 Book 2, Chapter 1 of the History of the Conquest of Mexico. The Discovery of Mexico, 1516-1518, Spain under Charles V, Progress of Discovery, Colonial Policy, Conquest of Cuba, Expeditions to Yucatan. In the beginning of the 16th century, Spain occupied perhaps the most prominent position on the theatre of Europe. The numerous states into which she had been so long divided were consolidated into one monarchy. The mausoleum crescent after reigning there for eight centuries was no longer seen on her borders. The authority of the crown did not, as in later times, overshadowed the inferior orders of the state. The people enjoyed the inestimable privilege of political representation and exercised it with manly independence. The nation at large could boast as great a degree of constitutional freedom as any other at that time in Christendom. Under a system of salutary laws and an equitable administration, domestic tranquility was secured. Public credit established, trade, manufacturers, and even the more elegant arts began to flourish, while a higher education called forth the first blossoms of that literature which was to ripen into so rich a harvest before the close of the century. Arms abroad kept pace with arts at home. Spain found her empire suddenly enlarged by important acquisitions both in Europe and Africa, while a new world beyond the waters poured into her lap treasures of countless wealth and opened an unbounded field for honorable enterprise. Such was the condition of the kingdom at the close of the long and glorious reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, when on the 23rd of January 1516 the scepter passed into the hands of their daughter Joanna, or rather their grandson Charles V, who alone ruled the monarchy during the long and imbecile existence of this unfortunate mother. In the two years following Ferdinand's death the regency in the absence of Charles was held by Cardinal Jimenez, a man whose intrepidity, extraordinary talents, and capacity for great enterprises were accompanied by a haughty spirit which made him too indifferent as to the means of their execution. His administration, therefore, notwithstanding the uprightness of his intentions, was from his total disregard of forms unfavorable to constitutional liberty. For respect for forms is an essential element of freedom. With all his faults, however, Jimenez was a Spaniard, and the object he had at heart was the good of his country. It was otherwise on the arrival of Charles, who, after a long absence, came as a foreigner into the land of his father's, November 1517. His manners, sympathies, even his language were foreign, for he spoke the Castilian with difficulty. He knew little of his native country, of the character of the people or their institutions. He seemed to care still less for them, while his natural reserve precluded that freedom of communication which might have counteracted to some extent, at least, the errors of education. In everything, in short, he was a foreigner, and resigned himself to the direction of his Flemish counselors with a facility that gave little augury of his future greatness. On his entrance into Castile the young monarch was accompanied by a swarm of courtly sycophants, who settled like locusts on every place of profit and honor throughout the kingdom. A Fleming was made Grand Chancellor of Castile. Another Fleming was placed in the Archie Episcopal Sea of Toledo. They even ventured to profane the sanctity of the Cortes by intruding themselves on its deliberations. Yet that body did not tamely submit to these usurpations, but gave vent to its indignation in tones becoming the representatives of a free people. The same pestilent foreign influence was felt, though much less sensibly, in the colonial administration. This had been placed in the preceding reign under the immediate charge of the two great tribunals, the Council of the Indies and the Casa de Contratación, or India House, at Seville. It was their business to further the progress of discovery, watch over the infant settlements, and adjust the disputes which grew up in them. But the licenses granted to private adventurers did more for the cause of discovery than the patronage of the crown or its officers. The long peace, enjoyed with slight interruption by Spain in the early part of the 16th century, was most auspicious for this. And the restless cavalier, who could no longer win laurels on the fields of Africa and Europe, turned with eagerness to the brilliant career open to him beyond the ocean. It is difficult for those of our time, as familiar from childhood, with the most remote places on the globe, as with those in their own neighborhood, to picture to themselves the feelings of the men who lived in the 16th century. The dread mystery which had so long hung over the great deep had indeed been removed, it was no longer beset with the same undefined horrors as when Columbus launched his bold bark on its dark and unknown waters. A new and glorious world had been thrown open. But as to the precise spot where that world lay, its extent, its history, whether it were island or continent, all of this they had very vague and confused conceptions. Many in their ignorance blindly adopted the erroneous conclusion into which the great admiral had been led by his superior science that the new countries were a part of Asia. And as the mariner wandered among the Bahamas, or steered his caraville across the Caribbean seas, he fancied he was inhaling the rich odors of the spice islands in the Indian Ocean. Thus every fresh discovery interpreted by his previous delusion served to confirm him in his error, or at least to fill his mind with new perplexities. The career thus thrown open had all the fascinations of a desperate hazard on which the adventurer staked all his hopes of fortune, fame, and life itself. It was not often indeed that he won the rich prize which he most coveted, but then he was sure to win the mead of glory scarcely less dear to his chivalrous spirit and, if he survived to return to his home, he had wonderful stories to recount, of perilous chances among the strange people he had visited and the burning climbs whose rank fertility and magnificence of vegetation so far surpassed anything he had witnessed in his own. These reports added fresh fuel to the imaginations already warmed by the study of those tales of chivalry which formed the favorite reading of the Spaniards at that period. This romance and reality acted on each other, and the soul of the Spaniard was exalted to that pitch of enthusiasm which enabled him to encounter the terrible trials that lay in the path of the discoverer. Indeed the life of the Cavalier of that day was romance put into action. The story of his adventures in the New World forms one of the most remarkable pages in the history of man. Under the chivalrous spirit of enterprise the progress of discovery had extended by the beginning of Charles V's reign from the Bay of Honduras along the winding shores of Darien and the South American continent to the Rio de la Plata. The mighty barrier of the Isthmus had been climbed and the Pacific, described by Núñez de Balboa, second only to Columbus in this valiant band of ocean chivalry. The Bahamas and Caribbean islands had been explored as well as the peninsula of Florida on the northern continent. To this latter point Sebastian Cabot had arrived in his descent along the coast from Labrador in 1497. So that before 1518 the period when our narrative begins the eastern borders of both the great continents had been surveyed through nearly their whole extent. The shores of the great Mexican Gulf, however, sweeping with a wide circuit far into the interior, remained still concealed, with the rich