Since gold, generally speaking, is the great desire of man, and that the more he possesses of it the more avaricious he grows, it also happened here that many pieces of gold were missing from the heaps, which I have mentioned above; and as one of our officers named Leon had ordered Motecusuma's goldsmiths to make him heavy gold chains and other ornaments, the royal treasurer Gonzalo Mexia suspected something wrong, and secretly observed to him that the emperor's fifths had not been deducted from several of the bars he had sent to be smelted. Leon, who stood in high favour with Cortes, answered, that it was not his intention to return anything. The gold he possessed he had not taken himself, but had received all from Cortes before it had ever been smelted.

The royal treasurer, however, was not to be silenced by this, but affirmed, that, besides the gold Cortes had secretly taken away, and of which he had deprived his companions in arms, there was a good deal elsewhere from which the royal fifths had not been deducted, and that, in his capacity of royal treasurer, he could not suffer the emperor's interest to be thus prejudiced.

This, consequently, led to high words between both parties, so that they drew swords, and would certainly have killed each other if we had not instantly parted them; for both were high-spirited men and excellent swordsmen, and each had already wounded his antagonist.

As soon as Cortes was informed of this affair, he ordered both to be arrested and heavily chained. As, however, he always had been heart in hand with Leon, many were of opinion that all this was a mere blind to make us believe that he preferred justice to friendship; besides which it was whispered that he secretly visited him during his arrest, and assured him that he should not be confined beyond a couple of days, when he and Mexia would again be set at liberty. But all this did not go to quiet our suspicions, and now Mexia, in his turn, was reproached for not having fulfilled the duties of royal treasurer, and he was compelled by the soldiers to inquire of Cortes what had become of the missing gold?

I will, however, cut this matter short here, and return to Leon, who was confined in a room not far from the apartments occupied by Motecusuma. When Leon, therefore, who was a tall powerful man, paced up and down his room, his heavy chains dragged along the floor, so that the monarch could plainly hear the jingling noise, and he inquired of Orteguilla who the prisoner was? His page then told him that it was Leon, who had previously been captain of the guard, an appointment now filled by Oli, and told him that the reason of his confinement was on account of some gold that was missing.

When Cortes that day, as usual, paid his visit to the monarch, and the first compliments had passed between them, the latter inquired of our general how it came that such a distinguished officer as Leon should have been thrown into chains? To which Cortes answered, jokingly, that all was not as it should be with him, he having threatened, because he had not received sufficient gold, to travel around to the different towns, and demand gold of the caziques. Fearing, therefore, he might put his threats into execution, and kill one or other chief, he had thrown him into prison. Motecusuma, on hearing this, begged Cortes to set him at liberty again, and promised he would soon drive such thoughts from his mind by presenting him with gold from his own private treasure.

Cortes feigned great unwillingness to grant the monarch's request, but at length assured him he would comply merely on account of the affection he bore him, Motecusuma. Leon was, consequently, released, and Cortes brought about a reconciliation between him and Mexia; then despatched him with some of Motecusuma's principal officers to raise gold at Cholulla, from which place he did not return till the end of six days, and now he had more gold than ever. Mexia, however, never forgot this affair, and a coolness ever after existed between him and our general.

I have related this story, though foreign to my narrative, to show the reader what artful devices Cortes was accustomed to set on foot, and what a show he made of justice to make us fear him.

CHAPTER CVII.

I have often related how we strove, in every possible manner, to amuse Motecusuma in his confinement, and daily visited him in his apartments. It was on one of these occasions that the monarch said to our general, "Malinche! in order to prove the great affection I have for you, I must acquaint you that it is my intention to give you one of my prettiest daughters in marriage."

Cortes took his cap off, and thanked him for the honour he was going to confer upon him, and said he was already married, and that the religion and laws of our country would not allow a man to have more than one wife; but that he would accept her and treat her with the respect due to her high rank, and it was requisite she should become converted to Christianity, as the daughters of many of his grandees had been.

Motecusuma readily agreed to this, as he did in everything else we desired, save the sacrificing of human beings, which nothing could induce him to abolish; day after day were those abominations committed: Cortes remonstrated with him in every possible way, but with so little effect, that at last he deemed it proper to take some decided step in the matter. But the great difficulty was to adopt a measure by which neither the inhabitants nor the priesthood would be induced to rise up in arms. We, however, came to the determination, in a meeting called for the purpose, to throw down the idols from the top of Huitzilopochtli's temple; and should the Mexicans rise up in arms for their defence, then to content ourselves by demanding permission to build an altar on one side of the platform, and erect thereon the image of the holy Virgin with the cross.

