_Of the vast expenses to which the marquis Hernando Cortes put
himself in fitting out the expeditions to the South Sea, and of
their unfortunate termination._
The marquis Del Valle had, previous to his departure for Spain, during
the government of Marcos de Aguilar, built two vessels, on board of
which he put 250 men, all well-armed, and a number of excellent sailors.
The command of these vessels he gave to a cavalier named Alvarado de
Saavedra, and they were abundantly victualled for one year, besides
carrying a large quantity of goods for barter.
Saavedra was instructed to shape his course to the Moluccas, or towards
China, and the main object was to discover some direct route from the
Spanish possessions to the Spice islands. This expedition was undertaken
at his majesty's express desire in a letter to Cortes, dated Granada,
the 22d of June, 1526. I am particular in mentioning these
circumstances, because Cortes showed this letter to me and other of the
Conquistadores who were about him at the time. In this letter the
emperor also ordered that Cortes' armament should go in search of
another more extensive one which had set sail direct from Spain for
China, and was commanded by Don Garcia de Loaysa, comendador of the
order of St. John.
When Saavedra was about to set sail, a small vessel arrived off the
coast of Guantepec, belonging to the squadron under Loaysa. The captain
of this vessel, whose name was Ortuno de Lango, gave Saavedra a full
account of the fate of Loaysa's expedition, and explained to him in what
direction he was to sail. Saavedra then persuaded the pilot and a couple
of Ortuno's sailors to join him, and set sail, after attending mass, in
the month of December, 1527, from Ciguatepec, lying in the province of
Colima or Zacatula. This armament, indeed, reached the Moluccas, and
visited several other islands, but suffered dreadfully from heavy
tempests, hunger, and disease, and many of the men died. One of the
sailors who accompanied this expedition I saw three years after at
Mexico, and he told me marvellous things of the towns and islands which
Saavedra had visited. If my memory is correct, (for many years have
since elapsed,) Saavedra, with all his men, were taken prisoners by the
Portuguese there, and transported to Spain, or brought back thither at
his majesty's request.
After this first armament had departed, Cortes fitted out two more
vessels with eighty musketeers and crossbow-men. The command of these
vessels he gave to a certain Diego Hurtado Mendoza, who set sail from
Acapulco in the month of May, 1532, for the discovery of islands and new
countries. The captain Hurtado, however, did nothing of all this, and
durst not even venture far out at sea, so that the greater part of his
men at length grew wearied of sailing about to no purpose, refused all
further obedience to him, and deserted with one of the vessels; though
these men afterwards positively declared that the two vessels parted
with the captain's consent, who granted them permission to return with
one of the vessels to Spain: but this account cannot be credited, and
the men no doubt took forcible possession of the vessel. However, they
had not been separated long before the vessel was cast on shore by a
severe storm, and, after undergoing many fatigues, the crew arrived at
Xalisco, whence the news of their misfortune speedily reached Mexico.
Hurtado, in the meantime, continued to sail along the coast, but all at
once his vessel disappeared, nor was she or any of those on board ever
after heard of.
Cortes was excessively grieved at this loss, yet it did not deter him
from fitting out other armaments for the same purpose. He had already
built two more vessels at his own expense, which were lying in the
harbour of Guantepec, and were manned with seventy soldiers. The command
of one of these vessels he gave to a cavalier named Diego Bezerra de
Mendoza, and captain Hernando de Grijalva he appointed to the other,
though Bezerra had the chief command of both. Ortuna Ximenes, of Biscay,
a great cosmographer, accompanied this expedition, as chief pilot.
Bezerra's instructions were to go in quest of Hurtado; but if he should
not fall in with him, he was to steer at a venture for the main ocean in
search of islands and new countries; for it was said there were many
islands in the South Sea which produced immense quantities of pearls.
The chief pilot Ximenes was so confident of the good success of this
expedition that he promised the men on board he would steer them to
countries where they would all become rich, and many there were who
firmly believed what he said.
