CHAPTER III.

EXPEDITION OF CRISTOVAL DE OLID.-HIS

INSUBORDINATION.-THE

ARMAMENT OF LAS CASAS.-LAS CASAS MADE PRISONER BY OLID.OLID TAKES POSSESSION OF NACO.-RESOLUTION OF CORTES TO MARCH TO HONDURAS.-PREPARATIONS FOR THE MARCH.-EQUIPMENT OF THE ARMY.-DEPARTURE OF CORTES FROM MEXICO.SCENE BETWEEN CORTES AND THE FACTOR SALAZAR.-ARRIVAL OF THE ARMY AT GUACASUALCO.INDIAN MAP OF THE ROUTE FROM XICALANGO.-ADVANCE UPON TUPILCO.-THE BRIDGES OF CORTES.DIFFICULTIES OF THE MARCH.-ARRIVAL OF CORTES AT IZTAPA.PRIVATIONS OF THE ARMY.-APPROACH TO THE MAYA COUNTRY.

FROM the period when Cortes departed from the river Grijalva, or Tabasco, to prosecute his designs on Mexico, until the year 1524,-an interval of more than five years, -the province of Yucatan remained unnoticed by the Spaniards.

The desire for conquest and the impulse of discovery tended constantly towards the south, as much in the expectation of finding the supposed passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific, as on the immediate reward which was derived from the occupation of the rich and fertile countries that bordered the latter ocean.

The fame of Cortes and the terror inspired by the exploits of his troops had wrought their effects in Soconusco, Chiapa, and Guatemala, and the inhabitants of those countries were eager at first to cultivate the good

graces of the

conqueror, but their submission proved but short-lived. To reduce them to obedience, a force was sent, at the close of the year 1523, under Pedro de Alvarado, who penetrated beyond the limits of Guatemala, and during the expedition founded the city of that name, which he dedicated to Santiago1.

In the previous year Nicaragua had been reached by Gil Gonzales de Avila, proceeding from the eastern coast of Costa Rica; and in April, 1523, an expedition was despatched from Vera Cruz by Cortes, the command of which was given to Cristoval de Olid, with instructions to examine the coast of Hibueras, or Honduras, and endeavour to find that passage to the Spice Islands, which was still the fixed idea of all the Spanish discoverers.

But Cristoval de Olid was unfaithful to his trust, and, having made common cause with Diego Velasquez and others who were opposed to Cortes, revolted from his authority, and, founding a town on the northern coast of Honduras, to which he gave the name of Triunfo de la Cruz, set up on his own account. As soon as Cortes became aware of this act of insubordination, he took instant measures for repressing it, and fitted out an armament of five vessels and a hundred men, which he placed under the orders of Francisco de las Casas, who received full powers to seize Olid, and put him in chains. Las Casas met with a determined resistance off the coast; his vessels were wrecked by a strong "norther2," thirty of his men were drowned, and he himself, with the remainder of his force, was made prisoner by Olid; nor were the troops released until they had taken a solemn oath never to desert him, but to oppose Cortes if he Herrera: History, vol. iii. p. 2 The local name for a northerly gale.

338.

40

OLID TAKES POSSESSION OF NACO.

CHAP. III.

should come with an army against him'. As for Las Casas, he kept him a prisoner-at-war.

But Olid did not confine himself to acting merely on the defensive. Distrustful of all who acknowledged the authority of Cortes, he turned his arms against Gil Gonzales de Avila, who, on his return from the Lake of Nicaragua, had established the town of San Gil de Buena Vista, near Cape Three Points', a little to the eastward of the Gulf of Dulce. Olid was again victorious, making De Avila his prisoner also, and then marched into the interior of the country, where he discovered the vale of Naco, and took possession of the town bearing that name. What befell him afterwards will be adverted to when the termination is described of that extraordinary march which Cortes himself undertook for the re-establishment of his authority on the coast of Honduras.

66

Receiving no tidings of the expedition under Francisco de las Casas, though several months had elapsed since his departure, Cortes came to the resolution of proceeding in person to the scene of Olid's revolt, and, with the courage and promptitude which so eminently characterized him, determined upon striking a blow in a manner the most unexpected. "The more he thought," says Bernal Díaz, “ of the many dangers to which vessels were exposed, and the various changes of good and bad fortune which are inseparable from an expedition of this nature, the more he regretted, notwithstanding the confidence be placed in Las Casas, that he had not in gone person at the head of the armament." But a circuitous route was little suited either to the object he had in view or to his own daring nature, and Cortes at once decided on the most direct course, an expedition by land, heedless 2 Ibid., cap. clxxiii. p. 230.

1 Bernal Diaz.

of the perils which might attend the march of an army across a vast and unknown territory, peopled by races upon whose friendship it was impossible to reckon even if he had not to fear their hostility. But Cortes knew his mission. The extension of the power of his master the Emperor, and, simultaneously with that, the extension of the Roman Catholic faith, were objects he never lost sight of; and these, if not the main purpose, were at all events incidental to his project. Calmly therefore, and cheerfully, he set about his preparations. Amongst the many difficulties he had to contend with, the settlement of the government of Mexico on a secure basis during his absence was not amongst the least. The persons on whom he placed the greatest confidence were Alonso de Estrada, the Treasurer, and the Licentiate Alonso de Zuazo1, to whom he confided his authority, associating with them Roderigo de Albornoz, the Accountant. The selection of the latter is much condemned by Bernal Diaz, who observes, "How he could make choice of him is quite beyond my speculation; but he certainly would not have done so had he been aware of the infamous manner in which Albornoz had slandered him to the Emperor;" and the event showed that Bernal Diaz had good reason for making this objection. The military defences of Mexico Cortes prepared himself, establishing them on the most ample footing; and the care of all religious matters he entrusted to the Franciscan Friar Toribio Motolinia and Father Olmedo, enjoining them to act in harmony, and assist each other in the conversion. of the Indians and the maintenance of peace and order throughout the provinces, as well as in the city itself.

1 Cortes calls him Alonso de Ayaco (vide Quinta Carta), but

Bernal Diaz and Herrera give the name as in the text.

42

EQUIPMENT OF THE ARMY OF CORTES.

CHAP. III.

"In order, however, to deprive the discontented of the Indian population in the city and in the provinces of all possibility of choosing any leader of distinction, should they take it into their heads to rise up in arms during his absence, he took along with him Quauhtemoctzin (Guatemozin), besides the King of Tlacupa, and several others of the most distinguished caziques of the country, among whom the chief of Tapiéznela held the first rank, and even despatched a message to the caziques of Mechoacan, desiring them also to join his army1.

That army consisted of a hundred and fifty Spanish cavalry, an equal number of infantry, four pieces of artillery, and a force of three thousand Indians. His staff of officers was numerous and brilliant, including many of those who had served with most distinction in Mexico; and in his suite were pages and officers of his household, equerries, grooms, mule-drivers, falconers, musicians, and even a buffoon and a juggler. The entertainment of this motley retinue has been animadverted upon, as showing "more of the effeminacy of the Oriental satrap, than the hardy valour of a Spanish cavalier2." But to one who, like Cortes, never spared himself any toil or refrained from sharing any privation, the justice may be done of supposing that there was to the full as much policy in the display as indulgence in luxurious habits. It was calculated to leave on the minds of the people of Mexico the impression that he went forth secure in the success of his expedition; and the barbarous tribes through whose country he was to pass were not likely to esteem his power the less, on beholding the proofs of superior magnificence and civilization. For the religious wants of his army, and the propagation of the true

1 Bernal Diaz. 2 Prescott: Conquest of Mexico, book vii. cap. 3.