[Illustration: HERNANDO CORTEZ]
The new Mexican expedition was entrusted by Velasquez to the leadership
of the greatest of all the Spanish conquistadors, Hernando Cortez, then
Alcalde of Santiago de Cuba. This famous man was then, in 1518, only
thirty-three years of age. He had been born in Estremadura, had survived
a particularly weak and sickly childhood, and had studied law at the
University of Salamanca. Leaving the University, he enlisted in the
company of Nicolas de Ovando, also of Estremadura, for an expedition to
America. But on the very eve of sailing he went to bid a tender farewell
to his inamorata; while scaling the garden wall to reach her window he
fell and had part of the wall topple upon him, and in consequence was
laid abed for some time, while Ovando's expedition sailed without him.
Recovering from this mishap, he passed a year or two in obscurity and
poverty, and then secured passage, in 1504, for Hispaniola. His courage
and prowess during a storm which threatened to swamp the vessel made him
a conspicuous member of the company, and on landing at Hispaniola he was
quickly taken into the good graces and the employ of both Velasquez and
Ovando. Having overcome his early delicacy of constitution, he was now a
stalwart, handsome youth, of engaging manners, fine education and much
spirit and capacity in martial adventure; in brief, admirably fitted for
the great career which he was already unconsciously confronting.
We have seen that a mishap in a love affair determined the time and
circumstances of his leaving Spain for the New World. A sequel to that
incident again determined his course. He had enlisted in the expedition
of Diego de Nicuesa bound for Darien when from the old injury from his
garden wall disaster there developed an abscess in his right knee, which
again disabled him for a time and restrained him from going on that
voyage. Had he gone on it, perhaps he might have become the conqueror of
Peru, instead of his fellow Estremaduran, Pizarro, who was a member of
Nicuesa's company, and the discoverer of the Pacific, instead of that
other Estremaduran, Balboa, who went to Darien at a little later date.
Instead, Cortez was detailed by Diego Columbus to go to Cuba as a
secretary to Velasquez. In that capacity he acquitted himself so well
that he received an extensive grant of land, together with a large
number of natives as slaves, and for a time he settled down as a Cuban
planter.
His adventurous spirit would not permit him permanently to engage in so
placid an occupation, however, and he presently became involved in some
strenuous transactions which came near to making an end of him.
Precisely what happened is uncertain. Historic accounts differ.
According to Benito Martinez, he made himself the leader of a faction
opposed to Velasquez, and undertook to go from Cuba to Hispaniola in an
open boat to carry to certain royal Judges there complaints and
accusations against the Governor. As he was setting out on this venture,
however, he was betrayed and arrested, was charged with fomenting a
revolt against Velasquez, and was condemned to be hanged. Upon the
intercession of friends, however, Velasquez commuted the sentence into
exile from Cuba, and put Cortez aboard a vessel bound for Hispaniola.
Soon after the vessel sailed Cortez contrived to slip overboard
unperceived, caught hold of a floating log, and swam back to Cuba. There
he found refuge in a church, until once more his passion for the fair
sex came near to being his undoing. For one day as he was slipping out
of the church to keep a love-tryst, he was seized by an alguazil named
Juan Escudero, and returned to prison. Velasquez then again ordered him
hanged, but again yielded to intercession, and gave Cortez his freedom.
Incidentally, Cortez afterward hanged Escudero, in Mexico.
So runs one version of the story, told by Herrera and others. Gomara,
Barcia and others tell quite another. It is to the effect that Cortez
went to Cuba as an accountant for Miguel de Pasamonte, the royal
treasurer, though he also did much business for Velasquez and was in
charge of the assay office and the hospital at Santiago; and that the
feud between him and Velasquez arose over a love affair. Cortez had
engaged himself to marry Dona Catalina Suarez, one of the ladies in
waiting upon Maria de Toledo, the consort of the Admiral and Viceroy,
Diego Columbus, but either delayed to fulfil the engagement or was
suspected of an intention to break it by Velasquez, who was much
interested in the lady's sister. In the course of this feud, Cortez was
arrested and was found to have on his person papers unfriendly to
Velasquez. He escaped, and took refuge in a church. But in time he
emerged from sanctuary, married Dona Catalina, and "lived happily with
her ever after." He also became reconciled to Velasquez, so much that
the latter stood as god-father to the first-born child of Cortez.
