EARLY LIFE OF CORTEZ.
Village of Medellin.--Early character of Cortez.--Hernando sent to
Salamanca.--Life at the university.--He turns soldier.--Expedition to
Hispaniola.--His early love, and unfortunate consequences attending
it.--He arrives at Hispaniola.--Patronage of the governor.--Life at
Hispaniola.--Cortez's courage.--The island of Cuba.--The new governor.
--The filibustering expedition.--Resistance.--Hatuey condemned to
death.--His conversation.--The colony.--The conspiracy.--Cortez
imprisoned.--He flees to a church.--Arrest and escape.--Cortez is
pardoned.--His marriage.--Voyage of discovery.--Discoveries.--
Disasters.--Reports from Yucatan.--Another expedition.--It arrives
at Mexico.--Accounts from Montezuma.--The golden hatchets.--Reports
carried to Spain.--Cortez obtains a commission.--His enthusiasm.--
Mission and means.--The governor alarmed.--Attempt to deprive Cortez
of the command.--The squadron sails.--Cortez and the governor.--St.
Jago and Trinidad.--The standard.--Providential gifts.--Orders to
arrest Cortez.--His speech.--The result.--Cortez writes to Velasquez.
--The squadron proceeds to Cape Antonio.--The armament.--Personal
appearance of Cortez.--The eve of departure.--The harangue.--Result
of the speech.--The squadron sails.
In the interior of Spain, in the midst of the sombre mountains whose
confluent streams compose the waters of the Guadiana, there reposes
the little village or hamlet of Medellin. A more secluded spot it
would be difficult to find. Three hundred and seventy years ago, in
the year 1485, Hernando Cortez was born in this place. His ancestors
had enjoyed wealth and rank. The family was now poor, but proud of the
Castilian blood which flowed in their veins. The father of Hernando
was a captain in the army--a man of honorable character. Of his mother
but little is known.
Not much has been transmitted to our day respecting the childhood
of this extraordinary man. It is reported that he early developed
a passion for wild adventure; that he was idle and wayward; frank,
fearless, and generous; that he loved to explore the streams and
to climb the cliffs of his mountainous home, and that he ever
appeared reckless of danger. He was popular with his companions, for
warm-heartedness and magnanimity were prominent in his character.
His father, though struggling with poverty, cherished ambitious views
for his son, and sent him to the celebrated university of Salamanca
for an education. He wished Hernando to avoid the perils and
temptations of the camp, and to enter the honorable profession of the
law. Hernando reluctantly obeyed the wishes of his father, and went
to the university. But he scorned restraint. He despised all the
employments of industry, and study was his especial abhorrence. Two
years were worse than wasted in the university. Young Cortez was both
indolent and dissipated. In all the feats of mischief he was the
ringleader, and his books were entirely neglected. He received
many censures, and was on the point of being expelled, when his
disappointed father withdrew the wayward boy from the halls of the
university, and took him home.
Hernando was now sixteen years of age. There was nothing for him to do
in the seclusion of his native village but to indulge in idleness.
This he did with great diligence. He rode horses; he hunted and
fished; he learned the art of the swordsman and played the soldier.
Hot blood glowed in his veins, and he became genteelly dissolute; his
pride would never allow him to stoop to vulgarity. The father was
grief-stricken by the misconduct of his son, and at last consented to
gratify the passion which inspired him to become a soldier.
At seventeen years of age the martial boy enlisted in an expedition,
under Gonsalvo de Cordova, to assist the Italians against the French.
Young Cortez, to his bitter disappointment, just as the expedition
started, was taken seriously sick, and was obliged to be left behind.
Soon after this, one of his relatives was appointed, by the Spanish
crown, governor of St. Domingo, now called Hayti, but then called
Hispaniola, or Little Spain. This opening to scenes and adventures in
the New World was attractive to the young cavalier in the highest
possible degree. It was, indeed, an enterprise which might worthily
arouse the enthusiasm of any mind. A large fleet was equipped to
convey nearly three thousand settlers to found a colony beneath the
sunny skies and under the orange groves of the tropics. Life there
seemed the elysium of the indolent man. Young Cortez now rejoiced
heartily over his previous disappointment. His whole soul was
engrossed in the contemplation of the wild and romantic adventures in
which he expected to luxuriate. It is not to be supposed that a lad of
such a temperament should, at the age of seventeen, be a stranger to
the passion of love. There was a young lady in his native village for
whom he had formed a strong youthful attachment. He resolved, with his
accustomed ardor and recklessness, to secure an interview with his
lady-love, where parting words and pledges should not be witnessed by
prudent relatives.
