Chapter I: Front Matter

_Life Stories for Young People_

HERNANDO CORTES

_Translated from the German of
Joachim Heinrich Campe_

BY
GEORGE P. UPTON
_Translator of “Memories,” “Immensee,” etc._

WITH SIX ILLUSTRATIONS

CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1911

Copyright
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1911
Published September, 1911

THE · PLIMPTON · PRESS
[W · D · O]
NORWOOD · MASS · U · S · A

Translator’s Preface

The story of the career of Hernando Cortes during his conquest of Mexico is a story of extraordinary courage, undaunted resolution, and hideous cruelty. It is a story of the subjection of a “little people,” overcome and enslaved by a superior nation, which, in its lust for gold and territorial aggrandizement, left no methods of stratagem, cunning, military science, and barbarous cruelty untried to achieve its purpose. Granted that the early Emperors of Mexico were tyrannical in their treatment of the natives and that their religious rites were accompanied by human sacrifices and cannibalism, Mexican cruelty pales before the horrible scenes enacted by so-called civilized Spain in this dreadful Mexican drama. The three principal figures are Hernando Cortes, Montezuma, and Guatemozin—Cortes, the conqueror; Montezuma, the weak-spirited Emperor, victim of his own people’s fury; Guatemozin, the patriot. Cortes was a born adventurer, and in his youth possessed of skill in all military exercises. He was a man of consummate cunning and captivating address, of soaring ambition and marked ability as an administrator and general. Apparently he never knew what it was to fear, and consequently no danger was great enough to appall him. He was so skilled in stratagem that no situation was devious enough to prevent its solution. He had the same greed of gold as all Spaniards of his day had, and no means of obtaining it were considered dishonorable as long as they were successful. But courageous, resolute, and ambitious as Cortes was, he will go down through the ages branded with infamy for his treatment of Montezuma, for the frightful massacres at Cholula and Otumba, for his execution of Guatemozin, last of the Aztec Emperors, for the burning of caciques and chiefs which he ordered, and for the countless atrocities of his men which he permitted. In his old age, like Columbus, he suffered from the neglect of an ungrateful Court, but, while we can sympathize with Columbus in that situation, we can feel no sympathy for Cortes as we recall the black chapters of his career.

G. P. U.

Chicago, _July, 1911_.

Contents

Chapter Page
I Velasquez in Cuba—Hernandez de Cordova Discovers Yucatan—The
Natives on the Mainland are Hostile—Grijalva Advances
from Yucatan farther Northward—He is the First European
to Step upon Mexican Soil 11
II The Youth of Cortes—His Voyage to San Domingo and Settlement
There—Cortes under Velasquez in Cuba—He Fits Out a Fleet
for the Conquest of Mexico 20
III Cortes is Regarded as an Enemy by the Natives of Tabasco,
and is Forced into a Battle with them—He is Victorious,
and they Submit 30
IV Cortes Reaches San Juan de Ulloa—His Negotiations for an
Understanding with Montezuma, Emperor of Mexico—Disquiet
in the Army 42
V Founding of the City of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz—Disaffected
Caciques Join Cortes—Destruction of a Heathen Temple
because of Human Sacrifices—Introduction of
Christianity—Cortes Sinks his Fleet after Sending a
Vessel to Spain 55
VI Cortes’ March to Tlaxcala—Battle and Defeat of the
Tlaxcalans—Montezuma’s Messengers 71
VII March to the Sacred City of Cholula—The Natives Plot the
Destruction of the Spaniards—Cortes Discovers their
Treachery and Slaughters Several Thousand Indians—March
to Mexico—Montezuma Meets the Strangers and Escorts them
to the Capital 85
VIII Religious Rites of the Mexicans—Human Sacrifices—The
Natives Discover that the Spaniards are not Divine but
Human 96
IX Montezuma is made a Prisoner—Quauhpopoka and His Leaders
Burned—The Mexicans Swear Allegiance to the King of
Spain 104
X Division of the Spoils—Cortes Attempts to Introduce
Christianity—Narvaez is Sent by Velasquez to Depose
Cortes—Cortes Advances against Him 112
XI Cortes Defeats Narvaez—Meanwhile the Mexicans, Outraged by
Alvarado, Rise in Revolt—Cortes Returns 119
XII The Mexicans Rise against the Spaniards and Fight with
Desperate Courage—Montezuma is Killed—Cortes Struggles
Bravely and is in Danger of his Life 127
XIII Cortes, about to Retreat, Finds the Causeways Cut—The
Spaniards Escape with Heavy Loss—The Tlaxcalans Remain
True—Guatemozin is Elected Emperor of Mexico 136
XIV Cortes Builds Vessels for a Land and Water Attack—A
Conspiracy against his Life is Discovered—The Capital is
Attacked 144
XV The Spaniards Lose Heavily in Battle—The Prisoners are
Sacrificed—Some of Cortes’ Allies Desert but soon
Return—The City of Mexico Captured—Guatemozin Attempts
Flight but is taken 153
XVI Tapia, Commissioned to Depose Cortes, is Induced to Return
to Cuba—Cortes is Confirmed as Governor of New Spain—He
Goes to Spain and is Ennobled—A Second Visit to Spain
Discloses the Fickleness of the Court—He Vainly Begs the
Emperor’s Favor—His Death 162
Appendix 168

Illustrations

Page
Cortes and Montezuma _Frontispiece_
The Engagement between the Spaniards and the People of Tabasco 32
Mexican Caciques before Cortes 60
Meeting of Cortes and Montezuma 94
Montezuma the Captive of the Spaniards 106
The Entry of Cortes into Mexico City 158

Hernando Cortes