This latter story seems the more probable of the two, and more in accord
with what we know of the characters and dispositions of both Velasquez
and Cortez. Certain it is that after their disagreements and conflicts
Velasquez took Cortez back into full favor, made him Alcalde of Santiago
de Cuba, and selected him in preference to his own nephew, Grijalva, to
be the leader of what he himself considered to be the most important of
all his enterprises.
In making this choice, which was of epochal importance both to himself
and to Cuba and the Spanish colonial empire, Velasquez was doubtless
largely influenced by the arguments and persuasions of his own
secretary, Andres de Ducro, and by the royal contador in Cuba, Amador de
Lares. These two appear to have worked together, with a mutual
understanding, and also with an understanding with Cortez; so that we
might almost consider the three to have formed a conspiracy to prevail
upon the Governor. Perhaps their chief argument, or temptation, was to
promise Velasquez the royal appointment as Adelantado, not alone over
Cuba but also over all other lands which he might discover, and it was
shrewdly pointed out to him that if haste was made, he might secure that
appointment in time to claim the enormously rich land of Mexico as part
of his domain. All that would be necessary would be for him to get the
appointment before the return of Grijalva with the official report of
his discoveries. As this appointment was the dearest wish and ambition
of Velasquez's life, it is easy to understand how potent this offer was
in persuading him to make Cortez the leader of the expedition.
There was on the other hand much opposition to the choice. All of the
relatives and many of the friends and counsellors of Velasquez warned
him not to trust Cortez. Las Casas joined his advice with theirs,
warning Velasquez, however, not so much against Cortez as against the
royal contador, De Lares, and anyone whom he might favor. De Lares, he
said, had lived long in Italy, a country then considered to be a very
hotbed of trickery and treachery, and was doubtless deeply imbued with
the spirit of conspiracy and intrigue, which he was quite likely to
exercise against Velasquez himself.
Cortez was of course well aware of these conflicting influences, and for
some time felt much uncertainty as to which side would prove the more
powerful. He especially dreaded the return of Grijalva, fearing that
either he would regain the favor of his uncle, or would give so glowing
a report of the wealth of Mexico as to excite the cupidity of Velasquez
to a degree that would move him to go thither in person. When he learned
that Grijalva had arrived at Havana and was about to come across the
island to Santiago, he pushed preparations for his departure with
feverish haste, apparently determined to set out whether Velasquez
approved his going or not. He borrowed large sums of money, wherever he
could, for fitting out the expedition at his own expense if necessary,
and in fact he did thus provide a large share of its cost. He also
recruited a number of men upon whom he could depend to stand by him in
any emergency; even if he should have to defy the authority of Velasquez
and sail without his permission.
The middle of November, 1518, was the crucial and indeed epochal time;
in which the fate of Velasquez, the fortunes of Cortez, and in a large
measure the future of the Spanish empire in America, were all decided.
Within a week, three major incidents occurred. First, on November 13,
Velasquez received his commission from the King, as Adelantado of Cuba
and all new lands which he might cause to be discovered. In getting that
for him, De Ducro and De Lares fulfilled their promise; whereupon
Velasquez in turn fulfilled his agreement, by confirming the appointment
of Cortez. Two days later, on November 15, Grijalva arrived at Santiago,
and as already stated was unfavorably received. Nevertheless, the
apprehensions of Cortez were partially fulfilled. Velasquez did not,
indeed, restore his nephew to favor, but he was so impressed by the
reports and visible and tangible tokens of the wealth of Mexico, that he
hesitated to let Cortez go. The thought occurred to him that it would be
better to go himself, or to send somebody upon whom he could more
implicitly depend.
