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The eloquence of their general, however, as usual, was successful in pacifying them; but to prevent further difficulties, he broke up his force, and sent off two hundred men under Diego de Ordaz, and a similar number under Velasquez de Leon, to form settlements on the coasts and rivers; and two hundred men to Vera Cruz, to dismantle the fleet of Narvaez.
In consequence of these reinforcements the troops with Cortès, after he had rid himself of several partisans of Narvaez with whom he was dissatisfied, amounted to five hundred infantry, of whom eighty carried muskets, and forty horse-soldiers.
At length, the Indians whom Narvaez had brought with him from Jamaica, lighted some fire-brands, by which the Spaniards were enabled to see their danger; and Narvaez, though wounded by a stone, found means to come at his mare, which he mounted, and rallied his Spaniards to their defence.
The greater part of the soldiers of Narvaez had been killed. They had formed the rear guard, and had not only borne the brunt of the battle, but had suffered from the effect of their cupidity. Of the cavalry but twenty-three remained mounted, all the artillery had been lost, and every musket thrown away in the flight.
When the festivities were over, Don Rodrigo de Narvaez returned to his fortress of Allora. After his departure, the Alcayde of Coyn addressed his children: "To your hands," said he, "I confide the disposition of my wealth. One of the first things I charge you, is not to forget the ransom you owe to the Alcayde of Allora.
This could not go on so secretly as not to excite the suspicions of Narvaez, and the worthy priest was sent back to his master, but the seed which he had sown was left to grow. Narvaez continued to speak of Cortés as a traitor whom he intended to punish, and he also declared he would release Montezuma from captivity and restore him to his throne.
But the only invaders of Villa Rica were a priest named Guevara and four other Spaniards, who formally addressed Sandoval, pompously enumerating the services and claims of Velasquez, taxing Cortés with rebellion, and finally demanding that Sandoval should tender his submission to Narvaez.
Then at last the patient Aztecs rose and until the womanly Montezuma begged them to desist, attacked the palace where the Spaniards were quartered, with fury. At the intervention of their monarch the attack was turned to a blockade and Cortes arrived from his victory over Narvaez to find his companions in desperate straits.
One of the first spots which the Frenchmen visited bore evidences of a ghastly tragedy. It was surmised and with some plausibility that here had perished some portion of the ill-fated following of Pamphile de Narvaez. Another island, farther to the west, chiefly impressed the visitors by the great number of animals, of a species new to them, which they found there.
All the rest belonging to the expedition had perished, some having been stoned to death by the natives, and others drowned, among whom was Panfilo de Narvaez, as Figueroa, who was present, related to Cabeza. Among these Indians who fed upon tunas they endured much hunger, as there was not enough for them all.
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