 3 In the last chapter, we have seen that Cristóval de Olíd was sent by Cortes to plant a colony in Honduras. The expedition was attended with consequences which had not been foreseen. Made giddy by the possession of power, Olíd, when he had reached his place of destination, determined to assert an independent jurisdiction for himself. His distance from Mexico, he flattered himself, might enable him to do so with impunity. He misunderstood the character of Cortes when he supposed that any distance would be great enough to shield a rebel from his vengeance. It was long before the general received tidings of Olíd's defection, but no sooner was he satisfied of this that he dispatched to Honduras a trusty captain and kinsman, Francisco de las Casas, with directions to arrest his disobedient officer. Las Casas was wrecked on the coast and fell into Olíd's hands, but eventually succeeded in raising an insurrection in the settlement, seized the person of Olíd and beheaded that unhappy delinquent in the marketplace of Naco. Of these proceedings Cortes learnt only what related to the shipwreck of his lieutenant. He saw all the mischievous consequences that must arise from Olíd's example, especially if his defection were to go unpunished. He determined to take the affair into his own hands and to lead an expedition in person to Honduras. He would thus moreover be enabled to ascertain from personal inspection the resources of the country which were reputed great on the score of mineral wealth and would perhaps detect the point of communication between the great oceans which had so long eluded the efforts of the Spanish discoverers. He was still further urged to this step by the uncomfortable position in which he had found himself of late in the capital. Several functionaries had recently been sent from the mother country for the ostensible purpose of administering the colonial revenues, but they served as spies on the general's conduct, caused him many petty annoyances, and sent back to court the most malicious reports of his purposes and proceedings. Cortés, in short, now that he was made Governor General of the country, had less real power than when he held no legal commission at all. The Spanish force which he took with him did not probably exceed a hundred horse and forty or perhaps fifty foot, to which were added about three thousand Indian auxiliaries. Among them were Guatimothin and the Casique of Tacuba, with a few others of high strength, whose consideration with their countrymen would make them an obvious nucleus round which disaffection might gather. The general's personal retinue consisted of several pages, young men of good family, and among them Montejo, the future conqueror of Yucatán. A buckler and steward, several musicians, dancers, jugglers and buffoons, showing it might seem more of the effeminacy of the Oriental satrap than the hardy valour of a Spanish cavalier. Yet the imputation of effeminacy is sufficiently disproved by the terrible march which he accomplished. On the 12th of October, 1524, Cortés commenced his march. As he descended the sides of the Cordilleras, he was met by many of his old companions in arms, who greeted their commander with a hearty welcome, and some of them left their estates to join the expedition. He halted in the province of Coatzalcoalco until he could receive intelligence respecting his route from the natives of Tabasco. They furnished him with a map exhibiting the principal places wither the Indian traders who wandered over these wild regions were in the habit of resorting. With the aid of this map, a compass and such guides as from time to time he could pick up on his journey. He proposed to traverse that broad and level tract which forms the base of Yucatan and spreads from the Coatzalcoalco river to the head of the Gulf of Honduras. I shall give you a majesty. He begins his celebrated letter to the emperor describing this expedition an account as usual of the most remarkable events of my journey, which might form the subject of a separate narration. Cortes did not exaggerate. The beginning of the march lay across a low and marshy level intersected by numerous little streams which form the headwaters of the Rio de Tabasco and of the other rivers that discharged themselves to the north into the Mexican Gulf. The smaller streams they forwarded or passed in canoes suffering their horses to swim across as they held them by the bridle. Rivers of more formidable size they crossed on floating bridges. It gives one some idea of the difficulties they had to encounter in this way when it is stated that the Spaniards were obliged to construct no less than 50 of these bridges in a distance of less than 100 miles. One of them was more than 900 paces in length. Their troubles were much augmented by the difficulty of obtaining subsistence as the natives frequently set far to the villages on their approach leaving to the way-worn adventurers only a pile of smoking ruins. The first considerable place which they reached was Iztapan pleasantly situated in the midst of a fruitful region on the banks of the tributaries of the Rio de Tabasco. Such was the extremity to which the Spaniards had already in the course of a few weeks been reduced by hunger and fatigue that the sight of a village in these dreary solitudes was welcomed by his followers, César Cortés with a shout of joy that was echoed back from all the surrounding woods. The army was now at no great distance from the ancient city of Palenque the subject of so much speculation in our time. The village of Las Tres Cruces indeed situated between 20 and 30 miles from Palenque is said still to commemorate the passage of the conquerors by the existence of three crosses which they left there. Yet no illusion is made to the ancient capital. Was it then the abode of a populous and flourishing community such as once occupied it to judge from the extent and magnificence of its remains? Or was it, even then, a heap of mouldering ruins buried in a wilderness of vegetation and thus hidden from the knowledge of the surrounding