Hernando Cortes

Translator’s Preface

Hernando Cortes - Chapter 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

Chapter 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

Chapter 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

Chapter IV Cortes Reaches San Juan de Ulloa—His Negotiations for an Understanding with Montezuma, Emperor of Mexico—Disquiet in the Army

Chapter 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

Chapter VI Cortes’ March to Tlaxcala—Battle and Defeat of the Tlaxcalans—Montezuma’s Messengers

Chapter 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

Chapter VIII Religious Rites of the Mexicans—Human Sacrifices—The Natives Discover that the Spaniards are not Divine but Human

Chapter IX Montezuma is Made a Prisoner—Quauhpopoka and His Leaders Burned—The Mexicans Swear Allegiance to the King of Spain