Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/389

 CORTEREAL CORTES 385 Paoli school, established in 1836 with a fund of 25,000 francs bequeathed for that purpose by Paoli, who was a native of Corte. CORTEREAL, Caspar, a Portuguese navigator, died about 1501. He was of a distinguished family, engaged in the colonization of the Azores. In 1500 he was appointed by the king of Portugal to command an expedition to ex- plore the northern coasts of North America. He sailed from the Tagus in that year with two ships, ranged the shores of the country after- ward called Canada, and freighted his ships with 57 Indians, whom on his return he sold as slaves; and the name Labrador (laborer), 'afterward transferred to a more northern region, is a memorial of his visit. Soon after- ward he set sail from Lisbon on a second voy- age to the same regions, but never returned. His brother Miguel sailed in search of him in 1502, and was never afterward heard from. CORTES (formerly PUERTO CABALLOS), a port of Honduras, opening on the bay of Honduras, in lat. 15 49' N., Ion. 87 57' W. It is the Atlantic terminus of the Honduras interoceanic railway. The port is of large capacity, being not less than 9 m. in circumference, and for more than two thirds of its area it has from 4 to 12 fathoms of water. Connected with the bay is a large salt-water lagoon, about 2 m. long and 1 m. broad, with an average depth of 24 ft. There are no marshes to aifect the healthfulness of the locality, and it offers every condition necessary for the building and sup- port of a large city. Cortes in his expedition into Honduras founded here a town which he called Natividad. For more than two cen- turies it was the principal port on the coast, but during the domination of the buccaneers the harbor was found to be too large to be easily defended, and the settlement was re- moved to Omoa, 10 m. S. W. CORTES, Hernan or Hernando, the conqueror of Mexico, born in Medellin, a small town of Estremadura, Spain, in 1485, died near Seville, Dec. 2, 1547. His father, Martin Cortes of Monroy, and his mother, Dona Catalina Pi- zarro Altamirano, were both of good family, but in reduced circumstances. Hernando was a sickly child, and in early life was many times at the point of death. When 14 years of age he was sent to the university of Sala- manca to study law, and remained there two years. In 1501 he returned home without leave from his parents, and, finding no content in Medellin, determined to accompany Nicolas de Ovando, also an Estremaduran, who was about to sail to Santo Domingo to supersede Bobadilla in his command. Cortes met with an accident which prostrated him, while Ovando's expedition sailed ; and he thereupon determined upon going into Italy to seek service with the "great captain" Gonsalvo de Cordova. Ar- riving in Valencia, he was there taken sick, and passed a year in that town in hardship and poverty. At the expiration of the year he returned to Medellin, and in 1504 sailed from San Lucar in a merchant vessel for Santo Domingo. He was received with favor by the governor of Hispaniola, was employed under Diego Velasquez in pacifying a revolt, and at the end of the war received from Ovando a repartimiento of Indians, and a notarial office in the newly founded town of Azua. He held successively several appointments, and in 1511 accompanied Diego Velasquez, who was sent by Diego Columbus to subdue and colonize Cuba. He afterward held the office of alcalde of Santiago, in the new colony. Meantime he married Dona Catalina Juarez, one of a family of Spanish ladies who had come over in the suite of Maria de Toledo, the vice queen. After his marriage he employed himself and his Indians in getting gold. " How many of whom [the Indians] died in extracting this gold for him, God will have kept a better ac- count than I have," says Las Casas. When Grijalva, the lieutenant of Velasquez, returned from the discovery of Mexico, without having attempted the settlement of that country, Cortes was appointed in his place to the com- mand of a new expedition which was to start at once. At the last moment Velasquez re- pented of the appointment, and endeavored to stop the expedition. But Cortes hastened his preparations, and on Nov. 18, 1518, he set out from Santiago with 10 vessels, 550 Spaniards, 200 or 300 Indians, a few negroes, 12 or 13 horses, 10 brass guns, and some falconets. Picking up stores by the way, sometimes with- out paying, he arrived at Trinidad, on the S, coast of Cuba, where an order came from Ve- lasquez to deprive Cortes of his command. A similar order awaited him on his arrival at Havana, but in neither place could it be en- forced; and writing a letter of remonstrance to Velasquez, Feb. 10, 1519, Cortes left Ha- vana for the island of Cozumel on the coast of Yucatan. On March 4 he first landed on the shores of Mexico, in the province or country called Tabasco ; and here presently he fought his first battle with the natives, who proved exceedingly brave, but who were awe- struck at the sight of horses and the roar of the artillery. At San Juan de Ulua he first heard of the native sovereign called Montezuma; that he reigned over an extensive empire which had endured above three centuries; that 30 vassals, called caciques, obeyed him ; and that his power and riches were immense. Laying the foundation of the town of Vera Cruz as a post to be left in his rear, he caused himself to be chosen captain general of his new colony ; destroyed his ships, to make retreat impossible and to reenforce his army with the seamen ; took the part of several native tribes against Montezuma's tax collectors, and thus ranged them on his side ; and finally, on Aug. 16, leaving a small garrison from his meagre force at Vera Cruz, set off for the city of Mexico, the residence of the great Montezuma and the cap- ital of the country. The republic of Tlascala, lying between the coast and the capital, though