wall to reach the window of the young lady's
chamber. In the obscurity he slipped and fell, and some heavy stones
from the crumbling wall fell upon him. He was conveyed to his bed,
severely wounded and helpless. The fleet sailed, and the young man,
almost insane with disappointment and chagrin, was left upon his bed
of pain.

At length he recovered. His father secured for him a passage to join
the colonists in another ship. He, with exultation, left Medellin,
hastened to the sea-shore, where he embarked, and after an unusually
adventurous and perilous voyage, he gazed with delight upon the
tropical vegetation and the new scenes of life of Hispaniola. It was
the year 1504. Cortez was then nineteen years of age.

The young adventurer, immediately upon landing, proceeded to the house
of his relative, Governor Ovando. The governor happened to be absent,
but his secretary received the young man very cordially.

"I have no doubt," said he to Hernando, "that you will receive a
liberal grant of land to cultivate."

"I come to get gold," Hernando replied, haughtily, "not to till the
soil like a peasant."

Ovando, on his return, took his young relative under his patronage,
and assigned to him posts of profit and honor. Still Cortez was very
restless. His impatient spirit wearied of the routine of daily duty,
and his imagination was ever busy in the domain of wild adventure.

Two Spaniards upon the island of Hispaniola about this time planned an
expedition for exploring the main land, to make discoveries and to
select spots for future settlements. Cortez eagerly joined the
enterprise, but again was he doomed to disappointment. Just before the
vessels sailed he was seized by a fever, and laid prostrate upon his
bed. Probably his life was thus saved. Nearly all who embarked on this
enterprise perished by storm, disease, and the poisoned arrows of the
natives.

Seven years passed away, during which Cortez led an idle and
voluptuous life, ever ready for any daring adventure which might
offer, and miserably attempting to beguile the weariness of provincial
life with guilty amours. He accepted a plantation from the governor,
which was cultivated by slaves. His purse was thus ever well filled.
Not unfrequently he became involved in duels, and he bore upon his
body until death many scars received in these encounters. Military
expeditions were not unfrequently sent out to quell the insurrections
to which the natives of the island