In proof of this and other matters, our agents produced copies of letters we had written to his majesty, besides other important documents; so that Velasquez's party were unable to confute them on any point.
With respect to the armament of Narvaez, continued our agents, Velasquez had fully deserved punishment of death, as he had fitted it out against Cortes without any authority from his majesty, and against the wishes and express orders of the royal court of audience at St. Domingo, and of the Hieronymite brotherhood, whom the emperor had appointed viceroys of the West Indies. Diego Velasquez had, upon the whole, troubled himself very little about his majesty, but had always applied to the president of the council of the Indies. In his hatred he had forgotten the true interests of the crown, for which reason he had continually bred disturbances among the troops in New Spain, though it was so necessary towards the conquest of the country, and the conversion of the inhabitants, to maintain the strictest union among the men. Velasquez had gone so far in his refractory and disrespectful behaviour towards the authorities of St. Domingo, that he had ordered to be imprisoned and sent back to Cuba the licentiate Vasquez de Aillon, whom the royal court of audience had expressly despatched to New Spain to admonish Narvaez not to commence hostilities with Cortes. As Narvaez was now himself present, and had had the audacity to accuse Cortes and his troops of crimen læsæ majestatis, they must retort this charge upon him, and they demanded that punishment of death might be pronounced against him, as the moment he landed in New Spain he sent word to Motecusuma that his only object for visiting his dominions was to liberate him from prison, and to hang Cortes, with the whole of his men, as traitors. By this he had caused an insurrection throughout the whole country, which up to that moment had enjoyed perfect tranquillity. This conduct was the less excusable in him, since Cortes, immediately upon Narvaez's arrival in Vera Cruz, had written a most polite letter to him, and requested him to produce his appointment, as, if he possessed such an instrument, signed by his majesty, Cortes was ready to acknowledge his authority. To this Narvaez not only refused to reply, but had called Cortes and the whole of his men traitors, proclaimed war against them, and even declared them outlaws. Notwithstanding all this, Cortes had repeatedly offered Narvaez peace, and earnestly requested him not to create a rebellion in the country; for this was threatened by his conduct, and New Spain would certainly be lost again to the Spanish crown. Cortes had even offered to share the government of New Spain between himself and Narvaez, and to allow the latter his choice of the provinces. But even to this Narvaez had returned no answer; so that Cortes found himself compelled to pursue a more determined course, and to demand satisfaction of him for having imprisoned a royal auditor. Cortes at length proposed a personal interview with him, which Narvaez had certainly accepted, but this never took place, for his intentions were to seize Cortes during the conference. This could be proved by Duero, who now stood before the honorable commissioners, as at that time he held a command under Narvaez, and had himself warned Cortes of the latter's treacherous designs against his life.
Neither could Velasquez's agents confute any part of these statements; our agents therefore continued: With regard to the expedition of Garay, Cortes had not been the cause of its failure, but the inhabitants of Panuco, who had risen up in arms against the troops, the whole of whom, with Garay, would certainly have been cut off to a man, if the latter had not, in the imminent danger in which he was placed, begged assistance of Cortes; for which purpose Garay had repaired in person to Mexico, where he met with the kindest reception from Cortes; but that a few days after he caught a violent cold, of which he died, and not of poison, as had been imputed to Cortes, who could have had no cause whatever to adopt such a course, even if he had in any way feared Garay, as the latter did not possess the requisite talents for command, and had himself caused great discontent among his troops, who even rebelled against him, on account of his having marched them immediately upon landing to a pestilential part of the country, full of swamps and uninhabitable, on account of the vermin with which it swarmed. When his men therefore heard of the riches of Mexico and the liberality of Cortes, they dispersed of their own accord, and traversed the country like so many banditti, plundered and burned the townships, and forcibly carried off the females, until the natives rose up against them in a body. Cortes' only reason for despatching several of his officers to Garay was that they might assist him with their advice and authority; to peruse his papers, and see how far they interfered with the powers which Cortes had obtained from his majesty. When Garay found that the whole of his men had deserted, and that the greater number of his vessels were lost, he repaired in person to Mexico, to beg assistance from Cortes. On his road thither he everywhere met with the heartiest reception; in Tezcuco a splendid banquet took place in his honour, and when he had approached within a short distance of Mexico, Cortes himself came out to meet him, and quartered him in one of his own palaces. They became so friendly with each other, that the preliminaries of a marriage were settled between a daughter of Cortes and the eldest son of Garay, and in consideration of this union it was particularly stipulated that Cortes was to assist Garay in an expedition to the river Palmas. But because Garay soon after fell suddenly ill, and it pleased the Almighty in his wisdom to call him to another world, Velasquez's agents had thought proper to reproach Cortes with his death! who, however, had given sufficient proofs of the deep sorrow he felt at his untimely end, by the funeral pomp with which he honoured his last remains, and the mourning which he put on; besides which, the surgeons had stated on oath that Garay died of pleurisy.
