History of Mexico (Bancroft)/Volume 1/Chapter 11

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

 

CHAPTER XI.

THE SINKING OF THE FLEET.

July-August 1519.

Diego Velazquez once More — His Supporters in the Camp of Cortés — They Attempt Escape — Are Discovered — The Leaders are Seized and Executed — Cortés' Ride to Cempoala, and what Came of it — He Determines on the Destruction of the Fleet — Preliminary Strategems — Several of the Ships Pronounced Unseaworthy — The Matter before the Soldiers — The Fleet Sunk — Indignation of the Velazquez Faction — One Vessel Remaining — It is Offered to any Wishing to Desert — It is finally Sunk — Francisco de Garay's Pretensions — Seizure of Some of his Men.

To the top of a fir-tree, which he curbed and then let spring, Theseus fastened the robber Sinis, who had been accustomed himself to kill travellers in that way. In a hollow brazen bull, which he had made for the Sicilian tyrant to roast his victims in, Perillus the inventor was roasted. A famous detective was hanged at last for house-breaking. Matthew Hopkins, the witch-finder, who about the middle of the seventeenth century travelled the country over to discover and bring witches to punishment, was finally, with pronounced effect, subjected to one of his own tests. Witches, he had said, would not sink in water. This was a safe proposition for the prosecution; for if they sank they were drowned, and if they did not sink they were burned. Being at length himself charged with witchcraft, the people seized and threw him into a river; and as he floated, by his own law he was declared a witch, and put to death accordingly. In more ways than one, he who invents a guillotine is often the first to suffer by it. It is not wise to sow dragons' teeth, and expect therefrom a happy harvest.

Now Diego Velazquez had all his life been sowing dragons' teeth, and hunting witches, and building guillotines, and brazen bulls. Starting from Spain in the guise of a noble old soldier, as he advertised himself, though some said of him that his sword was bloodless and his bravery bravado, he served the usual apprenticeship in the New World, chasing, and mutilating, and murdering, and enslaving natives, working to death on his plantations those saved for this most cruel fate. For this and similar service Diego Colon, then ruling the Indies at Española, sent him to Cuba to play governor there over those inoffensive and thrice unlucky savages. Fraud being native to his character, no sooner was he fairly seated than he repudiated his late master and benefactor, and reported directly to the king, even as his own captain of the Mexican expedition was, now doing. Another of his guillotines was the vile treatment of Grijalva for not disobeying orders, on which score he could not complain against Grijalva's successor. Yet, as head and heart frosted with time the Cuban governor was not happy: misdeeds never bring true or lasting happiness. His bitterness, however, was but in the bloom; the full fruit of his folly would come only after the consummation of events upon the continent, grand as yet beyond conception. Ordinarily it is much easier to kill a man than to create one; in this instance it was extremely difficult to kill the man that he had made.

If among the New World cavaliers such a thing as poltroon or coward could be, Diego Velazquez was that thing, notwithstanding he had participated in so much fighting. Yet I do not call him coward, for my pen refuses to couple such a term with that of sixteenth-century Spaniard. Certain it is, however, that few men in those days preferred conquering new lands by deputy to winning glory in person, and if this soldier and governor was not a coward, there was little of the manly or chivalrous in his bravery. He was cautious, yet frequently his cupidity overcame his caution; and when he adventured his gold-for he seldom risked his life, either for fame which he dearly loved, or for gold which he loved still dearer — it was under restrictions ruinous to almost any enterprise. In his ordinary mood he played fairly enough the statesman and hero, but in truth his statesmanship was superficial, and his heroism theatrical. Las Casas calls him a terrible fellow for those who served him, and Gomara says he had little stomach for expenditures. This much allowance, however, should be made in any statements of historians respecting the governor of Cuba: in their drama of the conquest Diego Velazquez plays the part of chief villain to the hero Hernan Cortés, when as a matter of fact Cortés was the greater villain of the two, principally because he was the stronger.

Even the priests praise Cortés, though many of his acts were treacherous; and timidity in a leader was accounted the most heinous of crimes. On the whole, I agree with Torquemada that the governor should have gone against Montezuma in person, if it was necessary he should go on such dastardly work at all; but we may be sure that Velazquez would not himself venture upon this sea of high exploit, though Æolus with a silver cord had tied up the winds in an ox-hide, as he did for Ulysses. And now from this time forth, and indeed from the moment the unrestrainable Estremaduran embarked defying him, the sulphurous fire of hatred and revenge burned constant in the old man's breast.