country? If the former the silence of Cortés is not easy to be explained. On quitting Iztapan the Spaniards struck across a country having the same character of a low and marshy soil checkered by occasional patches of cultivation and covered with forests of cedar and brazilwood which seemed absolutely interminable. The overhanging foliage threw so deep a shade that, as Cortés says the soldiers could not see where to set their feet. To add to their perplexity their guides deserted them and when they climbed to the summits of the tallest trees they could see only the same cheerless interminable line of waving woods. The compass and the map furnished the only clue of their strength and Cortés and his officers among whom was the Constance Sandoval spreading out their chart on the ground anxiously studied the probable direction of their route. Their scanty supplies meanwhile had entirely failed them and they appeased the cravings of appetite by such routes as they dug out of the earth or by nuts and berries that grew wild in the woods. They sank by the way and died of absolute starvation. When at length the troops emerged from these dismal forests their path was crossed by a river of great depth and far wider than any which they had hitherto traversed. The soldiers disheartened broke out into murmurs against their leader who was plunging them deeper and deeper in a boundless wilderness where they must lay their bones. In vain that Cortés encouraged them to construct a floating bridge which might take them to the opposite bank of the river. It seemed a work of appalling magnitude to which their wasted strength was unequal. He was more successful in his appeal to the Indian auxiliaries till his own men put to shame by the ready obedience of the latter engaged in the work with a hearty goodwill which enabled them although ready to drop from fatigue to accomplish it at the end of four days. It was indeed the only expedient by which they could hope to extricate themselves from their perilous situation. The bridge consisted of one thousand pieces of timber each the thickness of a man's body and full sixty feet long. When we consider that the timber was all standing in the forest at the commencement of the labour it must be admitted to have been an achievement worthy of the Spaniards. The arrival of the army on the opposite bank of the river involved them in new difficulties. The ground was so soft and saturated with water that the horses floundered up to their girths and sometimes plunging into quagmires were nearly buried in the mud. It was with the greatest difficulty that they could be extricated by covering the wet soil with the foliage and the boughs of trees when a stream of water which forced its way through the heart of the morass furnished the jaded animals with the means of effecting their escape by swimming. As the Spaniards emerged from these slimy depths they came on a broad and rising ground which by its cultivated fields teeming with maize aggy or pepper of the country and the yucca plant intimated their approach to the capital of the fruitful province of Aculan. It was the beginning of Lent 1525 a period memorable for an event of which I shall give the particulars from the narrative of Cortes. The general at this place was informed by one of the Indian converts in his train that a conspiracy had been set on foot by Guatemothin with the casique of Tacuba and some other of the principal Indian nobles to massacre the Spaniards. They would seize the moment when the army should be entangled in the passage of some defile or some frightful morass like that from which it had just escaped where, taken at disadvantage it could be easily overpowered by the superior number of the Mexicans. After the slaughter of the troops the Indians would continue their march to Honduras and cut off the Spanish settlements there. Their success would lead to a rising capital and throughout the land until every Spaniard should be exterminated and vessels in the port be seized and secured from carrying the tidings across the waters. No sooner had Cortes learnt the particulars of this formidable plot than he arrested Guatemothin and the principal Aztec lords in his train. The latter admitted the fact of the conspiracy but alleged that it had been planned by Guatemothin that they had refused to come into it. Guatemothin and the chief of Tacuba neither admitted nor denied the truth of the accusation but maintained a dogged silence. Such is the statement of Cortes. Bernal Dia, however who was present at the expedition assures us that both Guatemothin and the casique of Tacuba avowed their innocence. They had indeed they said talked more than once together of the sufferings they were then enduring and had said that death was preferable to seeing so many of their poor followers dying daily around them. They admitted also that a project for rising on the Spaniards had been discussed by some of the Aztecs but Guatemothin had discouraged it from the first and no scheme of the kind could have been put into execution without his knowledge and consent. These protestations did not avail the unfortunate princes and Cortes having satisfied or affected to satisfy himself of their guilt ordered them to immediate execution. When brought to the fatal tree Guatemothin displayed in trepid spirit worthy of his better days. I knew what it was, said he to trust to your false promises Malinche. I knew that you had destined me to this fate since I did not fall by my own and when you entered my city of Tenochtitlan. Why do you slay me so unjustly? God will demand it of you. The Kaseike of Takuba protesting his innocence declared that he desired no better lot than to die by the side of his lord. The unfortunate princes with one or more inferior nobles, for the number is uncertain, were then executed by being hung from the huge branches of a seiba tree which overshadowed the road. In reviewing the circumstances of Guatemothin's death one cannot attach much weight to the charge of conspiracy brought against him. That the Indians brooding