I 
64 l^he Expedition of H E R n A N Cort es, Book I. 
I. T^he Re folution taken Diego Velafquez, Governor of Cuba, to pitrfue the Bifcoveries and Settlements 
^ New Spain, and the Me aj are s taken for equipping a third Squadron for this Expedition. 2. T:he 
CharaBer of Cortes, who was appointed Commander in chief and the manner in which he attained that 
Command by the Nomination of Velafquez. 3. Departure of the Fleet from St. Jago de Cuba, amd the 
Reafons why Velafquez laboured to deprive Cortes of the Command he had given him. 4. Fhe ^Atte??ipts 
made Velafquez /o carry this Dejign of his into Execution, and the Methods which were fucceffully 
ufed by Cortbs to overthrow and defeat them. Cortes takes upon him the Command, notwithfanding 
Velafquez recalled his Commijion, and proceeds in his Voyage with the univerfal Applaufe of all who are 
engaged in the Defign. 6. Arrives at the If and of^ Cozumel, and remedies all the Diforders which had 
been occafioned by the coming thither of a Part of his Fleet before him, under Peter Alverado. 7. Sails 
from thence with a Defign of profecuting his Expedition, biit finds himfelf obliged to return thither with 
his Fleet. 8. Fhere comes thither, during hisfiay, Jerom de Aguilar, ^Spaniard, long a Prifoner 
in Yucatan, who gives a large Account of that Court, and of its Producls. 9. Obfervations and' Re- 
marks on the foregoing SeBion, with fome RefieBions on the political CharaBer of Cortes. 
I " ^ ^ Difcoveries made on the Continent, under 
X the Direblion of thofe employed by Diego Ve- 
lafquez, made a prodigious Noife over all the Weft- Indies, 
and multitudes there were who Ihewed a R.eadinefs to 
hazard their Lives, and embark their Fortunes for the 
Profecution of this Defign. We have, in the former 
Seblion, fhewn how this Country, when firil difcovered, 
came to be called New Spain for the Soldiers obferv- 
ing to one another the Refemblance betv/een the Soil and 
Climate of this ftrange Land, with thofe of their own, 
the Comparifon made fuch an Impreflion upon their 
Minds, that they cried out one and all, a New Spain, a 
New Spain fo that while other Colonies derived their 
Names either from the mifunderftanding of Indian Words, 
or from the arbitrary Pleafure of the firft Difcoverers, 
this was impofed by the Voice of the People. 
But the great Bufmefs was to fecure and fettle this new 
found Country, and that immediately and without De- 
lay ; for Velafquez faw plainly, that if he did not pro- 
ceed in his Defign, it would be undertaken, either from 
other Colonies, or by Perfons commiffioned diredlly from 
Old Spain ; and it was the Appreheniion of this that 
made him fo very angry, though with very little Reafon, 
at the Conduft of his Coufin and Creature, John Gri- 
jalva, in not making a Settlement there, though in ex- 
prefs Compliance with his own Order. His own Ambition 
hindered him from diftinguilhing another’s Obedience •, 
and the vaft Hopes he had formed to himfelf, from the 
Difcovery and Conqueft of New Spain, would not per- 
mit him to receive any Excufe from him, who, as he 
thought, had defeated them. On the other hand, Gri- 
jalva was extremely modeft, which hindered him from 
defending himfelf a^ he might have done •, fo that he 
contented himfelf with fhewing the Inftrublions he had 
received, and infifting that his Behaviour Ihould be tried 
by them j which Velafquez looked upon as a tacit Impu- 
tation on himfelf ; he applied all his Care, however, to 
the refitting theVefiels employed in the laid Expedition, 
and equipping both them and others for a new one, in 
which he fucceeded very happily, and had, in a fiiort 
time, fuch a Profpeft of a Fleet, capable of carrying 
into execution the Defigns he had formed, that he di- 
rected his Agents at the Court of Spain, to infift upon 
very high Terms, particularly that he Ihould be declared 
Lord Lieutenant of the Countries fubdued by his Di- 
re< 5 tion, and at his Expence. 