Thus determined, Cortes, accompanied by seven officers and soldiers, repaired to Motecusuma, and spoke to him as follows: "Great monarch, I have already so many times begged of you to abolish those false idols by whom you are so terribly deluded, and no longer to sacrifice human beings to them; and yet these abominations are continued daily: I have, therefore, come to you now, with these officers, to beg permission of you to take away these idols from the temple, and place in their stead the holy Virgin and the cross. The whole of my men feel determined to pull down your idols, even should you be averse to it; and you may well suppose that one or other of your papas will become the victim."

When Motecusuma heard this, and saw how determined our officers were, he said to Cortes, "Alas, Malinche! why is it you wish to compel me to bring down total destruction on this town? Our gods are already angry with us, and who can tell what revenge they contemplate against you? I will, however, assemble all the papas, to know their opinion."

Cortes made a sign with his hand for the other officers to retire, and begged of Motecusuma to grant him and father Olmedo a private audience. Cortes then told the monarch he only knew one way of saving the town from open rebellion, and the idols from destruction, namely, by our being allowed to erect an altar, with the cross and Virgin Mary, on the top of the great temple. He would then pledge himself to silence the murmurs of his men, and the Mexicans themselves would soon be convinced how greatly such a change would benefit their souls, what great blessings would be showered down upon them, and how abundant their harvests would be.

To this Motecusuma likewise answered, with a deep sigh, and a countenance full of sorrow, that he would discuss the matter with his papas. At length, after a good deal of arguing between the papas and himself, we were allowed to erect an altar, with the cross and holy Virgin, on the top of the temple, opposite the cursed idol Huitzilopochtli. We returned heartfelt thanks to the Almighty, and father Olmedo, assisted by the priest Juan Diaz, and many of our soldiers, celebrated high mass.[74]

Cortes appointed an old soldier to keep watch over this altar, and begged, at the same time, of Motecusuma to order his papas not to obstruct the man in his duty, which was to keep the place clean, burn incense before the altar, keep the candles lighted there night and day, and decorate it from time to time with fresh branches and flowers.

I must, however, break off here, and relate something we little expected.

CHAPTER CVIII.

From the very moment we had erected this altar and cross on the great temple, and had celebrated high mass there, a storm began to gather over our heads.

About this time Huitzilopochtli and Tetzcatlipuca are said to have addressed the papas, and acquainted them they were desirous of leaving the country, as the teules had treated them with such great contempt, and that it was impossible for them to dwell in the same spot with that image and cross. If they were desirous they should remain in Mexico, they were to kill us all. These were the last words they should utter; they were to be communicated to Motecusuma and his grandees, and the papas were at the same time to put them in mind how we had melted all the gold into bars, with which previously the gods had been honoured; how we ordered things as if we had been lords of the country, and kept five powerful princes bound in chains.

All this was faithfully reported to Motecusuma, who then sent word to Cortes he should like to see him, as he had things of the utmost importance to disclose to him.

The page Orteguilla, who had been despatched to Cortes for this purpose, informed the latter that Motecusuma appeared quite changed and spiritless; that, the day previous, several papas and distinguished officers had had secret interviews with him, and they uttered words of which he had not understood one syllable.

Upon this, Cortes, accompanied by Oli, four other officers, and our two interpreters, immediately called upon the monarch, and, after the usual courtesies had passed between them, the latter broke out as follows: "Alas! Malinche and you other officers, how grieved I am at the commands which our gods have imparted to our papas, myself, and my chief officers!

"They most earnestly demand of us that we shall commence hostilities with you, and put you to death, or drive you away from this country by some other means. My advice is, that you had better leave of your own accord, than allow hostilities to commence.

"This, Malinche, I could not help disclosing to you, that you might come to some determination or other. For myself, I have no doubt that all your lives are at stake here."

The reader may easily imagine that Cortes and his officers did not treat all this so very lightly, and that they were not a little surprised at this disclosure. No one could have suspected that affairs would have taken such a turn; but the monarch had spoken in such a positive tone as to leave no doubt on our minds that we lived in imminent danger. Cortes, however, hid his fears from the monarch, and thanked him for his information, adding, that he was sorry we had no vessels left in which we could leave the country; and that if we even did leave it, we must take him, the monarch, along with us, that he might be presented to our emperor: he therefore begged of him to amuse his priests and officers until we should have constructed three vessels on the sea-coast. And if they commenced war with us, they would undoubtedly all be killed. And that Motecusuma might convince himself that he would fulfil his promise, he desired he would despatch two of his chief officers with our carpenters to the coast to cut wood for the building of the vessels.