His hesitation became known to Cortez, and of course greatly disquieted
and alarmed him. But with the intrepidity and resolution which were
characteristic of him, he hastened his preparations for departure and
added to them preparations for breaking away by force if that should be
necessary. It has been said by some that he finally sailed secretly, by
night. Las Casas tells that story, and the American historian of Cortez,
Prescott, credits and repeats it. Others have pictured Cortez as sailing
away openly, with Velasquez falling upon his knees on the shore,
imploring him not to go. We may prudently relegate both these versions
to the realm of imagination. The far more likely story is that given by
honest Bernal Diaz. He tells us that Andres de Ducro--probably knowing
that there was danger that Velasquez would change his mind and revoke
the appointment of Cortez--urged Cortez to sail without delay; that
Cortez accordingly, the second day after Grijalva's arrival at Santiago
ordered all his men to go aboard ship and remain there; that he then
went with De Ducro and De Lares to bid Velasquez adieu; and that the
next day, November 18, after attending an early mass at the cathedral,
he went aboard and at once set sail for Mexico. That was five days after
the appointment of Velasquez as Adelantado, and three days after the
arrival of the real discoverer of Mexico, Grijalva, at Santiago.
With those three incidents, as we have said, a new era began. We need
not here concern ourselves with the further doings of Cortez, excepting
in that he took from Cuba several hundred of its most venturesome and
competent men, including many of those who had been with Grijalva; and
that he promptly renounced the authority of Velasquez over the new lands
which were to be discovered. The breach between the two occurred when
Cortez, having sailed from Santiago, put into the Cuban port of Trinidad
for men and supplies. There he was intercepted by a messenger from
Velasquez, with orders to return at once to Santiago. If he would not
obey this summons, the Alcalde, Verduzo, was authorized forcibly to
deprive him of his commission and to give it instead to Vasco Portallo.
The latter was a friend of Velasquez, who had formerly been considered
by him for the leadership of the expedition, before the choice fell on
Cortez. Another candidate had been Baltazar Bermudez, whom indeed
Velasquez actually selected for the place, only to have him decline it.
Cortez, as might have been expected, refused to return. Instead, he
prevailed upon the Governor's own messenger to join his expedition. To
the demand of the Alcalde, that he surrender his commission, he replied
with a haughty refusal, and so strong was the force which he had with
him that Verduzo prudently refrained from any attempt to coerce him. He
then wrote a friendly letter to Velasquez, assuring him that he was
giving himself needless concern, took on additional supplies, and
resumed his voyage. He had previously helped himself freely from a royal
storehouse at Macaca, saying that he was going on the King's business
and was therefore entitled to the King's goods. Also he is said to have
stopped a merchant ship bound for Hispaniola, and to have taken such
goods from its cargo as he desired.
Thus provided, he next put in at the harbor at or near Batabano which
had in 1514 been called San Cristobal de la Havana, but which by this
time was falling into some disuse and was surrendering its name to the
far more important port on the northern coast. Here another messenger
from Velasquez intercepted him, with a similar command, to which Cortez
gave a similar reply. Last of all, he touched at Guane, on what is now
appropriately known as Cortez Bay, near the western extremity of the
island; and thence, at the middle of February, 1519, left Cuba for the
island of Cozumel, thence to proceed to Vera Cruz, Mexico. The story of
his burning his ships after he had landed, in order that his men might
have no thought or hope of returning, is historic, and is true. But in
effect he did the same, at least for himself, before that time. He
departed from Cuba in circumstances which made his return to that island
impossible; at least as long as Velasquez was its governor. Then, to
seal the matter and make the breach with his former friend and patron
more absolutely irremediable, immediately upon landing at Vera Cruz he
organized a government by appointing some of his own men to be a
municipal council. Then to that Council of his own creation he
surrendered the commission which Velasquez had bestowed upon him; and
finally, also from his own creatures, he accepted appointment as Royal
Governor of New Spain!
