who directed it took care
to interpose as many delays as possible, while Cortes hoped in the
meantime to receive such reinforcements from Spain as should enable him
to hold his ground. Nevertheless the whole aspect of affairs in the
Spanish quarters was utterly changed; apprehension had taken the place
of security, and as many precautions were observed as if the garrison
was actually in a state of siege. Such was the unpleasant state of
affairs when, in May 1520, six months after his arrival in the capital,
Cortes received tidings from the coast which caused him greater alarm
than even the threatened insurrection of the Aztecs. The jealous
governor of Cuba was sending an expedition to attack Cortes.

It was the news of the arrival of this fleet at the place where he had
himself landed at first that had caused Cortes so much consternation,
for he at once suspected that it was sent by his bitter enemy the
governor. The commander of this second expedition, who was called
Narvaez, having landed, soon met with a Spaniard from one of the
exploring parties sent out by Cortes. This man related all that had
occurred since the Spanish envoys left Vera Cruz, the march into the
interior, the furious battles with the Tlascalans, the occupation of
Mexico, the rich treasures found in it, and the seizure of Montezuma,
'whereby,' said the soldier, 'Cortes rules over the land like its own
sovereign, so that a Spaniard may travel unarmed from one end of the
country to the other without insult or injury.'

Narvaez and his followers listened in speechless amazement to this
marvellous report, and the leader waxed more and more indignant at the
thought of all that had been snatched from Velasquez, whose adherent he
was. He now openly proclaimed his intention of marching against Cortes
and punishing him, so that even the natives who had flocked to this new
camp comprehended that these white men were enemies of those who had
come before. Narvaez proposed to establish a colony in the barren, sandy
spot which Cortes had abandoned, and when informed of the existence of
Villa Rica, he sent to demand the submission of the garrison. Sandoval
had kept a sharp eye upon the movements of Narvaez from the time that
his ships had first appeared upon the horizon, and when he heard of his
having landed he prepared to defend his post to the last extremity. But
the only invaders of Villa Rica were a priest named Guevara and four
other Spaniards, who formally