One dark night, just before the squadron sailed, the ardent lover
climbed a mouldering wall to reach the window of the young lady's
chamber. In the obscurity he slipped and fell, and some heavy stones
from the crumbling wall fell upon him. He was conveyed to his bed,
severely wounded and helpless. The fleet sailed, and the young man,
almost insane with disappointment and chagrin, was left upon his bed
of pain.
At length he recovered. His father secured for him a passage to join
the colonists in another ship. He, with exultation, left Medellin,
hastened to the sea-shore, where he embarked, and after an unusually
adventurous and perilous voyage, he gazed with delight upon the
tropical vegetation and the new scenes of life of Hispaniola. It was
the year 1504. Cortez was then nineteen years of age.
The young adventurer, immediately upon landing, proceeded to the house
of his relative, Governor Ovando. The governor happened to be absent,
but his secretary received the young man very cordially.
"I have no doubt," said he to Hernando, "that you will receive a
liberal grant of land to cultivate."
"I come to get gold," Hernando replied, haughtily, "not to till the
soil like a peasant."
Ovando, on his return, took his young relative under his patronage,
and assigned to him posts of profit and honor. Still Cortez was very
restless. His impatient spirit wearied of the routine of daily duty,
and his imagination was ever busy in the domain of wild adventure.
Two Spaniards upon the island of Hispaniola about this time planned an
expedition for exploring the main land, to make discoveries and to
select spots for future settlements. Cortez eagerly joined the
enterprise, but again was he doomed to disappointment. Just before the
vessels sailed he was seized by a fever, and laid prostrate upon his
bed. Probably his life was thus saved. Nearly all who embarked on this
enterprise perished by storm, disease, and the poisoned arrows of the
natives.
Seven years passed away, during which Cortez led an idle and
voluptuous life, ever ready for any daring adventure which might
offer, and miserably attempting to beguile the weariness of provincial
life with guilty amours. He accepted a plantation from the governor,
which was cultivated by slaves. His purse was thus ever well filled.
Not unfrequently he became involved in duels, and he bore upon his
body until death many scars received in these encounters. Military
expeditions were not unfrequently sent out to quell the insurrections
to which the natives of the island were goaded by the injustice and
the cruelty of the Spaniards.
Cortez was always an eager volunteer for such service. His courage and
imperturbable self-possession made him an invaluable co-operator in
every enterprise of danger. He thus became acquainted with all the
artifices of Indian warfare, and inured himself to the toil and
privations of forest life.
In the year 1492 the magnificent island of Cuba, but a few leagues
from Hispaniola, had been discovered by Columbus. As he approached the
land, the grandeur of the mountains, the wide sweep of the valleys,
the stately forests, the noble rivers, the bold promontories and
headlands, melting away in the blue of the hazy distance, impressed
him with unbounded admiration. As he sailed up one of the beautiful
rivers of crystal clearness, fringed with flowers, and aromatic
shrubs, and tropical fruits, while the overhanging trees were vocal
with the melody of birds of every variety of song and plumage,
enraptured he exclaimed,
"Cuba! It is the most beautiful island that eyes ever beheld. It is an
elysium. One could live there forever."
The natives of the favored land were amiable and friendly. The
Spaniards did not for several years encroach upon their rights, and no
Spanish colony was established upon their enchanting shores. It was
now the year 1511. Nineteen years had elapsed since the discovery of
the island. Ovando had been recalled, and Diego Columbus, the son of
Christopher, had been appointed, in his stead, governor of Hispaniola.
He took the title of Viceroy, and assumed all the splendors of
royalty. Diego Columbus devoutly decided that it was manifest destiny
that Cuba should belong to Spain. He organized a _filibustering_
expedition to wrest from the natives their beautiful island. The
command of the expedition was intrusted to Don Velasquez, a bold
adventurer, of much notoriety, from Spain, who had been residing for
many years at Hispaniola, and who had been lieutenant under Governor
Ovando. A foray of this kind would, of course, excite the patriotic
zeal of every vagabond. Cortez was one of the first to hasten to the
standard of Velasquez. The natives of the island, unarmed and
voluptuous, made hardly the shadow of resistance, and three hundred
Spanish adventurers, with but a slight struggle, took possession of
this magnificent domain. The reputation and ability of Cortez gave him
a prominent position in this adventure.