It was of course out of the question that Velasquez would meekly
acquiesce in this flouting of his authority, and particularly in this
open attempt to deprive him of his newly-won authority as Adelantado of
Mexico. He immediately reported to the King what Cortez had done, and
protested against it as a defiance of the King's authority as well as
his own. But Cortez answered his protests and appeals to the Crown with
still more potent arguments in justification of his course. These
arguments took the form of bars and ingots of gold, which he secured in
Mexico and sent to Spain; in some cases "ballasting his ships" with the
precious metal. One of the first of these treasure ships was a
brigantine, dispatched in the midsummer of 1519 under the pilot-captain
Alaminos. As it passed Havana it was espied by Juan de Rojas, a cousin
of Velasquez, who sent word of it to Velasquez. The latter sent out
Gonzalo de Guzman to intercept and seize it, but he failed in the
errand.
Finding his appeals and protests ineffective against the gold of Cortez,
Velasquez determined to use force. He was Adelantado, by royal
commission. Therefore Cortez was a rebel. He rallied his friends, in
both Cuba and Hispaniola. He used his own immense wealth freely for the
purchase and equipment of ships. He enlisted an army twice as great as
the force which had accompanied Cortez. With this expedition he purposed
to follow Cortez to Mexico, and compel his submission. Whether he would
have succeeded in this undertaking, had it not been interfered with,
must remain subject matter of speculation; for there was prompt and
effective interference. Diego Columbus, in Hispaniola, became much
concerned. He was still Admiral, and nominally, at least, superior in
authority to Velasquez as well as to Cortez, and he did not wish to have
his subordinates fighting among themselves. So he sent one of the most
eminent Spanish colonial judges, Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, to Cuba to
make peace. This envoy reached Santiago in January, 1520, just in time
to find that Velasquez and his expedition had already sailed for Mexico.
With the swiftest vessel he could find he set out in pursuit, and was
lucky enough to overtake them where they had stopped for supplies, in
Corrientes Bay, near the extreme western point of the island.
Ayllon seems to have been vested with no actual authority over
Velasquez. He merely tried to dissuade him from executing his purpose.
He urged him to content himself with sending one or two vessels on to
Mexico, with a summons to Cortez, to return or at least to abandon his
pretensions of independence and to acknowledge the authority of
Velasquez; under penalty of being reported to the King as a contumacious
rebel. The rest of the expedition, he suggested, might be used in
explorations elsewhere. Above all, he pleaded with Velasquez not to go
to Mexico himself, but to return to Santiago, where his presence was
sorely needed. Velasquez yielded to these entreaties so far as to
abandon personal leadership of the expedition. He made Panfilo de
Narvaez leader in his stead, and then returned to Santiago. Ayllon went
along with Narvaez, to keep the peace. The result was that soon after
landing in Mexico, Narvaez was wounded and made captive by Cortez, and
practically all his men, with their stores, munitions, arms and ships,
who had been sent out to subdue Cortez, became loyal followers of that
resourceful conquistador. In fact, we may judiciously reckon that Cortez
owed his success in the conquest of Mexico to the reenforcements which
he thus received from the expedition which had been sent against him.
Later, it is true, some members of Narvaez's party became a source of
serious peril to Cortez. This was at the beginning of the year 1521,
after the death of Montezuma and the _noche triste_, and at the time
when Cortez was planning to return to the city of Mexico as its
conqueror. A number of Narvaez's men entered into a conspiracy to
assassinate Cortez, and at their head was one Villafana, who had been a
very close friend and earnest partisan of Velasquez. Because of that
relationship, it was suspected by Cortez that the man had been incited
to undertake the crime by Velasquez himself. Of this there was, however,
no proof, and no attempt was made to fasten responsibility or odium upon
Velasquez; which we may be sure would have been done had any real ground
for it been discovered. By interesting coincidence, the conspiracy was
made, detected and punished at the very time when, as we shall see,
Velasquez was being removed from the Governorship of Cuba.
Villafana modelled his plans upon those of the slayers of Julius Caesar.