 

Never was villainy so great that if united with high station or ability it could not find supporters; for most men are rascals at heart in one direction or another. The pretty pair, Velazquez the governor, and Cortés the adventurer-so well pitted that the difference between them consists chiefly in setting off the position of one against the native strength of the other, the manners and pusillanimity of the one against the fate-defying chivalry of the other-had each his active workers not only in Spain, but in America, those of Velazquez being some of them in the very camp of Cortés. Since the royal grant of superior powers to Velazquez, this faction has lifted its head. And now its brain works.

The messengers for Spain had scarcely left the port before these malcontents form a plot, this time not with the sole desire to return to a more comfortable and secure life, but with a view to advise Velazquez of the treasure ship so close at hand. Amongst them are to be found the priest Juan Diaz; Juan Escudero, the alguacil of Baracoa, who beguiled and surrendered Cortés into the hands of the authorities; Diego Cermeño and Gonzalo de Umbría, pilots; Bernardino de Coria, and Alonso Peñate, beside several leading men who merely countenanced the plot. They have already secured a small vessel with the necessary supplies, and the night of embarkment is at hand, when Coria repents and betrays his companions.

Cortés is profoundly moved. It is not so much the hot indignation that stirs his breast against the traitors as the light from afar that seems to float in upon his mind like an inspiration, showing him more vividly than he had ever seen it before, his situation. So lately a lax and frivolous youth, apparently of inept nature, wrought to stiffer consistency by some years of New World kneading, by a stroke of the

1 The names vary somewhat in different authorities, Bernal Diaz including instead of Peñate, a number of the Gibraltar sailors known as Peñates, who were lashed at Cozumel for theft. The plot was hatched 'Desde à quatro dias que partieron nuestros Procuradores.' Hist. Verdad., 39. Cortés mentions only four 'determinado de tomar un bergantin . . . . y matar al maestre dél, y irse á la isla Fernandina.' Cartas, 53-4. Gomara assumes them to be the same who last revolted on setting out for Tizapantzinco. Hist. Mex., 64. 'Pusieron . . . . por obra de hurtar un navío pequeño, é salir á robar lo que llevaban para el rey.' Tapia, Relacion, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 563. Peter Martyr jumbles the names, dec. v. cap. i. rarest fortune he suddenly finds himself a commander of men, in a virgin field of enterprise fascinating beyond expression, and offering to the soldier possibilities excelled by nothing within the century. As the mind enlarges to take in these possibilities, the whole being seems to enlarge with it, the unstable adventurer is a thing of the past, and behold a mighty rock fills the place. Against it heads shall beat unprofitably. The momentous question of to be or not to be is forever determined; it is an affair simply of life now. Life and the power of which he finds himself possessed shall rise or fall together; and if his life, then the lives of others. No life shall be more precious to him than his own; no life shall be accounted precious at all that stands in the way of his plans. To a lady who complained of the burning of the Palatinate by Turenne, Napoleon answered: "And why not, madame, if it was necessary to his designs?" The Palatinate! ay, and a hundred million souls flung into the same fire, ere the one omnipotent soul shall suffer the least abridgment. It was a small matter, and he would do it; all the islands of the Western Inde he would uproot and fling into the face of the Cuban governor before he would yield one jot of his stolen advantage. Each for himself were Velazquez, Columbus, and Charles, and the rest of this world's great and little ones, and Cortés would be for himself. Henceforth, like Themistocles, though he would die for his country he would not trust her. Return to Cuba he well knew for him was death, or ignominy worse than death. His only way was toward Mexico. As well first as last. All the past life of Cortés, all his purposes for the future, concentred in these resolves to make them the pivot of his destiny. Cortés, master of kings, arbiter of men's lives! As for these traitors, they shall die; and if other impediments appear, as presently we shall see them appear, be they in the form of eye or right hand, they shall be removed. Tyrant, he might be branded; ay, as well that as another name, for so are great ends often brought to pass by small means. Unpleasant as it may be, the survivors may as well bear in mind that it will be less difficult another time.