over their wrongs and present sufferings should have sometimes talked of revenge would not be surprising. But that any chimerical scheme of an insurrection like that above mentioned should have been set on foot by Guatemothin is altogether improbable. That princes explanation of the affair as given by Dia is to say the least quite as deserving of credit as the accusation of the Indian informer. The defect of testimony and the distance of time make it difficult for us at the present day to decide the question. We have a sure a criterion of the truth in the opinion of those who were witnesses of the transaction. It is given in the words of the old chronicler so often quoted. The execution of Guatemothin says Dia was most unjust and was thought wrong by all of us. The most probable explanation of the affair seems to be that Guatemothin was a troublesome and indeed formidable captive. Thus much is intimated by Cortes himself in his letter to the emperor. The Spaniards during the first years after the conquest lived in constant apprehension of a rising of the Aztecs. This is evident from numerous passages in the writings of the time. It was under the same apprehension that Cortes consented to embarrass himself with his royal captive on this dreary expedition. The forlorn condition of the Spaniards on the present march which exposed them to any sudden assault from their wily Indian vassals increased the suspicions of Cortes. Thus predisposed to think ill of Guatemothin the general lent a ready ear to the first accusation against him. Charges were converted into proofs and condemnation followed close upon the charges. By a single blow he proposed to rid himself and the state forever of a dangerous enemy. Had he but consulted his own honor and his good name Guatemothin's head should have been the last on which he should have suffered an injury to fall. It was not long after the sad scene of Guatemothin's execution that the wearied troops entered the head town of the great province of Aculan a thriving community of traders who carried on a profitable traffic with the furthest quarters of Central America. He notices in general terms the excellence and beauty of the buildings and the hospitable reception which he experienced from the inhabitants. After renewing their strength in these comfortable quarters the Spaniards left the capital of Aculan, the name of which is to be found on no map and held on their toilsome way in the direction of what is now called the Lake of Petén. It was then the property of an Aculan's the Hardy Maya family and their capital stood on an island in the lake. With its houses and lofty tail-carnes glistening in the sun says Bernal Diath so that it might be seen for the distance of two leagues. These edifices, built by one of the races of Yucatán displayed doubtless the same peculiarities of construction as the remains still to be seen in that remarkable town. But whatever may have been their architectural merits they are disposed of in a brief sentence by the conquerors. The inhabitants of the island showed a friendly spirit and a docility unlike the warlike temper of their countrymen of Yucatán. They willingly listened to the Spanish missionaries who accompanied the expedition as they expounded the Christian doctrine present throughout this long march the last in which she remained at the side of Cortés. As this too is the last occasion on which she will appear in these pages I will mention before parting with her an interesting circumstance that occurred when the army was traversing the province of Coatzacoalcof. This it may be remembered was the native country of Marina where her infamous mother sold her when a child to some foreign invaders in order to secure her inheritance to a younger brother. Cortés halted for some days at this place to hold a conference with the surrounding Caciques on matters of government and religion. Among those summoned to this meeting was Marina's mother who came attended by her son. No sooner did they make their appearance than all were struck with the great resemblance of the Cacique to her daughter. She recognized each other though they had not met since their separation. The mother, greatly terrified fancied that she had been decoyed into a snare in order to punish her in human conduct. But Marina instantly ran up to her and endeavoured to allay her fears assuring her that she should receive no harm and addressing the bystanders said that she was sure her mother knew not what she did to the traders and that she forgave her. Then tenderly embracing her unnatural parent she gave her such jewels and other little ornaments as she wore about her own person to win back as it would seem her lost affection. Marina added that she felt much happier than before now that she had been instructed in the Christian faith and given up the bloody worship of the Aztecs. In the course of the expedition to Honduras Cortés gave Marina away to a Castilian night Don Juan Jamarillo to whom she was wedded as his lawful wife. She had estates assigned to her in her native province where she probably passed the remainder of her days. From this time the name of Marina disappears from the page of history but it has been always held in grateful remembrance by the Spaniards for the important aid which she gave them in effecting the conquest and by the natives for the kindness and sympathy which she showed them in their misfortunes. By the conqueror Marina left Juan San Don Martin Cortés. He rose to high consideration and was made a commendador of the order of Saint Iago. He was subsequently suspected of treasonable designs against the government and neither his parents extraordinary services nor his own desserts could protect him from a cruel persecution and in 1568 the son of Hernando Cortés was shamefully subjected to the torture in the very capital which his father had acquired for the Castilian crown. At length the shattered train drew near the Gulf of Dulce at the head of the bay of Honduras. They must have been far from the sight of Copán the celebrated city whose