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Show 94 BOOK IX. ~ H I S T 0 R y 0 F M E X I f:: 0. r: d that he was extremely ready to obey him; countennnce, antwere ' f 1 [c h d flels to tranfport them, on account 0 t 10 e but as t ey wante vc ' . . 1 . . which they had come in from Cuba havwg become ufelefs, ncy te-uired time, workmen, and material s, to make others. Mont.ezuma, full of joy at the readinefs with ~hich he w~s .obeyc~, embr~ce~ hm1~ an.d ld h. that it was not necefiary to prec1p1tate h1s depattute; that he to 1m, · . · 1 h rr might build his' ve{fels; that he would fupply hun Wit 1 t e nec~uary timber, and peorle to cut it, and tranfport it to the harbou:· l~mcd!ately he gave orders to a number of carpenters ~o cut the necefiary t~mb~r fr~.IJ1 a grove of pin~s, which was at a [mall dlihmce fr01_n the pot t of Chuhuitztlan, and Cortes, on his part, fent [orne Spamards there .to fu1 erintend the woodcutters, expecting, in the mean time, that fomethmg would change the fi:ate of afl"airs in Mexico, or tha~ fome new rcinfor~cment of Spaniards would be fent to him from the 1ilands or from Spam ( t) · Eight days after this refolution had been t~k.en, Montezuma fent for Cortes a fecond time, and this general was agam ,1·endered uneafy. The king told him, that it was no longer neceffary to buil~ veife~s, for that a fhort time ago eighteen vefiels, iimilar to thofe wh1ch had been defiroyed, had arrived at the port of Chalchiuhcuecan, in which l~e might embark with all his troops; that he ihould therefore h~ftcn hts departure, as it wa~ of importance to the vyclfare of the kmgdom. Cortes difiembled the joy which he received from fuch intelligence, and offering fecret thanks to heaven for having fent him fuch timely afftfi:ance; he anfwered the king, that if that fleet was making its voyage towards Cub~, he was ready to dep~ut, but th:J.t o~1erwi.fe it would be requifite to continue the b\lilding of his ve.!fels. , I;Ie iit.w .and examined the paintings whic;_h had been r~nt ,to the king of this new armament by the governors· upon the coafl:, and he did riot doubt that it was Spanifh; but very far ·from imagining that it was fent againfl: him, he ped\tadcd himfdf that it was his commiHioners whotu he had fent home the year before to tho court of Spain, who were rc- I (t) Almon all the Spani!h hi!lorians fay, thtlt when the king made Cortes be called to inti· mat to him the order to depart, he had le1·icd nn army to make him be obeyed by force if neceffary; but there is a grent tlifl'orenco of opinion among them, as fome nffirm that there were an hundred thoufand men in nnns; others fay, only half that numbct·; and others la!lly f:ty onh five thoufand. We are pcrfuaded that fome troops were in rendincfa, but not by tho order of the king, but of fome of dtc noplea, who had taken a more aetive part in thi~ mutter. tllrned, H· I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X 1 C 0. turned, and brought with them the royal difpatches, and a large number of troops for the conqueft. This pleafing confolation laftcd until the letters of Gonzalez de Sandoval, governor of the colony of Vera Cru~ arrived, which acq11ainted him that that armament, confifiing of eleven fuips, and [even brigant111es, of eighty-five horfes, eight hundred infantry, and upwards of five hundred feamen, with twelv~ piect:s of artillery, and. plenty of warlike ammunition under the comrnand of Panfilo Narvaez, was fent by Diego Velafquez, governor of Cuba, againfb Cortes himfelf, as a rebel, vaifal, and tr.1itor to his fover i; n. He received this unexpected blow in the prefence of the kin n- Monte:w·ma, but, without fhewing the fm~lleft marks of emotion in his countenance, he gave the king to underfiand, that thofe who haci arrived at t'he 'pbrt of Ch .o~lchiuhcuecan were new companions [ent him from Cuba. He made ufe of the fame diffimulation to his own Sp.miards, until their minds were prep.1red for the truth. It is beyond a doubt, that this was one of thofe fingular occafions on which 'ortes d1fpbyed l1is un(haken fortitude and magnanimity. He found himlelf on the one h::tnd threatened by all the power of the Mexica,ns if be remained at the court; and on the other, he f..1w an army levied again(\: himfelf, compofed of his own countrymen, far fuperior tO his OWn force; but his f:Lgacity, his Ullret litting aCtivity and indufl:ry, and wonderful courage, diverte I all the evils which hung over him. He endeavoured, by means of letters, and fome mediators in whom he chidiy trufl:ecl, to gain the mind of Narvaez, and to bring him to reflection ; propofing varions mca[ures to him, and reprefent':' 'ing to him the advantages which the Spaniards would derive fro n the union of their armies and the co-operation of their forces ; and, on the contrary, the difa(rers which might be occafioned by diicord to thern both: Narvaez, by the advice of three deferters from Cortes, haJ already difembarked with all his fleet upon the coafl: of Chempoalla, and put himfelf ·in quarters in that city; the lord of which, knowing t_JCm to be Spaniards, and believing that they came to unite with ortes his friend, or ft:arful of their power, received them with t_he greatefl: honour, and provided them every thing they wanted. Montezuma alfo believing the f.·une thing in the beginning, fent rich prefents to Narvaez, and gave orders to his governor$ to .offer hin~ the fame civilities 8 which 95 SecT. XIII •. ._ Armament of · the go v ~ rnor of Cuha ag ttinll Cortd. • |