CHAPTER VII.

IMPRUDENT ZEAL OF CORTES-RESENTMENT OF THE MEXICANS-CRITICAL CONDITION OF THE SPANIARDS-TRANSACTIONS AT THE court of SPAIN-EXPedition dispatched from cuba unDER NARVAEZ.

ALL these profits and successes, however, seemed little to Cortes, so long as the pagan worship stood predominant, and the Holy Faith was compelled to hide its head in the Spanish quarters. He now coolly suggested to Montezuma that the great teocalli should be delivered up for the services of the Christian religion. His captive stood aghast at the proposed profanation. "Why, Malinche," he exclaimed, "will you urge matters to an extremity that must surely bring down the vengeance of our gods, and stir up an insurrection among the people?" It was then proposed, as a compromise, that the Christians should occupy one of the sanctuaries on the summit of the teocalli; and Montezuma, after a conference with his priests, "with much agitation and the appearance of deep sorrow, heavily consented."

The strange spectacle was now presented of the solemn ceremonial of the Mass, performed side by side on the great plateau of the temple with the hideous rites of the Aztec worship. But the people, who had patiently submitted to the imprisonment of their sovereign, and their own menaced enslavement, were unable to endure this affront to their national faith. The brow of Montezuma ("the sad prince") became more gloomy; he held frequent conferences with the nobles and priests; and at last formally announced to Cortes that the Aztec deities, enraged at the profanation of their shrine, were resolved on the destruction and sacrifice of the intruders. This unwelcome news (which, according to the Spanish historians, he had received direct from Satan in person,)* was, how

* "At this time," says De Solis, [quite forgetting his late position in regard to the silencing of the Satanic Oracle] "The Devil wearied him with horrible Threats, deluding him with Voices real or imaginary from the Mouths of his Idols, to irritate him against the Spaniards.”

ever, only communicated to the Spaniards, that they might provide for their security by an immediate retreat. "If you have any regard for your own safety," he said, "you will leave the country without delay. I have only to raise my finger, and every Aztec in the land will rise in arms against you."

The truth of this assertion was but too evident; and Cortes, to allay the hourly-increasing excitement, promised to leave the country as soon as vessels could be provided. The construction of several, on the sea-coast, was immediately commenced-whether in good faith, or to gain time for the arrival of reinforcements, seems uncertain.

In the Spanish camp, all was now gloom and apprehension. "The time of our stay in this city," says Diaz, "was one series of alarms, sufficient in themselves to have destroyed the lives of those who were not supported by the Divine interposition." All slept upon their arms, and the horses stood day and night ready caparisoned for service. Such hardy soldiership, in these wonderful campaigns, was, indeed, almost habitual with the Spaniards, and, half a century afterwards, we find the same old soldier (then Regidor of Guatemala) pleasantly boasting: "Without meaning to praise myself, I may say, that my armour was as easy to me as the softest down; and such is my custom, that when I now go the rounds of my district, I never take a bed with me, unless I happen to be attended by strange cavaliers, in which case I do it only to avoid the appearance of poverty or penuriousness; but, by my faith, even when I have one, I always throw myself on it in my clothes; such it is to be a true soldier! Another peculiarity I have is, I cannot sleep through the night, but always awaken and get up, in order to contemplate the heavens and stars, and thus I amuse myself, walking backwards and forwards, as I used to do when on guard, for a good space of time, without hat or cap; and Glory be to God, I never yet caught cold, nor was a jot the worse for it. And this the reader must pardon me for mentioning, it not being from vanity, but that I wish him to

know what kind of men we, the true-bred soldiers and real conquerors of Mexico, were."

While they thus remained in the city, "very pensive and sad," startling tidings arrived from Vera Cruz (May, 1520). The emissaries of Cortes, (dispatched the preceding summer,) after having indiscreetly touched at Cuba, had held their way to Spain, and in October, 1519, had arrived at the port of San Lucar. All Spain was thrown into a feverish excitement by the news they brought; and the splendid treasures (the first gifts of the noble Montezuma) were the theme of rapturous and greedy admiration. Such, however, was the opposition and intrigue of Cortes' opponents, that his messengers were unable to obtain an audience before the Spanish monarch (the Emperor Charles V.) until the following spring; and when they succeeded, the hostile influence of Fonseca (the old persecutor of Columbus) was too powerful to admit of their sucIn May, 1520, the ambitious sovereign, absorbed in European intrigue, left his kingdom without attempting to settle the command of Mexico, or to further the magnificent schemes for its conquest.

