Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican Part 1

Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican.

Vol. 1.

by Brantz Mayer.

PREFACE.

The people of the United States have always felt a deep interest in the history and destiny of Mexico. It was not only the commercial spirit of our citizens that awakened this sentiment. In former times, when the exclusive policy of Spain closed the door of intercourse with her American colonies, the ancient history of Peru and Mexico attracted the curiosity of our students. They were eager to solve the enigma of a strange civilization which had originated in the central portions of our continent in isolated independence of all the world.

They desired, moreover, to know something of those enchanted regions, which, like the fabled garden of the Hesperides, were watched and warded with such jealous vigilance; and they craved to behold those marvelous mines whose boundless wealth was poured into the lap of Spain. The valuable work of Baron Humboldt, published in the early part of this century, stimulated this natural curiosity; and, when the revolutionary spirit of Europe penetrated our continent, and the ma.s.ses rose to cast off colonial bondage, we hailed with joy every effort of the patriots who fought so bravely in the war of liberation.

Bound to Mexico by geographical ties, though without a common language or lineage, we were the first to welcome her and the new American Sovereignties into the brotherhood of nations, and to fortify our continental alliance by emba.s.sies and treaties.

After more than twenty years of peaceful intercourse, the war of 1846 broke out between Mexico and our Union. Thousands, of all cla.s.ses, professions and occupations,--educated and uneducated--observers and idlers,--poured into the territory of the invaded republic. In the course of the conflict these st.u.r.dy adventurers traversed the central and northern regions of Mexico, scoured her coasts, possessed themselves for many months of her beautiful Capital, and although they returned to their homes worn with the toils of war, none have ceased to remember the delicious land, amid whose sunny valleys and majestic mountains they had learned, at least, to admire the sublimity of nature. The returned warriors did not fail to report around their firesides the marvels they witnessed during their campaigns, and numerous works have been written to sketch the story of individual adventure, or to portray the most interesting physical features of various sections of the republic. Thus by war and literature, by ancient curiosity and political sympathy, by geographical position and commercial interest, Mexico has become perhaps the most interesting portion of the world to our countrymen at the present moment. And I have been led to believe that the American people would not receive unfavorably a work designed to describe the entire country, to develop its resources and condition, and to sketch impartially its history from the conquest to the present day.

It has been no ordinary task to chronicle the career of a nation for more than three centuries, to unveil the colonial government of sixty-two Viceroys, to follow the thread of war and politics through the mazes of revolution, and to track the rebellious spirit of intrigue amid the numerous civil outbreaks which have occurred since the downfall of Iturbide. The complete Viceroyal history of Mexico is now for the first time presented to the world in the English language, while, in Spanish, no single author has ever attempted it continuously. Free from the bias of Mexican partizanship, I have endeavored to narrate events fairly, and to paint character without regard to individual men. In describing the country, its resources, geography, finances, church, agriculture, army, industrial condition, and social as well as political prospects, I have taken care to provide myself with the most recent and respectable authorities. My residence in the country, and intimacy with many of its educated and intelligent patriots, enabled me to gather information in which I confided, and I have endeavored to fuse the whole ma.s.s of knowledge thus laboriously procured, with my personal, and, I hope, unprejudiced, observation.

I have not deemed it proper to enc.u.mber the margin of my pages with continual references to authorities that are rarely consulted by general readers, and could only be desired by critics who would often be tantalized by the citation of works, which, in all likelihood, are not to be found except in private collections in the United States, and some of which, I am quite sure, exist only in my own library or in the Mexican Legation, at Washington. Such references, whilst they occupied an undue portion of the book, would be ostentatiously and tediously pedantic in a work of so little pretension as mine. I may state, however, that no important fact has been a.s.serted without authority, and, in order to indicate the greater portion of my published sources of reliance, I have subjoined a list of the princ.i.p.al materials consulted and carefully verified in the composition of these volumes. Nevertheless, I have perhaps failed sometimes to procure the standard works that are accessible to native or permanent residents of the country, and thus, may have fallen accidental into error, whilst honestly seeking to shun misstatement.

If those whose information enables them to detect important mistakes will be kind enough to point them out candidly and clearly, I will gladly correct such serious faults if another edition should ever be required by an indulgent public.