So the conspirators are promptly seized and sentenced, Escudero and Cermeño to be hanged, Umbría to lose his feet, and others to receive each two hundred lashes.^[1] Under cover of his cloth Padre Diaz, the ringleader and most guilty of them all, escapes with a reprimand. As for the rest, though among them were some equally guilty, they were treated with such dissembling courtesy and prudence as either to render them harmless or to convert thenm into friends. "Happy the man who cannot write, if it save him from such business as this!" exclaimed the commander, as he affixed his name to the death-warrants. For notwithstanding his inexorable resolve he was troubled, and would not see his comrades die though they would have sacrificed him. On the morning of the day of execution he set off at breakneck speed for Cempoala, after ordering two hundred soldiers to follow with the horses and join a similar force which had left three days before under Alvarado.^[2]

Cortés' brain was in a whirl during that ride. It was a horrible thing, this hanging of Spaniards, cutting off feet, and flogging. Viewed in one light it was but a common piece of military discipline; from another stand-point it was the act of an outlaw. The greater part of the little army was with the commander; to this full extent the men believed in him, that on his valor and discretion they would adventure their lives. With most men beliefs are but prejudices, and opinions tastes. These Spaniards not only believed in their general, but they held to a most impetuous belief in themselves. They could do not only anything that any one else ever had done or could do, but they could command the supernatural, and fight with or against phantoms and devils. They were a host in themselves; besides which the hosts of Jehovah were on their side. And Cortés measured his men and their capabilities, not as Xerxes measured his army, by filling successively a pen capable of holding just ten thousand; he measured them rather by his ambition, which was as bright and as limitless as the firmament. Already they were heroes, whose story presently should vie in thrilling interest with the most romantic tales of chivalry and knight-errantry, and in whom the strongest human passions were so blended as to lift them for a time out of the hand of fate and make their fortunes their own. The thirst for wealth, the enthusiasm of religion, the love of glory, united with reckless daring and excessive loyalty, formed the most powerful incentives to action. Life to them without the attainment of their object was valueless; they would do or die; for to die in doing was life, whereas to live failing was worse than death. Cortés felt all this, though it scarcely lay on his mind in threads of tangible thought. There was enough however that was tangible in his thinkings, and exceedingly troubling. Unfortunately the mind and heart of all his people were not of the complexion he would have them. And those ships. And the disaffected men lying so near them, looking wistfully at them every morning, and plotting, and plotting all the day long. Like the Palatinate to Turenne, like anything that seduced from the stern purposes of Cortés, it were better they were not.

This thought once flashed into his mind fastened itself there. And it grew. And Cortés grew with it, until the man and the idea filled all that country, and became the wonder and admiration of the world. Destroy the ships! Cut off all escape, should such be needed in case of failure! Burn the bridge that spans time, and bring to his desperate desire the aid of the eternities! The thought of it alone was daring; more fearfully fascinating it became as Cortés dashed along toward Cempoala, and by the time he had reached his destination the thing was determined, and he might with Cæsar at the Rubicon exclaim, Jacta est alea! But what would his soldiers say? They must be made to feel as he feels, to see with his eyes, and to swell with his ambition.

The confession of the conspirators opened the eyes of Cortés to a fact which surely he had seen often enough before, though by reason of his generous nature which forgot an injury immediately it was forgiven, it had not been much in his mind of late, namely, that too many of his companions were lukewarm, if not openly disaffected. They could not forget that Cortés was a common man like themselves, their superior in name only, and placed over them for the accomplishment of this single purpose. They felt they had a right to say whether they would remain and take the desperate chance their leader seemed determined on, and to act on that right with or without his consent. And their position assuredly was sound; whether it was sensible depended greatly on their ability to sustain themselves in it. Cortés was exercising the arbitrary power of a majority to drive the minority as it appeared to their death. They had a perfect right to rebel; they had not entered the service under any such compact. Cortés himself was a rebel; hence the rebellion of the Velazquez men, being a rebelling against a rebel, was in truth an adherence to loyalty. Here as everywhere it was might that made right; and, indeed, with the right of these matters the narrator has little to do.

Success, shame, fear, bright prospects, had all lent their aid to hold the discontented in check, but in these several regards feeling and opinion were subject to daily fluctuations. Let serious danger or reverses come, and they would flee in a moment if they could. And the fleet lying so near was a constant temptation. Cut that off, and the nerves of every man there would be freshly strung. The meanest would suddenly become charged with a kind of nobility; they would at once become inspired with the courage that comes from desperation. Often those least inclined to fight when forced to it are the most indifferent to death. Other dormant elements would be brought out by the disappearance of those ships; union, fraternity, complete community,not only of interest but of life. Their leader with multiplied power would become their god. On him they would be dependent for all things; for food and raiment, for riches, glory, and every success; for life itself. Cortés saw all this, pondered it well, and thought it would be very pretty to play the god awhile. He would much prefer it to confinement in old Velazquez' plaza-pen, or even in a Seville prison. Cortés was now certain in his own mind that if his band remained unbroken either by internal dissension or by white men yet to arrive, he would tread the streets of the Mexican capital before he entered the gates of the celestial city. If Montezuma would not admit him peaceably, he would gather such a force of the emperor's enemies as would pull the kingdom down about his ears. It would be necessary on going inland to leave a garrison at Villa Rica; but it would be madness to leave also vessels in which they could sail away to Cuba or elsewhere. And finally, if the ships were destroyed, the sailors, who otherwise would be required to care for them, might be added to the army. Such were the arguments which the commander would use to win the consent of his people to one of the most desperate and daring acts ever conceived by a strategist of any age or nation.

