CORTEZ OVERCOMES NARVA EZ, AND RECRUITS HIS FORCES. 43 



was joined, on his way, by one hundred and twenty men who had 

 retreated from the garrison at Vera Cruz. He was not long in 

 traversing the plains and Cordilleras towards the eastern sea ; and 

 falling suddenly on the camp of Narvaez, in the dead of night, he 

 turned the captured artillery against his foe, seized the general, 

 received the capitulation of the army of nine hundred well 

 equipped men, and soon healed the factions which of course 

 existed between the conquerors and the conquered. He had 

 acquired the prestige which always attends extraordinary success 

 or capacity ; and men preferred the chances of splendid results 

 under such a leader to the certainty of moderate gain under a 

 general who did not possess his matchless genius. Thus it was 

 that the lordly spirit and commanding talents of Cortez enabled 

 him to convert the very elements of disaster into the means of 

 present strength and future success ! 



