V. 1521. of the Old and New Worlds. The great abilities of Guati- BOOK `mozin, the number of his troops, the peculiar situation of his capital, so far counterbalanced the superiority of the Spaniards in arms and discipline, that they must have relinquished the enterprise, if they had trusted for success to themselves alone. But Mexico was overturned by the jealousy of neighbours who dreaded its power, and by the revolt of subjects impatient to shake off its yoke. By their effectual aid, Cortes was enabled to accomplish what, without such support, he would hardly have ventured to attempt. How much soever this account of the reduction of Mexico may detract, on the one hand, from the marvellous relations of some Spanish writers, by ascribing that to simple and obvious causes which they attribute to the romantic valour of their countrymen, it adds, on the other, to the merit and abilities of Cortes, who, under every disadvantage, acquired such an ascendant over unknown nations, as to render them instruments towards carrying his schemes into execution ". of the booty, and ment of the The exultation of the Spaniards, on accomplishing this Smallness arduous enterprise, was at first excessive. But this was quickly damped, by the cruel disappointment of those disappoint sanguine hopes which had animated them amidst so many Spaniards. hardships and dangers. Instead of the inexhaustible wealth which they expected from becoming masters of Montezuma's treasures, and the ornaments of so many temples, their rapaciousness could collect only an inconsiderable booty amidst ruins and desolation. Guatimozin, aware of his impending fate, had ordered what remained of the riches amassed by his ancestors to be thrown into the lake. The Indian auxiliaries, while the Spaniards were engaged in conflict with the enemy, had carried off the most valuable part of the spoil. The sum to be divided among the conquerors was so small, that See NOTE CXXI. • The gold and silver, according to Cortes, amounted only to 120,000 pesos, Relat. 280, A.; a sum much inferior to that which the Spaniards had formerly divided in Mexico. VOL. III. 30 BOOK 1521. Guatimo zin tor tured. All the of the empire submit. many of them disdained to accept of the pittance which fell to their share, and all murmured and exclaimed; some against Cortes and his confidents, whom they suspected of having secretly appropriated to their own use a large portion of the riches which should have been brought into the common stock; others against Guatimozin, whom they accused of obstinacy, in refusing to discover the place where he had hidden his treasure. Arguments, intreaties, and promises, were employed in order to sooth them, but with so little effect, that Cortes, from solicitude to check this growing spirit of discontent, gave way to a deed which stains the glory of all his great actions. Without regarding the former dignity of Guatimozin, or feeling any reverence for those virtues which he had displayed, he subjected the unhappy monarch, together with his chief favourite, to torture, in or der to force from them a discovery of the royal treasures, which it was supposed they had concealed. Guatimozin bore whatever the refined cruelty of his tormentors could inflict, with the invincible fortitude of an American warrior. His fellow-sufferer, overcome by the violence of the anguish, turned a dejected eye towards his master, which seemed to implore his permission to reveal all that he knew. But the high-spirited prince, darting on him a look of authority mingled with scorn, checked his weakness, by asking, Am I now reposing on a bed of flowers." Overawed by the reproach, the favourite persevered in his dutiful silence, and expired. Cortes, ashamed of a scene so horrid, rescued the royal victim from the hands of his torturers, and prolonged a life reserved for new indignities and sufferings P. The fate of the capital, as both parties had foreseen, provinces decided that of the empire. The provinces submitted one after another to the conquerors. Small detachments of Spaniards marching through them without interruption, penetrated in different quarters to the great southern B. Diaz. c. 157. Gomara Cron. c. 146. Herrera, dec. 3, lib. ii, c. 8. Torquem. Mon. Ind. i, 574. V. 1521. ocean, which, according to the ideas of Columbus, they BOOK imagined would open a short as well as easy passage to the East Indies, and secure to the crown of Castile all the envied wealth of those fertile regions; and the active mind of Cortes began already to form schemes for attempting this important discovery". forms veries, He did not know that, during the progress of his victo- Cortes rious arms in Mexico, the very scheme of which he be-schemes of gan to form some idea had been undertaken and accom- new discoplished. As this is one of the most splendid events in which are the history of the Spanish discoveries, and has been pro- by Magelcompleted ductive of effects peculiarly interesting to those extensive lan. provinces which Cortes had now subjected to the crown of Castile, the account of its rise and progress merits a particular detail. Ferdinand Magalhaens, or Magellan, a Portuguese gentlemen of honourable birth, having served several years in the East Indies, with distinguished valour, under the famous