One brave and patriotic Indian chief, who had fled from the outrages
perpetrated at Hispaniola, urged the Cubans to repel the invaders.
Though unable to rouse in a mass the peace-loving islanders, he
gathered a small band around him, and valiantly contended to resist
the landing. His efforts were quite unavailing. Gunpowder soon
triumphed. The Indians were speedily put to flight, and the chieftain
Hatuey was taken prisoner.
Velasquez ignobly and cruelly condemned the heroic patriot to be
burned alive; but religiously the fanatic invader wished, though he
burned the body, to save the soul. A priest was appointed to labor for
the conversion of the victim.
"If you will embrace our religion," said the priest, "as soon as the
fire has consumed your body, you will enter heaven, and be happy there
forever."
"Are there Spaniards," inquired Hatuey, "in that happy place of which
you speak?"
"Yes," replied the priest; "such as are holy."
"Then I will not go there!" Hatuey energetically rejoined. "I will
never go to a place where I shall meet one of that cruel people."
The poor Indian was burned to ashes. The natives gazed upon the
spectacle with horror. They were appalled, and ventured to make no
farther resistance to their terrible conquerors.
Such is Spain's title-deed to the island of Cuba. God has not smiled
upon regions thus infamously won. May the United States take warning
that all her possessions may be honorably acquired. "God helps," says
blind unbelief, "the heavy battalions;" but experience has fully
proved that "the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to
the strong."
One or two colonies were soon established upon the conquered island.
They grew very rapidly. Velasquez was appointed governor; Cortez was
his secretary.
Many families were enticed from Spain by the charms of this most
beautiful of the isles of the ocean. A gentleman came from old Castile
with four beautiful daughters. Velasquez became attached to one;
Cortez trifled grievously with the affections of another. The governor
reproached him for his infamous conduct. The proud spirit of Cortez
could not brook reproof, and he entered into a conspiracy to proffer
complaints against the governor, and to secure his removal. It was a
bold and a perilous undertaking.
Cortez prepared to embark in an open boat, and push out fearlessly but
secretly into the open sea, to make a voyage of nearly sixty miles to
Hispaniola. There he was to enter his complaints to Diego Columbus.
The conspiracy was detected upon the eve of its execution. Cortez was
arrested, manacled, thrown into prison, and was, after trial,
sentenced to death for treason. He, however, succeeded in breaking
his fetters, forced open his prison window, and dropped himself down,
in the darkness of the night, from the second story, and escaped to
the sanctuary of a neighboring church. Such a sanctuary, in that day,
could not be violated.
A guard was secreted to watch him. He remained in the church for
several days. But at length impatience triumphed over prudence, and,
as he attempted one night to escape, he was again arrested, more
strongly chained, and was placed on board a ship to be sent to
Hispaniola for execution.
The code of Spanish law was in that day a bloody one. Spanish
governors were almost unlimited despots. Cortez was not willing to go
to Hispaniola with the cord of a convicted traitor about his neck.
With extraordinary fortitude, he drew his feet, mangling them sadly,
through the irons which shackled them. Creeping cautiously upon deck,
he let himself down softly into the water, swam to the shore, and,
half dead with pain and exhaustion, attained again the sanctuary of
the church.
He now consented to marry the young lady with whose affections and
reputation he had so cruelly trifled. The family, of course, espoused
his cause. The governor, who was the lover of her sister, regarded
this as the _amende honorable_, and again received the hot-blooded
cavalier to his confidence. Thus this black and threatening cloud
suddenly disappeared, and sunshine and calm succeeded the storm.
Cortez returned to his estates with his bride a wiser, and perhaps a
better man, from the severe discipline through which he had passed.
Catalina Suarez, whom he married, was an amiable and beautiful lady of
very estimable character. She eventually quite won the love of her
wayward and fickle husband.
"I lived as happily with her," said the haughty Castilian, "as if she
had been the daughter of a duchess."
Velasquez, like every other Spanish governor at that time, was
ambitious of extending his dominions. In the year 1517, a number of
restless spirits, under his patronage, resolved to sail upon a voyage
of discovery and conquest.