Motecusuma was now more dispirited than ever when he heard Cortes say that he himself must accompany us; that he was to issue the necessary orders to his carpenters, and act and not talk. Our general also desired him to call the papas and officers to acquaint them that it was unnecessary to raise the town into open rebellion; they might, for the present, appease the gods by offerings, but we forbade any sacrifice of human beings.

After this important disclosure Cortes left the monarch, and we now lived in constant fear of hostilities breaking out. Cortes, however, fulfilled his promise, and sent for Martin Lopez and Andreas Nuñez, described to them the size of the three vessels he wished them to build, and to march to Vera Cruz with the Mexican carpenters, where all the necessary materials, consisting in iron, rigging, tar and tow would be found. These orders were promptly obeyed. The necessary quantity of wood was cut on the coast of Vera Cruz, and the building of the vessels was commenced with all assiduity. Whether Cortes gave Lopez any secret instructions I do not know; but I cannot pass by this circumstance in silence, as Gomara mentions it likewise in his history, and maintains that all this building of the vessels was mere artifice to amuse Motecusuma. May those who know more about this matter publish the truth. There are certainly numbers of our men alive who would be able to give a true account of this. All I know is that Lopez told me in confidence, that the building of the vessels was really commenced, and that the three vessels were actually lying on the staples.

At present, however, we will leave them quietly there, and acquaint the reader that we grew much alarmed at our situation in this great city, and momentarily expected an attack upon our friends of Tlascalla, as Doña Marina had informed our general to that effect. The page, Orteguilla, shed tears all day long, and we others narrowly watched the monarch's person. I must here for the last time acquaint the reader, that whether night or day, we never took off our gorgets or our armour, while our arms were never for a moment out of our hands. A bundle of straw and a mat formed a couch; our horses stood ready saddled, and in short every soldier was ready for action at a moment's notice.

At night we also took the precaution of posting such numbers of sentinels, that each of us in turn, had at least one watch every night. I do not mention this in praise of myself; but I grew so accustomed to being armed night and day, as it were living in armour, that after the conquest of New Spain I could not accustom myself for a length of time to undress on going to lie down, or make use of a bed, but slept better in soldier fashion than on the softest down. Even at the present day, in my old age, I never take a bed with me when I visit the townships belonging to my commendary; and if I do take one, it is merely because the cavaliers who accompany me may not think I take no bed with me, because I have no good one. From continued watching at night it has become quite natural to me to sleep for a short time together only, and get up at intervals to gaze upon the heavens and the stars, and take a couple of turns in the open air. Neither do I wear a nightcap or wind a kerchief around my head; and thanks be to God! this has become so natural to me, that I never feel any inconvenience from it. I have merely mentioned all this to convince the reader how we, the true Conquistadores, were always obliged to be upon our guard, and what hardships we had to undergo.

CHAPTER CIX.

In order to explain what I am now about to relate I must refer to prior events.

I have already mentioned, in the proper chapter, that Diego Velasquez got information of our having sent agents to our emperor with all the gold and presents we had received; and also of the bad reception they had met with from the bishop of Burgos; who not only favoured Velasquez in various ways, but even commanded him to fit out an armament against us, for which he himself would be responsible to the emperor.

The governor of Cuba accordingly used the utmost exertions and assembled a flotilla, consisting of nineteen sail, on board of which were 1400 soldiers, above forty cannon, with a quantity of powder, balls, and gun-flints, besides two artillerymen, who, with the artillery stood under the immediate command of the captain Rodrigo Martin. To this was added eighty horse, ninety crossbow-men, and seventy musketeers. Fat and corpulent as he was, Velasquez had, nevertheless, in the height of his passion, visited every township in Cuba, to hasten the equipment of the flotilla, and invited every inhabitant who had either Indians, relations, or friends who could manage their estates, to join the standard of Pamfilo Narvaez, and share the honour of taking Cortes and all of us prisoners, or at least to blow out our brains. He had even advanced as far as the promontory of Guaniguanico, in the height of his zeal, though that promontory was above 240 miles from the Havannah.

Before this armament quitted the harbour, the royal court of audience at St. Domingo, and the Hieronymite brothers, who were viceroys there, were determined to look into the matter a little; as the licentiate Suazo, who was their agent in Cuba, had sent them information of the extensiveness of the armament.

As the great and valuable services which we had rendered God and his majesty were very well known at St. Domingo, as also the fact of our having sent valuable presents to our emperor, it was considered there that Velasquez was not justified in fitting out an armament to revenge himself upon us, but that his only way was to pursue us in a court of law. These impartial men well foresaw how this armament would impede the conquest of New Spain. They therefore despatched the licentiate Lucas Vazquez de Aillon, who was auditor of the court of audience at St. Domingo, to Cuba, with peremptory commands to Velasquez not to allow the flotilla to leave the harbour.