All the conspirators were to approach Cortez in public, and one of them
was to approach him with what should purport to be a letter from his
father, Martin Cortez, just arrived on a vessel from Spain. The moment
he took the letter and began to read it, all were to rush upon him and
stab him with their knives. Cortez detected the plot just in time. He
personally went with guards to Villafana's apartments and arrested him,
while others took the other conspirators into custody. Villafana was put
to death, and the others were imprisoned. Then Cortez, with
characteristic resourcefulness, turned the incident to account for his
own profit, by making it the pretext for continually thereafter
surrounding himself with an armed body guard of his most trusted
soldiers.
Velasquez returned to Santiago to find affairs in a sad plight. Small
pox, measles and other epidemics were raging, and disastrous tropical
hurricanes had swept the island, destroying crops and buildings. A large
proportion of the most efficient men of the island had followed
Cortez--and Narvaez--to Mexico. Moreover, Diego Columbus, at Hispaniola,
was threatening trouble. It must be remembered that Velasquez had
practically flouted Columbus's authority, almost as much as his own had
been flouted by Cortez. At any rate, the Admiral had a serious grievance
against him, and deemed this a fitting time for calling him to account.
Apparently he was further aggrieved because Velasquez would not more
fully accept the counsel of Ayllon. At any rate, in the middle of
January, 1521, he sent over to Cuba an envoy, to take the place of
Velasquez as Governor of Cuba and to investigate the manner in which
Velasquez had administered his affairs. This envoy was Alfonso de Zuazo,
who thus became the second Governor of Cuba.
In this action Velasquez acquiesced; probably because he durst not do
otherwise. It would have been a dangerous thing in any circumstances to
defy the Admiral; and it would have been superlatively so at a time when
Cuba had just been stripped of its ships and its best fighting men.
Nevertheless, he pointed out that he himself was still commandant of the
fort at Baracoa, and was Repartidor of the natives throughout the
island. This latter was in some important respects a more influential
office than that of Governor, and it Velasquez held, not by the
Admiral's appointment but by virtue of a commission granted directly by
the King himself. He could not, therefore, be superseded or interfered
with in any way by the Admiral or any of his underlings, nor by anybody
short of the King himself. In this he was quite right, and when Zuazo,
relying upon Diego Columbus's authority, did infringe upon some of
Velasquez's functions and powers, the latter complained to the King, and
the King disavowed Zuazo, and severely reprimanded Columbus.
Velasquez was not, however, yet at the end of his difficulties. The
royal vindication of his claims was gratifying, and he doubtless felt
some secret satisfaction in the humiliation of Diego Columbus. But the
son of the great Admiral was not a man to be flouted with impunity, not
even by the King of Spain. True, he acquiesced, perforce, in the royal
decree. But his resourceful mind quickly devised another line of attack
upon Velasquez. At the beginning of 1522, accompanied by two judges of
the supreme court of Hispaniola, he proceeded to Santiago de Cuba, and
there instituted a judicial investigation into the conduct of
Velasquez's administration. To this Velasquez demurred, on the grounds
already mentioned that as Repartidor he was accountable to the King
alone. Diego Columbus responded by pointing out in the commission of
Velasquez as Repartidor a provision that the judges of Hispaniola might
and indeed should give him specific advice as to the conduct of his
office; and such advice they thereupon proceeded to give, in terms
indistinguishable from commands. To this Velasquez could not demur; the
text of his commission did indeed provide for that very thing. But his
retort was prompt and effective. The commission provided for the giving
of advice, but it did not require Velasquez to accept it! As a matter of
fact, it was not accepted but ignored, and Diego Columbus and his judges
returned to Hispaniola in defeat.
One more effort was made by Velasquez to vindicate his authority over
Cortez in Mexico. He went so far as to equip a third expedition of which
he personally took command, intending to invade Mexico and compel Cortez
to submit to his authority. This expedition sailed from Cuba in the fall
of 1522, but never reached the coast of Mexico. It was intercepted by a
message from the King, announcing that he had appointed Cortez to be
Governor of Mexico in entire independence of Cuba, and expressly
forbidding Velasquez to interfere with him in any way. This was
conclusive, and Velasquez returned home, abandoning all further thoughts
of Mexico.
