in the royal court of audience at Santo Domingo, and also before the Hieronymite brethren, who were viceroys of that island. These brothers were then three in number, father Luis de Figueroa, father Alonso de Santo Domingo, and father Bernardino de Mancañedo: they lived together in the cloister of Mejorada, eight miles from Medina del Campo. The answer they gave Diego Velasquez was not very consoling; for, when they found, from our papers, what great things we had done, they declared that no reproach could be made either to Cortes or his troops: we had merely addressed the emperor our master, and sent him a present of such considerable value as had not been seen in Spain for a length of time, (this they might say in all justice, for Peru was then still unknown;) on the contrary, we had merited a most noble remuneration at his majesty's hands.
Besides coming to this decision, the Hieronymite brothers commissioned the licentiate Zuazo, who was either purposely sent to Cuba for this purpose, or at least had arrived there only a few months previous, to examine into this affair of Velasquez on the spot itself. The turn which this matter had taken completely prostrated his spirits for many days together. At last he again aroused himself, and gave orders to fit out every ship in the island, and to enlist officers and men: his intention was to send out such a powerful fleet as would soon overcome Cortes and the whole of us: indeed he spared no trouble; he travelled himself from place to place, and from one settlement to another, and where he could not call in person, he at least sent letters, and invited all his friends to join the armament. In this way he succeeded, after the space of eleven or twelve months, to fit out a fleet of eighteen sail, carrying 1300 soldiers and sailors: for, as the affair was carried on with great party spirit, his relations and every distinguished person of Cuba, as well as every one who had a commendary, considered themselves bound to take part in the undertaking. The command of this fleet was given to a cavalier named Pamfilo de Narvaez, a man of high stature and great bodily strength, with a voice amazingly powerful, and an imperious look in his countenance: he was a native of Valladolid, very wealthy, and had married a widow at Cuba named Maria de Valenzuela, who possessed several lucrative Indian townships.
For the present, however, we will leave this expedition to itself, and turn to our agents, who had most favorable weather for their voyage, and arrived safe at the place of destination, as we shall see in the following chapter. The good reader will do me the justice to consider, with respect to the irregular mode of narrating which I appear to pursue, that I am bound to mention the occurrences in this my history in the order they follow each other.
CHAPTER LVI.
How our agents passed through the Bahama channel with the most favorable wind, and arrived in Castile after a short passage; and of our success at court.
Our agents had a most favorable voyage to the Havannah, and thence through the Bahama roads: their further course was equally prosperous, and they very soon arrived at the Tercera isles, and from there to Sevilla, where they hired a carriage and posted to the imperial court residence, at that time in Valladolid. Here the archbishop Fonseca governed at will, he being, moreover, president of Indian affairs, and the emperor then still very young, and residing in Flanders.
Our agents waited upon the archbishop, in the full expectation of being well received with thanks. They handed over to him the letters with the details of our adventures, also the presents, with the valuable things, and begged of him to forward all this to his majesty by a courier, whom they would accompany themselves. However, instead of meeting with a kind reception, they were very coolly received, and dismissed with a few dry and harsh words. They begged of him to mention the great services which Cortes and his men had rendered his majesty, and repeatedly urged him to send the letters and presents to the emperor, that he might learn everything as it had really taken place. He, however, answered in a very haughty tone, desiring them not to give themselves any further trouble: he would fully inform his majesty of what had taken place; not, however, according to their story, but conformably to truth; that, namely, we had rebelled against Velasquez. This was followed by many other sharp rebukes.
About this time also, Benito Martin, chaplain to Velasquez, arrived in Valladolid, preferring heavy accusations against Cortes and all of us, which set the archbishop more and more against us. Francisco de Montejo had not the courage to step forward and defend our cause; but Puertocarrero, as cousin to the earl of Medellin, durst presume the more: he therefore took up the question, and most urgently begged of the archbishop to give them a quiet hearing, and not to answer them so harshly. They demanded nothing further of him than to forward the presents to his majesty; they had a right to ask this, for we were servants of the crown, and merited a remuneration, but not the remarks he had allowed himself to make.
These words so greatly incensed the archbishop, that he ordered Puertocarrero to be thrown into prison, on account of some previous affair which had come to his ears; he having, namely, three years ago, carried off a married woman, named Maria Rodriguez, of Medellin, and taken her to India. Such was the first reception which our presents and services met with in Spain, and nothing remained for our agents but to hold their tongues for the present, and wait until a more favorable time and opportunity should present itself. The archbishop now forwarded his account to the emperor, who was then in Flanders, in which he extolled the merits of his creature Velasquez to the very skies, saying everything that was bad of Cortes and all of us; nor did he mention one single word about our letters.
Upon this Puertocarrero, Montejo, Martin Cortes, the father of our general, the licentiate Nuñez, who was reporter to the royal council, and a near relation to Cortes, determined to despatch a courier of their own to the emperor in Flanders. They fortunately possessed duplicates of all our despatches and letters, as also a list of all the presents we had destined for his majesty.
With these papers they likewise sent a separate letter to the emperor with complaints against the archbishop and the whole of his doings with Diego Velasquez. In this resolution they were backed by other cavaliers who were at variance with the archbishop, who, upon the whole, had many enemies on account of his haughty behaviour and the abuse he made of the important offices he filled. And as the great services we had rendered to God and his majesty, in whom we had alone reposed our trust, were looked upon in a favorable light, it also happened that his majesty made the strictest inquiries into the whole affair. His majesty was so highly pleased with what we had done, that the dukes, marquisses, earls, and other cavaliers, for days together spoke of nothing but Cortes, our courageous behaviour, our conquests, and of the riches we had sent over. It was owing to this as well as to the unfaithful and distorted account which the archbishop had drawn up respecting these matters, and particularly because he had not sent all the presents, but kept the major part to himself, that he fell from that moment into his majesty's displeasure. In the meantime the archbishop's agents in Flanders had sent him information of all that had passed, which vexed him in no small degree, and if previously he had blackened Cortes and all of us to his majesty, he now boldly accused us of high treason. But the Lord very soon bridled his rage; for two years after he received his dismissal, and then in his turn experienced the curse of malice and contempt. We, on the contrary, were looked upon as loyal men who had rendered services to the crown, as shall be mentioned in the proper place. For the present the emperor informed our agents, that he would himself shortly visit Spain to investigate the matter more closely and reward us. Our agents, therefore, awaited his majesty's arrival in Spain.
Before I proceed any further with my narrative, I must answer one question, which several cavaliers have very justly put to me; namely, how it was possible for me to relate these things, as I was not present myself, but making the campaign in New Spain, when our agents were despatched with the letters and presents, and met with this ill treatment from the archbishop of Rosano? To which my answer is, that our agents forwarded to us, the true conquistadores, verbatim all that had passed between them and the latter, as also the favorable decision which the emperor came to in our behalf; of which Cortes sent copies to all the towns where we happened