The auditor punctually fulfilled these commands, and in due form protested against the flotilla leaving the harbour; but Diego Velasquez, who had spent all his property in fitting out this armament, relied upon the good favour of the bishop of Burgos, and took no notice of the protest. Upon this Vazquez de Aillon determined upon embarking himself on board one of the vessels, to try at least if he could not prevent hostilities between Narvaez and Cortes. Many even maintained that he came to Mexico with the secret intention to side with our party, or, if we could not succeed in defeating Narvaez, himself to take possession of the country in the name of our emperor. At all events he embarked with Narvaez and arrived in the harbour of San Juan de Ulua, of which we shall hear more presently.

CHAPTER CX.

When Narvaez had arrived with the flotilla off the mountains of San Martin, a north wind arose, which is always dangerous on these coasts. One of the vessels commanded by a cavalier, named Christobal de Morante, of Medina del Campo, was wrecked during night-time off the coast, and the greater part of the men perished. The other vessels, however, arrived safely in the harbour of San Juan de Ulua.

This armament, which may indeed be considered extensive, considering it was fitted out at Cuba, was first of all seen by some soldiers whom Cortes had sent out in search of gold mines. Three of these, Cervantes, Escalona, and Alonso Carretero, did not hesitate a moment to go on board the commander's ship, and are said, as soon as they stepped on board to have praised the Almighty for having rescued them out of the hands of Cortes and the great city of Mexico, where death stood daily before their eyes.

Narvaez ordered meat and drink to be set before them, and as their glasses were abundantly filled, they said to one another in his presence: "This is indeed leading a different sort of life with a glass of good wine in one's hand, when compared to the slavery under Cortes, who allows a person no rest either night or day; where a person dares scarcely say a word, and death is always staring him in the face."

Cervantes, however, who was a low buffoon, even addressed Narvaez himself, and exclaimed: "O Narvaez! Narvaez, what a fortunate man you are, that you just arrive at the moment when the traitor Cortes has heaped together above 700,000 pesos, and the whole of his men are so enraged with him for his having cheated them out of the greater part of the gold, that many even disdain to accept of their shares."

Such was the language which these low-minded and worthless fellows uttered, and they told Narvaez more than he was desirous of knowing. They likewise informed him that thirty-two miles further on he would come to a town we had built, called Vera Cruz, which had a garrison of sixty men, all invalids, under an officer named Sandoval, and he had merely to show himself with a few men there and they would immediately deliver up the town to him.

Motecusuma was immediately apprized of the arrival of this flotilla, and without saying a single word to Cortes despatched several of his chief officers to Narvaez, with a present in gold and other things; and commanded the inhabitants to furnish him with provisions.

Narvaez, in his message to Motecusuma, calumniated Cortes and all of us, telling him we were nothing but a parcel of thieves and vagabonds, who had fled from Spain without the knowledge of our emperor, but his imperial majesty having been informed that we were in this country committing all manner of depredations, and that we had even imprisoned its monarch, had ordered him to repair hither with his flotilla and troops, to put an end to these disorders and liberate the monarch. He had likewise received orders to put Cortes and all his men to the sword, or take them alive and send them prisoners to Spain, where death awaited them. This sober language the three soldiers, who understood the Mexican language were to translate to Motecusuma's messengers, to whom Narvaez at the same time sent a present of some Spanish goods.

Motecusuma was not a little delighted with this message, particularly when he learnt the number of Narvaez's vessels, of his cannon, and his 1300 soldiers. He, of course, thought it would be an easy matter for Narvaez to overcome us, and as his messengers had seen the three treacherous rascals who had deserted to Narvaez, he found the more reason to believe all the scandal the latter had said concerning Cortes. Besides which he received an accurate description of the whole armament from his artists, who had immediately depicted on cotton cloth everything they saw. He therefore sent a second message, accompanied by more valuable presents in gold and cotton stuffs to Narvaez, with strict commands to the inhabitants of the coast to supply him with plenty of provisions.

Motecusuma had received intelligence of the arrival of the flotilla off the coast three days before Cortes. When the latter, as usual, one day paid a visit to the monarch he found him in particular good spirits, and asked him what had occasioned it? Motecusuma replied, that he found himself in better health than he had done for some time past.

