f Spain, Charles V.,
and set aside; and thus began the rule of Spain in Mexico. The
Conquistador thus reached the summit of fame and power--the reward of
his indomitable spirit of persistence in the path and project which his
imagination had fired.

The _regime_ of Cortes was not without benefit to the colony. A fine
city arose upon the ruins of Tenochtitlan. Settlement of the country
was carried on; valuable products of the Old World--among them the
sugar-cane and orange and grape-vines--were introduced and cultivated;
exploration of the country was pushed on a considerable scale,
resulting in the discovery of the Pacific coast of Mexico. The conquest
of Guatemala was carried out by Pedro de Alvarado, sent thither by
Cortes, and that of Honduras by Olid. Cortes personally carried an
expedition to Honduras, but disturbances in Mexico obliged him to
return.

Guatemoc, the brave young Aztec defender of Tenochtitlan, fared ill at
the hands of the Spaniards. To their shame it is that, after the fall
of the city, they tortured him--by permission of Cortes--in order to
extract information as to the whereabouts of the Aztec treasure; for
the invaders had obtained disappointingly little gold. In company with
one of his chiefs the Spaniards roasted the feet of Guatemoc before a
fire: "Think you that I am upon some bed of delight?" was the reply of
the stoic Aztec to his groaning companion in torture, who asked if he
did not suffer. Guatemoc remained crippled for life by this barbarous
act, but he accompanied Cortes to Honduras, and upon this expedition it
was that the Spaniards executed--or murdered--him. He was accused of
treachery in having endeavoured to incite a rebellion against the
Spaniards, and they hanged him head downwards from a tree. "Ah!
Malintzin,"[19] the unfortunate Aztec said to Cortes after his mock
trial, "vain I ever knew it to trust in your promises!"

[Footnote 19: The Aztec name for Cortes.]

And now the time arrives when the star of the Conquistador is to wane
and set. The execution of Guatemoc had brought about a reprimand from
Spain; for it is to be recollected that the Spanish sovereigns never
sought the actual destruction of the American princes, and Pizarro,
also, was reprimanded after his murder of Atahualpa, in Peru. Cortes,
upon his return to Mexico from the Honduras expedition, found that
Spain was not pleased with his administration. Enemies had been at
work, and gratitude for his great ser