realms that lay beyond from the eye of the navigator. The time had now come for their discovery. The business of colonization had kept pace with that of discovery. In several of the islands and in various parts of terra firma and in Darien settlements had been established under the control of governors who affected the state and authority of viceroys. Grants of land were assigned to the colonists on which they raised the natural products of the soil, but gave still more attention to the sugar cane imported from the canaries. Sugar indeed, together with the beautiful die woods of the country and the precious metals, formed almost the only articles of export in the infancy of the colonies, which had not yet introduced those other staples of the West Indian commerce which in our day constitute its principal wealth, yet the precious metals painfully gleaned from a few scanty sources would have made poor returns but for the gratuitous labor of the Indians. The cruel system of repartimientos or distribution of the Indians as slaves among the conquerors had been suppressed by Isabella, although subsequently countenanced by the government it was under the most careful limitations, but it is impossible to license crime by halves to authorize injustice at all and hope to regulate the measure of it. The eloquent remonstrances of the Dominicans who devoted themselves to the good work of conversion in the New World with the same zeal they had showed for persecution in the old, but above all those of Las Casas induced the regent Jimenez to send out a commission with full powers to inquire into the alleged grievances and to redress them. It had authority, moreover, to investigate the conduct of the civil officers and to reform any abuses in their administration. This extraordinary commission consisted of three Heronamite friars and an eminent jurist, all men of learning and unblemished piety. They conducted the inquiry in a very dispassionate manner, but after long deliberation came to a conclusion most unfavorable to the demands of Las Casas, who insisted on the entire freedom of the natives. This conclusion they justified on the grounds that the Christians would not labor without compulsion, and that unless they labored they could not be brought into communication with the whites nor be converted to Christianity. Whatever we may think of this argument it was doubtless urged with sincerity by its advocates, whose conduct through their whole administration places their motives above suspicion. They accompanied it with many careful provisions for the protection of natives, but in vain. The simple people, accustomed all their days to a life of indolence and ease, sunk under the oppressions of their masters, and the population wasted away with even more frightful rapidity than did the aborigines in our own country under the operation of other causes. It is not necessary to pursue these details further into which I have been led by the desire to put the reader in possession of the general policy and state of affairs in the new world at the period when the present narrative begins. Of the islands Cuba was a second discovered, but no attempt had been made to plant a colony there during the lifetime of Columbus, who indeed, after skirting the whole extent of its southern coast, died in the conviction that it was part of the continent. At length in 1511, Diego, the son and successor of the Admiral, who still maintained the seat of government in Hispaniola, finding the mines much exhausted there proposed to occupy the neighboring island of Cuba, or Fernandina, as it was called in compliment to the Spanish monarch. He prepared a small force for the conquest, which he placed under the command of Don Diego Velasquez, a man described by a contemporary as possessed of considerable experience in military affairs having served seventeen years in the European wars, as honest, illustrious by his lineage and reputation, covetous of glory and somewhat more covetous of wealth. The portrait was sketched by no unfriendly hand. The last case, or rather his Lieutenant Narváez, who took office on himself of scouring the country, met with no serious opposition from the inhabitants, who were of the same family with the effeminate natives of Hispaniola. The conquest, through the merciful interposition of Las Casas, the protector of the Indians, who accompanied the army in its march, was affected without much bloodshed. One chief, indeed, named Hattui, having fled originally from San Domingo to escape the oppression of its invaders, made a desperate resistance for which he was condemned by Velasquez to be burned alive. It was he who made that memorable reply more eloquent than a volume of invective. When urged at the stake to embrace Christianity that his soul might find admission into heaven, he inquired if the white men would go there. On being answered in the affirmative, he exclaimed, Then I will not be a Christian, for I would not go again to a place where I must find men so cruel. The story is told by Las Casas in his appalling record of the cruelties of his countrymen in the New World. After the conquest, Velasquez, now appointed governor, diligently occupied himself with measures for promoting the prosperity of the island. He formed a number of settlements bearing the same names with the modern towns, and made Santiago in the southeast corner the seat of government. He invited settlers by liberal grants of land and slaves. He encouraged them to cultivate the soil, and gave particular attention to the sugarcane, so profitable an article of commerce in later times. He was, above all, intent on working the gold mines, which promised better returns than those in Hispaniola. The affairs of His government did not prevent him, meanwhile, from casting many a wistful glance at the discoveries going forward on the continent, and he longed for an opportunity to embark in these golden adventures himself. Fortune gave him the occasion he desired. An Hidalgo of Cuba named Hernández de Córdoba sailed with three vessels on an expedition to one of the neighboring Bahama islands in quest of Indian slaves, February 8, 1517. He encountered a succession of heavy gales, which drove him far out of his course, and at the end of three weeks he found himself on a strange but unknown coast. On landing and asking the name of the country, he was answered by the natives tectan, meaning I do not understand you, but which the Spaniards misinterpreting into the name of the place easily corrupted into Yucatan. Some writers give a different etymology. Such mistakes, however, were not uncommon with the early discoverers, and have been the origin of many a name on the American continent. Córdoba had landed on the northeastern end of the peninsula at Cape Catoche. He was astonished at the size and solid material of the buildings constructed of stone and lime so different from the frail tenements of reeds and rushes which form the habitations of the islanders. He was struck also with the higher cultivation of the soil and with the delicate texture of the cotton garments and gold ornaments of the natives. Everything indicated a civilization far superior to anything he had witnessed in the New World. He saw the evidence of a different race, moreover, in the war-like spirit of the people. Rumors of the Spaniards had perhaps preceded them, as they were repeatedly asked if they came from the east, and wherever they landed they were met with the most deadly hostility. Córdoba himself, in one of his skirmishes with the Indians, received more than a dozen wounds, and one only of his party escaped unhurt. At length, when he had coasted the peninsula as far as Campeche, he returned to Cuba, which he reached after an absence