These expectations, however, vanished with the very first night after
the vessels had left the harbour of Guantepec, for a contrary wind
arose, which parted the two vessels, and they never joined again. Very
favorable weather indeed soon returned, and the vessels might easily
have fallen in with each other again if Grijalva had not made direct for
the main ocean in order to evade the superior command of Bezerra, who
was a haughty and ill-disposed man. Grijalva sailed on to the distance
of above 800 miles, and discovered an unknown island, to which he gave
the name of St. Thomas. Bezerra with his vessel had likewise continued
to sail forward, but he soon fell out with the chief pilot Ximenes, who,
with his countrymen of Biscay and a greater part of the troops fell upon
Bezerra in the night, and put him to death, with several of the
soldiers; even greater loss of life would have ensued if two Franciscan
monks who were on board had not interfered, and persuaded Ximenes and
the other conspirators to put them on shore on the coast of Xalisco with
several of the men who were wounded in the scuffle. Ximenes now
continued his course, and came to an island which he named Santa Cruz,
where, according to all accounts, there were fine pearl fisheries. This
island was inhabited by a savage tribe of Indians, and they massacred
Ximenes with the whole of the men who had accompanied him on shore to
take in fresh water. The few sailors who had remained on board put back
with the vessel to the harbour of Xalisco, where they related all that
had taken place and spread a vast account of the large population and
the rich pearl fisheries of the island they had discovered. These
accounts soon reached Mexico, and as may be imagined, were anything but
pleasing to Cortes; but as he was a man whose spirits were not easily
damped by adversity, he determined in future not to trust similar
expeditions to other hands, but to take the chief command himself. By
this time three other fine vessels were lying in readiness at Guantepec,
with which he proposed to sail out in person, for he felt a great
temptation to visit the above-mentioned pearl island, besides that he
fully believed there were other large continents to be discovered in the
South Sea.
As soon as it was known in New Spain that Cortes was going to head the
expedition in person, no one any longer doubted of its good success, and
of the riches it would produce those who joined it; and so many
cavaliers, musketeers, and crossbow-men offered their services, that
their number soon amounted to above 380 men, among whom were thirty
married men, accompanied by their wives.
These vessels were provided with a copious supply of the best of
provisions, with all kinds of ammunition, and tools of various
descriptions. The most experienced pilots and sailors were hired, who,
with the troops, received instructions to repair by a certain route to
the harbour of Guantepec, while Cortes, with Andreas de Tapia, several
other officers, a few priests, surgeons, physicians, and an apothecary,
travelled thither by another road. When he arrived at the harbour above
mentioned he found the three vessels in readiness, and immediately set
sail with the first body of troops for the bay or island of Santa Cruz,
where he landed safely in the month of May, 1535.[51] The three vessels
then put back for Guantepec to fetch the ladies and the rest of the men
who had remained behind under the command of Tapia. This time, however,
the passage was not so favorable, for the vessels were driven out of
their course by a violent wind into the mouth of a wide river, to which
they gave the name of St. Peter and St. Paul. The vessels, on leaving
this river, to get into their right course again, were overtaken by
another storm, and they became separated from each other. There was only
one which reached the harbour of Santa Cruz; the second was cast on
shore off Xalisco, the men on board narrowly escaping a watery grave,
and becoming wearied of the perils of the sea, they dispersed themselves
through New Spain, only a few remaining in the province of Xalisco; the
third vessel ran into a bay, to which the men gave the name of the bay
of Guajava, on account of the numbers of Guajava trees they saw growing
there.[52] But this vessel likewise ran aground, nor were the hands on
board able to set her afloat again. Cortes in the meantime was
impatiently awaiting the arrival of these vessels, particularly as all
his provisions were consumed, for the greater part of the biscuits and
salted meat was on board the vessel which had got ashore off Xalisco. As
the inhabitants of Santa Cruz are perfect savages, and neither grow
maise nor in anywise till the ground, but merely live on wild fruits,
fish, and animals, there arose so dreadful a famine among Cortes'
troops, that twenty-three of the men died of hunger and disease. The
greater part of the remaining troops likewise suffered from ill-health,
and they threw out bitter curses against Cortes, the island, and the
whole voyage of discovery.
