CHAPTER XXII.

_How the governor Diego Velasquez sends two of his officials in all

haste to Trinidad, with full power and authority to deprive Cortes

of his appointment of captain, and bring the squadron away, &c._

I must now carry my narrative back a few days, in order to relate what

happened at Santiago de Cuba after our departure. We had scarcely set

sail when Diego Velasquez's friends left him not a moment's peace,

harassing him until they had totally revolutionised his sentiments with

regard to Cortes. They now plainly told him that he might consider

Cortes as lost to his interests from his having so secretly sneaked away

from the harbour. Neither had he made any secret of his determination to

have the chief command of the armament, whether Diego might wish it or

not; for which reason he had embarked his men at night-time, that if any

attempt were made to deprive him of the squadron, he would resist it by

main force. He, the governor, had been deceived by his private secretary

Duero, and De Lares the royal treasurer, who had both made some previous

agreement with Cortes to procure him the command. But in particular the

relatives of Velasquez were constantly urging him to cancel the recent

appointment of Cortes, in which they were backed by a certain old man,

named Juan Millan, commonly termed the astrologer, who was considered by

many not to be exactly in his proper senses. This old man repeatedly

told the governor that Cortes would now revenge himself for his having,

some time ago, thrown him into prison: "Sly and artful as he is, he will

be the means of ruining you, if you are not upon your guard."

These hints were not thrown away upon Velasquez; they brought about a

revolution in his mind, which ended in his despatching two trustworthy

persons out of his establishment, with private instructions to his

brother-in-law Francisco de Verdugo, then alcalde major of Trinidad, by

which he was peremptorily commanded, under all circumstances, to deprive

Cortes of the squadron, whose appointment of captain had been withdrawn,

and given to Vasco Porcallo. At the same time he wrote letters to Diego

de Ordas, Francisco de Morla, and to his relations and friends, desiring

them, at all events, to leave the squadron.

As soon as Cortes got information of this, he had a secret interview

with Ordas and all those officers and inhabitants of Trinidad, who, he

thought, might feel inclined to obey the orders of Velasquez. To these

he spoke so feelingly, and in such kind terms, accompanied by such great

promises, that they were all soon gained over to his side. Diego de

Ordas even undertook to advise the alcalde major Francisco de Verdugo

not to put these commands immediately into execution, and to keep them

secret; telling him, at the same time, he had seen nothing in Cortes

which gave the slightest reasons for suspecting him of anything wrong;

on the contrary, he had, on every occasion, given proofs of his

adherence to the governor. He assured him, moreover, that it would be an

impossibility to deprive Cortes of the command of the squadron, in which

he had so many friends among the cavaliers, and Diego Velasquez so many

enemies, who would not easily forgive him that he had neglected to

bestow on them more profitable commendaries. Besides the number of

friends Cortes had among the officers, he could rely upon most of the

soldiers, and thus it would be useless to attempt anything against him.

The whole town would become mixed up in the quarrel, which would be

plundered by our men, and even worse consequences might follow. By these

arguments, Ordas prevented all violent measures; and one of the

above-mentioned officials, whom Diego had sent with despatches to his

nephew, named Pedro Laso, even joined our expedition. The other, Cortes

sent back with a letter to the governor, in which he made use of every

kind sentiment, and expressed his utter astonishment at the resolution

he had taken, particularly as he had no other design than to serve God,

his majesty the king, and the governor. He earnestly advised him not to

listen any further to his cousin Velasquez, nor to allow the kind

feeling he entertained for him to be poisoned by such an old fool as

Juan Millan. Cortes, at the same time, wrote to his other friends, and

in particular to his two confederates, the private secretary and royal

treasurer.

The next step he took was to command his men to put their arms into good

repair. Every smith in the town was set to work to fix points to our

lances, and the gunners were ordered to search every magazine for

arrows. He at last even persuaded the very smiths to join the armament.

We remained altogether twelve days at Trinidad, and thence sailed for

the Havannah. From the foregoing statement, the reader will readily

perceive how differently all this has been related by Gomara, who even

makes Velasquez confer the chief command on Ordas; the latter, he says,

invited Cortes to dine with him on board his vessel, had him seized

while at dinner, and taken off prisoner to Santiago. I could cite many

similar errors from Gomara's history, and thereby convince the reader

that it is better to believe an eyewitness than an author who writes

about things he never saw. However, enough of Gomara; let us return to

our subject.