BRANTZ MAYER.

BALTIMORE, AUGUST, 1850.

BOOK I.

CHAPTER I.

1511 TO 1519.

DISCOVERIES OF CORDOVA AND GRIJALVA.--CORTeZ APPOINTED BY VELASQUEZ.--BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF CORTeZ.--CORTeZ CAPTAIN GENERAL OF THE ARMADA.--EQUIPMENT OF THE EXPEDITION.--QUARREL OF VELASQUEZ--FIRMNESS OF CORTeZ.--EXPEDITION DEPARTS UNDER CORTeZ.

There is perhaps no page in modern history so full of dramatic incidents and useful consequences, as that which records the discovery, conquest and development of America by the Spanish and Anglo Saxon races. The extraordinary achievements of Columbus, Cortez, Pizarro, and Washington, have resulted in the acquisition of broad lands, immense wealth, and rational liberty; and the names of these heroes are thus indissolubly connected with the physical and intellectual progress of mankind.

In the following pages we propose to write the history, and depict the manners, customs and condition of MEXICO. Our narrative begins with the first movements that were made for the conquest of the country; yet, we shall recount, fully and accurately, the story of those Indian princes,--the splendor of whose courts, and the misery of whose tragic doom, enhance the picturesque grandeur and solemn lessons that are exhibited in the career of Hernando Cortez.

Cuba was the second island discovered, in the West Indies; but it was not until 1511, that Diego, son of the gallant admiral, who had hitherto maintained the seat of government in Hispaniola, resolved to occupy the adjacent isle of Fernandina,--as it was then called,--amid whose virgin mountains and forests he hoped to find new mines to repair the loss of those which were rapidly failing in Hispaniola.[1]

For the conquest of this imagined El Dorado, he prepared a small armament, under the command of Diego Velasquez, an ambitious and covetous leader, who, together with his lieutenant, Narvaez, soon established the Spanish authority in the island, of which he was appointed Governor.

Columbus, after coasting the sh.o.r.es of Cuba for a great distance, had always believed that it const.i.tuted a portion of the continent, but it was soon discovered that the ill.u.s.trious admiral had been in error, and that Cuba, extensive as it appeared to be, was, in fact, only an island.

In February, 1517, a Spanish _hidalgo_, Hernandez de Cordova, set sail, with three vessels, towards the adjacent Bahamas in search of slaves. He was driven by a succession of severe storms on coasts which had hitherto been unknown to the Spanish adventurers, and finally landed on that part of the continent which forms the north-eastern end of the peninsula of Yucatan, and is known as Cape Catoche. Here he first discovered the evidence of a more liberal civilization than had been hitherto known among his adventurous countrymen in the New World.

Large and solid buildings, formed of stone;--cultivated fields;--delicate fabrics of cotton and precious metals,--indicated the presence of a race that had long emerged from the semi-barbarism of the Indian Isles. The bold but accidental explorer continued his voyage along the coast of the peninsula until he reached the site of Campeche; and then, after an absence of seven months and severe losses among his men, returned to Cuba, with but half the number of his reckless companions. He brought back with him, however, numerous evidences of the wealth and progress of the people he had fortuitously discovered on the American main; but he soon died, and left to others the task of completing the enterprise he had so auspiciously begun.

The fruits of his discoveries remained to be gathered by Velasquez, who at once equipped four vessels and entrusted them to the command of his nephew, Juan de Grijalva, and on the 1st of May, 1518, this new commander left the port of St. Jago de Cuba. The first land he touched on his voyage of discovery, was the Island of Cozumel, whence he pa.s.sed to the continent, glancing at the spots that had been previously visited by Cordova. So struck was he by the architecture, the improved agriculture, the civilized tastes, the friendly character and demeanor of the inhabitants, and, especially, by the sight of "large stone crosses, evidently objects of worship," that, in the enthusiasm of the moment, he gave to the land the name of Nueva Espana-or New Spain,--a t.i.tle which has since been extended from the peninsula of Yucatan to even more than the entire empire of Montezuma and the Aztecs.

Grijalva did not content himself with a mere casual visit to the continent, but pursued his course along the coast, stopping at the Rio de Tabasco. Whilst at Rio de Vanderas, he enjoyed the first intercourse that ever took place between the Spaniards and Mexicans.