Cortes, who was very much surprised at this sudden change in the monarch, called upon him a second time that day, and now the latter began to fear our general was cognizant of the arrival of the flotilla. To remove all suspicion from his mind, therefore, he thought it better to break the news to him himself. "I have just this moment, Malinche," said he, "received the information that an armament of eighteen vessels, with a great number of soldiers and horses, has arrived in the harbour where you landed. Pictures of the whole armament have been transmitted to me. This, no doubt, is no news to you, and I thought from your second visit to me this day, you came to bring me the intelligence yourself, and that now there was no need for you to build new vessels. Though I may have felt hurt that you wished to keep all this a secret from me, yet, on the other hand, I am delighted at the arrival of your brothers, with whom you can now return to Spain; which thus removes all difficulties at once."

When Cortes heard this and saw the painting which the Mexicans had made of all the vessels, he exclaimed in the excess of his delight: "Praise be to God, whose assistance always comes at the right time!" Indeed the whole of us greatly rejoiced at this news, we galloped about on our horses, and fired salute after salute.

Cortes, however, began to consider it in a more serious light than he had done in the first moments, as he now plainly saw that this armament was sent out against us by Velasquez; and he communicated his suspicions to us all, and by great presents and promises he made us pledge ourselves not to act any way against his interests; which we did the more readily, as the commander of this new armament was totally unknown to us. Our joy was now excessive, not only on account of the gold which Cortes gave us from his private purse, but at the arrival of this flotilla, which we saw the Almighty had sent to us in our distress.

CHAPTER CXI.

After Narvaez had received every information about Vera Cruz from the three deserters, he determined to despatch thither a priest named Guevara, who was a capital hand at talking, and a certain Amaya, a man of great distinction, and a relative of Velasquez; besides a secretary named Vergara and three witnesses, whose names I have forgotten. These gentlemen were to announce his arrival, and summon the town to surrender; and, to make sure work, were provided with a copy of Narvaez appointment.

Sandoval had already been apprized of the arrival of Narvaez by the inhabitants. But as he was a man who was always upon the alert, and possessed of great penetration, he immediately guessed that the armament was fitted out by Velasquez, and that his object was to gain possession of Vera Cruz; he therefore instantly adopted every precaution, and commenced by sending all the invalid soldiers to the Indian township Papalote, merely retaining those who were in good health. He then posted watches along the road leading to Sempoalla, which Narvaez would be obliged to take if he marched to Vera Cruz. Sandoval also made his men promise him neither to surrender the town to Velasquez nor any one else, and that none of his men might forget their promise he ordered a gallows to be erected on an elevated spot outside the town.

When the outposts brought Sandoval information that six Spaniards were approaching the town, he retired into his own house to await their arrival; for he was determined not to go out to receive these guests, and had also issued orders to his men not to quit their quarters, nor exchange a single word with the strangers.

When, therefore, the priest Guevara and his companions arrived in the town, they only saw some Indians, who were working at the fortifications, but not a Spaniard to speak to; they walked straightway into the church to pray, and then repaired to Sandoval's house, which they recognized from its being the largest one in the town.

After the first greetings had passed between them, the priest began his discourse by stating to Sandoval what large sums of money Velasquez had expended on the armament which went out under the command of Cortes, who, with the whole of the men, had turned traitors to the governor; and concluded by saying, that he came to summon him in the name of Narvaez, whom Velasquez had appointed captain-general, to deliver up the town to him.

When Sandoval heard this, and the expressions which reflected dishonour on Cortes, he could scarcely speak, from downright vexation; at length he replied: "Venerable sir, you are wrong to term men traitors who have proved themselves better servants to our emperor than Velasquez has, or your commander; and that I do not now this instant punish you for this affront, is merely owing to your being a priest. Go, therefore, in the name of God, to Mexico; there you will find Cortes, who is captain-general, and chief justice of New Spain. He will answer you himself; here you had better not lose another word."

At this moment the priest, with much bravado, ordered the secretary Vergara to produce the appointment of Narvaez, and read it to Sandoval, and the others present. Sandoval, however, desired the secretary to leave his papers quietly where they were, as it was impossible for him to say whether the appointment was a lawful one or not. But as the secretary still persisted in producing his papers, Sandoval cried out to him: "Mind what you are about, Vergara! I have already told you to keep your papers in your pocket; go with them to Mexico! I promise you, the moment you proceed to read a single syllable from them, 100 good lashes on the spot. How can I tell whether you are a royal secretary or not? First show me your appointment; and if I find you are, I will listen to your papers. But, even then, who can prove to me whether your papers are true or false?"

The priest, who was a very haughty man, then cried out, "Why do you stand upon any ceremony with these traitors? Pull out your papers, and read the contents to them!"

To which Sandoval answered: "You lie, you infamous priest!" and ordered his men immediately to seize those gentlemen, and carry them off to Mexico.