of several months. Having suffered all the extremities of ill which these pioneers of the ocean were sometimes called to endure, and which none but the most courageous spirit could have survived. As it was, half the original number consisting of one hundred and ten men perished, including their brave commander, who died soon after his return. The reports he had brought back of the country, and still more the specimens of curiously wrought gold, convinced Velasquez of the importance of this discovery, and he prepared with all dispatch to avail himself of it. He accordingly fitted out a little squadron of four vessels for the newly discovered lands, and placed it under the command of his nephew Juan de Grigalba, a man on whose probity, prudence, and attachment to himself he knew he could rely. The fleet left the port of Santiago de Cuba May 1, 1518. It took the course pursued by Córdoba, but was driven somewhat to the south, the first land that it made being the island of Cosumel. From this quarter Grigalba soon passed over to the continent and coasted the peninsula, touching at the same places as his predecessor. Everywhere he was struck, like him, with the evidences of a higher civilization, especially in the architecture. He was astonished also at the sight of large stone crosses, evidently objects of worship which he met with in various places. But by these circumstances of his own country he gave the peninsula the name New Spain, a name since appropriated to a much wider extent of territory. Wherever Grigalba landed he experienced the same unfriendly reception as Córdoba, though he suffered less being better prepared to meet it. In the Rio de Tabasco, or Grigalba as it is often called after him, he held an amicable conference with a chief, who gave him a number of gold plates fashioned into a sort of armor. As he wound round the Mexican coast one of his captains, Pedro de Alvarado, afterwards famous in the conquest, entered a river to which he also left his own name. In a neighboring stream called the Rio de Vanderas, or River of Banners, from the ensigns displayed by the natives on its borders, Grigalba had the first communication with the Mexicans themselves. The casique who ruled over this province had received notice of the approach of the Europeans and of their extraordinary appearance. He was anxious to collect all the information he could respecting them and the motives of their visit that he might transmit them to his master, the Aztec Emperor. A friendly conference took place between the parties on shore, where Grigalba landed with all his force so as to make a suitable impression on the mind of the barbaric chief. The interview lasted some hours, though as there was no one on either side to interpret the language of the other they could communicate only by signs. They however interchanged presence and the Spaniards had the satisfaction of receiving, for a few worthless toys and trinkets, a rich treasure of jewels, gold ornaments, and vessels of the most fantastic forms and workmanship. Grigalba now thought that in this successful traffic, successful beyond his most sanguine expectations, he had accomplished the chief object of his mission. He steadily refused the solicitations of his followers to plant a colony on the spot, a work of no little difficulty in so populous and powerful a country as this appeared to be. To this indeed he was inclined, but deemed it contrary to his instructions which limited him to barter with the natives. He therefore dispatched Alvarado in one of the caravals back to Cuba with the treasure and such intelligence as he had gleaned of the great empire in the interior, and then pursued his voyage along the coast. He touched at San Juan de Ulua and at the Isla de los Sacrificios, so called by him from the bloody remains of human victims found in one of the temples. He then held on his course as far as the province of Panuco, where finding some difficulty in doubling a boisterous headland he returned on his track and after an absence of nearly six months reached Cuba in safety. Cuba has the glory of being the first navigator who set foot on the Mexican soil and opened an intercourse with the Aztecs. On reaching the island he was surprised to learn that another and more formidable armament had been fitted out to follow up his own discoveries and to find orders at the same time from the governor couched in no very courteous language to repair at once to Santiago. He was received by that personage not merely with coldness, but with reproaches for having neglected so fair an opportunity of establishing a colony in the country he had visited. Velasquez was one of those captious spirits who, when things do not go exactly to their minds, are sure to shift the responsibility of the failure from their own shoulders where it should lie to those of others. He had an ungenerous nature, says an old writer, credulous and easily moved to suspicion. In the present instance it was most unmerited. Grigalva, naturally a modest, unassuming person, had acted in obedience to the instructions of his commander given before sailing and had done this in opposition to his own judgment and the importunities of his followers. His conduct merited anything but censure from his employer. When Alvarado had returned to Cuba with his golden freight and the accounts of the rich empire of Mexico, which he had gathered from the natives, the heart of the governor swelled with rapture as he saw his dreams of avarice and ambition so likely to be realized. Impatient of the long absence of Grigalva, he dispatched a vessel in search of him under the command of Olid, a cavalier who took an important part afterwards in the conquest. Finally he resolved to fit out another armament on a sufficient scale to ensure the subjugation of the country. He previously solicited authority for this from the Heronomite Commission in San Domingo. He then dispatched his chaplain to Spain with the royal share of the gold brought from Mexico and a full account of the intelligence gleaned there. He set forth his own manifold services and solicited from the country full powers to go on with the conquest and colonization of the newly discovered regions. Before receiving an answer, he began his preparations for the armament and, first of all, endeavored to find a suitable person to share the expense of it and to take the command. Such a person he found after some difficulty and delay in Hernando Cortez, the man of all others best calculated to achieve this great enterprise, the last man to whom Velázquez could he have foreseen the results would have confided it. End of Book 2, Chapter 1, Recording by Sue Anderson Book 2, Chapter 2 of the History of the Conquest of Mexico. