were goaded by the injustice and
the cruelty of the Spaniards.

Cortez was always an eager volunteer for such service. His courage and
imperturbable self-possession made him an invaluable co-operator in
every enterprise of danger. He thus became acquainted with all the
artifices of Indian warfare, and inured himself to the toil and
privations of forest life.

In the year 1492 the magnificent island of Cuba, but a few leagues
from Hispaniola, had been discovered by Columbus. As he approached the
land, the grandeur of the mountains, the wide sweep of the valleys,
the stately forests, the noble rivers, the bold promontories and
headlands, melting away in the blue of the hazy distance, impressed
him with unbounded admiration. As he sailed up one of the beautiful
rivers of crystal clearness, fringed with flowers, and aromatic
shrubs, and tropical fruits, while the overhanging trees were vocal
with the melody of birds of every variety of song and plumage,
enraptured he exclaimed,

"Cuba! It is the most beautiful island that eyes ever beheld. It is an
elysium. One could live there forever."

The natives of the favored land were amiable and friendly. The
Spaniards did not for several years encroach upon their rights, and no
Spanish colony was established upon their enchanting shores. It was
now the year 1511. Nineteen years had elapsed since the discovery of
the island. Ovando had been recalled, and Diego Columbus, the son of
Christopher, had been appointed, in his stead, governor of Hispaniola.
He took the title of Viceroy, and assumed all the splendors of
royalty. Diego Columbus devoutly decided that it was manifest destiny
that Cuba should belong to Spain. He organized a _filibustering_
expedition to wrest from the natives their beautiful island. The
command of the expedition was intrusted to Don Velasquez, a bold
adventurer, of much notoriety, from Spain, who had been residing for
many years at Hispaniola, and who had been lieutenant under Governor
Ovando. A foray of this kind would, of course, excite the patriotic
zeal of every vagabond. Cortez was one of the first to hasten to the
standard of Velasquez. The natives of the island, unarmed and
voluptuous, made hardly the shadow of resistance, and three hundred
Spanish adventurers, with but a slight struggle, took possession of
this magnificent domain. The reputation and ability of Cortez gave him
a prominent position in this adventure.

One brave and patriotic India