He had hardly spoken, when they were seized by a number of Indians employed at the fortifications, bound hand and foot, and thrown upon the backs of porters. In this way they were transported to Mexico, where they arrived in the space of four days; the Indian porters being constantly relieved by others on the road.

These gentlemen were not a little surprised at this rough treatment; but the deeper they advanced into the country, the more astonished they grew, at the sight of the large towns and villages, where they stopped to take refreshment. They were, it is said, very doubtful within themselves whether all was not enchantment, or merely a dream.

Sandoval had sent Pedro de Solis, Orduña's son-in-law, as alguacil, to accompany the escort; and he likewise informed Cortes, by letter, of everything that was going on at the coast, and of the name of the captain who commanded the flotilla. The letter even arrived before the prisoners in Mexico; so that Cortes was apprized of their approach when they were still at some distance from the town.

He immediately despatched some men with a quantity of the best provisions, and three horses, for the most distinguished of the prisoners, with orders that they should be immediately released from their fetters. He likewise wrote them a letter, in which he expressed his regret that they should have met with such harsh treatment from Sandoval, and that he would give them the most honorable reception. Indeed he even went out to meet them himself, and escorted them into the town.

The priest and his companions—after they became acquainted with the vast extent of Mexico, and the number of other towns built in the lake, saw the quantity of gold which every one of us possessed, and the noble and open countenance of Cortes—were quite enchanted; and they had not been above a couple of days with us before Cortes succeeded so well to tame them, by kind words, fair promises, jewels, and bars of gold, that they, who had come like furious lions, now returned back to Narvaez as harmless as lambs, and offered to render our general every service in their power. Indeed, when they had arrived in Sempoalla, and given Narvaez an account of all they had seen, they spoke of nothing else to his men than of the policy to make common cause with us.

I will, however, break off here, and acquaint the reader with the letter which Cortes wrote to Narvaez.

CHAPTER CXII.

Cortes was a man who never allowed the smallest advantage to escape; and whatever difficulty he might be in, he managed to get out of it. But it must also be remembered, that he had the good fortune to command officers and soldiers on whom he could place every reliance under all circumstances, who not only lent a powerful arm in battle, but likewise assisted him with their prudent counsel. In this way, then, it was unanimously resolved in council, that a letter should be despatched by Indian couriers to Narvaez, written in the most affectionate tone, with offers of our services to him, and begging of him not to excite a rebellion in the country, which would certainly be the case if the Indians observed we were at enmity with each other. This letter was to be delivered to Narvaez before the return there of Guevara. We expressly wrote in this friendly tone, as our numbers were so very small in comparison to his, and because we were first desirous of knowing how he was inclined. Besides this, we employed other means to gain friends among Narvaez's officers, which seemed no great difficulty, as Guevara had assured Cortes that the latter were not on the best terms with their commander, and that a few bars of gold, with a few chains of the same metal, would soon pave the way. In this letter Cortes informed Narvaez how both he and all his men were rejoiced at his arrival here; in particular himself, as they were old friends. He also desired he would not connive at the liberation of Motecusuma, as the consequences would be a rebellion in the city, and throughout the whole country, which would be the destruction of both his troops and ours, as we should be overwhelmed by numbers. He could not help drawing his particular attention to this circumstance, as Motecusuma of late seemed greatly changed in his behaviour towards him, and the inhabitants were upon the point of rising up in arms, from the message which Motecusuma had received in Narvaez's name; but he was convinced that he was too prudent and sensible a man, and would not have sent such a dangerous message at such a critical period, if he had not been misled by the three scoundrels who had run over to him. To make a good finish to the letter, he begged to say that Narvaez was at liberty to dispose of his person and of his purse, and he would await his commands.

Cortes at the same time wrote to Andreas de Duero and Vazquez de Aillon, and accompanied these letters with some gold for themselves and his other friends. Aillon, besides this, privately received some other gold bars and chains. He also despatched father Olmedo to Narvaez's head-quarters with a good stock of these persuasive articles, consisting in various trinkets of gold and precious stones of great value.

The first letter which Cortes had sent by the Indian courier reached Narvaez's quarters before Guevara had returned there. This Narvaez read aloud to his officers, and kept the whole time making merry at the expense of Cortes and all of us. One of his officers, named Salvatierra, even blamed him for reading the letter of such a traitor as Cortes was, to his men. Narvaez, continued he, should immediately march out against us, and put us all to death. He himself, he swore, would cut off Cortes' ears, broil them, and eat them up; and all such like folly. He said the letter ought not to be answered, and he did not care a snap of the fingers for us.

