CHAPTER XXI.

_Cortes's occupations at Trinidad, and of the cavaliers and warriors

who there joined our expedition, and other matters._

On the first notice of our arrival at Trinidad, the inhabitants came out

to welcome us and our commander Cortes. Among the great body of

cavaliers in this place, every one strove hardest to have Cortes for his

guest. Cortes immediately planted his standard in front of his dwelling,

and made the public acquainted with the particulars of the expedition in

the same way as he had done at Santiago, and further collected whatever

he could in the shape of firearms with other necessaries. Here we were

also joined by the Alvarados, namely, Pedro, who has often been

mentioned in this history, his brothers Gonzalo, Jorge, Gomez, and his

natural brother the elder Juan Alvarado. Further we were here joined by

Alonso de Avila of Avila, who had a command in the last expedition,

under Grijalva; Juan de Escalante, Pedro Sanchez Farsan of Sevilla;

Gonzalo Mexia, subsequently treasurer at Mexico; Vaena, Juanes de

Fuentarabia, and Christobal de Oli, who had a command at the taking of

Mexico, and in all the battles fought in New Spain. Further, Ortiz, the

musician, and Gaspar Sanchez, nephew to the treasurer of Cuba; Diego de

Pinedo, Alonzo Rodriguez, who possessed some lucrative gold mines, and

Bartolome Garcia. To which may be added many other cavaliers whose

names at present I cannot remember, all personages of influence and

respectability. From this place Cortes also wrote letters to

Santispiritus, fifty-four miles from Trinidad, and made our expedition

known to the public there. He knew so well how to mix up his sentences

with inviting expressions and great promises, that many of the first

personages of that town were thereby induced to join us. These were

Hernando Puertocarrero, cousin to the earl of Medellin, and Gonzalo de

Sandoval, who had been eight months alguacil-major and governor, and was

afterwards a commander in New Spain; also Juan Velasquez de Leon, a

relation of Diego Velasquez; Rodrigo Rangel, Gonzalo Lopez de Ximena,

with his brother Juan Lopez, and Juan Sedeno. This latter gentleman was

an inhabitant of Santispiritus, and had joined Cortes because of the two

other Sedenos who were among us. These gentlemen, who were all men of

consequence, had arrived at the same time in Trinidad, when Cortes,

accompanied by the whole of us, went out to meet them. Cannons were

fired, and other rejoicings took place on this occasion, while

professions of esteem and friendship were past from one party to the

other. All these men possessed land in the neighbourhood of this town,

where they ordered cassave-bread to be made, and bacon to be cured, and

otherwise collected all the provisions they possibly could for our

vessels. Here also we hired soldiers, and purchased some horses, which

latter, at that time, were very scarce, and only to be had at exorbitant

prices. Alonso Hernandez de Puertocarrero, whom I had previously known,

had not sufficient money to purchase himself a horse; Cortes, therefore,

bought one for him, and paid for it with the golden borders of the

velvet robe he had procured at Santiago. About this time there also

arrived in the port of Trinidad a vessel belonging to a certain Juan

Sedeno, of the Havannah, laden with cassave-bread and salted meat, which

was destined for the mines of Santiago. This Sedeno, who had called upon

our commander to pay his respects, was soon persuaded, by the eloquence

and address of Cortes, to sell him his ship with the lading and all, and

himself to join the expedition. We had now eleven ships in all, and

everything, thanks to Providence, was going on well, when letters

arrived from Diego Velasquez with peremptory orders that Cortes was to

be deprived of the command. But I will detail this matter in the

following chapter.