architectural ruins have furnished such noble illustrations for the pencil of Catherwood but the Spaniards passed on in silence nor indeed can we wonder that at this stage of the enterprise they should have passed on without heeding the vicinity of a city in the wilderness though it were as glorious as the capital of Zenobia for they were arrived almost within view of the Spanish settlements the object of their long and wearisome pilgrimage. The place which they were now approaching was Naco or San Gil de Buena Vista a Spanish settlement on the Gulf of Dulce. Cortés advanced cautiously prepared to fall on the town by surprise he had held on his way with the undeviating step of the North American Indian who traversing Maras and mountain and the most intricate forests guided by the instinct of revenge presses straight towards the mark and when he has reached it springs at once on his unsuspecting victim. Before Cortés made his assault his scouts fortunately fell in with some of the inhabitants of the place from whom they received tidings of the death of our lead and of the re-establishment of his own authority. Cortés therefore entered the place like a friend and was cordially welcomed by his countrymen. Greatly astonished, says Diath by the presence among them of the general so renowned throughout these countries. The colony was at this time sorely suffering from famine and to such extremity was it soon reduced that the troops would probably have found a grave in the very spot to which they had looked forward as the goal of their labours for the seasonable arrival of a vessel with supplies from Cuba. After he had restored the strength and spirits of his men the indefatigable commander prepared for a new expedition the object of which was to explore and to reduce the extensive province of Nicaragua. One may well feel astonished at the adventurous spirit of the man who, unsubdued by the terrible sufferings of his recent march should so soon be prepared for another enterprise equally appalling. It is difficult in this age of sober sense to conceive the character of a Castilian cavalier of the 16th century a true counterpart of which it would not have been easy to find in any other nation even at that time or anywhere save in those tales of chivalry which however wild and extravagant they may seem were much more true to character than to situation. The mere excitement of exploring the strange and unknown was a sufficient compensation to the Spanish adventurer for all his toils and trials yet Cortés though filled with this spirit proposed nobler ends to himself than those of the mere vulgar adventurer. In the expedition to Nicaragua he designed, as he had done not endure us to ascertain the resources of the country in general and above all the existence of any means of communication between the great oceans on its borders. If none such existed it would at least establish this fact the knowledge of which to borrow his own language was scarcely less important. The general proposed to himself the further object of enlarging the colonial empire would be his steel. The conquest of Mexico was but the commencement of a series of conquests. To the warrior who had achieved this nothing seemed impracticable and scarcely would anything have been so had he been properly sustained. But from these dreams of ambition Cortés was suddenly aroused by such tidings as convinced him that his absence from Mexico was already too far prolonged but he must return without delay if he would save the capital or the country. And of Book 7 Chapter 3 Book 7, Chapter 4 of the History of the Conquest of Mexico This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For further information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org History of the Conquest of Mexico by William H. Prescott Book 7, Chapter 4 Disturbances in Mexico Return of Cortés Distrust of the court His return to Spain Death of Sandoval Brilliant reception of Cortés Honours conferred on him. The intelligence alluded to in the preceding chapter was conveyed in a letter to Cortés from the licenciate Tuathor, one of the functionaries to whom the general had committed the administration of the country during his absence. It contained full particulars of the tumultuous proceedings in the capital. No sooner had Cortés quitted it than dissensions broke out among the different members of the provisional government. The misrule increased as his absence was prolonged. At length tidings were received that Cortés, with his whole army had perished in the morasses of Chiapa. The members of the government showed no reluctance to credit this story. They now openly paraded their own authority, proclaimed the general's death, caused funeral ceremonies to be performed in his honour, took possession of his property wherever they could meet with it, partially devoting a small part of the proceeds to purchasing masses for his soul, while the remainder was appropriated to pay off what was called his debt to the state. They seized in like manner the property of other individuals engaged in the expedition. From these outrages they proceeded to others against the Spanish residents in the city, until the Franciscan missionaries left the capital in disgust, while the Indian population were so sorely oppressed that great apprehensions were entertained of a general uprising. Though I thought who communicated these tidings implored Cortés to quicken his return. He was a temperate man and the opposition which he had made to the tyrannical measures of his comrades had been rewarded with exile. The general, greatly alarmed by this account, saw that no alternative was left but to abandon all further schemes of conquest and to return at once if he would secure the preservation of the Empire which he had won. He accordingly made the necessary arrangements for settling the administration of the colonies at Honduras and embarked with a small number of followers for Mexico. He had not long been at sea when he encountered such a terrible tempest as seriously damaged his vessel and compelled