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. History of the Conquest of Mexico by William H. Prescott, Book 2, Chapter 2. Hernando Cortez, his early life, visits the new world, his residence in Cuba, difficulties with Velázquez, our mother entrusted to Cortez. Hernando Cortez was born at Medellín, a town in the southeast corner of Extremadura in 1485. He came of an ancient and respectable family, and historians have gratified the national vanity by tracing it up to the Lombard kings, whose descendants crossed the Pyrenees and established themselves in Aragon under the Gothic monarchy. This royal genealogy was not found out till Cortez had acquired a name which would confer distinction on any descent, however noble. His father, Martin Cortez de Monroy, was a captain of infantry, in moderate circumstances, but a man of unblemished honor, and both he and his wife, Donia Catalina Pizarro Altamerano, appear to have been much regarded for their excellent qualities. In his infancy, Cortez is said to have had a feeble constitution, which strengthened as he grew older. At fourteen he was sent to Salamanca, as his father, who conceived great hopes from his quick and showy parts, proposed to educate him for the law, a profession which held out better inducements to the young aspirant than any other. The son, however, did not conform to these views. He showed little fondness for books, and, after loitering away two years at college, returned home to the great chagrin of his parents. Yet his time had not been wholly misspent, since he had laid up a little store of Latin and learned to write good prose, and even verses of some estimation considering, as an old writer quaintly remarked Cortez as the author. He now passed his days in the idle, unprofitable manner of one who, too willful to be guided by others, proposes no object to himself. His buoyant spirits were continually breaking out in troublesome frolics and capricious humors quite at variance with the orderly habits of his father's household. He showed a particular inclination for the military profession, or rather for the life of adventure to which in those days it was sure to lead. And when, at the age of seventeen, he proposed to enroll himself under the banners of the great captain, his parents probably thinking a life of hardship and hazard abroad preferable to one of idleness at home made no objection. The youthful cavalier, however, hesitated whether to seek his fortunes under that victorious chief or in the new world where gold as well as glory was to be won, and where the very dangers had a mystery and romance in them inexpressibly fascinating to a youthful fancy. It was in this direction, accordingly, that the hot spirits of that day found event, especially from that part of the country where Cortez lived, the neighborhood of Seville and Cádiz, the focus of nautical enterprise. He decided on this latter course and an opportunity offered in the splendid armament fitted out under Don Nicolás de Ovando, successor to Columbus, an unlucky accident defeated the purpose of Cortez. As he was scaling a high wall one night, which gave him access to the apartment of a lady with whom he was engaged in an intrigue, the stones gave way, and he was thrown down with much violence and buried under the ruins. A severe contusion, though attended with no other serious consequences, confined him to his bed till after the departure of the fleet. Two years longer he remained at home, profiting little as it would seem from the lesson he had received. At length he availed himself of another opportunity presented by the departure of a small squadron of vessels bound to the Indian islands. He was nineteen years of age when he bated due to his native shores in fifteen-o-four, the same year in which Spain lost the best and greatest in her long line of princes, Isabella the Catholic. Immediately on landing Cortez repaired to the house of the governor, to whom he had been personally known in Spain. Ovando was absent on an expedition into the interior, but the young man was kindly received by the secretary, who assured him there would be no doubt of his obtaining a liberal grant of land to settle on. But I came to get gold, replied Cortez, not to till the soil like a peasant. On the governor's return Cortez consented to give up his roving thoughts, at least for a time, as the other labored to convince him that he would be more likely to realize his wishes from the slow, indeed but sure, returns of husbandry, where the soil and the laborers were a free gift to the planter, then by taking his chance in the lottery of adventure in which there were so many blanks to apprise. He accordingly received a grant of land with a repartimiento of Indians, and was appointed notary of the town or settlement of Agua. His graver pursuits, however, did not prevent his indulgence of the amorous propensities which belonged to the sunny climb where he was born, and this frequently involved him in affairs of honor from which, though an expert swordsman, he carried away scars that accompanied him to his grave. He occasionally, moreover, found the means of breaking up the monotony of his way of life by engaging in the military expeditions which, under the command of Ovando's lieutenant, Diego Velasquez, were employed to suppress the insurrections of the natives. In this school the young adventurer first studied the wild tactics of Indian warfare. He became familiar with toil and danger, and with those deeds of cruelty which have too often, alas, stained the bright scuttions of the Castilian chivalry in the new world. He was only prevented by illness, a most fortunate one, on this occasion from embarking in Nykoisis expedition which furnished a tale of woe not often matched in the annals of Spanish discovery. Providence reserved him for higher ends. At length, in fifteen-eleven, when Velasquez undertook the conquest of Cuba, Cortes willingly abandoned his quiet life for the stirring scenes there opened, and took part in the expedition. He displayed throughout the invasion an activity and courage that won him the approbation of the commander, while his free and cordial manners, his good humor, and lively sallies of wit made him the favorite of the soldiers. He gave little evidence, says a contemporary, of the great qualities which he afterward showed. It is probable these qualities were not known to himself, while to a common observer his careless manners and jocund repartees might well seem incompatible with anything serious or profound, as the real depth of the current is not suspected under the light play and sunny sparkling of the surface. After the reduction of the island, Cortes seems to have been held in great favor by Velasquez, now appointed its governor. According to Las Casas, he was made one of his secretaries. He still retained the same fondness for gallantry for which his handsome person afforded obvious advantages, but which had more than once brought him into trouble in earlier life. Among the families who had taken up their residence in Cuba was one of the name of Juarez from Granada in Old Spain. He consisted of a brother and four sisters remarkable for their beauty. With one of them named Catalina, the susceptible heart of the young soldier became enamored. How far the intimacy was carried is not quite certain, but it appears he gave his promise to marry her, a promise which, when the time came and reason it may be had got the better of passion, he showed no alacrity in keeping. He resisted, indeed, all remonstrances to this effect from the lady's family, backed by the governor, and somewhat sharpened no doubt in the latter by the particular interest he took in one of the fair sisters who is said not to have repaid it within gratitude. Whether the rebuke of Velasquez or some other cause of disgust rankled in the breast of Cortes, he now became cold toward his patron, and connected himself with a disaffected party, tolerably numerous in the island. They were in the habit of meeting at his house and brooding over their causes of discontent, chiefly founded it would appear on what they conceived an ill-requital of their services in the distribution of lands and offices. It may well be imagined that it could have been no easy task for the ruler of one of those colonies, however discreet and well-intentioned, to satisfy the indefinite cravings of speculators and adventurers, who swarmed like so many famished harpies in the track of discovery in the new world. The malcontents determined to lay their grievances before the higher authorities in Hispaniola, from whom Velasquez had received his commission. The voyage was one of some hazard as it was to be made in an open boat across an arm of the sea eighteen leagues wide, and