In the meantime the priest, Guevara, and his companions, had returned, and the latter gave Narvaez a circumstantial account of Cortes, showing him what an excellent cavalier he was, and what a faithful servant he had proved himself to our emperor. He spoke about the great power of Motecusuma, and the number of towns through which he had journeyed, and that Cortes would gladly submit to him. He also added, that it was for the advantage of both to remain on friendly terms with each other. New Spain was large enough to afford room for them both, and Narvaez might choose which part of the country he would occupy with his troops.

These statements, which Amaya and Guevara had accompanied by some good advice, so greatly incensed Narvaez, that he would neither see nor speak to them from that moment. The impression, however, it produced on the troops was various; for when they saw the gold these two men returned with, and heard so much good of Cortes and all of us, and heard them speak of the wondrous things they had seen, and the vast quantity of gold, and how we played at cards for gold only, many of them longed to join our corps.

Shortly after this, father Olmedo likewise arrived in Narvaez's quarters with bars of gold and secret instructions. When he called upon him to pay him Cortes' respects, and said how ready he was to obey Narvaez's commands, and remain on terms of peace with him, the latter grew more enraged than before. He even refused to listen to him, and called Cortes and all of us traitors; and when Olmedo denied this, and told him we were the most faithful of the emperor's servants, he grossly insulted him. All this, however, did not deter Olmedo from fulfilling his secret mission, and distributing the bars of gold and golden chains among those for whom Cortes had destined them; and he strove in every way to draw over Narvaez's principal officers to our side.

CHAPTER CXIII.

The auditor Aillon, as I have before mentioned, was most favorably inclined towards Cortes, and had purposely come to New Spain with instructions from the royal court of audience at St. Domingo and the Hieronymite brothers, who were aware of the great and important services we had rendered to God and the emperor, to promote our cause in every possible manner. After he had carefully perused Cortes' letters, and received the bars of gold, he no longer made a secret of his sentiments, but spoke without any reserve of the scandalous piece of injustice which had been perpetrated in fitting out this armament against such well-deserving men as we had proved ourselves, and was so eloquent in the praise of Cortes and his companions in arms, that the feeling in our favour became almost universal in Narvaez's head-quarters. The meanness of the latter's disposition served to increase this feeling, who retained all the presents sent by Motecusuma entirely to himself, without offering any part of them either to his officers or men. Indeed, he even said haughtily to his steward, "Mind that not the smallest matter is taken away from these things; every article has been carefully noted down." When this conduct was compared with that pursued by Cortes towards his soldiers, his men almost broke out into open insurrection.

Narvaez looked upon the auditor as the cause of all this bad feeling, and brought it so sensibly home to him that no one durst give him or his adherents the smallest morsel of the provisions which were sent by Motecusuma. This circumstance of itself caused a good deal of quarrelling among the troops; but when Narvaez's principal adherents, Salvatierra, whom I have above mentioned, and a certain Juan Bono, from Biscay, with a certain Gamarra, continually added fuel to the flame, he, relying on the mighty support of Fonseca, lost sight of every consideration, imprisoned the auditor, with his secretary and all his attendants, threw them on board a vessel, and so sent them off either to Spain or Cuba.

His behaviour towards Gonzalo de Oblanco, a cavalier and a scholar, was even more severe,—when the latter boldly told him to his face that Cortes had proved himself a faithful servant to the emperor, that we all had merited a reward from his majesty, and that it was scandalous to brand us with the name of traitors, and great presumption to imprison one of his majesty's auditors, Narvaez instantly threw him into chains, and Oblanco, who was a high-spirited soul, was so hurt at this ill-treatment, that he died within the space of four days. Two other soldiers were thrown into prison merely because they had spoken well of Cortes; one of whom was Sancho de Barahona, who afterwards settled down in Guatimala.

But to return to the auditor, who was to be sent prisoner to Spain; he was scarcely at sea, when he prevailed upon the captain and pilot, by means of good words, or threats to hang them immediately on their arrival in Spain, instead of paying them for the passage, to steer for St. Domingo.

As soon as the auditor had arrived at St. Domingo, and the royal court of audience and viceroys there were informed of Narvaez's scandalous and presumptuous ill treatment of the licentiate Lucas Vazquez, they considered it in the light of an insult offered to themselves, and made heavy complaints to the supreme council of Castile. But as the bishop Fonseca was still president of that council, and, during his majesty's continued absence in Flanders, ruled affairs as he thought proper, no justice could be expected from Spain. The bishop had even the shamelessness openly to express his joy when he supposed that Narvaez had already subdued us. The bishop, himself, however, suffered from the consequences which ensued from this affair; for, when our agents in Flanders received intelligence of Velasquez's expedition, and found that it had been fitted out without his majesty's permission, and merely by authority of Fonseca, they drew great advantage from this illegal mode of proceeding during the investigation which was shortly after set on foot respecting Cortes and all of us.—The harsh treatment which the auditor Lucas Vazquez was subjected to had a bad effect upon Narvaez's troops, and many of his friends and relatives whom he regarded with a mistrustful eye, went over to Sandoval, lest they should experience similar treatment with Oblanco. Sandoval, as may well be imagined, received them with open arms, and learnt from them all that had passed in Narvaez's quarters; likewise that he contemplated sending men to Vera Cruz to take him prisoner.