him to return to port and refit. A second attempt proved equally unsuccessful and Cortés feeling that his good star had repented him, saw in this repeated disaster an intimation from heaven that he was not to return. He contented himself therefore with sending a trusty messenger to advise his friends of his personal safety in Honduras. He then instituted processions and public prayers to ascertain the will of heaven and to deprecate its anger. His health now showed the effect of his recent sufferings and declined under a wasting fever. His spirit sank with it and he fell into a state of gloomy despondency. Bernal Diaz, speaking of him at this time says that nothing could be more worn and emaciated than his person and that so strongly was he possessed with the idea of his approaching end that he procured a Franciscan habit for it was common to be laid out in the habit of some one or other of the monastic orders in which to be carried to the grave. From this deplorable apathy Cortés was roused by fresh advices urging his presence in Mexico and by the judicious efforts of his good friend Sandoval who had lately returned himself from an excursion into the interior. By his persuasion the general again consented to try his fortunes on the seas. He embarked on board of a brigantine with a few followers and bade a due to the disastrous shores of Honduras on April 25th, 1526. He had nearly made the coast of New Spain when a heavy gale threw him off his course and drove him to the island of Cuba. After staying there some time to recruit his exhausted strength he again put to sea on the 16th of May and in eight days landed near San Juan de Auloa whence he proceeded about five leagues on foot to Medellín. Cortés was so much changed by disease that his person was not easily recognized but no sooner was it known that the general had returned than crowds of people white men and natives thronged from all the neighbouring country to welcome him. The tidings spread on the wings of the wind and his progress was a triumphal procession. At all the great towns where he halted he was sumptuously entertained. Triumphal arches were thrown across the road and the streets were strewed with flowers as he passed. After a night's repose at Tethcúcor he made his entrance in great state into the capital. The municipality came out to welcome him and a brilliant cavalcade of armed citizens formed his escort while the lake was covered with barges of the Indians all fancifully decorated with their gale addresses as on the day of his first arrival among them. The streets echoed to music and dancing and sounds of jubilee as the procession held on its way to the great convent of St. Francis where thanksgivings were offered up for the safe return of the general who then proceeded to take up his quarters once more in his own princely residence. It was in June 1526 when Cortes re-entered Mexico nearly two years had elapsed since he had left it on his difficult march to Honduras a march which led to no important results but which consumed nearly as much time and was attended with sufferings as severe as the conquest of Mexico itself. Cortes did not abuse his present advantage. He indeed instituted proceedings against his enemies but he followed them up so languidly as to incur the imputation of weakness the only instance in which he has been so accused. He was not permitted long to enjoy the suites of triumph. In the month of July he received advices of the arrival of a Juez de Residencia on the coast sent by the court of Madrid to supersede him temporarily in the government. The crown of Castile as its colonial empire extended became less and less capable of watching over its administration. It was therefore obliged to place vast powers in the hands of its viceroys and as suspicion naturally accompanies weakness it was ever prompt to listen to accusations against these powerful vassals. In such cases the government adopted the expedient of sending out a commissioner or Juez de Residencia with authority to investigate the conduct of the accused to suspend him in the meanwhile from his office and after judicial examination to reinstate him in it or to remove him altogether according to the issue of the trial. The enemies of Cortes had been for a long time busy in undermining his influence at court and in infusing suspicions of his loyalty in the bosom of the emperor. Since his elevation to the government of the country they had redoubled their mischievous activity and they assailed his character with the foulest imputations. They charged him with appropriating to his own use the gold which belonged to the crown defeating the treasures of Montezuma. He was said to have made false reports of the provinces he had conquered that he might defraud the extekker of its lawful revenues. He had distributed the principal offices amongst his own creatures and had acquired an unbounded influence not only over the Spaniards but the natives who were all ready to do his bidding. He had expended large sums in fortifying both the capital and his own palace and it was given the magnitude of his schemes and his preparations that he designed to shake off his allegiance and to establish an independent sovereignty in New Spain. The government, greatly alarmed by these formidable charges the probability of which they could not estimate, appointed a commissioner with full powers to investigate the matter. The person selected for this delicate office was Luis Ponce de Leon a man of high family strong for such a post but of mature judgment and distinguished for his moderation and equity. The nomination of such a minister gave assurance that the crown meant to do justly by Cortes. The emperor wrote at the same time with his own hand to the general advising him of this step and assuring him that it was taken not from distrust of his integrity but to afford him the opportunity of placing that integrity right before the world. Ponce de Leon reached Mexico in July 1526. He was received with all respect by Cortes and the municipality of the capital and the two parties