accusations against our general, adding besides several new ones: among
others, he assured his majesty that Cortes levied vast quantities of
gold upon the caziques, under the pretext of forwarding it to his
majesty; thereby occasioning great discontent throughout the whole
country. He had assembled a considerable number of the distinguished
females of the country, in order to marry them to his Spanish soldiers;
but if honorable men requested any one of them in marriage, he was sure
to refuse them, and retained them rather as his own mistresses. The
caziques of the country in general looked upon him as a king; in fact,
they knew of no other king than Cortes, who took to himself an equal
fifth of the whole revenue of the country with the emperor, and he had
amassed immense treasures to himself. Yet he was so artful, that it was
impossible to divine his plans. He was building large fortresses, and it
might be his intention to declare his independence of the Spanish crown,
and turn traitor to his own country. It was, at all events, high time
for his majesty to adopt some decisive step to prevent this, and
despatch some personage of distinction to New Spain, in order to deprive
Cortes of the chief command, and of all sovereign power in the country.

Besides this, Albornoz slandered Cortes in various other ways, and the
bishop of Burgos determined to profit by it; and as Narvaez, Tapia, and
the agents of Diego Velasquez still continued their solicitations at
court, the bishop strenuously urged them to renew their accusations
against Cortes, and he strove to add further weight to their complaints
by the accounts which had just been received from Albornoz.

After his majesty had read these severe charges against our general, he
considered they were all true, and he said to Narvaez, who was spokesman
for the rest: "I am now determined that Cortes shall be punished! Though
he may send me a quantity of gold, yet the accusations that are brought
against him are becoming too frequent, and I love justice before all the
treasures he can procure me."

His majesty did not long delay to carry out his threats, for he
despatched orders to the admiral of St. Domingo to repair at the head of
600 men to Mexico, to seize Cortes' person, and if he found him guilty
to cut off his head without any further ceremony, and to punish all
those who assisted in the defeat of Narvaez. The emperor, in order to
spur the admiral on to fulfil his commands