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.