Three vessels were fitted out for this adventure. One hundred and ten
men embarked in the enterprise, under the command of Francisco
Hernandez, of Cordova. Velasquez directed them to land upon some
neighboring islands, and seize a number of inhabitants, and make
slaves of them, to pay the cost of the expedition. "But when the
proposal," says one of the party, "was made known to the soldiers, we
to a man refused it, saying that it was not just, nor did God or the
king permit that free men should be made slaves. That our expedition,"
the same writer continues, "might be conducted on proper principles,
we persuaded a clergyman to accompany us." In fervent prayer,
commending themselves to God and the Virgin, they unfurled their
sails, and steered resolutely toward the setting sun. They discovered
the island of Cozumel and the vast promontory of Yucatan.[A] The
expedition, however, encountered many disasters. The natives assailed
them fiercely. At length the shattered ships returned, having lost
seventy men, and bringing with them quite a number bleeding and dying.
Cordova died of his wounds ten days after arriving at Havana.
[Footnote A: _Yuca_ is the Indian name of the plant used for bread.
The heap of earth in which it is planted is called _tule_. The two
words repeated together made Yucatul, or Yucatan as it was expressed
by the Spaniards.--_Bernal Diaz_, p. 10.]
The tidings, however, of the magnificent discovery, and the fabulous
report that the country was rich in gold, incited Velasquez to fit
out a second expedition of four ships, under the command of Juan
de Grijalva. Two hundred and forty adventurers embarked in the
enterprise. On the 5th day of April, 1518, after having devoutly
partaken of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the anchors were
lifted, and the little squadron sailed from the port of Matanzas.
Eight days brought them to Cozumel. They then passed over to the
continent, and coasted along the shore for many leagues to the north
and west. They made frequent attempts to land and open intercourse
with the natives, but they were invariably attacked with the utmost
determination. Though the Spaniards were generally victorious in these
conflicts, they lost several men, and very many were sorely wounded.
At length they arrived upon the coast of Mexico, and landed at the
point now called St. Juan de Ulua. Here they were kindly received by
the natives, and acquired considerable gold in exchange for glass
beads. They also obtained vague information of the great monarch
Montezuma, and of the extent and power of his realms. Greatly elated
with this success, Grijalva sent one of his vessels back to Cuba with
specimens of the gold, and with most glowing accounts of the grandeur,
wealth, and power of the newly-discovered empire of Mexico. To their
extreme delight, the voyagers found that the natives had hatchets
apparently of solid burnished gold. The excitement was intense on
board the ships. Six hundred of these hatchets were eagerly bought.
At length the expedition returned to Cuba. The six hundred golden
hatchets were triumphantly displayed, when, to the unutterable chagrin
of their possessors, they proved to be but copper. The disappointed
adventurers were overwhelmed with ridicule. "There was much laughter,"
says Diaz, who accompanied the expedition, "when the six hundred
hatchets were produced and assayed."
The tidings of the discovery of Mexico spread, however, like wildfire
over the island of Cuba. Every bosom which could be moved by avarice
or by the love of adventure was intensely excited. Velasquez promptly
dispatched the welcome intelligence to Spain, and immediately
commenced fitting out another expedition upon a scale of grandeur
hitherto unattempted. No one heard these tidings with such a thrill
of emotion as Hernando Cortez. Though enjoying a rich estate, his
extravagance had involved him in debt and distress. To retrieve his
ruined fortunes, and to gratify his insatiable love of adventure, he
resolved to leave no efforts untried to secure for himself the command
of the expedition.
He bribed some of the powerful friends of the governor to advocate
his cause, promising them a rich share of the booty which he hoped to
obtain. He also offered to contribute largely of his own wealth to fit
out the naval armament.
It was manifest to all that there could not be a man better adapted
to fill such a post than Hernando Cortez. The governor was well
instructed in his energy, capacity, and courage. But he feared these
traits of character. He wished for a man who would act as his agent,
who would be submissive to his authority, and who would transfer the
glory of successful achievement to his name. But Cortez was a man to
lead, not to be led. The governor hesitated. At last he yielded to
the powerful considerations which were pressed upon him, and publicly
announced Cortez as captain general of the armada.
