CHAPTER CLXV.

_How Cortes despatches an armament, under Christobal de Oli, to the Higueras and Honduras, to subject these provinces; and what further took place during this expedition._

Cortes was informed that the provinces of Higueras[33] and Honduras were uncommonly rich, and possessed lucrative gold and silver mines; in which belief he had been further strengthened by the assertions of several sailors who had visited these parts, and affirmed that they had witnessed with their own eyes that the Indians there fastened pieces of gold to their fishing nets instead of lead, in order to sink them; besides which, these sailors were of opinion there must be somewhere in that latitude a narrow arm of the sea, which ran into the southern ocean, and this was another reason why Cortes was desirous of exploring those parts, particularly as he had received instructions from his majesty to use his utmost endeavours to discover some such passage to the southern ocean, in order to promote the trade with the spice islands by a shorter route. Cortes therefore determined to fit out an expedition for this purpose, the command of which he gave to Oli, his quartermaster-general. He was induced for various reasons to intrust this man with so important a command; first of all, Oli was entirely indebted to him for his successful career in life; secondly, he was a married man; and lastly, he possessed considerable property in the neighbourhood of Mexico; so that Cortes considered he could every way place implicit reliance on his fidelity and obedience. As the route overland to these provinces would have been too tedious, expensive, and difficult, Cortes determined for an expedition thither by sea, and fitted out five vessels and one brigantine, with three hundred and seventy men, among whom there were one hundred musketeers and crossbow-men, with twenty-two horse. In this corps there were also five of the veteran Conquistadores, all men who had distinguished themselves on every occasion. They had already settled themselves quietly down in New Spain, and were in every respect entitled to enjoy the sweets of repose; but Cortes was not the man to whom you could say, "I am now tired, general, of military life, allow me therefore to spend the remainder of my days in peace and quiet;" but he commanded you to go, and if you would not, he forced you. Among other officers who accompanied Oli was Briones of Salamanca, the same who commanded one of the brigantines during the siege of Mexico, and who had formerly served in the campaigns of Italy. This man was of a most irascible disposition, and he hated Cortes from the bottom of his soul; but he was not the only one, for several others took part in this expedition who were equally ill inclined towards our general, who had made himself a great many enemies among the troops, by neglecting to bestow upon them a fair proportion of the Indians and of the gold.

Oli's instructions were to set sail from Vera Cruz, and shape his course for the Havannah, where he would find Alonso de Conteras, one of Cortes' veterans, whom the latter had despatched thither, in advance, with 6000 pesos, to purchase horses, cassave bread, and salted meat, for the armament, all of which Oli was to take on board, and then sail straight for the Higueras, to which place he would then have an easy voyage. Cortes' further instructions were, that he should make every possible effort to gain the Indians by kindness, and to build a town in some advantageous spot, near some harbour, from whence he could by degrees subject the whole country, and induce the inhabitants to bring in their gold and silver; but he was, above all things, to search for the passage to the southern ocean, and should he arrive there, to explore the harbours on that coast, if he found any.

To this armament were also appointed two priests, one of whom understood the Mexican language, and they were particularly desired to preach the gospel among the Indians, and by kindly remonstrances, joined to convincing arguments, induce them to abolish their human sacrifices, with other abominations practised among them. Every place the troops visited they were to look out for those diabolical cages in which the Indians shut up those they intended as victims for their sacrifices; these they were ordered to release, and the cages were to be destroyed. The priests were also to erect crosses in every township, and they were provided with a number of images of the Virgin Mary to present to the inhabitants.

After Cortes had strongly impressed all this on Oli's mind, he bid him and all his troops an affectionate farewell. When Oli arrived in Vera Cruz he found everything in readiness, so that he was enabled to embark immediately with his troops, and set sail; but I have forgotten both the year and the day of the month when he left.[34] However, he had a very favorable passage to the Havannah, where he found the horses, with the provisions and other necessaries, in readiness. Here he was also joined by five of the veteran Conquistadores, who had been banished from New Spain by Diego de Ocampo, in the height of his wrath, during the investigation into the affairs of Panuco, after Garay's troops had occasioned an insurrection in that province. These men were the first who whispered the idea into Oli's ear of revolting against Cortes, and Briones had frequently spoken to him to the same effect; but Diego Velasquez, governor of Cuba, and the mortal enemy of Cortes, urged him in the strongest terms to refuse all further obedience to our general. He even visited Oli on board the vessels, and they came to a secret agreement between themselves jointly to subdue the Higueras and Honduras in his majesty's name. Oli was to take upon himself the active part, and Velasquez, on his side, was to procure him every necessary, and to support him with his money. His majesty was to be duly apprized of all this, and to be petitioned to confer upon them the government of all their conquests.

With respect to Christobal de Oli, I must observe that he was a man of uncommon bravery, and excelled both as a cavalry and foot soldier; but he certainly did not possess sufficient talent for a commander-in-chief, but was second to no man under command. About this time he may have been in his forty-sixth year, and was either a native of Baëza or of Lunares. His outward appearance was extremely handsome; high of stature, carrying with it the very expression of muscular power; his limbs were beautifully proportioned, and his shoulders broad, while a ruddy hue, most pleasing to the eye, was constantly upon his cheek. There was only one fault to be found with his features, which was a deep cut in his under lip. In language he was rather imperious and coarse, but in other respects very agreeable in conversation; he had, upon the whole, many good qualities, particularly a noble frankness of disposition, which gained him the confidence of every person. As long as he staid in Mexico he was quite devoted to Cortes, but subsequently his ambitious desire for command, and not to be commanded, with the bad advice of evil-minded persons, completely blinded him. It must also be remembered that in his early youth he had served under Velasquez, and he could not forget the bread which, as a boy, he had eaten in his house. In this way it happened that he quite forgot he was vastly more indebted to Cortes than to Diego Velasquez.

After he had thus come to a secret understanding with the governor of Cuba, he was visited by many of the inhabitants of this place, who all strongly advised him to throw off the yoke of Cortes, thereby strengthening him in his evil designs. The armament being now fully equipped, he set sail from the Havannah, and arrived on the 3d of May, after a very prosperous voyage, about sixty miles on the other side of Puerto Caballo, and disembarked his men in a small bay, where he immediately began to lay the foundations of a town, to which he gave the name of Triunfo de la Cruz, and, according to the instructions he had received from Cortes, he selected the alcaldes and regidors from among the veteran Conquistadores above mentioned. He likewise took possession of the country for his majesty in the name of Cortes, and otherwise punctually obeyed the orders he had received, that the latter's friends might not discover what his real intentions were, until a good opportunity should offer itself of gaining them over to his side. I have likewise been assured that, if he found these provinces did not produce much gold or silver, he was determined to return to Mexico, and assure Cortes that his only reason for making that secret agreement with Velasquez was to procure troops and provisions at the latter's expense; the best proof of which would be his having taken possession of the country in Cortes' name.

Let us in the meantime allow Oli to build his new town, for it was not till eight months after that Cortes received intelligence of his revolt, when I will return to this subject. I must now relate what took place in Guacasualco, and how I, with the captain Luis Marin, was despatched to subdue the province of Chiapa.