Not that such consent was necessary. He might destroy the ships and settle with the soldiers after afterward. The deed accomplished, with or without their consent, there would be but one course open to them. Nevertheless he preferred they should think themselves the authors of it rather than feel that they had been tricked, or in any way unfairly dealt with. And with the moral he would shift the pecuniary responsibility to their shoulders. So he went to work as usual, with instruments apparently independent, but whose every step and word were of his directing. One day quickly thereafter it came to pass that the masters of several of the largest ships appeared before the captain-general with lengthened faces well put on, with the sad intelligence that their respective craft were unseaworthy; indeed one of them had sunk already. They did not say they had secretly bored holes in them according to instructions. Cortés was surprised, nay he was painfully affected; Roscius himself could not have performed the part better; "for well he could dissemble when it served his purpose," chimes in Las Casas. With Christian fortitude he said: "Well, the will of God be done; but look you sharply to the other ships." Barnacles were then freely discussed, and teredos. And so well obeyed the mariners their instructions that soon they were able to swear that all the vessels save three were unsafe, and even these required costly repairs before they would be seaworthy.^[3] Thus as by the hand of providence, to the minds of the men as they were able to bear it, the deed unfolded. Soon quite apparent became the expediency of abandoning such vessels as were leaking badly; there was trouble and no profit in attempting to maintain them, for they would surely have to be abandoned in the end. "And indeed, fellow-soldiers," continued Cortés, "I am not sure but it were best to doom to destruction also the others, and so secure the coöperation of the sailors in the coming campaign, instead of leaving them in idleness to hatch fresh treachery." This intimation was successful, as had been foreordained by the ruler of these events it should be. It was forthwith resolved to scuttle all the ships but one, the one brought by Salcedo. Accordingly Escalante, the alguacil mayor, a brave and able officer wholly devoted to Cortés, was sent down to Villa Rica to carry out the order, with the aid of the picked soldiers there stationed. Sails, anchors, cables, and everything that could be utilized were removed, and a few hours later some small boats were all that remained of the Cuban fleet.^[4]

It was then the community first realized its situation. The followers of Cortés, with unbounded faith in their leader, did not so much care, but the partisans of Velazquez, few of whom knew that the affair had been coolly predetermined, were somewhat agitated. And when on closer inquiry they were enlightened by certain of the mariners, the cry arose that they were betrayed; they were lambs led to the slaughter. Cortés promptly faced the now furious crowd. What did they want? Were their lives more precious than those of the rest? "For shame! Be men!" he cried, in conclusion. "You should know ere this how vain are the attempts to thwart my purpose. Look on this magnificent land with its vast treasures, and narrow not your vision to your insignificant selves. Think of your glorious reward, present and to come, and trust in God, who, if it so please him, can conquer this empire with a single arm. Yet if there be one here still so craven as to wish to turn his back on the glories and advantages thus offered; if there be one here so base, so recreant to heaven, to his king, to his comrades, as to slink from such honorable duty, in God's name let him go. There is one ship left, which I will equip at my own charge to give that man the immortal infamy he deserves."

This he said and much more, and to the desired effect. The speaker knew well how to play upon his men, as on an instrument, so that they would respond in any tune he pleased. Cheers rent the air as he concluded, in which the opposition were forced to join through very shame. Seeing which Cortés gently intimated, "Would it not be well to destroy the remaining vessel, and so make a safe, clean thing of it?" In the enthusiasm of the moment the act was consummated with hearty approval.^[5]

"To Mexico!" was now the cry, and preparations for the march were at once made. Escalante, whose character and services had endeared him to Cortés, was placed in command of Villa Rica. The native chiefs were directed to regard him as the representative of the general, and to supply him with every requirement.^[6]