CHAPTER CXIV.

After Narvaez had sent off the auditor prisoner, he marched with the whole of his men, the baggage, and the cannon, to Sempoalla, and quartered himself in that town, which was then very thickly populated. His first act there was to take away from the fat cazique, as we termed him, the cotton stuffs, gold trinkets, and other fancy articles he possessed. He likewise took the Indian females forcibly away who had been presented to us by the caziques of Sempoalla, and whom we had left behind with their parents and relatives, as they were daughters of distinguished personages, and much too delicate to bear the fatigues of a campaign.

The fat cazique had often warned Narvaez not to touch the women, or anything which Cortes had left behind in the shape of gold or cotton stuffs, as he would certainly be greatly incensed, hasten from Mexico, and not only cut off Narvaez, but also him, for suffering his property to be touched.

All the complaints this cazique might make respecting the depredations committed by Narvaez's troops in Sempoalla were equally fruitless. And it was of no avail for him to repeat that Malinche and his men had never taken the smallest thing from them, and had proved themselves altogether kind-hearted teules; Narvaez and Salvatierra, whose conduct in general was the most heartless, merely mocked at the cazique, the latter often repeating to Narvaez and the other officers, "Only just imagine in what fear these caziques stand of that paltry little fellow Cortes!"

May the good reader learn from this how wrong it is to speak evil of honest folks; for I am ready to swear that this very Salvatierra behaved in the most pitiable and cowardly manner when the battle was fought between Narvaez and us, and yet his build and bones were powerful enough to have defended himself right well; however, he was a mere braggadocio, and I believe he was a native of Burgos.

We must now, however, return to Cortes, and acquaint the reader that Narvaez despatched his secretary, Alonso Meta, who subsequently settled in Puebla, with three other great personages, to Mexico, commanding us and our general, by virtue of the copies of his appointment by Velasquez, to submit to him.[75]

Cortes, who received daily intelligence of what was going on in Narvaez's head-quarters and at Vera Cruz, was duly informed by Sandoval how Narvaez had thrown Vazquez de Aillon into chains, and sent him to Spain or Cuba, and that, owing to such violent proceedings, five of his principal officers had come over to him, who feared, since so little respect had been paid to the person of a royal auditor, they, as Aillon's relatives, might expect worse treatment. From them Sandoval learnt everything that was passing in Narvaez's head-quarters, and that it was his intention to march shortly in person to Mexico to take us all prisoners. Cortes, on receiving this intelligence, assembled his officers and all those whom he was accustomed to consult in matters of great moment, and were men entirely devoted to him. In this council it was determined we should anticipate Narvaez, and immediately march out against him. Pedro de Alvarado was to remain in Mexico, with all those who were not over-anxious to make this campaign, to guard the person of Motecusuma; and we likewise took care to leave all those behind who, as partisans of Velasquez, were not altogether to be trusted.

Cortes had fortunately ordered a quantity of maise from Tlascalla previous to the arrival of Narvaez, for the harvest had altogether failed about Mexico, owing to a continued drought: we, indeed, required a great quantity of provisions for the numbers of Naborias[76] and Tlascallan troops we had with us. This and other necessaries of life, consisting in fowls, fruits, &c., arrived at the time appointed, and were given in charge of Alvarado. We likewise took the precaution of fortifying our quarters,—we mounted four pieces of heavy cannon on the most commanding point, and left Alvarado a few falconets and all the powder we could spare, with ten crossbow-men, fourteen musketeers, and seven horse soldiers; the latter were, indeed, more than he required, as the cavalry was of little use in the courtyards attached to our quarters. The number of soldiers we left behind in Mexico was altogether eighty-three.

Motecusuma easily conjectured what our designs were against Narvaez; yet, though Cortes daily called upon him, he was equally upon his guard as Cortes was in not throwing out any hints of his (Motecusuma's) sending Narvaez gold and provisions. It was only at the very last that the monarch made some inquiries respecting our intended movements, which will be found in the chapter following.

CHAPTER CXV.