The _Cacique_ of the Province sought from the strangers a full account of their distant country and the motives of their visit, in order that he might convey the intelligence to his Aztec master. Presents were interchanged, and Grijalva received, in return for his toys and tinsel, a ma.s.s of jewels, together with ornaments and vessels of gold, which satisfied the adventurers that they had reached a country whose resources would repay them for the toil of further exploration.

Accordingly, he despatched to Cuba with the joyous news, Pedro de Alvarado, one of his captains,--a man who was destined to play a conspicuous part in the future conquest,--whilst he, with the remainder of his companies, continued his coasting voyage to San Juan de Ulua, the Island of Sacrificios, and the northern sh.o.r.es, until he reached the Province of Panuco; whence, after an absence of six months, he set sail for Cuba, having been the first Spanish adventurer who trod the soil of Mexico.

But his return was not hailed even with grat.i.tude. The florid reports of Pedro de Alvarado had already inflamed the ambition and avarice of Velasquez, who, impatient of the prolonged absence of Grijalva, had despatched a vessel under the command of Olid in search of his tardy officer. Nor was he content with this jealous exhibition of his temper; for, anxious to secure to himself all the glory and treasure to be derived from the boundless resources of a continent, he solicited authority from the Spanish crown to prosecute the adventures that had been so auspiciously begun; and, in the meanwhile, after considerable deliberation, resolved to fit out another armament on a scale, in some degree, commensurate with the military subjugation of the country, should he find himself opposed by its sovereign and people. After considerable doubt, difficulty and delay, he resolved to entrust this expedition to the command of HERNANDO CORTeZ; "the last man," says Prescott, "to whom Velasquez,--could he have foreseen the results,--would have confided the enterprise."

It will not be foreign to our purpose to sketch, briefly, the previous life of a man who subsequently became so eminent in the history of both worlds. Seven years before Columbus planted the standard of Castile and Arragon in the West Indies, HERNANDO CORTeZ, was born, of a n.o.ble lineage, in the town of Medellin, in the Province of Estremadura, in Spain. His infancy was frail and delicate, but his const.i.tution strengthened as he grew, until, at the age of fourteen, he was placed in the venerable university of Salamanca, where his parents, who rejoiced in the extreme vivacity of his talents, designed to prepare him for the profession of law, the emoluments of which were, at that period, most tempting in Spain. But the restless spirit of the future conqueror was not to be manacled by the musty ritual of a tedious science whose pursuit would confine him to a quiet life. He wasted two years at the college, and, like many men who subsequently became renowned either for thought or action, was finally sent home in disgrace. Nevertheless, in the midst of his recklessness, and by the quickness of his genius, he had learned "a little store of Latin," and acquired the habit of writing good prose, or of versifying agreeably.

His father,--Don Martin Cortez de Monroy, and his mother, Dona Catalina Pizarro Altamirano,--seem to have been accomplished people, nor is it improbable, that the greater part of their son's information was obtained under the influence of the domestic circle. At college he was free from all restraint,--giving himself up to the spirit of adventure, the pursuit of pleasure, and convivial intercourse,--so that no hope was entertained of his further improvement from scholastic studies. His worthy parents were, moreover, people of limited fortune, and unable to prolong these agreeable but profitless pursuits. Accordingly, when Cortez attained the age of seventeen, they yielded to his proposal to enlist under the banner of GONSALVO OF CORDOVA, and to devote himself, heart and soul, to the military life which seemed most suitable for one of his wild, adventurous and resolute disposition. It was well for Spain and for himself, that the chivalric wish of Cortez was not thwarted,--and that one of the ablest soldiers produced by Castile at that period, was not dwarfed by parental control into a bad lawyer or pestilent pettifogger.

The attention of our hero was soon directed towards the New World,--the stories of whose wealth had now for upwards of twenty years been pouring into the greedy ear of Spain,--and he speedily determined to embark in the armament which NICOLAS DE OVANDO, the successor of Columbus, was fitting out for the West Indies. This design was frustrated, however, for two years longer, by an accident which occurred in one of his amours; nor did another opportunity present itself, until, at the age of nineteen, in 1504, he bade adieu to Spain in a small squadron bound to the Islands.