Some nine days after the sinking of the fleet a messenger arrived from Escalante, announcing that four vessels^[7] had passed by the harbor, refusing to enter, and had anchored three leagues off, at the mouth of a river. Fearing the descent upon him of Velazquez, Cortés hurried off with four horsemen, after selecting fifty soldiers to follow. Alvarado and Sandoval were left jointly in charge of the army, to the exclusion of Ávila, who manifested no little jealousy of the latter. Cortés halted at the town merely to learn particulars, declining Escalante's hospitality with the proverb, "A lame goat has no rest." On the way to the vessels they met a notary with two witnesses,^[8] commissioned to arrange a boundary on behalf of Francisco de Garay, who claimed the coast to the north as first discoverer, and desired to form a settlement a little beyond Nautla. It appeared that Garay, who had come out with Diego Colon, and had risen from procurador of Española to become governor of Jamaica, had resolved to devote his great wealth to extending his fame as explorer and colonizer. On learning from Alaminos and his fellow voyagers of the coasts discovered in this direction, he resolved to revive the famed projects of Ponce de Leon, and with this view despatched a small fleet in 1518, under Diego de Camargo.^[9] Driven back by the Floridans with great slaughter, says Gomara, the expedition sailed down to Pánuco River, again to be repulsed, with the loss of some men, who were flayed and eaten. Torralba, steward of Garay, was then sent to Spain, and there, with the aid of Garay's friends, obtained for him a commission as adelantado and governor of the territories that he might discover north of Rio San Pedro y San Pablo.^[10] Meanwhile a new expedition was despatched to Pánuco, under Alonso élvarez Pineda, to form a settlement and to barter for gold. After obtaining some three thousand pesos, Pineda sailed southward to take possession and to select a site for the colony.^[11]

And now while the notary is endeavoring to arrange matters with Cortés, Pineda waits for him a little distance from the shore. At that moment Cortés cared little for Garays or boundaries; but he would by no means object to a few more Spaniards to take the place of those he had hanged, and of others whom he might yet be obliged to hang. To this end he converted perforce to his cause the notary and his attendants. Then learning from them that Pineda could on no account be prevailed on to land for a conference, Cortés signalled to the vessels with the hope that nmore men would come on shore. This failing, he bethought himself of letting three of his men exchange clothes with the new-comers and approach the landing, while he marched back with the rest in full view of the vessels. As soon as it grew dark, the whole force returned to hide near the spot. It was not till late the following morning that the suspicious Pineda responded to the signals from shore, and sent off a boat with armed men. The trio now withdrew behind some bushes, as if for shade. Four Spaniards and one Indian landed, armed with two firelocks and two cross-bows, and on reaching the shrubbery they were pounced upon by the hidden force, while the boat pushed off to join the vessels all ready to sail.^[12]

 

 