Despite his losses and the great expense to which he had gone in
fruitless Mexican ventures, he was still one of the richest men in Cuba;
especially since the death of his father-in-law, Cristobal de Cuellar,
who had left him the major part of his large fortune. As Repartidor,
also, he continued his activities in public affairs. In the summer of
1523 he personally directed a campaign against a revolt and depredations
of an Indian tribe inhabiting some of the small islands off the Cuban
coast. He suffered humiliation, it is true, in having at about that same
time public proclamation made in Cuba of the royal decree inhibiting him
from further designs against Cortez. But before the end of the year
atonement was made for this in another royal decree completely restoring
Velasquez to his place as Governor of Cuba.
The causes which led to this extraordinary action are obscure, but it
seems probable that the King recognized the really great services and
merits of Velasquez, and it is quite possible that he had reason for
dissatisfaction with Zuazo. At any rate, at about Christmas time, 1523,
Velasquez was restored and Zuazo was summarily dismissed. No charges
were at that time preferred against Zuazo, nor was he prosecuted or
subjected to any penalties. But his commission as Governor was declared
to have been illegal and all his acts to have been therefore null and
void. Everything was therefore put back in as nearly as possible the
condition it was in when Velasquez was formerly Governor.
Zuazo seems to have taken his dismissal philosophically, without demur
or resentment; wherefore we may suspect that as a lawyer he realized
that there had indeed been a fatal flaw in his commission. He remained
at Santiago for a few weeks, and then went to Mexico as the attorney and
envoy of Francisco de Garay, the Governor of Jamaica, who had a
controversy with Cortez as to which of them was the rightful Governor of
Panuco. In this errand he was frustrated by shipwreck and other
vicissitudes, and it does not appear that he ever had an opportunity of
serving Garay as had been intended. In time, however, he reached Mexico,
and was regarded with much favor by Cortez, who appointed him to a
lucrative and influential office. A little later he was extradited by
the Cuban government, and was brought back to that island as a prisoner,
to undergo trial for alleged misdemeanors committed when he was
Governor. This strenuous action was taken in 1525. Zuazo complained
bitterly of such harsh treatment, which probably was unwarranted. At any
rate, he was acquitted; whereupon he went to Hispaniola and spent the
remainder of his life there in prosperity.
We have seen that the restoration of Velasquez to the Governorship of
Cuba came as a sort of solatium for his loss and humiliation with
respect to Mexico. But it did not altogether reconcile him to the
destruction of his hopes and ambitions. On the contrary, he conceived
the scheme of remonstrating with the King and pleading his cause in
person. Setting his affairs in order, therefore, he prepared to set sail
for Spain, and was just on the point of doing so when death supervened.
He died on June 12, 1524, and was interred, according to his wish, in
the cathedral of Santiago de Cuba.
The King, who had so recently both humiliated him and honored him, was
profoundly affected by the loss of one who had added much lustre to the
crown of Spain, and wrote for his tomb an epitaph in Latin, eloquently
setting forth his merits and his services. This was not, however,
inscribed above his remains, and soon was forgotten. Instead, there was
popularly circulated and remembered an epigram upon him coined by some
adversary whose identity is unknown. This declared Velasquez to have
been "Covetous of honor, but more covetous of gain."
This we must regard as unjust. Velasquez had his faults, and some of
them were grave. He was at times arbitrary and ruthless, as most
empire-builders of all lands have been. He was not always grateful to
those who served him faithfully, nor was he impartial in his dealings
with men. These faults were, however, common in those times, and they
were no more marked in Velasquez than in his contemporaries. On the
other hand he unquestionably had great virtues. He had courage, vision,
enterprise, and statesmanlike views for the development of his domain.
His work in Cuba was over-shadowed by that of Cortez in Mexico and of
Pizarro in Peru, but it was in essence not less meritorious than theirs,
for which indeed it prepared and opened the way. It is one of the
tragedies of history that his very tomb should have been forgotten and
lost, and his name remembered as a name and nothing more. For in the
early history of Cuba there is no other name which stands for so much in
conquest and colonization, and in the foundation, organization and
development of the State, as that of the first Cuban Governor, Diego de
Velasquez.