Chapter II

The Youth of Cortes—His Voyage to San Domingo and Settlement there—Cortes under Velasquez in Cuba—He Fits Out a Fleet for the Conquest of Mexico

Velasquez, an ambitious but at the same time distrustful and fickle man, decided to continue the great discoveries made in his name, and to secure the rich profits which they promised. With this object in view he fitted out a strong fleet with the utmost expedition. The question then arose, Who should take command of it? Not having the courage to participate personally in an undertaking exposed to so many dangers and hardships, he was forced to look for another leader. The choice was a difficult one, for one man seemed to him too cowardly, another too courageous, this one too dull, another too crafty. He was anxious to find a man who would combine with the necessary judgment and courage absolute devotion to him and slavish obedience to his orders, and who would not only accomplish great deeds but at the same time give him all the advantage of them. Fortunately he found such a man, one admirably fitted for such an undertaking, but he did not understand how to make use of him. That man was Cortes.

Hernando Cortes, of noble family, was born in 1485 at Medellin, a small town in the Spanish province of Estremadura. From his earliest youth he had unusual courage, unwearied patience in overcoming difficulties, a restless, active spirit, and a burning desire to distinguish himself by great deeds. In his childhood he was weakly. In his fourteenth year he was sent to the University of Salamanca, his father, who built great hopes upon his brilliant talents, having destined him for the law. He chose a calling for him which opened up better prospects for an industrious young man than any other, but the son had no sympathy with his father’s purpose. He showed little fondness for books and after his second year of study returned home, to the great disappointment of his parents, and spent his time without following any special avocation. He showed an inclination for a military life, particularly a life full of adventure.

All eyes at that time were directed to the West Indies, and his own eyes were turned to the same region. He decided to enroll himself among those bold spirits who defied all hardships and dangers if only they might enrich their fatherland with new possessions and gain for themselves a glorious name. He was in his twentieth year (1504) when he sailed from Spain and betook himself to San Domingo. On his very first voyage his courage and steadfastness were put to a severe test. He encountered innumerable dangers and trials, but the bold, strong youth, whose physical and mental strength had not been weakened by indolence, effeminacy, and shameless debaucheries, laughed at them. To work was a pleasure to him, to hunger and thirst a trifle, to die, if necessary, an indifferent matter.

The vessel which carried Cortes was one of a large number lying at the Canary Islands, taking on stores for their voyages, as was the practice of all vessels at that time when making the passage to the New World. Its commander was a greedy fellow who was anxious to reach the New World market before the rest so as to get a high price for his goods. He sailed away secretly by night, but a furious storm overtook him, dismasted his vessel, and forced him to go back to the Canary Islands. The other captains generously waited for their faithless companion, but he managed to slip away again by night. He lost his course, however, was exposed to hard storms and adverse winds, and his vessel was so violently tossed about that all on board feared for their lives and were not a little enraged at the author of their troubles. The young Cortes, however, was not disturbed by the danger, and contemplated the future joyfully. At last, after long wandering about, the vessel arrived at its destination. A dove which had gone astray lit upon the mast. As it flew off they followed the direction of its flight and reached Hispaniola, where the other vessels had arrived a long time before and the ship-masters had sold their goods.

Cortes reached San Domingo at a time when Ovando was still governor. His very appearance secured for him a favorable reception. He was prepossessing, pleasing of countenance, and unaffectedly friendly in his contact with every one, but his peculiar qualities of disposition made him still more the favorite. He was open-hearted, indulgent, and magnanimous, but he was also shrewd, far-sighted, and reserved. He spoke maliciously of no one and was good-humored in conversation. He was always ready to confer favors but he could not bear to have them mentioned. These meritorious qualities soon made him a favorite with every one. Immediately upon arrival he went to pay his respects to the governor, but Ovando was absent, attending to affairs in the interior. His secretary, however, received him cordially, and assured him it would not be difficult for him to obtain an abundance of land from Ovando upon which he could settle. Cortes answered: “I have come here to provide myself with gold, not to plough like a field laborer.”

Upon his return Ovando induced the young man to give up his ambitious designs, for a short time at least, and convinced him that he would certainly become richer if he settled down as a planter than if he trusted himself to chance. Cortes therefore secured land and an allotment of Indians in the settlement of Azua. The monotony of his life was often relieved by the part he took as an adventurer in warlike expeditions, especially in the company of Velasquez, when the latter as Ovando’s representative was forced to suppress uprisings of the natives. In this way he became better known to Ovando, who was exceedingly anxious to retain his services. But as his young, courageous spirit was eager for more important undertakings, he applied for and received permission to accompany Velasquez on his expedition to Cuba in 1511. At last he had an opportunity to display his courage and activity. He quickly rose. In a short time the important position of Alcalde of St. Iago was assigned to him. A quarrel with Velasquez soon after occurred, which might easily have been fatal to the incautious Cortes, had not the friendship of the two been so strong. Cortes, who was not a hero of virtue, fell in love with a young lady of high rank, named Catalina Xuarez, and had promised to marry her, but put off the fulfilment of his promise so long that he incurred the angry reproaches of the governor. These reproaches naturally led to a coolness between Cortes and his patron, and Cortes decided that he would lay his grievances before Velasquez’ superior in Hispaniola. Other dissatisfied ones joined him and they planned to send a messenger. Cortes was selected, for no other would have ventured to cross secretly in an open boat the distance of eighteen miles to the neighboring island. But the conspiracy was discovered, Cortes was arrested, chained, and placed in close confinement. It is said that Velasquez would have hanged him but for the intercession of friends. Meantime the bold Cortes did not long remain in prison. He shoved back one of the fastenings of his chains, freed his limbs, broke the window, and escaped to a church near by. According to the customs of the time a fugitive could not be seized in a sacred place. Velasquez kept guards upon the lookout, and once, when Cortes incautiously ventured out just a little too far, he was caught, and bound, and conveyed to a vessel which was to sail to Hispaniola the next morning. But fortune favored him. He released himself in the night, jumped from the vessel’s side into a boat, thence into the sea, and swam ashore. Exhausted, he sought the same asylum again and declared he would marry Catalina Xuarez, if the governor would pardon him. Velasquez assented, Cortes married Catalina, a reconciliation between himself and Velasquez was effected, and a closer friendship than ever was the result.