1. Thus Cortés had his revenge on the alguacil. 'Y no le valiò el ser su Compadre,' says Vetancvrt, with a hasty assumption which is not uncommon with him. Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 119. Gomara mentions no mutilation. 'Parece claro ser aquestas obras, . . . . propias de averiguado tirano,' says Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 496, which may be regarded as a singularly mild expression for the bishop. Herrera dwells upon Cermeño's extraordinary skill with the leaping-pole; he could also smell land fifteen leagues off the coast. dec. ii. lib. v. cap. xiv. 'Coria, vezino que fue despues de Chiapa.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 39.
2. Embiado . . . . por los pueblos de la sierra, porque tuuiessen que comer; porque en nuestra Villa passauamos mucha necessidad de bastimentos.' Id. This seems unlikely, since the Totonacs were not only willing, but bound, to provide supplies.
3. Testimonio de Montejo y Puertocarrero, in Col. Doc. Inéd., i. 489, 494. 'Viniesen á él, cuando estuviese mucha gente con él junta, y le denunciasen como no podian vencer el agua de los navios.' Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 497. 'Tuuo forma para que los soldados mas aficionados quo tenia se lo pidiessen . . . . Los soldados se lo pidieron, y dello se recibio auto por ante escrinano.' Herrera, dec. ii. lib. v. cap. xiv. 'Le aconsejamos los que eramos sus amigos, que no dexasse Nauio en el Puerto.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 39.
4. Los Pilotos, ê Maestres viejos, y marineros, que no erā buenos para ir â la guerra, que se quedassen en la Villa, y co͏̄ dos chinchorros que tuuiessen cargo de pescar .... y luego se vino (Escalante) â Cempoal con vna. Capitania de hombres de la mar, que fuessen los que sacaron de los Nauios, y salieron algunos dellos muy buenos soldados.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 40.
5. It is generally admitted that Cortés suggested the idea of destroying the fleet, for even Bernal Diaz, who at first gives the credit to the men by saying, "le aconsejamos los que eramos sus amigos,' confesses on the following page that 'el mismo Cortès lo tenia ya concertado.' Hist. Verdad., 30-40. The preponderating testimony also shows that the masters made their report in public, with the evident object, as the best authorities clearly indicate, of obtaining the consent of the responsible majority for the scuttling. During the partition of treasures at Mexico, large shares were set aside for Cortis and Velazquez to cover the cost of the fleet and the outfit, 'que dimos al traues con ellos, pues todos fuimos en ellos,' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 84, which is proof, in addition to the reliable assertion that the deed was agreed upon by the majority. Cortés' expression, 'los eché á la costa,' Cartas, 54, is merely that of a leader of that party or majority, who besides really gives credit to others. Hence the conclusion of Prescott and others, that the scuttling was done on his own responsibility, is not well founded. Cortés was clever enough always to have those present who were ready to take any responsibility for him that he might wish. The phrase, 'his was the greatest sacrifice, for they (the vessels) were his property,' Prescott's Mex., i. 374, is also wrong, for he was compensated by the army. And it is an exaggeration to say that the execution of the measure 'in the face of an incensed and desperate soldiery, was an act of resolution that has few parallels in history,' Id., 376, since his party supported him. According to Gomara the pilots bore holes in the vessels, and bring their report, whereupon five vessels are first sunk; shortly afterward the remainder except one are scuttled. The offer of this vessel to those who wished to return was made with a view to learn who were the cowards and malcontents. Many indeed did ask for leave, but half of them were sailors. Others kept quiet out of shame. Hist. Mex., 65. It was never Cortés' policy to mark the disaffected, however. This author is followed by Torquemada, 'porque asi se ha platicado siempre entre las Gentes, que mas supieron do esta Jornada,' i. 409, and on the strength of this the latter argues that Herrera's version, dec. ii. lib. v. cap. xiv., which adheres chiefly to Bernal Diaz', must be wrong. Tapia, Relacion, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 563, conforms chiefly to Gomara. Robertson, after following Bernal Diaz, takes the trouble of having the ships 'drawn ashore and....broke in pieces.' Hist. Am., ii. 33-4; Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 35-6; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., iii. 232; Sandoval, Hist. Carlos V., i. 171; Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. i. Peralta has them burned by secret agents of Cortés. Nat. Hist., 76. Solis, ever zealous for his hero, objects to Bernal Diaz' attempt to pluck any of the glory, and scouts the idea that fears of pecuniary liability could have influenced Cortés to gain the approval of others for his act. 'Tuvo á destreza de historiador el penetrar lo interior de las acciones,' is the complacent tribute to his own skill in penetrating the question. Hist. Mex., i. 214-15. The view of the foundering fleet, appended to some editions of his work, has been extensively copied. One is given in the Antwerp edition of 1704, 141. A still finer view, with the men busy on shore, and the sinking vessels in the distance, is to be found in the Madrid issue of 1783, i. 213. The destruction of the fleet has been lauded in extravagant terms by almost every authority, from Gomara and Solis to Robertson and Prescott, as an unparalleled deed. Of previous examples there are enough, however, even though the motives and the means differ. We may go back to Æneas, to whose fleet the wives of the party applied the torch, tired of roaming; or we may point to Agathocles, who first fired his soldiers with a resolution to conquer or to die, and then compelled them to keep their word by firing the vessels. Julian offered a tamer instance during his campaign on the Tigris; but the deed of the terrible Barbarossa in the Mediterranean, only a few years before the Mexican campaign, was marked by reckless determination. Still examples little affect the greatness of an act; motives, means, and results afford the criteria. 'Pocos exemplos destos ay, y aquellos son de grandes hombres.' Gomara, Hist. Mex., 65. 'Una de las acciones en que mas se reconoce la grandeza de su ánimo. ... Y no sabemos si de su género se hallará mayor alguna en todo el campo de las Historias.' Solis, Hist. Mex., i. 213. 'An effort of magnanimity, to which there is nothing parallel in history.' Robertson, Hist. Am., ii. 34. 'Un' impresa, che da per se sola basterebbe a far conoscere la sua magnanimità, e ad immortalare il suo nome.' Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 35; Prescott, Mex., i. 375-6, is equally carried away, and he finds more words for his admiration. He is wrong in supposing that one of the vessels in the harbor was left intact; the exempt ship referred to by a chronicler was the one carrying the messengers to Spain.

