a complete suit
of gold armour. He returned enthusiastic over the new land where lived
a powerful ruler over many cities. Surely this was none other than
the Great Khan of Marco Polo fame, with the riches and magnificence
of an Eastern potentate--a land worthy of further exploration.

The conqueror of Mexico now comes upon the scene--young, bold, devout,
unscrupulous, "a respectable gentleman of good birth"--Hernando
Cortes. Great was the enthusiasm in Cuba to join the new expedition
to the long-lost lands of the Great Khan; men sold their lands to buy
horses and arms, pork was salted, armour was made, and at last Cortes,
a plume of feathers and a gold medal in his cap, erected on board his
ship a velvet flag with the royal arms embroidered in gold and the
words: "Brothers, follow the cross in faith, for under its guidance
we shall conquer."

[Illustration: HERNANDO CORTES, CONQUEROR OF MEXICO. After the
original portrait at Mexico.]

His address to his men called forth their devotion: "I hold out to
you a glorious prize, but it is to be won by incessant toil. Great
things are achieved only by great exertions, and glory was never the
reward of sloth. If I have laboured hard and staked my all on this
undertaking, it is for the love of that renown, which is the noblest
recompense of man. But if any among you covet riches more, be but true
to me, as I will make you masters of such as our countrymen have never
dreamed of. You are few in number, but strong in resolution; doubt
not but that the Almighty, who has never deserted the Spaniard in his
contest with the infidel, will shield you, for your cause is a just
cause, and you are to fight under the banner of the Cross."

In this spirit of enthusiasm the fleet sailed from the shores of Cuba
on 18th February 1519, and was soon on its way to the land of Mexico.
The pilot Alvarado was with this expedition also. Rounding Cape
Catoche and coasting along the southern shores of Campechy Bay, with
a pleasant breeze blowing off the shore, Cortes landed with all his
force--some five hundred soldiers--on the very spot where now stands
the city of Vera Cruz. "Little did the conqueror imagine that the
desolate beach on which he first planted his foot was one day to be
covered by a flourishing city, the great mart of European and Oriental
trade--the commercial capital of New Spain."

On a wide, level plain Cortes encamped, his soldiers driving in stakes
and covering them with bough