His Preparations being in fuch Forwardnefs, it was ab- 
folutely neceffary that he fhould make choice of fome 
body to abd in quality of General and Commander in 
chief : And, in this, he found himfelf under very great 
Difficulties. The inferior Officers, and even the People 
in general, who were to make the Voyage, were very 
defirous of their old Commander, John Grijalva j but, 
to this, he would by no means agree, either from an 
obftinate ill grounded Perfuafion of his want of Capacity, 
or, becaufe he was afraid of truiding a Man whom he 
had injured in fo high a Degree. When his Friends 
and Coimfellors faw this, they recommended feveral 
others, rather in Compliance with their own Intereft, 
and Notions, than from a juft Efteem of their Abili- 
ties, and a due . Notion of the great Danger there was 
in committing the Conducft of fo important an Enter- 
prize, to one who might prove unequal to the Talk. 
This gave excelTive Uneafinefs to Velafquez, who was 
a better Judge of Men than thofe who advifed him, 
and who had probably been more fuccefsful in his Choice, 
at leaft with regard to his own Intereft, if he had abled 
without any Advice at all. 
At laid, when the Seafon for failing approached, and 
this Affair would admit of no longer Delay, Amador de 
Laris, the King’s Treaftirer, and Andres de Duero, his 
Secretary, took upon them to mention Ferdinand, or, as 
the Spaniards call him, Hernan Cortes, but in a very 
artful Way, for they told the Governor, that in doing 
this, they had not the Service of their Friend fo much 
at Heart, as the Good of the Expedition ; and the Cha- 
rabder they gave him was fo modeft, and fo much fhort 
of the Truth, that Velafquez, who knew him as well as 
they did, was extremely fenfible that they did not en- 
deavour to impofe upon him ^ and therefore, from the 
very beginning, he liftened readily to their Recommend- 
ations ; he knew very well, that not only gr.eat, but 
even contrary Talents were requifite in the Perfon he 
wanted, who of Neceffity mull be a Man of high Spirit, 
capable of abting from his ov/n Lights in all Cafes, 
without adhering too ftriblly to Inftrubtions, and at the 
fame time it was to be wifhed that he Ihould preferve 
fuch a Regard for the Perfon who employed him, as 
not to be tempted by any Succefs whatever to throw 
off his Dependence. Hard Qualities thefe to be found, but 
'Qiialities about which the wifeft; Man might be eafily 
miftaken. 
2. Before we go farther, it will be proper to fay who 
Hernan Cortes was, and through what variety of Events 
his happy Deftiny led him to atchieve the Conqueft of 
New Spain. He was born in Medillin, a Town of Eftre- 
madura. Son of Martin Cortes, of Monroy, and Donna 
Catalina Pizaro Altamarino, Names that fufficiently 
declare the Nobility of his Extrablion. In his Youth he 
for fome time applied himfelf to Letters, and was two 
Years at Salamanca, which were fufficient to make him 
fenfible that the Application of a ftudious Life, was con- 
trary to his Temper. He returned home, refolved to 
follow the Wars, and his Parents pointed out to him 
Italy, but when he came to emibark, he fell dangeroufiy 
ill, by which Accident he found himfelf obliged to change 
his Intention, though not his Profeffion, and therefore he 
refolved to go to the Indies, where the War, at that time, 
was carried on' with a View to Glory, rather than to 
Wealth. He embarked with the Approbation of his 
Parents, in the Year 1 504 ; and carried Letters of Re- 
commendation to Don Nicholas de Obando, great Com- 
mander of the Order of Alcantara, his Kinfman, and 
then Governor of the Hand of St. Domingo. 
He was no fooner arrived there, and known, than he 
gained general Efteem, and v/as fo kindly received by 
the Governor, as to be immediately admitted into the 
Number of his Friends ; but all thefe Favours were not 
fufficient to divert his Inclination to A^rmiS, for he was 
fo uneafy at the Inablion wherein he found that Ifland 
v/hich the Spaniards now poffeffed, without any Oppofition 
from the Natives, that he defired leave to go and ferve 
I in 
t 