   Antonio de Solis y Ribadeneyra is remarkable as the first Spanish historian of the conquest. It appears to us strange that an episode so glorious to the fame of Castilians should have been allowed to lie so long neglected in the musty pages of their chroniclers. True, these were worthy, zealous men, who conscientiously narrated every occurrence of any note, but their standard for historic truth and dignity caused them to clothe facts, however striking, in a garb of dreary gravity, dryness of detail, and ambiguous confusion, which discouraged even the student. It required the dramatic eye of the composer and the imagination of the poet to appreciate the picturesque sketches of a strange people now fading into oblivion, the grandeur of a semi-savage pageantry, the romantic exploits that recalled the achievements of the Cid. This faculty was innate in Solis, developed besides by a long and successful career in letters. He had profited also by the advantages opened to him as the secretary of Conde de Oropesa, Viceroy of Navarre and of Valencia, who Mæcenas-like fostered the talents and aided in the promotion of the promising savant, for as such he already ranked. Cradled in the famous college town of Alcalá de Henares, he had given early evidence of talent, and at Salamanca university he had signalized himself in his seventeenth year by producing a comedy of considerable merit. While pursuing with energy the study of law and moral philosophy, he cultivated with hardly less ardor the muses, to which end he was no doubt impelled also by his intimacy with the illustrious Calderon. Several of his dramas were received with acclamation, and one was translated into French, while his miscellaneous poems, reprinted in our days, are marked by a vivid imagination and an elegance which also adorns his letters. Talents so conspicuous did not wait long for recognition, and with the aid of his patron he advanced to the dignities of royal secretary and chief chronicler of the Indies. When 56 years old his mind underwent a change, and entering the church he abandoned forever the drama and light literature. The pen changed only its sphere, however, for it served the historiographer zealously, achieving for him the greatest fame; and fame alone, for at his death, in April, 1686, at the age of 70, deep poverty was his companion. When he entered on this office the Indies had lapsed into the dormant quietude imposed by a strict and secluding colonial régime. There were no stirring incidents to reward the efforts of the historian, save those connected with freebooter raids, which offered little that could flatter Spanish pride. To achieve fame he must take up some old theme, and present it in a form likely to rouse attention by its contrast. Thus it was that he selected the thrilling episode of the conquest of Mexico, with the determination to rescue it from the unskilful arrangement and repetitions, the want of harmony and consistency, the dryness and faulty coloring, to which it had hitherto been subjected, and to expend upon it the effects of elegant style and vast erudition. When the work appeared at Madrid, in 1684, its superior merits were instantly recognized, and although the sale at first was not large, editions have multiplied till our day, the finest and costliest being the illustrated issue of 1783-4, in two volumes, which I quote, while consulting also the notes of several others. So grand and finely elaborated a subject, and that from a Spanish historian who was supposed to have exhausted all the available resources of the Iberian archives, could not fail to rouse general attention throughout Europe, and translations were made into different languages. Robertson, among others, while not failing to point out certain blemishes, has paid the high compliment of accepting Solis for almost sole guide on the conquest, and this with a blindness which at times leads him into most amusing errors. Even Prescott warms to his theme in a review of six closely printed pages, wherein eulogy, though not unmingled with censure, is stronger than a clearer comprehension of the theme would seem to warrant. But in this he is impelled to a great extent by his oft displayed tendency to hero worship.