Cortes, determining, if possible, to put an end to their distress, ran
out with the vessel which had arrived in search of the two others,
taking with him fifty men, two smiths, and several shipwrights. On
arriving off Xalisco he found one of them lying on a sand-bank, quite
deserted, and the other he discovered jammed between the coral rocks. By
dint of the utmost exertions he succeeded in setting them afloat again;
and, after the carpenters had properly repaired them, he arrived safely
with the two vessels and their cargoes at Santa Cruz. Those of the
troops who had not tasted any nourishing food for so long a time ate so
ravenously of the salted meat that half of them died of a violent
dysentery.
In order not to witness this scene of misery any longer, Cortes again
set sail from Santa Cruz, and discovered the coast of California. Cortes
himself was in very bad health about this time, and he would gladly have
returned to New Spain but he feared the slanderous tongues of his
enemies, who would be sure to make their observations respecting the
large sums of money he expended in the discovery of countries which held
out no advantage; besides, he could not brook the idea that people
should say, all his present undertakings were failures, and that this
was owing to the curses which the veteran Conquistadores of New Spain
had heaped upon him.
During the whole of this time the marchioness Del Valle had heard no
tidings of her husband, and as information had been received that a
vessel had been wrecked off the coast of Xalisco, she became excessively
low-spirited, and felt almost sure that her husband had been lost at
sea. In order, however, if possible, to gain some certain information
respecting her husband's fate, she sent out two vessels, under the
command of a captain named Ulloa, to whom she gave a letter for her
husband if he should perchance meet with him alive, in which she
fervently begged of him to return to Mexico and his beautiful
possessions; to think of his children, and no longer to tempt fortune,
but to content himself with his former deeds of valour, which had
spread his fame throughout the whole world. In the same way the viceroy
Mendoza also wrote to him, and desired him, in the most courteous and
friendly terms, to return.
Ulloa had a most favorable voyage, and soon arrived in the harbour where
Cortes lay at anchor. The letters of his wife, with those of his
children and of the viceroy, had so much effect upon him, that he gave
the command of his vessels and troops to Ulloa, embarked for Acapulco,
and when he had arrived here he hastened to Quauhnahuac, where his wife
resided. The joy of his family at his safe return may easily be
imagined; but the viceroy, with the royal auditors, and the whole of the
inhabitants of Mexico, were no less so, as they feared a general
insurrection of the caziques of New Spain, who were going to take
advantage of Cortes' absence.
Shortly after also, the troops arrived which had been left behind in
California, but I cannot say whether they left this country of their own
choice or by permission of the viceroy and royal court of audience.
Cortes had scarcely enjoyed a few months' repose when he sent out a more
considerable armament, under the command of Ulloa, and this time by the
express command of the royal court of audience, and according to the
agreement he had made with his majesty. This armament left the harbour
de la Natividad in the month of June, of one thousand five hundred and
thirty, and so many years--I forget the exact year; and Ulloa received
instructions, first of all, to shape his course along the coast in
search of Hurtado, of whom nothing had been heard since his departure.
Ulloa sailed up and down in this manner for the space of seven months,
and then returned to the harbour of Xalisco without having accomplished
anything worthy of mention; but he had not been many days on shore when
he was waylaid by one of his men and stabbed to death.
Thus miserably terminated the several expeditions which Cortes fitted
out in the South Sea, and I have frequently been assured that they cost
him above 300,000 pesos. Cortes, therefore, determined to repair in
person to Spain to solicit a reimbursement of this sum from his majesty,
and also to bring the dispute with respect to his marquisate to some
favorable issue; and lastly, to force Nuno de Guzman, who had been taken
prisoner to Spain, to pay him the large amount of damages in which he
had been condemned by the royal court of audience.
When we reflect that none of his undertakings were attended with success
after the conquest of New Spain, we cannot at least feel surprised that
people should say, he was pursued by the curses which were heaped upon
him.