they fixed on Cortes with whose fearless spirit they were well acquainted, as the fittest man to undertake it. The conspiracy got wind and came to the governor's ears before the departure of the envoy, whom he instantly caused to be seized, loaded with fetters and placed in strict confinement. It is even said he would have hung him but for the interposition of his friends. Cortes did not long remain endurance. He contrived to throw back one of the bolts of his fetters, and after extricating his limbs succeeded in forcing open a window with the irons so as to admit of his escape. He was lodged on the second floor of the building and was able to let himself down to the pavement without injury and unobserved. He then made the best of his way to a neighboring church where he claimed the privilege of sanctuary. Velasquez, though incensed at his escape, was afraid to violate the sanctity of the place by employing force, but he stationed to guard in the neighborhood with orders to seize the fugitive if he should forget himself so far as to leave the sanctuary. In a few days this happened. As Cortes was carelessly standing without the walls in front of the building, an aguacil suddenly sprung on him from behind and pinioned his arms while others rushed in and secured him. This man, whose name was Juan Escudero, was afterwards hung by Cortes for some offense in New Spain. The unlucky prisoner was again put in irons and carried on board a vessel to sail the next morning for Hispaniola, there to undergo his trial. Fortune favored him once more. He succeeded after much difficulty and no little pain in passing his feet through the rings which shackled them. He then came cautiously on deck and covered by the darkness of the night, stole quietly down the side of the ship into a boat that lay floating below. He pushed off from the vessel with as little noise as possible. As he drew near the shore the stream became rapid and turbulent. He hesitated to trust his boat to it and as he was an excellent swimmer, prepared to breast it himself and boldly plunged into the water. The current was strong, but the arm of a man struggling for life was stronger. And after buffeting the waves till he was nearly exhausted, he succeeded in gaining a landing when he sought refuge in the same sanctuary which had protected him before. The facility with which Cortes a second time affected his escape may lead one to doubt the fidelity of his guards who perhaps looked on him as the victim of persecution and felt the influence of those popular manners which seemed to have gained him friends in every society into which he was thrown. For some reason not explained, perhaps from policy, he now relinquished his objections to the marriage with Catalina Juarez. He thus secured the good offices of her family. Then afterwards the governor himself relented and became reconciled to his unfortunate enemy. A strange story is told in connection with this event. It is said his proud spirit refused to accept the proffers of reconciliation made him by Velasquez and that one evening, leaving the sanctuary, he presented himself unexpectedly before the latter in his own quarters when on a military excursion at some distance from the capital. The governor, startled by the sudden apparition of his enemy, completely armed before him, with some dismay inquired the meaning of it, Cortes answered by insisting on a full explanation of his previous conduct. After some hot discussion the interview terminated amicably, the parties embraced and when a messenger arrived to announce the escape of Cortes he found him in the apartments of his Excellency, where, having retired to rest, both were actually sleeping in the same bed. The anecdote is repeated without distrust by more than one biographer of Cortes. It is not very probable, however, that a haughty, irascible man like Velasquez should have given such uncommon proofs of condescension and familiarity with one so far beneath him in station with whom he had been so recently in deadly feud. Or on the other hand, that Cortes should have had the silly temerity to brave the lion in his den where a single nod would have sent him to the gibbet, and that too with as little compunction or fear of consequences as would have attended the execution of an Indian slave. The reconciliation with the governor, however, brought about was permanent. Cortes, though not re-established in the office of secretary, received a liberal repartimiento of Indians and an ample territory in the neighborhood of Santiago, of which he was soon after made alcalde. He now lived almost wholly on his estate, devoting himself to agriculture with more zeal than formerly. He stalked his plantation with different kinds of cattle, some of which were first introduced by him into Cuba. He brought also the gold mines which fell to his share and which in this island promised better returns than those in Hispaniola. By this course of industry he found himself, in a few years, master of some two or three thousand Castellanos, a large sum for one in his situation. God who alone knows at what cost of Indian lives it was obtained, absclaims Las Casas, will take account of it. His days glided smoothly away in these tranquil pursuits, and in the society of his beautiful wife, who, however ineligible as a connection from the inferiority of her condition, appears to have fulfilled all the relations of a faithful and affectionate partner. Indeed he was often heard to say at this time, as the good bishop above quoted remarks, that he lived as happily with her as if she had been the daughter of a duchess. And gave him the means in afterlife of verifying the truth of his assertion. Such was the state of things when Alvarado returned with the tidings of Grihalva's discoveries and the rich fruits of his traffic with the natives. The news spread like wildfire throughout the island, for all saw in it the promise of more important results than any hitherto obtained. The governor, as already noticed, resolved to follow up the track of discovery with a more considerable armament, and he looked around for a proper person to share the expense of it and to take a command. Several Hidalgos presented themselves, whom, from one of proper qualifications, or from his distrust of their assuming and independence of their employer, he won after another rejected. There were two persons in Santiago in whom he placed great confidence, Amador de lares, the contador or royal treasurer, and his own secretary, Andrés de Duero. Cortés was also in close intimacy with both these persons, and he availed himself of it to prevail on them to recommend him as a suitable person to be entrusted with the expedition. It is said he reinforced the proposal by promising a liberal share of the proceeds of it. However this may be the parties urged his selection by the governor with all the eloquence of which they were capable. That officer had had ample experience of the capacity and courage of the candidate. He knew, too, that he had acquired a fortune which would enable him to cooperate materially in fitting out the armament. His popularity in the island would speedily attract followers to his standard. All past animosities had long since been buried in oblivion, and the confidence he was now to repose in him would ensure his fidelity and gratitude. He lent a willing ear, therefore, to the recommendation of his counsellors, and, sending for Cortés, announced his purpose of making him the Captain-General of the Armada. Cortés had now obtained the object of his wishes, the object for which his soul had panted ever since he had set foot in the New World. He was no longer to be condemned to a life of mercenary drudgery nor to be cooped up within the precincts