   Solis deserves acknowledgment for bringing order out of chaos, for presenting in a connected form the narrative of the conquest, and for adorning it with an elegant style. But he has fulfilled only a part of the promises made in his preface, and above all has he neglected to obtain information on his topic beyond that presented in a few of the generally accessible works, even their evidence being not very closely examined. He has also taken great liberties with the text, subordinating facts to style and fancy, seizing every possible opportunity to manufacture speeches for both native and Spanish heroes, and this with an amusing disregard for the consistency of language with the person and the time. His religious tendencies seriously interfere with calm judgment, and impel him to rave with bigoted zeal against the natives. The hero worship of the dramatist introduces itself to such an extent as frequently to overshadow everything else, and to misrepresent. 'Sembra più im panegirico, che una istoria,' says Clavigero, very aptly. Storia Mess., i. 16. His arguments and deductions are at times most childish, while his estimation of himself as a historian and thinker is aired in more than one place with a ridiculous gravity. With regard to style. Solis had Livy for a model, and belonged to the elder school of historians; he was its last good representative, in fact. His language is expressive and elegant, greatly imbued with a poetic spirit not unsuited to the subject, and sustained in eloquence, while its pure idiom aids to maintain the work as classic among Castilians. 'Ingenio Conceptuoso, Floridisimo, i Eloquente,' is the observation in the work of his historiographic predecessor, Pinelo, Epitome, ii. 697. But it lacks in boldness and dignity; the rhapsodies are often misplaced, and the verboseness is tiresome. Some of the faults are of course due to the time, but not the many, and it also becomes only too apparent that Solis is so conceitedly infatuated with his affected grandiloquence as to sacrifice facts wherever they interfere with its free scope. It is said that he intended to continue the history of Mexico after the conquest, and that death alone prevented the consummation of the project. But this is mere conjecture, and it appears just as likely that the dramatist recognized the effect of closing a great work at so appropriate a point as the fall of Mexico. The work was taken up, however, by Salazar y Olarte, who published in 1743 the second part of the Conquest, till the death of Cortés, abounding in all the faults of the superficial and florid composition of Solis.

6. 'Luego le zahumaron [the chiefs] al Juan de Escalante con sus inciensos.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 40. 'Dejé en la villa de la Veracruz ciento y cincuenta hombres con doze de caballo.' Cortés, Cartas, 52-3. One hundred and fifty Spaniards, with two horses and two fire-arms, were left here under Pedro de Ircio, Gomara, Hist. Mex., 65-6, but Bernal Diaz corrects him. 'Al Pedro de Ircio no le auian dado cargo ninguno, ni aun de cuadrillero.' ubi sup.; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 291. The force seems to be altogether too large. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 51, says 60 old and suffering soldiers were left as garrison.
7. Bernal Diaz says one vessel; but Cortés and other authorities mention four.
8. Bernal Diaz, who appears to have been with the party, names them as Guillen de la Loa, notary; Andrés Nuñez, shipwright; Pedro de la Arpa, a Valencian, and a fourth man. Hist. Verdad., 40.
9. Armo Francisco de Garay tres carauelas en Iamaica, el año de mil quinitos y deziocho, y fue a tentar la Florida.' Gomara, Hist. Ind., 55. Determin de enviar á un hidalgo, llamado Diego de Camargo, á descubrir é continuar el descubrimiento que Grijalva habia hecho, con uno ó con dos navios; el cual descubrió la provincia de Panuco, ó, por mejor decir, comenzó de allí donde Grijalva se habia tornado, que fué desde Panuco, y anduvo navegando por la costa cien leguas hácia la Florida.' Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 466; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. iii. cap. xi.; Galvano's Discov., 133-4.
10. See Hist. Mex., i. 29, this series. El Rey se las concediá el aéo de 819, estando en Barcelona.' Las Casas, loc. cit. Torralua ... ruxo prouisiones para que fuesse Adelantado, y Gouernador desde el rio de San Pedro, y San Pablo, todo lo que descubriesse: y por aquellas pruisiones embi luego tres Nauios con hasta dozientos y setenta soldados.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 41.
11. Bernal Diaz intimates that Pineda had remained at Rio Pánuco to colonize, while one vessel was sent down to take possession where Cortés met the men. After giving an account of two expeditions in 1518 and 1519, Gomara says: 'Otros dizen, que no fue mas de vna vez. Sino que como estuuo mucho alla cuctan por dos. Hist. Ind., 55. But Las Casas mentions distinctly that it was on the strength of Camargo's discoveries, in 1518, that the grant was made to Garay in the following year. ubi sup. Garai auia corrido mucha costa en demda de la Florida, y tocado en vn rio y tierra, cuyo rey se llamaua Panuco, donde vieron oro, aun que poco. Y que sin salir de las naues aui rescatado hasta tres mil pesos de oro.' Gomara, Hist. Mex., 67; Cortés, Cartas, 56-7; Oviedo, iii. 262-3; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vi. cap. i.
12. El uno (of the captured ones) era maestre de la una nao, é puso fuego á la escòpeta, é matara al capitan de la Veracruz, sino que á la mecha le faltó el fuego.' Ovielo, iii. 263. Bernal Diaz, in a less intelligent account of the capture, states that only two men landed. 'Por manera que se huuieron de aquel Nauio seis soldados .... Y esto es lo que se hizo, y no lo que escriue el Coronista Gomara.' Hist. Verdad., 41. But Cortés' version must surely be the best, since it was related shortly after the occurrence, and by an immediate participator in the events.