interchanged those courtesies with each other which gave augury that the future proceedings would be conducted in a spirit of harmony. Unfortunately this fair beginning was blasted by the death of the commissioner after his arrival a circumstance which did not fail to afford another item in the loathsome mass of accusation heaped upon Cortes. The commissioner fell the victim of a malignant fever which carried off a number of those who had come over in the vessel with him. On his deathbed Ponce de Leon delegated his authority to an infirm old man who survived but a few months and transmitted the reins of government to a person named Estrada or Strada, the royal treasurer one of the officers sent from Spain to take charge of the finances and who was personally hostile to Cortes. The Spanish residents would have persuaded Cortes to assert for himself at least an equal share of the authority to which they considered Estrada as having no sufficient title but the general with singular moderation declined a competition on this matter and determined to abide a more decided expression of his sovereign's will. To his mortification the nomination of Estrada was confirmed and this dignitary soon contrived to inflict on his rival all those annoyances by which a little mind in possession of unexpected power endeavours to make his superiority felt over a great one. The recommendations of Cortes were disregarded, his friends mortified and insulted his attendance outraged by injuries. One of the domestics of his friends Sandoval for some slight offence was sentenced to lose his hand and when the general remonstrated against these acts of violence he was peremptorily commanded to leave the city. The Spaniards, indignant at this outrage would have taken up arms in his defence but Cortes would allow no resistance and simply remarking that it was well that those who at the price of their blood had won the capital should not be allowed a footing in it withdrew to his favourite villa of Koh Ho Hoakan a few miles distant to wait there the result of these strange proceedings. The suspicions of the court of Madrid, meanwhile, fanned by the breath of Calumny had reached the most preposterous height. One might have supposed to recognize a revolt throughout the colonies and meditated nothing less than an invasion of the mother country. Intelligence having been received that a vessel might speedily be expected from New Spain orders were sent to the different ports of the kingdom and even to Portugal to sequestrate the cargo under the expectation that it contained remittances to the general's family which belonged to the crown while his letters forming the most luminous account of all his proceedings and discoveries were forbidden to be printed. Fortunately, three letters forming the most important part of the conqueror's correspondence had already been given to the world by the indefatigable press of Seville. The court, moreover, made aware of the incompetency of the treasurer Estrada to the present delicate conjuncture now entrusted the whole affair of the inquiry to a commission dignified with the title of the Royal Audience of New Spain. This body was clothed with full powers to examine into the charges against Cortes with instructions to send him back as a preliminary measure to Castile peacefully if they could but forcibly if necessary. Still afraid that its belligerent vassal might defy the authority of this tribunal the government resorted to Artifice to effect his return The President of the Indian Council was commanded to write to him urging his presence in Spain to vindicate himself from the charges of his enemies and offering his personal cooperation in his defence. The Emperor further wrote a letter to the audience containing his commands for Cortes to return as the government wished to consult him on matters relating to the Indies and to bestow on him a recompense suited to his high desserts. This letter was intended to be shown to Cortes but it was superfluous to put in motion all this complicated machinery to effect a measure on which Cortes was himself resolved. Proudly conscious of his own unswerving loyalty and of the benefits he had rendered to his country he felt deeply sensible to this unworthy requital of them especially on the very theatre of his achievements. He had come in to abide no longer where he was exposed to such indignities but to proceed at once to Spain present himself before his sovereign boldly assert his innocence and claim redress for his wrongs and adjust reward for his services. In the close of his letter to the Emperor detailing the painful expedition to Honduras after enlarging on the magnificent schemes he had entertained of discovery in the South Sea indicating himself from the charge of a too lavish expenditure he concludes with the lofty yet touching declaration that he trusts his Majesty will in time acknowledge his desserts but if that unhappily shall not be the world at least will be assured of his loyalty and he himself shall have the conviction of having done his duty and no better inheritance than this shall he ask for his children. No sooner was the intention of Cortés made known than it excited a general sensation through the country. Even Estrada relented he felt that he had gone too far and that it was not his policy to drive his noble enemy to take refuge in his own land. Negotiations were opened and an attempt at reconciliation was made through the Bishop of Clascala. Cortés received these overtures in a courteous spirit but his resolution was unshaken. Having made the necessary arrangements therefore in Mexico he left the valley and proceeded at once to the coast. Had he entertained the criminal ambition imputed to him by his enemies he might have been sorely tempted by the repeated offers of support which were made to him whether in good or in bad faith on the journey if he would but re-assume the government and assert his independence of Castile. On his arrival at Villarica he received the painful tidings of the death of his father, Don Martín Cortés whom