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d, we should not ourselves be wanting in courage and
activity; should we be worsted, which Almighty God forbid, considering
our small numbers we could expect no other assistance than from above,
and that of our own arms, as we had no longer any vessels to return to
Cuba. Cortes then adduced many beautiful comparisons from history, and
mentioned several heroic deeds of the Romans. We answered him, one and
all, that we would implicitly follow his orders, as the die had been
cast, and we, with Cæsar, when he had passed the Rubicon, had now no
choice left; besides which, everything we did was for the glory of God
and his majesty the emperor.

After this speech, whose penetrating eloquence and charming powers I am
unable to repeat, Cortes ordered the fat cazique into his presence, and
reminded him of the care and reverence which was due from him to the
church and the cross. For himself he was now about leaving for Mexico;
he added, to oblige Motecusuma, for the future to abolish all robbery
and the human sacrifices. He also told him he should require two hundred
porters to transport our cannon, and fifty of his best warriors to
accompany us.

When we were about to put ourselves in motion a soldier arrived from
Vera Cruz, whom Cortes had despatched there to fetch more men. He
brought a letter from Juan de Escalante, announcing that a vessel had
been seen off the coast, to which he had made various signals by means
of smoke and other things; had hung out white flags and rode up and down
the coast on horseback dressed in scarlet, to attract the attention of
those on board. He did not doubt for an instant but all this had been
observed by the men on-board, yet they made no signs of running into the
harbour. He had made inquiries along the coast as to where the vessel
had put in, and found she was lying at anchor in the mouth of a small
river, at the distance of about nine miles; he therefore awaited Cortes'
orders as to what further steps he was to take. As soon as Cortes had
read the letter he gave the command of all the troops, then at
Sempoalla, to Alvarado conjointly with Gonzalo de Sandoval. This was the
first time Sandoval had been put in command, for those military
qualities, by which he so greatly distinguished himself all the rest of
his life, now began to develop themselves. Properly speaking, the
command ought to have devolved upon Alonso de Avila, which therefore
created ill blood between him and Sandoval. Upon this Cortes mounted
horse, selected four of our cavalry, and fifty of the most nimble-footed
men amongst us, and marched to Vera Cruz, where we arrived that very
night.

CHAPTER LX.

 _How Cortes arrived with us at the spot where the vessel lay at
 anchor, and captured six soldiers and sailors of the said vessel,
 who had stepped on shore; also what further took place._

As soon as we had arrived at Vera Cruz, Juan de Escalante came up to
Cortes and told him, it would be best to make off for the strange vessel
that very night, otherwise she might heave anchor and steer for the wide
ocean. Cortes himself might take his rest and allow him to manage the
affair with twenty men.

To this Cortes answered, he could not rest as long as there was any
thing to be done, and he was determined to go in person with the men he
had brought along with him. We accordingly set off on our march along
the coast, without even tasting a morsel of food before we left. On our
road we soon captured four Spaniards, who had been ordered to take
possession of the country in the name of Francisco de Garay, viceroy of
Jamaica. They had been sent on shore by an officer named Alonso Alvarez
de Pinedo, who a few days previous had left a settlement on the banks of
the Panuco. One of the four Spaniards, named Guillan de la Loa, had
drawn up a formal deed of having taken possession of the country, which
was signed by the three others.

After the prisoners had made this disclosure to Cortes, he inquired of
them under what pretence Garay had sent them out to take possession of
the country? To which they gave the following answer. In the year 1518,
when the fame of our having discovered this country, under Cordoba and
Grijalva, and of the twenty thousand pesos which it produced Diego
Velasquez, had spread through the whole of the West Indies, Anton de
Alaminos and another pilot who had made the voyage of discovery with us,
persuaded Garay to petition his majesty, that the discovery of all the
countries which might lie to the north of the river St. Peter and Paul
might be granted to him. Trusting to the patrons he had at the court of
Madrid, he despatched his house-steward, Torrolva, to Spain, who managed
to obtain for him the appointment of adelantado, and vice-regent of all
countries north of the river just mentioned. Garay, in consequence of
this appointment, fitted out three vessels with two hundred and seventy
men, besides horses and the necessary provisions. The command of these
he intrusted to an officer named Alonso Alvarez Pinedo, who at present
was lying at a distance of about 280 miles from this place, in the river
Panuco, where he intended to found a colony. For the rest, added the
prisoners, they had merely obeyed the commands of that officer, and were
therefore not answerable for anything they had done. Cortes was very
much pleased with these fellows, on account of the disclosure they had
made; he tried to gain them over to his interest, and inquired of them,
if it were possible to capture the vessel? Guillan de la Loa, the most
distinguished of the prisoners, thought it might be done, and he, with
his comrades, would hail the ship's shallop on shore. This they
accordingly tried, but, notwithstanding all their shouting and signals,
no one moved from the vessel. No doubt we must have been observed by
them, for the captain knew all about us, and he had particularly
cautioned his men to be upon their guard, not to fall into the hands of
Cortes. We had now, therefore, no other course left than to try to
entice the shallop on shore by some other stratagem. For this purpose
Cortes desired the prisoners to take off their clothes, and four of our
men to put them on, who were to remain behind. The rest of us marched
back along the road we had come, and halted behind a mountain, as soon
as we were out of sight of the vessel. Here we remained until midnight,
when all was dark around; we then, without the least noise, put
ourselves in motion, and made for the landing-place, in the
neighbourhood of which we concealed ourselves, so as to be invisible to
any one excepting our four disguised soldiers.

As soon as daylight had broken forth, the latter made signals to the
vessel with their cloaks and hats; upon which the shallop put off with
six sailors, two of whom had water-bottles in their hands, and
immediately stepped on shore. We watched until the four others should
have done the same. Our four disguised men were in the meantime washing
their hands, and doing everything else to hide their faces.

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