of a petty island, but he was to be placed on a new and independent theatre of action, and a boundless perspective was opened to his view which might satisfy not merely the wildest cravings of avarice, but to a bold, aspiring spirit like his, the far more important cravings of ambition. He fully appreciated the importance of the late discoveries, and read in them the existence of a great empire in the far west, dark hints of which had floated from time to time in the islands and of which more certain glimpses had been caught by those who had reached the continent. This was the country intimated by the great admiral in his visit to Honduras in 1502, and which he might have reached had he held on a northern course instead of striking to the south in quest of an imaginary strait. As it was he had but opened the gate to use his own bitter expression for others to enter. The time had at length come when they were to enter it, and the young adventurer, whose magic lance was to dissolve the spell which had so long hung over these mysterious regions, now stood ready to assume the enterprise. From this hour the deportment of Cortez seemed to undergo a change, his thoughts instead of evaporating in empty levities or idle flashes of merriment were wholly concentrated on the great object to which he was devoted. His elastic spirits were shown in cheering and stimulating the companions of his toilsome duties, and he was roused to a generous enthusiasm of which even those who knew him best had not conceived him capable. He applied at once all the money in his possession to fitting out the armament. He raised more by the mortgage of his estates, and by giving his obligations to some wealthy merchants of the place who relied for their reimbursement on the success of the expedition, and when his own credit was exhausted he availed himself of that of his friends. The funds thus acquired he expended in the purchase of vessels, provisions, and military stores, while he invited recruits by offers of assistance to such as were too poor to provide for themselves, and by the additional promise of a liberal share of the anticipated profits. All was now bustle and excitement in the little town of St. Yago. Some were busy in refitting the vessels and getting them ready for the voyage, some in providing naval stores, others in converting their own estates into money in order to equip themselves, every one seemed anxious to contribute in some way or other to the success of the expedition. Six ships, some of them of large size, had already been procured, and three hundred recruits enrolled themselves in the course of a few days, eager to seek their fortunes under the banner of this daring and popular chieftain. How far the Governor contributed toward the expenses of the outfit is not very clear. If the friends of Cortez are to be believed, nearly the whole burden fell on him, since while he supplied the squadron without remuneration the Governor sold many of his stores at an exorbitant profit. Yet it does not seem probable that Velasquez, with such ample means at his command, should have thrown on his deputy the burden of the expedition, know that the latter, had he done so, could have been in a condition to meet these expenses, amounting, as we are told, to more than twenty thousand gold ducats. Still it cannot be denied that an ambitious man like Cortez, who was to reap all the glory of the enterprise, would very naturally be less solicitous to count the gains of it than his employer, who, inactive at home, and having no laurels to win, must look on the pecuniary profits as his only recompense. The question gave rise some years later to a furious litigation between the parties, with which it is not necessary at present to embarrass the reader. It is due to Velasquez to state that the instructions delivered by him for the conduct of the expedition cannot be charged with a narrow or mercenary spirit. The first object of the voyage was to find Grahalva, after which the two commanders were to proceed in company together. Reports had been brought back by Cordova on his return from the first visit to Yucatan, that six Christians were said to be lingering in captivity in the interior of the country. It was supposed they might belong to the party of the unfortunate Nikoisa, and orders were given to find them out, if possible, and restore them to liberty. But the great object of the expedition was barter with the natives. In pursuing this special care was to be taken that they should receive no wrong, but be treated with kindness and humanity. Cortez was to bear in mind, above all things, that the object which the Spanish monarch had most at heart was the conversion of the natives. He was to impress on them the grandeur and goodness of his royal master, to invite them to give in their allegiance to him and to manifest it by regaling him with such comfortable presence of gold, pearls, and precious stones as by showing their own good will would secure his favor and protection. He was to make an accurate survey of the coast, sounding its bays and inlets for the benefit of future navigators. He was to acquaint himself with the natural products of the country, with the character of its different races, their institutions, and progress in civilization. And he was to send home minute accounts of all these, together with such articles as he should obtain in his intercourse with them. Finally he was to take the most careful care to omit nothing that might redound to the service of God or his sovereign. Such was the general tenor of the instructions given to Cortez, and they must be admitted to provide for the interests of science and humanity, as well as for those which had reference only to a commercial speculation. It may seem strange considering the discontent shown by Velazquez with his former captain, Gehalva, for not colonizing, that no direction should have been given to that effect here. But he had not yet received from Spain the warrant for investing his agents with such powers, and that which had been obtained from the Hieronymite Fathers in his Spagnola conceded only the right to traffic with the natives. The commission at the same time recognized the authority of Cortez as Captain General. End of Book 2, Chapter 2, Recording by Sue Anderson Book 2, Chapter 3 of the History of the Conquest of Mexico This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. History of the Conquest of Mexico By William H. Prescott Book 2, Chapter 3 Jealousy of Velazquez, Cortez embarks equipment of his fleet, his person and character, rendezvous at Havana, strength of his armament. The importance given to Cortez by his new position, and perhaps a somewhat more lofty bearing, gradually gave uneasiness to the naturally suspicious temper of the Velazquez, who became apprehensive that his officer, when away where he would have the power, might also have the inclination to throw off his dependence on him altogether. An accidental circumstance at this time heightened these suspicions. A madfellow, his jester, one of those cracked-brained wits, half-wit, half-fool, who formed in those days a common appendage to every great man's establishment, called out to the governor, as he was taking his usual walk one morning with Cortez towards the port. Have a care, Master Velazquez, or we shall have to go hunting some day or other, after this same captain of ours. Do you hear what the rogue says, exclaimed the governor to his companion? Do not heed him, said Cortez, he is a saucy knave, and deserves a good whipping. The words sunk deep, however, in the mind of Velazquez, as indeed true jests are apt to stick. There were not wanting persons about his Excellency who fan the latent embers of jealousy into a