i. 262, follows both Bernal Diaz and Gomara, but without

seeking to account for their differences, and thus allows himself to exceed every other authentic estimate for the number of the men.

[101] _Torquemada_, i. 364; Gomara, _Hist. Mex._, 14, gives the same names, except that Francisco de Salcedo stands in the place of Alvarado. Solis, _Hist. Mex._, i. 66, mentions eleven, including Salcedo and Nortes; Las Casas, _Hist. Ind._, iv. 453, names eight, as appointed by Velazquez. Zamacois, _Hist. Méj._, ii. 287, leaves out Ávila, which is certainly a mistake, based on Bernal Diaz, who includes Ginés Nortes, the captain merely of a transport. Salcedo joined later, at Villa Rica.

[102] Such is in substance the speech prepared by Gomara, _Hist. Mex._, 15-16, well suited for the enterprise, yet not exactly in accord with the pretended mission of peaceful trade and exploration. Torquemada, i. 364-5, gives it nearly in the same form, while Solis, _Hist. Mex._, i. 71-3, elaborates to suit himself.

[103] The date of departure is generally admitted to be February 18th, but in _Cortés_, _Memorial_, 1542, is written ‘tardó en esto [fitting out] desde dieciocho dias del mes de Octubre ... hasta dieciocho dias del mes de Enero, del año de diez y nueve que acabó de salir de la dicha Isla de Cuba, del cabo de Corrientes.’ _Cortés_, _Escritos Sueltos_, 313. This is wrong, however, for the fleet could not have left Santiago before the date of the instructions; yet it confirms the fact that three months were spent, after leaving Santiago, before the fleet finally left the island. Some of the authors indicate a portion of this time, showing that eight days were spent at Macãco and twelve at Trinidad, leaving seventy-two days for the brief passages along the south coast of Cuba and for the stay at San Cristóbal.

_De Rebus Gestis Ferdinandi Cortesii_, or, as the Spanish translator entitles it, _Vida de Hernan Cortés_, giving the fullest but also the most partial account of Cortés up to this time, is an anonymous manuscript in Latin, of eleven folio leaves, deposited in the Simancas archives, whence Muñoz obtained a copy, published by Icazbalceta in his _Coleccion de Documentos_, i. 309-57. It is in a clear hand, with corrections and marginals, evidently by the author. Several points indicate that it formed part of _De Orbe Novo_, a history of America, written apparently in a series of biographies, to judge from the reference made to a preceding part relating to Columbus, and to later parts on the conquest of Mexico. Muñoz expresses the opinion that the author may be Calvet de Estrella, chronicler of the Indies, mentioned by Nic. Antonio as the writer of the manuscripts _De Rebus Gestis Vaccæ Castri_, in the Colegio del Sacro Monte de Granada. This title induced him to name the present document _De Rebus Gestis Ferdinandi Cortesii_. The supposition is warranted by the style and by the evident date; for references indicate that it was written during the lifetime of several companions of Cortés. The fragment begins with the hero’s birth and ends at his departure with the fleet from Cuba. Although the facts related conform, as a rule, to Gomara’s version, a number of authorities have been consulted, some of them no longer extant, chiefly with a view to extol the character and career of the hero, and to elaborate incidents into tiresome prolixity.