Part 15 (1/2)
Upon his arrival at Madrid, he was received by the emperor with great courtesy. Cortez threw himself at the feet of his majesty, enumerated the services he had performed, and vindicated himself from the aspersions of his enemies. The monarch seemed satisfied, ordered him to rise, and immediately conferred upon him the t.i.tle of Marquis of the Valley, with a rich estate to support the dignity. Cortez fell sick, and the emperor honored him with a visit in person. Many other marks of the royal favor Cortez received, which so encouraged him that he began to a.s.sume haughty airs, and applied to the emperor that he might be appointed governor of New Spain. The emperor was displeased, declined giving him the appointment, and a coldness ensued. Cortez, however, at length regained some favor, and obtained the t.i.tle of Captain General of New Spain, with permission to fit out two s.h.i.+ps on voyages of discovery to the south seas. He was also ent.i.tled to receive, as proprietor, one twelfth of the lands he should discover, and to rule over the countries he might colonize.
Cortez was now a man of wealth and renown. His manners were highly imposing, his conversation was rich and impressive, and his favor at court gave him a vast influence. His income amounted to about one hundred and twenty thousand dollars a year. There was no family in Spain which would not have felt honored by his alliance, and when he sought the hand of the young, beautiful, and accomplished niece of the Duke of Bejar, his addresses were eagerly accepted. The storm-worn yet still handsome cavalier led to the altar his blus.h.i.+ng bride so glittering with brilliant jewels, cut by the exquisite workmans.h.i.+p of the Aztecs, as to excite the envy even of the queen of Charles V.
Cortez soon became weary of a life of idleness and luxury, and longed again for the stirring adventures of the New World. Early in the spring of 1530, he again embarked, with his wife and mother, for New Spain. With his characteristic zeal for the conversion of the natives, he took with him twelve reverend fathers of the Church. After a short tarry at Hispaniola, he landed at Vera Cruz on the 15th of July. As it was feared that Cortez might interfere with the government of the country, the Queen of Spain, who was quite displeased that the wife of Cortez wore more brilliant jewels than she possessed, had issued an edict prohibiting Cortez from approaching within thirty miles of the Mexican capital. He accordingly established himself at one of his country estates, on the eastern sh.o.r.es of the lake. His renown gave him vast influence. From all parts of the country crowds flocked to greet him. With regal pomp he received his mult.i.tudinous guests, and his princely residence exhibited all the splendors of a court. Most of the distinguished men of the city of Mexico crossed the lake to Tezcuco to pay homage to the conqueror of Mexico. The governor was so annoyed by the mortifying contrast presented by his own deserted court, that he despotically imposed a fine upon such of the natives of the city as should be found in Tezcuco, and, affecting to apprehend a treasonable attack from Cortez, made ostentatious preparations for the defense of the capital.
For a long time there was an incessant and petty conflict going on between Cortez and the jealous government of the colony. At last, Cortez became so annoyed by indignities which his haughty spirit keenly felt, that he withdrew still farther from the capital, to the city of Cuarnavaca, which was situated upon the southern slope of the Cordilleras. This was the most beautiful and opulent portion of that wide domain which the energy of Cortez had annexed to the Spanish crown. Here the conqueror had erected for himself a magnificent palace in the midst of his vast estates. The ruins of the princely mansion still remain upon an eminence which commands a wide extent of landscape of surpa.s.sing loveliness. Cortez devoted himself with characteristic energy to promoting the agricultural and industrial interests of the country. Thousands of hands were guided to the culture of hemp and flax. Sugar-mills were reared, and gold and silver mines were worked with great success. Cortez thus became greatly enriched, but his adventurous spirit soon grew weary of these peaceful labors.
In the year 1532, Cortez, at a large expense, fitted out an expedition, consisting of two s.h.i.+ps, to explore the Pacific Ocean in search of new lands. The s.h.i.+ps sailed from the port of Acapulco, but, to the bitter disappointment of Cortez, the enterprise was entirely unsuccessful. The crew mutinied, and took possession of one of the s.h.i.+ps, and the other probably foundered at sea, for it was never again heard from.
But the Marquis of the Valley, with his indomitable spirit of energy and perseverance, fitted out another expedition of two s.h.i.+ps. This adventure was as disastrous as the other. The two captains quarreled, and took occasion of a storm to separate, and did not again join company. The southern extremity of the great peninsula of California was, however, discovered by one of the s.h.i.+ps. Here, at a point which they called Santa Cruz, a large part of the s.h.i.+p's company were ma.s.sacred by the savages. The storm-battered s.h.i.+ps eventually returned, having accomplished nothing.
Cortez, still undismayed, prepared for another attempt. He now, however, resolved to take command of the s.h.i.+ps himself. His celebrity induced adventurers from all quarters to seek to join the expedition.
Three s.h.i.+ps were launched upon the bay of Tehuantepec. Many men crowded on board, with their families, to colonize the new lands which should be discovered. More than twice as many adventurers as the s.h.i.+ps could carry thronged the port, eager to embark in the enterprise. In the month of May, 1537, the squadron set sail upon the calm surface of the Pacific, the decks being crowded with four hundred Spaniards and three hundred slaves. About an equal number were left behind, to be sent for as soon as the first party should be landed at the port of their destination.
Sailing in a northwesterly direction, favorable winds drove them rapidly across the vast Gulf of California until they arrived at Santa Cruz, on the southern extremity of that majestic peninsula. A landing was immediately effected, and the s.h.i.+ps were sent back to Mexico to bring the remaining colonists. Cortez did not take his wife with him, but she was left in their princely mansion on the southern slope of the Cordilleras. But disasters seemed to acc.u.mulate whenever Cortez was not personally present. The s.h.i.+ps were delayed by head winds and by storms. The colonists at Santa Cruz, in consequence of this delay, nearly perished of famine. Twenty-three died of privation and hunger.
At length, in the midst of general murmurings and despair, one of the s.h.i.+ps returned. It brought, however, but little relief, as the s.h.i.+ps which were loaded with provisions for the supply of the colonists were still missing.
The discontent in the starving colony became so loud, that Cortez himself took fifty soldiers and embarked in search of the missing s.h.i.+ps. With great care he cruised along the Mexican sh.o.r.e, and at last found one stranded on the coast of Jalisco, and the other partially wrecked upon some rocks. He, however, got them both off, repaired them, and brought them, laden with provisions, to the half-famished colony at Santa Cruz.
The imprudent colonists ate so voraciously that a fatal disease broke out among them, which raged with the utmost virulence. Many died.
Cortez became weary of these scenes of woe. The expedition, in a pecuniary point of view, had been a total failure, and it had secured for the conqueror no additional renown. The Marchioness of the Valley, the wife of Cortez, became so anxious at the long absence of her husband, that she fitted out two s.h.i.+ps to go in search of him. Ulloa, who commanded these s.h.i.+ps, was so fortunate as to trace Cortez to his colony. Cortez not unwillingly yielded to the solicitations of his wife and returned to Mexico. He was soon followed by the rest of the wretched colonists, and thus disastrously terminated this expedition.
In these various enterprises, Cortez had expended from his private property over three hundred thousand crowns, and had received nothing in return. As he considered himself the servant of his sovereign, and regarded these efforts as undertaken to promote the glory and the opulence of Spain, he resolved to return to Castile, to replenish, if possible, his exhausted resources from the treasury of the crown.