observe, that you have not acted
up to the views of his majesty, when he conferred upon you the
appointment of governor of these countries."

To this Cortes replied, that there was not one of the Conquistadores
whom he had not rewarded; that some, indeed, had fared better in the
distribution of the Indians than others; but that, owing to many
unforeseen circumstances, he had not been able to do justice to all; and
that, on this account alone, he hailed his arrival in New Spain, to
satisfy all parties; for the whole of the Conquistadores had every claim
to be handsomely rewarded.

The licentiate then questioned him respecting the expedition to the
Honduras, and asked him which of the Conquistadores had accompanied him
on that occasion, and how they had fared; but he wished particularly to
know what had become of the thirty or forty men whom he had left under
the command of an officer, named Diego de Godoy, to perish of hunger at
Puerto de Caballos?

This latter reproach was, unfortunately, too well founded in truth, as
we shall presently see; and certainly, as men who had been present at
the siege of Mexico, and assisted in the conquest of New Spain, they, at
least, had merited to live quietly in the enjoyment of the fruits of
their labour. Cortes ought rather to have taken along with him on that
expedition those troops only which had recently arrived from Spain.

Ponce de Leon then made inquiries after the captain Luis Marin, after
Bernal Diaz del Castillo, and the rest of the men who were with him.

To all these inquiries Cortes answered: "That it would have been useless
for him to have attempted an expedition to countries so far distant,
attended with so many difficulties, without those veterans who were
inured to the hardships of a military life. But he could assure him that
the troops which had been left behind were on their way to Mexico, and
that the whole of them were men whom he would particularly recommend to
his consideration, and who deserved to have the most lucrative
commendaries bestowed upon them."

The licentiate then continued in a more earnest tone of voice, and asked
Cortes: "How, without his majesty's permission, he had dared to set out
on so tedious an expedition, by which he knew he must absent himself for
so long a time from the seat of his government, and which had, as he
knew, almost proved the destruction of the city of Mexico?"

To this Cortes answered: "That as his majesty's captain-g