Page:Vol 1 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/673

Rh Cortés was not the man to reward desertion. Duero and others evidently expected nothing more, since they were soon after found arrayed on the side of Velazquez. When some among the Cortés party raised objections to this diminution of the force, they were quieted with the declaration that the army was better rid of unwilling and inefficient soldiers, whose presence served only to discourage others.

The vessel for Spain and two of those for the Islands were wrecked on the coast; and one consequence was that Mendoza's departure was delayed till the 5th of March. He took with him a supplementary letter for the emperor, relating the progress so far made for the recovery of Mexico. By this time Ordaz was, according to Bernal Diaz, commissioned to join him and plead the cause of Cortés before the emperor, and at the same time to receive the reward for his many achievements, one of which was the ascent of the volcano. Several of the Narvaez party appear to have left by the same vessel.

In course of the late campaign the advantages of the town of Tepeaca for permanent occupation had become apparent, chiefly as a point of observation for watching over the new conquest. It was well situated for protecting the road to Villa Rica, and for communicating with Cholula and Tlascala, each capital eight or nine leagues distant, and it lay in the midst of a fertile