he had hoped so soon to embrace after his long and eventful absence. Having celebrated his obsequies with every mark of filial respect he made preparations for his speedy departure. Two of the best vessels in the port were got ready and provided with everything requisite for a long voyage. He was attended by his friend the faithful Sandoval by Tapia and some other Cavaliers most attached to his person. He also took with him several Aztec and Tlaxcalan chiefs and among them a son of Montezuma and another of Machíska the friendly old Tlaxcalan lord both of whom were desirous to accompany the general to Castile. He carried home a large collection of plants and minerals as specimens of the natural resources of the country several wild animals and birds of gaudy plumage various fabrics of delicate workmanship especially the gorgeous feather work and a number of jugglers dancers and buffoons who greatly astonished the Europeans by the marvellous facility of their performances and were thought a suitable present for his holiness the Pope. Lastly Cortés displayed his magnificence in a rich treasure of jewels which were emeralds of extraordinary size and luster gold to the amount of two hundred thousand pesos de oro and fifteen hundred marks of silver. After a brief and prosperous voyage Cortés came in sight once more of his native shores and crossing the bar of Saltes entered the little port of Palos in May 1528 the same spot where Columbus had landed five and thirty years before on his return from the discovery of the western world. Cortés was not greeted with the enthusiasm and public rejoicings which welcomed the great navigator and indeed the inhabitants were not prepared for his arrival. From Palos he soon proceeded to the convent of La Ravida the same place also within the hospital walls of which Columbus had found a shelter an interesting circumstance is mentioned connected with his short stay at Palos. Francisco Pitharo the conqueror of Peru had arrived there having come to Spain to solicit aid for his great enterprise. He was then in the commencement of his brilliant career as Cortés might be said to be at the close of his. He was an old acquaintance and a kinsman as is affirmed of the general whose mother was a pitharo. The meeting of these two extraordinary men were the conquerors of the north and of the south in the new world as they set foot after their eventful absence on the shores of their native land and that too on the spot consecrated by the presence of Columbus as something in it striking to the imagination. While reposing from the fatigues of his voyage at La Ravida an event occurred which afflicted Cortés deeply and which threw a dark cloud over his return. Cortés was the death of Gonzalo de Sandoval his trusty friend and so long the companion of his fortunes. He was taken ill in a wretched inn at Palos soon after landing and his malady gained ground so rapidly that it was evident his constitution impaired probably by the extraordinary fatigues he had of late years undergone would be unable to resist it. Cortés was instantly sent for and arrived in time to administer the last consolations of friendship to the dying Cavalier. Sandoval met his approaching end with composure and having given the attention which the short interval allowed to the settlement of both his temporal and spiritual concerns he breathed his last in the arms of his commander. Before departing from La Ravida Cortés had written to the court informing it of his arrival in the country. Great was the sensation caused there by the intelligence, the greater that the late reports of his reasonable practices had made it wholly unexpected. His arrival produced an immediate change of feeling. All cause of jealousy was now removed and as the clouds which had so long settled over the royal mind were dispelled the Emperor seemed only anxious to show his sense of the distinguished services of his so dreaded vassal. Orders were sent to different places on the route to provide him with suitable accommodations and preparations were made to give him a brilliant reception in the capital. The tidings of his arrival had by this time spread far and wide throughout the country and as he resumed his journey the roads presented a spectacle such as had not been seen since the return of Columbus. Cortés did not usually effect an ostentation of dress though he loved to display the pomp of a great Lord in the number and magnificence of his retainers. His train was now swelled by the Indian chieftains who by the splendours of their barbaric finery gave additional brilliancy as well as novelty to the pageant. But his own person was the object of general curiosity. The houses and the streets of the great towns and villages were thronged with spectators to look on the hero who with his single arm as it were had won an empire for Castile and who, to borrow the language of an old historian, came in the pomp and glory not so much of a great vassal as of an independent monarch. As he approached Toledo then the rival of Madrid the press of the multitude increased till he was met by the Duke de Bechard the Count de Aguilar and his steady friends who at the head of a large body of the principal nobility and cavaliers of the city came out to receive him and attended him to the quarters prepared for his residence. It was a proud moment for Cortes and distrusting as he well might his reception by his countrymen it afforded him a greater satisfaction than the brilliant entrance which a few years previous he had made into the capital the following day he was admitted to an audience by the emperor and Cortes gracefully kneeling to kiss the hand of his sovereign presented to him a memorial which succinctly recounted his services and the requital he had received for them the emperor graciously raised him and put many questions to him respecting the countries he had conquered Charles was pleased with the general's answers and his intelligent mind took great satisfaction in inspecting the curious specimens of Indian ingenuity which his vassal had brought