Albuquerque, demanded the recompence which he thought due to his services, with the boldness natural to a high-spirited soldier; but, as his general would not grant his suit, and he expected greater justice from his sovereign, whom he knew to be a good judge and a generous rewarder of merit, he quitted India abruptly, and returned to Lisbon. In order to induce Emanuel to listen more favourably to his claim, he not only stated his past services, but offered to add to them by conducting his countrymen to the Molucca or Spice islands, by holding a westerly course; which, he contended, would be both shorter and less hazardous than that which the Portuguese now followed by the Cape of Good Hope, through the immense extent of the eastern ocean. This was the original and favourite project of Columbus; and Magellan founded his hopes of success on the ideas of that great navigator, confirmed by many observations, the result of his own naval experience, as well as that of 9 Cortes Relat. 280, D, &c. B. Diaz. c. 157. Herrera, dec. 3, lib. ii, c. 17. Gomara Cron. c. 149. V. 1521. BOOK his countrymen, in their intercourse with the East. But, though the Portuguese monarch had the merit of having first awakened and encouraged the spirit of discovery in that age, it was their destiny, in the course of a few years, to reject two grand schemes for this purpose, the execu tion of which would have been attended with a great accession of glory to themselves, and of power to their kingdom. In consequence of some ill-founded prejudice against Magellan, or of some dark intrigue, which contemporary historians have not explained, Emanuel would neither bestow the recompence which he claimed, nor approve of the scheme which he proposed, and dismissed him with a disdainful coldness, intolerable to a man conscious of what he deserved, and animated with the sanguine hopes of success peculiar to those who are capable of forming or of conducting new and great under1517. takings. In a transport of resentment Magellan formally renounced his allegiance to an ungrateful master, and fled to the court of Castile, where he expected that his talents would be more justly estimated. He endeavoured to recommend himself by offering to execute, under the patronage of Spain, that scheme which he had laid before the court of Portugal, the accomplishment of which, he knew, would wound the monarch against whom he was exasperated in the most tender part. In order to esta blish the justness of his theory, he produced the same arguments which he had employed at Lisbon; acknowwas both ledging, at the same time, that the undertaking arduous and expensive, as it could not be attempted but with a squadron of considerable force, and victualled for at least two years. Fortunately, he applied to a minister who was not apt to be deterred, either by the boldness of a design, or the expence of carrying it into execution. Cardinal Ximenes, who at that time directed the affairs of Spain, discerning at once what an increase of wealth and glory would accrue to his country by the success of Magellan's proposal, listened to it with a most favourable ear. Charles V. on his arrival in his Spanish dominions, V. 1521. entered into the measure with no less ardour; and orders BOOK were issued for equipping a proper squadron at the public charge, of which the command was given to Magellan, whom the king honoured with the habit of St Jago, and the title of captain-general. Voyage On the tenth of August one thousand five hundred and His nineteen, Magellan sailed from Seville with five ships, which, according to the ideas of the age, were deemed to be of considerable force, though the burden of the - largest did not exceed one hundred and twenty tons. The crews of the whole amounted to two hundred and thirtyfour men, among whom were some of the most skilful pilots in Spain, and several Portuguese sailors, in whose experience, as more extensive, Magellan placed still greater confidence. After touching at the Canaries, he stood directly south, towards the equinoxial line, along the coast of America, but was so long retarded by tedious calms, and spent so much time in searching every bay and inlet for that communication with the Southern ocean which he wished to discover, that he did not reach the river De la Plata till the twelfth of January. That spacious opening through which its vast body of water pours into the Atlantic allured him to enter; but after sailing up it for some days, he concluded, from the shallowness of the stream, and the freshness of the water, that the wished-for strait was not situated there, and continued his course towards the south. On the thirty-first of March he arrived in the port of St Julian, about forty-eight degrees south of the line, where he resolved to winter. In this uncomfortable station he lost one of his squadron, and the Spaniards suffered so much from the excessive rigour of the climate, that the crews of three of his ships, headed by their officers, rose in open mutiny, and insisted on relinquishing the visionary project of a desperate adventurer, and returning directly to Spain. This dangerous insur Herrera, dec. 2. lib. ii, c. 19. lib. iv, c. 9. Gomara Hist. c. 91. Dalrymple's Collect. of Voyages to the South Pacific ocean, vol. i, p. 1, &c. 1520. |