by force from the commander the royal despatches. He had further, by force and fraud, caused himself to be elected leader, ignoring the instructions given him from the audiencia of Santo Domingo through his patron, and punishing even with death those who ventured to oppose him. He had assumed regal powers, made cruel war on unoffending natives to satisfy his greed and ambition, and had distributed encomiendas and slaves for the benefit of his adherents. To this end he had encroached on the royal interests, besides embezzling moneys and treasures due to the crown, assuming also for himself a fifth like the sovereign. Not satisfied with this, he had defrauded the soldiers of their shares, tortured native kings and nobles to obtain more gold, and had tyrannically impressed the people to bring material and build houses for him. Finally he had maltreated and expelled from New Spain the governor appointed by the crown, with criminal contempt for the royal commission, thus confirming the current reports that he intended treasonably to ignore the sovereign as he had his cédulas and his patron, and usurp the country for himself.
To these charges, many of them too true, the agents of Cortés replied that the honor of discovering New Spain pertained to Hernandez de Córdoba, who, disregarding the iniquitous and criminal commission of Valazquez to kidnap natives from the islands, had directed his energies to this nobler aim. Grijalva's expedition, succeeding this, was purely for traffic, as proved by the instructions, and its cost had been defrayed by the participants, although Velazquez managed to secure most of the profit, which he shared with the bishop of Búrgos, besides bribing him to the prejudice of the crown with large allotments of slaves. The fleet of Cortés had been fitted out chiefly at the expense of himself and friends, as demonstrated by the vouchers and testimony produced,[1] with clearly
- ↑ Probanza de Lejalde, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 411-20; Hist. Mex., i, 57-8, this series.