with him from New Spain in subsequent conversations the emperor repeatedly consulted Cortes on the best mode of administering the government of the colonies and by his advice introduced some important regulations especially for ameliorating the condition of the natives and for encouraging domestic industry the monarch took frequent opportunity to show the confidence which he now reposed in Cortes on all public occasions he appeared with him by his side and once when the general lay ill of a fever Charles paid him a visit in person and remained some time in the apartment of the invalid this was an extraordinary mark of condescension in the haughty court of Castile and it is dwelt upon with becoming recognized by the historians of the time who seemed to regard it as an ample compensation for all the sufferings and services of Cortes the latter had now fairly triumphed over opposition the courtiers with that ready instinct which belongs to the tribe imitated the example of their master and even Envy was silent amidst the general homage that was paid to the man who had so lately been a mark of calmness Cortes without a title without a name but what he had created for himself was at once as it were raised to a level with the proudest nobles in the land he was so still more effectually by the substantial honors which were accorded to him by his sovereign in the course of the following year by an instrument dated 6th of July 1529 the emperor raised him to the dignity of the Marquis of the valley of Oaxaca two other instruments dated in the same month of July assigned to Cortes a vast tract of land in the rich province of Oaxaca together with large estates in the city of Mexico and other places in the valley the princely domain thus granted comprehended more than 20 large towns and villages and 23,000 vassals the language in which the gift was made greatly enhanced its value the unequivocal testimony thus born by his sovereign to his unwavering loyalty was most gratifying to Cortes how gratifying every generous soul who has been the subject of suspicion undeserved will readily estimate yet there was one degree in the scale above which the royal gratitude would not rise neither the solicitations of Cortes nor those of the Duke de Bechard and his other powerful friends could prevail on the emperor to reinstate him in the government of Mexico the country reduced to tranquility had no longer need of his commanding genius to control it and Charles did not care to place again his formidable vassal in a situation which might revive the dormant spark of jealousy and distrust it was the policy of the Crown to employ one class of its subjects to effect its conquests and another class to rule over them for the latter it selected men in whom the fire of ambition was tempered by a cooler judgment naturally or by the sober influence of age even Columbus notwithstanding the terms of his original capitulation with the Crown had not been permitted to preside over the colonies and still less likely would this power be conceded to one possessed of the aspiring temper of Cortes but although the emperor refused to commit the civil government of the colony into his hands he reinstated him in his military command by a royal ordinance dated also in July 1529 the Marquis of the Valley was named Captain General of New Spain and of the coasts of the South Sea he was empowered to make discoveries in the Southern Ocean with the right to rule over such lands as he should colonize and by a subsequent grant he was to become proprietor of one-twelfth of all his discoveries the government had no design to relinquish the services of so able a commander but it wearily endeavored to withdraw him from the scene of his former triumphs and to throw open a new career of ambition that might stimulate him still further to enlarge the dominions of the Crown thus gilded by the sunshine of royal favour with brilliant manners and a person which, although it showed the effects of hard service had not yet lost all the attractions of youth, Cortes might now be regarded as offering an enviable alliance for the best houses in Castile it was not long before he paid his addresses which were favourably received to a member of that noble house which had so steadily supported him in the dark hour of his fortunes the lady's name was Donia Juana de Thuniga daughter of the second Count de Aguilar a niece of the Duke de Bexar she was much younger than himself beautiful and as event showed not without spirit one of his presents to his youthful bride excited the admiration and envy of the fairer part of the court this was five emeralds of wonderful size and brilliancy these jewels had been cut by the Aztecs into the shapes of flowers, fishes and into other fanciful forms with an exquisite style of workmanship which enhanced their original value they were not improbably part of the treasure of the unfortunate Montezuma and being easily portable may have escaped the general wreck of the Noche Triste the Queen of Charles V it is said it may be the idle gossip of a court had intimated a willingness to become proprietor of some of these magnificent baubles and the preference which Cortes gave to his fair bride caused some feelings of estrangement in the royal bosom which had an unfavourable influence on the future fortunes of the Marquis late in the summer of 1529 Charles V left his Spanish dominions for Italy Cortes accompanied him on his way probably to the place of embarkation and in the capital of Aragon we find him according to the national historian exciting the same general interest and admiration among the people as he had done in Castile on his return there seemed no occasion for him to protract his stay longer in the country he was weary of the life of idle luxury which he had been leading for the last year and so foreign to his active habits and the stirring scenes to which he had been accustomed he determined therefore to return to Mexico where his extensive property required his presence and where a new field was now open to him for honourable enterprise