As soon as Cortez reached Hispaniola, he visited the Governor, whom he had formerly known at home. OVANDO was absent, but his secretary received the emigrant kindly, and a.s.sured him "a liberal grant of land." "I come for _gold_," replied Cortez, sneeringly, "and not to toil like a peasant!" Ovando, however, was more fortunate than the secretary, in prevailing upon the future conqueror to forego the lottery of adventure, for no sooner had he returned to his post, than Cortez was persuaded to accept a grant of land, a _repartimiento_ of Indians, and the office of notary in the village of Acua. Here he seems to have dwelt until 1511, varying the routine of notarial and agricultural pursuits by an occasional adventure, of an amorous character, which involved him in duels. Sometimes he took part in the military expeditions under Diego Velasquez for the suppression of Indian insurrections in the interior. This was the school in which he learned his tactics, and here did he study the native character until he joined Velasquez for the conquest of Cuba.

As soon as this famous Island was reduced to Spanish authority, Cortez became high in favor with Velasquez, who had received the commission of Governor. But love, intrigues, jealousy and ambition, quickly began to chequer the wayward life of our hero, and estranged him from Velasquez, for the new Governor found it difficult to satisfy the cravings of those rapacious adventurers who flocked in crowds to the New World, and, in all probability, cl.u.s.tered around Cortez as the nucleus of discontent.

It was soon resolved by these men to submit their complaints against Velasquez to the higher authorities in Hispaniola, and the daring Cortez was fixed on as the bearer of the message in an open boat, across the eighteen intervening leagues. But the conspiracy was detected,--the rash amba.s.sador confined in chains,--and only saved from hanging by the interposition of powerful friends.

Cortez speedily contrived to relieve himself of the fetters with which he was bound, and, forcing a window, escaped from his prison to the sanctuary of a neighboring church. A few days after, however, he was seized whilst standing carelessly in front of the sacred edifice, and conveyed on board a vessel bound for Hispaniola, where he was to be tried. But his intrepidity and skill did not forsake him even in this strait. Ascending cautiously from the vessel's hold to the deck, he dropped into a boat and pulled near ash.o.r.e, when dreading to risk the frail bark in the breakers, he abandoned his skiff,--plunged boldly into the surf,--and landing on the sands, sought again the sanctuary, whence he had been rudely s.n.a.t.c.hed by the myrmidons of the Governor.

One of the causes of his quarrel with Velasquez had been an intrigue with a beautiful woman, in whose family the Governor was, perhaps, personally interested. The fickle Cortez cruelly abandoned the fair Catalina Xuares at a most inauspicious moment of her fate, and was condemned for his conduct by all the best people in the Island; but now, under the influence of penitence or policy, his feelings suddenly experienced a strange revulsion. He expressed a contrite desire to do justice to the injured woman by marriage, and thus, at once obtained the favor of her family and the pardon of the Governor, who becoming permanently reconciled to Cortez, presented him a liberal _repartimiento_ of Indians together with broad lands in the neighborhood of St. Jago, of which he was soon made _alcalde_.

The future conqueror devoted himself henceforth to his duties with remarkable a.s.siduity. Agriculture,--the introduction of cattle of the best breeds,--and the revenues of a share of the mines which he wrought,--soon began to enrich the restless adventurer who had settled down for a while into the quiet life of a married man. His beautiful wife fulfilled her share of the cares of life with remarkable fidelity, and seems to have contented the heart even of her liege lord, who declared himself as happy with his bride as if she had been the daughter of a d.u.c.h.ess.

At this juncture ALVARADO returned with the account of the discoveries, the wealth, and the golden prospects of continental adventure which we have already narrated. Cortez and Velasquez were alike fired by the alluring story. The old flame of enterprise was rekindled in the breast of the wild boy of Medellin, and when the Governor looked around for one who could command the projected expedition, he found none, among the hosts who pressed for service, better fitted for the enterprise by personal qualities and fortune, than Hernando Cortez, whom he named CAPTAIN GENERAL OF HIS ARMADA.