Cortes had likewise been reproached for subtracting an equal fifth with the emperor from all the gold that was collected; but to this the answer was, that the troops had unanimously agreed to allow him such a share of the gold when they elected him captain-general and chief justice of New Spain, with the proviso, however, that this should only remain in force until his majesty should otherwise dispose. For the rest, Cortes was in every way entitled to this portion, as he had embarked his whole fortune in the service of his majesty, and on different occasions had paid large sums out of his own private purse, as, for instance, in the expedition against Panuco alone he had expended above 60,000 pesos; moreover, it would have been impossible for Cortes to have sent those valuable presents for his majesty to Spain unless the troops had allowed him this fifth.
Against this justification of Cortes' conduct, Velasquez's agents were also unable to bring in a word, and our agents continued:
Cortes had likewise been reproached for giving his men so trifling a share of the gold; but how was it possible for him to give more than he possessed; for the conquest of the city of Mexico had produced very little gold, as the Tlascallans and other auxiliaries had carried off the greater part of the booty. It was likewise a false accusation against Cortes to say he had put Quauhtemoctzin and other caziques to the torture, in order to extort more gold from them. Cortes indeed had been quite averse to this inhuman act, but the officers of the crown had insisted on it, in order to force from them a confession as to where they had concealed Motecusuma's treasure.
It was certainly true, continued our agents, that Cortes was building extensive and splendid mansions, but in this he had the emperor's interest entirely at heart, for they were all built in his majesty's name. It was, however, altogether false that he ordered the wood and stone to be brought to Mexico from distant parts, for the wood grew near to the city, and was conveyed thither by water; and as for the stones, they had, in all truth, a sufficient supply in the place itself, from the numerous temples which had been pulled down. Velasquez's agents had altogether misrepresented things, with regard to the system of building in Mexico. Cortes had certainly one great advantage with regard to labourers, for he had only to say the word, and Quauhtemoctzin readily furnished him with the necessary workmen from the surrounding townships; but this was quite in accordance with the custom of the country, where the subjects are always obliged to build the houses for their chiefs.
Narvaez's accusation, said our agents, is equally unfounded, when he says that Alonso de Avila took the papers from him containing his appointment, and had refused to return them, or that he had said these papers were nothing but bonds. Cortes never saw Narvaez's appointment, or gave any one orders to demand it of him; though it is a fact that all the papers which were found upon Narvaez were three bonds or securities for some horses which he had sold upon trust.
The complaints of the pilot Umbria and of the soldier Cardenas were mere fabrications, continued our agents. The first had not had his feet cut off without cause, but conformably to a just sentence, for having, with two of his companions, who had suffered death for it, deserted his general, and seized one of the vessels, with the intention of running off with her to Cuba.
Cardenas, who complains that he had no share of the first gold we collected, which was sent to his majesty, had himself, with several others, signed his name to a certain document, by which he yielded up all claim to his share, in order that the whole of the gold might be forwarded as a present to the emperor. Nevertheless, Cortes had given him 300 pesos from his own private purse, in order to induce him to return with his wife and family to New Spain. With this sum of money he had been richly renumerated, for he was quite unfit for military service, and besides this was not altogether right in his head.