As soon as Cortez received this commission, all the glowing enthusiasm
and tremendous energy of his nature were roused and concentrated upon
this one magnificent object. His whole character seemed suddenly to
experience a total change. He became serious, earnest, thoughtful.
Mighty destinies were in his hands. Deeds were to be accomplished at
which the world was to marvel. Strange as it may seem, for the heart
of man is an inexplicable enigma, religion, perhaps we should say
religious fanaticism, mingled the elements of her mystic power in the
motives which inspired the soul of this extraordinary man. He was to
march the apostle of Christianity to overthrow the idols in the halls
of Montezuma, and there to rear the cross of Christ. It was his
heavenly mission to convert the benighted Indians to the religion of
Jesus. With the energies of fire and sword, misery and blood, horses
rushing to the charge and death-dealing artillery, he was to lead back
the wandering victims of darkness and sin to those paths of piety
which guide to heaven.
Such was Hernando Cortez. Let Philosophy explain the enigma as she
may, no intelligent man will venture the assertion that Cortez was
a hypocrite. He was a frank, fearless, deluded enthusiast.
Governor Velasquez soon became alarmed in view of the independent
energy with which Cortez pressed forward the enterprise. It was quite
evident that the bold adventurer would regard no instructions, and
that, having acquired wealth and fame, he would, with his commanding
genius, become a formidable rival. Velasquez therefore determined,
before it should be too late, to deprive Cortez of the command. But it
was already too late. The energetic captain received from a friend an
intimation of his peril. With the decision which marked his character,
he that very night, though the vessels were not prepared for sea, and
the complement of men was not yet mustered, resolved secretly to weigh
anchor.
The moment the sun went down he called upon his officers and informed
them of his purpose. Every man was instantly and silently in motion.
At midnight the little squadron, with all on board, dropped down the
bay. Intelligence was promptly conveyed to the governor of this sudden
and unexpected departure. Mounting his horse, he galloped to a point
of the shore which commanded a view of the fleet at anchor in the
roadstead. Cortez, from the deck of his ship, saw the governor upon
the beach surrounded by his retinue. He entered a boat and was rowed
near to the shore. The governor reproached Cortez bitterly for his
conduct.
"Pardon me," said the captain, courteously; "time presses, and there
are some things which should be done before they are even thought of."
Then, with Castilian grace, waving an adieu to the governor, he
returned to his ship. The anchors were immediately raised, the sails
spread, and the little fleet, the renown of whose extraordinary
achievements was to fill the world, was wafted from the harbor of St.
Jago, and soon disappeared in the distant horizon of the sea.
St. Jago was then the capital of Cuba. Cortez directed his course to
Mocaca, about thirty miles distant. Hastily collecting such additional
stores as the place would afford, he again weighed anchor and
proceeded to Trinidad. This was an important town on the southern
shore of the island. Here he landed, raised his banner, and, with
alluring promises, invited volunteers to join the expedition. He
marshaled and drilled his men, collected military supplies, and, more
than all, by the charms of his daily intercourse secured the
enthusiastic devotion of his followers.
[Illustration: CORTEZ TAKING LEAVE OF THE GOVERNOR.]
His men were armed with cross-bows and muskets, and he had several
small cannon. Jackets, thickly wadded with cotton, were provided as
coats of mail for the soldiers, which were a great protection against
the missiles of the natives. Neither arrow nor javelin could pierce
them. A black velvet banner, embroidered with gold, and emblazoned
with a cross, bore the characteristic device,
"Let us follow the cross. Under this sign, with faith, we
conquer."
Beneath such a standard did these stern men march upon an expedition
of wanton aggression, crime, and woe.
A trading vessel appeared off the coast, laden with provisions and
valuable merchandise. It was a providential gift of exactly that which
the adventurers needed. Cortez, with gratitude to God, seized both
ship and cargo, and by his peculiar powers of moral suasion induced
the captain and most of the crew to enlist in his service. Another
ship made its appearance; it was a renewed token of God's kindness to
his servants; it was received with alacrity. Whatever remonstrances
the owners might raise were drowned in thanksgivings and praises.
Every movement of the expedition was inspired by the fanatical spirit
of the Crusades.
Cortez now, with his force much strengthened, sailed around the
western point of the island to Havana. With renewed diligence, he here
resumed his labor of beating up recruits and of augmenting his stores.
