There he found Olid, who had reached that port only a few days before, and who had not yet communicated with Velasquez the news of the failure of his errand. Olid's report to Velasquez, which was then promptly dispatched, contained therefore the news of Grijalva's return as well as his own. As soon as he received this, Velasquez sent word to Grijalva to come at once to Santiago and report to him in person, but to let his men remain at Matanzas, or at Havana, since he wanted them to serve in another Mexican expedition which he was already fitting out. Most of the men were willing to do this, and were accordingly maintained there at the cost of Velasquez, or of the Spanish Crown, until he was ready to use them; though a certain number expressed themselves as having had their fill of exploring and accordingly returned to their homes in various parts of Cuba.
Grijalva repaired, as summoned, to Santiago, and there met what we must regard as an unjust and unmerited fate. Velasquez expressed entire dissatisfaction with his conduct, particularly in not having planted permanent settlements in Mexico; the very thing which Grijalva had wanted to do but was forbidden by Velasquez himself to do. This extraordinary inconsistency on the part of Velasquez can probably be explained on the ground that he himself had been forbidden by the Jeronimite Fathers to plant such colonies, and did not venture to disobey them, but had hoped that Grijalva would disobey them. He further let his unhappy nephew know that, because of his failure to disobey orders, he would have no further use for him. He was sending out another expedition to Mexico, to plant permanent colonies there, but it would be under other leadership, and Grijalva would have no part in it whatever. As Grijalva had already alienated most of his men by refusing to break his orders, he was thus left friendless, and he played no further part in the history either of the Cuba which he had loyally served or of the Mexico of which he was the discoverer and first explorer.
CHAPTER VIII
The new Mexican expedition was entrusted by Velasquez to the leadership of the greatest of all the Spanish conquistadors, Hernando Cortez, then Alcalde of Santiago de Cuba. This famous man was then, in 1518, only thirty-three years of age.
We have seen that a mishap in a love affair determined the time and circumstances of his leaving Spain for the New World. A sequel to that incident again determined his course. He had enlisted in the expedition of Diego de Nicuesa bound for Darien when from the old injury from his garden wall disaster there developed an abscess in his right knee, which again disabled him for a time and restrained him from going on that voyage. Had he gone on it, perhaps he might have become the conqueror of Peru, instead of his fellow Estremaduran, Pizarro, who was a member of Nicuesa's company, and the discoverer of the Pacific, instead of that other Estremaduran, Balboa, who went to Darien at a little later date. Instead, Cortez was detailed by Diego Columbus to go to Cuba as a secretary to Velasquez. In that capacity he acquitted himself so well that he received an extensive grant of land, together with a large number of natives as slaves, and for a time he settled down as a Cuban planter.
His adventurous spirit would not permit him permanently to engage in so placid an occupation, however, and he presently became involved in some strenuous transactions which came near to making an end of him. Precisely what happened is uncertain. Historic accounts differ. According to Benito Martinez, he made himself the leader of a faction opposed to Velasquez, and undertook to go from Cuba to Hispaniola in an open boat to carry to certain royal Judges there complaints and accusations against the Governor. As he was setting out on this venture, however, he was betrayed and arrested, was charged with fomenting a revolt against Velasquez, and was condemned to be hanged. Upon the intercession of friends, however, Velasquez commuted the sentence into exile from Cuba, and put Cortez aboard a vessel bound for Hispaniola. Soon after the vessel sailed Cortez contrived to slip overboard unperceived, caught hold of a floating log, and swam back to Cuba. There he found refuge in a church, until once more his passion for the fair sex came near to being his undoing. For one day as he was slipping out of the church to keep a love-tryst, he was seized by an alguazil named Juan Escudero, and returned to prison. Velasquez then again ordered him hanged, but again yielded to intercession, and gave Cortez his freedom. Incidentally, Cortez afterward hanged Escudero, in Mexico.
So runs one version of the story, told by Herrera and others. Gomara, Barcia and others tell quite another. It is to the effect that Cortez went to Cuba as an accountant for Miguel de Pasamonte, the royal treasurer, though he also did much business for Velasquez and was in charge of the assay office and the hospital at Santiago; and that the feud between him and Velasquez arose over a love affair. Cortez had engaged himself to marry Doña Catalina Suarez, one of the ladies in waiting upon Maria de Toledo, the consort of the Admiral and Viceroy, Diego Columbus, but either delayed to fulfil the engagement or was suspected of an intention to break it by Velasquez, who was much interested in the lady's sister. In the course of this feud, Cortez was arrested and was found to have on his person papers unfriendly to Velasquez. He escaped, and took refuge in a church. But in time he emerged from sanctuary, married Doña Catalina, and "lived happily with her ever after." He also became reconciled to Velasquez, so much that the latter stood as god-father to the first-born child of Cortez.
This latter story seems the more probable of the two, and more in accord with what we know of the characters and dispositions of both Velasquez and Cortez. Certain it is that after their disagreements and conflicts Velasquez took Cortez back into full favor, made him Alcalde of Santiago de Cuba, and selected him in preference to his own nephew, Grijalva, to be the leader of what he himself considered to be the most important of all his enterprises.
In making this choice, which was of epochal importance both to himself and to Cuba and the Spanish colonial empire, Velasquez was doubtless largely influenced by the arguments and persuasions of his own secretary, Andres de Ducro, and by the royal contador in Cuba, Amador de Lares. These two appear to have worked together, with a mutual understanding, and also with an understanding with Cortez; so that we might almost consider the three to have formed a conspiracy to prevail upon the Governor. Perhaps their chief argument, or temptation, was to promise Velasquez the royal appointment as Adelantado, not alone over Cuba but also over all other lands which he might discover, and it was shrewdly pointed out to him that if haste was made, he might secure that appointment in time to claim the enormously rich land of Mexico as part of his domain. All that would be necessary would be for him to get the appointment before the return of Grijalva with the official report of his discoveries. As this appointment was the dearest wish and ambition of Velasquez's life, it is easy to understand how potent this offer was in persuading him to make Cortez the leader of the expedition.
There was on the other hand much opposition to the choice. All of the relatives and many of the friends and counsellors of Velasquez warned him not to trust Cortez. Las Casas joined his advice with theirs, warning Velasquez, however, not so much against Cortez as against the royal contador, De Lares, and anyone whom he might favor. De Lares, he said, had lived long in Italy, a country then considered to be a very hotbed of trickery and treachery, and was doubtless deeply imbued with the spirit of conspiracy and intrigue, which he was quite likely to exercise against Velasquez