Later, it is true, some members of Narvaez's party became a source of serious peril to Cortez. This was at the beginning of the year 1521, after the death of Montezuma and the noche triste, and at the time when Cortez was planning to return to the city of Mexico as its conqueror. A number of Narvaez's men entered into a conspiracy to assassinate Cortez, and at their head was one Villafana, who had been a very close friend and earnest partisan of Velasquez. Because of that relationship, it was suspected by Cortez that the man had been incited to undertake the crime by Velasquez himself. Of this there was, however, no proof, and no attempt was made to fasten responsibility or odium upon Velasquez; which we may be sure would have been done had any real ground for it been discovered. By interesting coincidence, the conspiracy was made, detected and punished at the very time when, as we shall see, Velasquez was being removed from the Governorship of Cuba.
Villafana modelled his plans upon those of the slayers of Julius Cæsar. All the conspirators were to approach Cortez in public, and one of them was to approach him with what should purport to be a letter from his father, Martin Cortez, just arrived on a vessel from Spain. The moment he took the letter and began to read it, all were to rush upon him and stab him with their knives. Cortez detected the plot just in time. He personally went with guards to Villafana's apartments and arrested him, while others took the other conspirators into custody. Villafana was put to death, and the others were imprisoned. Then Cortez, with characteristic resourcefulness, turned the incident to account for his own profit, by making it the pretext for continually thereafter surrounding himself with an armed body guard of his most trusted soldiers.
Velasquez returned to Santiago to find affairs in a sad plight. Small pox, measles and other epidemics were raging, and disastrous tropical hurricanes had swept the island, destroying crops and buildings. A large proportion of the most efficient men of the island had followed Cortez—and Narvaez—to Mexico. Moreover, Diego Columbus, at Hispaniola, was threatening trouble. It must be remembered that Velasquez had practically flouted Columbus's authority, almost as much as his own had been flouted by Cortez. At any rate, the Admiral had a serious grievance against him, and deemed this a fitting time for calling him to account. Apparently he was further aggrieved because Velasquez would not more fully accept the counsel of Ayllon. At any rate, in the middle of January, 1521, he sent over to Cuba an envoy, to take the place of Velasquez as Governor of Cuba and to investigate the manner in which Velasquez had administered his affairs. This envoy was Alfonso de Zuazo, who thus became the second Governor of Cuba.
In this action Velasquez acquiesced; probably because he durst not do otherwise. It would have been a dangerous thing in any circumstances to defy the Admiral; and it would have been superlatively so at a time when Cuba had just been stripped of its ships and its best fighting men. Nevertheless, he pointed out that he himself was still commandant of the fort at Baracoa, and was Repartidor of the natives throughout the island. This latter was in some important respects a more influential office than that of Governor, and it Velasquez held, not by the Admiral's appointment but by virtue of a commission granted directly by the King himself. He could not, therefore, be superseded or interfered with in any way by the Admiral or any of his underlings, nor by anybody short of the King himself. In this he was quite right, and when Zuazo, relying upon Diego Columbus's authority, did infringe upon some of Velasquez's functions and powers, the latter complained to the King, and the King disavowed Zuazo, and severely reprimanded Columbus.
Velasquez was not, however, yet at the end of his difficulties. The royal vindication of his claims was gratifying, and he doubtless felt some secret satisfaction in the humiliation of Diego Columbus. But the son of the great Admiral was not a man to be flouted with impunity, not even by the King of Spain. True, he acquiesced, perforce, in the royal decree. But his resourceful mind quickly devised another line of attack upon Velasquez. At the beginning of 1522, accompanied by two judges of the supreme court of Hispaniola, he proceeded to Santiago de Cuba, and there instituted a judicial investigation into the conduct of Velasquez's administration. To this Velasquez demurred, on the grounds already mentioned that as Repartidor he was accountable to the King alone. Diego Columbus responded by pointing out in the commission of Velasquez as Repartidor a provision that the judges of Hispaniola might and indeed should give him specific advice as to the conduct of his office; and such advice they thereupon proceeded to give, in terms indistinguishable from commands. To this Velasquez could not demur; the text of his commission did indeed provide for that very thing. But his retort was prompt and effective. The commission provided for the giving of advice, but it did not require Velasquez to accept it! As a matter of fact, it was not accepted but ignored, and Diego Columbus and his judges returned to Hispaniola in defeat.
One more effort was made by Velasquez to vindicate his authority over Cortez in Mexico. He went so far as to equip a third expedition of which he personally took command, intending to invade Mexico and compel Cortez to submit to his authority. This expedition sailed from Cuba in the fall of 1522, but never reached the coast of Mexico. It was intercepted by a message from the King, announcing that he had appointed Cortez to be Governor of Mexico in entire independence of Cuba, and expressly forbidding Velasquez to interfere with him in any way. This was conclusive, and Velasquez returned home, abandoning all further thoughts of Mexico.
Despite his losses and the great expense to which he had gone in fruitless Mexican ventures, he was still one of the richest men in Cuba; especially since the death of his father-in-law, Cristobal de Cuellar, who had left him the major part of his large fortune. As Repartidor, also, he continued his activities in public affairs. In the summer of 1523 he personally directed a campaign against a revolt and depredations of an Indian tribe inhabiting some of the small islands off the Cuban coast. He suffered humiliation, it is true, in having at about that same time public proclamation made in Cuba of the royal decree inhibiting him from further designs against Cortez. But before the end of the year atonement was made for this in another royal decree completely restoring Velasquez to his place as Governor of Cuba.
The causes which led to this extraordinary action are obscure, but it seems probable that the King recognized the really great services and merits of Velasquez, and it is quite possible that he had reason for dissatisfaction with Zuazo. At any rate, at about Christmas time, 1523, Velasquez was restored and Zuazo was summarily dismissed. No charges were at that time preferred against Zuazo, nor was he prosecuted or subjected to any penalties. But his commission as Governor was declared to have been illegal and all his acts to have been therefore null and void. Everything was therefore put back in as nearly as possible the condition it was in when Velasquez was formerly Governor.
Zuazo seems to have taken his dismissal philosophically, without demur or resentment; wherefore we may suspect that as a lawyer he realized that there had indeed been a fatal flaw in his commission. He remained at Santiago for a few weeks, and then went to Mexico as the attorney and envoy of Francisco de Garay, the Governor of Jamaica, who had a controversy with Cortez as to which of them was the rightful Governor of Panuco. In this errand he was frustrated by shipwreck and other vicissitudes, and it does not appear that he ever had an opportunity of serving Garay as had been intended. In time, however, he reached Mexico, and was regarded with much favor by Cortez, who appointed him to a lucrative and influential office. A little later he was extradited by the Cuban government, and was brought back to that island as a prisoner, to undergo trial for alleged misdemeanors committed when he was Governor. This strenuous action was taken in 1525. Zuazo complained bitterly of such harsh treatment, which probably was unwarranted. At any rate, he was acquitted; whereupon he went to Hispaniola and spent the remainder of his life there in prosperity.
We have seen that the restoration of Velasquez to the Governorship of Cuba came as a sort of solatium for his loss and humiliation with respect to Mexico. But it did not altogether reconcile him to the destruction of his hopes and ambitions. On the contrary, he conceived the scheme of remonstrating with the King and pleading his cause in person. Setting his affairs