blaze. These worthy gentlemen, some of them kinsmen of Velazquez, who probably felt their own desserts somewhat thrown into the shade by the rising fortunes of Cortez, reminded the governor of his ancient quarrel with that officer, and of the little probability that a front so keenly felt at the time could ever be forgotten. By these and similar suggestions, and by misconstructions of the present conduct of Cortez, they brought on the passions of Velazquez to such a degree that he resolved to entrust the expedition to other hands. He communicated his design to his confidential advisors, Varys and Duero, and these trusty personages reported it without delay to Cortez, although to a man of half his penetration says Las Casas the thing would have been readily divined from the governor's altered demeanor. The two functionaries advised their friend to expedite matters as much as possible, and to lose no time in getting his fleet ready for sea if he would retain the command of it. Cortez showed the same prompt decision on this occasion, which more than once afterwards, in a similar crisis, gave the direction to his destiny. He had not yet got his compliment of men nor of vessels, and was very inadequately provided with supplies of any kind, but he resolved to weigh anchor that very night. He waited on his officers, informed them of his purpose, and probably of the cause of it, and at midnight when the town was hushed and sleep they all went quietly on board, and a little squadron dropped down the bay. First, however, Cortez had visited the person whose business it was to supply the place with meat, and relieved him of all his stock on hand, notwithstanding his complaint that the city must suffer for it on the morrow, leaving him at the same time in payment a massive gold chain of much value which he wore around his neck. Great was the amazement of the good citizens of Santiago when at dawn they saw that the fleet, which they knew was so ill- prepared for the voyage, had left its moorings and was busily getting underway. The tidings soon came to the ears of his Excellency, who, springing from his bed hastily dressed himself, mounted his horse, and followed by his retinue, galloped down to the quay. Cortez, as soon as he described their approach, entered an armed boat, and came within speaking distance of the shore. And it is thus you part from me, exclaimed Velazquez, a courteous way of taking leave, truly. Pardon me, answered Cortez, time presses, and there are some things that should be done before they are even thought of. Has your Excellency any commands? But the mortified governor had no commands to give, and Cortez politely waving his hand returned to his vessel, and the little fleet instantly made sail for the port of Macaca about fifteen leagues distant, November eighteenth, fifteen eighteen. Velazquez rode back to his house to digest his chagrin as he best might, satisfied probably that he had made at least two blunders, one in appointing Cortez to the command, the other in attempting to deprive him of it, for if it be true that by giving our confidence by halves we can scarcely hope to make a friend, it is equally true that, by withdrawing it when given, we shall make an enemy. This clandestine departure of Cortez has been severely criticized by some writers, especially by Las Casas, yet much may be urged in vindication of his conduct. He had been appointed to the command by the voluntary act of the governor, and this had been fully ratified by the authorities of Hispaniola. He had at once devoted all his resources to the undertaking, incurring indeed a heavy debt in addition. He was now be deprived of his commission without any misconduct, having been alleged, or at least proved against him. Such an event must overwhelm him in irretrievable ruin, to say nothing of the friends from whom he had so largely borrowed, and the followers who had embarked their fortunes in the expedition on the faith of his commanding it. There are few persons probably who under these circumstances would have felt called tamely to acquiesce in the sacrifice of their hopes to a groundless and arbitrary whim. The most to have been expected from Cortez was that he should feel obliged to provide faithfully for the interests of his employer in the conduct of the enterprise. How far he felt the force of this obligation will appear in the sequel. From a caca where Cortez laid in such stores as he could obtain from the royal farms, and which he said he considered as a loan from the king, he proceeded to Trinidad, a more considerable town on the southern coast of Cuba. Here he landed, and erecting his standard in front of his quarters made proclamation with liberal offers to all who would join the expedition. Volunteers came in daily, and among them more than a hundred of Grijalva's men just returned from their voyage and willing to follow up the discovery under an enterprising leader. The fame of Cortez attracted also a number of cavaliers of family and distinction, some of whom, having accompanied Grijalva, brought much information valuable for the present expedition. Among these idolagals may be mentioned Pedro de Alvarado and his brothers, Cristóval de Olid, Alonso de Ávila, Juan Velázquez de León in near relation of the Governor, Alonso Hernández de Puerto Carrero, and Gonzalo de Sandoval, all of them men who took a most important part in the conquest. Their presence was of great moment as giving consideration to the enterprise, and when they entered the little camp of the adventurers, the latter turned out to welcome them amidst lively strains of music and joyous salvos of artillery. Cortez, meanwhile, was active in purchasing military stores and provisions. Learning that a trading vessel laden with grain and other commodities for the mines was off the coast, he ordered out one of his caravals to seize her and bring her into port. He paid the master in bills for both cargo and ship, and even persuaded this man, named Sedeno, who was wealthy, to join his fortunes in the expedition. He also dispatched one of his officers, Diego de Ordaz, in quest of another ship of which he had tidings, with instructions to seize it in like manner, and to meet him with it off Cape San Antonio, the westerly point of the island. By this he affected another object, that of getting rid of de Ordaz, who was one of the governor's household and an inconvenient spy on his own actions. While thus occupied, letters from Velazquez were received by the commander of Trinidad, requiring him to seize the person of Cortez and to detain him, as he had been deposed from the command of the fleet which was given to another. This functionary communicated his instructions to the principal officers in the expedition who counseled him not to make the attempt, as it would undoubtedly lead to a commotion among the soldiers that might end in laying the town in ashes. Verdugo thought it prudent to conform to this advice. As Cortez was willing to strengthen himself by still further reinforcements, he ordered Alvarado with a small body of men to march across the country to the Havana, while he himself would sail round the westerly point of the island and meet him there with the squadron. In this port he again displayed his standard, making the usual proclamation. He caused all the large guns to be brought on shore and with the small arms and crossbows to be put in order. As there was abundance of cotton raised in this neighborhood, he had the jackets of the soldiers thickly quilted with it, for defense against the Indian arrows from which the troops in the former expeditions had grievously suffered. He distributed his men into eleven companies, each under the command of an experienced officer, and it was observed