Governor Velasquez, informed of his arrival at this port, dispatched
orders to Pedro Barba, commander at Havana, to arrest Cortez and seize
the fleet. But it was much easier to issue this order than to execute
it. Cortez was now too strong to be apprehended by any force which
Barba had at his command. Cortez received from a friend an intimation
of the order for his arrest which had been received from the governor.
He assembled his bold followers around him; made a rousing speech,
full of eloquence and of the peculiar piety then in vogue; painted in
glowing colors the wealth and the renown opening before them in the
vast realms of Mexico; and then portrayed, with biting sarcasm, the
jealousy and the meanness of Velasquez, who wished to deprive him of
the command of the enterprise.
[Illustration: MAP OF CUBA.]
The speech was convincing. His tumultuary followers threw up their
hats and filled the air with acclamations. They declared that they
would acknowledge Cortez, and Cortez only, as their leader; that
they would follow him wherever he might guide; that they would defend
him with their lives, and that they would wreak unsparing vengeance
upon any enemies who should attempt to molest him in his glorious
career. This was the efficient reply which Cortez made to the order
for his arrest.
The reply was not lost upon Barba. He perceived that it would be folly
to attempt to execute the command of the governor. He wrote to him
accordingly, stating the impracticability of the attempt. In fact,
Barba had no disposition to arrest Cortez. He had become strongly
attached to the bold and earnest captain. Cortez himself also wrote
a very courteous letter to the governor, with studied politeness
informing him that, with the blessing of God, he should sail the next
day, and assuring the governor of eternal devotion to his interest. As
there was some danger that Velasquez might send from St. Jago a force
sufficiently strong to cause some embarrassment, the little squadron
the next morning weighed anchor and proceeded to Cape Antonio, an
appointed place of rendezvous on the extreme western termination of
the island.
Here Cortez completed his preparations and collected all the force he
desired. He had now eleven vessels. The largest was of but one hundred
tons. Three were of but seventy tons, and the rest were open barks.
His whole force consisted of one hundred and ten seamen, five hundred
and fifty-three soldiers, two hundred Indians, and a few Indian
women for menial service. His regular soldiers consisted of sixteen
horsemen, thirty musketeers, and thirty-two cross-bowmen. He had also,
as the most formidable part of his armament, fourteen pieces of
artillery, with an ample supply of ammunition. All the soldiers,
excepting the musketeers and the bowmen, were armed simply with swords
and spears. Sixteen horses formed also an exceedingly important part
of the physical force of the army. This noble animal had never yet
been seen on the continent of America. With great difficulty, a few
had been transported across the ocean from Spain. With such a force
this enthusiastic adventurer undertook the subjugation of a nation of
many millions.
Cortez was now thirty-three years of age. He was a handsome,
well-formed man, of medium stature, of pale, intellectual features,
with a piercing, dark eye, and frank and winning manners. He was
temperate, indifferent respecting all personal comforts, and reckless
of hardship and peril. He fully appreciated the influence of dress,
and ever appeared in the rich garb of a Spanish gentleman. He was
courtly yet frank in his manners, and possessed a peculiar power of
attracting to his person all who approached him.
On the eve of his departure from Cape Antonio, he again assembled his
followers around him, and thus harangued them:
"The enterprise in which you are engaged will fill the world with your
renown. I am leading you to countries more vast and opulent than
European eyes have ever yet beheld. It is a glorious prize which I
present to you. But this prize can only be won by hardship and toil.
Great deeds are only achieved by great exertions. Glory is never
the reward of sloth. I have labored hard and staked my all on this
undertaking, for I love that renown which is the noblest recompense
of man.
"Do you covet riches more? Be true to me, and I will make you masters
of wealth of which you have never dreamed. You are few in numbers, but
be strong in resolution, and doubt not that the Almighty, who has
never deserted the Spaniard in his contest with the infidel, will
shield you, though encompassed by enemies. Your cause is just. You are
to fight under the banner of the cross. Onward, then, with alacrity.
Gloriously terminate the work so auspiciously begun."
This speech was received with tumultuous cheers. Mass was then
celebrated by the ecclesiastics who accompanied the fleet, and with
many religious ceremonies the squadron was placed under the protection
of St. Peter. The anchors were raised, the sails were spread, and a
favoring breeze pressed them rapidly over the waves toward the setting
sun. It was the 18th of February, 1519.