The high office and the important task imposed on him seem to have sobered the excitable, and heretofore fickle, mind of our hero. His ardent animal spirits, under the influence of a bold and lofty purpose, became the servants rather than the masters of his indomitable will, and he at once proceeded to arrange all the details of the expedition which he was to lead to Mexico. The means that he did not already possess in his own coffers, he raised by mortgage, and he applied the funds, thus obtained, to the purchase of vessels, rations, and military stores, or to the furnishing of adequate equipments for adventurers who were too poor to provide their own outfit. It is somewhat questionable whether Velasquez, the Governor, was very liberal in his personal and pecuniary contributions to this expedition, the cost of which amounted to about twenty thousand gold ducats. It has been alleged that Cortez was the chief support of the adventure, and it is certain, that in later years, this question resulted in bitter litigation between the parties.

Six ships and three hundred followers were soon prepared for the enterprise under Cortez, and the Governor proceeded to give instructions to the leader, all of which are couched in language of unquestionable liberality.

The captain of the Armada was first to seek the missing Grijalva, after which the two commanders were to unite in their quest of gold and adventure. Six Christians, supposed to be lingering in captivity in Yucatan, were to be sought and released. Barter and traffic, generally, with the natives were to be encouraged and carried on, so as to avoid all offence against humanity or kindness. The Indians were to be christianized;--for the conversion of heathens was one of the dearest objects of the Spanish king. The aborigines, in turn, were to manifest their good will by ample gifts of jewels and treasure. The coasts and adjacent streams were to be surveyed,--and the productions of the country, its races, civilization, and inst.i.tutions, were to be noted with minute accuracy, so that a faithful report might be returned to the crown, to whose honor and the service of G.o.d, it was hoped the enterprise would certainly redound.

Such was the state of things in the port of St. Jago, when jealous fears began to interrupt the confidence between Velasquez and Cortez.

The counsel of friends who were companions of the Governor, and his own notice of that personage's altered conduct, soon put the new Captain General of the Armada on his guard. Neither his equipment nor his crew was yet complete; nevertheless, he supplied his fleet with all the provisions he could hastily obtain at midnight; and, paying the provider with a ma.s.sive chain which he had worn about his neck,--the last available remnant, perhaps, of his fortune,--he hastened with his officers on board the vessels.

On the 18th of November, 1518, he made sail for the port of Macaca, about fifteen leagues distant, and thence he proceeded to Trinidad, on the southern coast of Cuba. Here he obtained stores from the royal farms, whilst he recruited his forces from all cla.s.ses, but especially from the returned troops and sailors of Grijalva's expedition. Pedro de Alvarado and his brothers; Cristoval de Olid, Alonzo de Avila, Juan Velasquez de Leon, Hernandez de Puerto Carrero, and Gonzalo de Sandoval, united their fortunes to his, and thus identified themselves forever with the conquest of Mexico. He added considerably to his stock by the seizure of several vessels and cargoes; and prudently got rid of Diego de Ordaz, whom he regarded as a spy of the estranged Velasquez.

At Trinidad, Cortez was overtaken by orders for detention from his former friend and patron. These commands, however, were not enforced by the cautious official who received them; and Cortez, forthwith, despatched Alvarado, by land, to Havana, whilst he prepared to follow with his fleet around the coast and western part of the island. At Havana he again added to his forces,--prepared arms and quilted armor as a defence against the Indian arrows,--and distributed his men into eleven companies under the command of experienced officers. But, before all his arrangements were completed, the commander of the place, Don Pedro Barba, was ordered, by express from Velasquez, to _arrest_ Cortez, whilst the Captain General of the Armada himself received a hypocritical letter from the same personage, "requesting him to delay his voyage till the governor could communicate with him in person!" Barba, however, knew that the attempt to seize the leader of such an enterprise and of such a band, would be vain;--whilst Cortez, in reply to Velasquez, "implored his Excellency to rely on his boundless devotion to the interests of his Governor, but a.s.sured him, nevertheless, that he and his fleet, by divine permission, would sail on the following day!"

Accordingly, on the 18th of February, 1519, the little squadron weighed anchor, with one hundred and ten mariners, sixteen horses, five hundred and fifty-three soldiers, including thirty-two crossbowmen and thirteen arquebusiers, besides two hundred Indians of the island and a few native women, for menial offices. The ordnance consisted of ten heavy guns, four lighter pieces or falconets, together with a good supply of ammunition.