Something of the Captains of Cortés—Alvarado—Montejo—Ávila—Olid—Sandoval—Leon—Ordaz—Morla—The Passage—The Fleet Struck by a Squall—Arrival at Cozumel—Alvarado Censured—Search for the Captive Christians—Arrival of Aguilar—His Chaste Adventures—They Come to Tabasco River—Battles there—Conquest of the Natives—Peace Made—Twenty Female Slaves among the Presents—The Fleet Proceeds along the Shore—Puertocarrero’s Witticism—Arrival at San Juan de Ulua.
As the everlasting waves that bowl his ships along are discoursing to Cortés of his destiny, let us make the acquaintance of his captains, some of whom are to play parts in the Anáhuac amphitheatre secondary only to his own.
First, there was the fiery and impetuous Pedro de Alvarado, a hero of the Achilles or Sir Lancelot school, strong and symmetrical as a goddess-born; haughty, choleric, sometimes stanch and generous; passionate in his loves and hates, with the usual mixture of license, loyalty, and zeal for the church. He had not eyes to see, from where he stood in the warfare of his day, at once the decline of the fiercer barbarism and the dawn of a truer and gentler heroism. Already we have discovered flashes of temper and tendencies to treachery that display his character by too sulphurous a flame; but we shall find in him much to admire as conquistador and governor.
Alvarado was about the age of Cortés, Bajadoz being his native place. There his father, Diego de Alvarado, comendador de Lobon in the order of Santiago, and his mother, Sara de Contreras, struggled with poverty to maintain the reputation of a good family name. At the age of twenty-five Pedro came over to Santo Domingo, and prompted by vanity paraded himself in an old gown of his fathers, whereon was sewn the red cross of Santiago. At first he wore this garment inside out, giving as a reason his reduced circumstances which made him ashamed to publicly own the rank of knight. On being reproved by the admiral, he boldly affixed the insignia to his other dresses, and thenceforth called and signed himself the Comendador Alvarado.[104] The title was never openly questioned in the Indies, where men had little time for inquiring into the affairs of others, and Alvarado failed not with his plausible tongue and crafty nature to use it for obtaining certain privileges and advancement.
When Grijalva prepared his expedition he was living as an encomendero, near Trinidad, in Cuba, with five brothers.[105] As captain under this chief he gave evidence of an enterprising nature, combined with an impatiency of restraint which ill fitted a subordinate. The want of principle already shown by his conduct at Santo Domingo was here made apparent in the attempt to injure his commander with Velazquez, in order to further his own ends. His now prominent position as a well-to-do gentleman, and the experience gathered under Grijalva, had made him a welcome member of the present expedition. He had also acquired the reputation of a good soldier and horseman, with a bravery bordering on recklessness, and was a great favorite with his men, among whom he also ranked as an able drill master. With an agile frame, he presented a most cheerful and pleasing countenance, fair, some called it, with a tendency to ruddiness. Its attraction centred chiefly in the eyes, and afterward obtained for him among the Indians of Tlascala the appellation of Tonatiuh, the Sun.[106] His first glance thrown upon a combatant was the flash which was to be followed by the thunderbolt. Vanity prompted a careful attention to dress, but with a result approaching the showy rather than the elegant. His manner, no less winning than the face, made him a most agreeable companion, the more so as he was a liberal fellow, particularly with respect to women, and to pleasures generally. Beneath this smiling exterior, however, lay hidden an insatiable longing for power, and a blind worship of gold as the purchaser of pleasure, and under their influence he became at times so insensible to feelings of humanity as to place him outside the category of greatness.[107]
Another of Grijalva’s captains here present was Francisco de Montejo, who came from Spain with Pedrarias Dávila in 1514. After enlisting men in Española, and aiding in the conquest of Cenú, he came to Cuba to wield the sword for Velazquez; but while ranking as a brave officer and a good horseman, he showed greater aptitude for business.
At the present time he was about thirty-five years of age, of medium stature, and with a bright face, which indicated love for pleasure and generous liberality.[108]
Alonso de Ávila, the third of Grijalva’s brave lieutenants, had also a pleasant face and liberal disposition, combined with good reasoning power, but was altogether too loud-spoken and argumentative, and had an overbearing manner that created many enemies. He was about thirty-three years of age. Cristóbal de Olid, a year his junior, was a well formed, strong-limbed man, with wide shoulders and a somewhat fair complexion. Despite the peculiarity of a groove in the lower lip, which gave it the appearance of being split, the face was most attractive, and the powerful voice helped to bear him out as a good talker. While lacking in sincerity and depth of thought, and being little fit for the council, he possessed qualities which, in connection with great bravery and determination, made him an admirable executive officer; but an ambition to command began to assert itself, and directed by evil influence it brought about his fall a few years later. Bernal Diaz calls him a very Hector in combat, and possessing, among other good qualities, that of being liberal; on the whole an excellent man, though unfit to be a leader.[109] The youngest of the captains, the most worshipful and the most lovable, was Gonzalo de Sandoval, an hidalgo of only twenty-two years, from Cortés’ own town, the son of a fortress commandant, but with merely a rudimentary education. Brave, intrepid, and with a good head, he was equally determined in speech and in deportment, yet with a faultless obedience and loyalty that won the confidence and esteem of his chief. With a strict eye to discipline, he possessed also a kind, humane disposition, which gained the love and respect of his men, whose comfort he studied far more than his own. Plain in dress, and modest in manner and aspiration, he was free from the greed which tainted so many around him. A soldier in all qualities of the heart and mind, he was also physically fitted for one. In battle he was as wrathful and as beautiful as Apollo when he slew the Python. The robust frame, with its high chest and broad shoulders, supported a full face adorned with short, curly, nut-brown hair. The powerful voice, inclining at times to a lisp, was exhibited more in the issue of brief command than in conversation; for Don Gonzalo was as energetic to act as he was chary of words. The slightly bow-legged limbs indicated an early training for the saddle. Indeed, equestrian exercises were his delight, and his horse Motilla, a chestnut with a white foot and a star on the forehead, is described by Bernal Diaz as the finest he ever saw. Sandoval stands before us not only as an admirable man, but as an ideal officer, in his combined qualities of juvenile ardor and prudence, valor and humanity, modesty of disposition and purity of heart. Cortés spoke of him after his death with feelings of deepest regret, and represented him to the emperor as one of the finest soldiers in the world, fit to command armies.[110]
In Velazquez de Leon we find another admirable officer, who possesses many traits in common with Sandoval. He is described as about four years older than that chivalrous youth, with a well formed, powerful frame, fine chest and shoulders, full face, set in a somewhat curled and carefully tended beard. He was open with the hand, ready with the sword, and an expert horseman. He bore the reputation of having killed a prominent and rich man in a duel in Española, a deed which had obliged him to seek refuge in Cuba with his relation Velazquez.
The most devoted adherent of Velazquez, although not bound to him by ties of relationship, was his ancient mayordomo mayor, Diego de Ordaz,[111] a powerful man, of large stature, with full face, thin, dark beard, and stuttering speech. As a leader of foot-soldiers, for he did not ride, he gained the reputation of possessing great daring, as well as a good head; and among comrades he ranked as a liberal man and a conversationalist. Of the other captains, Francisco de Salcedo, reputed chief butler to the admiral of Castile, bore the sobriquet of ‘Dandy’ from his spruce manner;[112] and Francisco de Morla is spoken of as a valiant soldier and good horseman.[113]