Note 986 — Chapter XXIX · KING-MAKING AND CONVERTING. October-December, 1520.

Narvaez it was, they said, who without right or without exhibiting evidence of such right, had set himself up against Cortés, and begun to rouse the natives against him and his followers as piratical intruders, intent on mischief, while his own announced object was to right the natives, release Montezuma, and then to depart from the country without taking even gold with him. These intrigues caused the uprising which lost Mexico to the emperor, together with so many hundred lives and millions of treasure. To Velazquez, therefore, no control should be given in a country lost through the machinations of himself and his lieutenant. If any grants had been made to him, they were based on false representations, and would imperil the safety of these extensive and rich lands. The second object of the latter was to laud the character of Cortés as a man and soldier, and to pray that he be confirmed in the office of captain-general and justicia mayor as the only fit and worthy person. At the foot came the signature of 534 Spaniards, the majority of the troops, headed by Alvarado, Ordaz, and similar warm friends of the commander, and also by such prominent personages of the Narvaez party as Vasco Porcallo, and Juan Diaz, the clergyman. Bernal Diaz was still down with fever, which accounts for the absence of his name. Many others whose names might have been added were probably away on expeditions and on garrison duty. For copy of letter see Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 427-36.