Velasquez, meanwhile, had been straining every nerve to wrest back the authority which, in an evil hour, he had surrendered to Cortes, and the value of which was every day becoming more apparent. With such zeal and energy did he set to work, and so great was the eagerness excited by the wondrous tales of Mexican treasure, that the whole island was ready to enlist under his banners. With almost incredible exertions, a fleet of eighteen vessels was fitted out; nine hundred men, with a large supply of artillery and munitions of war, were embarked; and the command of the whole was intrusted to Pamphilo de Narvaez, the favorite lieutenant of the governor, and his chief instrument in the subjugation of Cuba. He was a man of great boldness, but arrogant, and exceedingly deficient in prudence.

This formidable armament, by far the greatest which had been fitted out in the West Indian colonies, sailed from Cuba

in March, 1520, and in the latter part of April anchored off San Juan de Ulua. On learning the wonderful successes of Cortes, the wrath of the new commander was extreme; and he loudly proclaimed his intention to inflict on him the punishment due to a traitor. He forthwith dispatched a priest, named Guevara, a notary, and four others, to demand the surrender of Vera Cruz, then commanded by Sandoval. That fiery but cautious cavalier, however, had put himself in a strong posture of defence; and, the better to insure the adherence of his garrison, had set up a gallows for the benefit of any who might waver in their fidelity. His first step, on receiving the summons of his clerical and legal visitors, was to seize their persons; and "thereon, a number of Indians (tamanes or porters) having been prepared for the purpose, threw trammels over them like so many damned souls, and, making them fast, instantly set off with them on their backs to Mexico; they hardly knowing if they were dead or alive, or if it was not all enchantment, when they travelled in such a manner, post haste, by fresh relays of Indians, and saw the large and populous towns, which they passed through with a rapidity that stupefied them. Thus they were carried, day and night, till they were safely deposited in Mexico" (seventy leagues).

Intelligence of the arrival of the fleet had already reached that city, in the accurate pictures dispatched as usual to Montezuma, and general exultation spread among the Spaniards at the arrival of the supposed reinforcement. Cortes, better informed, felt his situation almost desperate, but resolved on as desperate efforts to maintain the splendid position he had won. On the arrival of his involuntary guests, bewildered by their strange conveyance, he made all possible amends for their rough treatment. "He said so many civil things to them, and anointed their fingers so well with gold, that in a few days he sent back, as tractable as lambs, those who had set out against him like roaring lions."

By these envoys he sent a conciliatory letter to his rival,

offering submission to him, if he had a royal commission, (knowing he had none) and soon after dispatched the worthy Father Olmedo, with a plentiful supply of gold, to make friends in the hostile camp. That subtle ecclesiastic played his part so well, that in a little time disaffection spread widely; and many of the soldiers were eager to serve the generous and valorous Conqueror. Narvaez, blind to his danger, and ill-pacified by the letters of his rival, continued to threaten haughtily, and as to Cortes, declared "that he would cut off his ears, and broil and eat them, with a great deal of such absurdity." These pompous menaces were echoed by Salvatierra and other swaggering captains about him.

CHAPTER VIII.

CORTES MARCHES AGAINST NARVAEZ-DEFEATS AND TAKES HIM
PRISONER-GREAT ACCESSION TO HIS FORCE.

CORTES now resolved on one of those daring expedients which, with him, were the common and almost certain prelude to success. He resolved to leave the city, and, with a small part of his force, to try his fortunes in the enemy's camp. To hold possession of the emperor's person and the great city of Mexico, he was enabled to leave but an hundred and forty men, under the command of Pedro de Alvarado—a man, as it proved, miserably unfitted for such an important trust. The Aztec emperor, though perplexed by these new events, promised his influence to maintain order during the absence of his chief captor. In the middle of May, 1520, with only seventy soldiers, Cortes set forth from the city, in which, for six months, he had exercised, in the name of his captive, the most absolute power. He went to meet a force vastly outnumbering his own, and conscious that the result of all his past victories was now staked on a single throw. At Cholula, he was rejoiced to find Velasquez de Leon, whom, with an hundred and twenty men, he had dispatched to found a col