When Alvarado returned with glowing accounts of the new discoveries on the mainland, and Grijalva also extolled the great rich western empire, Cortes was the one chosen as the commander of the fleet. The position was accepted by him, and all who were to take part in the expedition were delighted that such an able, courageous, and highly qualified man was to be their leader. Cortes was also delighted at the opportunity of displaying his ability, contributed all that he had in providing an ample store of campaign necessaries, and aided those of his companions who were too poor to obtain what they needed.

Before the equipment in the harbor of St. Iago was completed Cortes stole away, for he had heard that Velasquez designed to take the supreme command from him, fearing that he might carry off all the glory as well as the profits of the enterprise. His entire force numbered three hundred men, and a hundred more joined him from another part of Cuba, members of distinguished families, eager for the glory and boundless treasures which the expedition promised. The day on which Cortes sailed was the eighteenth of November, 1518. The first destination of the fleet was Trinidad, and the next Havana, where several persons and further stocks of supplies were to be taken aboard.

Velasquez for a long time seemed to be satisfied with the choice of Cortes as leader of the expedition, though many a jealous tale-bearer sought to prejudice him against him. But hardly did he see Cortes sail away before he took a different view of the prospect. He thought to himself, What if he should abuse the authority entrusted to him, refuse to be obedient, and make himself absolute ruler in the country he was to conquer in Velasquez’ name? The little clique of Cortes’ enemies ever at his side observed what was troubling him and redoubled their efforts to kindle his jealousy into flame, and at last succeeded. A messenger was instantly sent to the Alcalde at Trinidad, ordering him to remove Cortes from his position as soon as he arrived there. The Alcalde was prepared to carry out his instructions, but Cortes, who was not conscious of any offence, did not believe that he was bound to resign. He assured the Alcalde that Velasquez’ change of mind was due to a misunderstanding and requested him to delay the execution of his instructions until he could send a letter to the governor and receive a reply. The Alcalde, who was not in a position to carry out his instructions by force, gave his consent. Cortes wrote the governor, weighed anchor at once, and sailed for Havana. At the latter place he had to wait some time, partly for his reinforcements and partly to secure one thing or another indispensable to such an important expedition.

At last all was ready. The fleet numbered eleven vessels. The largest, of one hundred tons, not larger than one of our two-masted merchant vessels, was the Admiral’s flag-ship. The three next largest were of seventy-eight tons’ burthen, and the rest small open barges. Cortes’ force had now been increased to six hundred and seventeen, of whom a hundred or so were sailors and artisans, the rest soldiers. Only thirteen of these were armed with muskets and thirty-two with cross-bows. The others carried swords and spears, for the use of fire-arms at that time was very limited. Sixteen horses, ten small cannon or field-pieces, and four falconets or culverins, which are a kind of long, slender cannon, no longer in use, constituted the most important part of the outfit. With this comparatively weak equipment, Cortes sailed for an unknown country to make war against the powerful ruler of Mexico, whose prosperous empire, together with the neighboring provinces, was greater than all the countries over which the King of Spain ruled at that time.

In the meantime Velasquez was furious at the news that Cortes, in spite of his prohibition, had sailed away. He charged his representatives whom he had sent to cancel the appointment with treachery. His rage knew no bounds, and he made vigorous preparations to prevent Cortes from escaping a second time from Havana. He sent one of his most trusty subordinates with express instructions to seize Cortes and send him chained and stoutly guarded to St. Iago.

Fortunately Cortes was informed of the danger impending over him in sufficient time to make himself secure. He quickly summoned his force, of whose good-will he was convinced, explained the danger which threatened them, and asked for their opinion. They unanimously declared he should pay no attention to the fickle governor and that he should not surrender his legal rights nor deliver himself into the power of such an unjust and suspicious judge. They implored him, in view of the importance of the expedition, not to give up his leadership, assured him of their perfect confidence in him, and expressed themselves ready, in the face of all obstacles and dangers, to follow him even to death. Cortes was easily affected and ready to agree to anything which would aid him in carrying out his purpose. After thanking the soldiers for their consent he at once ordered anchors weighed, and sailed from Havana, February 10, 1519.