that although several of the Cavaliers in the service were the personal friends and even kinsmen of Alaska, he appeared to treat them all with perfect confidence. His principal standard was of black velvet, embroidered with gold and emblazoned with a red cross amidst flames of blue and white, with this model in Latin beneath. Friends, let us follow the cross, and under this sign, if we have faith, we shall conquer. He now assumed more state in his own person and way of living, introducing a greater number of domestics and officers into his household, and placing it on a footing, becoming a man of high station. This state he maintained through the rest of his life. As at this time was thirty-three or perhaps thirty-four years of age, in stature he was rather above the middle size. His complexion was pale, and his large dark eye gave an expression of gravity to his countenance, not to have been expected in one of his cheerful temperament. His figure was slender, at least until later life, but his chest was deep, his shoulders broad, his frame muscular and well proportioned. He presented the union of agility and vigor which qualified him to excel in fencing, horsemanship, and the other generous exercises of chivalry. In his diet he was temperate, careless of what he ate and drinking little, while to toil and privation he seemed perfectly indifferent. His dress, for he did not disdain the impression produced by such adventitious aides, was such as to set off his handsome person to advantage, neither godly nor striking, but rich. He wore few ornaments and usually the same, but those were of great price. His manners frank and soldier-like concealed a most cool and calculating spirit. With his gaest humor there mingled a settled air of resolution which made those who approached him feel they must obey, and which infused something like awe into the attachment of his most devoted followers. Such a combination in which love was tempered by authority was the one probably best calculated to inspire devotion in the rough and turbulent spirits among whom his lot was to be cast. The character of Cortez seems to have undergone some change with change of circumstances, or to speak more correctly, the new scenes in which he was placed called forth qualities which before lay dormant in his bosom. There are some hearty natures that require the heats of excited action to unfold their energies, like the plants which close to the mild influence of a temperate latitude come to their full growth and give forth their fruits only in the burning atmosphere of the tropics. Before the preparations were fully completed at the Havana, the commander of the place Don Pedro Barba received dispatches from Velazquez ordering him to apprehend Cortez and to prevent the departure of his vessels, while another epistle from the same source was delivered to Cortez himself, requesting him to postpone his voyage till the governor could communicate with him as he proposed in person. Never exclaims Las Casas did I see so little knowledge of affairs shown as in this letter of Diego Velazquez, that he should have imagined that a man who had so recently put such an affront on him would defer his departure at his bidding. It was indeed hoping to stay the flight of the arrow by a word after it had left the bow. The Captain General, however, during his short stay, had entirely conciliated the goodwill of Barba, and if that officer had had the inclination he knew he had not the power to enforce his principal's orders in the face of a resolute soldiery incensed at this ungenerous persecution of their commander, and all of whom, in the words of the honest chronicler Bernal Dias, who bore part in the expedition, officers and privates would have cheerfully laid down their lives for him. Barba contented himself, therefore, with explaining to Velazquez the impracticability of the attempt and at the same time endeavored to tranquilize his apprehensions by asserting his own confidence in the fidelity of Cortez. To this the latter added a communication of his own, in which he implored his Excellency to rely on his devotion to his interests and concluded with a comfortable assurance that he and the whole fleet, God willing, would sail on the following morning. Accordingly, on the 10th of February, 1519, the little squadron got under way and directed its course toward Cape San Antonio, the appointed place of Rendezvous. When all were brought together the vessels were found to be eleven in number, one of them in which Cortez himself went was of a hundred tons burden, three others were from seventy to eighty tons, the remainder were caravals and open brigantines. The whole was put under the direction of Antonio de Alaminos as chief pilot, a veteran navigator who had acted as pilot to Columbus in his last voyage and to Cordova and Guihalva in the former expeditions to Yucatan. Landing on the Cape and mustering his forces, Cortez found they amounted to one hundred and ten mariners, five hundred and fifty three soldiers, including thirty-two crossbowmen and thirteen harquiboseers besides two hundred Indians of the island and a few Indian women for menial offices. He was provided with ten heavy guns, four lighter pieces called falconettes and with a good supply of ammunition. He had besides sixteen horses. They were not easily procured for the difficulty of transporting them across the ocean in the flimsy craft of that day made them rare and incredibly dear in the islands. But Cortez rightfully estimated the importance of cavalry, however small in number, for their actual service in the field and for striking terror in the savages. With so paltry a force did he enter on a conquest which even his stout heart must have shrunk from attempting with such means had he but foreseen half its real difficulties. Before embarking Cortez addressed his soldiers in a short but animated harangue. He told them they were about to enter on a noble enterprise, one that would make their name famous to after ages. He was leading them to countries more vast and opulent than any yet visited by Europeans. I hold out to you a glorious prize, continued the orator, but it is to be won by incessant toil. Great things are achieved only by great exertions and glory was never the reward of sloth. If I have labored hard and stake my all on this undertaking, it is for the love of that renown which is the noblest recompense of man. But if any among you covet riches more, be but true to me, as I will be true to you and to the occasion, and I will make you masters of such as our countrymen have never dreamed of. You are few in number but strong in resolution, and if this does not falter, doubt not, but that the Almighty, who has never deserted the Spaniard in his contest with the Infidel, will shield you, though encompassed by a cloud of enemies, for your cause is a just cause, and you are to fight under the banner of the Cross. Go forward, then he concluded, with alacrity and confidence, and carry to a glorious issue the work so auspiciously begun. The rough eloquence of the general, touching the various chords of ambition, avarice, and religious zeal, sent a thrill through the bosoms of his martial audience, and receiving it with acclamations they seemed eager to press forward under a chief who was to lead them, not so much to battle as to triumph. Cortes was well satisfied to find his own enthusiasm so largely shared by his followers. Mass was then celebrated with the solemnities usual with the Spanish navigators when entering on their voyages of discovery. The fleet was placed under the immediate protection of Saint Peter, the patron saint of Cortes, and Wayne Anchor took its departure on the 18th day of February 1519 for the coast of Yucatan.